Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Little Mario and Stewart exchanged glances and smiled, neither of them bothering to argue with the little girl.

"That's right. Our Little Nina is the big sister," Stewart soothed his daughter, "From now on, Mario should listen to his sister, and he needs to look out for her, too."

"I will!" Little Mario promised, his small face serious. Maybe it was the time he'd spent with Stewart, but lately, you could see more and more of Stewart's expression in the boy's eyes.

Little Nina wasn't having it. "Mario's the timid one! I'm the brave one. I should be the one protecting him!"

Stewart couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, you can protect Mario."

Then Little Nina piped up again, "Daddy, can Mario go to the same preschool as me? That way I can see him all the time. If other kids try to pick on him, I'll be there to protect him!"

She was such a little chatterbox, always saying whatever came to mind.

Stewart cherished these moments with his children, but he hadn't forgotten the time. It was getting late, and the kids needed to sleep.

“There'll be a chance for that in the future," he said, ruffling his daughter's hair. "Right now, it's bedtime. I'll go find a storybook. Both of you, under the covers."

"Okay!"

Little Nina nodded enthusiastically and rolled over, settling into a comfortable spot.

Little Mario lay down as well.

Stewart went to his study to grab a book and came back to find the two little ones lying neatly in bed, with just enough space between them for him.

off his shoes, and half-reclined right between

in perfect sync, their tiny hands and feet draped

eyes, clearly ready for his bedtime

tightened. He steadied himself, opened the storybook, and

a wild old forest, there lived a pair

in

course she couldn't sleep without Little Nina beside

therapist said this was something she needed to work through on

pills were right there in the bedside drawer. All it would take was one, and she wouldn't have

many times she'd considered taking one, only to

one in the

anymore. She sat

on the little bedside lamp, and reached for

Knock, knock.

on

Briony froze.

"Bryn, are you awake?"

It was Stella Joyner.

the drawer, got

took one look at her. "Knew