I once advised you to stop after your third child. I even bought you some special tablets, hoping you might ponder your choices a bit longer. But it turns out, all my efforts have faded like morning mist.
How many children are you planning on? my mother-in-law, Judith, asked, her voice dripping with a peculiar kind of sarcasm.
Lets drop the sarcasm, replied Emily, serenely. Are you so cross just because David told you about my pregnancy?
Of course I am! Judith grumbled. I told you after the third, enoughs enough. I even went all the way to Boots and bought you those pills, thinking youd reconsider. And what comes of it? Nothing at all, she muttered, her words collapsing like old buildings.
We understand your perspective, Emily spoke softly, but we dont wish to go against nature.
Judiths mouth twisted, Are you mocking me? Well, dont expect any help from me anymore! she cried, her words echoing through the house like distant church bells.
Emily was just about to say something else when the telephone shrilled, sounding both familiar and oddly foreign.
Judith never lavished her children with affection. She never took the grandchildren to the seaside, nor spent time with them building sandcastles, nor brought them sweets save for birthdays. Financially, Emily and David were entirely self-sufficient. When Emily was expecting her third child, Judith pushed for a termination, but the couple refused. Eventually, Judith grew fond of her granddaughter. And thenEmily found herself expecting again! Emily tried never to let the strain between her and Judith show in front of her husband, as long as she and the children were content.
David had a decently paid job in London, and Emily worked part-time from home in leafy Surrey. When her cottage business blossomed, she even hired someone to help with the children. Everything might have been idealif not for Judiths stormy presence. From their very first meeting, Judith had disliked Emily, even quietly hoping her son would divorce her. But Judiths hopes crumbled, and then the children started arriving, one after another, like sheep tumbling over a stile.
According to Emily, Judith bristled at the thought of a fourth grandchildnot out of concern for Emily or David, but because she knew all Davids money would now go to his own family, rather than being siphoned off to support herself. Judith was used to comfort: David paid for every dental appointment, sent her on spa retreats, and even revamped her garden. Now, she saw her kingdom slipping away. No more gold to line her pockets. The thought of denial made her heart sting.
Emily tried to push aside her mother-in-laws constant drizzle of negativity, but it seeped into her veins nonetheless, dulling her spirits. Still, it was unlikely Judith could sway either David or Emily. The fourth child would comelike a new star in the English sky.
How do you treat a mother who invades the business of her children in such bizarre, dreamy ways?
