Lucy just needed time.
“Right, heres how it is. Either you help me strip Victoria of her parental rights, or I walk away, and you deal with this mess yourselves.”
“Lucy, for heavens sake! Shes your sister! My daughter!” Mum gasped, clutching her chest.
“And what am I? Not your daughter?” Lucys voice cracked with hurt. “Sometimes I think Im not even a person to you… Cant you see whats happening? Ive grown attached to little AlfieI love himand yet you… Either you help me, or I handle this alone. But I wont just let it go.”
Mum looked away, torn between them all. Dad just scowled, stirring his tea in silence. Realising their choice, Lucy stood and walked to her room.
It was clear. They hadnt chosen her. Not even Alfie.
She packed her few belongings, heart heavy yet certain. This had to be done.
But how could she stay strong when little Alfie clung to her legs, sobbing?
“Mummy, dont go…” he pleaded, watching her pack.
*Mummy.* The word stabbed her heart once more. Lucy sighed, knelt, and forced a smile.
“Im not leaving *you*, Alfie,” she whispered, hugging him tight. “Im leaving so things can be better for us someday. I *will* come back. For good. Forever.”
Alfie wailed, unable to understand why his auntthe woman he saw as his mumwas abandoning him. He clung to her clothes until exhaustion took him. Only late that night did Lucy slip out, quiet as a shadow.
In that moment, she hated Victoria. She was the reason they were trapped in this nightmare.
Victoria had begun her wild lifestyle at sixteenstaying out late, then disappearing overnight with so-called “friends.” Everyone knew what that meant. Shed stumble home drunk, makeup smeared, sometimes in tears, and their parents coddled her like some delicate treasure.
A pregnancy was inevitable. At seventeen, Victoria fell pregnanthardly knowing the fathers name. Just some “bloke from a party.”
When Alfie was born, Victoria quickly decided motherhood wasnt for her. She left him overnight, then vanished entirely.
“Im still young. I wont throw my life away,” shed told Lucy over the phone when confronted.
So the “burden” fell to Lucy. Granddad barely noticed Alfie, buying him the odd toy but nothing more. Granny helped but worked full-time.
At eighteen, Lucy switched to part-time studies to care for Alfie. She became his second motherliterally, as shed even stood as his godmother.
It was brutal. Night feeds, sleepless hours, hauling a pram up stairs, exams on no sleep. She studied when Alfie napped and managed the household alone.
By six months, shed adjusteduntil Victoria returned, tearful and repentant.
“I was such a fool… Ill change,” she sniffled.
Everyone believed hereven Lucy. For a month, Victoria was a doting mother. Then, once the novelty wore off, she vanished againthis time with Mums jewellery.
“Shes just struggling,” Mum excused. “Shell come back. She just needs time.”
But Lucy stopped believing. Once was chance; twice was a pattern. Yet she stayedwhere else could she take Alfie? Her parents lived in denial, forever ready to give Victoria another chance.
Lucy carried on. Raising Alfie, juggling studies, nursery runs, doctor visits. She prayed Victoria wouldnt return.
But four years later, there she was on the doorstep.
“I thought he loved me. I was going to take Alfie… But he used me. I was alone, jobless, stranded…” Victoria spun her tale, eyes wide with fake sorrow.
“Funny, you dont look starved,” Lucy muttered.
Mum shot her a glare. The attention swung back to “poor Victoria.”
The worst came when Lucy brought Alfie home from nursery. Granny nudged him toward Victoria. Confused, Alfie burst into tears, hiding behind Lucy.
“Come on, love,” Granny coaxed. “This is your mummy.”
“Shes *not* Mummy! *She* is!” Alfie clung to Lucy.
“Lucys just your aunt. Victorias your real mother,” Granny corrected.
Lucys heart shattered.
And it happened again.
Victoria lived off them for months, refusing work.
“Whod hire me with Alfie? Im basically on maternity leave,” she scoffed when Lucy asked her plans.
Then she vanishedagain. Pictures soon surfaced online with some older bloke. Another deadbeat.
Lucy finally confided in her best friend, Emily.
“Typical. One mum loves him, the others ‘real.’ Just take her to court,” Emily shrugged. “Theyll see shes unfit. Youll sort it.”
Lucy hesitated.
“But what if Alfies taken away? And Mum and Dad…”
“Or you wait for Victoria to wreck his lifeand yoursagain. Your choice.”
Emilys words stuck. *When do you live for yourself?*
Lucy had forgotten she had a life. Dates never lasted once men heard she had a “kid.”
Except James. Her uni mate, who knew the truth and still wanted her.
After talking to Emily, she gave him a chance. With him, she felt weightlessheard, understood.
When she fled home after her ultimatum, James surprised her.
“Move in with me. Nows the time.”
“I cant. Alfie”
“So well make it work.”
Lucy stared.
“But hes not yours”
“Lucy,” James cut in. “I knew what I signed up for. If hes family to you, hes family to me.”
For the first time, hope flickered.
The next six months were hell. Social workers, assessments, paperwork. Worse, she couldnt take Alfie immediately. He cried, waiting.
“Stealing your sisters child!” Mum accused.
“Like she ever wanted him,” Lucy shot back.
Her family disowned her. Only James and her friends stood by.
But after the storm, came calm.
Years later, Lucy watched Alfie teach his little sister, Evie, to kick a ball. James squeezed her shoulder, and she knewit had all been worth it.
Shed heard nothing of Victoria. Likely, losing Alfie was just another sob story for their parents.
They never forgave her. Fine. *Let them coddle Victoria forever,* Lucy thought. *Ill care for those who truly need me.*
**Sometimes, walking away isnt abandonmentits the bravest way to love.**
