“Find Her Someone, Anyone”
“I can’t take this anymore. I swear, I’ll end up an old maid because of her. Listen, Emily, take Mum to live with you, please. Let her fuss over your kids instead of suffocating me.”
“Sophie… You brought this on yourself. Made a mess when you were younger, now you’re paying the price,” Emily replied calmly, though exhaustion tinged her voice. “Shouldnt have thrown tantrums back then.”
“Fine, I was wrong, I admit it! I was young and stupid. But does that mean she gets to ruin my life forever?”
“She doesnt have much of a life herself now, thanks to you. You wanted her to revolve around youwell, congratulations, enjoy the prize.”
“Em, come on, youre the clever onethink of something! If you took her in, itd be better for everyone. She could help with the kids, and Id finally escape this prison,” Sophie said dreamily. “Or at least talk some sense into her. She listens to you.”
“Sort it out yourselves,” Emily narrowed her eyes dismissively. “Best I can do is advise. You wrecked her personal lifenow help her rebuild it. Find her friends, hobbies, suitors. Find her *someone*. Get her a puppy or a kitten, for heavens sake. Just distract her.”
As usual, Sophie wanted others to fix her problems. Emily *could* play alongshe *did* have a better relationship with their motherbut she wouldnt. Let the one who threw the boomerang catch it.
Their father had left when Emily was eleven. Sophie had just turned three. With no one else to help, Emily grew up at a sprint: fetching Sophie from nursery, cooking dinner, cleaning, doing homework long after everyone else was asleep. Maybe thats why she became responsible, mature. Sophie? Not so much.
Emily fled the nest early, right after college. Simple reason: she wanted freedom, tired of being a second mother. She also guessed itd be easier on Mum.
Emily knew their mum, Margaret, was still youngshe *could* have a life of her own. The fewer kids clinging to her, the better.
Margaret seized the chance and grew close to Edward, a coworker. Sophie, then twelve, acted like it was the apocalypse. She refused to let outsiders into their space. Worse, she now had choresand she *hated* it.
“Sophie, love, wash the dishes when youre done, please,” Mum would say.
At first, she did, albeit sulking. Then came the rebellion.
“No.”
“Why not?” Mum frowned. “We all pitch in. I cooked, Edward brought groceries”
“Im not cleaning up after *your* Edward!” Sophie snapped. “Why should I dig through some strangers leftovers?”
Shed say it right in front of him.
Edward, despite Sophies antics, tried. Stuffed toys (as if she were still a child), questions about her interests, checking if school bullies bothered her. Polite, patientnone of it worked.
Maybe the root was their fathers abandonment. Maybe Sophie feared Mum would focus on Edward and leave her behind. Or maybe she just resented the intrusion. Either way, she fought to eject the “outsider.”
She provoked Edward, accused Mum of “trading her for some random bloke,” threw fits. For protest, she neglected schoolwork and staged hunger strikesthough midnight fridge raids betrayed her resolve.
Margaret hoped time would mellow her. No such luck. The climax came with news of the engagement.
“Sophie, love, howd you feel if Edward officially joined our family?” Mum ventured one evening. “Were all living together anyway.”
Cue the meltdown. Sophie dug in, accusing Edward of manipulating Mum and eyeing their flat. When arguments ran dry
“If you marry him, Im leaving! You wont need me anyway.”
“Sophie! Dont say such things! Youll always be *our* daughtermine *and* Edwards.”
“Oh, sure. Not a daughtera glorified errand girl! Fetch this, scrub that, buzz off. No thanks. Id rather live with Emily than watch you play happy families.”
Margaret wavered. She was scared, too. Scared of losing Sophie, then Edward, just like her first husband.
Caught between rock and hard place, she vented to Emily, who scoffed at Sophies dramatics.
“Think Id open my door on *her* terms?” Emily smirked. “Shell loiter on the step, then slink back. Or betterIll give her such a welcome, shell bolt straight to you. Wants to live with me? Fine. But shell pull her weight. Im not her mum, wiping her messes.”
Emily was sure Sophies threats were bluffs. Margaret wasnt willing to test it.
“What ifGod forbidshe *does* leave? What then?” Mum fretted. “If you turn her away… she might end up on the streets. Something awful could happen”
Fear outweighed her right to happiness. Margaret broke it off with Edward. They met neutrally at first, then drifted apart.
As Sophie wanted, Mum focused wholly on herjust not how shed hoped. Margarets smothering, always worse with Sophie, became draconian. Escorting her to school, banning outings, relentless calls if she was late.
“Dangerous times, love. Men snatch girls off streets! Better we see films *together* when Im free,” Mum insisted.
Sophie thought it revenge. Truth was, Margaret had little else. Where else to pour her attention if love failed? And if Sophie vanished? Emily had her own family now.
Sophie tried escapingapplied to a uni out of town. Mum staged a full-blown crisis: tears, trembling hands, blood-pressure theatrics.
“Youd abandon me? Ive no one but you,” Margaret wept.
“Mum, I *need* to learn independence.”
“Wherell you live? Dorms? Wholl protect you? And the moneywere barely scraping by”
Margaret clung like Sophie was her last anchor. Sophie stayed. Maybe afraid of freedom. Maybe guilt.
Worse followed. When suitors appeared, Mum became a chastity zealot. The calls continued, now with added critiques: *Too forward, that ones a player, this ones politesuspiciously.* Each romance collapsed before blooming.
Meanwhile, Margaret was a model mother-in-law to Emilys husbandbaking pies, never interfering.
No wonder Sophie cracked. But Emily refused to step in. First, not her mess. Second, shed be blamed if it backfired. Let Sophie sort herself out.
Oddly enough, she did.
One day, Emily checked Sophies socialsstatus: *In a relationship.* She rang immediately.
“So, congrats?” Emily grinned. “Or just updating Facebook for fun?”
“Well… sort of,” Sophie replied, oddly serene. “Still early days. Just hope Mum doesnt wreck it…”
“Whats *Mum* got to do with it?”
Then Sophie spilled the tale. Shed tracked down Edwardstill singleand invited him to a café, claiming she wanted to apologise. She booked Mum there too… and didnt show.
Margaret was livid at first.
“You *matchmade* me behind my back? Sophie, warn a person! I wasnt dressedhair a *mess*”
But beneath the outrage, something reignited. That night, for the first time in years, Margaret felt like a womannot just a mum.
She and Edward rekindled, slowly, without youthful fire. No talk of marriage or moving inboth set in their ways. But Margaret stopped guarding Sophie round-the-clock. Started living *her* life again.
Sophie breathed easier. Listening, Emily mused: the circle was complete. As a child, Sophie destroyed Mums love; now, however imperfectly, shed restored it. No fairy talejust life, with its losses, fears, small wins. Each got what theyd earned… and maybe a sliver of hope.
