“You’ll be alonethen you’ll remember me!”
“Mum, is it really so hard to spare an extra bowl of soup for your own daughter and grandson? I dont get it!”
“Yes, Emily. It is hard. A lots changed since you left,” replied Margaret, not even letting her daughter cross the threshold. “Remind mewasnt it you who sent me packing from your home and your life? So why demand anything now?”
Emily rolled her eyes like a petulant child being scolded for bad manners. And in truth, thats exactly what she was acting like. *The world owes me everything*hardly the mature stance of a grown woman.
“Honestly, Mum? I was *pregnant* back then. Hormones, nerves I dont even remember what I said!”
“But I do. Every word. That you hated me. That I had no heart. That I wanted your baby gone *That* was the polite version. If Im so terrible, why come crawling back now?”
“Oh, for Gods sake, Mum! Youre the adult hereyou shouldve understood, found a way to make peace. Youve been through childbirth. You know how emotions swing all over the place!”
Even now, Emily twisted it so *she* was the victimas if Margaret shouldve just smiled, swallowed her pride, and danced to her tune. But Margaret was done.
“Oh, I understood perfectly,” she said slowly, folding her arms. “But I didnt forgive. I can give you money, Emily. A little. But I wont let you back in.”
She wasnt just talking about the flat. She couldnt let Emily back into her *life*. Because she knewher daughter would push, demand, and in the end, wreck everything Margaret had rebuilt.
“How much is *a little*?”
“Three thousand pounds. Enough to get you on your feet.”
“That wont even last a *month*! Fine for *me*Im an adult. I can tighten my belt, skip meals. But how can you do this to your own *grandson*?”
Margaret didnt want to argue.
“When people are desperate, they take what theyre given. If its not enough for youmanage on your own.”
With that, she shut the door.
“Fine! I *will*! But remember thismen come and go, but its your children wholl hold the cup when youre old. And youll *never* taste a drop from mine. Youll be alonethen youll remember me!” Emilys voice faded through the wood, followed by retreating footsteps.
Margaret exhaled, leaning against the hallway wall, biting her lip to keep from crying. It hurtGod, it *hurt*but the rift between them had been there for years. Really, it had only widened.
Emily had always been spoiled. Grandparents rushed to satisfy her whims. Her father, *especially*. Didnt like a dress? Off to the shops for a new one. Smashed her phone in a tantrum? No matterhed buy a better one. Wanted a puppy? *Of course, darling, pick any breed.*
No surprise she was *Daddys girl*. If Mum said no, she ran to him. And he *always* said yes.
Her parents had fought over it countless times. Thomas was a loving husband and fatherbut when it came to discipline, he had no boundaries.
“Tom, whyd you give her money for those concert tickets? You couldve asked me!” Margaret had snapped, hands on hips. “I told her *no*. Not about the moneyI wanted her to help your mum with the garden. And she said, *If you two care so much, *you* do it.*”
Thomas would wince. He knew Emily pushed too far. But hed just wave it off.
“Come on. Remember what *we* were like at her age. Let me spoil her while I can. Shell fly the nest soon enough.”
A prophecy, in a way.
Thomas died when Emily was fourteen. Thats when everything truly fell apart. Shed always been difficultbut after losing her dad, she blamed Margaret for *everything*. Caught a cold? *”You bring it home from work, always letting sick clients in!”* Broke up with a boyfriend? *”Because you wouldnt let me go clubbing!”* Flunked her A-levels? *”You never got me a tutoreveryone else had one!”*
Margarets friend had been blunt. *”Why even push for uni? Lets be honestshes not Oxford material. If she drops out in year three, itll just be a waste.”*
“Im not doing it for *her*,” Margaret admitted. “Its for Tom. Hed never forgive me if I sent her into the world with nothing.”
She worked two jobs to keep them afloat. Colleagues called her a saint. But the truth? She was terrified of being alone. Emily was all she had left.
When Emily announced at nineteen that she wanted to move in with a *”friend”*, Margaret objectedbut what could she do? Her daughter was an adult.
Later, she learned the *”friend”* was called Daniel. A year after thatEmily was pregnant.
“Mum, guess what? Were having a *baby*!” shed gasped, breathless with excitement.
Margaret felt the air leave her lungs.
“Emily Neither of you have jobs. Where will you live? How will you afford?”
“The council will help. Daniels parents will chip in. *You* will” Emily beamed, laying it all out.
Margaret hated her role in that plan. Shed hoped supporting Emily through uni would fulfil her duty. Now? It was clear thered *always* be another demand.
“Ohand Mum? Tuitions due soon. Can you cover it?”
“*Tuition*? Youll take a *baby* to lectures?” Margaret frowned. “Take a gap year or reconsider the pregnancy. This isnt the time.”
What followed was ugly. Emily accused her of hoarding her fathers savings*”Half should be *mine*!”*then screamed that Margaret wanted her grandchild *dead*. Finally, she called her mother a *monster* and shoved her out the door.
Margaret waited for her to cool off. But the next day, she found herself blocked everywhere. She *couldve* gone to Emilys flatbut no. Enough was enough.
At the time, it felt like losing her purpose. But nature abhors a vacuum.
After Emily left, Margaret learned to live for *herself*. She joined a gym. Thats where she met Jamesten years older, a widower with a grown son, Anthony, his wife Lucy, and their little boy, Noah.
James didnt just bring love. He brought a *family*. And they welcomed herespecially Lucy. To her, Margaret wasnt a meddling mother-in-law, but a friend.
Noah was different. Margaret doted on himbaking biscuits, taking him to feed ducks by the Thames. At first, Lucy only asked her to babysit in emergencies. Soon, it became routine. *”Noah keeps asking for you.”*
“Granny, can we go to the park today?” hed once asked.
The warmth that flooded her then Shed forgotten what love felt likeno strings, no guilt, no demands.
Life had colour again. *Meaning*.
Then, two years later, Emily remembered she had a mother.
Turns out, Daniel decided fatherhood wasnt for him. He finished uni, flitted between jobs, then packed his bags and moved back home.
But the baby remained. And Emily needed somewhere to go.
Only now? Margaret decided it wasnt her problem. Not when her daughter returned not with apologies, but entitlement. *”Youre my *mother*you *have* to help!”*
*Youll be alonethen youll remember me.* The words clung like a ghost. Yes, it hurt. Like tearing out a piece of her soul. But shed survived it once. Shed survive again.
Her phone chimed. Two messages. One from James*”Fancy a quiet night in? Ill grab wine.”* The other from Lucya photo of three lopsided gingerbread men.
*”Noah made these at nursery. One for me, one for Dad and one for *you*. Can we pop over tonight?”*
Margaret smiled. Warmth spread through her. Soromance, or family chaos?
It didnt matter. Both sounded perfect.
Because heres the thingonce, shed been so afraid of loneliness, shed tolerate *anything* to feel needed. Now she knew: being needed isnt the same as being loved.
She wasnt alone. And perhaps she never would be again.
