When Amber, a hardworking mom and corporate attorney, discovers a drawing by her 7-year-old daughter, Mia, her world is shaken. The picture shows Mia\u2019s teacher in Amber\u2019s place with a heartbreaking caption. Suspecting betrayal, Amber confronts her husband, Jack, only to uncover something deeper\u2026 Mia\u2019s feelings of abandonment amidst Amber\u2019s busy life.I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be here\u2026 but this has been life lately.I\u2019m Amber, I\u2019m thirty-four, married to my husband Jack for ten years, and I\u2019m a mom to my bundle of joy, Mia, a seven-year-old little girl. Recently, I\u2019ve been busier than I\u2019ve ever been in my entire life, which is truly saying something because I\u2019m a corporate attorney.\n\n\n\n

My mom\u2019s health has been declining over the past year, and we\u2019ve been throwing ourselves into her hospital stays, therapy sessions, and medication that costs way more than I care to admit.\n\n\n\n

To cover everything, I\u2019ve been working insane hours because I\u2019d do anything for my mother.\n\n\n\n

Jack has been the best partner and rock I could have ever asked for. He has stepped up at home in ways I never imagined or expected. Jack has taken on the cooking, cleaning, helping Mia with her schoolwork, and managing all the little things I used to handle.\n\n\n\n

He made it possible for me to keep everything afloat, even when it felt like I was drowning.\n\n\n\n

I came home late, exhausted, starving, and ready to collapse. After hurriedly eating a bowl of salmon and rice while Mia took her bath, I put my little girl to bed. As she dozed off, Mia mumbled something about puppets.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know that you could put your hand in a socket and it would be a puppet,\u201d she said.\n\n\n\n

\u201cA sock, my darling,\u201d I said. \u201cNot a socket! Don\u2019t you ever put your hand in a socket, Mia.\u201d\n\n\n\n

I started tidying up her dolls, which were scattered all over the carpet in her room, and then made my way to the coffee table in the living room. Crayons, white paper, and coloring books were scattered all over.\n\n\n\n

At first glance, it seemed innocent enough. A kid\u2019s sketch of a happy family. A man, a woman, and a little girl holding hands. But when I looked closer, my stomach twisted.\n\n\n\n

The man was unmistakably Jack. The little girl was clearly Mia. But the woman? Definitely not me.\n\n\n\n

She had long brown hair and wore a flowing bridal gown. Beneath the drawing, in Mia\u2019s little handwriting, were the words that broke my heart:\n\n\n\n

I took the picture to Mia\u2019s bed and sat on the edge, trying to wake her up enough to get answers.\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarling girl, can you tell me about this drawing?\u201d I asked her calmly.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat drawing, Momma?\u201d she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.\n\n\n\n

When Mia took a look at the drawing, her face turned red, and she snatched the paper out of my hand, clutching it to her chest.\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou weren\u2019t supposed to find that! Daddy said to hide it better!\u201d she blurted out.\n\n\n\n

My heart started pounding. What was going on? Was Jack cheating? And what was worse\u2026 was Mia already imagining this other woman as her mom?\n\n\n\n

I barely slept that night. My mind was running miles per hour. I thought about my mother, I thought about the work I still needed to do before heading to the office the next day, and I thought about my marriage\u2026\n\n\n\n

By the morning, I had gone through a storm of worst-case scenarios. I sat in the kitchen, waiting for Jack to get ready for work. Mia had already left for school.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat is this?\u201d I demanded, thrusting the drawing into his hands.\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou told her to hide it?\u201d I asked. \u201cYou actually told Mia to hide it?\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait, wait,\u201d he stammered, holding up his hands defensively. \u201cIt\u2019s not what you think, Amber. Let me explain it all to you.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have exactly five seconds, Jack. I\u2019ve been going crazy the entire night.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to Mia\u2019s school. I need to show you something,\u201d he said.\n\n\n\n

I wanted to scream at him, but something in his voice, an urgency that didn\u2019t feel like guilt, made me agree.\n\n\n\n

The drive to the school was tense and silent, my mind still racing. What would Jack show me at Mia\u2019s school that would change anything? Was there an imaginary friend or imaginary step-in mother waiting for us?\n\n\n\n

