PART 1
I arrived at the port with our baby twins to surprise my husband, who was returning from months at sea, but I caught him with his mistress, so I made him regret it.
My husband, Brandon, worked on a cruise ship and could be away from home for months at a time.
When he left for his trip, I was seven months pregnant, and we were expecting twins.
Two months later, I gave birth to our beautiful daughters.
Brandon kept calling me and telling me how badly he wanted to finally see our girls.
So when I found out he would be returning from his trip three months later, I decided to surprise him.
We had agreed that we would wait for Brandon at home, but I wanted so badly for him to finally meet our daughters, to hug him as soon as possible, and then go home together.
That’s when I decided I would go straight to the port with our daughters to meet him. I didn’t tell him about it during those three months.
Then, the day before he arrived, I bought tickets to another city where his cruise ship was supposed to dock.
And I went to the cruise terminal.
I was holding our daughters in my arms when I finally saw him walking out of the terminal.
Through the crowd, I was just about to wave and call out to him.
But then I saw that he wasn’t alone.
He was with another woman.
She was pulling a suitcase, and he had his arm around her waist. They were laughing together, and then he leaned down and kissed her.
Everything inside me dropped.
I stood there frozen, unable to move.
Then Brandon noticed me.
He immediately walked over to me with the woman.
“Jenna? What are you doing here?”
My voice trembled as I answered.
“I actually wanted to surprise you so you could finally see your daughters…”
Then the woman beside Brandon laughed and said:
“Well… this is awkward, to put it mildly.”
Then Brandon said:
“Please, just don’t make a scene. We met on the ship, and it just happened. I mean, you understand that I’m a young, attractive guy, and being alone for that many months just isn’t realistic.”
The woman smirked.
Brandon went on to explain that apparently he couldn’t stay faithful to just one woman because “that’s just male nature,” and proudly added that she “wasn’t the only woman he’d been with.”
I was in complete shock.
He wasn’t even trying to apologize or explain himself. He simply blamed me for his cheating and stood there smiling while I held our babies in my arms.
Then suddenly, I felt completely calm inside. I already knew exactly what I was going to do.
“You know what, honey?” I said. “I understand. I really do.”
Then I smiled.
“But there’s something you forgot. One very important detail. Please look to your right.”
The smile instantly disappeared from his face.
PART 2
I brought our baby twins to another city’s port to surprise their father, only to find him kissing another woman. I thought asking him to look to his right would finally put someone on my side. But what happened next made me realize I was on my own. So I started planning my revenge.
I straightened the girls’ hats again while we waited at the cruise terminal.
Piper was fussing. Quinn slept with one fist against her cheek.
Brandon had sailed when I was seven months pregnant. Two months later, I’d given birth without him. Now our daughters were three months old.
We’d agreed to meet at home, but yesterday, unable to bear another hour of waiting, I’d bought tickets to the port city. I’d barely slept. I’d spent most of the trip picturing him dropping his bag and reaching for a baby.
I hadn’t made the trip alone. My father-in-law, Russell, had offered to come along to help with the twins and the luggage, and he’d paid for the return tickets as a gift. He’d stepped away a few minutes earlier to find a luggage cart, so for the moment I stood there by myself.
I’d handled the birth, the night feeds, and the evenings when both babies cried while I sat on the bathroom floor, trying not to wake the neighbors.
Every few days, Brandon had called over bad ship Wi-Fi.
“When I’m home, everything changes, babe. I promise.”
The doors opened, and Brandon appeared, but he wasn’t alone.
He came out laughing, his arm around a woman pulling a pink suitcase. Before I could call his name, he leaned down and kissed her.
“What the hell…”
Brandon looked up and saw us. Instead of looking guilty, he walked over with the woman still beside him.
“Jenna? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to surprise you.” My voice shook. “So you could finally meet your daughters.”
The woman laughed.
“Well… this is awkward, to put it mildly.”
I turned to Brandon.
“What is this exactly? How long have you been seeing her?”
“Calm down.” Brandon waved his hand dismissively. “We met on the ship, and it just happened.”
“No strings,” the woman added, smiling like that fixed everything.
“I mean, you understand that I’m a young, attractive guy, and being alone for that many months just isn’t realistic,” Brandon finished.
“Alone,” I repeated.
“Yeah. It’s male nature.” He tipped his head to one side. “How do you think I get by at sea? She’s not the first, and she won’t be the last.”
I’d been counting the days until he came home, only to learn he’d been cheating every time he was away and thought that was acceptable.
Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Russell returning with the cart.
“You know what, honey? I understand. I really do.”
Brandon’s shoulders relaxed.
“But there’s something you forgot. One very important detail. Please look to your right.”
He turned. That cocky smile disappeared like smoke.
“Dad.”
Russell stood there with the diaper bag over his shoulder, his face dark.
“You.” He pointed at the woman. “Go on. We need to speak as a family.”
She rolled her suitcase away.
