From the Moment He Was Born
“Listen, why dont you just marry your mother-in-law instead? Whats the difference? Your husbands no use anyway. Just another mouth to feed,” muttered Grace bitterly into the phone, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Mum, can you stop picking on him? Youre never happy with anyone! As if were draining your bank account,” snapped Emily.
“Well, thank goodness for thatat least not yet,” Grace huffed. “But mark my words, it wont be long before you do. His mother wont be around forever. Has that layabout of yours even thought about getting a job? Or is he planning to stay home with the baby until shes eighteen? Since when do men send their wives out to work while they play with rattles and nappies?”
“Mum! This is how weve chosen to live. Were happy with it. Why cant you just leave us alone?” Emilys voice turned icy.
“No reason. Just wanted you to have a proper man, thats all.”
“If you dont like it, dont come round. Im not forcing you.”
Grace sighed as the line went dead. “Still the same stubborn little girl,” she thought.
She wouldve kept quiet, but after what shed seen today, silence was impossible.
That morning, Grace had dropped by to see her granddaughter. She arrived at Margaretsthe mother-in-lawshouse, where the young couple seemed to have settled indefinitely. When Grace stepped inside, the scene that greeted her was something out of a farce.
Daniel was slumped in an armchair, fork in hand, lazily picking at the plate of sausages Margaret had just brought him. A few crumbs tumbled onto his lap, which he brushed off without bothering to look away from his computer screen. Meanwhile, Margaret dashed between the cot and the stove, juggling a boiling pot of tea while trying to rock the baby to sleep.
“Suppose Id better help, since no one else will,” Grace muttered dryly.
Margaret shot her a grateful glance before vanishing back into the kitchen, leaving Grace with the baby. In the two hours she stayed, the father didnt even glance at his daughter. It was clear this was normal for them.
Graces heart ached for Emily, who was out grafting at a shop while this went on. But her daughter had made her choice, and she wasnt about to change her mind. Truth be told, the writing had been on the wall from the start.
…When Grace first met Daniel, hed seemed shy, even gentle. But once he opened his mouth, it became obviousit wasnt shyness. It was sheer laziness.
“Daniel, do you work or study?” Grace had asked over a slice of cherry pie.
“Er… I dropped out of uni. First year.”
“Why?”
“Dunno. Boring. Not for me.”
“I see… So youre working, then?”
“Not right now,” hed mumbled. “Still looking.”
Grace knew she was interrogating him, but a knot of dread had already tightened in her chest. She couldnt stop halfway.
“I see,” she repeated. “Do you live on your own?”
“Nah, with Mum. Easier that way.”
Easier, of course, for Daniel.
That same evening, Grace had tried to warn Emily.
“Love, he cant even look after himselfhows he going to support a family?”
“Mum, hes just searching. Once he finds something, itll be fine. I know him better than you do,” Emily had insisted.
Grace bit back the urge to say he was searching for someone to leech off. It was pointless. Every conversation ended the sameEmily would sulk, snap that it wasnt Graces business, then ignore her for a week. Eventually, Grace stopped interfering. The best teacher was experience.
A year later, Daniel did find worka menial job at a small firm. The pay was peanuts, but Emily glowed with pride.
“See? I told you!” shed crowed.
That confidence blinded her.
They finally scraped enough to rent a flata dingy little room, though Emily acted like it was a palace. Unfortunately, the king wasnt used to sleeping on a creaky sofa with a lumpy mattress or living without central heating.
Daniel tried to take out a loan to spruce the place up, but the bank refused. Maybe his wages were too low, maybe his credit was shotor maybe he just lied to avoid debt. Either way, Emily took the loan instead.
“Look, I dont mind,” the landlady had said. “But you do realise the bed and heater stay here when you leave? You cant chuck the sofafuture tenants need somewhere to sleep. And Im not having holes knocked in my walls.”
The young couple nodded eagerly. They bought not just furniture but a telly and a new laptop for Daniel. Grace watched it all unfold, shaking her head, powerless to stop it.
Within six months, Emily was pregnant. With maternity leave looming, their income would shrinkand they were already stretched thin. The solution? Move in with Margaret. Daniels mother agreed reluctantly, but she agreed.
From the moment the baby arrived, their lives became a house of cards. One small push, and it would collapse. Soon enough, it wobbled…
At first, things werent terrible. Margaret covered half their expenses, bought the pram, kept them stocked with nappies and baby clothes. Thanks to her, Emily got some sleep. But a year later, Daniel got sacked. Grace suspected it was his own faulthed never been one for hard work.
Then Daniel had his “brilliant” idea.
“Em, how about thiswhoever finds a decent job first gets to work. The other stays with the baby.”
The catch was in the word “decent.” Daniel cherry-picked jobs like employers were begging for him. In two weeks, he attended a handful of interviews with no luck. Emily, meanwhile, landed a job at the local supermarket within days.
So Daniel “looked after” the babyor so he claimed. In reality, Margaret did most of the workfeeding, bathing, taking the little one outwhile Daniel glued himself to his computer. Grace tried warning Emily, but her daughter was deaf to it, lost in her rose-tinted fantasy.
Nothing lasts forever. Two years later, Margaret passed away. The flat went to Daniel. Without her pension, money grew tight, and with the child now partly his responsibility, Daniel finally got a job.
Not that Emily got to quithousework still fell entirely on her.
A few months later, she was inevitably fired. Their daughter kept falling ill, and with nursery closures and early pick-ups, Emily struggled to keep a job. Employers werent keen on mums who needed constant time off.
Daniel became the breadwinner. But three months in, he dropped a bombshell.
“Sorry, Em. Ive fallen out of love with you. We need to split.”
Emily was shattered. She begged, sobbed, even got on her kneesbut he wouldnt budge.
A day later, she turned up at Graces door, holding her child and a bag. Grace sighed and let them in. Where else could they go?
“Mum… Ive got nowhere else. And theres still the loan… Please help me.”
“Still? I thought youd paid that off!”
“Well, Daniel needed a new computer. Said hed work from home, and the laptop wasnt good enough… So I took out more.”
Grace buried her face in her hands. A right mess, to say the least. But theyd survive.
“You can stay as long as you need. I dont mind,” she said finally. “But Im not giving you money. Consider it a lesson.”
Emily sulked but didnt argue. Grace was her last lifeline, and she knew better than to push her. Deep down, she also knew her mother was rightGrace would never have taken those loans.
Soon, Grace helped Emily find remote worklow pay, high stress, but flexible enough to manage with a child. It covered food and some bills.
A month later, Daniel had a new girlfriend and quit his job. Another woman to feed him. “Lord, hes been leeching since the cradle and still hasnt let go,” Grace thought. “He stayed with Emily while it suited himthen swapped her out when things got tough.”
But she kept that to herself. No need to twist the knife. She just hoped Emily had learned from her mistakes. Some lessons come at a high pricebut theyre the ones that stick.
