Taylor
Two Years Later
I’m never nervous when I board a plane, but here I am with sweaty palms and a racing heart. A plane is my safe space, the place where I feel confident and I know my shit, but what I’m about to do is entirely out of my comfort zone.
But I’m doing it for Jake.
Because I know he’ll love it.
Because he makes me happy every single day.
I never thought I’d be the girl who wants to come home to a guy. The girl who would rather spend time at home curled up on the couch with her man next to her.
But this is who I’ve become and as much as I want to cringe, I also have fallen in love with the greatest man I’ve ever met. He changed my life, my view on the world, the way I see men. And I hope one day, our kids will see what an amazing father they have.
I grew up with a dad who supported everything I did in my life, and when I married my ex, I knew it wouldn’t be that way. I knew he wouldn’t understand my need to advance within the airline world, he wouldn’t understand how to raise children who just get women.
He was never that guy and his attempt to ruin it all for me was pretty damn successful until I met Jake. Letting him in was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made, but it was well worth it. It’s worth it every single day.
And here I am about to do something that is right up his alley, something he would do, and it’s going to shock the hell out of him.
I wait till the plane is full, knowing we have about a thirty-minute delay, I might as well use this time. I’ve clued in my first officer and the flight attendants, and when I glance out the cockpit door, I can see Jake sitting in the first row of the main cabin, grabbing a seat wherever he could.
He wasn’t booked on the flight. He had just come in from an overnight flight out of Sydney and now I’m on the way to Oahu, a place where I finally gave in to my feelings for him all those years back.
I asked him to join me, and we’d take a vacation and a little trip down memory lane to go along with what I’m about to do.
He waves at me, a goofy smile on his face. I’d like to say he’s delirious from flying fifteen hours trapped in the cockpit, but this is just who he is.
I wave back, but when he blows me a kiss, that’s where I draw the line. I may have softened up a bit, but not enough to be blowing kisses to my boyfriend while I’m in the cockpit. The passengers of this plane don’t need to know how obsessed I am with my boyfriend, even if I’m about to expose myself anyway.
Ali, one of the flight attendants assisting today, blocks the cockpit doorway, giving me the signal that we’re ready.
“Go for it, Captain,” she says, giggling a little as she picks up the phone on the wall by the main door to the plane.
She pauses, glancing at me. I nod, giving her the go-ahead, and even though I feel like my heart is going to leap from my chest and land on the floor, I know what I have to do.
Jake is going to remember this for the rest of his life, and that’s reason enough for me to do it. And it’s something he’s never going to expect.
“Can I have your attention please?” Ali calls to the passengers. “Please pause for an important announcement from your captain.”
That’s my cue, and I pick up the handset in the cockpit, my first officer beaming like an idiot. I have no idea how I’ve kept this a secret from Jake, but I managed to, and it’s all about to get very real.
“Good morning. Thank you for flying Crescent Airways. We’ll be on our way to sunny Oahu in just a few minutes. But before then, I have…” I stop, swallowing hard, my voice beginning to shake as I speak.
I need to get it together so these passengers don’t think they have a loose cannon flying them over the Pacific Ocean.
“I have a little story for you. A little over three years ago I met a man who happens to be on this plane right now. He’s sitting in seat 8A if you’re interested in staring at him and making him uncomfortable.”
This elicits a chuckle from the crew and the passengers, and when I look back over my shoulder, I can see Jake leaning out in the aisle, that goofy smile still plastered on his face.
“I fell in love with him despite my best efforts not to, and now I’m about to shock him with some news that he’s not expecting.”
Again, I look back, Jake’s smile fading, his eyes wide, and I let out a little laugh, wondering how he’s going to react to this.
I’m not nervous about his reaction to the news. There has not been a single second that I’ve been worried about that. If anything, it’s the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. He’s going to lose his mind with excitement.
“This isn’t something we planned, but it happened, and here we are, heading to Hawaii, a place that is special to us,” I say, not elaborating on it. The passengers don’t need to know that Jake and I fucked on the balcony of a very expensive hotel. It lives in my memory as the greatest sex I’ve ever had.
