**”Dont like my rules? Then leave!”** snapped Margaret at the family dinner, her voice sharp as a knife.
**”Margaret, maybe we could try the potatoes a different way? Ive got a lovely recipe with mushrooms,”** Emily suggested gently, stirring the pot of soup on the stove.
**”I dont need your recipes!”** Margaret shot back, not looking up from peeling carrots. **”Thirty years Ive been cooking for this family, and now you waltz in with your fancy ideas!”**
Emily sighed and kept stirring. It had been six months since she and James had moved in with his mother after their flat burned down. Six months of little digs, disapproving looks, and barbed commentsall disguised as Margarets way of *caring* for the family.
**”Mum, come on,”** James said, stepping into the kitchen and kissing Emilys forehead. **”Emilys a good cookmaybe it wouldnt hurt to try something new?”**
Margaret threw her hands up. **”Oh, so now youre taking her side! Thirty-two years I raised you, fed you, and now my cooking isnt good enough?”**
**”Thats not what I said”**
**”Then what *are* you saying?”** She slammed the knife on the chopping board. **”First, you move into *my* house, now you tell me how to cook!”**
Emilys chest tightened. *Move into her house*as if they were freeloaders instead of a family whod lost everything.
**”Margaret, I wasnt telling you. Just suggesting,”** she said quietly, turning off the gas under the soup.
**”Oh, suggesting! And who asked you? *My* house, *my* kitchenI do the cooking here!”** Margaret stood, hands on her hips.
James looked between them, torn. Emily could see the guilt eating at him, and it made her heart ache even more.
**”Ill set the table,”** she muttered, leaving the kitchen before she said something shed regret.
In the lounge, fourteen-year-old Lily was doing homework on the sofa. She looked up when Emily walked in.
**”Arguing again?”** she whispered.
**”Just discussing,”** Emily said, forcing a smile as she grabbed plates from the cabinet.
**”Mum when are we moving back into our own place?”**
That was the question. The insurance had covered only part of the damage, and between Jamess job as a lorry driver and her teaching salary, saving up was slow.
**”Soon, love. Just hang in there a bit longer.”**
**”I cant!”** Lily burst out. **”Shes impossible! Yesterday she screamed at me for playing musicsaid it was noiseand this morning she said I walk too loudly! Im *treading on eggshells*!”**
Emily smoothed her daughters hair. Lily was a good kid, patientbut even *her* patience had limits.
**”Shes just used to living alone, sweetheart. Its hard for her.”**
**”Shes not a *proper* gran,”** Lily huffed. **”Proper grans spoil you, not yell at you.”**
**”Shh, shell hear”**
**”I dont care!”**
From the kitchen came a crasha plate smashingfollowed by Jamess voice and Margarets shrill reply. Emily rushed back.
**”What happened?”**
**”Your *husband* broke my good china!”** Margaret hissed, pointing at the shards on the floor. **”My mothers setthe only thing Ive got left of her!”**
James stood frozen with the dustpan. **”Mum, it was an accidentI was just helping carry the plates”**
**”Help? You shouldve taught your wife to respect other peoples things!”**
**”Whats *that* supposed to mean?”** Emily snapped. **”*James* dropped it!”**
**”And whose fault is that? Youve turned him into a bumbling fool! Before you, he never so much as chipped a cup!”**
James rubbed his temples. **”Mum, thats not fair”**
**”Oh, isnt it? Before marriage, you were a decent son. Now? Now its all about *her*!”**
Emilys hands shook. Six months of biting her tongue, and now it all spilled out.
**”Margaret, enough,”** she said, quieter than she felt. **”We help, we clean, we pay our way”**
**”Pay? Fifty quid a month! The *electric* costs more than that!”**
**”We offered moreyou said this was fine!”**
**”And Im some charity case, am I? Ive got my pensionI dont need your handouts!”**
James swept up the pieces, guilt written all over his face.
**”Mum, lets just eat. The soups getting cold.”**
**”Eat? After *this*? Youve ruined my appetite!”**
**”We didnt start this,”** Emily said. **”Youre the one shouting.”**
**”Im shouting? In *my own home* I cant raise my voice?”**
**”You can. But why blame us for everything?”**
**”Blame? Youve turned my life upside down! Six months of noise, stomping, hogging the loo”**
**”We agreed on shower times! And we *only* cook when you say”**
**”Oh, *I say*? Like Im the bloody maid!”**
James sighed heavily. **”Mum, Emily didnt mean”**
**”What *did* she mean? That Im a guest in my own flat?”**
Lily peeked in. **”Can I go to Sophies?”**
**”No!”** Margaret barked. **”Homework done?”**
**”Almost”**
**”Then *finish it*! No gallivanting about!”**
Lily vanished. Emilys last thread of patience snapped.
**”Dont yell at her,”** she said firmly.
Margaret stepped closer. **”Dont *tell me* how to speak to children in *my* house!”**
**”Lilys *my* daughter!”**
**”Then *raise her right*! Teach her respect!”**
**”She *is* respectful! But no one deserves to be screamed at”**
**”Screamed at? That *girl* blasts music, stomps like an elephant”**
**”Shes *fourteen*! Its *normal*!”**
Margarets eyes narrowed. **”You know whats *normal*? People living in *their own homes*not imposing on others!”**
The room went silent. James stood pale-faced, fists clenched.
**”Mum”**
**”What? What?”** Margarets voice trembled with rage. **”Six months Ive bit my tonguesix months! And you repay me by *dictating* how I live?”**
Emily wiped her cheeks. She was *done*.
**”Were leaving. Tomorrow.”**
Margaret blinked. **”What?”**
James stiffened. **”Em, we cantweve no savings”**
**”Well rent a flat. A bedsit if we have to.”**
Margaret faltered. **”I never said *leave*”**
**”You didnt have to.”** Emilys voice was steady now. **”This is your home. You deserve peace. And so do we.”**
Margarets lips quivered. **”I I didnt mean”**
Emily hugged her. **”I know. But were all miserable. Better to part before we hate each other.”**
**”But Lily”** Margaret whispered.
**”Shell visit. Youll visit *us* too.”** James slumped into a chair, drained.
**”Bloody hell”**
**”Well manage,”** Emily said, squeezing his shoulder.
By morning, their bags were packed. Margaret stood stiffly by the taxi, her face unreadable.
**”Come for dinner once were settled,”** Emily offered.
Margaret nodded. **”Youre not angry?”**
**”No. This is for the best.”**
Lily waved from the taxi. James loaded the last bag.
**”Take care, Margaret,”** Emily said, hugging her.
**”You too,”** Margaret murmured. **”And look after Lily.”**
As the taxi pulled away, Emily exhaled. Ahead lay uncertaintya tiny flat, tight budgetsbut no more walking on eggshells.
**”Regret it?”** James asked.
**”No,”** she said honestly.
