"Attention: passengers on Delta Flight 276, with service to Nassau."
Skylar pulls one side of her headphones off of her ear to listen.
"We will begin the boarding process in about five minutes. If you are not here already, please begin making your way back to Gate C18."
Skylar pulls the phone charger out from under her seat. She's wrapping it neatly to put it back in her purse when she notices a couple exiting the Sky Club Lounge from across the terminal hall. It only takes her a second to recognize the women heading towards her gate, so she grabs her phone and quickly pulls up her group text of friends.
...
Skylar (10:18am)
[OMFG]
[GUESS WHO IS ABOUT TO BE ON MY FLIGHT AT JFK RN]
.
Sam (10:18am)
[Who?]
.
Skylar (10:19am)
[Piper Vause-Chapman and her wife]
[Freaking out]
.
Sam emphasized [Piper Vause-Chapman and her wife]
.
Sam (10:19am)
[WHAT]
...
Skylar looks up from her phone and sees the couple stop just in front of where she's sitting. The woman she recognizes as Alex Vause-Chapman parks the stroller she'd been pushing, and Skylar tilts her head to see the baby facing her mothers. A small bow is nearly falling out of her dark blonde hair, so Piper reaches down to adjust it neatly. Skylar looks back down to see the text messages flying in.
...
Sam (10:19am)
[IM GONNA PASS OUT]
.
Emelia (10:19am)
[what?!]
[did she remember you?]
.
Sam (10:20am)
[Em you do realize authors meet 100000 people at book signings right?]
.
Emelia (10:20am)
[idk i was just wondering since sky basically drooled all over her while she signed her copy]
[probs be hard to forget that]
.
Skylar (10:20am)
[Stfu]
[But WOW THEIR BABY IS SO CUTE]
.
Emelia loved [But WOW THEIR BABY IS SO CUTE]
.
Sam (10:20am)
[Wait ok I need more info]
[Is Alex as hot in person as she is on Insta?]
[Fml I wish I was there]
.
Skylar (10:21am)
[They are both ridiculously hot]
...
"Mama, waffe," the baby in the stroller says, pulling Skylar's attention away from her phone. She sees a rubber giraffe sitting near the little girl's feet, and watches as Alex hands her child the toy.
"How is it that giraffe is still the only word she is willing to say?" Alex says to the woman next to her. Skylar feels her eyes widen at the sound of that same husky voice she'd heard only several times, either on Piper's Instagram stories or during one of the several interviews Alex had joined her wife on. She's about to inform her friends about how much better it is in real life when Piper replies to her wife.
"Maybe she's going to be a zoologist," Piper says. She smiles down at the baby, who is now happily gnawing on her toy. "She does love animals."
Alex snorts and adjusts her glasses. "Mildly tolerating our dog does not make her an animal lover."
"Hey, she loves Tank."
Alex looks ready to respond when Piper's cell phone dings and interrupts them.
"It's Cal," Skylar hears her say. "He probably forgot his tux." Piper opens her phone and makes a face that has Alex furrowing her eyebrows.
"What?"
"He said he's never seen my mom this happy."
Alex smiles. "That's sweet. When did she and Jim fly down there?"
"Earlier this week. You know Carol; she wanted to make sure everything would be all set for all of the guests coming in."
"There aren't that many people invited, though, right?"
"Nah. Mostly just our family and Jim's kids and some of his friends. I guess getting married in your late 60s doesn't exactly have the same hype."
Skylar looks back down at her own phone.
...
Emelia (10:21am)
[i wonder what they're doing in the bahamas]
[probably just living their best lives as fabulous rich celesbians]
[AKA my destiny]
.
Sam (10:21am)
[Sky maybe you can carve some time out of your fam vacation to go stalk them]
.
Emelia emphasized [Sky maybe you can carve some time out of your fam vacation to go stalk them]
.
Margaret (10:21am)
[SOS I JUST WOKE UP]
[PLEASE TELL ALEX VAUSE-CHAPMAN THAT I WILL WAIT FOR HER FOR FOREVER]
[I WILL HOMEWRECK]
.
