Lately, Sheila had spent most of her time with Henry. Whenever they ate together, Henry would comment that the same dish tasted much better when his mom made it.
If they passed by a woman on the street dressed in a style similar to his mother's, Henry would point it out, insisting that no one looked as nice as his mom in those clothes.
After all, Jessica was his real mother. But as Henry grew older, he started to worry that her inability to speak might make other people laugh at him.
Sheila understood, deep down, that no matter how much time she spent with Henry now, she could never compare to the years of deep affection between mother and son.
Winning Henry's heart completely would take time.
The truth was, Henry missed his mom too.
He felt like she'd changed lately, like she didn't care about him anymore.
So when Sheila suddenly brought up the subject, Henry remembered how his mother hadn't come to see him when he'd been in the hospital. The thought stung, leaving him feeling hurt and a little resentful.
What kind of mom acted like that?
"Miss Sheila, I'll call her right now and ask her to come home."
"Henry, you're the sweetest kid I know. So go on, figure out a way to bring your mom back home, okay?"
After hanging up, Henry thought about it. Normally, whenever he was sick or hurt, his mom would be the first to worry about him.
Since he'd promised Miss Sheila, he was determined to find a way to get his mom to come home.
That way, Miss Sheila would come visit him again, too.
Henry Lawson walked out to the balcony and used his smartwatch's chat app to make a video call to Jessica.
Jessica had just met up with Ines, who immediately took her hand and started leading her upstairs.
Jessica's phone buzzed with a notification.
Ines let go of her hand. "Go ahead and take your call."
Jessica fished her phone out of her bag. Her son's name flashed on the screen.
It was a call from the chat app.
She'd already blocked Henry's number and his regular messages, but she'd forgotten to delete him from the smartwatch contacts.
"It's your son calling! Go on, answer it," Ines said, not knowing about everything going on at home. If Jessica ignored her son's call, Ines would definitely question her about it.
Jessica didn't want Ines to worry, so she answered Henry's call.
Henry's adorable, handsome face instantly filled the screen.
"Mom."
The familiar word sent a sharp pain through Jessica's chest.
With Ines standing beside her, Jessica forced a smile and gave Henry a little
wave.
"Will you come home, please?"
Jessica had something important to do right then. She handed her phone to Ines, asking her to hold it, and signed to Henry, "I have things to take care of. Can we talk later, okay?"
"No! If you don't come home, I'm going to jump off right now!"
Henry turned the camera to show the balcony railing.
Jessica and Ines were both horrified.
This was serious-nothing to joke about.
Jessica couldn't speak, so Ines quickly called out, "Henry, honey, you mustn't do anything reckless!"
Then she turned anxiously to Jessica. "Jessica, maybe you should go home for now."
Jessica signed in distress, "But Professor, what about Director Smith's meeting..."
And then there was Henry himself. Lately, he'd acted like he'd forgotten her entirely, but now he was calling, threatening to jump if she didn't come home.
Ines tried to reassure her, "Don't worry about it. Your child's safety comes first." "Mom, are you coming home or not? If you don't, I really will jump!"