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Mother-in-Law Excluded Her Daughter-in-Law from the Anniversary Celebration, Then Called 11 Days Later Begging for Help—Her Response Left Everyone Stunned
Margaret was arranging freshly laundered tea towelsnew ones, with a dainty rose patternwhen her phone buzzed. She sighed: three missed calls from Beatrice, her colleague. Likely nothing urgent. Margaret turned back to the cupboard, but the phone shuddered again.
“Margot, why arent you answering?” Beatrice chattered. “Did you know Cynthias hosting a do for her diamond anniversary this weekend?”
Margaret stiffened, the tea towel clenched in her fingers.
“What anniversary?”
“Shes turning eighty. Lucy rang meshes invited with Peter. Says Cynthia sent out invites a fortnight ago.”
The towel slipped from Margarets grip. Thirty years wed to Albert, and shed never missed a family gathering. But now, Cynthias celebrationand not a word.
“Perhaps it slipped their minds?” Margaret murmured, though she didnt believe it.
“Slipped? Lucy says theres a list of twenty guests. Everyones asked: Alberts brothers and their wives, even their old neighbour from across the lane.”
Margaret sank onto a stool. Memories flickered: tending Cynthia after her hip operation, surrendering her holiday days so her mother-in-law could get new spectacles, minding the grandchildren when the others were tied up.
“Listen,” Beatrice went on, “its all over that trifle last Christmas. Remember how you brought the wrong sort?”
“Beatrice, the trifle has nothing to do with it. Shes simply never seen me as family.”
The front door thuddedAlbert was home. Margaret hurried off the call.
Her husband stepped into the kitchen, shaking rain from his hair like a schoolboy. She studied the creases around his eyes, the familiar lines. Thirty years together. And stillan outsider.
“Albert, is your mother having a party this Saturday?” she asked, steadying her voice.
He paused before the fridge, his back to her.
“Aye, something small.”
“Why didnt you mention it?”
Albert opened the fridge, peering inside as if it were unexplored territory.
“Mum didnt want a fuss. Just close family.”
“Close family,” Margaret echoed. “And Im not part of that?”
“Margot, dont start. You know how Mum is. Shes set in her ways.”
“Set in her ways?” A heat rose in her chest. “Thirty years Ive put up with her ways! These arent quirks, Albert, this is this is”
Words failed her. She waved a hand vaguely.
“I nursed her after her op when you were in Leeds. Gave up my time off so she could get her new glasses. Looked after the grandchildren when Emily swanned off to Majorca. Thirty years trying to be a good daughter-in-law. And this is my thanks?”
Albert pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Margot, must you tally every little thing? Who owes what?”
“Im not tallying!” Her voice quivered. “I just want to belong. To your family. Is that really too much?”
Albert exhaled heavily and dropped onto a chair.
“Youre blowing this out of proportion. Mum just fancied a quiet do.”
“Quiet? With twenty people?” The words scraped her throat. “Even the neighbours invited!”
“How dyou?”
“Does it matter how?” She snatched up a tea towel and scrubbed at the spotless counter. “Thirty years, Albert! What did I do wrong? Tell me!”
He reached for her hand, but she pulled away.
“Margot, you know Mum. She still reckons you stole me from her.”
“Stole you?” She let out a hollow laugh. “You were twenty-six when we met! Not six!”
She recalled the first time shed set foot in Cynthias house, baking a Victoria sponge from her grans recipe. Her mother-in-law had pursed her lips and said, “We dont do it like that in this family.”
“My whole life,” Margaret went on, “Ive tried to please her. And whats she done? Remember when she told everyone I was raising Thomas all wrong? Or when she said to my parents I couldnt bake? And youyouve never said a word! Always playing Switzerland!”
“What dyou want me to do?” Alberts tone sharpened. “Row with my own mother over a party?”
“Not the party!” Margaret cried. “The way she treats me! That your mothers never counted me as family in thirty years, and youve let it happen!”
