I'm going to plead mea culpa, this was never intended to be a series. 'Night Flight' started out as just a short story about two souls and a chance encounter. 'Return' came to me with the premise that they meet again and circumstances keep them together longer. 'Finale' kept me awake one night with the consequences of that. Comments on any or all of them would be appreciated.
As Rose walked toward the security checkpoint, she held back tears and fought the desire to turn and look at Jack. She knew if that happened, she would run back to his arms and never want to leave. No one had ever touched her that way, both physically and emotionally. They had known each other less than 3 days, but maybe this was what love-at-first-sight was like. It would never work, he was old enough to be her father, maybe even her grandfather. Rose chuckled to herself a little about what her parents would say if she brought him home. No, it was better this way. She would keep and treasure this time for the rest of her life.
She made her way to the gate and boarded the flight. Due to the cancellations, the plane was full. She did manage to get a window seat a little further back and spent most of the time looking out.
Rose threw herself into her work to help keep her mind off Jack. A few weeks later, she realized her period had been almost non-existent. She passed it off as due to her work and long hours, it had happened before. A month after, she had been feeling queasy in the mornings and her period hadn't come again. With a little trepidation, she bought a couple pregnancy test kits. First one, then the second showed the telltale blue lines that she was pregnant. A dozen thoughts went through her mind. Should she contact Jack and tell him? She knew where he lived and had seen his full name and address on a letter while she was there. Would she keep the baby? That one was easy, a resounding YES. What would her parents think? Would she tell them who the father was? Could she keep doing her job? All those and more. She slept fitfully that night.
Rose woke in the morning with a clear vision of what she would do. Contact Jack and tell him? No. This was on her; he had asked about protection and she told him it was safe. Plus, he would want to do the right thing and marry her. He had already raised 2 children, both of whom were older than her. Starting again with a newborn wouldn't be fair to him. Not to mention how his family would react. As for her parents, well she wouldn't be showing for a few months yet so there was time to figure out how to tell them. She would ask about her job, but maybe something could be worked out with her doing remote video presentations. Right now her main concern would be taking care of herself and her baby.
She started eating healthier and didn't go out with her colleagues on Friday nights. She was in a one-bedroom apartment in the city because it was close to work but started looking for something with two bedrooms so she could have a nursery. By five months, Rose couldn't hide her pregnancy any longer. Everything was progressing normally and at one of her checkups, they asked if she wanted to know the sex of her baby. Nodding yes, they told her "it's a boy". Her parents almost flipped out when she told them, especially when she wouldn't say who the father was. But the fact that they were getting another grandson helped to smooth things over.
Rose's due date came, and right on schedule, her contractions started. She headed for the hospital and late that day delivered a beautiful, healthy baby boy. One of his features were the steel gray-blue eyes. She named him Jack although there had never been anyone by that name in the family history. When questioned, all Rose did was smile. She was set to leave the hospital the next day when a large bouquet of bright red roses was delivered. The delivery person confirmed they were for her, but there was no message, and nothing to indicate who sent them.
Being a single mother was difficult, but whenever she was discouraged, Rose looked in her son's eyes. She would remember her time with 'big' Jack and it gave her the strength to go on. Her parents quickly became enamored with 'little' Jack, although she never called him that, and would take him when she had to run a lot of errands, or the occasional trip for work. Her sister would also come over with her kids who were thrilled to have another cousin. A couple of times, Rose had flight connections through Jack's airport. She was always nervous about the slight chance of seeing him again. But it never happened.
Once Jack became a rambunctious two-year-old, Rose realized she needed to move out of an apartment and find a house. She looked for months, but they were either too far away, too expensive, or needed too much work. She was sitting in despair at her apartment after having looked at yet another house when her phone chimed. Could she come look at a house right away? It was a private sale by an older couple. They preferred to sell to a young family, but of course the law wouldn't allow them to advertise that. She bundled up Jack and headed to the address they texted her. It was a small house in the older part of the city, but still close enough that driving to her work wouldn't be a problem. She met the couple who were thrilled with Jack. The house had been well maintained and had a garage and a fenced back yard. The couple said a lot of houses in the neighborhood now belonged to families with young children. Rose fell in love with it, but then waited for the proverbial other shoe to drop. How much was it? Timidly she asked and they gave her a price much lower than she expected and well within her budget. She immediately said, 'I'll take it' and with tears flowing, she hugged and thanked both of them. Two months after, Rose and Jack moved into their own home.
