“Mind Your Own Business”
“Mum, if Vicki asks, tell her I’m at yours.”
“Why? Whats happened?”
“Nothings happened. I just… have things to sort out.”
Helen was taken aback. Her free hand crumpled the tableclothshe didnt yet understand the request, but her gut whispered something was wrong. Tom had never used her as an excuse before. Well, except back in school when hed try to skip lessons. And even then, it never worked.
“What kind of ‘things’ does Vicki not need to know about?” Helen frowned. “Youre asking me to lie without explaining. Thats not right.”
Tom let out an irritated huff. He hated being lectured.
“Oh, Mum, dont start. Ill handle it myself. Thanks.”
“Hold on,” Helens brow furrowed. “You havent got yourself into some affair, have you?”
“Mum! Im a grown man. Stay out of my private life,” Tom snapped.
Her heart sank. He hadnt denied it, hadnt joked it off, hadnt even offered another explanation.
“Tom…” Her voice turned stern. “Youve started thisnow finish it.”
“Ugh… Fine, suppose there is someone else. So what? Happy now? I told you, Ill sort it. Just leave it alone, yeah?”
Helen pressed a hand to her chest. Her vision blurred.
“Well, you shouldve sorted it yourself then,” she said sharply. “But no, youve dragged me into it. Youre making me complicit!”
“Mum, complicit in what? We dont even have kids. No one owes anyone anything. I just need to figure out my feelings,” he said defensively.
“No one owes? What about the vows you made when you married her?” Helens eyes widenedin her day, those meant something.
“Oh, come off it. Next, youll bring up the church wedding. Its just tradition, everyone does it. Doesnt mean anything.”
“Then why drag that girl into it if it doesnt mean anything and youre still figuring out your feelings?!”
“Just a formality, innit? Wanted to make her happy. Look, stop making a fuss. Ill call you later.”
The line went dead.
Helen lowered the phone, staring blankly at the wall. It felt like shed been betrayed. Or worse. She barely recognised her son. The little boy whod once spent hours drawing pictures for his “Mummy” now casually broke the heart of a woman who loved him. Two women, if you counted Helen.
Vicki flashed in her mindcheerful, kind-hearted, always bustling with energy. Shed often bring Helen little treats: a roast chicken, a slice of cake. Shed ask if Helen needed help, taught her to use her phone, and once spent an entire day shielding her from scammers.
Helen liked Vicki. She was a homebody who always said family came first. Vicki didnt call her “Mum” or share deep confessions, but they got on brilliantly. And Helen had noticedsince the wedding, Tom called more often. Just to chat, ask about her day. Before, hed only ring when he needed something. That warmth was surely Vickis doing; she loved bringing people together.
Now, her son was asking her to lie to the woman trying to build a family with him. What should she do?
A friend, Margaret, came to mind. Three years ago, shed sobbed on Helens shoulder about her own mess.
“Can you believe it… I told her in the end. What else could I do? Felt sorry for the girlI wouldnt want to live like that, deceived. Thought itd be better coming from me…” Margaret wiped her tears. “But she turned on me. Said Id never let my son go, that I wanted to split them up. And I only meant well… You shouldve heard the names she called me.”
Even when Margarets daughter-in-law saw the truth, nothing changed. The girl claimed mothers always side with their sonsno apology. Her son cut contact, calling Margaret a traitor.
So Margaret ended up alone. With her truth, no one wanted.
Helen didnt want that. So she stayed quiet. For three months, she carried the secret like a stone in her coat pocketheavy, but invisible. Tom only started visiting again recently. Before that, hed kept his distance, avoiding the inevitable.
Shed tried talking to him, hoping hed ended things. But
“Mum, I said mind your own business!” was all hed say.
No remorse there.
Vicki, though, hadnt changed. She still drove Helen to doctors appointments, checked on her health, dropped off groceries. Each kindness felt like a splinter driven deeper. The silence grew unbearable.
One afternoon, Vicki came for tea and brought up the future.
“Helen, Ive been thinking… Maybe Tom and I should try for a baby? Weve been married a while now, things feel settled. Youd help me, wouldnt you? Youve got the experience, and I might struggle alone…”
Helen nearly dropped her cup. The air left her lungs. What would happen to Vickiand a grandchildif Tom left? The thought of Vicki alone, sobbing with a baby… No, she couldnt bear it.
She set the cup down, gripping the table to steady her hands.
“Vicki, theres something I need to tell you,” she began carefully. “Try not to upset yourself. Youre like a daughter to me, and I cant pretend anymore.”
Vickis brows rose, but she stayed quiet. Only Helen seemed distressed.
“Dont have children with him,” Helen said. “Toms been seeing someone else. Or was. I found out three months ago. I kept quiet, worried youd misunderstand. Forgive me… I just cant hold it in any longer.”
Helen braced for anger. Vicki sat motionlessonly her knuckles whitened around her cup. Her smile vanished.
“Thank you,” she finally said softly. “I hope youre wrong. But if not… Better now than later.”
They barely spoke after that. Vicki left, her slice of cake unfinished. Helen prayed shed only walked out of the housenot her life.
Over five years passed.
Tom rarely called now. When he did, it was formal, distant. He never mentioned his personal life, but as far as Helen knew, he hadnt remarried. No children, at least none he acknowledged.
Yet Helen had no regrets. She glanced at the photos on her bedside table. One showed Vicki in her wedding dressher new husband, and Helen as an honoured guest. Vicki never gushed publicly, but once confessed:
“If not for you, Id be miserable. Its thanks to you I met Ian.”
The other photo was outside a church. Helen cradled a chubby babyhis christening day. Shed become his godmother.
“Little Alfies got three grandmas,” Vicki loved to say when they gathered.
Not a trace of insincerity in her voice.
Helens heart ached as she looked at the pictures. Shed never have grandchildren of her own. Alfie was a darling boy, and shed happily dote on himbut she didnt want to intrude. Even if Vicki insisted her door was always open. Even if Ians family treated her with kindness.
But whenever Alfie ran to her with outstretched arms, Helen knew: she mightve lost her son. She might never have blood grandchildren. But shed done the right thing. The decent thing. She wouldnt want to live a lieor let another woman live one either.
