Mildred marched into our room, her words hitting hard. “I told you not to marry her, didn’t I? And now look—it’s barely been any time since the wedding, and she’s already trying to walk all over me.”
Owen shoved her out and said, “Enough, Mom. You’ve said enough. I’ll take care of it.”
Then, he grabbed a tissue and wiped my tears away, saying, “You know Mom’s getting up there in age, Paige, and with her heart condition, she can’t handle all this stress. You’re always understanding—shouldn’t you be the bigger person here? Go apologize to her, okay?”
He took advantage of my softer side, knowing I wouldn’t stay mad at Mildred. With his smooth talking, he had me going to apologize to her.
What he didn’t see was that the more I gave in, the more Mildred trampled over me.
…
One night, my period started in the middle of the night, leaving stains on the sheets and my pajamas.
I got up, stripped off my pajamas, and tossed them and the sheets in the bathroom, figuring it was too late to deal with it. I decided to wash them in the morning.
But the next morning, I was yanked out of sleep by Mildred’s yelling. She didn’t even knock. She barged in and threw the stained sheets right at my head.
“Get up and clean this! How can you be this gross?” she barked.
A sharp pain twisted in my stomach, and I explained, “I’ve got bad cramps, Mildred. Let me rest for a bit, and I’ll take care of it.”
But she was relentless, pulling me like she’d completely lost it. “You’re talking about cramps? Seriously? You’ve been married forever and still aren’t pregnant!”
Mildred ripped my blanket off the bed and tossed it on the floor. I only had one set of pajamas, which were stained, so I was left with nothing on.
I crossed my arm over my chest and grabbed my blanket, feeling like she’d just crushed whatever dignity I had left.
My voice turned cold as I said, “I’ll get dressed and wash them, but please get out. Now!”
Luckily, Mildred’s phone happened to ring from her room, interrupting what could’ve turned into a full-blown argument. She had invited her relatives and friends over again for a card game.
I was out on the balcony, hanging up laundry, but I could still hear their chatter buzzing like a swarm of bees.
“Your daughter-in-law still hasn’t gotten pregnant?”
