Following the death of her husband, Georgia moves in with her son, James and his family. While getting into the new groove of things, her grandson reveals something about a secret chamber in the house. She has to decide if James and Natalie are hiding something, or if her grandson’s imagination is just running wild…
When my husband passed away last year, my world turned upside down. Richard and I had been together for over forty years, and suddenly, there was this unbearable void where he used to be.
An upset older woman sitting in bed | Source: Midjourney
Suddenly, there was an absence that couldn’t leave me. It clung to me. I’d wake up to an empty bed, and the silence would stretch out before me, making the days feel longer and lonelier.
So, when my son, James, and his wife, Natalie, invited me to live with them for a while, I wasn’t about to refuse.
“But, it’s your home,” my neighbor and close friend, Elizabeth, said.
Smiling older woman | Source: Midjourney
“I know,” I said, pouring us some tea. “But it’s… the thought of living alone is just too much. I can’t do this. And I think being with the grandkids will be healing.”
Elizabeth nodded and smiled.
“We’ll miss you at book club, Piper,” she said.
James and his family welcomed me with open arms, making me feel like part of their daily life.
A person pouring tea into a cup | Source: Midjourney
“Mom, it’s just until you’re ready,” Natalie had told me, when we were unpacking up clothes upstairs in the guest room.
“Exactly,” James said from the doorway. “You don’t have to be alone right now. We miss dad, too. But he’s been your life partner for decades, I can’t try to understand that loss.”
They both insisted that they wanted to help me through this difficult time, and when I moved in, I took only the essentials. They rest of my things were locked 30 minutes away at my home, locking away the memories of a life shared with Richard.
A woman unpacking her bag | Source: Midjourney
From the beginning, there was simply one rule for the kids and myself:
“Please, all three of you, stay out of the basement,” James had said when we were sitting for dinner, his tone was gentle but firm.
“There are some repairs being done, and it’s really dusty and messy down there. We don’t want any of you to get sick or hurt. Understood?”
The boys, John, 6 and Eric, 4, nodded.
A dinner table | Source: Midjourney
I understood James’ concern, too. I’ve had a lifelong battle with allergies, and dust and I have been feuding since I was a child. So, I agreed without giving it much thought. It wasn’t like I had any reason to go down there anyway.
“Okay,” I said, giving Eric another chicken drumstick. “All three of us will behave and not go to the basement.”
Chicken drumsticks on a plate | Source: Midjourney
Living with them was an adjustment. In the recent years, I had spent so much of my time alone with Richard, so now, living with four others, it was chaotic. Chaotic, but in the best way possible.
“One day when I’m not here,” Richard would say. “You’ll take on your role of being a grandmother a lot more seriously. Those little boys will bring a light into your life that you’ll need.”
And he was right.
A couple sitting together | Source: Midjourney
John and Eric were everything I needed to keep me distracted while my heart healed and grew with love for my grandchildren.
We had also gotten into a new routine, where every evening, we’d gather in the living room for story time. Nothing delighted me more than watching their eyes light up as I read to them.
It was during one of those story sessions that Eric revealed something.
An older woman sitting with her grandchildren | Source: Midjourney
“Grandma, read the part about the Chamber of Secrets again!” John demanded eagerly, bouncing on the couch.
“Yes, Grandma! The Chamber of Secrets!” Eric echoed his brother’s excitement.
We’d been reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for a few days now, and it had quickly become a favorite for them. There was something magical about losing ourselves in the fantasy world.
An older woman reading to her grandchildren | Source: Midjourney
“Are you sure it’s not too much for the kids?” Natalie asked, when she sat on the couch across us. “Not too dark?”
“No, I’ll do an edited version of the dark parts,” I promised Natalie as she went upstairs to bed.
I turned to the next chapter, and as I read about Harry discovering the hidden entrance to the chamber, Eric suddenly piped up.
“Grandma! We have a Chamber of Secrets too! In the basement!”
An excited little boy | Source: Midjourney
The words caught me off guard. I paused, glancing down at my grandkids.
“Oh, you do?” I asked.
John’s eyes widened in panic as he elbowed Eric in his side.
“Eric! Shush! Grandma, he’s kidding. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
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