I Said “No” To Babysitting Once For A Doctor’s Appointment. My Son’s Response: “The Locks Have Been Updated. Please Don’t Come By Right Now.” So I Came Back A Week Later… With A Realtor To Sell The Very House I BOUGHT FOR THEM.

But it was enough to make me feel like he understood. At least a little. When we arrived, I opened the door and went into my small room.

On the table, the box of oatmeal cookies I had made for Isabella was still there. Untouched. I sat down and opened the envelope the man had given me before he left.

Inside was a sheet with a few lines. Down payment contract copy, bank transfer original. If you need more, call me.

Below was a name. Vincent Morales. And a phone number.

I held the paper with trembling hands. It was the first time I knew his name. But I still didn’t understand who he was.

Or why he was helping someone like me. I left the paper on the table and looked out the window. The street light cast a dim glow.

Laura’s face in the living room came to mind. Looking at me as if I were a stranger. I wondered if the envelope on the step would have made her change her mind.

Or if it just made her angrier. But what bothered me most was Vincent’s question. Are you sure you want to see this through to the end?

I didn’t know. I only knew that for the first time in many years, I was facing a decision not for Edward, not for Laura, but for myself. That night, I sat in the old wooden chair in my room.

The yellow light illuminating a worn-out notebook. Outside, the sky was quiet. The only sound was the constant whir of the ceiling fan.

After the visit to Edward’s house, I didn’t even want to turn on my phone, because every time I did, I only found silence from my son and daughter-in-law. Instead, I opened the notebook and flipped through the pages as if trying to reclaim the years I had dedicated entirely to that family. Every word written, every number.

There was a piece of my life that I gave away. But now they were just blurry ink stains that no one remembers. I remember the day Edward, at just 12 years old, came running home with his sneakers torn at the toe.

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