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“I still wanted to see the baby,” her mother said. It didn’t get past her that her mother ignored the comment about not being invited. “He could have brought Willow here at any point and hasn’t.”
Elise ground her teeth. “First off, the baby is only a few weeks old. No way Royce is bringing her out and prancing her around. That’s the responsible thing to do. Second of all, Chloe is still recovering and the trip there and back might be a lot.”
“I’m the grandmother,” her mother said. “This is my first grandchild. Royce could have brought Willow without Chloe.”
“No,” she said. “He wouldn’t do that. If you talked to him at all or even Chloe, you’d know the baby needs to eat every few hours and Chloe is either breastfeeding or pumping. If you want to meet your new grandchild you can drive your butt here to do it.”
Her mother had only met Chloe once and she thought it was generous of Royce to take a Saturday out of his hectic life and drive to introduce his fiancée to their mother when their mother could never be bothered to put any effort into anything other than driving them nuts.
“I’ve been busy,” her mother said.
“Aren’t we all,” she said. Though she couldn’t imagine what was so busy in her mother’s life.
“Maybe if you cut back on the work you could have a social life. I’m sure you’re not dating just like always. The last time I saw you you were still in jeans, your hair wasn’t styled and you had no makeup on. If you don’t put a little effort into your appearance no man is going to notice you.”
Same song and dance and she was sick of getting her toes stepped on.
“Mom. I don’t need advice from you. If a guy doesn’t like me for how I look or my glowing personality, then I don’t need him in my life.”
“You’re a beautiful woman,” her mother said. “You need to show it more.”
“I’m late now,” she said. “Have a great holiday.”
She hung up the phone and took a few deep breaths. The last thing she needed was to show up at her father’s worked up.
But thirty minutes later, all those deep breaths hadn’t helped any when she pulled into her father’s driveway and was the last one there.
She was always early to help him with dinner.
He was the best dad ever. Doing everything to fill gaps in their lives when their mother decided she wanted something more in life.
Yep, she knew her father worked a lot, but she was right there by his side. She never felt alone or like he wasn’t there for her. It was her mother that had the issues in her book.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said all but running into the back of the house.
“You’re early for dinner yet,” her father said. “No worries. I’m just getting some snacks to put out.”
“I’ve got the rest right here,” she said. She’d put together some dips with bread and chips and veggies. Her father would slap some meats and cheeses on a tray. She told him not to even do that since he was cooking, but he insisted it was in the house anyway.
Chloe had made dessert even though she’d offered to do that too, but her future sister-in-law said it wasn’t a big deal and she was feeling fine.
“You look frazzled,” Royce said. “Everything okay?”
“Just an early morning call,” she said sarcastically.
“Mom?” Royce asked. “Hope she didn’t give you crap over not being there. It’s not like we were invited.”
“Ding, ding, ding,” she said. “Actually it wasn’t giving me crap.”
Royce laughed. “She thought I’d just show up with the baby without an invite?”
“You know, we are mind readers,” she said.
“Kids,” her father said. “I know things aren’t good with your mother, but she is your mother.”
“Please,” Elise said, waving her hand. “You know how she treated us. How she treated you and I’m sure we don’t even know half of what she did or said to you.”
“Nor will you ever,” her father said. “That’s between a husband and a wife. But I don’t want my holiday ruined talking about that. It’s in the past. Your mother made her choices and if she’s happy, then so be it. She is the one missing out on things in life not you.”
