When my ex-MIL showed up unannounced to visit my kids, I firmly told her to let me know next time she wanted to visit. A week later, she was at my door again. She lost it completely when I refused to let her steamroll my boundaries, but she soon learned a harsh lesson!
I was enjoying a lazy Saturday morning when someone knocked briskly on my front door.
I froze.
Those three deliberate raps, spaced out just so, transported me back in time to last year, when my marriage was falling apart, and my MIL appeared on our doorstep every darn day to offer me advice on how to keep her son interested.
As though a new makeup palette would’ve stopped my ex from cheating on me.
But there was no way Linda could be here, knocking at my door. She lived nine hours away, and it was just past 8 a.m.
I glanced at the kids as I tiptoed toward the front door, but they were staring at the cartoons on the TV with rapt attention.
A short distance away from the front door, I crouched and peered through the small gap in the bottom of the blinds covering the glass panel beside the door.
White Keds, slightly swollen ankles, toes tapping. That distinct knock came again, and my stomach dropped.
There was no doubt about it now. My ex-mother-in-law was standing on my doorstep like some kind of ghost I couldn’t exorcise.
I groaned quietly, then opened the door.
“Linda.
What are you doing here?”
“Kaylee!” she chirped, already moving past me. “I was just in the area. Do I really need a reason to see my grandchildren?”
Just in the area.
Right. Because people just casually pass through a town nine hours from their own home.
The kids noticed her then. Their heads popped up from the floor, eyes wide.
“Grandma Linda!”
“My babies!” She hurried over to them with open arms and pulled them into a hug.
Then the criticism started.
“You’ve gotten so skinny, you poor thing.” She pulled back, holding my son by the shoulders. “Is Mommy feeding you enough, hmm?”
My jaw tightened.
She stood up, brushed off her knees, and her gaze swept over the apartment. “You two must miss having a proper house with a nice big yard to play in.”
“There are plenty of parks in the area,” I said.
She looked at me and smiled brightly.
“Oh, I’m sure there are, but it’s not quite the same, is it?”
The coffee machine gurgled.
“Good timing,” Linda said, moving toward the kitchen. “I’d love a cup of coffee, Kaylee. I’m sure you meant to offer when I entered.”
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