Mom, could you look after Max for a few hours? Kate asks, her voice hoarse. I have to dash to the office they need some paperwork urgently.
Olivia flips through her diary. Kate, I have a meeting with the editor at seven tonight. I cant.
Come on, Mum, you always have an excuse! Hes your grandson, isnt he? Is work really more important than family?
Olivia tightens her lips. Here we go again guilttrip manipulation.
Kate, I warned you it was foolish to have a baby with someone you barely know. You ignored me. Thats your choice, your responsibility, she says.
Fine, Kate replies coldly. So you dont care about me or the baby. Thanks for the support.
She hangs up.
Olivia just turned fiftytwo and finally feels she can breathe. A divorce once turned her world upside down. For fifteen years she raised two daughters, worked two jobs, and gave up everything for them. Five years ago Michael entered her life a steady, dependable man who accepted her past and never demanded the impossible.
The girls grow up, get educated. With Michael, Olivia helps Kate buy a onebed flat, and Lucy a studio in a new development. Olivia lands a respectable post at a publishing house, enrolls in an Italian language course, and starts saving for a trip to Italy the dream shes always had.
But at twentythree Kate marries a stranger she meets one night. Six months later she gives birth. Olivia had cautioned her against such haste, but Kate ignored the advice. Now her husband, Victor, proves unreliable he works sporadically and the money trickles in at best. Kate struggles between caring for her infant and taking odd jobs just to keep the lights on. Since then Olivias phone rings nonstop with Kates pleas.
Olivia leans her forehead against the cool kitchen window. Shes sick of the endless demand to sacrifice herself. Kate hints at moving back in with her parents, saying it would be easier for everyone and the baby. Olivia refuses, explaining she has her own life, job, and plans. Kate cries into the handset, whining about lost youth.
A week later another shock arrives. Lucy, twenty, just out of university, announces shes pregnant. The father a lad shes dated three months works as a courier, lives in a shared house, and has no prospects. Lucy bursts into the living room, beaming, hoping for support and celebration.
Mom, guess what? Victor and I are going to be parents! she exclaims, flopping onto the sofa. Were having a baby! Its wonderful!
Olivia watches her daughter, irritation rising again. The same story as with Kate.
Lucy, have you and Victor thought about how youll raise the child? Where will you live? A studio with a newborn? How will you afford everything? Olivia asks calmly.
Lucy fiddles with the edge of her sweater. Well, Victor has a spare room Well figure something out. Mom, youll help us, wont you? Well need you.
Olivia places her cup on the table a little too firmly.
No, Lucy. You have the right to have a baby, Im not against it. But I wont fund a young family. The flat is yours, Ive given you all I could. Now you must manage on your own.
Lucy jumps up, tears welling. How can you say that? Youre heartless! Im your daughter! The baby will be your grandson!
Im telling you the truth. Youre adults. Youve finished university, Victor has a job. If you decided to have a child, you must take full responsibility. Ive fulfilled my obligations. I have my own life and my own plans.
What plans? Nothing is more important than family! How can you have plans when your daughters are in trouble? Lucy shouts, grabbing her bag. Kates right. Youre selfish!
Kate storms out of the flat. Olivia stands in the living room, eyes closed, as both daughters unite against her. The family group chat explodes with accusations of selfishness and coldness. Kate types long messages about how hard it is and how a mother should help, calling it sacred. Lucy adds that she never imagined her mother could be so indifferent.
Michael comforts Olivia in the evenings, hugging her, trying to calm the storm. Yet the tension climbs. Kate starts dropping by with the baby unannounced, pushing the pram through the door and leaving a note: Mum, Ill be back in a couple of hours, look after Max.
Olivia tries to protest, but Kate is already dashing down the stairs. Michael frowns silently. Lucy calls, sobbing, pleading for moral support, complaining that Victor doesnt understand, that theres no money, that shes lost.
Olivia feels cornered. Her daughters keep demanding, demanding, demanding, as if she were an endless well they could draw from forever.
Saturday night is quiet. Olivia and Michael plan a calm evening at home, a film, and final details for their Italy trip. A sudden, insistent knock breaks the silence.
