Daughter Persists in Bringing Mom on Honeymoon, Husband Mysteriously Disappears

Into Thin Air

Sophia burst through the villa doors, her heart racing as she scanned the room. She checked her phone, still devoid of messages, searched the empty villa for her husband, and collapsed to the wooden floor.

His bags were still unpacked in the dresser, his toothbrush and toiletries were still in the bathroom—and even though all of his things were still here, there was no sign of her husband. Sophia sobbed, her mind filling with treacherous thoughts of what could have happened to him.

Did he drown? Did he somehow get injured and was somewhere in a hospital with no way of letting her know? Did something happen to him? Sophia had no idea what could have happened, and her heart shattered. Little did she know just how broken it could get, not of loss, but of betrayal.

Honeymoon

The plan was loaded with people to the point where Sophia considered if they would even be able to take off. There were no seats left open, not even aisle or middle seats, and she could feel the cabin grow stuffier and stuffier.

“Did you remember to pack everything?” she asked her husband, John, who was seated right beside her next to the aisle. The newly-wed butterflies were still alive and well in her tummy, and she felt like she was floating everytime she looked at him.

He took her hand and kissed it, “I hope so,” he joked, “Or I’ll just have to go without.” Sophia pulled a face, “Then I hope you packed your deodorant.” he flicked her nose lightly and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Long Flight

“This is so exciting!” Louise, Sophia’s mother, said to the newlywed couple. She was dressed in white to match her daughter and accessorized the outfit with a bright smile. Sophia returned the smile with the same enthusiasm and gave her husband a light pinch when he rolled his eyes.

“Mom, you need to go to your seat; we’re going to take off soon,” she said gently and waved as her mother excitedly returned to her seat at the back of the plane. But her smile faded as John dropped her hand abruptly,

“I still can’t believe you invited your mother on our honeymoon,” his voice was laced with anger and frustration. Sophia’s heart clenched, and her stomach suddenly pained with nerves. “I know it’s not conventional, but with my dad gone, she’s alone. She has no one else.”

Mother-Daughter Bond

Ever since Sophia was little, she and her mother had had the most beautiful bond. They went everywhere together, did everything together, and most importantly, they shared everything. There wasn’t another person on this planet that Sophia loved more than her mom.

She was the only child of Louise and Edward Compton, and she was their very beating heart. She always did well in school and was always the most responsible, and when she met John, they couldn’t be happier for her. Even though it meant they’d have to hand her over one day.

Being best friends, the two rarely ever kept secrets or went for long periods of time without seeing each other. And when her father had passed, the bond had only grown stronger. Sophia was all her mother had left.

Mother In Law

Sophia knew it wasn’t completely normal to bring her mother on her honeymoon, but since her dad had passed away a year prior, her mother had gone through a dark stage in her life. She was alone most of the time, and Sophia just couldn’t bear it anymore.

It put some strain on her relationship, she knew, but John understood the situation. She didn’t want to leave her mother alone for two weeks due to her mental state, and somehow, he found it in his heart to understand.

If it meant carting her mother along to keep an eye on her, then that was what she would do. A day later, she booked a seat for her mom on their flight. Little did Sophia know just how much this decision would impact her marriage and how horrible it would affect her life.

Unhappy Husband

“I know that, Sophia. But it’s still a little weird, okay?” John said, scooting over as if he was now too upset to be sitting so close to her. Sophia just frowned and then shook her head without saying anything. She was in no mood to have the same argument with him—they’d already had what felt like a thousand times.

The flight to Hawaii was one she would never forget—if only because of the man behind her who kept somehow farting the place up and because John did not speak a word to her besides to hear if she needed something to eat or drink. It was safe to say that she was grateful to be off the plane and in fresh air when they finally landed.

Though she’d hoped his nap on the plane and the long flight would be enough to diffuse the tension between them, she had no such luck when they claimed their baggage, and he avoided her conversion at all costs.

