Who'd Have Thought

by G. Benson

  When the drink cart came around, Sam asked for a straight whiskey so fast Hayden actually did laugh.

  So Sam said, “We’ll be with your family in less than three hours.”

  Hayden’s smile fell away, and she ordered the same. And she didn’t even like whiskey.

  The flight attendant chuckled. “A weekend with the in-laws?”

  She directed the question at Sam. Which was hilarious. Then Hayden remembered they were wearing those obvious rings, and what Sam had just said. After a split second, Sam nodded once, smiling benignly.

  “First time meeting them, in fact.”

  The flight attendant gave a sympathetic tut. “Ouch. Well, good luck.”

  “Thank you.” Sam tipped her drink toward her, and Hayden waited until the woman was engaged with the next passenger before she whispered something.

  “Was that you being social?”

  “Sometimes I can fake it.” Sam rested back against her seat, spinning her plastic cup on the tray in front of her.

  “Is it really faking it if you’re doing a good job at it?”

  Sam rolled her head to look at her. Her hair was mussed, as if she’d gotten out of bed without doing much to it. It made her look less put together, but in a good way. They’d needed to wake up hours before sunrise to make their flight. “Mostly, yes. I really don’t see the point of small talk.”

  Sam was kind of fascinating. And infuriating. And still kind of rude sometimes. And she really didn’t get a lot of what came out of Hayden’s mouth. But her way of viewing the world was fascinating.

  “Okay.” Hayden took a sip of her drink and tried not to choke at the taste. Sam went back to her laptop.

  This was going to be the weirdest weekend ever. And they were going to have to be a convincing couple. Hayden had lost all smug feelings about making Sam suffer too, and it was only now sinking in how complicated she’d made it by saying they were both going. Yes, they would have had to meet her family at the same time eventually to convince them. But staying in their house? And so soon?

  And Hayden still hadn’t filled Sam in on everything she needed to know. But the thought of doing it made her mouth go dry. It felt like cracking her chest open and exposing something of herself. Something Hayden had tried hard not to do with anyone, especially her fake wife that she was still learning to get along with, let alone like enough to share her private life with.

  Luce didn’t even know the entire story.

  At this point, Hayden wasn’t sure how much she could share without Sam guessing the rest. Or without having to expose the rest herself.

  But they would be there soon, and Sam needed a heads up before they were literally there.

  With a deep breath, she turned to Sam. Who was tapping away at her laptop.

  “Sam?”

  She tapped a few more keys then turned her head, her fingers staying on the keyboard. “Yes?”

  “It’s… Can I tell you something? That I think, maybe, you need to know?”

  “This sounds extremely serious.”

  Hayden’s pulse was thundering in her ears. “It’s not. Really. I mean, it’s not fun. But it’s not a big deal.”

  Sam closed her laptop and turned in her chair. Hayden’s voice was almost a whisper, and, luckily, no one was in the seat next to Sam. But it still felt strange to be having this conversation here, of all places. Surrounded by people and breathing in gross recycled air. It felt like the air vents were going to suck up her secrets and spit them out for everyone to sort through.

  “Does it concern this weekend?”

  “Yes.” Hayden swallowed. Yeah. Dry mouth. Like she had any other time she’d thought of bringing this up before being stuck on a plane and getting closer and closer to Miami. She took a sip of the whiskey, but mid-sip thought better and drank it all back, the ice hitting her top lip. When she put the glass down, Sam could not have looked more confused.

  “And you thought you’d wait until right before we land to tell me this thing that makes you drink whiskey like a teenager taking their first ever shot?”

  “Apparently?”

  “You like to avoid issues, don’t you?”

  Hayden held the cup just for something to cling to. “Hey, we’re spotlighting one issue today, not two.”

  “Continue.”

  “I just… My mom has early onset Alzheimer’s.”

  Sam pressed her lips together. She looked like she did at work when she’d shared difficult news with a patient and they freaked out. Apparently that face was her figuring out what the hell was appropriate to say.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally managed. And she nailed it.