When we arrived at the school, Jack squeezed my knee. As we walked to the reception area, he squeezed my hand and asked to see Mia\u2019s teacher, Clara.\n\n\n\n

As soon as Clara walked in, I felt like I\u2019d been punched in the gut. She was stunning, and for the life of me, I couldn\u2019t remember why I hadn\u2019t met her before. She had long brown hair, a bright smile, and an effortlessly bubbly demeanor.\n\n\n\n

\u201cClara,\u201d Jack said. \u201cCan you explain to my wife what\u2019s been happening with Mia?\u201d\n\n\n\n

Clara\u2019s expression shifted to confusion but then softened as she glanced at me.\n\n\n\n

She gestured for us to sit in the little room adjacent to the reception.\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, Mia\u2019s been having a tough time lately,\u201d she began. \u201cShe\u2019s mentioned feeling like her mom doesn\u2019t have time for her anymore. I\u2019ve tried to reassure her, but she\u2019s\u2026 well, look, she\u2019s seven. And she\u2019s been drawing a lot of pictures to process her feelings.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Clara handed me a stack of drawings, and my heart sank as I flipped through them.\n\n\n\n

Most were variations of the same theme. A happy family with Clara in my place. On the back of one of the drawings, there were more words I hadn\u2019t noticed the first time:\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, you\u2019ve been spending time with my daughter?\u201d I asked, unable to hide the edge in my voice.\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, of course,\u201d she said. \u201cBut only in class, and I\u2019m her teacher, after all. She stays after class sometimes to help me tidy up. She told me she feels like she\u2019s losing her mom because you\u2019re always busy. I\u2019m so sorry if I overstepped. I\u2019d never want to interfere\u2026\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found that picture last week,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI told Mia it wasn\u2019t true, that you love her more than anything. But I didn\u2019t know how to handle it. I didn\u2019t want to make it worse by bringing it up when you were already so stressed out. I told her to put the drawing away because I knew it would hurt you.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know, love,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought I was protecting you, but I see now that I just made it worse.\u201d\n\n\n\n

My anger began to deflate, replaced by a wave of guilt so heavy it nearly knocked me off my seat. This wasn\u2019t about Jack cheating or Clara overstepping. It was about my daughter, her sadness, her confusion, and her way of coping with my absence.\n\n\n\n

That night, I sat down with Mia at the kitchen table. I had dished us bowls of ice cream with all the toppings, hoping for a bonding moment between us.\n\n\n\n

\u201cSweetheart,\u201d I said softly. \u201cI need to tell you something. I know I haven\u2019t been around as much lately, and I\u2019m so, so sorry. Grandma needs a lot of help right now, but that doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t want to be with you. You\u2019re my everything, sweet girl.\u201d\n\n\n\n

\u201cI thought maybe you didn\u2019t like me anymore,\u201d she whispered.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love you more than anything,\u201d I said, holding her tightly. \u201cNothing will ever change that.\u201d\n\n\n\n

I cut back on work hours and asked my siblings to take on more of our mom\u2019s care. Jack and I started a \u201cMom and Mia\u201d night every week, just the two of us, doing whatever she wanted.\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it was baking cookies, other times it was a movie night, or building a fort, or sometimes it was just us dressing up and going on a date together.\n\n\n\n

I also had a heartfelt talk with Clara to thank her for being a wonderful teacher and being there for Mia when I couldn\u2019t be.\n\n\n\n

She apologized again for any boundaries she might have crossed, but I reassured her that Mia\u2019s drawings weren\u2019t her fault.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just feel bad, Amber,\u201d she said as she cleaned up paintbrushes.\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know, but you really shouldn\u2019t, Clara,\u201d I said. \u201cYou became a safe space for Mia, and you reminded her of how loved and cared for she is. That\u2019s something I\u2019ll always appreciate.\u201d\n\n\n\n

Life isn\u2019t perfect, but it\u2019s a lot better. I\u2019m learning to ask for help and to show Mia that she comes first. And now, every time she picks up her crayons, I make sure I\u2019m sitting right next to her.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"