Like Glue

The taxi ride and their arrival at the villa wasn’t much better, to Sophia’s dismay. He sat at the front while they sat at the back, and he stood to the side while they checked in. While she would never admit it, Sophia was beginning to regret bringing her mom along.

It wasn’t that her mom was a pain or that she did it on purpose. But it was like she didn’t realize she was slowly taking the place that John would usually occupy—his seat in the taxi, his place at her side while she checked in.

It was minor, but Sophia knew that it would only be so long until it started chafing at their marriage and forced a wedge between them. Already, John had begun to pull away from her because he was mad and maybe subconsciously because he was making space for her mom.

Pushing Boundaries

Sophia thought their arrival had been chaotic, but it was nothing compared to what happened when they got to the villa. Somehow, Louise had gotten the wires crossed and thought that the pull-out couch in their bedroom was for her to sleep in.

John grunted and laughed humorlessly while Sophia desperately tried to de-escalate and get her mother to go to her room. “No, Mom, this is our suite. Your room is just down the walk—number 29.”

Her mother’s face fell, and her mouth pulled in a thin line that showed her displeasure. “Oh, I thought we would be rooming together. I didn’t really want to be alone,” she said, her voice lilting in a tone that usually made Sophia feel guilty. It almost worked, but John put his hand on her back, reinforcing her resolve.

Content To Lounge

John’s face completely fell once her mother’s suitcase wheels were over the threshold of their villa, making Sophia’s heart sink. He went to unpack his suitcase, the air between them heavy and thick with tension.

Sophia was almost driven to tears with regret as she unpacked her things. Her mother had already become unbearable, and it was only their first day. How would she become later on? When would they do their activities, and when couldn’t she do them with them?

They’d already spent so much money on the ticket and the additional room they couldn’t afford to take her with them everywhere, too. Sophia didn’t know what she was thinking when she invited her mom along. She just didn’t want her to be alone and thought she would be content to lounge about and do her own thing.

Ignored

Days passed, and tensions only ramped higher. Her mother hadn’t left them alone for a moment since they’d arrived—not for the couple’s massage (where she waited in the waiting room the entire time), the jetskis, the romantic dinner (where she embarrassingly pulled up a chair from another table.

John grew more agitated by the day and barely looked or spoke to her at this point. Sophia was driven to tears the evening they returned to the villa. It had been barely four days, and she was already miserable.

“I’m sorry, John. I never intended it to be like this. I just didn’t want her to be alone,” she sobbed, finally turning to him where he sat and flipped channels on the TV. She hadn’t expected him to immediately forgive her, but she also hadn’t expected to be ignored.

No Sign

Only a day was left of their horror honeymoon, and John still hadn’t spoken to her, looked at her, or even fought with her. She would take anything at this stage but complete and utter silence. If only she’d known just how devastating that wish would be.

On the morning of their departure, Sophia and Louise left to find them some breakfast while John packed the last of his things. The morning was bright and beautiful, and even though her marriage felt like it was in shambles, Sophia actually felt hopeful.

But when she returned to the villa and saw her husband’s unpacked suitcase with no other sign of him, Sophia knew something was wrong. The unmade bed, the blaring TV, and the clothes still strewn about made her nervous.

Disappear

Sophia raced to the front desk of their lodge, her heart racing. She could only imagine how she looked to the woman at the front desk, a beauty with wildly curly hair. “Have you seen my husband? John Hudson, unit 24? He’s tall with brown hair.”

The woman glanced around and even asked her peers, but no one had seen any sign of him. She asked the housekeepers, janitors, the lifeguards, and even the people who keep the pools. No one had seen any sign of her husband, and no one knew if he was okay.

Deciding not to panic just yet, Sophia decided to wait in the waiting area of the lobby to see if he returned. Hours passed, and Sophia kept herself busy with some reading, but he still didn’t show up. Louise had even taken to doing another sweep of the enormous lodge but came back empty-handed.

