Chapter 17: Protect His Innocence
[~Song Recommendation: Hold Back The River by James Bay~]
Ellie gave Cammy’s hand a reassuring pat before standing up. "I’ll make you some hangover soup while you talk to your son," she said.
Cammy nodded, then turned to Dylan with a gentle smile. "Come here, sweetheart." Though she felt nervous, she was ready. She had rehearsed this conversation in her mind countless times and knew exactly how to approach it when the moment came.
Dylan, still sleepy, walked over to her. Cammy guided him to sit in the chair across from her, making sure they were at eye level before starting the conversation.
"Do you remember how I always tell you to do what makes your heart happy?" Cammy began.
"Yes, Mommy. You said to follow my heart as long as I won’t hurt anyone’s feelings on purpose. You also said that if I am happy then I will be healthy too and I will be less sick."
"Right... You are very sharp, you can still remember. Well, Mommy and Daddy want to be happy too, and sometimes that means doing things separately," she said gently.
Dylan looked a bit puzzled. "You don’t want to share with Daddy? But you said sharing is good, right?"
Cammy paused, searching for a way to help Dylan understand. "Do you remember that time you didn’t want to swim in the pool with Lizzie and Queenie because you wanted to build a sandcastle by yourself on the beach?"
Dylan’s face brightened as he recalled the memory. "Yes! I wanted to build my own sandcastle because they kept adding things I didn’t like. It made me really mad. And then they suddenly wanted to go swimming and I don’t want to. I like building sandcastles more than swimming that day."
"But after you finished, you were still friends with them, right? You were also happy even after you built the sandcastle by yourself, without the girls helping you. The girls also didn’t get angry or fought with you for not joining them."