Chapter 4: The Man Waiting at the Airport
Marcus read the sentence three times.
*THE FATHER OF YOUR SON IS COMING HOME.*
The paper trembled between his fingers, but his voice remained frighteningly calm.
"Who wrote this?""
Diane adjusted the gold bracelet on her wrist.
"Someone who knows the truth.""
"Give me a name.""
"Not until you're ready to listen.""
Marcus slapped the envelope onto the kitchen island.
"I've spent the last twenty minutes listening to you accuse my wife of lying, hiding documents, and raising my child under false pretenses. I've seen two suitcases packed beside my front door. I've seen tickets purchased without my permission. Now you're telling me some stranger is coming to claim my son.""
He stepped closer.
"So, for the last time, Mom. Who is he?""
Diane glanced at Nia.
Nia stood near the sink, one hand supporting Eli's bottom, the other resting protectively against his back. The baby had finally stopped crying, but his damp cheeks were pressed against her shoulder.
"His name is Terrence Cole," Diane answered.
Nia shut her eyes.
Marcus noticed.
"You know him?""
She nodded.
"Yes.""
"How?""
Nia looked as though the question physically hurt.
"Terrence is someone I knew before you and I met.""
Diane laughed softly.
"Someone she knew? That's a very delicate way of describing the situation.""
Marcus turned on her.
"Enough.""
But his mother had discovered that every accusation made Nia look more frightened, and she was determined to keep pressing.
"Terrence and Nia were together for years," Diane continued.
"They had a relationship before you came along. A serious relationship.""
Marcus looked at his wife.
"Is that true?""
"Yes," Nia whispered.
"Before you.""
"Did you tell me about him?""
"I told you I'd been in a serious relationship before we met.""
"You never mentioned his name.""
"I didn't think I needed to.""
Diane lifted the second envelope.
"And perhaps she didn't want you to know that the relationship never ended as neatly as she claims.""
Nia shook her head.
"That's not true.""
"Then why did you meet him six months before your wedding?""
Marcus turned sharply.
"What?""
Nia's eyes filled again.
"I met him because he contacted me. He said he needed to apologize.""
"For what?""
She hesitated.
Diane answered for her.
"For leaving her when she needed him most.""
Nia's voice cracked.
"He abandoned me, Diane. He didn't leave because I did something wrong. He left because he couldn't handle the life we were trying to build.""
Marcus stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me he'd contacted you?""
"Because the meeting lasted twenty minutes, and nothing happened. I told him I was moving forward with my life. I never saw him again.""
Diane smiled.
"Until I found him.""
The words changed the room.
Marcus slowly turned.
"You found him?""
"I did some research. I wanted to know what kind of woman you were marrying.""
"You investigated my fiancée?""
"I protected my son.""
"By tracking down her ex-boyfriend?""
"By making sure you weren't walking blindly into a mistake.""
Marcus dragged a hand over his face.
For years, Diane had presented her interference as love. She had criticized his girlfriends, questioned his business partners, and insisted on attending important meetings because she claimed nobody else understood his interests as well as she did.
He had always thought she was overprotective.
Now he wondered how much of his life had been arranged without his knowledge.
"What did you tell Terrence?"" Marcus asked.
Diane's expression sharpened.
"I told him he deserved to know what happened.""
"What happened?""
She looked at Nia.
"That he might have a son.""
The kitchen fell silent.
Marcus looked down at Eli.
His son had Marcus's broad nose, his dimpled chin, and the same habit of gripping a finger with surprising strength. Marcus had spent countless nights walking the nursery floor, warming bottles, and whispering promises into that little boy's hair.
He remembered the first time Eli laughed.
He remembered the first time the baby reached for him.
No piece of paper could erase those moments.
But the possibility that he had been lied to was a wound he couldn't simply ignore.
He turned toward Nia.
"Did you ever tell Terrence you were pregnant?""
"No.""
"Did you ever tell him Eli might be his?""
"No, Marcus. I didn't even know I was pregnant when I last saw him.""
