I found your daughter out on the street
Tom was driving home from work when his phone rang. He glanced at the screen—it was his mum calling.
“Love, where are you?” Valerie’s voice was so cheerful it immediately put him on edge.
“On my way back from the office, Mum. What’s going on?”
“Come over. We’re waiting for you,” she replied brightly.
“We? Who’s we?” Tom frowned.
“Just come and see for yourself.”
“Be there soon,” he said shortly before hanging up.
Twenty minutes later, he walked into his mother’s flat, pushed open the living room door—and froze. There sat his mum… with his little girl, Lily, on her lap.
“Emma, I ran into Mum today,” he started that evening as he approached his wife.
“And?”
“She asked if she could come to Lily’s birthday…”
“No,” Emma cut him off without turning around.
“Listen, maybe it’s time to let it go? It’s been two years…”
“For you, it’s been two years. For me, it’s been exactly two years, and I remember every single day! What she did—I’ll never forget it.”
“Emma, she misses her granddaughter. She’s apologised… We only live once. Let her come.”
“No!” His wife’s eyes flashed. “I don’t want to see her!”
“Well, I do! She’s my mother, in case you’ve forgotten! And if we’re being honest, you were both in the wrong back then. Why was she the only one who suffered for it?”
“So now it’s my fault? Fine. Let her come. Lily and I will leave. You two can celebrate together!”
“Emma, don’t you dare! I won’t—”
“Oh, I absolutely will!” she snapped, storming out of the room.
People used to envy Emma. Her husband was handsome and successful, they’d moved into a nice flat straight after the wedding. And her mother-in-law… seemed like a dream. Emma would brag at work:
“Can you believe it? Valerie insisted Tom buy me a proper winter coat. She said, ‘You’re freezing at the bus stop!’ Now that’s care!”
“She brings us groceries by the bagful. Just checks what we’re low on and orders it herself!”
“For my birthday—the latest iPhone! Said, ‘You’ve earned an upgrade.’ More like a fairy godmother than a mother-in-law!”
When Emma got pregnant, Valerie practically turned into a saint. Booked her with the best doctors, brought over the finest fruit, cosy clothes, vitamins.
But the moment Lily was born—everything changed.
Valerie came over every single day. Bathed the baby, fed her, supervised everything.
“You’re not producing enough milk because you’re not trying hard enough!”
“I *am* trying!” Emma would reply, nearly in tears.
“Right! You’re just lazy. Half-asleep on your feet!”
Tom asked his mum to visit less often. She took offence. Then came the relentless calls:
“How’s Lily? What did she eat? How’d she sleep?”
“Don’t forget to air out the room—but don’t let her catch a chill!”
“How’d you make the puree? No lumps, I hope?”
Emma began quietly resenting all this ‘care.’ No one listened to her. No one respected her. To them, she was just the hired help keeping their granddaughter alive.
One day, after yet another lecture about how to cook porridge properly, Emma snapped:
“Just leave me alone!”
“I wasn’t planning to go anywhere!” Valerie shot back. “I couldn’t care less about you. Lily’s what matters! And I *will* keep an eye on you, whether you like it or not!”
An hour later, Emma took Lily out for a walk. Passing the chemist, she remembered she needed some antiseptic. She left the pram by the door, dashed in for just a second… and when she came out—the pram was gone.
Her world shattered.
Screaming, crying, a crowd gathering, police… Tom raced over within half an hour.
Then—his mum called:
“Love, where are you?”
“Mum?” His voice was barely a whisper.
“I’ve got Lily. She was just standing there alone! How could you even trust that daft girl with her?!”
“I’m on my way!” he barked.
“Emma, stop crying. It’s fine. Lily’s with Mum.”
“With *your* mum?!” Emma went white. “She… she did this?”
“Yeah.”
They drove over. The row that followed was explosive. Valerie tried to justify herself:
“I just wanted to teach her a lesson! So she’d know how *not* to handle a child!”
“A *lesson*?!” Tom was livid. “What if we’d called the police?! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
“I don’t care! I was trying to do what’s best!”
“Yeah, and look how *that* turned out.”
Emma stood there, stone-faced:
“I’m not forgiving this. Don’t call. Don’t come near us. As far as Lily’s concerned, she doesn’t have a grandmother.”
And that’s how it’s been. Valerie doesn’t come round anymore. She can’t call—her number’s blocked. If Emma spots her on the street, she steers Lily the other way.
Lily’s nearly three now. To her, Gran’s just a stranger.
