I don’t remember breathing.
“I know the last few months have been complicated,” Tyler said, “but I can’t wait for the day I can call you my wife.”
Mason slowly turned toward me.
A woman across the aisle smiled as though she were witnessing the most romantic moment imaginable.
My phone was still recording in my hand.
And suddenly, I remembered Laila.
Six months earlier, she had appeared at our front door.
I had been working on a commissioned painting in the dining room when the bell rang.
When I opened the door, a woman stood outside crying.
Her mascara had streaked beneath both eyes.
“Is Tyler here?”
“No. He’s working.”
Her face fell.
“I need to talk to him.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Laila.”
She wiped her cheeks.
I waited for an explanation.
None came.
“Would you like to leave him a message?”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“Never mind.”
“Is something wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have come.”
Then she turned and walked away.
That evening, I asked Tyler about her.
He froze for just a second.
The way people do when they hear a name they weren’t expecting.
Then he recovered.
“Laila? She works for the airline.”
“Why was she standing at our door crying and asking for you?”
“She’s having some problems at work. I’ve been helping her.”
“With what?”
“A complaint involving another employee. It’s complicated.”
Something about the explanation bothered me.
But Tyler had never given me any obvious reason to believe he was unfaithful.
No suspicious messages.
No unexplained absences beyond his normal flight schedule.
No strange charges.
Nothing.
Laila never appeared again.
Her name never came up.
Eventually, I convinced myself I had been paranoid.
Now I was sitting on a plane listening to my husband announce that she was pregnant with his child.
I wanted to go back six months and shake myself.
Tyler finished his announcement.
Several passengers applauded.
Someone near the front cheered.
Beside me, Mason whispered,
“Mom?”
I put my phone away.
“What does Dad mean?”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
“Who’s Laila?”
“Later, sweetheart.”
“Why did Dad say she’s going to be his wife?”
His voice started shaking.
That was the moment I stopped thinking about myself.
Whatever Tyler had done to me, our son had just heard it too.
I took Mason’s hand.
“Look at me.”
His eyes were already wet.
“Is Dad leaving us?”
“We don’t know exactly what’s happening yet.”
“But you’re his wife.”
His tears started falling.
I pulled him against me.
Every part of me wanted to stand up.
Walk to the front of that plane.
Demand answers.
But the aircraft had started moving away from the gate.
And my child needed me to stay calm.
The flight was less than two hours.
It felt like ten.
Mason barely touched the gummy bears he had packed.
The drawing that said BEST PILOT EVER remained folded inside his backpack.
After we landed, we waited until most of the passengers had left.
I had no idea what I was going to say to Tyler.
I only knew I wasn’t leaving that airport without looking him in the face.
We walked into the terminal.
And then I saw him.
Tyler was standing near the entrance to an airline lounge.
Beside him was Laila.
She looked nothing like the crying woman who had appeared at my house six months earlier.
Her hair was perfectly styled.
Her clothes looked expensive.
And there was no hiding the fact that she was pregnant.
One hand rested on her stomach.
She was smiling at Tyler.
Then she saw us.
Her smile changed.
Tyler followed her gaze.
The color instantly drained from his face.
His eyes moved from me to Mason.
“Megan?”
That was the first thing my husband said.
Mason started crying again.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
Tyler stepped forward.
“What are you doing on this flight?”
I almost laughed.
“We came to surprise you.”
Tyler closed his eyes.
Laila didn’t look embarrassed.
If anything, she looked relieved.
I pointed toward her.
“Isn’t this the same Laila who showed up at my house crying six months ago?”
Tyler glanced around nervously.
