When Ethan wanted to start his maintenance business, his parents said they had nothing to give him.
The people who actually helped us were my parents. My father lent us his savings.
My mother sold some jewelry. When construction began, my father came to carry supplies and negotiate cheaper prices.
My mother cooked for the workers and cleaned cement dust beside me. On the day the house was finally completed, Ethan hugged them both and said: “Without you, this would still be an empty piece of land.”
Three days later, Margaret arrived with Henry, Daniel, Melissa, and a full moving truck.
Ethan stared at them. “Why didn’t you tell us?” Margaret looked offended.
“Tell you what for? We’re family. A house this big shouldn’t go to waste.”
Melissa was already climbing the stairs. “I love the second-floor balcony.
I’m going to put my breakfast table there.” At first, I thought they planned to stay for a few weeks.
I was wrong. Before sunset, Margaret had assigned bedrooms, rearranged furniture, and decided which wall she wanted removed downstairs.
The next morning, she shouted: “Claire! Come down and make breakfast. There are more of us now.”
Then she informed us that Ethan and I would pay almost all the groceries, electricity, water, and internet because we earned more.
Daniel, apparently, needed to save money. Two days later, drilling woke me upstairs.
I rushed to the second floor. Workers were cutting into one of our walls.
“What are you doing?” Melissa smiled. “A built-in closet. Since we’re going to be living here for a long time, I want our space to look nice.”