Departure

They still had a few hours until their flight, but Sophia was starting to get anxious. He still hadn’t shown up and the minutes were ticking by until they had to board their flight. Her mom had left to do the last of her packing, but even when she still stayed, she saw no sign of the dark hair she so loved.

Suddenly, the Lodge manager approached her, a solemn look on his face that made her stomach plummet. “Mrs. Hudson?” he asked tentatively and adjusted the tie around his throat. When she nodded, he scratched the back of the neck nervously.

“We received some information regarding your husband,” he started, stepping back when Sophia abruptly stood. “There have been reports of a private aircraft leaving the island—some of the workers say they saw a man that resembles your husband aboard it.”

Aboard

Sophia’s heart lurched into her throat, “What do you mean? Is my husband on some random plane?” The man swallowed and composed himself a moment, “I do not want to alarm you, ma’am, but the aircraft is also used for emergency situations.”

“What does that mean?” she asked again, her breakfast threatening to spill itself on the floor. “Has something happened to my husband?” The man was silent as if unable to voice his thoughts.

“It can’t be,” Sophia cried, and before the man could say anything, she ran. Her heart beat out of her chest with worry for her husband, and her eyes blurred with tears. Where was he? Was this some misunderstanding, and was he waiting at the villa for her?

Desperate Search

Sophia burst through the villa doors, her heart racing as she scanned the room. She checked her phone, still devoid of messages, searched the empty villa for her husband, and collapsed to the wooden floor. She’d tried to call him a thousand times with no answer.

His bags were still left unpacked in the dresser, his toothbrush and toiletries were still in the bathroom—and even though all of his things were still here, there was no sign of John. Sophia sobbed, her mind filling with treacherous thoughts of what could have happened to him.

Did he drown? Did he somehow get injured and was somewhere in a hospital with no way of letting her know? Did something happen to him? Sophia had no idea what could have happened, and her heart shattered. Little did she know just how broken it could get, not of loss, but of betrayal.

Facing Reality

As hours passed with no sign of John, Sophia’s worst fears began to take shape. She struggled to come to terms with the possibility that he may be in danger or worse. The weight of uncertainty pressed down on her, threatening to suffocate her with its crushing force.

She sat on the floor of the villa, their flight having come and gone, and wondered what the next step was. She’d contacted all the hospitals in the area with no luck, or she supposed, exactly that luck. And John still hadn’t contacted her.

It was only three weeks after John had gone missing when Louise finally managed to get Sophia to go home. John was never found, and any trace of where he might have gone had been completely wiped away or gone undiscovered.

Any Sign

Six months after the disappearance of her husband, Sophia was still searching for any sign or clue of what might have happened to him. Louise, the wonderful mother that she was, had moved in permanently to help her and make sure she was supported.

She was still in constant contact with the Lodge and the authorities in Hawaii that were actively searching for her husband. And while she felt it might be optimistic, Sophia refused to believe that he was gone.

They had even started a campaign called “Bring John Home” that funded the search that was held in his name, to make sure he was recovered if something had happened, but nothing came from that either.

Suspicious

Since her mother had moved in, things had gotten significantly easier. Louise cooked and cleaned and made sure things were done while Sophia called around everyday for any sign of her beloved, whilst working full time.

Sophia felt out-of-sorts in a way as if her life had completely stopped that day, and she was completely on auto-pilot. Her job, something she’d enjoyed, felt more like a chore and something that took away from the time she could be spending looking for her missing husband.
But with Louise with her, it all felt the slightest bit better.

“I need to tell you something, sweetie,” her mother suddenly said, interrupting the hyper-focus she’d been nursing for the past two hours. Louise looked nervous, her eyes flicking back and forth and her hands fidgeting in her lap where she sat at the kitchen table.

Announcement

Sophia shoved her papers away and turned, a wisp of blonde hair falling into her eyes as she did. “What’s up, mom? Is everything okay?” Her mother swallowed, preparing herself for whatever it was that she was about to say.

