Unmatched Wife: Not His To Claim Anymore novel Chapter 115

Chapter 115

Chapter 115

THEO

I didn’t want to go to school.

That’s what I told Dad at breakfast, pushing my cereal around in circles while he made me a lunch I probably wouldn’t eat.

“You’ll feel better once you’re there,” Dad said, the way he always did. “Sophie will be happy to see you.”

Sophie was my new friend. Well, kind of new. She’d been in my class before, but I’d never really talked to her until last week when she’d asked if I wanted to play at recess.

She didn’t know about Mama. Didn’t know that I’d thought I was a murderer for weeks. Didn’t know anything except that I was Theo and I liked dinosaurs and sometimes I got quiet.

She just treated me normal.

That was nice.

But it was also hard. Because being normal meant pretending everything was okay when it wasn’t. When Mama was still gone and I still missed her so much my chest hurt.

“Come on, buddy,” Dad said, ruffling my hair. “Let’s get you to school. Dr. Fisher has your session scheduled for lunch today, remember?”

Right. The video calls with Dr. Fisher. We did them in the counselor’s office during lunch break, which meant I got to eat while we talked.

410

It was weird doing therapy through a computer. But Dr. Fisher said it worked just as well, and she was usually right about things.

I grabbed my backpack–the one with all my important stuff, including the dinosaurs from the BloodMoon City park and my stuffed wolf-and followed Dad to the car.

The drive to school was quiet. Dad kept glancing at me in the rearview mirror with that worried look he always had now.

“You’re doing great, Theo,” he said as we pulled up to the drop–off area. “I’m proud of you.”

“For what?”

“For being brave. For going to school even when it’s hard. For keeping going.” His voice got thick. “That takes real courage.”

I wanted to tell him I didn’t feel brave. That I felt scared and sad and like I might cry at any second.

But Dad was trying so hard to be okay that I didn’t want to make him more sad.

“Bye, Daddy,” I said instead, giving him a hug across the seat.

“Bye, buddy. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I climbed out of the car and headed toward the school entrance, my backpack heavy on my shoulders.

Morning classes were okay. We did math, which I was good at because Mama had helped me practice numbers at home. Then reading, which was harder because the stories sometimes had moms in them and that made my throat tight.

Mrs. Patterson, my teacher, was extra nice to me. She’d pull me aside sometimes and ask if I was doing okay, if I needed a break,

Chapter 115

+25 Bonus

if I wanted to sit in the quiet corner with my wolf.

I usually said I was fine.

But I wasn’t fine. I was just really good at pretending now.

At lunch, Mrs. Patterson walked me to the counselor’s office where Mrs. Davies had her computer set up for my Dr. Fisher call.

“I’ll be right outside if you need anything,” Mrs. Davies said, closing the door to give me privacy.

Dr. Fisher’s face appeared on the screen, smiling her warm smile.

“Hi, Theo. How was your morning?”

“Okay.” I opened my lunchbox and pulled out the sandwich Dad had made. “We did math.”

“How do you feel about being back at your old school?”

I thought about it while I chewed. “It’s weird. Everything looks the same but it feels different. Like I’m different and the school doesn’t know it yet.”

“That’s a very insightful observation. Can you tell me more about feeling different?”

“Before, I didn’t know that mamas could go away forever. I thought if you loved someone enough, they’d stay. But now I know that’s not true.” I picked at my sandwich. “So I’m different because I know scary things now. Things the other kids don’t know yet.”

Dr. Fisher nodded slowly. “That’s a hard thing to learn so young. But Theo, knowing scary things doesn’t make you broken. It makes you someone who’s experienced loss. And that’s different from being different in a bad way.”

“But the other kids don’t understand: When they talk about their moms, I can’t say anything because mine is dead. And that makes things weird.‘

“Have

11

you thought about telling your friend Sophie? About what happened to your mama?”

I had thought about it. A lot. But I was scared.

“What if she doesn’t want to be friend anymore after she knows?”

“Why wouldn’t she want to be your friend?”

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify