The Pilot's Hidden Landing

After I posted my comment, "Congratulations," the comment section was quickly buried under a fresh wave of well-wishes.

[The hero pilot deserves happiness.]

[That moment when the boy ran up and called him Dad, I actually cried.]

My one word was lost somewhere in that sea of congratulations, like a drop of blood swallowed by the ocean. No one saw it.

That was when my phone rang. It was Alex Timbers.

I picked up. On his end, it was loud, the airport intercom in the background, a child's broken sobbing threading through it. But when he spoke, his voice was cold.

"There are too many eyes on us today. Don't make a scene right now. Natalie and our son are currently in front of the cameras. I can't let them be humiliated."

My grip on the phone tightened.

"And what about me?"

He didn't answer. A long moment passed before he let out a tired sigh.

"Mary, we'll talk about us later. But the whole country has already seen my son, Matt. I owe the two of them an explanation."

His words landed like a thunderclap in my head.

The year Alex and I were newly in love, we'd gone up a mountain to look at the stars. I'd leaned against his shoulder and asked, smiling,

"If we ever have a child, what should we name them?"

Alex bent down and kissed my forehead.

"Matt. You're the best gift I've ever been given. And any child of ours would be too."

But none of my three children had ever made it into the world. And that name had gone to Natalie's son instead.

I stared at the screen, at the little boy everyone was crowding around, and it felt like someone had reached into my chest and carved it out while I was still alive.

It turned out even the future I used to dream about had been taken from me, pieced together into someone else's happy family.

A message from my mother popped up in the family group chat.

[Mary, since you've seen everything, I won't hide it from you anymore. Natalie kept telling us not to tell you. She said you loved Alex too much, and she was afraid you couldn't handle it.]

I stared at those lines, my whole body going rigid.

A second later, my father sent one too.

[Natalie's thought of you more than you know these past few years. If she hadn't been so softhearted, Alex would have left you a long time ago.]

My mother followed up almost immediately.

[That girl is just too kind for her own good. She and Alex are the ones who really love each other, and she's always been afraid of hurting you. Mary, you're not a child anymore. It's time you understood that.]

I laughed. I laughed until the tears fell, one after another, splattering against the screen.

So this was it. They hadn't been betraying me by hiding it. They'd been doing it for my own good.

Natalie had stolen my boyfriend, given birth to his child, and somehow become the kind, self-sacrificing one in my parents' eyes.

My mother sent a voice message right after. Her voice was pitched low, like she was afraid someone might overhear.

"Mary, Mom knows this is hard for you. Matt has been attached to us since he was tiny. Just the other day he was asking for his grandma and grandpa. He's only three. Don't fight a little boy over this."