“It’s been a little longer than a week for us.”
“Oh? How long?”
“Three months.”
“Wow. That’s a long time. He hasn’t even seen your new pregnancy body yet.”
“Yes, that’s true. Although that’s the least of my worries.”
My brows drew down so she explained. “He doesn’t even know I’m pregnant yet.”
“Oh. Wow. Oh my.”
“Yep. Now you can understand why I wanted to guzzle that wine.”
“I certainly can.”
“Do you…do you think he’s not going to be happy about becoming a father?”
“I have no idea how he’s going to react. He’s a bit of a wild one. Not sure he planned to ever be tamed. But down deep, I think he’s a stand-up man, and he’ll do the right thing.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the right thing even was. The entire conversation was beginning to turn my stomach. What kind of a woman doesn’t tell a man she’s pregnant for months? Although I suppose there could be a lot of reasons for that. Maybe he’s not the greatest guy, and she considered not even having the baby or something. It really wasn’t my place to judge. Especially with all the crazy stuff I had been planning on doing. You never really know anyone’s true story unless you’re standing in their shoes.
Landing was bumpy, but I was thrilled to have arrived a few minutes early. I wanted to use the airport restroom to freshen up before I met Carter at the bar we were going to meet at.
As we taxied to the gate, I began to clean up my magazines and tossed my garbage into my bag. Smiling, I turned to Cass. “Good luck. Are you going to get to see your boyfriend soon?”
“Tomorrow,” she said. “He’s got a flight in the morning that I’m going to join him on. Although he doesn’t know that yet either.”
The plane came to a stop, and a ding came over the loudspeaker indicating it was safe to get out of our seats. I began to unbuckle. “Does he travel a lot for work or something?”
“He does. All the time, actually. He’s a pilot.”
I stood and opened the overhead, grabbing my bag. “Oh, that’s funny. So is my boyfriend.”
The cabin door opened quicker than any flight I was ever on before. The gods just seemed to be smiling down on me today—a smooth flight, pregnant traveling companion, on time arrival. Stepping into the aisle, I said, “It was nice meeting you. Best of luck with your pregnancy and everything.”
“Thanks. You too. I hope you get pregnant as easily as I did.”
I was just about to walk off the plane when I heard the flight attendant saying goodbye to Cass who was right behind me. “Good luck, sweetie. Give me a call later, and let me know how Trip takes the news.”
I froze mid-step. My mind had to be playing tricks on me. Turning around, I asked. “Did she just say Trip…how Trip takes the news?”
Cass smiled, thinking nothing of it. “Yes. It’s a nickname for my baby daddy. His name has three of the same letter so they call him trip for triple.”
I felt the blood rush from my face. “What three letters?”
“C. His name is Captain Carter Clynes.”
MY LUGGAGE WAS THE LAST left on the conveyor belt. How long had it travelled around in circles before I finally noticed it? How long had I even been standing here?
The joy I’d felt over the past twenty-four hours had completely transformed into a mixture of shock, panic and sadness. I couldn’t remember the last time deep sadness completely consumed me like this. My emotions had left me a frozen shell of myself as I stood in baggage claim.
I’d lost track of Cass sometime after she revealed the name of her baby’s father. To be honest, I barely remembered exiting the plane and arriving at this spot.
Finally lifting my suitcase off of the belt, I looked around at the crowds of people making their way through the airport. A part of me wanted to just run, but a bigger part knew that I had to hear it from him—that he knew her, that he was the father of this baby.
Was there a chance she could’ve been making it up? I quickly banished the thought from my brain, refusing to give myself false hope.
My head felt like it was going to implode between the intermittent intercom announcements, the sounds of the people rushing around me, and the fearful thoughts in my head. Everything seemed loud. Looking down at my phone, I realized I was late in meeting Carter at the airport lounge.
One foot in front of the other.
Go.
You have to face him.
The escalator slowly descended into what I was pretty sure was going to be my own personal hell.
When I got to the lounge, I closed my eyes to grab my bearings before entering. When I opened them, I spotted him in the corner. He was all decked out in his pilot’s uniform and looking up at a sports channel that was playing on the television. Just inside the entrance, I stood there with my heart pounding and admired his tall stature without him noticing me, for the sheer reason that it might have been the last time I could do it.