Once, all troubles had but a single beginning…
«James, are you serious? Off to your mums again?»
«And what would you have me do? Leave her freezing, without power or water?» he snapped, rummaging through his bag. «Would you treat your own parents like that?»
«You know full well mine wouldnt put me in such a spot. They understand Ive a family of my own. But your mother» began Emily.
«Enough,» James cut her off with a wave. «You know I have to help her.»
«Fine. But it still stings. Not because the boys will soon forget their fathers face, but because you wont even try to teach her independence. She made this messlet her sort it. So tell me, wheres your family? Here, or out there in that cottage?»
Emily turned and strode to the bedroom. A half-minute later, the front door clicked shut. James was gone. She was alone again, left with the boys shed promised a family outing to the parkonly for their father to vanish once more. All the burden fell to her.
…Two years prior, it had been different. Emily remembered that day vividly. Theyd visited her parents, bringing along MargaretJamess motherto spare her loneliness. She got on well enough with the in-laws, so no one minded.
Beneath the shade of the apple tree, sipping tea with biscuits, Margaret had a «brilliant» ideaone that turned Emilys life upside down.
«Oh, its simply lovely here!» Margaret sighed, breathing deep. «I ought to move to the countryside. Just the thing at my agepeace, quiet, fresh air…»
Emilys mother gave a wry smile, thinking it mere wistfulness.
«Its one thing as a guest,» she countered. «Quite another to manage alone. This isnt a holidaytheres always something to fix or mend. No offence, love, but youre not cut out for it.»
Margaret pursed her lips, though shed no right to take offence. She wasnt lazy, yet wore an air of exhaustion even when idle.
«Oh, I dont mean to keep livestock or dig in greenhouses! A little garden, perhapssome flowers, a tree for shade. And the grandchildren could visitan inflatable pool, fresh grass underfoot, not all that exhaust and grime.»
«Flowers need tending too,» Emilys mother said gently. «You struggle in a flat where chores are light. A cottage swallows money like a bottomless pitboilers burst, roofs leak, fences crumble.»
Margaret only smileda Mona Lisa smirk. Six months later, she was proudly leading them through her new cottage, inhaling the roses from next door. The place was decent enough, with all mod cons.
«See? And you doubted me!» she declared. «Ill never set foot in town again!»
But the joy was fleeting. First, Margaret begged James to help with redecorating. Weekends bled into half a year. Emily grumbled but endured, trusting it would end. Yet once the paint dried and wallpaper clung to the walls, the tasks multiplied.
First, the power cuttwo days without light or water. James rushed to his panicking mother with bottled water and heart pills.
«Everythings stopped! This heatno air, no shower… Im barely surviving!» Margaret wailed.
Then she took in a stray dog»just for now»until its kidney trouble surfaced. No vet in the village meant a trip to the city. Of course, James drove.
«Poor lads ill! But hell guard the house,» Margaret crooned, soothing the mutt.
Later, Emily scrubbed vomit from the car seatsthe «guardian» suffered dreadful motion sickness. Worse, the dog needed special food, unavailable locally. James became the deliveryman.
«Would you have me abandon her with a sick dog? You know how soft-hearted she is!»
«Soft-hearted for dogs, not so much for people,» Emily muttered.
James sacrificed weekends, sometimes weeknights, even staying over.
«Youll all be asleep by the time Im back,» hed say. «Ill leave early for work from here.»
Emily waited for relief that never came. The roof leaked, the septic tank clogged, snow fell, grass grewMargaret refused to lift a finger. She wouldnt even call tradesmen.
«What if theyre crooks? James, youre a mantheyll think twice with you there. Find someone decent and oversee it.»
The final straw came when the power failed againlate autumn this time. Briefly, but long enough for Margarets panic.
«Em, Im buying Mum a generator tomorrow,» James said casually.
Emily tensed.
«From our savings?» She narrowed her eyesgenerators werent cheap.
«Well… yes. You know shes strapped after selling her flat. Lives on her pension now.»
«Marvellous. So were funding her dream cottage too. James, when does it end?»
He scowled and waved her off.
«Dont start. Their powers a shambles. Should she freeze?»
Emily rolled her eyes but swallowed itagain. Now, alone in their bedroom, divorce crossed her mind. He was never home anyway. «But weve a decent life… No, divorce is too extreme. I need another waybefore I crack.»
And she found one.
A week later, Emily rose early, dressing quietly. James stirred as she headed out.
«Where so early?» he mumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
«To my parents.»
«What? I promised Mum Id prune her hedges today.»
«You didnt check with me. My parents need help too.»
«But theres two of yours!»
«Old age comes for us all. New rule: one day for your mother, one for mine.» Emily moved to the hall, then paused. «Ohthe chore lists on the fridge. Dont forget the boys homework. And make them pizza for lunchthey asked.»
She left, feeling his glare but never looking back. En route, she realisedfor once, she wasnt rushing.
The help she gave was token. She tidied upstairs, then lazedreading on the garden swing, reminiscing over lunch, lounging freely. Shed forgotten how it felt to eat without the boys clamouring.
Perhaps no perfect fix existed. Perhaps Margaret would never sell or learn self-reliance. But now, Emily would keep this sliver of peaceher small victory in the war for sanity.
