“At the hospital?”
“I think so.”
“When Mason was born?”
“Yes.”
“But
you hadn’t met Tyler yet?”
I stared at her.Track Flights
“That’s what I thought.”
The bookstore door opened.
Mason came running toward us holding a book about famous airplanes.
Behind him, Vanessa carried another book.
This one was about trains.
Mason reached the table.
“Mom.”Books
I tried to arrange my face into something normal.
“What?”
“I picked one for Elliot.”
I looked at the train book.
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
He hesitated.
“Do you think I’ll meet him?”Ship by Rail
The question cut through every legal document, every lie, every adult fear.
I pulled him into my arms.
“I think we’re going to figure out the safest way to answer all of these questions.”
He leaned against me.
Then he whispered, “I don’t want another dad.”
I closed my eyes.
“You don’t have to decide anything today.”
“I just want you.”
That nearly broke me.
I held him tighter.
“You have me.”
And for
the first time since Tyler’s announcement filled the airplane cabin, something inside me became clear.
I could lose my marriage.
I could lose the house.
I could discover that half my past was fabricated.
But I would not let Mason lose the certainty that he belonged somewhere.
He belonged with me.
Not because of paperwork.
Not because of biology.
Because I had been there.
Every fever.
Every nightmare.
Every first day of school.
Every scraped knee.
Every bedtime story.
I was his mother.
And whatever happened next, I would make sure he never had to wonder whether that was true.
—
Tyler called seventeen times.
I didn’t answer.
Then he started texting.
CLAIRE PLEASE.
YOU DON’T HAVE THE WHOLE STORY.
DO NOT LEAVE THE AIRPORT.
