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His teenage daughter looked toward the staircase. “Can I get whichever bedroom has the balcony?”

I folded my arms.

No.

Her brother laughed. “I want whatever room is farthest from hers.”

You can have one at your own house.

Mama continued the tour without acknowledging the running commentary coming from the actual owner.

Eventually, the husband stopped near my study. “This is an incredible property.”

“It is,” Mama replied.

He hesitated before adding, “Can I ask something?”

“Of course.”

“I hope this isn't insensitive, but wasn’t this your son’s home?”

Mama’s posture changed slightly. “Yes.”

“And he’s still missing?”

The word sat differently with me even after a year.

Missing.

That was what everybody thought.

Mama nodded. “He is.”

The man’s wife gave her an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you.”

The husband looked around again. “I guess I’m only asking because... why rent it? A property this personal, especially with everything unresolved...”

For once, I actually wanted to hear Mama’s answer.

She took a moment before responding, “Because unresolved doesn’t mean I allow everything my son built to deteriorate while I wait for an answer.”

Mama rested one hand lightly against the back of a chair.

“I am not selling his home. I wouldn’t even consider selling it while his status remains unresolved. But an estate this size cannot simply be locked and abandoned indefinitely. Empty properties deteriorate faster than people realize. Plumbing goes unnoticed when it leaks, humidity creates problems, mechanical systems need regular use and servicing, and an obviously vacant estate attracts trespassers, theft, and vandalism.”

She looked around the room.

“My son spent too much money and too much time building this home for me to let it rot because I don’t know when he’s coming back.”

When… not if.

Something in me eased.

Mama hadn’t accepted shit, and she wasn’t replacing me. She was doing what she had always done whenever life handed her a problem she couldn't fix: managing what she could control until she figured out what came next.

“A responsible tenant keeps the property occupied. The house stays maintained, problems get caught quickly, and its value is protected,” Mama further explained. “There is also one room in this house that is permanently off-limits to tenants and guests: my son’s office.”