Thats not your daughter, are you completely blind?
Id only been with my soon-to-be husband for under a year when I met his mother. At the time, I had absolutely no idea how suspicious and negative her attitude would becometowards me, and especially our daughter, who was born after we got married. The issue was that our baby girl was the picture of a classic blonde, with striking blue eyes, whereas my husband and his younger brother had a bit of a Romani look about them.
While I was still in the maternity ward, my mother-in-law rang me to offer her congratulations and said shed like to see her new granddaughter. So, the meeting was arranged. When she arrived, her face was unreadable, but as soon as we were alone in the hospital corridor she asked outright,
So, did they swap babies?
People nearby were left speechless, looking at us in confusion, while my mother-in-law peered at me as if expecting an answer. Flustered, I mumbled that there had been no chance for any mix-up, since Id been with the baby the entire time.
She didnt say her second thought aloud, but I could see it written all over her face. Later, back at home while my husband and I sat beside our child, his mother said,
Thats not your daughterare you utterly blind?
My husband was dumbstruck, and my mother-in-law pressed on:
She doesnt look anything like you, or her mum for that matter. Have you not wondered why? Its obviousmust be someone elses child!
Thats when my husband finally stood up for me and simply asked his mother to leave. I was hurt. Wed been waiting for our little girl for so long, and the pregnancy hadnt been easy, but she was healthy and I felt reliefespecially when they handed me that lively, red-faced, howling baby. The nurse joked at the time,
What a future superstar youve got! Those lungs are magnificent!
I smiled, cuddling my newborn, as we were taken off to the ward. In the days before we left hospital, I imagined family celebrations and us all happily together. Suddenly, though, all that was thrown into question.
After that incident, my husband tried to comfort me, but the mood had soured. My mother-in-law seemed to lose her senses; even though her son was on my side, she didnt drop it but declared battle. Her phone calls to my husband became routine, and whenever she did visit, she never missed a chance to slip in snide comments about me or the joy we took in our daughter.
She never once picked up her granddaughter or tried to spend time alone with her. Instead, she insisted on a paternity test. She ran her mouth without a care, and I heard every word through the wall. My husband did his best to reassure her, saying he trusted me completely and his daughter was most certainly his, but my mother-in-law just laughed at him,
Well lets prove it then, shall we?
One day during yet another of her tirades, Id had enough. I walked into the kitchen and joined the conversation,
How much more of this nonsense do I have to hear? Lets just do the test, pick out a lovely photo frame, and you can hang it over your bed to admire the resultsDaddys the one, after all!
Her eyes sparked with fury, left speechless for a moment. I supported my husband, but my tone dripped with so much sarcasm that my meaning was perfectly clear.
So, we did the test. My husband didnt even bother reading ithe knew what it said. My mother-in-law, on the other hand, examined it closely and eventually handed the report back to me. I couldnt resist,
So, do you want a light or dark frame for the certificate?
She bristled and snapped,
Shes making a joke of it! Probably got a friend to fix the results. My younger sons child looks exactly like himolive skin, same eyes; clear as daylight where she comes from!
In short, the testher precious evidencechanged nothing. The drama dragged on. Five years slipped by in a blur of family sniping. I fell pregnant again, just three months after my husbands brothers wife announced she was expecting. Our families got on brilliantly; the only trouble came when my mother-in-law started again, questioning the father of my daughter.
Their second was a girl too. When everyone visited after they were discharged, I lifted the cot blanket for a peekand there she was, a miniature version of my own daughter! Everyone looked at me, and I laughed,
So, tell me, youve been seeing my secret lover as well?
Everyone got the joke and it diffused the tensioneveryone except my mother-in-law, whose face turned beetroot red. She said nothing. That was the turning point. At first, she simply stopped with the snide remarks, and the day I walked in to find her playing dolls with my daughter, I realised the ice had truly melted.
Now my daughter is the eldest and the favourite grandchildour lovely girl, my little darling, and other such endearments. My mother-in-law showers her with gifts, dotes on her, and does her best to make up for all those years when she saw me and my child as some sort of enemy. I cant say Im angry with her, but a trace of those years lingers. I hope, over time, even that will fade.