It made Sophia nervous to see her mother so on edge, and she wondered what could be the matter. It was the first time her mother had ever looked so nervous to tell her anything, and even if she’d had all the time in the world to prepare, nothing could have stopped the shock from displaying on her face when her mom finally revealed what it was.

“Well, I don’t know how to say this, but…” her mom trailed off, the chair making a scraping noise on the tile as she stood. Sophia frowned but remained silent as her mother gathered the courage. “I’m pregnant.”

Older Sibling

Sophia was stunned to silence for several moments as her thoughts tried to align themselves. When? How? Okay, she knew how, but with whom? Her father had passed away a while ago, but she hadn’t even known that her mother was seeing someone in the first place.

“Wow, mom. That’s great!” Sophie said, her enthusiasm the slightest bit fake. “I didn’t even know you were dating again.” Louise’s smile stretched the length of her withered but beautiful face. “Well, I didn’t really plan on it. But it just…happened.”

They exchanged a brief hug; Sophia was still not sure if she was happy for her mother or not. It felt surreal that she was pregnant before Sophia was, and even more so, considering she was about to be a big sister at the age of twenty-six.

Averted Gaze

“Well, when do I get to meet the father?” she asked her mother, trying her best to keep her eyes from flicking to her mother’s stomach. She couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed by the timing of it all. She had enough to worry about.

But Louise was so excited and happy that Sophia couldn’t help but share her elation. “Oh, maybe sometimes,” her mother waved the question off, eyes averted and shoulders immediately tense. Alarm bells rang in her mind at the behavior, suspicions rising.

“Is it someone I know?” Sophia asked, wondering if she’d possibly got something on with one of her male friends. But her mother just waved her hand again, shaking her head as she left the room. Sophia frowned, slightly concerned at the very peculiar behavior.

Out of Character

For the next few weeks, Sophia carefully watched her mother, unsettled by her increasingly strange behavior. She supposed she’d been so preoccupied with John’s disappearance that she hadn’t noticed her mother’s strange comings and goings. Her nightly visits and sudden “workout classes” were much more peculiar than they had been before she became aware of her mother’s suspicious behavior.

Every night, at the same time, she would get a text from someone, excuse herself to go to some workout class and leave for a few hours. Louise would return in the middle of the night silently and creep to her room so as not to disturb Sophia. However, her routine had become far too easy to follow.

Additionally, Sophia noticed that her mother no longer left her phone unlocked and lying around as she’d always had. It now had a passcode and was always face down with collapsed notifications that could not be accessed without the code.

Suspicious

Louise’s sneakiness started to fuel Sophia’s suspicions, making them grow from small but noticeable changes to an all-out thought that her mother was actively busy with something she should not be involved in.

Her mother had turned into someone Sophia could hardly recognize, from supportive and stable to secretive and sneaky. From open and honest to intentionally dishonest and suspicious. She had gone from a mother helping her daughter through a tough time to using it as a distraction to sneak about like some vigilante. She couldn’t even remember the last time her mother had asked her if she was okay.

Sophia, having had enough of her mother’s dishonesty, decided it was time for action. If her mother wouldn’t tell her what was going on and was trying to hide something, then she would make sure to figure it out herself.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Feigning sleep, Sophia waited for the tell-tale creak of the wooden stairs to let her know her mother was sneaking out again. The slight whisper of material on the carpet in the hall alerted her first, making her heart beat with excitement.

She threw the covers from her body and tip-toed to the door, waiting two more seconds before she turned the knob and opened the door. Clad in her nighties and socks, she shrugged on the jacket on the chair to her left before she followed her mother.
It was fairly easy to tail her mother, especially since she drove at the speed of an incapacitated snail. But the amount of turns truly made her dizzy. It was as if her mother were trying to make sure no one was following her, which only added an air of eeriness to the entire operation.

