“That’s my apartment – my family was against me evicting my pregnant sister,” said Alice, sitting in the kitchen while gripping her phone. Her mother’s voice sounded both pleading and accusing over the line. Typical mum – always pressuring even when asking for something.
“You’ve just given me this flat as a gift, remember?”
“Don’t you understand? She’s family! How can you treat your own niece like this? She’s pregnant and has nowhere else to go!”
Alice tried to find the right words. “Mum, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but…” She hesitated. “Emma’s been living with me for eight months now. Eight! Remember when Aunt Laura said it’d be ‘a couple of weeks until she finds a job’?”
“Well, times are tough now… finding a job…”
“She isn’t even looking!” Alice felt a wave of irritation inside. “Yesterday, she spent the whole day in the bathroom doing those hair treatments of hers. Then she watched the TV show all day. Then…”
“Alice, darling, she’s pregnant…”
“She found out a month ago! What stopped her before that?”
There was a heavy pause on the line. Alice could hear her mother sigh deeply. This signature sigh that signaled, “What a heartless daughter you are; I didn’t raise you like this.”
“Mum, this is my flat. You bought Aunt Laura’s share for me, remember?”
“Technically,” her mum’s voice turned drier, “the flat is ours. We just allowed you to live there.”
Alice closed her eyes. Here we go again.
“I thought it was a gift. For my university graduation.”
“Of course, a gift! But you know, in families, you have to…”
“Have to what?” Alice interrupted. “Put up with Emma eating my food, using my cosmetics, and bringing her boyfriend over when I’m not home? Incidentally, the same one she’s pregnant by now.”
“Alice!” her mum’s voice now had steel notes in it. “Aunt Laura did so much for us! When your dad was ill, who helped us? Who sat with you while I worked double shifts?”
Alice sighed. She’d heard this old tune a hundred times. The debt owed to Aunt Laura, which seemingly would never be fully repaid.
“Mum, I’m grateful to Aunt Laura, truly. But this doesn’t mean I should…”
“Aunt Laura called yesterday,” her mum interrupted again. “She was crying. Said you’re belittling Emma, nitpicking every little thing.”
Alice snorted.
“Little things? She took my new jumper without asking and spilled juice on it! Then said, ‘Oh, you won’t mind, we’re family.’ And didn’t even apologize!”
“My god, Alice, it’s just a jumper…”
“It’s not about the jumper!” Alice felt a lump rising in her throat. “It’s about respect. Personal boundaries. And coming home to feel like a guest in my own apartment.”
Another pause lingered on the line. Then her mother spoke quietly but pointedly:
“You know, your grandmother would be very upset hearing how you’re speaking. To her, family was…”
“Please don’t,” Alice cut her off. “Don’t bring up Gran every time you want to convince me of something.”
“But it’s true! This flat is Gran’s legacy. She wanted…”
“Wanted what? For me to live with Emma forever? To endure her antics? To…”
The phone buzzed – an incoming call. Alice glanced at the screen: Aunt Laura. Of course.
“Mum, Aunt’s calling. Probably wants to tell me personally what a bad sister I am.”
“Answer it, Alice. Talk to her properly.”
“Alright,” Alice sighed. “I’ll call you back later.”
She switched to the call from her aunt, mentally bracing herself for another round of accusations.
“Hello, Aunt Laura.”
“Alice!” her aunt’s voice sounded overly cheerful. “How are you, sweetheart?”
“Sweetheart.” Alice grimaced. Her aunt only called her that when she wanted something.
“Fine,” she responded curtly.
“Emma says there are some… misunderstandings?”
Alice rolled her eyes. Misunderstandings. Sure.
“Aunt Laura, when you and Mum suggested Emma stay with me, you said it’d be for a couple of weeks. A month, max.”
“Oh, why are you being so precise, ticking off these deadlines like an accountant?” her aunt laughed, though irritation seeped through. “Family doesn’t act that way.”
“And how does family act?” Alice felt the anger bubbling inside. “Coming uninvited? Taking things without permission? Bringing friends over when I’m not home?”
“Alice, don’t… Emma’s just an open person, she’s used to…”
“Want to know what else she’s used to? Having others make decisions for her. Mum and Dad purchased a share of the flat so that I could live here. It was a gift to me.”
“Well, not exactly,” her aunt’s voice grew cooler. “This is Gran’s flat. The inheritance. We just came to an agreement….”
“An agreement for you to sell your share to my parents,” Alice said firmly. “And they paid for it. The full market value.”
“Money, money!” her aunt’s voice took on a hysterical tone. “Everything’s about money! Have you thought about Emma being pregnant? Where is she supposed to go? Out on the street?”
“She has a boyfriend. The child’s father, by the way.”
“He’s irresponsible, without a penny to his name! He left London the moment he learned of the pregnancy.”
“I do wonder why,” thought Alice but said aloud, “Aunt Laura, you have a three-bedroom house. You and Uncle John live there by yourselves. Why can’t Emma stay with you?”
Silence. Alice could almost feel her aunt briskly choosing her words.
