She Wanted Her Husband to Send His Dad Away, but Life Had Other Plans

Weeks lengthened into months. In Alex’s backyard, seasons changed on the maple tree, leaves turning ember-red and then loosening their hold. Gektor mended a birdhouse with his grandsons and taught them how to whistle with an acorn cap. He told stories about their grandmother that made their mother’s eyes shine and Alex’s mouth soften into nostalgia. Some evenings, he and Stefan sat on the porch steps with coffee and silence. Not the heavy kind. The kind that means everything’s understood.

One Saturday, Stefan hammered the last nail into a small wooden sign he’d sanded smooth himself. He carried it down the driveway and fixed it to the post by the road, where strangers might see it but know it wasn’t meant for them. When he stepped back, the words caught the afternoon light.

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