“Jessica,” Jason said formally, “I’d like you to meet Skylar. My daughter.”
Jessica said nothing.
She looked one to the other, from Jason to Skylar and back again, taking this all in. It was unmistakable: Skylar was a younger, prettier female carbon copy of her husband.
“I know this must be a terrible shock to you,” Jason said. “It must be such a big surprise.
I promise you, I was going to tell you all about it and introduce you in good time. I—” he waved a hand at Skylar, “we just needed some time to come to terms with this ourselves.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jessica,” Skylar said gently. “Jason has told me so much about you already, and I feel like I know you.”
“I don’t know you, Skylar,” Jessica said.
“This is unbelievable. Why did you never tell me you have a daughter?”
Jason’s face twisted in pain. “I never knew,” he said, “I, I—” he broke off again.
“I’m so ashamed.” He hung his head and couldn’t say more.
“Skylar, how old are you?” Jessica asked.
“I’m twenty-one,” she replied.
Jessica did the math in her head instantly. “Twenty-one,” she repeated, “that means—” she broke off and looked at Jason. “That means we were already married when she was born,” she said.
Jason looked up, shaking his head.
“Jess, I am so, so sorry you had to find out like this.”
“Who is your mother, Skylar?” Jessica asked, ignoring Jason.
“Her name is Muriel,” she replied. “We live in the next state. I insisted that she reveal to me one day who my father was, and I tracked him down.
That day is finally here. Jason has let me intern at his work so we can spend time together and see if we can make this work. I want to get to know my father and have him in my life.”
“It was at that national work conference, Jess,” Jason explained.
“Twenty-one years ago. I am so sorry you had to find out like this. It was a one-night stand with a woman I met there.
I swear, just that one night.”
Jessica said nothing as she processed this information. “How many times have you cheated on me?” she asked Jason.
“I swear on my life, it was just that one time. I’ve been so ashamed of myself ever since, but now I must face it.
And make it up to both of you. Skylar, I am not ashamed of you. You are my flesh and blood; I will do right by you.
Jessica, I’ll do whatever you want me to do to make this right.”
Jessica shook her head. “This is too much for me to take in right now,” she said. “I don’t know what happens now.
I just don’t know.”
Dmitri came over to the table, topped up the empty wine glasses in front of Jason and Skylar, and placed one for Jessica. “Ma’am?” he offered, showing her the bottle of red wine in his hand.
“No, thank you,” Jessica said distractedly, deep in thought.
“Would you like to place your dinner order now, ma’am?” Dmitri asked.
“I’ll have what he’s having,” Jessica said, pointing at Jason’s plate.
“Certainly, ma’am,” Dmitri said and started walking away.
“Dmitri,” Jessica clarified, “I meant that literally; please bring it to me in a take-away box.”
“Ah, okay, I see, sure,” Dmitri said and removed the barely touched plate in front of Jason. “I’ll see to it right away.”
“We’ll talk about it when you get home, Jason.
But I can’t be here right now. You can sleep in the spare room tonight,” Jessica said. “Skylar,” she continued, “I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances.
I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other, but please excuse me right now.”
“Of course,” Skylar said. “I’m sorry, too. I hope we can be friends.”
Jessica nodded and stood up.
She met Dmitri halfway across the floor with the takeaway box. “Dmitri, I will be back to discuss what happened with my friend you didn’t find a seat for. I’d hate to think that this restaurant discriminates against anyone for any reason,” she said.
Dimitri hung his head in shame.
“Madam, you have my word. From now on, I will make space for everyone and anyone,” he said.
Jessica nodded. “Good,” she said.
Climbing back into the cab, Jessica reached over the seat and handed Musa the takeaway box.
“I promised you dinner, Musa,” she said. “Sorry about the presentation, but here it is. And if you ever go back to that restaurant, they will give you the best seat in the house.”
“Thank you, madam,” Musa said.
“Back home then?”
“Back home,” Jessica confirmed.
That night, Jessica decided to wait up for Jason. He came home not much later than she did. She padded down the stairs in slippers and a dressing gown, put the kettle on, and sat down at the kitchen table.
Jason sat opposite her.
“I knew you’d find out eventually,” Jason began. “I just didn’t want to hurt you at the time, and then years passed, and I somehow thought I had gotten away with it. Jess, I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this.”
“I feel like you’ve been lying to me all these years.
A lie by omission. When did you find out about Skylar?” Jessica asked.
“About a month ago,” Jason replied. “Out of the blue, I received an email from her telling me her story.
I hadn’t heard a word from her mother since that night at the conference. It was such a terrible mistake. Too much to drink, a hotel room within stumbling distance from the conference venue, temptation.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about Skylar sooner?” Jessica asked.
“We could have had it out then. Instead, you lied to me about working late and then went sneaking around with a young woman whom I thought you were having an affair with. Have you any idea how much this hurts!”
“I know.
I should have come clean about everything a long time ago. I was afraid. I was afraid that you would leave me.
I was afraid that you couldn’t forgive me,” Jason said.
“I can’t believe you kept this from me. We’re supposed to be a team. We’re supposed to share everything with each other.”
I made so many mistakes here. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t know if I can do this, Jason. I don’t know if I can come back from this,” Jessica finished saying.
She left the table and took herself to bed.
Jason spent two weeks in that spare room before the couple could come to some agreement on a way forward: they would seek counseling together and individually with a therapist.
Jessica sat across from the therapist, her heart heavy with betrayal. She couldn’t believe that Jason had kept his affair and daughter a secret from her for so long.
“I feel like I’ve been living a lie,” she said.
The therapist nodded sympathetically. “It’s understandable that you’re feeling that way.
It’s a lot to process.”
“I just don’t understand why he didn’t tell me,” Jessica said. “We’ve been married for thirty years. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“Jason probably thought that you would leave him if he told you about Skylar,” the therapist said.
“But that’s no excuse. He should have trusted you enough to be honest with you.”
Jessica sighed. “I know.
But it’s still hard to forgive him.”
“It’s going to take time,” the therapist said. “But if you’re both willing to work at it, you can rebuild trust.”
Jason spoke up. “I want to rebuild trust, Jessica.
I love you, and I want to stay married to you.”
Jessica looked at Jason for a long moment. She could see the sincerity in his eyes.
“I love you too, Jason,” she said. “But I need to see that you can be honest with me from now on.”
Jason nodded.
“I promise.”
The therapist smiled. “That’s a good start. Now, let’s talk about Skylar.”
Jessica’s heart skipped a beat.
“What about her?”
“Jason is excited to get to know her,” the therapist said. “And he wants to make up for lost time.”
Jessica swallowed hard. “I’m happy for Jason,” she said.
“But I’m also scared. I don’t know what it’s going to be like to have her in our lives. And there’s something more.”
Jessica lapsed into silence.
“It’s okay, Jessica,” the therapist encouraged.
“This is the time to say what you want to say.”
“All these years, Jason and I could never have children. We went for fertility testing. I was the one at fault.
The doctors said I would never have children. We tried everything: fertility treatment, IVF, everything, and it didn’t work. I felt like a failure as a woman.
I’ve kept that pain hidden all this time. Now, to hear of Jason’s betrayal makes it all the more painful.
