“We were supposed to have just two weeks,” I muttered, watching my motherinlaw shuffle out with her suitcase, “but they barely got us to say goodbye.”
“Mom has a right to count on our help,” my husband Daniel said, his voice flat. “She isnt a stranger to us.”
“Your mother isnt a stranger either,” I replied, forcing a smile. “But that whats his name again Victor? Val?”
“Victor,” Daniel corrected, “Victor Whitaker. Hes a decent bloke, Ive met him a couple of times. Quiet, educated, former physics lecturer”
I shook my head, feeling a cold knot tighten in my stomach. I hated every second of it.
***
It all began, as they say, with a bolt from the blue. Margaret Whitaker called early that morning while Daniel was away on a business trip, chattering excitedly that she and her new boyfriend were already in a cab, heading for our flat to stay two weeks while they sorted out a burst pipe that had flooded half the apartment. They needed a fullscale repair.
“And where else could they go but to their favourite son?” I tried to argue. “Maybe we should wait for Daniel? Hell be back in a few days”
“Oh, Annie,” Margaret cooed, “why wait? Were coming, thats that!”
A wave of dread crashed over me, and the next hour proved my feeling justified.
The doorbell rang. Margaret swept in, arms wide.
“Annie, love!” she shouted, pulling me into a hug. “Meet Victor. Victor, this is Annie, Daniels wifeIve told you so much about her!”
Victor Whitaker extended a hesitant hand. “Pleasure, Anne. Margarets spoken highly of you. I hope we wont be too much of a bother. Ill be as quiet as a mouse.”
From the hallway, Lily, our sixyearold, peered up groggily. “Mum, why is there so much noise? Oh, Grandma Maggies here!”
“Sunshine!” Margaret exclaimed, swooping toward her granddaughter. “Look, Ive brought you a real granddadVictor!”
Lily stared at Victor with the impartial curiosity only a child can muster. “Why does granddad have a beard like a cartoon villain?”
Victor laughed, a warm, deep chuckle. “Because I can be a bit mischievous myself. I dont have a puppet theatre, but I do have this” He rummaged into his briefcase and pulled out a brightcover book. “Fun Physics for Little QuestionAskers. Want to do some experiments together?”
Lilys eyes lit up. Betrayer.
***
The first week I forced myself to be a good host. We gave them our bedroom; Daniel and I crammed onto the pullout sofa in the living room. I swallowed my irritation as Margaret rearranged everything in the kitchen to suit her taste. I kept quiet while Victor commandeered the bathroom each morning for a solid forty minutes.
When Daniel finally returned from his trip, he tensed at first, but Margaret quickly smoothed him over. Shed always known how to flip on the loving mother switch, reminding him that she had sacrificed everything for her only son.
And Daniel fell right back into it.
“Anne, hang in there,” he whispered one night as we lay on the uncomfortable sofa, the sound of his mothers TV dramas booming from the next room. “Shes trying. She cooks, she looks after Lily”
“Trying!” I hissed into the pillow. “I cant even use the loo in peace! Victor could pop out of any corner like a devil from a snuffbox, spouting the most obscure facts about digestion!”
Daniel said nothing.
***
Victor, I discovered, was a true early bird. By five a.m. he was already in the kitchen, kettle whistling, the radio murmuring low. The house panels caught every creak. By six, Margaret joined him, and they whispered their plans for the day at a volume that felt like a shout.
“Victor, shall we swing by the market for cottage cheese? The supermarkets got a new brand of cheese on sale!”
“Sure thing, Maggie. Then perhaps a walk in the park; the weather looks lovely.”
“Lets take Lily too! She needs fresh air; shes glued to that tablet!”
“Lilys not needed,” I muttered from the doorway, feeling like a zombie. “Shes off today. So am I, supposedly.”
“Did we wake you?” Margaret blinked innocently. “We were so quiet!”
***
Three weeks slipped by. One evening, after a long shift, all I wanted was to collapse onto the sofa and sleep till morning. I turned the key, and my heart stopped.
Sitting on our sofa was a frazzled woman in her sixties, clutching a teacup. Beside her, VictorGod bless himpointed at scribbles in his notebook, animatedly explaining something.
On the coffee table lay two teacups from my own wedding set.
“Oh, Anne!” Victor beamed, spotting me. “Allow me to introduce Rebecca Hall, an old colleague from university. We havent seen each other in a century! I thought, since you and Daniel are at work, we could have a quiet cuppa. No problem, right?”
“Victor,” I snapped, my teeth grinding, “youve forgotten one tiny detail. This is my flat. If you want to meet an old friend, you should’ve asked permission. Or, better yet, meet at a café.”
Rebecca blushed. “Im sorry, I didnt know youd mind Victor said youd be at work until evening”
“The very point,” I said, “you think because Im not home, you can do whatever you like?”
At that moment Margaret emerged from the kitchen. “Anne, why are you shouting? We have guests!”
“Guests in my house?” I shouted back.
Victor slipped off his glasses and began polishing them with a handkerchief. “If our presence is so unbearable, a simple hint would have sufficed,” he murmured. “There are hotels, serviced flats”
“Victor, stop!” Margaret flapped her hands. “Annes just tired, dear. Will you apologise to Victor?”
That was the last straw.
“Enough!” I yelled, snatching my phone.
“Daniel, come home right now. No ones dead. But if youre not here in an hour, I cant guarantee anything.”
***
Daniel burst through the door forty minutes later, breathless.
“What happened?” he asked, eyes darting between me and the intruders.
I laid it all out. As he listened, his face grew darker.
“Annies right,” Margaret tried to interject.
“She is,” Daniel cut in, unusually firm. “This is our home. You cant bring strangers in without our OK.”
“But Victor”
“Victor is a stranger, Mum. Weve only known him for three weeks. And frankly”
Daniel paused, choosing his words. “Maggie, you promised youd stay only a couple of weeks. Its been three. When will your repairs be finished?”
Margaret dropped her gaze. “We havent even started. Were still saving up”
“What?” Daniel and I shouted in unison.
“What’s the problem?” Margaret raised an eyebrow. “We arent a burden! I cook, Victor looks after Lily”
“Mom,” Daniel said slowly, as if explaining to a child, “this cant go on. We never agreed to this.”
“Youre scaring your own mother out of the house!”
“Not pushing you out, but its time to be sensible,” Daniel replied. “You need to find somewhere else to live while you sort the repairs. We can help you find a flat, but you cant stay here any longer.”
“Mum, you cant just”
“Not evicting, just respecting our boundaries,” Daniel finished. “You have a week to look for a new place.”
