Too Late to Be Loving Parents Now

"Owen Stewart, we're talking to you. Are you listening?" asked my mother, Regina Elliot.

I snapped out of my thoughts and realized that my parents were looking at me in puzzlement.

Mom continued, "We've brought all our things over and will be living with you from now on. We'll definitely do our best to make things up to you."

I instinctively wanted to turn them away, but it wouldn't be very nice to send them away immediately after they traveled all the way here from afar.

After a lengthy hesitation, I finally said, "Dad, Mom, it's getting really late. I'll clear out a room for you two first."

My parents, who didn't receive a direct reply from me, assumed that I'd accepted their request by default and beamed widely.

By the time I finished cleaning out a room for them, my wife—Elena Klein—had returned from working overtime.

As soon as she caught sight of my parents, she hurried over to greet them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stewart! Why didn't you let us know you were coming? I could've picked you up!" she exclaimed.

My parents waved dismissively and replied cheerfully, "It's alright. You're both busy, so we came over ourselves."

Elena thought they were only staying for a few days, so she said thoughtfully, "In that case, I'll apply for a few days' leave so I can show you two around and make sure you have a good time. We rarely get a visit from you, after all."

My parents laughed and replied, "There's no rush. We'll be living under the same roof from now on, so there'll be plenty of time. If you and Owen can just bring us along on holiday trips, that'll be good enough for us."

Elena turned to glance at me with slight confusion.

I said expressionlessly, "It's getting really late. Let's all get some sleep first."

My parents, assuming I was too sleepy, hurriedly claimed to be drowsy themselves.

I checked on my son and daughter, Timothy and Tessa Stewart—both of whom were fast asleep—before joining Elena in bed.

Elena asked, "Honey, what did your parents mean just now? What did they mean by 'plenty of time'?"

I sighed and explained, "My parents suddenly came over tonight and claimed that they'll be living with us from now on."

Elena couldn't help but ask in bewilderment, "Then, why do you still look so unhappy? Are you worried that I won't agree to it? I'm definitely not against it."

I reached out to hug her, then revealed my inner thoughts.

"Honey, I don't want to live with them. To me, home is a warm place filled with love, but I've never really received love from them since I was young. I'm willing to assume the responsibility of taking care of them—they did give birth to and raise me, after all—but I'm not willing to live under the same roof as them.

"It was really late, so I didn't want to bring up anything unpleasant that would cause them to storm off in a fit. I'll have a proper talk with them tomorrow."

For a moment, Elena didn't know what to say and could only return my hug.

"Whatever you decide, I'll support you," she said at last.

The next morning, I was woken up by a phone call from my older brother, Oliver Stewart.

Oliver immediately asked, "Owen, are Mom and Dad with you? They said that they would be staying over at a relative's place for a few days.

"But when I asked said relative today whether they'd arrived, they kept beating about the bush. It was only after I pressed them that they revealed that my parents never showed up."

I took a moment to clear my head before replying hoarsely, "They arrived at my place last night and even claimed that they'd be living with me from now on."

Oliver let out a surprised exclamation before saying, "That works too. As long as they're happy, it's fine with me."