“Mum, Dad, get the spare room ready. Im coming home. With my son.”
Emily didnt askshe didnt even inform them. She spoke in a commanding tone. Mum stared at her phone in shock, while Dad set his fork down. Appetites vanished.
Sarah, the elder daughter, felt a familiar chill run down her spine. She knew this wouldnt be pleasanther sister hadnt spoken to them in three years. But Sarah never imagined Emily would return with such news.
“No,” Dad said sharply. “Theres no room here. You made your choicesdeal with them yourself.”
“Oh, come off it! As if theres nowhere to put us! Sarah can clear outshes not tied down. Or shove a sofa in the kitchen for her. What, are you suddenly stingy?”
Sarahs breath hitched. She was used to Emilys antics, but that didnt make it easier.
Despite Dads refusal, Sarahs mind was already racing, searching for flats to rent. It always went this way: Emily acted like the world owed her, pushed until she got her way. Sarah? She was quiet, unassuming, quick to yield.
Emily knew itand exploited it.
“Emily, love we cant,” Mum said gently. “Were still paying off your uni loans. And Sarah only lives with us because moneys tight. She helps with billsshe doesnt have to. We cant manage you and a baby too.”
“So you dont care what happens to your own daughter and grandson?!” Emily shrieked. “Are you even human?!”
“Enough. I wont tolerate that tone,” Dad snapped, ending the call.
Mum chided him half-heartedly, but her relief was plain. The evening passed in tense silence.
Sarah remembered how it began. In their family, it was always Emilys wayor a storm of tantrums.
Sarah was six years older. Their parents loved both, but Emily was indulged more. Partly because they thought theyd mastered parenting by then. Partly because money had been tight when Sarah was small. She grew up modest, never demanding.
Emily made up for itdouble.
Her first major tantrum came at ten. She wanted a puppynot just any, but a Labrador. Big, high-maintenance. Mum and Dad knew theyd end up caring for it. Plus, a flat wasnt ideal. But Emily wouldnt listen.
“If you dont get me one, Ill hurt myself!” she threatened.
They caved. Of course. Sarah and Mum ended up walking the dogEmily was always “busy.”
Then came the “Harry Potter” themed summer camp her classmate attended. Four days£600.
“Lucys going! Why cant I? If you dont send me, Ill run away!”
“Go ahead. Theyll drag you back,” Dad muttered.
They paid anyway. Easier than the drama.
At sixteen, Emily announced shed apply to Oxfordwith Lucy.
“I wont rot in this dump,” she said.
Sarah almost laughed. Emily was hardly academic. No chance of a scholarship, and fees were steep. But Emily pressed.
“What, youd deny me an education? Want me on the streets? Itll be your fault!”
They cracked. Tutors, loansDad aged overnight; Mum lived on pills. Emily thrived.
She got in. Six months later, she bragged to Sarah.
“Guess what? Ive moved in with my boyfriend. His familys loadedconstruction tycoons. We eat sushi every night!”
Sarah stayed dry. “What about studies?”
“Ugh, always lectures! Im living like royalty!”
Months later, Emilys tone soured.
“He flirts with everyone! Says Im special, but”
“Dump him,” Sarah said flatly.
“And lose his money? No way.”
Sarah stopped listening.
By second year, Emily dropped a bombshell: pregnant.
“Studies?” Mum asked weakly.
“Who cares? Im not dragging a baby to lectures.”
Dad snapped. “Weve ruined ourselves for your future!”
“You gave me a chanceI took it differently.”
“He wont marry you! What then?”
“My life, my choice.”
Thensilence. Three years.
Now she was back, demanding help.
Grandma Margaret took her inand scolded Dad.
“Your own flesh and blood!”
“She shut me out when I wanted to meet my grandson. Now shed kick Sarah out? Fair?”
“Family sticks together!”
“Family doesnt mean endless demands and guilt,” Dad said firmly.
Within weeks, Margaret complained. Emily ruled the house, moaning about her “heartless” parents.
Mum and Dad achedbut held firm. For once, they didnt bend.
And Sarah? She finally felt proud. Some lessons are hard-learned: love isnt measured by surrender.
