Being a single mother is the hardest job Claire ever knew. Her daughter Lily was her world, even when money was tight and guilt loomed large. One day, Lily fell in love with a teddy bear at the store, but Claire couldn’t afford it. Lily didn’t cry—she simply drew a picture of herself with the bear and pinned it to the fridge.
Days later, Lily mysteriously came home from daycare with the exact bear, her name stitched on its ribbon. No one knew where it came from. Claire was uneasy, but Lily was overjoyed. She named him Mr. Buttons and never let him go.
Then came the whispers.
Claire began hearing a woman’s voice responding to Lily through the bear. At first, she doubted herself. But one night, she heard it clearly: “Goodnight, Lily.” Terrified, Claire searched the bear for a speaker—nothing. The voice mentioned a “little owl in the kitchen.” Claire smashed a ceramic owl figurine and discovered a hidden camera inside.
The truth unraveled fast. Claire remembered the plumber who’d visited weeks earlier. She grabbed Mr. Buttons and drove to a house she hadn’t seen in years—her ex-mother-in-law Margaret’s. Confronting her, Claire learned Margaret had planted the devices to secretly connect with her granddaughter, whom she’d once rejected.
Margaret wept, admitting her regret and longing to be part of Lily’s life. Claire, torn between anger and compassion, warned her never to cross boundaries again. But seeing Lily’s innocent joy at meeting her grandmother, Claire chose grace—for her daughter’s sake.
Lily deserved more than one parent. She deserved love, even if it came from someone who had once walked away.