“So, if everyone could take a look at Jake Campbell, seat 8A, because he’s going to be a dad. The greatest dad ever. Well, second only to my own,” I add in there, and the plane erupts in applause.
I put the handset back on the receiver, standing up, I start to make my way back to where Jake is sitting, but I only get a few steps out of the cockpit before his mouth is colliding with mine, his arms wrapping around my waist, nearly lifting me off the ground.
“Are you serious?” he whispers against my mouth, his smile so big that his eyes crinkle in the corners. I’ve never seen him this happy, this excited, this in love.
I’m obsessed with him right now, and hopefully this five-hour flight goes quickly because I think I need a repeat performance of the first time we were in Hawaii.
“Yes, I’m serious,” I reply, kissing him again. “You think I’d tell an entire plane full of passengers that I’m pregnant if it were a joke?”
He pulls me closer, his arms wrapped so tightly around me it pushes all the air from my lungs. He takes my breath away in the best possible way, and this is exactly what I hoped for.
“How far along? How the hell did you keep this from me?” he now asks, his mouth falling open as he thinks about exactly how I managed this.
It’s not that difficult, really. We are apart a lot with being on different flights and both of us working a lot. That’s going to change in the coming months though, because I won’t be able to fly. I’ll be stuck at home which will be a real change for me.
“Twelve weeks,” I say, smiling so big that my cheeks begin to hurt. I can’t even believe Jake has turned me into the kind of person who announces her pregnancy to an entire plane full of people, but I can tell he loves it. And that’s what matters.
“Oh my god, so like three months?” he mutters, his eyes going wide again. “I’m behind. I need to start reading. How big is the baby? Don’t tell me you know the sex already.”
He lets out a panicked sigh, dragging a hand through his hair. I rest a hand on his cheek, my thumb brushing gently across the stubble that has grown with his overnight flight.
“We have plenty of time,” I tell him. “I haven’t had an ultrasound, and I don’t know the sex of the baby.”
“Oh good,” he says, letting out a sigh of relief. “I want to do all those things with you. I want to be there for everything. All of it.” He kisses me again, his lips curling up in a smile now.
“So you were surprised?” I ask, shocked that I’m letting all of this play out in front of the passengers.
“Surprised? Baby, you knocked me on my arse,” he says, laughing, his hands now moving to the almost nonexistent swell of my belly. “But how?” His brow is furrowed now as he looks down at where his hands are resting.
“Jake, do I really need to tell you how babies are made?” I joke, and the small crowd of people around us laugh.
“But I thought…” he starts, looking around the plane, not wanting to expose everything to all these random strangers.
“Remember when we took that long leg from London to Iceland and then back to London and then New York?” I say, and Jake nods. Not that either of us could forget. It was probably one of the only times in the last year we were together in the cockpit for more than one flight. “Well, I forgot my birth control pills.” I shrug sheepishly.
When it happened, I didn’t think much of it, looking at the calendar and thinking I had things under control. Turns out, I didn’t, or maybe I did since this is the way it turned out.
Surprise pregnancy feels very Jake and me. While I’m a planner by nature, always on time, always needing to be in control, Jake is entirely the opposite. It seems like he’s rubbed off on me.
“I’ve never been so happy that you did,” Jake murmurs, his mouth next to my ear. “And I can’t wait to get to Hawaii and celebrate.”
With that, I give him a quick kiss, knowing these passengers are ready to begin their vacation or get back home.
Just as I’m about to walk back to the cockpit, Jake reaches for me, his fingers closing gently around my wrist.
He calls out to the packed plane, “Can we all wish a congratulations to my amazing girlfriend, Captain Patterson? Not only is she the best captain to ever fly with Crescent Airways, but she’s also going to be the best mother.”
The plane full of people erupts with applause once again, and I’m overcome with emotions, filled with excitement and nervousness, happiness and fear, but all in the best possible way.
“Thank you,” I say, smiling at the crew and the passengers. “Now I think I have a plane to fly. Thank you all for celebrating with us, and for bearing with us as I give Jake the craziest news of his life.”
“You make my life far more exciting than it could have ever been without you in it,” Jake tells me, stealing a quick kiss before heading back to his seat.
“See you in Hawaii!” I yell to him, this time blowing him a kiss.