“Pierce! You’re on, man! Hug. Kiss. Now!” The tears were quickly drying up, replaced by the need to laugh at her sons’ exuberance. Ethan and his amazing ability to make her smile, even when she was angry with him.
Pierce hurried to do as his father demanded, a look of pure joy on his little face, giggling the entire way. “Did it, Daddy. She’s smiling now.”
“Good job, boys!”
Pierce piped in. “Mommy’s super pretty when she smiles. Right, Daddy?”
The tears returned at his silence. She couldn’t miss the tears in his voice when he spoke. “She is, Pierce. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever known.”
“Ethan …”
“It’s true, Mia. I love you,” he said, his voice breaking.
She picked up the phone and turned off the speaker and headed to the living room on the other side of the house. She didn’t want her sons to hear this.
“Saying it doesn’t make the pain go away, Ethan.”
“I know. I just wanted you to know. To remind you. It’s not over, Mia.”
“I know that, Ethan. The sad thing is I’ll never be over you. No matter how much you hurt me. No matter what the outcome of this is. I’ll love you forever. But just because I love you doesn’t mean I will take your hurt. I can’t handle this again. I’m not sure I can handle it now.”
“I’m going to keep fighting for you, Mia.”
Good. She wanted him to fight for her because she wasn’t going to just forgive and forget. Mia needed to know she was worth his effort … so far, she kind of liked what he’d been doing to show her.
“Prove to me that this is worth all the pain. And there’s a lot of pain, Ethan.”
“I know,” he said. “So, does that mean you’re going to fight as well?”
“It means I’m not going to run away where you can’t find me. I’ll be here. But I may hide. I may ask for time. But you’ll always know where I am.”
“Okay.”
“You need to tell me the truth. Whatever I ask.”
“I know.”
“You may still lose the fight, Ethan.” She hated saying it but it was a possibility. He sighed sadly.
“I know. I’m well aware of my worst outcome. It keeps me awake night after night.”
It was her worst outcome too, but she didn’t say a word. They were talking … willing to work it out. That was a step.
“Mommy, when are we going to the beach?” Pierce yelled from the kitchen.
“Go,” he said with a chuckle. “Take pictures, okay? Especially of his castle.”
“I will.”
“I love you,” he said hurriedly. She couldn’t say it in return. What he did, it broke her … and she was having a hard time piecing everything back together. Including her love for him. Right now, the hate still outweighed the love.
“Goodbye, Ethan.”
She hung up the phone, her emotions very mixed. But with each conversation, be it via text, email, or phone, Ethan left her clues on where to find all those pieces.
Mia
Indianapolis, June 29, 2015
Walking through the airport in Indianapolis, her sons holding on to her hands with Bridgette next to them with the luggage, Mia felt apprehensive and she knew exactly why—Ethan.
She hadn’t seen him in two weeks. He had texted her the day before, informing her that he’d be at the airport to pick them up. She told him he didn’t have to do that. He simply replied, “I do. See you tomorrow.”
So here they were, trudging through the concourse, her sons ogling the food stands, begging for hot pretzels, while her mind wandered to the other messages he’d sent while she’d been in California for the premiere of her new movie. The first text talked about his first time visiting her in L.A., right after her band scored their record deal, how whenever he thought about Los Angeles, he thought of her. The way she had run into his arms when he arrived. How much she wanted him; how much he wanted her. How he knew that he needed to be with her and that he’d do anything to have her.
She remembered feeling that exact way. After that visit, she knew she had found the one person that she wanted to spend her life with. Part of her still felt that way. The other part couldn’t believe that he’d done this, broke them with his choice to sleep with Kristen.
That whore. She didn’t want to think about her right now. Not with her two sons by her side. She didn’t want them to see