The last year of my life revolved around my job, which has been hectic, and my sick mother. Between the office, where I work as a corporate lawyer, and the long and frequent hospital visits, I barely found the time to spend with my husband and daughter.

My mother’s treatments and medications cost a little fortune, which forced me to work long hours.

Luckily, my husband Jake has been extremely supportive, overtaking the cleaning, the cooking, and helping our daughter with her school work.

Most days, I was getting home really late, exhausted and eager to get some sleep.

One evening, after I took Mia to bed, I cleaned after her and collected her toys and crayons. But then, under the table, I spotted a drawing – a cute little sketch at first glance.

It was a family of three. The man was definitely my husband, and the girl was my daughter, but the woman didn’t resemble me at all. Instead, she had long brown hair and a blue gown. On the bottom of the drawing it was written, “I can’t wait for you to be my mom.”

I recognized my daughter’s bubbly handwriting and I almost collapsed.

Midjourney

Who was this woman she drew on my place?

I couldn’t wait for the morning to come so I woke Mia up and asked her about the drawing. She opened the cute little eyes and then grabbed the paper from my hands and placed it tightly on her chest. “You were not supposed to see this, daddy told me to hide it better.”

I froze. What was going on in this house while I was at work? Was Jack seeing another woman?

There were questions popping up I didn’t know the answer to.

In the morning, I confronted Jack about the drawing.
“Did you see this drawing before, Jack, because our daughter said you told her to hide it from me? Who is this woman? Are you cheating on me?” I demanded to know.

But Jack said I needed to calm down and that it was time I learned what was going on in Mia’s head.

His words confused me even more.

Jack told me to trust him and get inside the car. So, I did.

He drove to Mia’s school and asked to speak to her teacher, Claire.
The moment Claire showed up, I knew she was the woman my daughter drew. Mia was imagining her life with Claire as her mom and that broke my heart.

Claire welcomed us to the teacher’s office. She told me that Mia confessed she was extremely sad because she believed I don’t love her anymore. I wasn’t spending time with her, so she taught she was losing me and tried to find solace in her teacher.

“Jack, why didn’t you said anything,” I asked. But Jack said he only learned about that the previous week, when he found Mia’s drawing that he told her to hide from me.

He didn’t know how to cope with the situation without hurting my feelings.

Claire explained that Mia was sometimes helping her tidy up the classroom while waiting for Jack to pick her up and it was during that time that she opened up about her feelings.

Almost with a whisper, Claire apologized if she overstepped and said she didn’t want to interfere, but she did tell Jack about Mia’s feelings.

I didn’t feel angry any more. Instead, I felt guilty for neglecting my daughter. It was neither Jack’s nor Claire’s fault. They were just trying to help. It was me who made Mia sad.
That evening, I sat near my daughter while she had her dinner in the kitchen and told her about my sick mother and how I needed to work hard.

I told Mia she was my entire world and I loved her more than anything.

She started crying and wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. “I love you mommy,” she said, “but I thought you didn’t love me any more.”

Her words broke my heart and I knew I needed to make a change. I talked to my brother and sister and asked them to take more on our mom’s care.

From that day on, Mia and I had a “mom and daughter” time once a week – time just for the two of us when we did everything she wished. Sometimes it was baking cookies, other times long walks in the park.

I understood that my girl needed me, and I had to be there for her.

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