“Your gifts should reflect your wealth,” the motherinlaw retorted.
“Youre richer than Sophie, so your presents ought to match,” she snarled again.
“I really have no idea what to get Mom,” Laurent muttered, slumping beside his wife on the couch.
Elodie simply shrugged. Picking a present for her motherinlaw was always a headache.
Relations with Valerie Dupont had been strained almost from the start.
Laurent immediately grasped his mothers stance; after a talk with his wife, the couple resolved to keep their distance.
No one owed anything to anyone. Their only contact consisted of occasional phone calls and, if the mood struck, brief family gatherings.
That year Valerie decided to celebrate her birthday and invited most of the family, the young couple included.
“Actually, Mom said shed be happy with any gift,” Laurent recalled suddenly.
“She always says that, then turns picky,” Elodie muttered, recalling past incidents. “Your sister can give her anything, but not us!”
She remembered clearly the criticism Valerie had already leveled at each of their gifts.
“Remember March8th? What did we give? An extravagant cosmetics set, and how did she react? Tears and accusations, saying we thought she was old and unattractive,” Elodie sighed. “The only gifts she liked were gold or techsomething she could price.”
“Maybe I should call her and ask what she wants?” Laurent hesitated.
“As you wish,” his wife replied, shaking her head.
Seeking the easy route, Laurent dialed his motherinlaw to find out her wish.
“My son, I need nothing. Just comeyour presence will be my gift,” Valerie said timidly.
“Mom, are you sure? You wont be upset?” Laurent pressed.
“Of course not! I’d be delighted with any trinket,” she laughed. Laurent decided to trust her words.
“Mom said we could give her whatever we like,” he told Elodie.
She looked at him skeptically; she didnt trust the motherinlaws promises.
Nevertheless, with Laurent insisting on picking the gift himself, Elodie relented.
“How about a robot vacuum? Then she wont have to drag a hose everywhere,” Elodie suggested after checking their budget.
The couple agreed, bought a thousandeuro present for Valerie, and headed calmly to the birthday.
Valerie greeted her son and daughterinlaw with a bright smile that soured the moment she saw the box containing the vacuum.
“Why?” she grumbled, sighing. “Son, put that in the bedroom.”
Elodie stared at her motherinlaw, shocked by the reaction.
Soon after, Laurents sister arrived with her husband, throwing herself onto their mother and exclaiming,
“Mom, its for you!”
“Thank you, dear! You couldnt have guessed better!” Valerie cried, hugging her.
Curious, Elodie wondered what gift had delighted her motherinlaw so much.
She saw that Sophie had given their mother a modest cosmetics set worth about twenty euros.
She exchanged a puzzled glance with Laurent, who had also noticed his sisters offering.
Reading Laurents expression, she realized he was deeply disappointed by their mothers response to their present.
For hours Laurent simmered in anger, but when Valerie started praising her sisters gift again, he finally exploded.
“Mom, can we talk?” Laurent demanded, pulling her aside.
“Whats wrong?” his wife asked, approaching. “Something the matter?”
“Its not right, Mom! I asked you about a gift. Do you remember your answer?” he replied sharply.
“I do”
“Then why this reaction to our present, while you keep lauding a cheap set?” Laurent said, bitterly. “Dont pretend Im imagining things.”
“Youre richer than Sophie, so your gifts should be up to par,” Valerie snarled.
“And what do you think were giving? Junk? Should we attach a receipt to each gift to make you happy?” Laurent asked, furrowing his brow.
“Thats enough,” she snapped, clearly wanting to end the argument. “What can I do, if Sophies gift pleased me more?”
“Because you ignore the price of ours?” Laurent retorted sarcastically. “If youre curious, its a thousand euros!”
“That much?” Valerie exclaimed, feigning surprise.
She quickly figured out how to extricate herself from the awkward spot.
“You know why I value my sisters family gifts more? Because they give within their means, while you give carelessly,” she declared abruptly.
“Mom, are you serious?” Laurent clutched his head.
“Do I sound like Im joking? With your income, you could have bought me a spa weekend,” she said, puffing out her chest.
Laurent stared at his mother, unblinking, for a few seconds.
“Do you really think Elodie and I have money falling from the sky every day?” he shouted suddenly.
His outburst startled his wife and sister, who froze in the doorway, bewildered.
Sophie, understanding the cause of the commotion faster than Elodie, immediately defended their mother.
“Mom doesnt want your robot vacuum; she wanted a humidifier. Hers broke three days ago. If you paid any attention to her life, youd know that,” her sister retorted.
“I asked her about the gift!” Laurent snapped, grinding his teeth. “Are you mocking me? From now on, no more gifts! We try to please you, and you criticize us! The robot isnt enough, you want a humidifier! Sorry we didnt meet your expectations! Lets go!” he said, turning to Elodie.
Valerie collapsed in tears while Sophie comforted her, and the couple left the house with sullen faces.
Laurent kept the promise hed made to his mother: to stop buying anything and to avoid feeling foolish, he decided to stop attending family events altogether, thus eliminating the source of his stress.
A Late Night at the City Supermarket: Irène Sat at the Checkout, Tears in Her Eyes, Exhausted by Fatigue, Injustice, and Solitude, Drowning in the Weight of a Sleepless Night.
