Goodbye, Mr. Regret

After the nurse left the room, Henry finally let go of Sheila.

"Miss Sheila, I'm sorry. That nurse is actually my classmate's mom. I didn't want my classmate to find out about my mom, so I pretended you were my mother. Are you mad at me?"

Sheila squeezed Henry's little nose, smiling. "Of course I'm not mad. But, Henry, what you did wasn't right. No matter what, you shouldn't turn your back on your own mom. Do you understand?"

Henry pouted, his voice tinged with hurt. "She never comes home. She doesn't cook for me, and now, even though I'm sick, she still doesn't care..."

Thinking about Jessica, Henry's disappointment deepened, a trace of resentment flickering in his chest.

"Henry," Timothy's voice broke the silence.

Henry looked up.

"Sheila's right," Timothy said sternly. "You're her son. You can't just give up on your mother. You're still young, but if you start pretending now, that's a habit you'll need to change."

Sheila was momentarily taken aback. Last time Henry had said something like this, Timothy hadn't been so harsh. Back then, he'd said it was normal for a child to care about appearances as he grew up. But now...

into

she doesn't cook for me, and even now

thoughts and hurried to

mom's just busy right now. Grown-ups have a lot on their plates. Who knows? Maybe you'll see

down a little, Sheila glanced at Timothy. "He's still a child, Timothy. If you have

was still sobbing, his

wouldn't feel a pang of guilt seeing their

saving face-it's just how they are. With time, Henry would grow

Timothy held his

asleep, Sheila carefully tucked him into

"You must be exhausted. Let me walk you back to your room so

has a fever, it can come back in the middle of

If it gets to be too much,

But if you need