Talia felt a tapping on her arm. She opened her eyes to see a familiar face. Her warm welcoming face smiled as she sat next to Talia in the blue airport chair. Talia removed her earbuds and looked around. Glancing down at her phone she saw she'd slept for a half an hour.

"Fancy seeing you here dear." She picked up her knitting needles then absently began knitting.

"Yeah."

"How was your trip home?"

"It was ok."

"Ready to be home?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Me too. I love my great grandbabies but they are a bunch of hellions. My idiot children raised idiot parents who let their children boss them around. They are always yelling and screaming. It took everything for me not take my shoe off and wail my grown child's behind for raising idiot kids." She shook her head.

"Wow."

"Don't get me wrong, I love my family but it is pretty damn scary they are the future of this country."

Talia huffed out a laugh. The old woman looked at her over her glasses. "So, where is that handsome boy that was with you?"

Looking away, Talia didn't know how to answer her question.

"Oh I'm sorry dear. I didn't mean to upset you. What happened?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she smiled at the woman. "I'm not upset."

The woman reached into her cleavage and pulled out a tissue. "Then why are you crying?" She dabbed at Talia's cheeks.

"I didn't realize I was crying. I'm sorry." Talia took the tissue then dabbed her face knowing she already had smudged makeup on her face.

"It's ok, dear. You can tell me. I promise it won't go anywhere."

Talia nodded then spilled all of news to that little old lady. Her comforting eyes and sympathetic manner relaxed her enough to let it all out. After Talia told her everything, the woman hugged her. She hugged her in the special way a grandmother hugs her grandchild. Tears flowed from Talia as the stranger helped her pull herself together.

"Alright. Do you feel better?" She asked.

"Yes. Thank you."

"We have all been down that heartbreak road. It's how we return from it that will shape our future relationships. When I met my Harold, I fell head over heels in love with him. I was seventeen when I married him. He was eighteen and going to Vietnam. I was so proud of him. We wrote letters and not long after he went over I found out I was pregnant. I told him about our daughter in a letter I wrote him. The final letter I got from him told me how excited he was about his burgeoning family."

"I thought he was still alive." Talia said.

She laughed. "I remember how you found out." Talia blushed remembering her last flight. "Yes, he is still alive. It was the last letter I would receive because he had to go deep into the Vietnam jungle. It was an incredibly stressful time for me. Being pregnant and alone made me a little crazy. My life was like that for three years. Then one day a haggard soldier stepped up onto my porch looking like a shadow of himself. I was so beside myself I flew into his arms. My soldier came home. However, he didn't come home alone. With him was a little boy around three years old. Harold introduced his family to his son. While in Vietnam he had an affair."

Talia sucked in a shocked breath. "Did you kick his ass to the curb?"

"At first, yes. I threw a spectacular fit sending him to his parents while I sat in our home alone with our daughter. My heart was broken. This man I had been so faithful to betrayed me. Lied to me. How could we ever get passed something like that." She took a deep breath. Talia saw the tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Everyday I looked at my daughter and saw her father. My heart still loved the man who betrayed me. I knew, after a week, I had to make a decision. I could attempt to forgive him and bring that little boy into our home or I could continue how I'd been, lonely and hollow inside."

"You forgave him? How? How could you ever trust him again?"

She sighed. "It was a choice I made. To forgive or not to forgive is a choice one has to make. In spite of his choice to betray me, I chose to still love him. It took a very long time to trust him again. My heart let me love him, but my brain wouldn't let me forget his actions."

"You make it sound so easy."

"Oh Christ! It sure wasn't easy. For the first year, we slept in separate rooms. I couldn't even think about sleeping with him again after he'd been with someone else. But, one day I didn't want to sleep alone anymore. It was slow, but I started to fall in love with him all over again."

"What about the little boy?"

"He's my son. I've been his mother since that day he showed up. Just because Harold acted like a scoundrel doesn't mean he should pay. He was an innocent little boy. I love him as if I bore him."

"Thank you for sharing that."

"I'm not done, sweetie." She stood as they began seating passengers. "Do you love that boy? Does he make you whole? When he's screwed up before did you want to forgive him?"

"Yes."

She smiled cupping Talia's cheek. "Give it time, but if in the end you really don't want anyone else then I think you know what your choice will be. Don't rush into anything. Think about it with both your heart and your head."

"Ok."

"Find your way back from heartbreak road. Remember, you are a woman. We bounce back stronger and smarter from all our trials and tribulations." She walked over to the boarding passengers and stood in line.

Dammit! Forgiving Zeke was not something she wantedto think about. Freaking old ladies andtheir wise advice.