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tamingthemuseTitle: All In The Approach
Fandom: None-OC
Rating: PG for language
Warnings: none
Summary: Sometimes, it's all in the approach that you use.
A/N: Once again I've used something from my life--this time, however, it's from an imaginary confrontation with my mother-in-law, one that has been brewing for a long time. It may happen, it may not, but be sure that I'll post about it if it does. *lol*
It started out as a good day. Lunch had been pleasant enough, the conversation light and noncommittal as they sat around the table eating.
Still, it only takes one phrase, one wrong word to turn a good day into a bad one and it was Melinda’s unfortunate turn of phrase that started the ball rolling.
Jim was staying with his mother while he convalesced from surgery. He needed someone to assist him while Melinda was at work and fortunately for him, his mother was readily available. A simple question about his post-operative pain turned a good day into a nightmare.
“So, Jim, how is the pain? Are you getting enough pain medicine or do we need to call the doctor?” Melinda didn’t notice the steely look that glinted in her mother-in-law’s eyes until she looked up from her plate.
“Are you suggesting that I would withhold pain medication from my son?” June’s voice grew shrill by the end of her sentence and Melinda cringed internally. She knew that her mother-in-law could hold a grudge for years, but never in a million years thought that she would be on the receiving end of her ire.
“No, but maybe I should ask if you are? All that I was asking was if Jim was getting enough pain control. The doctor said—”
She wasn’t allowed to finish when June broke in. “So you are saying that I’m not giving him enough pain medicine, aren’t you? Is that any of your business? He is my son, you know. I think that I know what’s best for him by now, don’t you?”
Jim started to open his mouth when his wife spoke again. “Perhaps, but you do realize that I am his wife, right? I have a right to be concerned about my husband. Or did you even bother to listen to the wedding vows that we took? Wasn’t there something in them about sickness and health? I thought so, but maybe I was mistaken.”
“Yes, you’re his wife. His wife who wouldn’t even take off work to take care of her poor husband right after he got out of the hospital after major abdominal surgery. What kind of a wife is that?”
Melinda ground her teeth, letting her fork fall to the plate with a clatter. “Well, I would say that she’s a wife who cares if the bills get paid and the house payments are made so he has a home to return to. If we don’t have any money coming in it’ll be pretty hard to take him home, don’t you think?”
“He could always move back home with me.” June seemed quite happy with the idea and it struck a nerve with Melinda, quite a raw nerve that never really had a chance to heal.
“Right, you’ve always angled for that to happen, haven’t you? Jim, I need you to look at the furnace. Jim, I need you to redo the roof. Jim, I need to have this faucet fixed. He’s over here every weekend fixing things in your house for nothing when he could be doing the same thing at our house. Have you ever thought of anyone but yourself in the last five years, June? Have you thought of your grandchildren? Your other children? What is it about Jim that makes it impossible for you to let him live his life?”
“Maybe it’s because I never liked the bitch that he married!” June clapped her hands over her mouth the moment the words were said but they were out there in the open, unable to be retrieved.
Melinda stood up, pushing her chair violently away from the table and listening to it crash on the floor with a satisfied smile. “Then I guess we’re even because I never liked his bitch of a mother either. This just cooked it.” She turned to her husband who had sat through the fight in stunned silence and glared at him. “You could stand up for me, you know. You could say something instead of sitting there like a cold lump of shit.”
Jim swallowed. With an apologetic look at his wife, he turned to his mother. “Mom, I don’t believe that you said those things and I’m very upset with you. I’m going home with my wife and I hope that the next time that you see us you won’t feel the need to be so confrontational.”
“Jim, don’t go. You still need my help.” June found herself losing control over the one child that she still had control of and it upset her more than words could say. “You’re not healed yet.”
“No, I may not be. I’m good enough to go home though, I think. If I’m not, I’ll hire a nurse.”
His mother gasped, her hand to her chest. “You would do that instead of letting me take care of you?”
He reached out and grasped his wife’s hand. “Yes, I would. I remember something else that was in my wedding vows—love, honor, and cherish her. I do, all three. And since you don’t, then I guess I don’t need to tell you that you’ve damaged what relationship that we did have. Have a good life, mother. Next time you need a faucet fixed, call a plumber.”
As she watched her baby boy leave with his wife, June regretted every word that she said. She had always been too easy to rile, too quick to judge people. Her husband James had always told her as much but she had never listened.
Maybe after they had all cooled off, she could mend the rift that she had torn today. Somehow, she thought, it’s all in the approach.
As she gathered the dirty dishes and righted the chair Melinda had left lying on the floor, she began to think of the best way to get back into her son’s good graces. After all, he was still her baby.
Fandom: None-OC
Rating: PG for language
Warnings: none
Summary: Sometimes, it's all in the approach that you use.
