My pregnant daughter-in-law told my son she needed “peace and quiet” and that I had to move out of the four-bedroom house my late husband and I had paid off years ago.

were saving money.

Family made adjustments for each other.

But somewhere along the way, Harper stopped behaving like a guest who was grateful for help and began behaving like the woman in charge of the house.

That morning was the first time she said the quiet part out loud.

“Georgia, it’s just that a newborn requires a lot of space,” she said after recovering from my answer. “We need the environment to be completely stress-free. It’s best for the baby.”

“I agree.”

She blinked.

“A stress-free environment is very important,”