  Hayden swallowed. “Thank you. She lives with my sister, grandmother, and nephew. He’s four. Javi. You might like him.” Sam’s face sang a different tune, and Hayden tried to picture her interacting with a kid. It was hard. “But, yeah. Uh. That’s all. I just thought you should know before we get there.”

  “Okay.” Sam sat back against her seat, but didn’t move to open her laptop. She stared straight ahead at the back of the chair in front of her.

  Hayden sighed. “You can ask questions.”

  Sam turned back to face her. “How old is she?”

  That always caused a stab in Hayden’s chest. Because her mother was too young to have to deal with this. “Fifty-five.”

  “When did she first show symptoms?”

  Hayden broke eye contact with eyes too intense, instead watching her cup as she flicked her nail over the rim. “At first we thought she was busy. Distracted, you know? She worked a lot; she always had, but especially the two or so years before. My dad had left and wasn’t doing anything to help us. I finally convinced her to go to the doctor, and that led to a whole round of tests. She was diagnosed at forty-seven.”

  “So you were nineteen? Twenty?”

  “Almost twenty.” The burn of Sam’s gaze was like a red-hot brand, but Hayden couldn’t bring herself to look up. Sam would connect the dots. She was too quick with these things not to.

  “Around when you dropped out of premed.”

  Hayden winced. There it was, the slap of truth. “Yes. I found out right after you saw me when I was shadowing a doctor.”

  “Did you have to give up college to go home?”

  Hayden let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t have to. But my sister, Sofia, was pregnant. And my grandmother was looking after my grandfather. He had Alzheimer’s too. He died four years ago.”

  “So you went home?”

  “I did. She didn’t need constant care then, and I worked and looked after her for a year.”

  When Hayden finally looked up, Sam’s face was full of questions. She asked the most basic one. “But why didn’t you go back to medicine?”

  There it was. Hayden had never spoken about it. Why bother? It was what it was, even if it sucked. “She had no health insurance. There were a lot of tests, medications, doctor’s visits. The money my parents had put away for my college degree went toward that. My sister had used her money earlier. She hadn’t wanted to study. She’d gone on a trip for a year, backpacking. It’s, uh, complicated.”

  “Why did your father allow you to spend your college money on that?”

  “Because he’s an asshole.”

  Sam clearly had no idea how to respond to that. “Oh.”

  “He cut us all out of his life. For reasons. Disappeared. He’d been fairly well off, and I had a pretty great childhood. Our college funds were in our names, and the house stayed with Mom, but he took his money with him and got out of paying anything else because, well…because. With no alimony agreement, she lost her insurance. Her new job didn’t provide it, and she couldn’t afford it.”

  “Charming.”

  Hayden huffed a laugh. “It wasn’t, actually. But, well, that’s it. We could have sold the house, but we wanted Mom in familiar surroundings. It was the house I grew up in.” Plus, it had seemed like a final slap to all of them.

  “I had a little money lef
t, and rather than use it all, I combined it with a scholarship I could get to become a nurse, which would mean I’d have money to send home to help them all out. My sister lost the baby, and she moved in to live with Mom. She worked her ass off, like I did while I studied, to have some money for her. Then Abuela moved in too. I go back sometimes, but mostly I work a lot try to make sure they have enough money for meds and anything else they need.”

  Because over eight years of med school and who knew how many more years until she actually earned any decent money would have left them all struggling. Because even with the little bit of money she had to pay for school and the scholarship she’d gotten, she’d still been forced to take out terrible student loans whose repayments still ate up much of her monthly budget.

  “I’m sorry, Hayden.”

  Hayden shrugged. “Thanks. We’ve all made peace with it now. Mom is just floating in the middle stage of the disease. She’s mostly happy, really. Well, usually. Calm. But she wanders a lot. It’s a waiting game, really.”

  “Were you close with your mother?”

  “Yes. We were always a close family. Now?” Hayden chewed on the inside of her cheek, not bothering to stop herself. “Now, it’s hard. My sister wants me to live in Miami to help more. Abuela just wants me to visit more at this point.”

