Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

"Because Mother Rosita said if I ever acted like I cared more for anyone else than for my mom, she'd get upset and jealous. And being upset and jealous just means you really care about someone."

Jeannie frowned. "Mother Rosita?"

Irwin nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I have two moms. One is the mom who's raised me since I was born, that's Briony. The other is the mom who gave birth to me, that's Mother Rosita."

Jeannie pressed her lips together, taking a moment to process this before asking gently, "Between your two moms, who do you like more?"

Irwin glanced around, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Honestly, I like the mom who raised me more. But I can't say that out loud. Mother Rosita would get mad, and when she gets mad, it's scary..."

A flicker of emotion crossed Jeannie's eyes. Then she smiled and affectionately ruffled Irwin's hair.

"I don't know your Mother Rosita, but I think the most important thing for a child is to be honest. If you need your mom, you should be brave and tell her. You don't have to act a certain way just to test her feelings. That kind of thing can actually hurt the people you care about, and it might even push them further away."

Irwin stared at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Really," Jeannie said warmly. "So, these past few days, you've been clinging to me and ignoring your mom on purpose? You were trying to test her?"

Irwin nodded sheepishly.

Jeannie let out a soft, helpless laugh. "I thought you just liked Ms. Radcliffe so much."

"I do like Ms. Radcliffe," Irwin admitted, sighing, "but a teacher isn't the same as a mom. I love my mom-no one could ever replace her."

Jeannie smiled, gently patting his head in encouragement. "In that case, next time you see your mom, don't ignore her on purpose, okay? Let's be honest and brave little ones, all right?"

"I got it," Irwin promised.

Irwin felt much better. He called Stewart to ask when

Briony wouldn't be coming today—she

Irwin heard Briony was sick, he demanded

pick him up, and the two of them headed

wasn't

been feeling exhausted the last few days. This morning, she woke up dizzy and drained of

up before heading to Silveridge in a few days. With so much to finish, she hadn't

but Briony figured it was just the usual fatigue and

brought her back to Skybreeze Retreat. With Marlene and Gina around to help, he felt more at ease leaving

at Skybreeze Retreat, Briony went straight to

chicken soup. After finishing it, Briony broke out in a light

when Stewart

even

Stewart. "Bryn asked me to let you know she's taught everything she needs to the new nanny. She won't be coming to

to come to Southcreek Manor, but Irwin heard she was sick and wanted

for your concern-no need to trouble yourselves." With that, James shut the door in

at the closed door, his

silent, head bowed,

and gave his hair a gentle ruffle before leading

was just wondering-had the magic stone started working? When would Mom's new baby finally go to heaven? He missed the days when it was just him and his mom

home, Irwin mulled things over in the backseat until he drifted

he woke, he found himself

only Ms. Radcliffe was