My rich in-laws have no other grandchildren. My ex was their only son and he passed away at 28. My son is their only grandkid and they approached me with an offer.
They said they would make him their primary heir on condition that I let him move in with them full-time. At first, I thought I heard them wrong. I blinked and asked them to repeat it.
My former mother-in-law, Judith, calmly sipped her tea and said it again like she was offering to babysit, not take my child away. “He’d live here, go to a private school, have everything he needs. Tutors, travel, security.
You wouldn’t need to worry about anything.”
I stared at them. My son, Luca, was only seven. He still reached for my hand when he crossed the street.
He couldn’t sleep without his favorite blanket, the one that smelled like lavender because I always tucked it in with a fresh dryer sheet. And now they wanted to take him in full-time? “Why?” I asked.
Judith exchanged a look with her husband, Roger, who cleared his throat and said, “We’re getting older. We want to pass on everything to someone we know and trust. We can give Luca a future you just… can’t.”
It was a stab wrapped in silk.
I wasn’t poor, but I wasn’t rich either. I worked at a community health clinic, lived in a modest two-bedroom apartment, and wore shoes until they fell apart. But Luca never lacked love.
Never. “We’d still let you see him, of course. Holidays.
Vacations. He could call you whenever.”
Holidays? Vacations?
That wasn’t parenting. That was visitation. “I’ll think about it,” I said, mostly to escape the suffocating silence in their cold, fancy dining room.
I drove home with Luca humming in the back seat, unaware that his future was being debated like a stock option. That night, I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the crack in the ceiling. They weren’t wrong.
They could give him more. But what does more even mean when it comes to a child? The next few weeks, they turned up the charm.
They sent Luca rare toys, designer clothes, tickets to theme parks. They offered to pay for his school even if I said no to their bigger offer. They were clever.
Slowly luring him into their world. I could see it happening. Luca started asking questions.
“Why don’t we have a pool like Grandma Judith?” “Can I live there for just the summer?”
I tried to be honest without turning them into villains. “Because you live with Mommy. And Mommy loves you more than anything in the world.”
“But they love me too,” he said, munching cereal and swinging his legs.
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