Too Late to Be His Father
356 Views · Ongoing · Piper Hayes
On the day Carter and I remarried, our son Finn had been in the hospital for forty days.
The line at City Hall was long. Carter spent the whole time with his head down, texting, wearing a smile I hadn't seen on him in years.
The person on the other end was Wren Dalton, an art student getting by on a scholarship and part-time jobs. She'd turned Carter down three times. When he sent her a full set of art supplies, she shipped it back untouched with a note: Leave me alone.
Carter said nobody had ever treated him like that before.
The look in his eyes when he said it was the same look he used to give me, back when he was trying to win me over more than ten years ago.
I didn't call him out on it. The last time we divorced, I fought with everything I had and still walked away without a dime or a job. I walked out on him, and he still found a way to drag me back.
After City Hall, Carter dropped me off at the hospital and said he wouldn't be home that night. I nodded and watched his car pull away.
Around midnight, our housekeeper sent me a video. It was from our house: Carter carrying Wren up the stairs toward the bedroom, and her laughing, bright and happy.
Everyone was waiting for me to cry. But this time, I just pushed my ring down to the base of my finger so it wouldn't slip off.
What they didn't know was that this remarriage was an act. Sooner or later, I'd be the one to take that ring off.
The line at City Hall was long. Carter spent the whole time with his head down, texting, wearing a smile I hadn't seen on him in years.
The person on the other end was Wren Dalton, an art student getting by on a scholarship and part-time jobs. She'd turned Carter down three times. When he sent her a full set of art supplies, she shipped it back untouched with a note: Leave me alone.
Carter said nobody had ever treated him like that before.
The look in his eyes when he said it was the same look he used to give me, back when he was trying to win me over more than ten years ago.
I didn't call him out on it. The last time we divorced, I fought with everything I had and still walked away without a dime or a job. I walked out on him, and he still found a way to drag me back.
After City Hall, Carter dropped me off at the hospital and said he wouldn't be home that night. I nodded and watched his car pull away.
Around midnight, our housekeeper sent me a video. It was from our house: Carter carrying Wren up the stairs toward the bedroom, and her laughing, bright and happy.
Everyone was waiting for me to cry. But this time, I just pushed my ring down to the base of my finger so it wouldn't slip off.
What they didn't know was that this remarriage was an act. Sooner or later, I'd be the one to take that ring off.


















































