I found your daughter on the street
Daniel was driving home from work when his phone rang. A quick glance at the screen told him it was his mum calling.
“Son, where are you?” Valerie’s voice was so cheerful it made him suspicious.
“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’?” Daniel frowned.
“Just come and see for yourself.”
“Be there soon,” he said shortly before hanging up.
Twenty minutes later, he stepped into his mother’s flat, pushed open the lounge door—and froze. There, on the sofa, sat his mother… with his little girl, Emily, on her lap.
“Emma, I saw Mum today,” he began that evening as he approached his wife.
“And?”
“She asked if she could come to Emily’s birthday…”
“No,” Emma cut him off without turning around.
“Listen, maybe it’s time to forgive her? It’s been two years…”
“For you—it’s been two years. For me, it’s been every single day, and I remember all of them! What she did, I’ll never forget.”
“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 wrong back then. Why is she the only one punished?”
“So it’s my fault? Fine. Let her come. Emily and I will leave. You can celebrate together!”
“Emma, don’t you dare! I won’t be responsible for what I do!”
“Oh, I dare!” she snapped before storming out.
Once, everyone envied Emma. A handsome, successful husband, a flat bought right after the wedding. And her mother-in-law… seemed like a dream. Emma bragged at work:
“Can you believe it? Margaret insisted Daniel buy me a proper winter coat. Said, ‘You’re freezing at the bus stop!’ Now that’s care!”
“She brings us groceries by the bagful. Checks what we need and orders it herself!”
“For my birthday—the newest iPhone! Said, ‘It’s about time you had an upgrade.’ A mother-in-law straight out of a fairy tale!”
When Emma got pregnant, her mother-in-law became like a goddess. Booked appointments with the best doctors, brought the freshest fruit, warm clothes, vitamins.
But the moment Emily was born—everything changed.
Her mother-in-law came over every day. Bathed the baby, fed her, took control.
“You’re not producing enough milk because you’re not trying!”
“I *am* trying!” Emma replied, near tears.
“Sure you are! Lazybones. Half-asleep on your feet!”
Daniel asked his mum to visit less often. She took offence. Then came the endless calls:
“How’s Emily? What did she eat? How did she sleep?”
“Don’t forget to air the room—but don’t let her catch a chill!”
“How was the purée? No lumps, I hope?”
Emma began to quietly resent this so-called care. No one listened to her. No one respected her. She was just the hired help for her own child.
One day, after another lecture on baby food, Emma snapped:
“Just leave me alone!”
“I wasn’t planning to go anywhere!” her mother-in-law shot back. “I don’t care about you. Emily is what matters! And I’ll keep an eye on you, whether you like it or not!”
An hour later, Emma took Emily out for a walk. Passing a chemist, she remembered she needed antiseptic. She parked the pram by the door, dashed inside for a second… and when she came out—the pram was gone.
Her world shattered.
Screaming, tears, a crowd, the police… Daniel arrived within half an hour.
Then—a call from his mother:
“Son, where are you?”
“Mum?” He could barely breathe.
“I found Emily. She was just standing there alone! How can you even trust that wife of yours with her?”
“I’m on my way!” he barked.
“Lazybones, stop crying. It’s fine. Emily’s with me.”
“With *your* mother?!” Emma paled. “She… she did this?”
“Yeah.”
They drove over. The row was explosive. His mother defended herself:
“I wanted to teach her a lesson! So she’d learn how *not* to treat a child!”
“A *lesson*?!” Daniel was furious. “What if we’d gone to the police? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”
“I don’t care! I meant well!”
“And as usual, it went wrong.”
Emma stood cold-faced:
“I won’t forgive you. Don’t call. Don’t come near us. As far as Emily’s concerned, she has no grandmother.”
And so it’s been. His mother doesn’t visit. Can’t call—her number’s blocked. If Emma spots her in the street, she steers Emily the other way.
Emily’s nearly three now. To her, her grandmother is a stranger.
