A strong sense of guilt
Once she was back at the teaching hospital and was surrounded by friends and likeminded people of her own age, Jenny soon got swept into her busy college life and forgot about her wavering emotion from that first morning. Before she knew it, even the first week outside of the house had passed. Though she still missed him when her mother called her around lunch to allow Jenny to video chat with her son, this feeling would quickly go away once she entered the college or practice room and busied herself with what was in front of her. But leaving the house became harder by the time she entered her second week away from home. Because while she could handle the feeling of missing Charlie after a week away, it was now being accompanied by a strong sense of guilt.
Where Charlie was not aware of what was happening before, as smart as he was, he had soon figured out that the few minutes of playing he had with his mother in the morning, meant that she was leaving again for the entire day. Especially, when she seemed to look different from usual. Babies are usually more sensitive to facial expressions in the first place, let alone a bright one that is very attached to this particular person that his attention is drawn to. So, after about the first week, each time that it was time to leave, Charlie held onto Jenny with all the power he had in his little chubby hands. Crying and bawling his eyes out before she had even set a foot out of the door in hopes of guilting her into staying home. A thing he would have succeeded in if it weren't for Jason forcing her to push through and giving her the strength she needed to ignore his cries.
After week three, Jenny was feeling emotionally drained. Though she would be fine once she was on campus and in class, leaving was getting more and more difficult for her. Causing tears to even start appearing in her eyes when she saw them welling up in his. Seeing Jenny having such a hard time with all of this, Jason was feeling another side of him resurfacing. One that hadn't appeared in quite some time and one he had hoped wouldn't appear with his own son. But as his son was growing, Jason was becoming more strict and unforgiving towards his clinging to Jenny. Especially now when it was hurting them both, it started to bother him. So, one day when Jenny was pulling Charlie's soft, chubby, hands away and forcing herself to leave for class with reddened eyes, he had enough.
"Jenny, I think it is best that I stay home for today. You can have the driver take you to class instead of me. I think that with the thought of having at least one of his parents by his side, Charlie might be less upset and you might feel more at ease as well. Even after you mom returns, she has to return home more permanently at some point too. If you ask me, it should be some point in the near future. We can't keep asking her to stay here to take care of the son we are supposed to take care of. I know she doesn't mind and you like having her here but it isn't fair to her nor to your brothers, who have to do without her for quite some time now."
Jason saw that his words were landing on a sore spot in Jenny's heart. But with the same calmness he continued his words. Not allowing his tightening heart to make him falter or sway. "Plus, your mother should be allowed to live her own life. Sure she has returned to the Netherlands a few times since Charlie has been born, that isn't the same. Since I can work from home, I think my staying here for a few days of the week is the most logical. That way we can phase our presence out, instead of taking us away from him in two big pulls. After I start reducing my time at home, we can ask my mom and dad to look after Charlie a bit more and if they do it in turns they can easily do their own work on the side. At least until we hire a permanent nanny to take over some of the hours and work out a schedule where we all take a part of the 'shifts', instead of one person holding all of the responsibility."
Jenny heard all of Jason's words in somewhat of a trance. Though she agreed with him on most points, it was a lot to take in. Since she didn't want to think or talk about her mother leaving right now, nor did she have the time to discuss Jason staying home more with Charlie, she chose to not say anything at all. Just nodding her head before walking out the door and closing it behind her. When she entered the car that had already been driven to the front of the door, she texted Jason 'I'll think about it.' and stared out the passenger window as the driver started the car and took her to her destination. As she was taken towards the University, Jason looked at their bawling son with a contemplating look as he was thinking of how he was going to handle the change in his schedule. He loosened his tie and placed his laptop on the salon table before picking up their son. Lifting Charlie up with one hand, while using the other to call his assistant at the office to let them know he wouldn't be coming in today. Like that both of them started their days in a different way than they had imagined...