Diane raised an eyebrow.
"Convenient.""
Nia's voice suddenly hardened.
"Stop calling my life convenient just because you don't like the answers.""
Diane stepped toward her.
"You've manipulated my son for years.""
Marcus moved between them.
"Take another step toward my wife, and this conversation ends.""
Diane stopped.
For a moment, mother and son stared at each other across the kitchen.
Then the doorbell rang.
Everyone froze.
Marcus looked toward the front hallway.
A second ring followed.
Diane smoothed the front of her dress.
"That will be him.""
Nia clutched Eli closer.
"No.""
Marcus turned to her.
"Stay here.""
"Marcus, please. Don't let her turn this into a performance.""
"I'm not going to let anyone intimidate you.""
He walked toward the front door.
The two suitcases still stood beside it, the one-way ticket envelope resting on top. He moved them aside and opened the door.
A tall Black man stood on the porch in a charcoal coat, holding a leather travel bag.
He looked to be in his late thirties. His expression was composed, but his eyes moved immediately past Marcus, scanning the bright hallway.
Then he looked directly at him.
"Marcus Reed?""
"Who are you?""
The man extended his hand.
"Terrence Cole.""
Marcus didn't take it.
Terrence lowered his arm.
"I understand this is a difficult situation.""
"You understand nothing about my situation.""
Terrence glanced toward the suitcases.
"She told me Nia was leaving tomorrow.""
"Who told you that?""
"Your mother.""
Marcus stared at him.
"Of course she did.""
Terrence's face tightened.
"I didn't come here to fight with you. I came because Diane said I had a right to know my son.""
Marcus stepped onto the porch, pulling the door nearly closed behind him.
"Then explain why you waited a year to ask about him.""
Terrence looked down.
For the first time, the confidence left his face.
"Because I didn't know he existed.""
"Until my mother called?""
"Yes.""
"And you just believed her?""
"She sent me documents.""
Marcus felt a chill move through him.
"What documents?""
Terrence opened his travel bag and removed a clear plastic folder.
"I was told there was a paternity report. I was told Nia had concealed the truth from both of us.""
Marcus looked at the folder.
Inside were copies of the same laboratory report Diane had shown him.
The same reference number.
The same conclusion.
But Terrence was holding something else.
A hospital discharge summary.
Marcus recognized the hospital's logo.
It was the same hospital where Nia had been admitted during her pregnancy.
"Where did you get that?"" Marcus asked.
Terrence hesitated.
"Your mother.""
Marcus took the papers.
The discharge summary contained several redacted lines, but the patient information was visible.
Nia Reed.
Admission date.
Discharge date.
And beneath the physician's notes, a line that made Marcus's heart pound.
Patient reports no contact with biological father of unborn child.
He looked at Terrence.
"She never told you she was pregnant?""
"No.""
"Then why does my mother believe you could be the father?""
Terrence opened his mouth.
Before he could answer, Nia appeared in the doorway behind Marcus, holding Eli.
She saw the hospital document in his hand.
Then she looked at Terrence.
Her face went white.
"You weren't supposed to come here," she whispered.
Terrence's eyes filled with something between anger and grief.
"You weren't supposed to hide him from me.""
Nia shook her head.
"I didn't hide anything from you.""
Terrence reached into his coat and removed a photograph.
It showed a younger Nia standing beside him outside a hospital entrance, her face pale, her eyes swollen from crying.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
It was the date of Nia's emergency admission.
He looked at his wife.
"Why were you with Terrence at the hospital the night Eli was born?""
Nia stared at the photograph.
Then she whispered, "Because he wasn't there for me.""
Terrence's jaw tightened.
"That's not what happened.""
He turned toward Marcus.
"Your mother has only shown you half the story.""
Then he held out another document.
"This is the record she told me never to let Nia see.""
Marcus took it.
At the top was a handwritten note in Diane's unmistakable script.
If Marcus discovers the truth, neither of us will be able to control what happens next.
May you like
And beneath it was a date.
Tomorrow's date.