“We’re… not set up for it. Uncle John works from home and needs quiet. Besides, you and Emma always had a great relationship. You grew up like sisters. She’ll give birth, and it will be a wonderful experience for you to care for a baby.”
“Like sisters.” Alice grimaced. Emma was always the one who got away with everything. Sweet, spontaneous Emma, who “simply didn’t think of consequences.” Whereas Alice was “responsible,” “sensible,” “mature beyond her years.” The one expected to comply, understand, and forgive.
“Aunt Laura, I can’t do this anymore. I’ll speak with Emma today. She needs to find another place to live.”
“What?!” her aunt’s voice climbed into a shrill register. “You can’t! She’s pregnant! This is stressful! Do you want her to miscarry?!”
Alice struggled to hold back her retorts. Here it was. The ultimate weapon. When appealing to “family values” failed, blame the potential harm to the baby.
“I’m not throwing her out on the street this very instant. I’m giving her time to find…”
“I’m calling your mother!” her aunt broke in. “This is just… this is outrageous! After everything we did for you.”
The call cut off. Alice slowly set her phone on the table. Her hands were shaking.
The front door banged. Heels clicked down the hallway.
“Alice!” Emma’s sugary-sweet voice called. “Are you home? You’ll never guess, I bumped into Cathy, you remember, we went to school together? She got married, can you believe it? To some rich tech guy. Showed me the ring, I was nearly blinded!”
Emma breezed into the kitchen. Tanned, with a fresh manicure, wearing expensive jeans. No sign of a pregnant woman in a crisis.
“Hey, I was thinking…” Emma plopped down into the chair across from Alice. “How about we rearrange the furniture? I think the sofa would look better by the window. And when the baby arrives, we’ll need to set up a children’s corner…”
Alice looked at her, feeling something snap inside. The last thread of patience.
“Emma, we need to talk.”
“Oh, can’t it wait?” Emma waved her hand dismissively. “I have such a headache. These pregnancy hormones, they’re unbearable! I’d rather lie down.”
She stood and headed for the kitchen exit.
“Emma,” Alice raised her voice. “You need to move out.”
Emma froze in the doorway. Slowly turned around.
“What?”
“You need to move out,” Alice repeated, feeling an odd calm. “I’m giving you a month to find a place.”
Emma stared at her as if Alice suddenly started speaking in Mandarin.
“You’re joking, right?” she finally choked out. “This is some sick joke?”
“No. I’m completely serious.”
Emma’s face twisted.
“You… you can’t! This is Gran’s flat! I have just as much right to live here as you do!”
“No, Emma. My parents bought Aunt Laura’s share. Legally, it’s their property.”
“I don’t care about legally!” Emma raised her voice. “We’re family! Don’t you understand? I’m pregnant! I don’t have anywhere to go!”
“You have parents. You have the child’s father. You have friends, for goodness’ sake.”
“I’m calling Mum!” Emma whipped her phone out of her pocket. “She’ll set you straight!”
“There’s no need,” Alice shook her head. “She’s already called. So has Mum.”
“And?”
“And nothing. My decision’s not changing.”
Emma glared at her with undisguised fury.
“So that’s it? Kicking a pregnant relative out onto the street? Never mind, Mum and Aunt Laura will sort this out. You’ll regret this!”
She whirled and stormed out of the kitchen. A moment later, the front door slammed shut.
Alice sat gazing out the window. Strangely, instead of the expected guilt, she felt only relief. And exhaustion. A boundless fatigue from this charade of “family values,” where the values always seemed one-sided.
Her phone buzzed. A message from her mum: “Aunt Laura is in hysterics. What have you done?”
Alice didn’t bother to reply. Instead, she opened her browser and searched: “London apartment rentals.”
Three months passed. Alice was sitting in a café on Oxford Street watching the damp London snow fall outside. Opposite her sat Michael – her boyfriend, whom she’d met back in London but who had moved there six months earlier.
“So, not regretting it?” he asked, stirring his coffee.
Alice shook her head.
“No. The only regret is not doing it sooner.”
Her phone vibrated. A call from her dad.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Hi, darling,” her father’s voice sounded unusually solemn. “I’ve got news.”
“What news?”
“We sold the flat.”
Alice froze.
“Gran’s flat? But what about…”
“Emma moved back in with her parents,” her father chuckled. “After you left, she tried to hold onto it, but… well, your mum and I decided enough is enough. We sold the flat. We’ll wire the money to you.”
“What?” Alice couldn’t believe her ears. “To me?”
“To you,” her father’s voice was smiling. “It was a gift to you, remember? For graduating university. We just… got a bit confused. Gave in to pressure. Sorry.”
Alice felt tears welling up.
“Dad, I don’t know what to say…”
“Don’t say anything. Just be happy. And… we’re proud of you. For standing your ground. Even when we didn’t support you.”
After hanging up, Alice sat in silence, looking out the window.
“What’s happened?” Michael asked, covering her hand with his.
“I think I just became an adult,” Alice replied quietly. “For real.”
Outside, the snow continued to fall, erasing traces of the past and revealing a blank page for a new life. A life where she decides whom to let into her home and into her heart.
