I crouched immediately. "Mason, put your headphones on."
"I don't want to."
"Please."
He started sobbing.
I hugged him and stood.
Tyler looked wrecked.
I didn't care.
"You were going to serve me divorce papers."
"I didn't want it to happen like this."
"How did you want it to happen?"
"I wanted us to talk privately."
Laila interrupted. "Tyler and I love each other."
I wanted to scream at her.
She continued. "We're having a child. He wants to be with me. Dragging this out isn't helping anyone."
I looked at Tyler. "Is that what you think too?"
He didn't answer quickly.
But eventually he nodded. "Our marriage has been over for a while."
That was news to me.
We had eaten dinner together Thursday.
We had watched a movie in bed Friday night.
He had kissed me goodbye that morning.
Apparently, my marriage had ended without anyone bothering to notify me.
Tyler said, "We can still be good parents to Mason."
Mason heard his name.
He looked up. "You're leaving us?"
Tyler stepped toward him. "Mason..."
My son backed away. "Don't touch me."
Tyler froze. I knew it was time to leave.
I grabbed our bags.
"We're going home."
"Please, let me explain things to him."
"You already did."
I took Mason downstairs and bought him ice cream because I had absolutely no idea what else to do.
He ate three bites. Then he asked, "Does Dad love her more than us?"
I nearly lost it.
Instead, I said, "Dad loving someone else doesn't mean he stopped loving you."
"What about you?"
I wouldn't lie. "I think your dad made choices that hurt me very badly."
His lip trembled. "Are we still a family?"
"We will always be a family."
"How?"
"Families can change and still be families."
I don't know where those words came from.
I barely believed them myself.
We flew home that evening.
The next morning, I called my lawyer.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she told me something important.
The affair itself would not automatically decide custody or finances in our state.
What mattered was evidence of marital spending, parenting patterns, assets, and anything affecting Mason's welfare.
"Document everything," she said. "Do not delete anything. Do not access accounts you aren't legally entitled to access."
So I didn't go hacking into Tyler's private accounts.
I didn't need to.
We had a desktop that Tyler normally used when he was home.
He had left his airline email and personal messages synced.
And apparently, once a man decides his marriage is already over, he gets careless.
I found months of messages.
Hotel confirmations and restaurant charges.
Photos and messages about Laila's pregnancy.
A copy of the prenatal paternity test they'd done after she became pregnant.
I forwarded everything I was legally able to access to Denise.
Two days later, Tyler came home while Mason was at school.
He packed clothes into two suitcases.
