On the second day of the Lunar New Year, my daughter and son-in-law brought the children home for the holiday.
Beaming, I reached for the baby in her arms.
"There's my little darling! Come to Grandma!"
My son-in-law corrected me. "Mom, you're the maternal grandmother—not Grandma."
I froze. "We agreed the second baby would take the Carter name. If I'm not Grandma, what am I?"
Edward's expression darkened. Claire Carter quickly snatched the child back from my arms.
"Mom, what kind of child takes their mother's surname? Think about how that makes Edward look to everyone!"
"The baby's name is Noah Carter Chavez-Carter—there's a Carter in there, see?"
My husband and I exchanged glances. We'd had an agreement: two children, one for each family.
Were they really trying to cut us out entirely?
I let out a dry laugh. "Well then. If that's how it is, our estate won't be going to anyone outside the family name."
1.
Claire's face changed instantly.
"Mom, what's that supposed to mean? 'Outside the family'—do you hear how ugly that sounds?"
"You and Dad only had me. Who else would inherit if not your own daughter?"
Back then, my husband and I had followed the national policy and had only one child—Claire.
We'd raised her like she was the most precious thing in the world, cherished her like the apple of our eye.
Who could have predicted she'd grow up to be so blinded by love? The moment she graduated college, she was desperate to get married.
Edward Chavez was her college classmate—a boy from a poor rural family in another province. His parents had no steady jobs, and there were too many mouths to feed at home.
When both families sat down to discuss the wedding, his side couldn't contribute a single cent.
Forget a car, a house, or a proper bride price—there was nothing.
We were firmly against it, terrified our daughter would suffer if she married into that family.
But Claire had made up her mind. And then she forced our hand by getting pregnant with Riley before we'd even given our blessing.
What could we do? My husband and I had no choice but to agree to the marriage.
We provided the house and the car. We never saw a penny of bride price—and on top of that, we gave a dowry worth half a million dollars.
I proposed that Edward marry into our family, but the Chavezes refused outright.
Claire took his side, of course. "Mom, if Edward becomes a live-in son-in-law, how would people see him?"
With her belly growing bigger by the day, I had to grit my teeth and give in.
My one condition: they would have two children, and the second would carry the Carter surname.
Claire and Edward talked it over and agreed.
So when we learned she was pregnant again, my husband and I were overjoyed. We immediately started buying everything the baby would need.
Claire did her postpartum recovery at her in-laws' place. When the second baby turned out to be a boy, the Chavezes were absolutely thrilled.
Finally, the New Year holiday arrived and Claire brought the children home.
That's when she told me the baby's surname was Chavez.
"Mom, stop with this old-fashioned nonsense! These days, it doesn't matter whose name a child carries!"
Her words yanked me back to the present. "If it doesn't matter, then why not Carter?"
"We had a deal—boy or girl, the second child would be a Carter!"
"You're going back on your word!"
My voice rose with my anger, louder and louder.
The baby in Claire's arms woke up and burst into wails.
"See what you did, Mom? Even little Noah doesn't want to be a Carter!"
"Besides," she added, "if we hadn't agreed back then, would you have even let us get married?"
I slammed my palm on the table. "So you never intended to keep your promise?"
Claire clicked her tongue dismissively. "Oh, come on. If the baby had been a girl, maybe she could've taken your name. But he's a boy! Have you ever seen a boy take his mother's surname?"
"A son carries on the family line! He continues the legacy! He's the one who'll take care of us in our old age!"
Her words left my husband and me shaking with rage.
"Carry on the family line? Continue your legacy? Take care of you?"
