Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Timothy arched an eyebrow, staring irritably at the razor in his hand.

"Whatever. I'll just make do."

After Henry got up, father and son sat down together for breakfast.

Henry had barely tasted his chicken noodle soup before he grimaced and called out, "Mom, did you put too much salt in this?"

No answer.

He tried again, a little louder. "Mom?"

Timothy replied calmly, "Stop calling, your mom isn't home."

Immediately, Henry tapped at his smartwatch, trying to call Jessica, but her phone was switched off.

Lowering his voice, Henry said, "Dad, do you think Mom's upset and ran away?"

"She didn't."

With both him and their son at home, Timothy was certain Jessica wouldn't just leave.

"Good. I still think Mom's breakfasts taste better, though."

Neither of them really enjoyed the meal that morning; it just didn't compare to what they were used to.

"Dad, last night Mom made Miss Sheila so mad she left. Is she coming to see me today?"

"She twisted her ankle and is in the hospital. She probably won't be able to visit today."

Miss Sheila hurt her foot? That must really hurt. Dad, can you call school

firm. "No. School comes

daring to push further, and mumbled, "Can I

"That's fine."

arms around Timothy, standing on tiptoe to plant

come pick me up early, okay? So we can

Henry's hair and stood up, personally taking

took care of the room herself, so it was already spotless. Mabel couldn't understand why Mr. Williams had specifically asked her

the window to let

was immaculate, she still methodically wiped

the wind

bed, a cancer diagnosis letter was pushed even further

had returned to

time she'd tidied up the house, the sun

phone, wanting nothing more than a quiet, uninterrupted

liver cancer, or maybe it was just the relief of having nothing to worry about for

her phone back

chimed nonstop with text

calls, some from Timothy, some from

figured Mabel was probably calling

past, she'd have called back instantly to check on

she just let

had transferred her two

humorless laugh. He needed her out of the way again. She

the morning,