Chapter 1 - THE ANNOUNCEMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
My husband, Luca Marino, had been a commercial pilot for almost nine years, but our seven-year-old son, Leo, had never once flown on a plane his father was piloting.
Leo talked about it constantly.
Whenever Luca left for work in his crisp navy uniform, Leo followed him through the house asking what kind of plane he would fly, whether passengers knew their captain had a seven-year-old son, and whether children were really allowed to visit the cockpit.
Then Luca mentioned that he had been assigned a short Saturday flight to Chicago.
That was when I got the idea.
I secretly booked two seats near the back of his flight.
Leo nearly exploded with excitement when I told him. He packed gummy bears, headphones, his favorite toy airplane, and a drawing of Luca standing beside a jet with the words BEST PILOT EVER written across the top in crooked blue letters.
At the airport, we nearly got caught when Luca crossed the terminal less than thirty feet away.
I dragged Leo into a gift shop, and we hid behind a rack of sweatshirts until Luca disappeared.
Leo thought it was the greatest secret mission of his life.
We finally boarded without being seen and slipped into our seats near the rear.
Then the cabin door closed.
A few minutes later, the speakers crackled.
Luca's familiar voice filled the airplane.
Leo's entire face lit up.
“That's Dad!”
I pulled out my phone and started recording.
Luca delivered his normal welcome, talked about the weather in Chicago, announced our flight time, and even made one of his terrible pilot jokes.
Leo squeezed my hand proudly.
Then Luca went silent.
When he spoke again, his voice sounded different.
More personal.
Almost nervous.
“Actually, folks, before we leave, I'd like to say something a little different today.”
I lowered my phone.
“There's a very special person on this plane today.”
Leo looked at me with wide, delighted eyes.
For one beautiful second, he thought his father had somehow discovered our surprise.
So did I.
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Then Luca said a woman's name neither of us had ever heard before.
And everything changed.
