Alright, so heres how it goes. Either you help me strip Vicky of her parental rights, or I walk away, and you deal with this mess yourselves.
“Grace, for heavens sake! Shes your sister! My daughter!” Mum threw her hands up, then clutched her chest.
“And what am I? Not your daughter?” Graces voice cracked with hurt. “Sometimes I think you dont even see me as a person… Cant you see whats happening? Ive grown attached to little Alfie, I love him, and you… Either help me, or Ill handle it alone. But I wont let this slide.”
Mum looked away, torn. Dad just scowled, stirring his tea silently. Grace, realising their choice, stood and walked to her room.
Clearly, her parents hadnt chosen her. Or Alfie.
Grace packed her thingsshe didnt have much. Her heart ached, but she knew this was necessary.
But how do you stay strong when a little boy hugs your legs, sobbing?
“Mummy, dont go…” Alfie pleaded, watching her pack.
Mummy. That word stabbed her heart again. Grace sighed, knelt, and forced a smile.
“Im not leaving you, Alfie,” she whispered, holding him. “Im leaving so one day, things will be better. Ill come back. For good.”
Alfie cried, not understanding why his auntthe woman he saw as his mumwas abandoning him. He clung to her clothes so tightly she couldnt leave until he fell asleep. Only late that night did she tiptoe out.
In that moment, Grace hated Vicky. Shed forced this horrible choice on them all.
…Vicky had started her wild life at sixteen. First, she came home late, then “stayed at friends”though everyone knew what that meant. Shed stumble in, makeup smeared, sometimes in tears. And Mum and Dad coddled her, fussing like she was some fragile thing.
A pregnancy was inevitable. At seventeen, Vicky “got knocked up”she didnt even know the fathers last name. Just some “guy from a party.”
Alfie was born. Quickly, Vicky realised motherhood wasnt for her. First, she left him overnight, then vanished completely.
“Im still young. I wont throw my life away,” she told Grace over the phone when confronted.
So the burden fell on Grace. Granddad barely cared, buying the odd toy. Grandma helped but worked full-time.
Grace was eighteen. She switched to part-time uni to care for Alfie. Since then, shed been his second motherliterally, as shed even had him christened.
It was hard. Exhausting. Night feeds, sleepless hours, lugging a pram up stairs, exams on no sleep. She studied after putting Alfie to bed, juggled choresher parents were always working.
By six months, shed adjustedthen Vicky returned, tearful, begging forgiveness.
“Sorry, I was so stupid… Itll be different now…” she sniffled.
Everyone believed her. Even Grace. For a month, Vicky seemed to changespending time with Alfie, taking him out. Then the novelty wore off, and she bolted againthis time, stealing Mums jewellery.
“Shes just struggling. Shell come back. She needs time,” Mum insisted.
Grace stopped believing. Once was chancetwice was a pattern. But what could she do? Her parents lived in denial, always giving Vicky another chance. Yet leaving with Alfie wasnt an option.
So Grace carried onstudying, raising Alfie, nursery runs, doctor visits. She hoped Vicky wouldnt return.
But of course, four years later, Vicky reappeared.
“I… I thought he loved me. Planned to take Alfie. But he used me… I was alone, jobless, in a strange town… No money for a train. Had to survive,” Vicky said, eyes wide with fake sincerity.
“Survived well, judging by your waistline,” Grace muttered.
Mum shot her a glare, and Grace bit her tongue. All attention swung back to “poor Vicky.”
Worse came when Grace brought Alfie home from nursery. Grandma nudged him toward Vicky. Alfie, confused, burst into tears and hid behind Grace.
“Dont be silly,” Grandma cooed. “This is your mummy.”
“Thats not Mummy! She is!” Alfie clung to Grace.
“Grace is just your aunt. Vickys your real mum,” Grandma corrected.
Graces heart shatteredfor Alfie, for her mums words, for the cycle repeating.
And repeat it did.
Vicky leeched off them for two months, jobless.
“Ive got Alfie. Whod hire me? Its like Im on maternity leave,” she scoffed when Grace asked her plans.
Then she vanished again. No explanation. Just photos later with some new “boyfriend”a man twice her age.
“Another drunk,” Grace thought.
Hope of Vicky leaving them alone died. But what now?
Grace confided in her friend, Nina.
“Convenient, isnt it? One mum loves him, the others real… Just strip her of rights,” Nina shrugged. “Theyll check, see shes unfit, and youll sort the rest.”
Grace hesitated.
“Its scary. I live with my parentstheyll hate it. And Alfie might get taken… What if I dont get him?”
“Then wait for Vicky to wreck his head again. Is that what you want? Shell even demand money from him later. And honestly…” Nina lowered her voice. “Your parents, Alfie, Vicky… Wheres your life? Its time.”
“Where would I go? Ive got Alfie…”
“And? Live through him? Hell leave one day, and youll be alone. Toms been asking about youyou keep brushing him off.”
“Between work and Alfie, when would I date? And why would he want me? Ive got a kid.”
“If hes asking, he doesnt care.”
Grace had forgotten her own life. At first, shed datedbut the moment men heard she had a child, they bolted. She never got the chance to explain Alfie was her nephew.
Tom, thoughher uni mateknew and still sought her out. But Grace was too tangled in family drama. After talking to Nina, she gave him a chance.
And it worked. With Tom, she felt normalnot a caretaker, just herself. He listened, even helped.
So when she gave her parents the ultimatum, she went to Tomjust to vent. But he surprised her.
“Ive said it beforelets move in. Maybe nows the time?” he said calmly.
“I cant. Alfie…”
“Whats the issue? Well make it work.”
Grace stared.
“But hes not yours…”
“Grace,” he cut in. “Im not an idiot. If hes family to you, hes family to me.”
Something in her thawed. Hope flickeredthat life could be more than cleaning up Vickys mess.
The next six months were hell. Social services, paperwork… Worse, she couldnt take Alfie immediatelyhe cried, missed her, waited.
“Stealing your sisters child!” Mum accused.
“Like she ever wanted him,” Grace shot back.
Her parents shut her out. Only Tom and friends stood by her.
But after the storm comes calm.
…Years later, Grace sat on a bench, watching Alfie teach his little sister, Emily, to kick a ball. Tom wrapped an arm around her. She smiledit had all been worth it.
She hadnt heard from Vicky in ages. Not that she cared. Same old cyclemen, parties. Losing Alfie was just another sob story for their parents.
Speaking ofthey never forgave Vicky. Not that it mattered. “If they want to keep coddling her, fine,” Grace thought. “Ill care for those who need me.”
