**Diary Entry 7th March**
I cant take it anymore. If this goes on, Ill end up an old maid because of her. Listen, Emilytake Mum off my hands, please. Let her fuss over *your* kids instead of suffocating me.
“Lily You brought this on yourself,” Emily replied, her voice calm but weary. “You made your bed years agonow lie in it. Shouldnt have thrown tantrums back then.”
“Fine, I was wrong! I was young and stupid. Does that mean she gets to ruin my life forever?”
“She *has* no life now, thanks to you. You wanted her to revolve around youwell, congratulations. Heres your prize.”
“Em, *please*, think of something! Youre the clever one. If you took her in, everyone wins. Shed help with the kids, and Id finally escape this prison.” Lily sighed dreamily. “Or at least talk some sense into her. She listens to you.”
“Sort it out yourselves,” Emily narrowed her eyes. “Ill only give advice. *You* stole her chance at happinessnow *you* fix it. Find her friends, hobbies, a bloke. *Anything*. Even a puppy. Just distract her.”
Typical Lilyalways palming off her messes. Emily *could* have humoured hertheir mother *did* treat them differentlybut why should she? Let the one who threw the boomerang catch it.
Dad left when Emily was eleven. Lily was three. With no one else to help, Emily grew up overnightfetching Lily from nursery, cooking dinners, scrubbing floors, doing homework long after dark.
No wonder she turned out responsible. Lily? Not so much.
Emily fled the nest early, right after college. She craved freedomtired of playing second mum. Plus, she reckoned itd be easier on Mum.
She *knew* MumValeriewas still young. She deserved a life. The fewer kids clinging to her, the better.
Valerie seized the chance, growing close to Geoffrey, a colleague. Twelve-year-old Lily, however, acted like it was doomsday. She refused to share their home with an “outsider.” Worse, she now had *chores*and she *hated* it.
“Honey, wash up when youre done, please,” Mum would say.
At first, Lily compliedgrudgingly. Then came the rebellion.
“No.”
“Why not? We all pitch in. I cooked; Geoff brought the groceries”
“Im *not* scrubbing *his* plates!” Lily snapped, even with Geoff right there.
Geoff tried. He brought stuffed toys (as if she were still five), asked about school, feigned interest in her hobbies. Polite. Patient. Useless.
Maybe it was Dad leaving that scarred her. Maybe she feared Mum choosing Geoff over her. Or maybe she just hated change. Either way, she fought to evict the “intruder.”
She provoked Geoff, accused Mum of “trading her for some bloke,” threw fits. Skipped school, staged hunger strikes (though midnight fridge raids betrayed her).
Mum hoped shed grow out of it. She didnt. The final straw? The engagement.
“Sweetheart, howd you feel about Geoff joining the family properly?” Mum asked tentatively.
Cue the meltdown. Lily dug in her heels, accused Geoff of gold-digging, even threatened to leave.
“Marry him, and Im *gone*! You wont need me anyway.”
“Lily! Dont say that! Youll always be our daughter.”
“Oh, sureyour *maid* more like. Fetch this, scram. No thanks. Id rather live with Emily.”
Mum was torn. Terrified Lily *would* boltthen Geoff might follow, just like Dad.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she vented to Emily, who scoffed.
“You think Id let her in on those terms?” Emily smirked. “Shell loiter on the doorstep, then slink back. Or betterIll give her such a welcome, shell *sprint* home. Wants to live with me? Fine. But shell pull her weight. Im not her maid.”
Emily was sure Lilys threats were empty. Mum didnt dare test that.
“What if she *does* leave? What then?” Mum fretted. “If you turn her away She could end up on the *streets*.”
Fear won. Mum broke it off with Geoff. They drifted apart.
Now, as Lily wanted, Mum focused entirely on herjust not how shed hoped. The smothering intensified. Mum escorted her to school, banned her from going out alone, panicked if she was five minutes late.
“The worlds dangerous! What if someone snatches you? Well see films *together* when Im free.”
Lily assumed it was revenge. Truth? Mum had *nothing* else. No love life. No purpose beyond her.
Lily tried fleeingapplied to a uni up north. Mum staged a full-blown melodrama: tears, trembling hands, the works.
“Youd abandon me? Youre all I have!”
“Mum, I *need* to learn independence!”
“Live *how*? In some dingy flat? Wholl protect you? We can barely make ends meet!”
Mum clung like a lifeline. Lily stayed. Maybe fear. Maybe guilt.
It worsened when suitors appeared. Mum guarded Lilys “virtue” like a dragon. Calls. Critiques. *Too bold. A player. Too slick.* Every romance fizzled before it began.
Yet Mum was the *perfect* mother-in-law to Emilys husbandbaking pies, never interfering.
No wonder Lily cracked. But Emily refused to help. *She* didnt start this. And shed only get blamed. Let Lily sort her own mess.
Oddly she did.
One day, Emily checked Lilys profile: *In a relationship*. She rang immediately.
“So, congrats?” Emily teased. “Or just messing with your status?”
“Sort of Its early days,” Lily said, oddly calm. “Just hope Mum doesnt wreck it.”
“Whats *Mum* got to do with it?”
Then came the confession. Lily had tracked down *Geoff*still singleand invited him to a café, claiming she wanted to apologise.
She booked Mum for the same time and didnt show.
Mum was livid at first.
“You *set me up*? Lily, warn a person! I wasnt even dressed properly!”
But beneath the irritationa spark. That night, for the first time in years, she felt like a *woman*, not just a mother.
She and Geoff rekindledslowly, without the old fire, but enough to give her a life beyond Lily. No talk of marriage; habits were too set. But the round-the-clock surveillance ended.
Lily breathed easier. Emily, hearing the tale, mused: full circle. The childhood saboteur had *fixed* what she brokein her own way. No fairy-tale ending, just lifemessy, flawed, stumbling forward. But each got what they deserved and maybe a sliver of hope.