Sam (10:22am)
[Good luck with that]
.
Skylar (10:23am)
[^^^]
[They're going for a wedding. Piper's mom's I think]
[And Marge I'm pretty sure you should find another target]
[Alex looks about as in love with her wife and kid as anyone I've ever seen]
.
Emelia (10:23am)
[ugh i need a wife and kid]
.
Skylar emphasized [ugh i need a wife and kid]
Sam emphasized [ugh i need a wife and kid]
Margaret emphasized [ugh i need a wife and kid]
.
Skylar (10:23am)
[I'm seriously dead they're so cute]
.
Margaret (10:23am)
[FUUUUCK life is so unfair I'm crying]
.
Skylar (10:24am)
[I'm torn. Do I say anything to them?]
[Like that I love them or am inspired by them?]
[Is that cheesy]
.
Sam (10:24am)
[I don't think it's cheesy]
.
Emelia (10:24am)
[maybe just tell them after the flight so they don't think you're a psycho]
.
Skylar (10:24am)
[Thanks Em]
.
Margaret (10:24am)
[Tell them their baby is cute]
[Women love that shit]
[And that's something you can say without them even having to know that you are basically obsessed with them]
...
"Attention: passengers," the gate agent calls again. "If you are in our Delta One First Class cabin, please line up in the priority boarding lane at your convenience."
Skylar rises from her seat then, throwing her purse over one arm and tugging her carry-on suitcase with the other hand over to the proper area. She stops just behind Piper and Alex, who has both hands on the stroller and is making faces down at their daughter.
"She is so cute."
The words fly out of Skylar's mouth before she can stop them, and her face gets almost unbearably hot as she waits for any response from the women in front of her.
Piper turns around first and, to Skylar's supreme excitement, actually grins at her.
"Thank you," she says.
"You might not still think so if she decides to scream for the next two hours, though," Alex adds, and Skylar thinks she might pass out from this tiny conversation.
She laughs good-naturedly and watches Piper elbow her wife. Then, thinking of the most sensible question despite already knowing the answer, she says, "How old is she?"
"Nine months," Piper answers again, and Skylar is relieved when she doesn't seem the slightest bit bothered. "Lots of teeth coming in," she says, and reaches down to draw two fingers on the baby's cheek, "so we're not always in the best mood, are we?"
The gate agent calls the first class passengers forward, so Piper puts her hand on the small of Alex's back while Alex pushes the stroller forward. She places her phone, containing both of their boarding passes, on the scanner and the agent smiles. "Welcome aboard, Mrs. and Mrs. Vause-Chapman."
Skylar watches as the couple thanks the gate agent before preceding down the jet bridge. After checking in herself, she follows them and then stands by as the couple begins what appears to be a well-practiced routine.
"Come here, love," Piper says while unbuckling the baby from the stroller and pulling her into her arms. She presses a kiss to her daughter's cheek and brushes some of the child's blonde hair out of her face as Alex breaks down the stroller to be gate-checked.
Skylar unlocks her phone and doesn't even bother skimming over the unread texts in the group before pulling up the keyboard.
...
Skylar (10:30am)
[I FUCKIGN TALKE D OT THEM SJSJSJDJJNF]
[IM CRYING]
.
Sam (10:30am)
[SCREAMING]
[WHAT DID YOU SAY?]
.
Emelia (10:30am)
[OMG]
.
Margaret emphasized [SCREAMING]
Margaret emphasized [OMG]
.
Skylar (10:30am)
[HOLY SHIT]
[I TOLD THEM THEIR BABY IS ADORABLE AND ASKED HOW OLD SHE IS]
[AND PIPER SAID SHE'S TEETHING AND MOODY]
[Alex was like "haha she might cry the whole flight" and I wanted to be like even if she did I would say thank you LMAO]
[Also you guys would freak her voice is so fucking sexy]
[I'm going to die]
.
