My mother smiled politely.
“Oh?” she asked. “What kind of news?”
“We’re thinking about starting a family,” Ella said. “Not right away, but maybe next year. We’d like to start trying for a baby.”
My mother’s face softened instantly.
“A grandbaby,” she said, her voice full of wonder. “That’s beautiful news.”
“Yes,” Ella said. “And with that in mind, we’ve been talking with my parents about buying a bigger house somewhere with more space and a good school district.”
“We’ve been looking at some places,” Mark said. “They’re not cheap, but we think it would be a great investment. A yard, a nursery, maybe even a home office so I can work from home more.”
Mom nodded.
“It sounds lovely,” she said.
Mark cleared his throat.
“The reason we wanted to talk tonight,” he said, “is we were hoping you would consider helping us with a down payment.”
My mother sat very still.
“Helping you how?” she asked.
“Well,” he said, his tone taking on the careful, persuasive quality he used when he was trying to sell someone something, “you have the house nearly paid off. You have some savings. We know you’ve been thinking about what will happen to everything someday. We thought maybe instead of leaving it to us later, you could help us now. That way, you could see the house, share in it, even have your own room when you visit.”
Ella smiled beside him.
“My parents have already said they’ll match whatever you can put in,” she added. “So if you can contribute, say, a hundred thousand dollars, they’ll add another hundred. We got to see a really beautiful place. It would be incredible to have all four grandparents involved in this.”
The air seemed to thicken.
“You’re asking me,” my mother said slowly, “to borrow against or sell the house I live in, and to use a large portion of my savings to help you buy a bigger house.”
“Yes,” Mark said. “When you put it like that, it sounds blunt, but yes. It’s kind of like giving the inheritance early. You always said you wanted us to have what you didn’t have.”
“And you would still have your house for a while,” Ella said quickly. “We’re not saying you should move. We’re just asking you to use what you have to help us now for the baby.”
Mom looked at them for a long moment. I knew that look. It was the one she used when she was choosing her words very carefully.
“I’m very glad you felt you could ask me,” she said at last. “And I’m very glad you’re thinking about your future children. That’s important. But I need to tell you something about my own plans.”
Mark smiled, clearly expecting agreement.
“You saw a lawyer,” he said. “So I guess you’ve thought about this.”
“Yes,” she said. “I have.”
She set her fork down gently and folded her hands in her lap.