Honestly, its a right mess, and my mates sister is beside herself. She keeps saying, Its all my own fault! Never in a million years did I see this coming, and now Ive no idea what to do, really. No clue how to put it right without making a fool of myself.
So, heres whats happened. A few years back, my friends sister, lets call her Emily, got married.
Straight after the wedding, she and her new husband decided to move in with his mum. His mum has this pretty spacious three-bedroom flat in the heart of Manchester, and hes her only son.
His mum was all, Ill keep one room for myself, and you two can have the rest! Were decent people, Im sure well get on just fine. And her husband, Tom, tells Emily, If it doesnt work out living with Mum, well just find a place to rent. Theres no harm in giving it a go.
Well, thats exactly what they did. Turns out, sharing a roof with your in-laws isnt the breeziest thing. Emily and her mother-in-law really did try to make it work, but it just got tougher as the days went by. Little gripes turned into proper arguments, and soon enough, they were cropping up nearly every day.
One day, Emily bursts out, crying, saying, You promised wed move out if things got bad. Isnt this bad enough? But Tom just sort of smirks and says, This is nothing not worth packing up over some silly squabbles.
A year on from their wedding, Emily goes on maternity leave, and not long after, she gives birth to a lovely baby boy.
As it happens, Toms mum was between jobs at that time. Shed just left her old work and, being close to retirement, wasnt finding it easy to land a new one. So, Emily and her mother-in-law were more or less stuck in the flat together all day, every day. And honestly, the tension only built up from there.
Tom, meanwhile, pretty much just shrugged and stayed out of it. He was the only one working, bringing in the pounds, and left all the drama to them.
Hed say, We cant leave Mum on her own with no job or money. I cant just abandon her, but I cant afford to rent us a place and still keep helping her out, either. Once Mums working again, then well look for somewhere else.
But Emily ran out of patience long before his mum sorted out a new job. She finally packed up her things and the babys and moved back in with her own mum in Sheffield. As she was leaving, she told Tom, Im never setting foot in your mums place again. If our family matters to you, youll figure something out.
She really thought Tom would move mountains to get her back. Nope. That was wishful thinking, unfortunately.
Its been over three months since Emily left, and Tom hasnt done anything at all. Hes still living with his mum in Manchester. After work, he chats to Emily and the baby on FaceTime and pops round to her mums place on weekends.
So now, yeah, theyre basically in a guest marriage. Toms got it pretty easy, hasnt he? He gets looked after by his mum, the sympathy for his poor abandoned self, and doesnt even have the hassle of looking after the baby day-to-day. His mums not really lost out, either!
Meanwhile, Emilys absolutely stewing. She hates how this has all turned out, and she still loves Tom, even though hes being a bit useless.
Whenever she raises it, he just says, Well, what did you expect? You can always come back, you know.
But really, is he going to step up and move out with her? Doubt it. Emilys on maternity leave, so its not like shes rolling in cash either.
Is that it then? Is this little family done for?
I dont know, mate. Do you reckon Emilys got any chance of moving back and not looking stupid in front of everyone?