Michael opens the door. Kate stands there with suitcases and the baby in her arms. Lucy follows, eyes red from crying.
Mum, were moving in temporarily, Kate declares, dumping a suitcase in the hallway. Simon will bring the rest of the furniture later. Well rent out my flat to get some income, so you can spend more time with Max while I work!
What? Olivia freezes in the hallway. Kate, what are you saying? We never discussed this.
Do I need to? Kate snaps. Youre my mother, you should help. Who else will?
Lucy slips in behind her. Mum, I need money for a cot. We have nothing. Victor earns so little, I cant stay on maternity leave, I need to work.
Olivia feels something burst inside. All the fatigue, irritation, and hurt of recent months pour out.
No, she says sharply, stepping forward. Kate, turn around and go home. Lucy, theres no money. End of story.
Both daughters stare at her, stunned.
You cant be serious? Kate asks, rocking a crying Max. Are you kidding?
Absolutely, Olivia crosses her arms. I raised you, gave you education, bought you flats. Now fly out of the nest and build your own lives. Dont hang your children on my neck!
How can you say that? Lucy shrieks. Were your daughters! Your blood!
I can, because Im speaking the truth. Youre adults. You chose your partners, you chose when to have children. I warned you, I advised you. You didnt listen. This is your responsibility, not mine.
Kate shifts the baby to her other arm, looking at Olivia with bewilderment and anger. Youre kicking us out? Really? Our own mother?
Im not kicking you out. You have a house, Olivia replies, not breaking eye contact. And you have a husband, Kate. Sort out your problems yourselves.
Youre a cold selfish monster! Lucy yells, stomping her foot. We mean nothing to you! All you think about is Italy!
Exactly, Italy is my priority, Olivia says evenly. My plans, my life. I spent twenty years living for you. What more do you want? To have me babysit you until Im on my deathbed?
The sisters exchange looks. Kate grabs her suitcase, turns, and heads for the door. Lucy follows. Olivia hears them descend the stairs, voices muffled but unmistakably bitter.
For a week theres no call, no message. Michael tells her she did the right thing. Inside, Olivias chest tightens with anxiety. Was she right? Was she too harsh?
She later learns Kate did sell her flat. She and Victor moved into his parents cramped twobedroom, where shes burdened with endless chores and criticised for every mistake. Her motherinlaw raises the grandchild as she sees fit. The fatherinlaw grumbles that todays youth are lazy.
Lucys fate comes from a neighbour. She saw Lucy crying on a bench outside their block. Victor fled, abandoning her after taking his things. Lucy is left pregnant, penniless, and alone.
Olivia stands in her kitchen, torn between compassion for her daughters and the firm resolve to stay out of their lives. She gave them a solid start education, a roof, love. How they use it is no longer her concern.
The daughters begin calling again. Kate complains about the motherinlaw, sobbing that she cant take it any longer. Lucy cries that shes completely alone, that she cant cope. Olivia listens, sympathises, but offers only advice.
But the daughters want more than advice. They want Olivia to solve everything, to let them move in, to hand over cash. Olivia refuses each time.
She and Michael finally book threeweek tickets to Italy, the longawaited getaway postponed countless times. Before they leave, Olivia calls her daughters.
Are you crazy? Kate asks, bewildered. What about us?
Youre grown up, youll manage, Olivia replies, eyeing the suitcase by the door. When you learn to solve your own problems and stop treating me as a freestanding nanny and ATM, Ill be happy to talk as equals. Until then, grow up.
Youre abandoning us? Kate whispers. What are we supposed to do?
Im not abandoning you. You have the right to make mistakes. I have the right not to pay for them, Olivia says, grabbing her coat. Ill always be your mother, but Im not obliged to sacrifice myself for adult children and their illthoughtout choices.
Michael waits by the car. Olivia steps out, gets into the sedan, and breathes deeply. She decides, once and for all, to stop being haunted by guilt. She gave her children education, a roof, love, and advice which they ignored. Her mission is complete. Its time to think about herself.
She imagines a holiday with Michael, strolling through Roman streets, admiring Florentine galleries, gliding along Venetian canals. Freedom she finally deserves. Everything feels wonderful.