She turned to the window. Outside, rain drizzled, grey and dismal, like the weight in her chest.
“Margot, stop being dramatic,” Albert said, draping an arm awkwardly over her shoulders. “Dyou want me to talk to her? Might just be a mix-up.”
“A mix-up?” She shrugged him off. “No, Albert. Thatd be a mix-up if it were the first time. This? This is a boot to the soul.”
The next days passed in a fog. At work, Margaret smiled thinly; at home, she was silent. Albert tried to mend things, but each attempt only deepened the hurt.
“Youve no idea how upset she was over that trifle,” he said one evening over shepherds pie. “Mum thinks you did it on purpose.”
“On purpose?” She set down her fork. “I went to three shops to find a sugar-free one because of her diabetes!”
“But you know she only likes custard, and you got the jelly sort.”
“Because theyd sold out of custard!” Her eyes stung. “Dyou truly think I wasted an afternoon hunting trifle just to spite her?”
Albert fell silent, and that silence said everything.
Friday evening, Margaret stepped into her sons room. Thomas was visiting for the weekend, sprawled on the sofa, eyes glued to his phone.
“Tom, Grans anniversarys this weekend.”
“Yeah,” he said, not looking up. “Dad told me.”
“And youre going?”
Thomas finally glanced at her.
“Gran asked me. What, Im meant to say no?”
Margaret nodded, hiding the sting. Even her son didnt see the slight.
“Course,” she said softly. “Course you should go.”
Saturday arrived, and the house stood empty. Albert and Thomas left early, arms laden with gifts and flowers. Margaret wandered aimlessly. In every photo, Cynthia stood slightly apart.
She traced the edge of a framea family snap from five years back, Thomass wedding. Shed worn lilac, Albert in a smart waistcoat, the newlyweds beaming. Cynthia looked as though shed bitten a lemon.
“Even then,” Margaret whispered to the photo. “Even on her grandsons wedding day.”
She remembered how her mother-in-law had tugged Albert aside and announced, loud enough for all to hear, “At least my grandsons married properly, unlike some.” And how Albert had said nothing.
That night, Albert and Thomas returned, merry and wine-flushed, smelling of Cynthias lavender perfume.
“How was it?” Margaret asked, keeping her voice light.
“Smashing!” Albert flopped into an armchair. “Mum was chuffed. You shouldve seen her when”
He stopped, catching her expression.
“Sorry, Margot. Didnt think.”
Thomas shuffled awkwardly in the hall.
“Off to bed,” he mumbled, vanishing.
“Give your mum my regards,” Albert added after a pause.
“Regards?” Margarets insides twisted. “She remembers I exist?”
“Margot, dont”
“No, you dont!” She couldnt hold back. “Stop pretending this is fine. Your mothers slighted me. Again! And you couldnt care less!”
“I do care,” Albert stood. “I just hate being piggy in the middle. You two”
“What are we?” Margaret cut in. “Go on! What are we?”
Albert rubbed his temples.
“Youre both blowing this out of all proportion.”
“Ah,” Margaret gave a brittle smile. “So my hurts just blown out of proportion?”
She turned and shut the bedroom door firmly behind her.
Ten days passed.
Margaret and Albert spoke in curt, practical tones. Thomas left. Life resumed its rhythm.
Margaret stopped her Sunday calls to Cynthia. Stopped asking after her health. And oddly, instead of guilt, a quiet relief settled over herlike shrugging off a leaden coat worn for decades.
On the eleventh day, Cynthias name flashed on Margarets phone. She froze. The ringing persisted. Finally, she answered.
“Hello?”
“Margaret, dear,” Cynthias voice was uncharacteristically sweet. “How are you, love?”
Margaret shut her eyes. “Love.” In thirty years, Cynthia had never called her that.
“Hello, Cynthia. Im well, thank you.”
“Ive been ever so poorly,” Cynthias tone turned frail. “Since the do, Ive been bedridden. My blood pressures all over, my hearts racing. Can barely walk.”
“Sorry to hear
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