A/N: Once again I've used something from my life--this time, however, it's from an imaginary confrontation with my mother-in-law, one that has been brewing for a long time. It may happen, it may not, but be sure that I'll post about it if it does. *lol*
It started out as a good day. Lunch had been pleasant enough, the conversation light and noncommittal as they sat around the table eating.
Still, it only takes one phrase, one wrong word to turn a good day into a bad one and it was Melinda’s unfortunate turn of phrase that started the ball rolling.
Jim was staying with his mother while he convalesced from surgery. He needed someone to assist him while Melinda was at work and fortunately for him, his mother was readily available. A simple question about his post-operative pain turned a good day into a nightmare.
“So, Jim, how is the pain? Are you getting enough pain medicine or do we need to call the doctor?” Melinda didn’t notice the steely look that glinted in her mother-in-law’s eyes until she looked up from her plate.
“Are you suggesting that I would withhold pain medication from my son?” June’s voice grew shrill by the end of her sentence and Melinda cringed internally. She knew that her mother-in-law could hold a grudge for years, but never in a million years thought that she would be on the receiving end of her ire.
“No, but maybe I should ask if you are? All that I was asking was if Jim was getting enough pain control. The doctor said—”
She wasn’t allowed to finish when June broke in. “So you are saying that I’m not giving him enough pain medicine, aren’t you? Is that any of your business? He is my son, you know. I think that I know what’s best for him by now, don’t you?”
Jim started to open his mouth when his wife spoke again. “Perhaps, but you do realize that I am his wife, right? I have a right to be concerned about my husband. Or did you even bother to listen to the wedding vows that we took? Wasn’t there something in them about sickness and health? I thought so, but maybe I was mistaken.”
“Yes, you’re his wife. His wife who wouldn’t even take off work to take care of her poor husband right after he got out of the hospital after major abdominal surgery. What kind of a wife is that?”
Melinda ground her teeth, letting her fork fall to the plate with a clatter. “Well, I would say that she’s a wife who cares if the bills get paid and the house payments are made so he has a home to return to. If we don’t have any money coming in it’ll be pretty hard to take him home, don’t you think?”
“He could always move back home with me.” June seemed quite happy with the idea and it struck a nerve with Melinda, quite a raw nerve that never really had a chance to heal.
“Right, you’ve always angled for that to happen, haven’t you? Jim, I need you to look at the furnace. Jim, I need you to redo the roof. Jim, I need to have this faucet fixed. He’s over here every weekend fixing things in your house for nothing when he could be doing the same thing at our house. Have you ever thought of anyone but yourself in the last five years, June? Have you thought of your grandchildren? Your other children? What is it about Jim that makes it impossible for you to let him live his life?”
“Maybe it’s because I never liked the bitch that he married!” June clapped her hands over her mouth the moment the words were said but they were out there in the open, unable to be retrieved.
Melinda stood up, pushing her chair violently away from the table and listening to it crash on the floor with a satisfied smile. “Then I guess we’re even because I never liked his bitch of a mother either. This just cooked it.” She turned to her husband who had sat through the fight in stunned silence and glared at him. “You could stand up for me, you know. You could say something instead of sitting there like a cold lump of shit.”
Jim swallowed. With an apologetic look at his wife, he turned to his mother. “Mom, I don’t believe that you said those things and I’m very upset with you. I’m going home with my wife and I hope that the next time that you see us you won’t feel the need to be so confrontational.”
“Jim, don’t go. You still need my help.” June found herself losing control over the one child that she still had control of and it upset her more than words could say. “You’re not healed yet.”
“No, I may not be. I’m good enough to go home though, I think. If I’m not, I’ll hire a nurse.”
His mother gasped, her hand to her chest. “You would do that instead of letting me take care of you?”
He reached out and grasped his wife’s hand. “Yes, I would. I remember something else that was in my wedding vows—love, honor, and cherish her. I do, all three. And since you don’t, then I guess I don’t need to tell you that you’ve damaged what relationship that we did have. Have a good life, mother. Next time you need a faucet fixed, call a plumber.”
As she watched her baby boy leave with his wife, June regretted every word that she said. She had always been too easy to rile, too quick to judge people. Her husband James had always told her as much but she had never listened.
Maybe after they had all cooled off, she could mend the rift that she had torn today. Somehow, she thought, it’s all in the approach.
As she gathered the dirty dishes and righted the chair Melinda had left lying on the floor, she began to think of the best way to get back into her son’s good graces. After all, he was still her baby.
no subject
Date: 2007-11-18 11:38 am (UTC)If you don't have the confrontation... well, I'll check the psychologist for now and just be the writing friend. Nicely done, very real emotionally. I like this!