  “But you have a very secure job. And you gave up your career to help already.”

  “I guess. I also pay for an assistant to come three days a week and to stay one night a week. My sister works, so it gives her and my abuela a break too.”

  “But your sister wants you to do more?”

  Hayden hesitated. “Maybe I’m selfish. But this is what works for me.”

  Sam looked her straight in the eye. “I don’t think you’re selfish. Not at all.”

  For some reason, Hayden’s cheeks warmed. “Thanks. That actually helps.”

  Without further ado, Sam turned back to her laptop, her hands falling back to the keys and resuming typing without hesitation.

  Well, that could have gone worse.

  Maybe Sam didn’t know everything about Hayden’s dad, but that didn’t matter anyway.

  Now, at least, she knew what she was getting into.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Hayds!”

  Her sister’s arms were around her before Hayden had even registered she was there. She smelled the same. Like home. Like Sofia.

  “Sofe. Hey.”

  She squeezed tighter. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Hayden gave a squeeze back and pulled away. She squatted on the ground, throwing her arms out. “Javi.”

  The little boy poked his head around his mother’s legs, before ducking back behind them.

  Hayden sighed dramatically. “I thought I saw Javi, but he’s disappeared.” She sighed again. “Sofia, did you not even bring your terror of a child here to see me?”

  His head popped back around, his hair a wild mop of dark brown curls and dimples in his chubby cheeks. “I’m not a terror!”

  Hayden threw her hand over her heart and pretended to fall backward on the cold airport floor. “Where did you come from?”

  He giggled wildly. “I’m magic.”

  “You must be. You appeared out of nowhere.” She held her arms out again. “Do I get a hug?”

  He bolted into her arms, and this time, she really did fall backward, landing on her behind. She couldn’t have cared less, though. He gave her a full-body hug, his arms and legs wrapping around her. Hayden buried her face in his neck, breathing him in—a combination of grass, child, and kiddie shampoo.

  “Who’s that?”

  His voice was next to her ear, and Hayden turned awkwardly. Sam was standing a few feet back between two carry-on suitcases. Hayden released Javi, who stepped back and was against Sofia’s legs again in an instant.

  “That’s Sam.”

  Heaving herself off the ground, Hayden made herself smile. Sofia was watching her, amused.

  Hayden stepped back and held out a hand. To Sam’s credit, she barely missed a beat. Her left hand, warm and smooth, slid into Hayden’s, their fingers interlocked. Hayden tugged gently so that she was standing with her side against Hayden’s. This felt more intimate than their strange wedding-day kiss, more so than a hand on her knee or her chest brushing into Hayden’s back. Especially under the scrutiny of Sofia’s watchful eye. Javi gazed at them, his fingers wrapped around the hem of Sofia’s shirt. She was probably imagining it, but she swore she could feel Sam’s ring digging into her finger.

  “Sofia, Javi, this is Sam. My wife. Sam, this is my sister and nephew.”

  “I’m a terror.” Javi beamed.

  Sam looked unsure, as Hayden snorted. She stepped forward, their hands still linked, and held her right hand out to Sofia. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Sofia took her hand, a smile on her lips. But her eyes narrowed; something not entirely friendly. If Hayden didn’t know her sister so well, she’d fall for the smile and miss the look in her eyes. But Sofia had had the same look on her face when she’d said in front of their mom once that she forgave Hayden for breaking her soccer cleats. The next day, Hayden had found mud in the bottom of her bed.

  “You too, Sam.”

  Javi stared up at her. “Tía Hayden telled me that she thinks marriage is stupid.”

  The hand in hers squeezed tighter.

  Sofia cackled.

  Hayden laughed. “I did say that, yeah.”

  He turned that earnest gaze on Hayden. “You did. On the ’puter when we talked.”

  Hayden swallowed. She didn’t want to lie to Javi. He was at an age where he believed what you told him. She hadn’t even meant to say that in front of him, but she hadn’t known he was in the room when she’d been talking to Sofia. “It seemed like the best idea for us.”

