Lone eagle

They made love that morning before he left, and he kissed her one last time, and blew Reed a kiss.

“Try not to worry about it, sweetheart. I know you'll do the best you can. Better now, after a year, than five years from now. You're doing him a favor ending it this soon. He'll get married again and have a good life.” It irked her that Joe was so practical about it. It was easy being the winner. She was sure it was not going to seem quite so simple to Andy when he heard the news.

Kate took a cab to Idlewild at eleven o'clock.

She had brought Reed with her, and she was wearing a plain black dress, and black hat. She realized that she looked a little funereal when she left the house, but it seemed appropriate. For them at least, this was not going to be a happy day

She checked the list of arriving flights when she arrived at the airport, and saw that his flight was on time. And then, holding the baby close to her, she went to wait for him at the gate.

Andy was one of the first passengers off the plane.

He looked tired from the flight, and four months of hard work, but he smiled broadly the moment he saw his wife and son, and kissed her so hard he knocked off her hat.

“I've missed you so much, Kate!” He took the baby out of her arms and couldn't believe how much he'd grown. Reed was nearly eight months old by then. He had eight teeth and could almost stand up by himself. And as Andy held him, he reached for his mother and started to scream.

“He doesn't even know who I am anymore,” Andy looked crushed, and as they walked out of the airport, he put an arm around her.

He felt as though he'd been gone for years. He not only felt as though the baby didn't know who he was, he could tell that Kate was ill at ease with him, and when he looked at her as they drove home in a cab, she looked strange. She said she was happy to see him, but she looked like someone had died. She asked him about Germany, and the trials, but when he tried to hold her hand in the cab, she pulled it away to look for something in her purse. She didn't want to mislead him more than she already had.

Kate made lunch for all of them when they got home, and put Reed down for a nap afterward. All she wanted was to get it over with. She couldn't wait. She didn't want to play out a farce with him. He deserved more respect from her than that."

"“Kate, are you all right?” he asked after she put the baby to bed. She looked suddenly older and more serious in the somber black dress.