**Diary Entry**
Every woman dreams of one day finding a good man, building a strong family, and raising children—true happiness. But, as the saying goes, fairy tales don’t happen for everyone. And the harder you love, the harder the fall.
Emily was certain she’d met her soulmate. Back in secondary school, she’d met James—a tall, striking lad with a Hollywood smile. He swept her off her feet from the start. Friendship, moonlit walks, whispered confessions… Years later, they became a couple.
Her mother, Margaret, never liked James. She saw something lazy, unambitious in him. But Emily was blind to it—to her, he was everything. She got into university with top marks, while James barely scraped into a college course. Struggling, he soon dropped out.
“Mum, you don’t understand! This is real love!” Emily insisted, deaf to any criticism.
When James landed a job at an electronics shop, he thought he’d made it. True, his wages barely covered pints and crisps, but he was content. Margaret, however, wasn’t. She tried reasoning with her daughter, to no avail.
The lovebirds had a modest wedding. They ended up renting a room in a run-down shared flat in Birmingham, where the walls were paper-thin and the neighbours nosy. But Emily didn’t care—she was with her man. James slacked at work, shrugging off any responsibility. Emily often asked her mum for money. Margaret never refused—helping with groceries, clothes, even savings.
Every encounter with her son-in-law left Margaret seething. He felt like an intruder, out of place, weak. To her, he was no man at all.
When things got desperate, Emily begged to stay with her mum for a few months, hoping to save for a proper flat. Reluctantly, Margaret agreed—but soon regretted it. James lounged on the sofa all day while Emily juggled work and studies, exhausted yet fiercely defending him.
“He’s just tired,” she’d say.
Three months in, James buckled under the pressure and convinced Emily to return to their cramped flat—no lectures there. Margaret sighed in relief, fearing only one thing: her daughter getting pregnant.
Yet fate had other plans. James lost his job. Emily, on the other hand, got a promotion, earning decently. Soon, the news came—she was expecting.
Margaret was overjoyed at becoming a grandmother. But her happiness faded fast—she still couldn’t stomach James. So when Emily, worn out, asked to move back in, Margaret set her terms:
“Just you and the baby. James isn’t setting foot here.”
“Mum, he’s the father of my child!” Emily burst out.
“Did you think of that when you married him?” Margaret snapped. “Let him prove himself first.”
Emily was torn. On one side—exhaustion, a newborn, no comfort. On the other—pride and resentment. She went back to James in that tiny flat, hoping her mum would soften. But Margaret stood firm.
To her, James was an outsider, unfit for her daughter and grandchild. But what could she do? Children follow their hearts, not logic. A mother’s heart ached, but she wouldn’t bend.
Time will tell who was right. For now, mother and daughter learn to love from a distance, accepting choices that don’t match their dreams.
Was Margaret right? Or should she have let James in, for Emily’s sake? Sometimes the hardest love is saying no.
