Upon arriving at the hospital, the daughter-in-law discovered that her mother-in-law had moved in with them.
The new grandmother quickly took over the care of her grandson, pushing the new parents aside.
Once back home, Christina noticed the baby bath she bought, along with a pack of nappies, had been banished to the balcony.
“Isn’t it wonderful you’ll have a son? I’ve always wanted a boy named Giles! Perhaps you’ll consider naming your son that!” chirped Christina’s mother-in-law over the phone.
“Margaret, we’ve already picked a name. It’s Charles. Charles Andrew sounds perfect,” Christina replied, surprised at the suggestion.
“You’re always ignoring me! Charles? There are far too many of them. I picked a strong and beautiful name for my grandson, and you don’t care at all! You’re so selfish,” snapped the mother-in-law before hanging up.
“She named her own sons Andrew and Alex, and the best she can think of for a grandson is Giles,” Christina thought in frustration.
When she told her husband, Andrew, about the chat with his mother, he laughed:
“Remember that dream you had? What did you see?”
***
Christina and Andrew had been married for over a decade but still hadn’t had children.
Initially focused on their careers and purchasing a flat, they later spent their time traveling.
When they started considering having kids in their late twenties, they found it wasn’t simple.
They spent years visiting doctors, going through tests, and undergoing treatments. Everything seemed to be fine, yet no pregnancy occurred.
On their twelfth anniversary, the couple sadly acknowledged they might remain childless. Andrew, wiping away a tear, said:
“It seems parenting isn’t our destiny. But I love you and want to grow old with you, regardless.”
Exactly a month later, Christina had a bizarre and vivid dream. She dreamt of entering a bathroom only to find a giant goldfish swimming in a tub full of water.
“Andrew, come look! How did this happen? You never even went fishing!” Christina shouted before waking up.
It was morning. Hurriedly getting ready for work, Christina shared her dream with Andrew. He smirked:
“Perhaps I should take up fishing if you’re dreaming of fish now!”
Later, over tea at work, Christina shared her strange dream with some colleagues.
Eleanor, an older colleague, smiled mysteriously and winked at Christina, saying:
“Oh, Christina! That’s a special catch indeed!”
“How so?”
“It’s a dream predicting pregnancy. Remember my words!” Eleanor said knowingly.
Christina simply sighed. She wasn’t expecting anything to change. But when she calculated the days, she realized she was five days late.
The next morning, she stared in shock at a pregnancy test showing two bright lines.
The pregnancy progressed rather smoothly, with only mild nausea in the first trimester.
Soon, her mother-in-law became the chief concern.
***
Margaret was an energetic woman who had long anticipated the arrival of grandchildren. Upon learning her daughter-in-law was pregnant, she immediately began advising Christina.
“You need at least fifty traditional nappies. Flannel and thin ones. I hope your iron works well. They must be washed and ironed on the highest setting on both sides!”
“Well, I wasn’t planning on using traditional nappies. Nowadays, you can buy onesies and use nappies,” Christina replied.
“What are you talking about? You’re having a boy! No plastic nappies! It’s like a greenhouse in those! Only cloth ones! I’ll teach you everything, otherwise, you’ll ruin my grandson’s health from babyhood!”
“Fine, but I want to choose the colors and patterns of the nappies myself,” Christina conceded. “I’m not a fan of overly bright colors with prints.”
“We’ll pick them out, don’t worry,” her mother-in-law assured her.
Exactly a week later, Margaret, smiling, presented Christina with a huge bag of nappies:
“I figured, why should you trawl around the shops, picking up all sorts of bugs? I didn’t need your help at all, see how nice this flannel is!”
Christina unwrapped one nappy after another, disappointed: all brightly colored with giant ducks, bears, and cars with bulging eyes.
“Well, since they’re bought now, no need to create a fuss about it.”
While in the hospital, Christina discovered her mother-in-law had moved in with them “for a week or two to help with the newborn.”
Too exhausted from a difficult delivery, Christina didn’t have the energy to object.
“Help will be useful at first,” she reasoned.
