Chapter 2

[Addison]

It is hard to keep my smile from cracking as Michael approaches, but somehow I manage to keep my expression sunny as I make my way over to my family. 

“Addy,” Michael looks a bit out of breath as he reaches over and places a hand on my shoulder, looking up at the balloons with a frown. “Why are you here? I thought you had a new case to work on.” 

“I promised Jayson we’d have a special day,” I grin down at my son, who is clinging to the woman’s hand, not meeting my gaze. “So I shifted things around. I told you about this last week and...” 

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” my husband interrupts, “I just wasn’t expecting you to be here is all. I was in the neighborhood when I learned that my old friend,” he smiles at Evelyn as if they were indeed old friends instead of bitter ex-lovers, “had just come home from her time overseas and was interviewing at a few places nearby. I thought…”

“Mommy, why are you ruining my birthday,” Jayson hisses up at me, his small face red with anger. “Mama Evelyn was going to take us out to ice cream! And a barbeque! Oh, and we were going to go buy me presents and…” 

I hitch my breath. “Mama Evelyn?” I raise an eyebrow, glaring at Michael who blushes and looks away. “Excuse me?”

“It’s just a silly nickname,” Evelyn dismisses my concern as she kneels next to Jayson to hug him. “Isn’t that right, my little bear?”

Dimples form on my son’s cheeks as he nods joyfully, leaning his head against her shoulder. My stomach sours as I watch this display of affection. He’s rarely that cuddly with me anymore. 

“Jayson, I made your favorite dinner, and we have treats waiting at home,” I try to keep my voice light although my heart is crumbling around the edges. “You can’t have ice cream, you’re lactose intolerant. And barbeque is far too greasy, it’ll upset your stomach.” 

“You never let me do ANYTHING!” Jayson shouts, pushing me out of the way as he runs off towards the playground where the other students are coming out for recess. 

Michael, his face red, announces he’ll get Jayson back here right away. “That’s no way for him to behave,” he grumbles, storming off.

“Michael, remember, he’s just a kid,” I call after him. If I weren’t in these impractical princess heels, I’d rush after the two of them to make sure Michael doesn’t get carried away with his harsh discipline. He forgets sometimes that Jayson is only 6.

“Oh let them be,” Evelyn says from behind me. “Michael has always been so level-headed. He doesn’t need help with his son.” 

Tilting my head, I turn to meet her gaze straight on. “Is that so.” 

Smiling sheepishly, Evelyn holds out her hand. “I guess I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Evelyn Valentine, an old college friend of Mikey,” she uses my husband’s old nickname and I cringe. Nobody’s called him that since college. 

“Oh, I know who you are,” I smile back. “Michael told me all about you before we got married.” 

Her face blanches and her smile fades but only for a moment before she tosses her long blonde hair over one shoulder, showcasing her elegant swan-neck as she flashes me an even more dazzling smile. “Silly me, of course.”

She then tilts her head to one side, then the other. “It’s strange how much you look like me,” she laughs, “We could almost be sisters. Wouldn’t that be something?”

It feels like she’s trying to press salt into a wound, as if I needed it pointed out that I’m like a poor copy of the original. The first time I found her picture in his wallet by accident, I cried.

 “It’s just a memory from the past,” he had told me just before covering it with our wedding photo. “See, now it’s fixed.”

Michael had convinced me that he preferred how much down-to-earth and approachable I am. But now, standing next to her, I feel…faded, plain, dull.

Taking a deep breath, I set my smile again and try my best to be pleasant. “So, you’re staying in town for a while?”

“Oh yes, I’m actually going to be a teacher at this school,” her eyes flash brightly as she confesses her exciting news. “That means I’ll be seeing both Michael and Jayson a lot more. I hope this won’t be a problem.” 

Her tone isn’t exactly unfriendly, but it doesn’t feel kind either. As I stand there, not sure what to say, her lips curve at the edges, daring me to say something. 

I don’t get a chance to respond before Michael sweeps back toward us with an upset Jayson over his shoulder. “We’re leaving!” he leans over and kisses Evelyn on the cheek before pulling me along by the arm back towards the gate. Jayson is crying, kicking his feet, and demanding to go out with “Mama Evelyn” for food he can’t digest. 

“I’ll be home late,” my husband apologizes as he buckles his angry and exhausted child into the booster seat. “Don’t wait up.” 

By the time we reach home, Jayson is fast asleep. Pulling him out of his booster carefully, I transfer him to the couch, covering him with one of the comforters I keep there for times like this. When he’s asleep, his face is so sweet, it is easy to remember he’s still barely more than a baby. I’ve been by his side since he was an infant. He was only one when Micahel brought him home–an abandoned baby left in a basket by the dumpster. 

I fell in love with him instantly. From the moment his little eyes locked with mine, I became his mother. He was a sickly child, with so many issues and illnesses, so I put my career on hold to stay near him, working part-time at Michael’s firm. We even put off having kids of our own so that Jayson could have all of our attention. 

“Let’s wait,” he asked the last time I brought up the subject. “Just a little while longer.” 

I’m starting to wonder when that “little time longer” will be. I’d love to give Jayson a little brother or sister. Especially now that he’s growing too big to give me as many hugs and kisses as he used to. I miss the snuggles. 

“My sweet boy is growing up so fast,” kissing his brow.

I go to the kitchen to make my son a snack for when he wakes up. “I’ll leave them in his room, near his new presents, so he can have both at the same time.” 

Just then, I receive a quick text from Michael, “Taken Jayden for a quick lunch,” See you for dinner.” 

“Oh,” I look around at the party I’ve prepared. Balloons and streamers line every surface, and a pile of presents sits next to the table. Taking his meal from the oven and placing it in the refrigerator, I sit down and sigh. “I guess we’ll meet up for dinner.”

Picking up Jayden’s things from school, I take them upstairs to his bedroom and place them on his desk. Because I feel guilty about how the afternoon started, I also leave him a little treat, one of his favorite gluten-free dairy-free cupcakes, on his nightstand to find later when he gets home. 

Smiling at the thought of his reaction when he finds the treat, I turn to leave, forgetting that I’m wearing a ridiculously fluffy party dress. The skirt knocks over the book of fables that Michael reads to Jayson every night at bedtime. Carefully I pick it up, trying to preserve the page they marked with a long thin piece of paper. 

“Where did they…?”

As I pick it up to put it back into the book, I notice It’s one of those long strips of photos you get from a photo booth. Micahel is holding Jayson on his shoulders and standing next to a smiling blonde woman who looks up at both of them with love and affection.  

“Mommy and Daddy,” the picture says on the back. The time stamp on the corner says this image was taken 3 months ago. 

Except that it isn’t me. It’s Evelyn.