Chapter 323 Feeling Guilty and Embarrassed
After grabbing lunch and snagging some new threads for the kids, Riley finally brought them back home.
Sophie whipped up dinner. Riley plopped down at the dining table with the kids. Sophie grinned and asked what they got up to today. The kids spilled all the deets, and the vibe was super chill.
Mid-meal, Riley noticed Winston was munching real slow and asked, "Winston, what's up? Did you pig out at lunch and can't handle more food?"
Sophie and Landon both turned to Winston. They saw Winston clutching his stomach under the table, poking at his food with a pale face, looking pretty miserable.
Seeing Winston like that, Landon got worried. "Mommy, Winston doesn't look too good."
Riley put down her spoon and walked over to Winston. As Riley approached, Winston stopped hiding his suffering and clutched his stomach with both hands, his face scrunched up in pain.
"What's wrong? Tummy ache?" Riley asked seriously, reaching for Winston's wrist to check on him.
Winston nodded hard. Just as Riley was about to grab his wrist, he jumped off the chair, looking pained, and bolted to the bathroom. Riley stood up, worried, and looked at Landon. "You feeling okay?"
Landon thought for a sec and nodded his head.
Sophie also looked worriedly towards the bathroom and then at the food. "It can't be the food, right? Tonight's dinner should be fine."
Riley gave Sophie a reassuring smile, "It's not the dinner. Maybe he got a chill from swimming earlier, or lunch didn't sit well."
Sophie nodded, feeling a bit better but still concerned. Since she started looking after this family, it seemed like this mom and her kids were always getting sick. She wondered how they managed before.
After a while, Winston finally came out of the bathroom, looking pale.
"How you feeling?" Riley asked, concerned.
Winston shook his head. "I don't feel it anymore."
Riley was still worried and sat Winston on the sofa to check him out. "When did you start feeling bad?" Riley asked, frowning.
Winston answered guiltily, "In the car this afternoon."
Riley sighed, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Winston replied softly, "Mommy, I didn't want to worry you, and I just thought I needed the bathroom."
After all, he and Landon had just said they wanted to protect Riley, and kids had their pride too.He didn't expect that after a few bites at dinner, his stomach would hurt so bad.
Now that Riley knew, Winston felt both guilty and embarrassed.
Riley saw through Winston's thoughts and, feeling both amused and exasperated, said, "If you want to protect me, you gotta take care of yourself first. Next time, tell me as soon as you feel bad."
Winston nodded obediently.
"A little medicine would've done the trick, but now we gotta hit the hospital," Riley said, glancing at the time. "Good thing it's not too late."
Then she asked Sophie to grab thick coats for the kids and drove them to the hospital.
