second reaction was a flare of anger at the grim determination on Katie’s face as she made the announcement, as though having considered all the options and weighed all the evidence they had come to the reluctant conclusion that yes, they had no choice but to step up and take care of their mother, no matter how inconvenient, how great the sacrifice.
She wanted to say, Damn right you’ll take care of me, Missy. When I’m old and sick and too tired to feed myself and too weak to dress myself, you’ll do it for me just like I did for you. You’ll tie my shoes and wipe the drool off my chin and change my diapers just like I did for you about a hundred and thirty-seven times a day for the best years of my life. You’ll put a roof over my head when I can’t afford to do it myself and you’ll put groceries in my cupboard when my only other choice is to eat cat food and you’ll take me where I want to go when the state takes my driver’s license just like I did for you for the first twenty years of your lives and by God you’ll do it with a smile on your face.
But then she saw the strain behind the bravado in Kate’s eyes, and the fear disguised as determination in Kevin’s, and her heart softened. They had lost their father at the same time she had lost her husband. They, too, were trying to find their place in a world without him. And the sudden realization that the one person they had always depended upon—their mother—might need them to take care of her was more than an inconvenience. It was terrifying.
She said, “Thank both of you for worrying about me. But it’s not necessary, really. I’m fine.”
Kevin said, “It’s not Cici and Lindsay, you know that. We love them like family, always have. I’ve looked at the contracts and they seem fine, but I don’t think you realize what a potentially devastating risk this is. I know they’re your best friends, but owning property together—”
“You could lose everything,” Katie said, “including their friendship. It’s just crazy, Mom. Come to Chicago. There’s a three-bedroom apartment becoming available in a few months in my building, and with your help we could afford to move. Meanwhile, there’s room for a rollaway in the girls’ room. It would mean so much to me, Mom, not only financially—I mean, you know how we’ve struggled since the divorce—but to have you there to help out, now and then, you know, and on weekends, maybe I could finally have a life again. And it would be great for the girls to have their grandma with them. It would be great for everyone.”
“You haven’t signed the closing documents yet,” Kevin reminded her. “It’s not too late. So let’s do it, okay? Let’s tell Cici and Lindsay you’ve changed your mind and you’re going to Chicago instead.”
Bridget spent a long moment looking from one to the other of her children, so filled with conflicting emotions that she didn’t know where to start. Were these really her children? How had they grown into these strangers whose thought processes Bridget could barely begin to fathom? Kate had not bothered to ask her mother’s advice when she decided to marry a man she’d dated less than three months, nor when she decided they “had nothing in common” on her twin girls’ second birthday. But now she wanted her mother to fix everything. And Kevin, whose perpetual bachelorhood was merely an excuse for the kind of selfishness that included scuba diving in Belize and a designer apartment with a view of the Washington Monument, thought he could settle the problem of his inconvenient mother with the same brusque efficiency with which he settled a court case. Who were these people?
The answer of course was simple: They were her children, whom she loved with all her heart.
She said gently, “Katie, I love my grandbabies, but I told you when they were born that I did not want to raise them. And I’m sorry you can’t afford the three-bedroom apartment. Maybe prices
She wanted to say, Damn right you’ll take care of me, Missy. When I’m old and sick and too tired to feed myself and too weak to dress myself, you’ll do it for me just like I did for you. You’ll tie my shoes and wipe the drool off my chin and change my diapers just like I did for you about a hundred and thirty-seven times a day for the best years of my life. You’ll put a roof over my head when I can’t afford to do it myself and you’ll put groceries in my cupboard when my only other choice is to eat cat food and you’ll take me where I want to go when the state takes my driver’s license just like I did for you for the first twenty years of your lives and by God you’ll do it with a smile on your face.
But then she saw the strain behind the bravado in Kate’s eyes, and the fear disguised as determination in Kevin’s, and her heart softened. They had lost their father at the same time she had lost her husband. They, too, were trying to find their place in a world without him. And the sudden realization that the one person they had always depended upon—their mother—might need them to take care of her was more than an inconvenience. It was terrifying.
She said, “Thank both of you for worrying about me. But it’s not necessary, really. I’m fine.”
Kevin said, “It’s not Cici and Lindsay, you know that. We love them like family, always have. I’ve looked at the contracts and they seem fine, but I don’t think you realize what a potentially devastating risk this is. I know they’re your best friends, but owning property together—”
“You could lose everything,” Katie said, “including their friendship. It’s just crazy, Mom. Come to Chicago. There’s a three-bedroom apartment becoming available in a few months in my building, and with your help we could afford to move. Meanwhile, there’s room for a rollaway in the girls’ room. It would mean so much to me, Mom, not only financially—I mean, you know how we’ve struggled since the divorce—but to have you there to help out, now and then, you know, and on weekends, maybe I could finally have a life again. And it would be great for the girls to have their grandma with them. It would be great for everyone.”
“You haven’t signed the closing documents yet,” Kevin reminded her. “It’s not too late. So let’s do it, okay? Let’s tell Cici and Lindsay you’ve changed your mind and you’re going to Chicago instead.”
Bridget spent a long moment looking from one to the other of her children, so filled with conflicting emotions that she didn’t know where to start. Were these really her children? How had they grown into these strangers whose thought processes Bridget could barely begin to fathom? Kate had not bothered to ask her mother’s advice when she decided to marry a man she’d dated less than three months, nor when she decided they “had nothing in common” on her twin girls’ second birthday. But now she wanted her mother to fix everything. And Kevin, whose perpetual bachelorhood was merely an excuse for the kind of selfishness that included scuba diving in Belize and a designer apartment with a view of the Washington Monument, thought he could settle the problem of his inconvenient mother with the same brusque efficiency with which he settled a court case. Who were these people?
The answer of course was simple: They were her children, whom she loved with all her heart.
She said gently, “Katie, I love my grandbabies, but I told you when they were born that I did not want to raise them. And I’m sorry you can’t afford the three-bedroom apartment. Maybe prices
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