Five years ago, we gave our guest room to my in-laws to store their belongings. “Temporary,” they said. But boxes kept piling up, and soon the room looked more like a warehouse than a home.

Then came the surprise: Sarah’s pregnancy! Suddenly, we needed that room back—for our baby’s nursery. We told her parents gently, but “soon” turned into months of delays and excuses.

One day, Janet, my mother-in-law, finally started clearing out, only to scream about her moth-eaten fur coat ruined under our roof. She blamed us, but I snapped back—“You left it here for five years!”

Then came the shock: a $695 bill for a new coat she demanded we pay for. We weren’t backing down. I sent her a “storage bill” for five years at $9,000—exactly what a real storage unit would cost.

Weeks later, Greg, my father-in-law, showed up with a $9,000 check. “Janet won’t agree, but this is for the storage,” he said.

Just when we thought it was over, Sarah caught Janet trying to sell that same damaged coat online as a rare vintage!

We laughed, relieved. The nursery was ready, and so was our new chapter.