bChapter /bb524 /b

    Wesley was in a great mood for days after sessfully winning over his potential future inws.

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    On Friday, Jessica brought Brian to see him for a follow–up. Noticing Wesley’s smiling face and obvious good mood, she couldn’t help asking, “Dr. Finch, have you had some good newstely?”

    Wesley chuckled, “Yes, a big one that affects my future.”

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    There was no hiding thecency in his voice, which made Jessica even imore /icurious. She pressed, “What kind of good news?”

    But Wesley shook a finger. “Can’t say yet. It might make someone mad. Anyway, enough about me, Ms. Grant. Head to the consulting room. I’ll do a psychological assessment first.”

    His secrecy only made Jessica more curious.

    But she respected people’s privacy. Since Wesley clearly didn’t want to talk more, she dropped it, though she made a mental note

    to ask Sana about itter.

    The consulting room was the same as before, except there was a bouquet of lilies on the table.

    Tres was curledzily under the flowers. Hearing movement, it looked back at them, stretched slowly, and then sauntered over to Jessica elegantly.

    “Tres missed you,” Wesley said with a smile.

    Jessica picked Tres up, stroking its fur smoothly with practiced hands.

    Wesley sat down behind his desk, pulled out Jessica’s file, flipped through it, and asked, “Still having nightmares?”

    Jessica kept petting the cat. “No. I’ve been in a good moodtely, Dr. Finch. I think I’ve almost recovered.” A smile spread across her face as she spoke.

    No one wanted to stay unwell, especially with mental health.

    “That’s great.” Wesley was happy for her. But as a professional psychologist, he wouldn’t jump to conclusions based on a few

    words.

    He scanned her records and asked more questions about her life, rtionships, and feelings about people and things around her.

    Jessica answered easily and honestly. She was far less guarded than when she first started counseling.

    Her cooperation made things easier for Wesley.

    And from her answers, he could tell she really was getting better. The emotional knots that had been there were shrinking.

    Wesley shared this conclusion with Jessica. Seeing the obvious brightness in her expression, he felt happy for her too.

    “Based on your progress, you might be fully recovered before your due date. But do you n to keep things this way?” Wesley closed the case file and asked tentatively.

    Jessica understood his unspoken meaning “I don’t want to think about that right now,” she said instinctively, touching her swollen belly. “I just want to focus on having the babies safely.”

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    Noticing her reflex to avoid the topic, Wesley frowned slightly. “Is that so? I thought you and Mr. Atkinson had patched things up.”

    “You’re overthinking it. We’re just helping each other get better, that’s all. Maybe co–parenting on itop /iof that,” Jessica replied quickly as if trying to convince someone, though she wasn’t sure of who.

    Wesley silently reopened the file, picked up his pen, and jotted down another note.

    Jessica stroked Tres, feeling that familiar restlessness creep in after all these days. She thought, ‘I’m really happy with life as it is. Why does Dr. Finch push me to change? Do men and women always need a clearbel on their rtionship?

    ‘After a divorce, do they have to remarry to live together and care for their children? But can I really go back to marriage with Brian without any lingering resentment? Can I truly let go of those ten years of one–sided effort?‘

    Jessica had always seen it clearly. Their divorce hadn’t just been because of Madeline’s interference. Their marriage itself had been on the verge of falling apart. She and Brian had both changed a lottely. ‘But can we really make a marriage work nowi, /ieven with those changes?‘ she wondered.

    When Jessica was lost in her thoughts, her fingers tightened without her realizing it. Tres let out a soft mew of difort.

    Jessica snapped back to her senses, bending down to stroke the cat gently. “Sorry.”

    “If you’re sorry, give it a treat.” Wesley held out a cat stick at the right moment.

    Jessica looked up at him, confusion still lingering in her eyes.

    “Tres has a good temper. It’ll definitely forgive you if you apologize sincerely. Give it a try.” Wesley encouraged her, cing the cat

    stick in her hand.

    Jessica looked at the cat stick in her palm. She knew Wesley was trying to distract her, afraid she’d get stuck in her thoughts again and overthink things. She appreciated the gesture.

    She carefully opened the cat stick, squeezed it out, and fed it to Tres slowly.

    Tres had forgotten the earlier difort once it got something tasty and now rubbed affectionately against her hand. Watching this, Jessica couldn’t help sighing, “It’d be nice if people were as simple as cats.”

    “People aren’t really all thatplicated. It just depends on how you look at things.” Wesley spoke gently.

    Having gotten the response he needed, he didn’t press Jessica further. Instead, he used Tres as a segue and asked about how Jessica’s Pancake was doingtely.

    “Pancake’s great. It’s a big golden retriever now. But I’m getting heavier these days, so I can’t walk it anymore. Brian takes it out most of the time.” Jessica’s mood clearly lifted when talking about Pancake.

    She told Wesley about Pancake’s daily life andter couldn’t help sharing a few funny things that happened while Brian was walking the dog for her.

    When sheughed, her pretty eyes crinkled up. Anyone could see she was in a good mood.

    Wesley felt relieved. He chatted with her for a bit and ended the follow–up appointment.

    As soon as Jessica walked out of the consulting room, she pushed Brian right in.

    Brian thought he was already better, but he couldn’t argue with Jessica. He had to go in.

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    12:55 Tue, 2 Sept A

    As soon as he saw Wesley, he said, “I haven’t had insomniately. Does that mean I’ve almost recovered?”

    He really didn’t want to stay in this “sick” state. ‘How else am I going to take care of Jessi and our isoon/ii–/ito–be–born babies?‘ he thought.

    Wesley studied his expression carefully and shook his head. “Hard to say.”

    At that, Brian’s face instantly fell.

    But Wesley didn’t care about his sour look. He opened Brian’s file and started asking questions.

    Wesley asked, “Have you been overly anxioustely? Have you found yourself imagining Ms. Grant havingplications during delivery? When you two go out, do you subconsciously worry about Ms. Grant getting hurt? At home, do iyou /iever…”

    15

    The rapid–fire questions caught Brian off guard. He answered instinctively, speaking his true thoughts, “Yes. Once or twice. Yes, but I don’t think it’s my problem. Before…”

    Wesley listened as Brian tried to justify his actions. He closed the file, looked at Brian, and sighed, “Mr. Atkinson, you might not want to hear this, but I honestly think you might have a bit of prenatal syndrome.”