A cleaning lady comes for her regular shift at her wealthy employer’s home and is shocked to see her daughter scrubbing the floors. When she finds out the reason behind it, she’s left in tears. Rachel was a single mother raising her two children, 9-year-old Mia, and 3-year-old Jim. To provide for them, she worked two jobs: as a server at a restaurant during the week and as a cleaner at the home of an elderly businessman named Mr. Duncan on weekends.
Whenever she wasn’t home, Rachel left her children in her neighbor Lauren’s care. While Lauren wasn’t the best babysitter as she was always on her phone, tracking her husband’s whereabouts, she lived next door to Rachel and was a good friend, so Rachel trusted her. Mia, on the other hand, disliked staying at Lauren’s place. She wanted Rachel to be there for her and not Lauren!”Mommy!” she told Rachel one day. “I want to spend time with you like my friends spend time with their parents!”
Rachel smiled. “Honey, mommy has to work hard for our family so we don’t miss out on anything. Mommy is doing this work for you and Jim. I promise I will make time for you some other day.” But Mia wasn’t satisfied with Rachel’s answer. She missed Rachel and wanted to spend time with her. One Sunday morning, Rachel dropped Mia and Jim off at Lauren’s place early. She said she had some things to attend to before heading to Mr. Duncan’s place.
That’s when Mia had an idea. “Honey!” rachel screamed and raced up to her. “what are you doing here? you don’t need to do this!”She told Lauren she was heading to a friend’s house but she planned to go to Mr. Duncan’s. She knew his address from Rachel’s address book which Rachel left with her in case she needed to reach her while she was away.
Mia knocked on Mr. Duncan’s door upon arrival. The rich man was surprised when he noticed a small girl standing in his doorway. “Yes? How may I assist you?” he asked sweetly.Mia grinned. “I’m the daughter of your cleaning lady. She told me she would be late for work and asked me to come and notify you. Can I stay here until she arrives?””Oh, sure!” Mr. Duncan responded and invited her inside.
Soon after, Mr. Duncan had to leave as he got an urgent call from his office. “I have a meeting, so please excuse me. I’m going to lock up but you can stay here and wait for your mother. She has the spare keys,” he informed Mia, who smiled and nodded. Nearly half an hour after Mr. Duncan left, Rachel arrived at his house. She unlocked the door and was surprised to see the house floors were glistening as if they were newly polished.
She placed her coat on the rack beside the door and entered, shocked. As she approached the living room, she pondered, “Did someone already clean here?” She observed young Mia scrubbing the floors there. “Honey!” Rachel yelled and dashed up to her. “What exactly are you doing here? You are not required to do so!” “Mommy!” Mia smiled. “I cleaned the floors so you wouldn’t have to work so many hours. You can now spend more time with me!”
Rachel couldn’t keep her tears from falling. “Oh, honey!” she shouted as she wrapped her arms around her. “I really apologize. You didn’t have to do everything….” “I don’t want you to make a lot of money for us, mother,” Mia remarked as she wrapped her arms around her. “All I ask is that you be present and spend time with me.” Rachel felt terrible. She was well aware that she needed to work hard in order to provide for her family. But that night, no matter how weary she was, she vowed to make time for Mia and Jim.
She would go to any length for them. Mr. Duncan, fortunately for her, examined the security cameras that evening and witnessed what Mia had done. He felt sorry for the mother and girl and resolved to assist them, having a plan in the back of his mind. When Rachel arrived at his residence the following weekend, Mr. Duncan announced that he was doubling her wages. Rachel was inconsolable.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Duncan. I’m not sure what I did to earn this “She expressed her gratitude. “This is your reward for being such a dedicated mother to your children,” Mr. Duncan added, smiling. “I’m hoping that helps your family.” Rachel didn’t have to work multiple jobs to support Mia and Jim because of Mr. Duncan’s kindness. She also had more time to spend with her children now.