Chapter 3: No One’s Servant Anymore

Natalie had gotten me a passport half a year ago, hinting I should visit Australia. But back then, Tanya—my daughter-in-law—had just given birth, and there was no way I could leave. Someone had to help, after all. So I stayed.

Now, when I called Natalie to say I was coming, she sounded like she’d won the lottery. She got one of her college friends—a cheerful woman named Priya—to help me with the visa paperwork. Priya met me at the little law office in town, smiling wide, showing me where to sign, never once making me feel slow or in the way.

“Mrs. Carter, just wait up to a week. As soon as it’s approved, I’ll let you know right away.”

A week—not so long, really, after all these years. I walked out of the office with a weight lifted, the sun feeling warmer on my shoulders. Even the little dog in the apartment elevator seemed friendlier than usual.

I’d been scared of dogs ever since I was a kid, but for some reason, today I reached out and let that golden retriever sniff my fingers. He wagged his tail, tongue lolling, and nudged my hand for more. It made me laugh—a real laugh, not the kind you force when you’re tired.

The good mood followed me home, my heart light for the first time in months.

But before I’d even unlocked the door, I heard Tanya’s voice through the wood, sharp and angry: “So it’s not your son? You don’t even look after him? Leaving a little child hungry—what, is everyone in this family dead?”

My hand hesitated at the knob, but I pasted on a calm face and stepped inside.

Derek was in the living room, cheeks flushed, caught off guard by my sudden entrance. “Mom, where were you all afternoon? Caleb cried from hunger.”

Frank shuffled out of the bedroom, hands jammed in his pockets, face set in a stormy frown. “You go out and don’t take Caleb with you.”

“We don’t know how to soothe him, the grandson cried all afternoon.”

“You leave without telling anyone? Come back this late and don’t even make dinner—should the whole family just eat air?”

For a second, I wanted to laugh. I knew I should bite my tongue, but thinking about seeing Natalie soon, I just couldn’t let it go.

“If you don’t know how, then learn.”

Natalie always said, “Nobody’s born knowing how to cook, wash clothes, or soothe a baby.” She was right—Frank had never so much as folded a shirt or washed a plate in his life. Well, from today, neither would I.

If you can’t cook, learn. If you won’t, then go hungry.

After our argument that afternoon, Frank must have felt something shift. He kept quiet, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

But Derek, still stung from Tanya’s anger, lashed out. “Mom, what’s gotten into you? Planning to stop living this life?”

“Tanya works all day, and I finally have a day off. You’re always free. If you don’t cook, who will?”

I didn’t say a word. I went straight to my room, leaving the three of them in the living room, their voices muffled but sharp through the thin door.

“Dad, what’s up with Mom?”

“No idea. Not much ability but a huge temper. Like there’s a hole in her head—went nuts just because she didn’t get a strawberry.”

“Oh, just for that? If I’d known, I’d have left two for her. We can just buy more tomorrow, can’t we?”

Tanya, always practical, said nothing—just picked up Caleb and quietly packed him off to her mother’s for the night. The silence left in her wake was a heavy one.

That night, I didn’t cook. Nor did I make breakfast the next day. I let the house run itself for once, and the sky didn’t fall.