Margaret (10:31am)
[FUCK]
[You literally CONVERSED with them]
.
Sam (10:31am)
[I would give my life to hear Alex's voice in person wow]
[Wow I hate you wow]
...
There's a delay with an elderly woman who is boarding in her wheelchair, so Alex re-adjusts the black diaper bag (which Skylar sees is almost unnoticeably Dolce and Gabbana) on her shoulder and places a casual hand on her wife's ass.
Piper smiles at this and leans over to kiss Alex.
"Did Cal say the Four Seasons there is nice?" Alex asks.
"Yeah, he did, actually. He said that he and Neri have pretty much just been laying by the pool with the boys since getting there yesterday. Forest just learned how to swim, so they're having fun with that."
"God," Alex groans, "it'll be so nice to lay by a pool."
"You could definitely use some color, babe," Piper says.
"I meant because I want to relax, asshole." Alex whispers the last word and Skylar watches her give Piper's ass a quick pinch. She feels absolutely giddy watching them - and also a bit stalker-ish, but clearly the two women don't mind being affectionate in public.
They're called forward down the bridge, so Alex moves her hand to grab Piper's.
"But, see, aren't you happy we waited until the weekend to fly out?" Piper asks. She rubs her thumb against Alex's hand as they walk towards the plane. "Now that deal is closed and you won't have to think about it at all this week."
Skylar taps a quick message on her phone before boarding the plane herself.
...
Skylar (10:33am)
[What does Alex do again?]
.
Sam (10:33am)
[A CPA and now a financial analyst]
[Forbes says she's set to be the next CFO of Morgan Stanley]
.
Margaret (10:33am)
[Do you read Forbes exclusively to hear about Alex Vause-Chapman?]
.
Sam disliked [Do you read Forbes exclusively to hear about Alex Vause-Chapman?]
.
Sam (10:33am)
[Did you not read the Afterword of Piper's book?]
.
Skylar (10:33am)
[Yeah I did, just not 98 times like you]
.
Margaret laughed at [Yeah I did, just not 98 times like you]
.
Sam (10:33am)
[I like a happy ending. Sue me]
...
Skylar laughs to herself and pockets her phone. After double checking her boarding pass, she tries not to grin outwardly when she realizes she's sitting in the same row as, on the opposite side of, Alex and Piper. Skylar gets situated in her aisle seat and proceeds to watch from the corner of her eye as the couple does the same.
Alex is in the window seat, the baby in her lap, while Piper is tucking the diaper bag under the aisle seat in front of her own. Skylar watches as Alex blows raspberries on their baby's stomach, earning giggles from her that make both of her mothers laugh.
Some time later, once everyone has boarded and the plane is awaiting takeoff, Skylar sees that the baby in the row next to her has fallen asleep in Alex's arms. Skylar has her iPad out on a book so that it's not completely obvious that she's keeping the corner of her eye (and her ears) trained on the people next to her.
Alex reaches one arm over to hold Piper's hand in her seat, and though she begins speaking in a low voice, Skylar can just make out the words she's saying.
"You know, Pipes, this wedding is totally happening because of you."
"Me?"
"Mmhm," Alex nods.
"Why do you say that?"
Alex shrugs, careful not to disturb the sleeping baby. "Your mom didn't just get the confidence to divorce Bill out of nowhere," she says, as if it's a most obvious fact. "She lived with it for years, hating him and hating their life, until you. You decided to be with the person who you wanted to be with, rather than who everyone thought you should be with. And Carol noticed."
Skylar is listening (read: eavesdropping) with rapt attention now, but Piper doesn't say anything yet.
"Now, she's getting married to someone who actually makes her happy," Alex continues. "She gets to be her true self. And she has you to thank for it."
Skylar wonders if she's dreaming. She briefly thinks of taking out her phone to live text the conversation to her friends, but decides to let the moment stay here.
When Skylar glances over again, Piper and Alex are kissing. She thinks she hears them whisper I love you's against each other's lips.
She smiles, leans back in her seat, and closes her eyes.