Chapter 1

All because of an ice cream, Andrew wouldn't stop bawling. "I don't want you, you're a terrible mom!"

He even waved around a photo of Noah and Kristen snuggled up together. "I want her to be my mom."

I just nodded, keeping my voice steady. "Alright."

Noah sighed and said, "This is all on me. She's got nothing to do with it. I know you care about your pride, so let's just end things peacefully."

I gave a cold smile. "Sure, it's all your fault, but let's not pretend she's some innocent angel. There's no way we're having a peaceful divorce. Unless you give me a bigger share of the assets. Otherwise, I'll spill all your dirty laundry for the world to see."

*****

After being away on a business trip for two weeks, my usually well-behaved son, Andrew, wouldn't take no for an answer. He demanded ice cream. When I refused, he threw a tantrum and called me a bad mom.

I felt pretty awful inside, but I knew Andrew wouldn't act like this for no reason.

The next day was Sunday, so I decided to take the day off, stay home with Andrew, and get to the bottom of why he was so upset with me and kept calling me a bad mom.

But Noah, who never worked weekends, said he had to meet a client. I got up to make him breakfast.

Suddenly, I heard Andrew's voice. "Dad, didn't you promise you'd take me to the amusement park today?"

Noah told Andrew he'd take him to the amusement park?

I walked out of the kitchen and saw Noah packing his briefcase. He glanced up at me, his eyes darting away.

Noah bent down and whispered something to Andrew. Andrew's face fell, but instead of throwing a tantrum, he just nodded in frustration and quietly ate his breakfast.

After breakfast, Noah kissed my forehead. "Honey, I'm heading out to work overtime. Thanks for holding down the fort."

I nodded. "Take care on the road."

Once Noah left, I pulled up a chair and sat next to Andrew, speaking softly. "Andrew, do you want to go to the amusement park? Want me to take you?"

He turned his face away. "No."

I smiled and kept coaxing him. "Why not? You always liked it when I went with you, right?"

"You won't let me have ice cream. It's no fun," Andrew grumbled.

I kept my voice gentle. "If you can't have ice cream, we can get something else to eat. And there are so many other things you love to do at the amusement park."

"But I just want ice cream," he insisted.

I gently patted his head. "Andrew, it's not that I don't want you to have ice cream. You can't have it. Your tummy's lymph nodes are swollen, so you can't eat anything cold or irritating. Remember when you were five and had ice cream?

"Your stomach hurt so much, and I had to take you to the hospital for seven days. The doctor told me you couldn't have anything cold or harsh until you got better."

Andrew seemed to understand and stopped fussing. While I was cleaning up, he actually brought me a glass of water, something he'd never done before.

I smiled and said, "Thank you, my little one."

But then Andrew looked up at me with an expectant face. "Mom, are you going on a business trip next week?"

I shook my head. "No, not next week."

I thought he'd be happy to hear that, but his face dropped right away.

"Can't you just go on another business trip next week?" Andrew asked.

I froze for a moment. I then asked, "Andrew, why do you want Mommy to go away for work again?"

But Andrew just stayed quiet.

After dinner, Andrew started fussing again.

"I want ice cream!" he pleaded, tugging at my shirt, his eyes big and pleading like a puppy begging for treats.

"No, you can't. Your tummy will hurt," I said gently.

"You're lying!" Andrew suddenly screamed, his voice piercing my ears. "I can totally have ice cream! Kristen always buys it for me, and I never get a stomachache!"

My hand froze for a second. Kristen Lucero? Andrew's old tutor?

After that, Andrew stormed off to his room. A moment later, he came back clutching a photo, practically shoving it right under my nose.

"Look! Kristen bought me ice cream, and nothing happened! Mom, you're lying! You're the bad one!" Andrew yelled.

In the picture, Andrew was grinning ear to ear in front of the amusement park's ice cream truck, his eyes squinting into little crescents.

He had a massive rainbow cone in his left hand. Noah was holding his right, and his other arm was casually draped around Kristen's waist as she stood beside them.

The next photo was even more glaring.

Noah was crouched down, hugging Andrew and kissing his cheek. Kristen, following Noah's lead, bent down and kissed Andrew's other cheek.

All three of them were smiling, like one big happy family.

I stared at the photos, a chill running through me.

Andrew's voice kept echoing in my ear. "Kristen always brings me gifts when she comes over. She and Dad tuck me in at night, read me stories, and give me goodnight kisses.

"She doesn't force me to sleep alone just because I'm six. Mom, I think Kristen is so much better than you. I want her to be my mom!"