When Emily stepped into the flat, she spotted her mother-in-laws shoes right in the middle of the hallway. It was clear her evening of relaxation wasnt happening.
Margaret appeared from the kitchen with the stern look of a courtroom prosecutor.
*”Been at that silly old womans place again, have you?”* she snapped. *”Never mind your own home, husband, or childeverything else comes first. Good thing I dropped by, or theyd have gone hungry.”*
*”Margaret, Nicholas knew Id be late tonight,”* Emily replied. *”I prepared dinnerall he had to do was heat it up. Hed have managed perfectly fine without your help.”*
After ten years of marriage to Nicholas, Emily was used to her mother-in-laws constant disapproval. She barely reacted anymore, treating Margarets words like background noise from a radio left on all day.
But it hadnt always been so easy. Margaret was Emilys second mother-in-law. The first, Elizabeth, had been tactful and kind. She never meddled in her sons marriage, never gave unsolicited advice, never forced her presence on them.
Yet when help was needed, she was always there. Emily remembered how Elizabeth had stayed up nights with three-month-old Sophie when the baby confused day and night, how shed take her granddaughter for walks and tell Emily:
*”Just rest. When Matthew gets home, hell make dinner himself.”*
When Sophie turned five, an accident at the factory took Matthews life, leaving Emily a widow.
Elizabeth, who had lost her only son, didnt abandon Emily or her granddaughter in their grief. For the first three months, they even lived together, supporting each other.
Emily suggested they stay that way, but Elizabeth moved back to her own flat.
*”Emily, youre only twenty-eight,”* she said. *”Youre youngyoull find happiness again. I wont stand in your way.”*
Three years later, Emily married Nicholas. But she never forgot Elizabeth. With her own parents living far away, her first mother-in-law became like a second mother to her, and Sophie adored her grandmother.
Margarets behaviour, then, came as a shock. She acted as if she had the right to run Emilys household, stepping in uninvited and criticising everything.
After her first visit, Emily asked Nicholas to explain that his mother was a guest in their homevisits needed to be arranged, and she should act accordingly.
When Margaret insisted she was only trying to help, Emily replied:
*”Im not eighteen anymore. Even when I left home for university, I was perfectly capable. And after seven years of marriage, I dont need lessons in cooking or cleaning. I could teach a few things myself.”*
*”Next time I visit, Margaret, Ill run a white cloth over your skirting boardssee how you like being inspected.”*
Nicholas backed his wife, stepping in when his mother overstepped. Over time, Margaret learned to keep her opinions to herself.
Still, when Emily gave birth to a son a year later, Margaret barely held back her advicethough she desperately wanted to give it.
The problem was Margaret had a friend who boasted about *”disciplining”* her younger sons wife. Margaret longed to share similar stories but had nothing to brag aboutexcept one grievance: Emily still visited and helped Elizabeth.
*”As if that old woman were family!”* Margaret complained. *”When Sophie was little, Emily sent her to stay with her grandmother in the summersfine, I didnt mind. But now the girls grown, and Emily still visits twice a week! Years have passed, yet she keeps running over there!”*
Lately, Emily had been visiting more often. Margaret called Elizabeth *”that old woman,”* though she was only seven years older. But grief and illness had aged Elizabeth, and Emily made sure she was cared forwhether in hospital or at home.
*”Spending family money on a stranger,”* Margaret griped.
*”Dont worry,”* Emily said. *”Elizabeth sold her cottage when she fell illshe has more than enough for treatment. She wont be asking you for loans.”*
When Elizabeth grew worse, Emily hired a carer and took leave to spend half-days with her. Still, it wasnt enoughElizabeth passed soon after.
Then Margaret took a sudden interest in the inheritance.
*”She sold the cottage, but surely she didnt spend all the money in a year. And her pension was decentshe must have savings. That two-bedroom flat will go to someone.”*
She didnt dare ask Emily directly, so she prodded Nicholas insteadand his answer disappointed her.
*”Whos the will for? Sophie, of courseshes Elizabeths own granddaughter.”*
*”So Emily wasted her time for nothing!”* Margaret gasped. *”Oh, I bet shes weeping now!”*
*”Dont worry about me,”* Emily said. *”I knew a year ago Elizabeth was leaving everything to Sophie. I took her to the solicitor myself.”*
*”Then why bother with her?”* Margaret demanded. *”Sophie couldve looked after her.”*
*”Id explain,”* Emily said, *”but I doubt youd understand.”*
In time, the inheritance was settledSophie received the flats deeds and a savings account. They agreed that while she studied and lived in student housing, the flat would be rented out, with income going to her.
Once she graduated, Sophie could decide: return home, stay in the city, or sell the flat to buy another.
When Margaret heard about the rental, she suggested:
*”Why let strangers wreck the place? Let Charlotte stay there.”*
Charlotte, Margarets thirty-five-year-old daughter, still lived at home. Pretty, educated, and employed, she had brief romances but never married.
Margaret fretted over it.
*”Why cant Charlotte find someone? Emily was a widow with a child, yet she snagged my Nicholas!”*
She thought a flat of her own might help Charlotte marry.
*”Never mind its Sophies for now,”* Margaret reasoned. *”Maybe in a few years, Sophie will marry a man with his own place, and we can persuade her to gift it to Charlotte.”*
But she kept these plans to herself.
Her disappointment was sharp when Sophie refused.
*”She wont pay market rent,”* Sophie said. *”Ill need savingsmaybe for a mortgage if I move to London after uni. The money has to add up.”*
*”Your Sophies greedy, just like you,”* Margaret told Emily. *”Both of you only think of yourselves. If Charlotte had that flat, she mightve married in three years!”*
*”Mum, youve got a three-bedroom place,”* Nicholas said. *”Sell it, buy a one-bedder for yourself and one for Charlotte.”*
*”Youve got some nerve!”* Margaret fumed. *”That flats mineyouve no claim. Why should I squeeze into a smaller place? Ive lived there my whole life, and Im not moving.”*
*”Its not Nicholas whos being oddits you,”* Emily cut in. *”You wont sacrifice your own flat for your daughter, yet you expect someone elses?”*
So Charlotte stayed with her mother. Sophie rented out the flat while she studied, then sold it to buy a new one in the city.
She visited London, toobut only for a week. As they say: *the grass is always greener*
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