However, Corinne did not have the luxury of time to figure out why 'Bryan' was acting that way. She shook her head and said, "He's fine. He's just feeling a little shy, perhaps."
'Shy? That kid has been thick-skinned ever since he was little, so why would he suddenly become shy?' thought Xante.
Xante was even more confused than ever as she looked at 'Bryan'. For some reason, he looked different somehow.
"What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" asked Corinne with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, I promised to come yesterday, but something happened and I ended up not coming. Boss, I called you twice before I came, but you didn't pick up my calls. I thought I'd come anyway," said Xante helplessly.
Corinne took out her phone and saw there were indeed two missed calls from Xante.
'I must be out of it to not have heard my phone ringing,' she thought.
"Sorry. I took the kids to the indoor playground and it was noisy there, so I must not have heard it. Anyway, help me watch the kids while I go upstairs to change my clothes. I'll be back real quick," said Corinne.
Xante nodded and watched Corinne go up the stairs.
At that moment, Francine sidled up to Xante mysteriously and said, "Don't you think Corinne isn't herself today? She looks sort of depressed."
Xante glanced sideways at her. "She's probably tired from running your family's company."
"That's enough. We shouldn't speak about this kind of thing in front of the kids. It'll just make them sad," reminded Xante when she saw Christine frowning in her arms.
Christine was indeed sad. "Auntie Xante, are you guys talking about my Mommy? Is she sad because my Daddy didn't come home?"
Xante, Annie, and Francine fell silent. They had no idea how to explain Corinne's situation to the little girl.
"There, there, Christine. There's nothing for you to worry about. We adults do get sad sometimes, but it's just normal. I'm sure your Mommy will feel better after she has a good night's sleep."
Christine pouted. "But I feel like Mommy is sad every day, and she is especially sad today. Sigh. You guys need to introduce a good man to Mommy if Daddy isn't coming back. Maybe Mommy's sad 'cause she's so lonely. She needs someone who can make her laugh like Daddy did."
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