It all started the day my mother pulled me aside. She had this look of concern on her face.
“Alice,” she began in a hushed tone. “Don’t you see that he’s always whining around Sam?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just watch him. Every time Sam’s around, Jeremy looks different.”
At first, I brushed it off as my mother being overly protective. She had always been wary of men after what Daniel did to me.
But later that evening, I started paying attention.
Jeremy was his usual cheerful self when it was just the two of us.
He laughed, played, and chatted endlessly about his day at daycare. But the moment Sam walked into the room, something changed.
His shoulders stiffened, his voice quieted, and sometimes he would start crying for no apparent reason.
It made me realize I needed to talk to Sam about it.
He glanced up from his phone. “Of course.”
“Have you noticed how Jeremy acts around you?”
“What do you mean?”
I hesitated.
“He… he gets quiet. Sometimes he even cries.”
“Alice, I love that kid,” he said. “I treat him like my own.
Why would he—-“
He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Maybe he’s adjusting.
It’s a big change for him, right? A new father figure. It’s a lot for a five-year-old.”
I nodded, wanting to believe him.Continue reading…
