“You gave me an apartment,” she protested.
“It’s my apartment! Mom and the rest of the family are against me kicking my pregnant cousin out.”
“You gave it to me!” she retorted.
“You don’t get it, do you? This is family! How can you treat your own niece like that? She’s pregnant and has nowhere to go!”
Elodie clutched her phone in the kitchen. Her mother’s voice, half pleading, half accusatory, echoed from the handset. Mom, as usual, made her feel guilty even when asking a favor.
“Mom, I want to help, but” she hesitated, searching for the right words. “Amélie has been living with me for eight months. Eight! Remember when Aunt Valérie said ‘two weeks, just until she finds a job’?”
“And? The job market’s tough right now”
“She hasn’t even looked!” a wave of irritation surged through Elodie. “Yesterday she spent the whole day in the bathroom doing hair masks, then bingewatching shows. And then”
“Elodie, she’s pregnant”
“She found out a month ago! What about before that?”
A heavy silence settled. Elodie heard her mother’s theatrical sigh, the one that meant, “What an insensitive daughter, I raised you wrong.”
“Mom, it’s my flat. You bought Aunt Valérie’s share for me, right?”
“Technically,” her mother’s tone grew dry, “it belongs to the family. We’re just letting you live there.”
Elodie shut her eyes. Same old refrain.
“I thought it was a gift for my graduation.”
“Of course! But you know in a family you have to”
“Have to what?” she interrupted. “Put up with Amélie using my groceries, my toiletries, and inviting her boyfriend when I’m not around? The same guy who got her pregnant, mind you.”
“Elodie!” the tone hardened. “Aunt Valérie has done so much for us! When Dad was ill, who helped? Who looked after you while I worked day and night?”
She sighed. She knew that chant by heart: the endless debt to Aunt Valérie.
“I’m grateful, really. But that doesn’t mean I have to”
“She called me yesterday,” her mother cut in, “crying. She says you’re harassing Amélie over trivial things.”
Elodie scoffed.
“Trivial? She took my new sweater without asking and stained it with juice! Then she had the nerve to say, ‘You don’t mind, we’re family,’ without apologizing!”
“God, it’s just a piece of clothing”
“It’s not the sweater!” her throat tightened. “It’s about respect, boundaries, feeling like a stranger in your own home.”
Another quiet moment. Then her mother whispered, trying to persuade:
“Your grandmother would have been so disappointed. To her, family meant”
“No,” Elodie snapped. “Don’t bring her into every fight.”
“But it’s true! The apartment came from her inheritance. She wanted”
“What? For me to house Amélie forever? To tolerate her whims? To”
The phone buzzed: Aunt Valérie. Of course.
“Mom, it’s Aunt. Probably to tell me what a bad cousin I am.”
“Answer her. Be reasonable.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll call back later.”
As she let the call go, she braced herself for more criticism.
“Hello, Aunt Valérie?”
“My dear!” a overly sweet voice sang. “How are you, my sunshine?”
“Sunshine.” Elodie winced. That nickname never sounded good.
“I’m fine.”
“Amélie mentioned misunderstandings between you two?”
She rolled her eyes. “Misunderstandings.” Naturally.
“Aunt, you said two weeks. At most a month.”
“You sound like a notary!” she forced a laugh. “Family doesn’t work that way.”
“Then what does family do?” Her anger rose. “Steal my stuff? Bring friends over when I’m not here?”
“Come on Amélie is just sociable, she”
“She’s used to us fixing everything for her. My parents bought your share. It was a gift for me.”
“Not exactly,” the tone chilled. “It’s a family inheritance. Your mother and I agreed”
“That youd sell your share to my parents at market price.”
“Money, always money!” she muttered hysterically. “And Amélie’s baby? Have you thought about where she’ll go?”
“She has a boyfriend. The father, by the way.”
“An irresponsible one! He left Lyon when he learned about the pregnancy.”
She wondered why, then replied:
“You have a threeroom place, you and Uncle Claude. Why doesn’t she stay with you?”
A telling silence.
“It’s complicated. Claude works from home. And you two get along so well! It would be a great motherhood experience for you.”
“So well.” Elodie managed a bitter smile. Amélie, the perpetual irresponsible, while she, the “responsible” one, always had to yield.
“I can’t keep this up. She has to leave.”
“What?!” the voice turned shrill. “She’s pregnant! Do you want to stress her into a miscarriage?”
Elodie held back her insults, using the ultimate weapon: guilt by proxy.
“I’m not throwing her out now. She has a month to”
“I’m calling your mother! This is scandalous! After everything we’ve done for you!”
The line cut. Her hands trembled.
The front door slammed. Heels clicked.
“Elo!” a syrupy voice called. “Guess who I ran into? Clara from school! She married some tech billionaire. Her ringso jealous!”
Amélie entered, bronzed, flawless nails, designer jeans. No sign of distress.
“Hey, what if we rearranged?” she plopped onto a chair. “Move the couch by the window? Make a corner for the baby”
Elodie stared, feeling the last of her patience snap.
“Amélie, we need to talk.”
“Not now, okay?” she waved a hand. “Headache. Hormones! I’m going to rest.”
“Amélie.” Elodie raised her voice. “You have to go.”
Shock.
“What?”
“You have a month to find a place.”
“You’re kidding? This is our inheritance! I have as many rights as you!”
“No. My parents bought the share. It’s legal.”
“Family is above the law! I’m pregnant!”
“You have your parents. The father. Friends.”
“I’m calling Mom!” she fumbled for her phone.
“Useless. She’s already called.”
Amélie stared at her, eyes full of hatred.
“Aunt Valérie and Mom will sort this out. You’ll regret it!”
The door slammed again.
Elodie looked out the window. Instead of guilt, a tired relief washed over her.
Her phone buzzed: a text from Mom, “Aunt Valérie is devastated. What did you do?”
Without replying, she opened her browser: “Apartment rentals Bordeaux.”
Three months later, Elodie sipped coffee on Place de la Comédie, across from Théo, her boyfriend she met in Paris.
“No regrets?” he asked.
“None. Just wish I’d acted sooner.”
Her phone rang. It was her father.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Got news. We sold the apartment.”
“Grandma’s place? But”
“Amélie moved back with her parents.” He let out a dry laugh. “After you left, she tried to move back, but we handled it. The money’s yours.”
“Mine?”
“Yes. It was your gift. Sorry we pressured you.”
Tears rose.
“Thank you.”
“Be happy. We’re proud, even when we didn’t support you.”
She hung up, watching snowflakes drift over Bordeaux.
“All right?” Théo squeezed her hand.
“I think I finally became an adult.”
The snowfall gently erased the past, opening a new chapter where she would decide who to welcome into her home and into her heart.
