Chapter 3

[Addison]

What was happening three months ago when I didn’t notice my husband sneaking off with our son to have adventures with his “old friend?”

My heart sinks like a stone as I remember. I was in Brooklyn taking care of my sick grandmother, arranging for her nursing care. I was gone for three days. Every night, I called home to say good night, no matter how tired I was. 

Never once did he mention Evelyn. If I hadn’t shown up today when I did, would he have ever let me know she is back?

I send a text with a quick snapshot of the photo strip. I type the word “explain.”

Sitting there, staring at the screen, waiting for a response, my head tips back and I lean against Jayson’s bed. My body feels heavy so heavy that I close my eyes.

When I open them again, the room is dark, the phone vibrating against my chest waking me. I must have fallen asleep because the clock now reads 8 pm. 

“Michael!” I open my phone hurriedly only to discover a text from an unknown number. Tapping the screen, I open the message. It is a series of pictures with no words, and while the number is unfamiliar, I recognize my family at once.

 Clicking on the first image, I flip through them, my mouth dropping in horror as the progression of images gets increasingly worse. 

In the first one, Jayson is sitting at a table with a large birthday cake covered in sparkling candles. In the next, he is receiving a massive slice of cake dripping with strawberry ice cream. Finally, we have Jayson covered in sticky pink goo, and crumbs on his lips. 

In each photo, Michael and Evelyn are sitting side by side, his arm around her shoulders with Jayson snuggled between them. A picture-perfect family. The only problem is, if they were such a perfect family, they’d have never given my son any of that food. 

“Oh God,” I dial Michael’s number as quickly as I can, but he doesn’t answer. “Damn it, Michael! I need to know what you fed our child!”

Jayson has always been sickly and weak. We eventually discovered that he has a series of allergies, some of which can be life-threatening. In addition to being lactose intolerant, he also has a gluten sensitivity along with a mild tree nut allergy.

Calling Michael again, I leave a message demanding he call me back as soon as he receives it. I just hope Jayson is okay. 

My palms are sweating as an hour passes, and then another. Are they at the hospital? Is my son okay? 

Three hours after the mysterious text,  I receive a short text message from Michael that reads, “Coming home. Bad traffic. Don’t wait up. Love you.” 

Frustrated and alone, I head up to bed.  By the time Michael eventually returns and shakes me awake, it’s just after midnight.

“Where were you,” I grumble, turning away from him as I struggle to sit up.

“Don’t be mad, Addy,” he turns me for a gentle kiss. “We were on our way back from the park to come home for dinner when we ran into Evelyn,” he looks genuinely contrite as he adds, “She was distraught. She felt so guilty about how things went this afternoon, and about how she ruined your special day. She was worried you were mad at her.”

My brow creases and he nods, as if my current upset is proof of her words. “See,” he touches my nose gently, smoothing the bridge. “Even mentioning her is making you upset.” 

“Try to understand, Addy,” he places a hand on my cheek, turning me towards him. “I couldn’t disappoint her, or Jayson. He was so happy to see her. I’d have been a jerk if I said no. So she took us to dinner on the other side of town,” Michael shrugs as if it were no big deal, “I had no idea it was going to take this long. I was trying to get back to you sooner. Can you forgive me?”

I want to forgive him, it's easier to feel in love and secure in our relationship, but something about this situation doesn’t set well with my heart. 

He kisses me again, and I’m tempted to give in, but a nagging thought pokes through my mind and I have to say, “But what about three months ago?” I pull away.

“Hey don’t be like that,” Michael pleads as he explains the situation. He and Jayson had been lonely those three days without me, and then Evelyn called out of the blue. It had been forever since he had heard from her, so he and Jayson went to meet her.

“Evelyn had just arrived the day before that picture was taken,” My husband promises. “After you returned, we were both so happy to see you home, that I forgot to mention that we had gone to the carnival.” 

He leans in for another kiss but I hold him back. “You still care about her, don’t you.” 

There is a pause a bit longer than a heartbeat before he answers. “Of course not, I love you, Addison Stone. I married you, remember?” 

He pulls out his phone and scrolls back in his chat history, showing how 3 months ago, he and Evelyn had a brief chat where he did seem not only very surprised by her contacting him but also very lonely…longing for me. 

“Now that we have that settled,” he snuggles into me. “How about we talk about something else,” he kisses my neck. “I was thinking, now that Jayson’s 6 and in school full-time,” he wraps his arms around me pulling me into him. “We could consider having that baby we’ve been talking about.”

The heat of his hands through the fabric of my shirt feels so inviting, and the scent of his cologne mixed with his natural musky scent is intoxicating as he brings me closer, and I melt into him, “That would be…”

A violent cough, followed by the unmistakable sound of retching brings me out of my fog as my natural mothering instincts snap me back to reality. 

“Jayson!” I call out, pushing my husband aside to rush to his room. When I get there, he is leaning over his bed, the floor covered in vomit the color of pink.

Ice cream gives him a tummy ache, but never anything like this. 

“What did you feed him?” I shout as I scoop my son up and take him to the bathroom to clean him. “What did you do?”

“Just some cake and ice cream, some almonds and….”

“So you gave our son gluten, dairy, AND nuts,” My voice cuts through his excuses as I wrap my son in a blanket, barely pausing for my purse, before I rush out into the rain.

“Sweetie, be reasonable, he was fine before and…”

“And you forgot,” I snap. “Because of her.” 

Michael stands speechless, holding an umbrella over our heads as we tuck our son into the back of the car and rush to the hospital.