Emily is still young, shell have more children! thats what she kept saying. In the end, no one wanted the little girl.
Emily and James grew up together in a small English town, went to the same school, and later both got into university. After graduation, they headed off to London in search of jobs. They rented a poky little flat, found work, and started living together without bothering with marriage. But when Emily discovered she was pregnant, James bailed. Having a child just wasnt in his plans.
Feeling heartbroken and alone, Emily decided to move back home to raise her baby. Jamess mum, a real pillar of the community with quite a bit of sway, started telling everyone that Emilys baby belonged to someone else entirely and had nothing to do with their family. Since both families lived in the same neighbourhood, the gossip only worsened things.
Most of their friends knew exactly what was going on. In the end, Emily gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She never said a word against Jamess familyshe just wanted to raise her child in peace. Still, Jamess mum didnt stop going around telling everyone the child wasnt her sons.
Just look at the two of them! shed say. The babys got fair hair, but all of us are dark-haired. That nose isnt like ours at all! Everyone in our family is good-looking and shes well, not. Shes clearly not one of us. People will do anything these days!
Emily got so fed up that she suggested they do a DNA test to get Jamess mum off her back. No idea why she bothered, but the results were clearand Jamess mum immediately invited Emily round to properly meet her granddaughter. Suddenly Emily and her baby were showered with expensive gifts and posh baby clothes. Emily, whod been scraping by on her mums pension, was more than grateful.
After a while, Jamess mum started pushing to have the baby over for visits. Emily explained her daughter was only a year oldit was far too soon for her to be away from her mum for days at a time. Jamess mum didnt like that one bit.
She warned Emily shed go to court to get official visitation, and that, honestly, the child would be better off living with her gran, who had all the means to provide for her. She boasted, The court will see that my sons got a flat, helps with the expenses (Ill show the proof), and youre single and jobless. Plus, youre still youngyou can have another child soon enough. Emily was basically told to give up her daughter willingly, and since everyone in the area knew Jamess mumincluding the local judgesit wasnt hard to guess which way they’d rule. But Emily decided to stand her ground and raise her daughter herself. Years of drawn-out court battles followed.
Ironically, the child that powerful family once rejected became the one they fought the hardest for. Jamess mum called in family friends, brought in witnesses, hired private investigators, made complaints, took photos. Emily was forced to move and keep a low profile. Life turned into a bit of a mess. Eventually, though, things calmed down. James married someone else and had a son, and his mothers attention shifted to her new grandson. By then, Emilys daughter was starting Year One. Emily moved back to London, but frequently returned home to visit her mum and her daughter. It was during one of these visits that she met someone new. Her mother encouraged her to get on with lifepromising to look after her granddaughter for a bit. Emily thought shed take her daughter to live with her eventually, once things settled down.
Emily remarried, they rented a small flat, and were expecting a baby together. Everything finally felt steady. But Emily was reluctant to bring her daughter to Londonthere wasnt really space, and her new husband wasnt wild about raising another mans child. Emily decided that her daughter would be better off staying with her gran, where she had friends and school. Plus, when the new baby arrived, thered be no one to help with her daughter. This way, her mum wouldnt be alone and her daughter would be cared for. But then her mothers health started to go downhill. There were ambulance visits, hospital stays, treatmentsit got a bit hairy. Neighbours who were retired pensioners looked after Emilys daughter when things got bad. And now? Jamess mum couldnt care less about Emilys daughter. When she bumped into Emilys mum, shed just smile and say:
You should have just listened! If youd handed her over when I asked, Id have given her everything. Shed be in the best private schools, speaking French, playing piano. But now? Her mothers left her behind. Who knows what shell grow up to be? As for me, Ive got my grandson to dote on. Hell get the best of everythingtop school, music lessons, you name it!
James never showed the slightest interest in his daughter. In the end, the little girl whose future everyone once fought over ended up with no one needing her at all. Who knows what her future will holdYet the little girl surprised them all. As she grew up, she didnt become bitter or envious; instead, she learned to depend on herself and cherished her grandmother, who loved her as best she could. She helped with chores, got herself ready for school, and taught herself the piano on an ancient out-of-tune keyboard left by a neighbor. On quiet evenings, when the house felt empty, shed invent stories for herselftales of brilliant, brave heroines.
Years later, as a teenager, she came top of her class, her teachers amazed by her determination and bright wit. She collected secondhand books and made friends who adored her laugh. Her grandmother, now frail but proud, would sit bundled up on the porch, crocheting as the girl read aloud to her.
One spring morning, the girlnow nearly grownstood at the door with a letter in her hand: a scholarship to a renowned university in London. Neighbors watched as she hugged her grandmother tightly and promised to write every week. No one came from Jamess side to see her off. She carried only one battered suitcase and her grandmothers favorite scarf.
Years would go by, and on those rare visits home, shed sometimes pass James and his family on the street. James never met her eyes. His mother would look her up and down, searching for mistakes, trying to read regret. But the girlnow a young womansmiled with quiet confidence and kept walking. She had built something precious out of what was left behind: her own, unshakable self.
And in the end, that was everything she needed.
