When Chester and his wife Amanda welcomed their second child into the world, they decided to invite Grecia, Chester’s mother, to move in with them to help with the children.
The man worked full time and knew that his wife would not be able to raise a two-year-old and a newborn alone.
«Would you like to help us raise your grandchildren, Mom?» asked Chester to Grecia when she visited them in the hospital after the birth. «Amanda and I could use some help.»
Grecia, who lived alone and saw her only son, Chester, once a month, couldn’t have been happier to agree.
«I would love to spend more time with my grandchildren — I would love that! They are my life,» she replied.
Shortly after Amanda and her newborn son Henry were discharged from the hospital, Grecia packed up and moved in with them. Life with Grecia was easy and uncomplicated. She was not the typical mother-in-law in the movies, but was genuinely happy to take care of her grandchildren.
Amanda relied heavily on Grecia. Her mother-in-law took care of the baby when she slept a little and made sure that her eldest grandson Tomas never felt lonely or abandoned because of his brother’s birth.
When Henry started sleeping through the night, everything changed. Grecia started going out every night. Sometimes she would say she was having dinner with her friends and at other times she claimed she was going to the hairdresser.
At first, this didn’t bother Amanda and Chester until the nights out became more frequent.
«She lives here so she can help with her grandchildren. If she’s out every night, maybe she should go home,» Amanda said one night, irritated at having to take care of her two children at the same time.
«Grandma!» little Tomas kept crying one night. «I just want Grandma!».
«What does she do every night?» said Amanda, fed up. «Can you talk to your mother?» she asked her husband.
Chester vowed to get to the bottom of it and find out why his mom was going out every night. When he decided to confront her, she was nowhere to be found.
The next day, Chester asked her where she had gone.
«Is something wrong, Mom? Why do you always go out at night? I went to see you at midnight yesterday and you weren’t in your room,» he told her. «Where do you always go?»
«I’m sorry, honey,» Grecia apologized. «I’ve been feeling very lonely… I’ve been having trouble sleeping, so I always try to keep busy in the evenings so I go to bed tired. Last night I couldn’t fall asleep, so I decided to take a walk,» she explained.
Hearing this, Chester felt bad for his mother, but out of the corner of his eye he could see his wife shaking her head. At first he thought Amanda was disrespecting him, so he decided to confront her.
«What’s the matter, don’t you feel bad for mom?» he asked her.
Amanda shook her head again.
«She’s lying, Chester,» she told her husband.
«How can you accuse her of lying?» argued Chester. «What would she get out of it?»
«I don’t know, Chester. Probably, she doesn’t want us to know what she does at night. Someone used my favorite perfume last night. I know because the cap was taken off. Someone also fix my makeup after using it. Now, tell me, it wasn’t you, and it definitely wasn’t Tomas. Who else could have done this?» he asked her.
Hearing this, Chester began to believe his wife: after all, his mother might have been lying to him. It wasn’t like her to go out every night, especially when she was in the company of her grandchildren. Something was going on.
That same night, Chester decided that if he caught his mom sneaking out of the house at night again, he would follow her. When they finished putting Henry and Tomas to sleep, he pretended to go to bed.
After a couple of minutes, Chester heard his mother’s door open.
«I told you, Chester, she’s running away from home again!» whispered Amanda.
Chester and Amanda saw Grecia come out of the window. She was wearing a black dress, a pair of heels and her hair straightened with a blow dryer.
«See what I mean?» said Amanda to her husband. «She’s all dressed up…definitely not out for a simple walk!».
«Mom leads a double life? What could she be doing late at night, dressed like that?» thought Chester.
Seeing that Grecia was walking away, he followed her. They walked a couple of blocks until she finally stopped in front of an unfamiliar house.
«What is she doing?» he thought.
Grecia knocked on the door as Chester hid behind a tree. He didn’t know what to expect from his mother’s midnight rendezvous, which made him nervous.
Before he could think of anything else, an older man opened the door and smiled at Grecia.
«I’ve been waiting all night for you!» he said.
«No way! What is my mom doing with that man?» thought Chester, starting to panic. He ran for the door, startling Grecia and the stranger.
«Mom! Stop! What’s wrong with you? Why are you doing this?» he asked, trying to pry her out of the man’s hands.
Grecia’s eyes widened at the sight of her son.
«Honey, what are you doing here?» she said, surprised.
«Amanda and I started to worry about why you were going out every night. So I decided to follow you. Who is this man? Is he making you do something? Are you in some kind of trouble?» she asked her mother, still trying to pull her away from the man.
«Honey,» Grecia said. «This is my boyfriend, Gregorio. We’ve been together for a year.»
«What, a boyfriend? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?» asked Chester in astonishment.
Grecia looked at her son nervously and said:
«I was afraid you would judge me, son. I’m 56 years old, I’m a grandmother! You kept asking me why I went out every night, so I was embarrassed to tell you the truth.»
«Love has no age mom. I’m so sorry you felt the need to keep this from me. We should be your support. At the end of the day, we just want you to be happy,» he told her.
«I hope you don’t feel that I’m not happy living with you, Amanda and my two grandchildren. I love you all very much. It’s just…you have each other, and I’m alone. I hope you understand. Gregorio makes me very happy,» she said.
Chester nodded and assured her that he understood. He greeted Gregory and the three of them had a cup of hot chocolate together.
The next day, Chester invited Gregorio to his home. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Grecia so happy that Gregorio was coming to meet the rest of the family.
«I’m so happy to be here,» the man said as he met Amanda and the two children.
«Mom, you should have told us you had a boyfriend. I’m so happy for you.» said Amanda to her. «How did you two meet?»
Grecia and Gregorio crossed their gazes before sharing their story.
«We met at the supermarket,» began Gregorio. «I was so in awe of this woman’s beauty when I was picking out candy.»
Grecia laughed and went on to tell the rest of the story.
«Yes, and then I caught this man staring at me, and I decided to ask him if there was anything I could help him with. He couldn’t help but tell the truth! Tell them what you said, Gregorio,» Grecia said.
«I said, ‘I’m sorry, I was just mesmerized by your beauty,'» Gregory continued. «Grecia’s face instantly turned red, and I knew right then and there that she was single!».
Chester and Amanda looked at each other, smiling. They realized how much in love Grecia and Gregorio were, and they couldn’t be happier for their mother.
From that day on, Grecia no longer had to hide anything from her family. She went out on dates with Gregorio quietly, which motivated her to spend even more time with her grandchildren without Chester or Amanda asking her to.
Grecia lived her life to the fullest. Soon, Gregorio asked for Grecia’s hand and they were married in a simple civil ceremony. Amanda and Chester hosted the wedding reception at their home, which was everything Greece could have dreamed of.
«I have everything I could ever need,» she said as she toasted during the dinner. «I have a loving husband, a loving son and daughter, and the most beautiful grandchildren. I am truly blessed.»
