She longed to hold the child in her arms, but with Emma here, his so-called "mommy", she had no place to do so.
It wasn't weakness, it was restraint. Now was not the time to overstep, or she would only provoke Emma's resentment and end up hurting Dean instead. After all, she had no power to fight Gilbert for custody.
"Dean, come on, Mommy will feed you." Emma wasn't ready to give up. Wearing a sweet smile, she reached over and picked him up.
"No! Get away from me!" To everyone's surprise, Dean shoved her away with all his strength, his face full of disgust. He reached his arms toward Claire. "Auntie, come here please!"
Everyone was stunned, including Claire.
At that moment, her heart was pounding.
Dean was too young to understand the darkness in people. He only knew who he liked and who he didn't.
She had thought that after all these years, no matter what, some bond must have formed between Emma and Dean. She didn't expect him to reject her so thoroughly.
