My Mother-in-Law… Again: A Story of Family Tensions and Second Chances

**The Second Mother-in-Law**

When Emily stepped into the flat, she immediately spotted her mother-in-laws shoes right in the middle of the hallway. Any hope of a quiet evening vanished.

Margaret appeared from the kitchen with the stern look of a magistrate delivering a verdict.

Been round that silly old womans again, have you? she accused. Never mind your home, your husband, your childall of that can wait. Good thing I dropped in, or theyd have gone hungry.

Margaret, Nicholas knew Id be late tonight, Emily replied evenly. I left dinner readyall he had to do was heat it up. Hed have managed perfectly well without your help.

After ten years of marriage to Nicholas, Emily had grown accustomed to Margarets constant dissatisfaction. She barely reacted anymore, treating the womans words like background noisean endless radio broadcast from dawn till dusk.

It hadnt always been this easy, though. Margaret was Emilys second mother-in-law. Her first, Rose, had been a tactful womannever interfering, never offering unsolicited advice, never imposing herself.

Yet whenever help was needed, Rose was there. Emily remembered how shed stayed up nights with baby Charlotte when the child confused day and night, how shed whisked her granddaughter off for walks, telling Emily, Dont lift a fingerjust sleep. Peter will handle dinner when he gets home.

When Charlotte turned five, an accident at the factory took Peters life, leaving Emily a widow.

Rose, who had lost her only son, didnt abandon her daughter-in-law and granddaughter in their grief. For the first three months, they even lived together, leaning on one another. Emily suggested they continue sharing a home, but Rose moved back to her own flat.

Emily, youre only twenty-eight, shed said. Youre youngyoull find happiness again. I wont be underfoot when you do.

Three years later, Emily married Nicholas. But she never abandoned Rose. With her own parents living far away, her first mother-in-law became almost a second mother to herand Charlotte adored her grandmother.

That was why Margarets behaviour shocked Emily so deeply. The woman acted as though she had every right to run the household as she pleased.

After her first intrusive visit, Emily asked Nicholas to explain to his mother that she was a *guest* in their homevisits needed to be arranged, and manners upheld.

Margaret insisted she only meant to help, but Emily cut her off. Im not eighteen. I was perfectly independent even when I left home for university. And after seven years of marriage, I dont need lessons on cooking or cleaningI could teach *you* a thing or two.

Thankfully, Nicholas backed her up. Whenever Margaret overstepped, he handled it himself.

Gradually, Emily trained her second mother-in-law to keep her opinions to herself. By the time she and Nicholas had a son of their own, Margaret had learnedhowever reluctantlynot to interfere.

But the woman still seethed. She had a friend who boasted endlessly about guiding her younger sons wife, and Margaret longed for similar bragging rights. Instead, she had only one petty grievance: Emilys continued closeness to Rose.

As if that old woman were family! Margaret complained. When Charlotte was little, Emily would send her to Roses for the summerfine. But now the girls at university, and Emily still visits her two or three times a week!

The truth was, Emily had been visiting Rose more often lately. Margaret called her that old woman, though Rose was only seven years older than she was. But grief and illness had aged her, and Emily made sure she was cared forwhether in hospital or at home.

Wasting family money on a stranger, Margaret scoffed.

Dont worry, Emily replied coolly. Rose sold her cottage when she fell illshe has more than enough for her care. She wont be borrowing from *you*.

When Roses condition worsened, Emily hired a carer and took leave to spend half-days with her while Nicholas was at work and their son at school.

But it only delayed the inevitable. Soon, Rose was gone.

That was when Margarets interest in the will flared. She sold the cottage, but surely she didnt spend all that money in a year. And her pension was decentthere must be savings. Plus, that two-bed flat will go to someone.

She didnt dare ask Emily directly, so she prodded Nicholas instead. His answer disappointed her.

Whos the heir? Charlotte, of courseshes Roses own granddaughter.

And Emily got *nothing*? Margaret gasped. After all that running about? Oh, I bet shes weeping now!

Dont trouble yourself, Emily said calmly when Margaret confronted her. Ive known for a year that Rose left everything to Charlotte. I even took her to the solicitor myself.

Then why bother with her, if you knew youd get nothing?

Id explain, Emily said, but I doubt youd understand.

In due course, the will was settledCharlotte inherited the flat and savings. Until she finished university, theyd rent the flat out, depositing the income into her account. After graduation, shed decide whether to return home, stay in the city, or sell the flat to buy elsewhere.

When Margaret heard, she had a suggestion. Why let strangers ruin the place? Let Sophie live there instead.

Sophie, her thirty-five-year-old daughter, still lived at home. Pretty, educated, and employed, she had no trouble finding boyfriendsbut marriage eluded her. Margaret was convinced a flat of her own would change that.

Never mind that its *Charlottes* flat, she mused. In a few years, anything could happenCharlotte might marry a man with property, and we could persuade her to gift it to Sophie.

She kept these plans to herself.

Her disappointment was sharp when Charlotte refused. She wont pay market rent, Charlotte pointed out. Ill need savingsmaybe even a mortgage if I move to London after uni.

Greedy, just like her mother, Margaret sniffed. If Sophie had that flat, she might marry in three years.

Mum, *youve* got a three-bed house, Nicholas pointed out. Downsizebuy a one-bed for yourself and one for Sophie.

How clever you are, Margaret snapped. That house is *mine*. Why should I cram myself into a box in my old age? Ive lived there my whole lifeIm not moving.

Its not Nicholas whos clever, Emily said dryly. You wont sacrifice your own home for your daughter, yet youll beg for someone elses.

So Sophie stayed put. Charlotte rented out the flat, sold it after graduation, and bought a new one in the city. She even spent a week in Londonbut as they say, the grass is always greener

**Lesson learned:** Blood doesnt always make familyand sometimes, the ones who truly belong arent the ones bound by name.