Free Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) by Sylvia McDaniel Page B

and
ewer she’d brought from home and poured water onto a small towel,
which she used to dry her hands.
    Walking back to her son, she knelt in front
of him and glanced at his face. Gently, she washed the scrapes and
bruises on his knees and elbows.
    “Why were you fighting, Philip? You’ve never
been one to cause trouble,” she said, as she gently washed his
face.
    He looked away and shrugged his shoulders. “I
don’t know.”
    She folded the towel and wiped his face, her
heart aching for the boy she loved with all her heart
    “Philip, I know you wouldn’t get into a fight
without a good reason. You can tell me. What happened?”
    He wouldn’t look at her. “I guess I got mad
at what some kids were saying.”
    Marian’s heart ached as she gazed at her boy.
“What kind of things were they saying, Philip?”
    The boy shrugged, trying so hard to hide his
pain. Restlessly he kicked his feet. “It's okay, Mother. I took
care of them.”
    She swallowed, he was trying to protect her,
and afraid he would hurt her feelings. “Were they saying things
about your father?”
    She walked over to the bowl and rinsed the
towel out and then came back to her son.
    Philip glanced away, unable to meet her gaze.
“I’m not going to let them say those things.”
    She dabbed tenderly at his swollen eye with
the wet towel. “Sometimes people do things that hurt their
families. But that doesn’t mean that they love their children any
less.”
    “Did you love Daddy?” he questioned, taking
her completely by surprise.
    The query touched her. She gazed at her son,
her heart overflowing with love. He was growing up and she wanted
to protect him from the ugly truth about his father, but the world
was not going to let her.
    “I loved your father very much at one time. I
would never have married Jean, if I had not been in love with him,”
she answered truthfully.
    “Did you love him when he died?” he
asked.
    The question tore at her heart and she wanted
to lie, but couldn’t.
    “I cared for your father, but somehow we lost
our love for one another. But that does not mean that we didn’t
love you and your sister. Your father loved you. And I love you and
Renee, with all my heart.”
    Her son’s lower lip trembled.
    “The kids at school called papa a bigamist.
They said that means he married other women. That he didn’t love
you or me. They lied!” he declared vehemently.
    Marian brushed the hair away from her son’s
face and smoothed his brow with the damp towel. “I wish I could
protect you and your sister and keep the truth away from you, but I
can’t. Your father did indeed marry two other women.”
    With his hands he thrust her away from him.
“No!” he yelled. “You’re lying! My father would never do that.”
    Marian resisted the urge to take her son in
her arms and rock him like she had when he was a small child. She
wanted to comfort him, to take away the pain she knew he felt, but
she could only be there for him.
    She pulled up a chair and sat down beside
him. She tried to take his hand in her hand, but he pulled
away.
    “Philip, you loved your father. Regardless of
what anyone says about him, you love him and you miss him. He made
mistakes in his life, but his love for you was always constant.
Remember him for the man he was to you and the way he loved you.
Don’t let anyone’s opinion tarnish your love for your father.”
    “Why did he have to leave us? He should have
stayed,” he said trying not to cry, the tears hovering near the
surface.
    “If he could have stayed here with you and me
and Renee, he would have. He didn’t have a choice, Philip, so don’t
blame him for leaving.” She sighed. “I know you are hurting right
now, but try not to blame your father.”
    He glanced up at her, his tears momentarily
gone. “Are you mad at me?”
    All mention of his father’s other wives
vanished from his talk. For a moment, Marian thought of explaining
more to the boy, but then decided to let it alone. If