My 12 Year Old’s Birthday Gift For His Dad Was Returned By His Stepmom — Who Kept The Money
Chapter 2
During the drive home, Tommy stared out the passenger window.
Streetlights moved across his face.
“He didn’t like it, did he?”
“Your dad appreciated what you did.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
I hesitated.
Tommy looked at me. “Mom?”
“I think your father understood that the gift mattered.”
“Victoria didn’t.”
“No.”
He turned back toward the window.
The following Wednesday, Tommy visited Mark after school. When he came home, he was quieter than usual.
“Did Dad wear the watch?” I asked.
“No.”
“Did he say anything about it?”
Tommy shrugged.
I could tell he wanted me to stop asking, so I did.
Two days later, I opened the co-parenting banking app Mark and I used for shared expenses. A new transfer appeared.
$300.
The note read: Reimbursement for Tommy’s returned watch.
I stared at the screen.
Returned.
They had taken my son’s gift back to the dealer without even telling him.
My phone buzzed a minute later.
Victoria.
Sarah, just letting you know that we returned the old watch Tommy bought Mark. It really wasn’t appropriate for his professional wardrobe. We put the money back in your account so Tommy won’t lose anything. No need to upset him with the details. We’ll take him shopping for something more suitable.
I read it twice.
Then another message arrived.
Perhaps next time you can guide him toward something his father can actually use.
I was still deciding whether anger or disbelief was stronger when Mark called.
“Sarah, about the watch—”
“You returned it?”
He exhaled. “Victoria thought—”
“I asked what you thought.”
Silence.
“Did you know Tommy worked eleven months for that watch?”
“What?”
“He got up before five every morning. He delivered papers in rain, heat, and freezing weather because he wanted to buy you something with his own money.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s part of the problem, Mark.”
He went quiet.
I continued. “He researched watches because he listens when you talk. He bought something connected to an interest the two of you share.”
“Sarah, I understand you’re upset.”
“No. You don’t.”
“It’s a watch.”
“To you, maybe. To him, it was eleven months of telling his father, ‘I know who you are. I pay attention to what you love.’”
I heard Victoria in the background.
Mark lowered his voice. “The watch has already been returned. There’s nothing to do now. We’ll take him out Saturday and let him pick something else.”
“With whose money?”
“Ours.”
“That defeats the entire point.”
Victoria’s voice suddenly came through the phone.
“Sarah, you’re turning this into something it isn’t.”
Apparently, she had taken the phone.
“What is it, then?”
“A child bought an unsuitable gift. We corrected it.”
“Corrected it?”
“Yes. Mark has a certain professional image.”
I almost laughed.
“My twelve-year-old son woke up at five in the morning for nearly a year, and you reduced that to whether his gift matched Mark’s suits.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“And you took the receipt.”
Silence.
I continued, “I saw it in your purse at the party.”
Her tone changed immediately. “You were looking through my handbag?”
“No. It was open on the counter. I also saw the cash beside it.”
“That cash had nothing to do with Tommy.”
“Good. Then we won’t have trouble sorting out what belonged to him.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m telling you that from now on, Tommy’s feelings are not something you get to edit because they don’t fit your social standards.”
Mark came back onto the line.
“Sarah, enough.”
“No, Mark. Enough happened when you stood there and allowed somebody to make your son ashamed of a gift he spent a year earning.”
“He is my son too.”
“Then start acting like his father.”
I ended the call.
Through the kitchen window, I could see Tommy in the driveway shooting baskets harder than necessary.
I stepped outside carrying two sodas.
“Hey, buddy. Sit with me?”
He caught the ball and held it against his hip.
Then he said something that stopped me cold.
“I already know they returned it.”
