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

heard Briony was

him up, and the

wasn't feeling

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

lately, thinking she'd wrap things up before heading to Silveridge in a few days. With so much to

go to the hospital, but Briony figured it was just the

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

at Skybreeze Retreat, Briony went straight to bed

woke, Gina brought her a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup. After finishing it, Briony broke out in a light sweat and felt much

when Stewart

didn't even

Stewart. "Bryn asked me to let you know she's taught everything she needs to the

come to Southcreek Manor, but Irwin

for your concern-no need to

closed door, his eyes

stood silent, head bowed, not making a

was upset and gave his hair a gentle

stone started working? When would Mom's new baby finally go to heaven?

mulled things over in the backseat until he drifted off to

woke, he found

dad was nowhere in sight; only Ms. Radcliffe was there