White Fur and Glossy Heels

Staying back a few paces from her mother’s car, Sophia tailed the woman as she made her countless turns. They drove for fifteen minutes right into the heart of the city and pulled into a parking lot in front of a hotel.

Sophia frowned as her mom got out of the car, dressed in a white fur coat with panty-hose and black heels—something she’d never thought she’d see her mother in. Louise had never worn anything like this in her entire life, not from what Sophia could remember, anyway.

She hopped over the lip of the sidewalk, and disappeared behind the glass doors held open by a white-gloved doorman. It was truly strange, like some scene from a movie, to see her mother acting this way.

Complete Opposite

It plagues Sophia for days after she’d seen her mother on some random rendezvous. She guessed it was the man who got her pregnant, but what she didn’t know was why her mother didn’t want to introduce them. She’d been waving off Sophia’s questions for weeks now, and she was getting annoyed.

Every night, she followed her mother to new locations, dressed in the same fur coat with different heels. And every night, she returned home with even more questions. It was strange to her, and she was growing suspicious enough to wonder if her mother was involved in something illegal.

Sophia couldn’t take this guessing game anymore, wondering why her mother was suddenly the complete opposite of who she had been for the past twenty-six years. It was time for her to act, to catch her mom in the act of her sneakiness.

House Is Yours

“I’m going on this retreat I saw online. It’s supposed to be some kind of support group for people who have lost their loved ones,” she said one morning over breakfast, “You have the house to yourself until Sunday evening cause I can only catch a flight for the afternoon.” Sophia tried to act nonchalant about the “retreat,” hoping her mother didn’t find it suspicious.

Louise just nodded, typing away on her phone as she did, when suddenly her head snapped up. “Why the sudden vacation?” she asked, silver hair falling into her eyes. Sophia shrugged, “I just thought it would be nice. You know, being with people who have been through it…”

Louise nodded, her eyes slowly casting down as she mulled it over. Though it was a ruse, Sophia did think she could benefit from something like that. But it was not her priority now; she needed to know why her mother was acting so strange.

Retreat Ruse

When Friday afternoon came, Sophia promptly excused herself with a half-loaded suitcase and some traveling clothes. Assuring her mom she would be okay and would let her know, she booked herself into a hotel down the road and waited.

She timed the flight to Colorado perfectly, and sent her mom a text right as she was supposed to be at baggage claim. Using a recycled picture, she sent her mom a selfie in the exact same clothes she’d had on, in front of an Airport Information Desk.

Louise didn’t immediately answer, as Sophia had expected, but sent her two kiss faces later on that evening. The entire plan had worked out wonderfully, and all Sophia had to do now was wait. She didn’t know what she expected to find, but nothing on this earth could have prepared her for the soul-shattering truth.

Rush To The Scene

Just past 9 p.m. right when her mother always left, Sophia sent her mom a text to say goodnight. It went unread, and when she called, the phone rang until it finally went to voicemail. It was time to see what her mother was hiding.

Sophia rushed to her car with knots in her stomach, nauseated by the possibilities of what she might find, and slightly disgusted with herself and her mother that she had to do this in the first place. The honesty of their relationship was something she’d always valued, but now it was gone, and it felt like Sophia was mourning yet another person she’d known.

Her car wasn’t going fast enough, she thought, even though she was only five minutes away from her home. There was a strange car parked in the driveway, the plate unrecognizable, and the windows tinted dark. Sophia felt like she was going to vomit.

Caught In The Act

Sophia took the stairs up to her unit two at a time, her sneakers making a barely perceptible squeaking noise as she rounded the corners. Her heart lurched into her throat at the sight of light shining from underneath the door.

Her hands were sweaty, her ears ringing with nerves, and her mouth was dry. This was it; this was the moment. She supposed it was an obsession she’d adopted to cope, but at that moment, she didn’t care.

Her hand shook as she grasped the knob and turned, knowing her mother never locked the door. She burst through the entrance, a gasp flying out of her mouth at the sight.