Unfortunately, things took a turn at the hospital. My baby suffered some complications from being born too soon, and he had to stay longer… and longer… and longer.

Some doctors told me he would not make it through the several surgeries he needed. But Luke survived and healed and continued.

I was in the hospital with my baby for 398 days, and that last month, I saw him thriving despite his complications. Finally, we were discharged, and although my child needed a bunch of medications – possibly for life – he was beautiful and lovely and so worth all the pain of over a year.

I walked out of the hospital with my child and to our trailer, which was not that far from the hospital in our town in Ohio. I couldn’t reach Jace for some reason, but I was not worried. He had been busy the last few months.

When I reached our home, I discovered a new family living there. “Excuse me. I’m Amy. This is my house,” I said, confused, to the man who had opened the door.

“No, we bought this trailer from Jace,” he answered, raising his hands. “I paid him in cash, fair and square.”

“What? No, that’s impossible. I’m the owner of this house.”

I shook my head, thinking Jace had sold my only home and run away with the money. That’s why I couldn’t reach him. Despite all my struggles over the years, I was never homeless. My late mother made sure to leave me the trailer before she passed.

But now, my lazy adult son had taken it from me? It wasn’t fair, and I started to hyperventilate with my baby in my arms.

“Mom!” I heard and turned quickly to see Jace running to me.

“Jace! What’s going on? What did you do? This is our home!” I wailed, which alarmed Luke, and he started crying too. “Hush, hush, hush.”

“Just come with me. You’ll see!” Jace said and guided me by my waist as we walked away.

“Please, tell me what happened while I was away,” I asked, still calming Luke as we strolled.

“Almost a year ago at the hospital, I realized that… I’d been a horrible son to you and the laziest idiot in the world,” Jace began. “I saw your love for me reflected in your love for my brother, and I knew I couldn’t keep being an idiot for the rest of my life.”

“I finally did something. I worked all the extra shifts and weekends I could at the contracting firm. My boss even loves me now. I saved as much as I could. I know you still have medical bills, although the doctors offered you help and pro-bono treatments. But we’ll work on paying those together—”

“Jace, that’s wonderful. But I still don’t understand why you sold the trailer,” I interrupted.

“We can’t live in that trailer anymore, Mom. There was barely any room for us two, and Luke doesn’t deserve to grow up like that… so I saved up and bought us a tiny two-bedroom place nearby. It’s not the best house, and it’ll need some serious repairs. But it’s ours. It has a basement, so I’ll live there. I’m planning on installing a separate door to it, so it’s like an apartment, but we’ll see about that,” Jace revealed, and I couldn’t believe it.

“You bought a house?” I said, stunned. “You bought us a house?”

“I did,” Jace smiled. “Are you proud?”

“I think I’m going to have a heart attack from all this pride,” I replied, smiling.

Jace guided me to the house. It was not fully furnished, but we had beds and a full kitchen. Jace had also bought a second-hand crib for Luke. It was perfect. It was something I thought we would never have, and I couldn’t believe that my son had bought it thinking about us living there together.

“Are you sure? I mean, you used the money from the trailer too, but this is mostly your home,” I said after I set Luke to sleep in his new crib.

“Mom, parents around here kicked their children out as soon as they turned 18, and you should’ve done that with me, but you didn’t. You wanted me to be safe. I finally realized how much you worked for me, and I needed to repay it. The house is in both our names, but it’s yours. I love you,” Jace explained, and we hugged each other for a long time.

Our life was not perfect after that. We had huge bills to repay. We had many repairs around the home and many expenses with Luke, his medicines, and everything he needed. But Jace worked so many hours, and I soon started working too, cleaning houses where I was allowed to bring Luke with me.

We did all we could, and we made it through. At least, I know we would.