Little Sam’s words sent a shiver down my spine. It was a typical evening, just the two of us at home while my wife ran errands. I had noticed a change in Sam’s behavior towards his mom lately, but I never imagined it could be this serious.

As we sat together in the living room, I decided to broach the subject gently, hoping to unravel the mystery behind his sudden avoidance of his mother.

“Sam, why have you been avoiding your mom recently?” I asked, trying to keep my tone calm and reassuring.

Sam hesitated for a moment, fidgeting with his toy car before finally meeting my gaze. “Mom has changed,” he said quietly, his voice tinged with sadness. “She has a secret and doesn’t want to share it with me.”

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. I had never considered that my wife could be hiding something from us, especially from our young son.

“What do you mean? What secret?” I pressed gently, my heart pounding in my chest.

Sam looked down at his hands, twisting his fingers nervously. “When you’re at work, she often cries in her room,” he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. “One time, I walked in there, and she was holding something in her hand. When she saw me, she quickly hid it and told me to leave.”

My mind raced as I tried to process Sam’s words. What could my wife be hiding? And why was she keeping it from us, especially from our own son?

“Thank you for telling me, buddy,” I said, wrapping my arm around Sam’s shoulders. “I’ll talk to Mom about it when she gets home, okay?”

Sam nodded, but I could see the worry etched on his young face. As we waited for my wife to return, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that had settled over me. Whatever secret she was keeping, it was clear that it was causing her pain, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it, for the sake of our family.