Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Daisy tore open the first gift bag, her eyes going wide with excitement. "Wow, it's a platinum gift card for Wonderland Park!"

Jessica knew Timothy had arranged this for Daisy.

Clutching the card, Daisy grinned and announced, "Godmom, Santa Claus is so good to me! I get to go to the amusement park today!"

She reached for the second bag. "Goddess, this one's for you to open."

Jessica untied the ribbon and peeked inside. It was the Royal Pearl Necklace- Timothy's birthday gift to her, the one that had been broken when Sheila dropped

it.

But now, it looked different.

Ten of the pearls had been set with delicate emeralds, arranged from smallest to largest, giving the necklace a modern, elegant flair.

Jessica realized Timothy must have had the damaged pearls repaired after the accident at the hospital. This necklace had belonged to his mother—a family heirloom-and yet, he insisted on giving it to her again.

"Godmom, Santa really knows how to pick gifts. That necklace is so beautiful," Daisy said with awe.

If it had been anything else, Jessica might have accepted it without a second thought. But this necklace was different; it was his mother's. Accepting it would mean something more.

"It is beautiful," she agreed softly.

But she didn't want it—not like this. So Jessica carefully placed the necklace back in its bag and set it on her vanity.

"There's one last bag," Daisy chirped.

that one for now.

rides and games,

lovely

and styled her hair into neat curls, finishing the look with a touch of her own lipstick-a tiny beauty mark in the

is going to be the prettiest

at her reflection, her face glowing with

like having

Vince and Timothy were in the living room, eyeing each other

as he took in Daisy's transformation. He'd never really noticed before, but

It was...dangerous.

likeness between Daisy and Jessica. The thought had stuck with Vince,

Vince teased, "You know, Daisy really looks like you. If no one said otherwise, people would think you two

piped up, "Goddess, do you need a daughter? If you're short one, we can just drop the 'god' part and I'll

anymore, and she wanted one so badly. Last night, snuggled up with Jessica, listening to a bedtime story, she'd felt almost

stern. "Daisy, you're part of the Zimmerman family. If you

they wanted a daughter, they'd have to have one

worry about that, Timothy.

abroad soon. Once everything's

her own life was in too much upheaval right now to

nodded. "Okay. I'll

called them

smiled and said, "Vince, there's a great

I love their crystal rolls. They're famous for those, and I've