By the time two months had passed, Mason was barely home. When he was there, he was distant and distracted. He’d look at his phone and smile at something, then catch me watching, and the smile would disappear.
“Who’s texting you?” I asked once.
“Just work stuff,” he said, not meeting my eyes.
I wanted to push. I wanted to grab that phone and see for myself. But I was so tired and worn down by loss and loneliness that I just nodded and went back to staring at nothing.
My sister, Delaney, has always had a gift for making everything about her.
When I graduated from college, she announced her successful interview on the same day. When I got my first promotion, she showed up at the celebration dinner in a neck brace from a “car accident” that turned out to be a minor fender bender in a parking lot.
So when she called a family gathering three months after my miscarriage, I should’ve known something was coming.
We were all at my parents’ house. Mom had made her famous pot roast. Dad was carving the meat. My aunt Sharon was complaining about her neighbors. It was almost normal, almost comfortable, until Delaney stood up and tapped her wine glass with a fork.
“Everyone, I have an announcement,” she said, her voice trembling just enough to get attention.
My mother’s face lit up. “Oh, honey, what is it?”
Delaney placed a hand on her stomach. Her eyes were already shining with tears.
“I’m pregnant!”
The room exploded with congratulations. My mother actually screamed and rushed over to hug her. My aunt Sharon started crying. Dad stood there looking proud and protective.
I sat frozen in my chair, feeling like I’d been slapped.
“But there’s something else,” Delaney continued, and now the tears were really flowing. “The father… he doesn’t want anything to do with us. He left me. Told me he wasn’t ready to be a dad and just… walked away.”
My mother’s hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, sweetheart. Oh no.”
“I’m going to be doing this alone,” Delaney sobbed. “I’m so scared. I don’t know how I’m going to manage.”
Everyone rushed to comfort her. They promised they’d help. They told her how strong she was, how brave, and how she’d be an amazing mother.
No one looked at me. No one asked how I was doing. My grief, my loss, my empty arms… it all disappeared under the weight of Delaney’s new tragedy.
Three weeks later, the invitation came. Delaney was throwing a gender reveal party, and I was invited.
“You don’t have to go,” Mason said when I showed him the pink envelope.
It was one of the few nights he was actually home. We were in the kitchen. He was drinking a beer. I was picking at a salad I had no interest in eating.
“She’s my sister.”
“She’s also been pretty insensitive about everything you’ve been through.”
I looked at him, surprised. It was the most he’d acknowledged my feelings in weeks.
“I think I should go,” I said. “It’ll look weird if I don’t.”
“Will you come with me?”
Something flickered across his face. “I can’t. I’ve got that meeting in Riverside. Remember?”
“On a Saturday?”
“Henderson wants to meet at his lake house. It’s a whole weekend thing.”
I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him I needed him there, that I couldn’t face my sister’s happiness alone. But the words stuck in my throat.
“Okay,” I said instead.
A stressed woman | Source: Midjourney
A stressed woman | Source: Midjourney
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The party was exactly what I’d expected. Delaney’s backyard was decorated with white and gold balloons, streamers everywhere, and a dessert table that looked like it cost more than my monthly salary.
There was a giant box in the center of the yard that would release either pink or blue balloons when opened.
Delaney was holding court in the middle of it all, wearing a flowing white dress that showed off her bump.
She looked radiant. Glowing. Everything I was supposed to look like.
A gender reveal party setup | Source: Pexels
A gender reveal party setup | Source: Pexels
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“Oakley!” She spotted me the second I walked in and rushed over. “You came! I wasn’t sure you would.”
“Of course I came.”
She hugged me, and I felt the swell of her stomach press against me. Something inside me cracked a little more.
“Where’s Mason?” she asked, pulling back.
“Work thing.”
“On a Saturday? Poor guy works so hard.” Her smile was sympathetic, but something in her eyes looked almost… amused.
“Yeah. He does.”
A woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
A woman smiling | Source: Midjourney
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The party progressed. There were games. People guessed whether it was a boy or a girl. Delaney opened presents and cried over tiny onesies and stuffed animals. Every laugh, every squeal of excitement, felt like a knife twisting in my chest.
“You okay?” my cousin Rachel asked, touching my arm.
“I’m fine. Just need some air.”
I slipped away from the crowd and headed to the back corner of the yard, where Delaney had a little garden area with a bench. I sat down, closed my eyes, and tried to breathe.
That’s when I heard them.
“You’re sure she doesn’t suspect anything?”
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It was Mason’s voice. My Mason. The Mason, who was supposed to be in Riverside at a business meeting.
A shaken woman | Source: Midjourney
A shaken woman | Source: Midjourney
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“Please,” Delaney laughed. “She’s so wrapped up in her own misery, she barely notices when you’re in the same room.”
I opened my eyes. Through the rose bushes, I could see them. Mason and Delaney. Standing close. Too close.
Then he kissed her.
It wasn’t a friendly peck. It wasn’t an accident. It was deep and intimate and familiar, the kiss of two people who’d done it a thousand times before.
A couple kissing each other | Source: Unsplash
A couple kissing each other | Source: Unsplash
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My legs moved before my brain caught up. I stumbled through the bushes, thorns catching on my dress.
“What the hell is going on?!”
They sprang apart. Mason’s face went white. Delaney just smiled.
“Oakley,” Mason started. “This isn’t…”
“Isn’t what? That you weren’t kissing my sister? Because that’s exactly what it looked like!”
People were starting to notice the commotion. Voices quieted. Heads turned.
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
A shocked man | Source: Midjourney
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Delaney stepped forward. She wasn’t crying anymore. She looked calm and relieved.
“You know what, Oakley? We were going to tell you, eventually. But since you caught us, might as well put it all out there.” She placed both hands on her stomach. “Mason is the father of my baby.”
The world stopped spinning. I couldn’t breathe or think.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.” She looked at Mason. “Tell her.”
A woman standing with a man | Source: Midjourney
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