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I don’t understand what’s been happening to my son. He never used to be like this, he never argued against my word, but now I can barely talk to him without it turning into an argument, and it all started when that bitch asked for a divorce.
Things were finally going well; the nurseries were set up, both the one at his old house and the one in my home. Mandy had given in to everything we asked for and seemed to be on board with all of Deidre’s demands.
I’d been looking forward to settling down to help raise my grandson, who was the only one who lived close enough for me to see him as often as I wanted. My daughters had all moved out of town to live with their husbands, and Dan was the only one who’d come back home, so although I have grandkids, they’re all closer to their other grandmothers.
I was finally going to have a child that I could spoil, and that selfish bitch had to go and screw everything up. I never would’ve thought she had it in her, or I would’ve seen it coming and prepared. I had it all worked out, and she pretended to go along with everything, only to tuck tail and run in the end. I don’t see what her problem was anyway; my husband cheated on me multiple times, and I’m still here.
How precious does she think she is? I always knew she wasn’t the one for my son. That family she comes from has always put on airs and acted like they were better than everyone else, but I bit my tongue for years and went along with it because she’s what my Dan wanted.
After Deidre called me about being pregnant with my grandbaby, my only thought was for the poor child. We’re all adults, but it would’ve broken my heart to have a baby out there with my blood and no relationship, so I pushed hard for what was best for the baby.
I knew he wouldn’t leave Amanda since she seemed to have bewitched him when they were younger. She’s the first person he ever went against me for. I should’ve known then that she was going to bring trouble to my family. And I would’ve been right.
Look what happened in the end. He had to sell that nice house and give her half. They split everything down the middle, sure, but she didn’t get any of the debt. Somehow, her lawyers had worked it out so that his debt was his and his alone, even though they were married.
The thing is, she didn’t have any debt. She went to school on a full ride while my son only had a partial scholarship and had to take out loans to pay the rest. Hundreds of thousands of dollars for a degree that he now says is no use because Deidre is holding the affair over his head, and he could lose his job any day.
I tried explaining to him at the time that that was even more reason to just get married. But the more I pushed, the harder he pushed back and seemed to blame me for all of this happening. Like I was the one who had the affair.
All I did was try to make things right for my grandson and his mother. “If you want him that bad, why don’t you fight her for him? I’m done; I just want my wife back; I want my life back, dammit. I never should’ve listened to you.”
“What did I do but try to make everything work for all involved?”
“You berated her for not being happy about the baby. You made her feel small.”
“I didn’t do anything to her. And she lied and said everything was okay, only to run away, leaving you with debt and in this miserable situation. You need to get over her and get your life back on track. When was the last time you had a haircut?”
What happened to my baby boy? He used to be so dashing, so confident; he was the light of my life. Now, he looks like a shell of his former self, and it was hard to watch. I don’t know how many nights I’ve cried myself to sleep since his divorce. He seems to be on a downward spiral that no amount of talking can bring to an end.
“Son, you’ve got to let this go and look at things the way they are.”
“No, I could’ve made things work with Mandy, but you kept pushing and pushing and ran her off. You…. Look, if you don’t want me to say the wrong thing, I think you should leave.”
He tipped the vodka bottle to his lips, and I felt like I was drowning. How had things turned out this way? How had I lost control of everything like this? I thought things were going well between the two of them, so what the hell happened to set him off and kick Deidre out of the house?
I need to find Mandy. I can’t let my son keep suffering like this. I’ll drag that little bitch back here by her hair if I have to.
“Leave Mom, I want to be alone for now, please.”
* * *
DAN
* * *
I didn’t even lookup when she left. Who cares? I didn’t; I haven’t cared about anything for a while now. Not even the pint of vodka I downed was enough to erase the memories from my mind. I can’t believe I was such a fool.
I can’t believe that I lost the only good thing I had in my life besides my career. Mandy had been with me for more than half my life. All of my best memories are with her. Every good thing I had in life had come because of her.
Even way back when, when I wasn’t doing so well in school, she was the one who tutored me. On the days and nights when Mom was too stressed to cook for me and my sisters, Mandy’s Mom fed me and never complained.
It got so that I was at their house more than my own, and they even took me on their family vacations. I was part of the family, not just a son-in-law, but a son. I was happiest with her, and now she’s gone, and I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As much as I blame Mom, I know that this was all my doing. Isn’t it strange how a clear mind helps you to see things from a completely different perspective? I wonder how long I would’ve remained in the fog if things hadn’t played out the way they had in the last couple of weeks.
It started with Deidre showing me the bruises I’d left on her and threatening to go to the cops if I didn’t do what she wanted. I’d balked at her suggestion to get married the week before, and she was not happy, but I told her in no uncertain terms that I would never marry any woman except Amanda.
That’s when she started claiming that I’ve been hitting her or strangling her, I think she’d said. For the first time since I met her, I used my head and asked her to calm down so we could talk. I didn’t even deny her claims since I knew she was full of shit, but I decided it was best if I protected myself.
