Small footsteps sounded on the staircase.
I turned toward the doorway.
Oliver stood on the bottom step wearing blue pajamas covered in little dinosaurs. His hair was messy, and he clutched the stuffed rabbit he’d slept with since he was four.
My grandson looked from his father to his mother, then finally to me.
“Grandma?”
My heart tightened.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
He swallowed.
“Mommy said you’re making us homeless.”
The room went completely silent.
Daniel looked away.
Marissa folded her arms, watching me with an expression that told me she believed she’d finally found the one thing that would make me surrender.
I pushed back my chair and knelt in front of Oliver.
“Come here, honey.”
He walked toward me slowly.
I took his little hands.
“Nobody wants you to be homeless.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“Then why do we have to leave?”
I looked at my grandson, searching for an answer that wouldn’t place the burden of adult disagreements on a nine-year-old child.
“Because sometimes grown-ups need to make changes to how they live. Your mommy and daddy are responsible for finding your family a home, and I’m going to make sure you’re safe while they figure that out.”
Oliver looked toward Daniel.
“Daddy, why can’t we stay?”
My son opened his mouth.
But Marissa answered first.
“Because Grandma doesn’t want us here anymore.”
I looked up sharply.
“Marissa.”
She shrugged.
“What? That’s what you said.”
“No,” I replied. “What I said was that the arrangement we’ve had for two years is ending. Don’t turn an adult disagreement into something Oliver has to carry.”
What happened next changed everything… FULL STORY on the next page.
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