“Oh dear, you’re holding him quite oddly! Hand him over, let me show you how to hold him properly,” said Margaret as she met Christina upon discharge.
The new grandmother quickly took over the care of her grandson, pushing the new parents aside.
Once back home, Christina noticed the baby bath and nappies she bought had been banished to the balcony.
“I’ll teach you how to bathe a child properly! You need to line the bottom of the tub with cloth, not those strange things! You’ll dislocate my little Giles’ limbs otherwise.”
“His name is Charles,” Andrew reminded.
“Well, you named him what you did, but he’s Giles to me! Let’s have a bath, Giles! The tub must be steaming. You’ll catch his death otherwise!” Margaret fussed as she ran the hottest water she could.
Once the bath was ready, Margaret scooped up the baby and shooed everyone away as she set off to wash him.
The baby cried as she quickly soaped him with baby soap and then tightly swaddled him in two nappies at once.
“We’ve got the heating on, it’s warm,” Christina tried to object.
“You’re warm. He’s little, it’s cold for him. Don’t take off the bonnet or un-swaddle him, let him sleep like that!”
The night for Christina and her husband was restless. The baby couldn’t sleep on the damp cloth nappies and constantly cried.
They had to get up repeatedly to unswaddle, change, and re-swaddle him. These disturbances kept both them and the baby from sleeping.
By morning, they had a mountain of nappies piled up for washing, and Christina and Andrew appeared more exhausted every day.
Little Charles developed a rash from being constantly bundled up warmly as prescribed by grandmother.
“That’s not a rash!” insisted Margaret, upon seeing the spots. “You’ve eaten something that bothers my lovely boy!”
“I’m on a simple diet of oats and chicken!” Christina exclaimed.
“Maybe your milk isn’t suitable for him! I’d feed him formula,” Margaret asserted.
“No way! I’ll keep breastfeeding,” Christina stood her ground.
Margaret left with a dismissive click of her tongue. Yet each dawn, hearing the baby stir, she dashed in to whisk him from Christina:
“Your mother doesn’t know how to calm you! At least let Granny carry Giles. Look, I’ve got a dummy!”
The baby spit it out, but Margaret, ignoring Christina’s protests, kept trying relentlessly to get him to accept it.
The first weigh-in revealed the baby was losing weight.
“It’s all because she’s constantly pulling him away from me, claiming she’s better at looking after him than allowing him to nurse at my supposedly empty breast!” Christina realized and determined to reassert her motherhood.
One morning, as Margaret burst in, proclaiming:
“Go cook and clean, and I’ll care for my grandson! What good is it for him to hang on your empty breast?”
“No, thank you! He’s still eating,” Christina firmly responded, clutching her son.
“What’s there to eat?” snapped Margaret. “Let me carry him!”
“He’ll find it! After he’s done, you can carry him,” Christina replied calmly.
Once Christina firmly put a stop to Margaret taking her son, the baby began to gain weight.
Margaret merely sighed in annoyance, lamenting Christina’s treatment of the baby.
“We’ve had enough of Grandma’s care,” decided Christina, asking her husband to tell his mother they were managing fine and she should go back home.
After talking with her son, Margaret was offended:
“I intended to stay a few more months! What will my little Giles do without me?”
“We’ll visit you often,” comforted Andrew.
Indeed, nearly every weekend they visited Margaret. She would eagerly snatch her grandson from Christina and shower him with kisses.
“Go relax while I spend time with my grandson!” she would insist, brushing off her daughter-in-law and son. At goodbyes, she’d pull the baby close:
“You go on, and he’ll stay with me. We’re happy together!”
“And what’ll you feed him with?” Christina jokingly asked.
“I’ll find him the best milk possible!” Margaret announced excitedly. “Certainly better than yours!”
“Time to go, Mum,” Andrew interjected, sensing the tension wasn’t likely to ease.
As they left, Christina remarked to her husband:
“I suppose she never got enough mothering with you and your brother?”
“We spent most of our time at Grandma and Grandpa’s,” Andrew admitted.
“It’s pretty evident. But we didn’t have a child for her. She’ll have to accept she’s a grandma, not a mum.”
