ver some if I need to, sweetheart… I don’t have much with me, but I’ve been saving up…”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, fury rising in my chest at how they’d left her confused and worried on her special night.

“Don’t you worry, Grandma.

Everything’s under control.”

We took our time finishing up while the staff handled the rest. Miguel brought over a complimentary dessert for Grandma, a beautiful chocolate cake with a single candle. The entire waitstaff sang for her.

Grandma still looked a little worried, but I promised her it was all taken care of.

“But what about the others?” she asked as I drove her home, the stars twinkling above us.

“They had somewhere else to be, I guess,” I said, keeping my tone light.

“It’s a pity, but I must admit I’m glad I got to have you all to myself for the best part of the evening, Grandma. You still had a good birthday dinner, right?”

She nodded, but I could tell she was hurt. That made me even angrier.

By the time the angry phone calls started the next morning, I was more than ready to gloat over my selfish, thoughtless family for thinking they could get away with hurting Grandma.

The first call I answered was from Aunt Linda.

She shrieked that the restaurant was “harassing” them over the bill.

“They’ve called three times! How dare they! This is your fault somehow, isn’t it?”

Katie left me a three-minute voice memo accusing me of “ruining the vibe” of Grandma’s birthday.

“We were just going to get the car! We were coming right back! You’re so dramatic!”

Mark texted that I was a traitor for snitching on family.

His follow-up texts grew increasingly panicked as the day went on.

Uncle Joe wanted to know if this was some kind of joke because now the restaurant was threatening legal action. “Fix this! Now!”

Oh, right.

I forgot to mention.

Turns out the manager of that steakhouse just happened to be my old college buddy Eric.

While they were off making their dramatic exit through the kitchen door (caught clearly on security cameras), I’d made sure Eric had all their contact info. Full names, phone numbers, addresses.

He only charged me for my and Grandma’s share of the meal. The rest?

Oh yeah. He’s collecting directly from them — with interest if they keep dodging him.

Grandma called later to thank me again for the night out.

“I just wish your cousins hadn’t disappeared like that,” she said. “It was such a nice dinner until… well…”

I just smiled, picturing Katie’s face when she received the formal demand for payment.

“Don’t give it another thought, Grandma.

They won’t be pulling anything like that again.”

And next year? Me and Grandma are celebrating her birthday somewhere very nice and quiet. Just the two of us.

And I’m leaving my phone on silent.

Source: amomama