Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Just then, Henry's school day ended.

He hadn't even left the front gate when he spotted Sheila and Timothy waiting for him.

With a grin, Henry waved excitedly at Timothy, who immediately stopped talking to Sheila and turned his attention to his son.

"Dad! Miss Sheila!" Henry called out, dashing over to them.

As they passed by, Mario's mom and the nurse-who was picking up her own son, Paul-smiled knowingly. "Hey there, Henry! Your parents are here to pick you up?"

"Yes!" Henry replied, practically beaming.

So it was true. Everything Jessica had said was right-Henry really did treat Sheila like his mom outside the house.

A while back, when Sheila was about to leave because of the Lawsons' pressure, Henry wouldn't let her go. He'd brought up the upcoming arts-and-crafts competition, saying everyone thought Sheila was his mom, and he'd be embarrassed if people found out his real mom couldn't speak. It was supposed to be a parent-child event, after all.

Timothy hadn't stopped him at the time. There was nothing romantic between him and Sheila, and he was sick of his relatives making a fuss about it. Letting Sheila stay solved a problem for him, too. Besides, Jessica's condition meant Henry was bound to want to save face-what kid wouldn't? Timothy never imagined things would spiral out of control like this.

Now, he had to put a stop to it before the misunderstanding got any worse.

"You've all got it wrong. She's not my wife," Timothy said firmly.

Jessica, who had been hovering nearby, looked utterly bewildered and hurt by his words.

Sheila's eyes widened with surprise-Timothy had never cleared things up so bluntly before.

stared at his dad in

Mario in tow, and the nurse, with Paul, had both overheard the exchange.

Henry told us this lady was his

it all the time in class. We didn't misunderstand," Paul chimed in

Lawson, you're such a kidder. When Henry was sick at the hospital, he called this lady 'Mom' the

At the craft competition, Henry told me himself

scold Henry about it, but Vince had teased him until he let it go. He'd thought it was a harmless misunderstanding, never realizing

harder than

and saw Timothy's cold, forbidding expression, then quickly

the tense

father and

with a

just joking with you all," she said smoothly. "His

wname to

you to

was giving both Timothy and Henry a graceful way out. Timothy wasn't the type to scold his son in front of an audience, but if she didn't clear things up, Henry

this, Sheila had saved Henry a lot of trouble. She knew he'd be even more grateful to

guess we really did misunderstand," Mario's mom said,

a wonderful kid-his mom must be, too. Hope we'll meet her at the

the two women headed

a cold, intimidating energy. He grabbed Henry's hand. "Come with

what was waiting for him at home-a stern

up with her. "Don't blame