  “Oh. Okay. Can we get ice cream before home?”

  If only her entire family would be as easily convinced as a distractible four-year-old. The walk out to the car bordered on awkward, but it was always going to. When they got there, Javi shrieked as soon as Sofia went to lift him into his car seat. She quickly dropped her hands.

  “Javi, what the—what?”

  He crossed his arms. “I want Sam to put me in.”

  Sam, who had walked around the other side of the car to get in, slowly appeared back around. “Excuse me?”

  Javi kept his arms crossed and turned to stare at her. “I want you to buckle me in.”

  “Uh—” Sam was rarely wordless. Huh. Hayden did nothing to help, just tried to smother her smirk and walked around the car, sliding into the back seat so she could sit next to Javi—and also watch this unfold.

  “Can you? Please?”

  His lisped s was pretty adorable when he threw in the puppy-dog eyes. Sofia hovered, most likely not wanting her kid to be a nuisance but looking as entertained as Hayden felt.

  “Okay,” Sam said, and he turned back to clamber into the car, grinning at Hayden. Kids were so weird.

  He settled himself into the car seat and looked expectantly at Sam, who ducked into the car and tugged at the straps, looking at the entire thing as if she had no idea what to do with it all. This from the woman who could fix brains.

  Javi wriggled his arms under the arm straps. “These parts go here.”

  “Right.”

  He pointed a pudgy finger at the two clips on the ends that needed to be pushed together and at the piece that would then be clipped in between his legs. The front door slammed as Sofia got into the driver’s seat, and Hayden flicked her gaze to the front. She was watching from the rearview mirror, her eyes squinting as she suppressed a chuckle.

  “These bits all go together. Like a puzzle.”

  The z was more a lisped s than anything. He always made Hayden aww internally, but Sam looked like she’d been given an incredibly important mission. She picked the two pieces up and tried to press them together, but as she tried to push that into the piece between his legs, it all fell apart. Hayden bit back l
aughter as it happened again three times. Eventually, she guffawed, and the dirty look Sam shot her should have been enough to make her shut up, but it only made her laugh harder.

  “Sam.” Sam looked at Javi, her face a foot away from his sincere expression. “You don’t know what you’re doing, doesn’t you?”

  Sam rolled her eyes, but a smile crinkled the corners around them. “I really don’t. I’ve never done this before.”

  His eyes widened. “Never?”

  “No. Never.”

  “You can learn. Tía Hayden did.”

  Sam looked at her. “Maybe Hayden could help me?”

  “But you’re doing so well on your own,” Hayden said.

  Sam’s eyes narrowed further, so Hayden slipped her hands between Sam’s and the buckle. Sam pulled her hand away and watched as Hayden quickly snapped the pieces in. She gave a tug on the straps over his shoulder and gave Javi a thumbs-up.

  “All good?”

  “Yup.” He gave a thumbs-up of his own.

  Sam closed the door and hovered between joining them in the back and sitting in the front. Hayden pointed through the window to the front seat, and she obeyed. Sofia started the car.

  Within five minutes, they were headed toward the city, the airport fading behind them.

  “Look, Tía. Planes.” Javi had his entire hand smooshed onto the glass of his window.

  She dipped her head level with his to stare out where he was indicating. “Wow. How many?”

  “Many. Many, many.” He turned his head, his hand still on the glass and his eyes huge. “Maybe a thousand.”

  “Wow. That’s a lot. Where do you think they’re going?”

  “New York.” He said it as if he was sure. Hayden could hear Sam and Sofia talking in the front, but her attention was on Javi. He changed so much every time she visited.

  “New York? Why there?”

  “That’s where you live. So where else?”

  Interesting logic.

  He kept her entertained like that the entire drive. It was forty minutes to their house, and the city sprawled around them the whole way. Occasionally, she tried to prod the two in front into conversation, but their interactions were stilted and strange.

  When they entered their neighborhood, Hayden asked, “Is Abuela with Mom?”