I Taught My Son to Call His Father “Uncle Ethan” Chapter 05
Chapter 5 The Day We Left First
I changed our tickets.
The new flight was for three that afternoon.
Today.
After confirming the passenger information, I finished the last of the preparations.
At nine in the morning, I made breakfast in that home for the final time.
The cake Ethan had brought back was still in the refrigerator.
Leo took it out and threw it into the trash.
At ten, the lawyer returned the divorce agreement to me.
Ethan’s signature was already on it.
The first clause stated that I would have custody of our son.
While I was handling that, Serena posted again.
“The family portrait is ready! The kid and his dad love it so much. They want to hang it where everyone can
see.”
Leo was beside me, folding paper airplanes.
He saw the post.
He said nothing.
After a moment, he only urged me, “Mom, sign it.”
At one in the afternoon, after lunch, Leo and I got into a cab with our luggage.
There were still two hours before Ethan was supposed to meet us.
Leo held his tablet and scrolled through the album in silence.
There was a photo from his one-month celebration, Ethan holding him up proudly for everyone to see.
There was one from when he was three, sitting in Ethan’s arms during a yellow cartoon mascot movie, both of them flashing peace signs.
There was also a video from this year, before Serena came back.
Ethan had been behind Leo, guiding his little hands while teaching him to ride a bike.
Leo watched them again and again.
He did not cry.
But grief filled the cab anyway, thick enough to close around the throat.
I sat beside him quietly.
At two, we prepared to go through security.
Ethan called.
“Zoey, tell Leo I’m sorry. Teddy fell and got hurt. I have to take him to the hospital. I’m not sure I can make it by three. If you can’t wait, just go home first. Please tell Leo I’m sorry.”
He hung up almost immediately.
He never heard the boarding announcement over the terminal speakers.
I held out my hand.
“Let’s go.”
Leo nodded.
Then he selected every photo in the album and deleted all of them.
At exactly three o’clock, our plane took off.
I placed headphones over Leo’s ears and looked out at the blue sky beyond the window.
For the first time in a long while, I exhaled fully.
Goodbye, Ethan Cross.
At that same time, Ethan was rushing out of the hospital despite Serena’s crying.
He was driving toward Dreamland Studios.
