Broken With My Mother In Law

“Linda… letting my mom be your maid of honor is just… incredible.” Donald said, somehow a loss of words. 

“Mom, what do you think?” Donald turned to his mom. 

I am so glad that Donald supported my idea and did not reject it that much. With his help, Diana is one step closer to agreeing with being my maid of honor. 

“But, uh… I’m too old to be a bridesmaid.” Diana tried to reason out. 

“I think it would be better if Elena is your maid of honor.” Diana added. 

I honestly don’t care about those factors. I mean, there is no rule that says someone old cannot be my maid of honor anyway. 

In my opinion, being a bride’s maid of honor can make you really close to each other. Diana being my maid of honor is my best shot at trying to fix our relationship that started with the wrong foot. I cannot lose this opportunity to make our relationship better. 

“Oh, no, she has given you the title with great grace. How could you refuse?” Elena asked. 

“To be honest, Linda even made me prepare a dress especially for you. It’s a dress made in your favorite color – pink!” Elena squealed excitedly. 

“Come and try it on. “Elena added while motioning Diana to take the box of the dress. 

Diana kept shaking her head in denial but she accepted it after a little bit more of persuasion. 

She took out the dress from the box and lifted it up towards her shoulders. 

“Oh, this is… Linda, I… This dress, I don’t think I can do it.” Diana said. 

She could not even find the right words to express her amusement. Maybe it’s because she did not expect me to prepare clothes for her in advance. 

The dress was light pink in color. It was silky and it ended right above her ankles. The top of the dress was strapless and it had a sweetheart neckline to show a little of her shoulders. While the skirt was covered with little white flowers. The gown was really nice and stunning. So I do not understand why she is still refusing me. 

“Mom, I think this is a good idea.” Donald agreed with me.

“I just don’t think I can do it. I really can’t. I have to talk to my doctor first. Being one of the most important people in your wedding is not a joke. My illness hasn’t fully recovered yet so I’m afraid that I might ruin your wedding if I push through. This is an honor but I can’t do it. You’d better change to Elena.” Diana replied.

Diana has rejected me for the third time and now she is using her illness as an excuse. 

“Oh! That’s no problem Diana. I’ve already called your doctor earlier and he said it’s a good idea. He said that it can even help you overcome your illness.” I immediately shunned her. 

I felt so rejected and it hurt. In reality, Diana does not even have symptoms at all. She is faking everything to get Donald distracted. Her attending doctor is lying to everyone and I am aware of that so she can’t fool me anymore. 

“You called my psychiatrist?” Diana asked dumbfounded. 

Diana leaned on the table with one elbow, finally took off her sunglasses and looked at me a little unhappy. 

I know that she did not expect me to go to her doctor and ask him directly.  

“Oh, actually, we had lunch yesterday.” I told her boldly. 

“He even said that, considering that this is a turning point in your life, this would be the best treatment that you could go for. It is because you suddenly lost so much, so being involved in things that grow and move forward is good therapy for you.” I continued. 

“Do you know what? I can assign you a whole list of things to do tomorrow. You can help us with the wedding preparations.” I suggested. 

“There are a lot of things left to do. Since marriage is an important occasion, we want a lot of our friends and family to attend and witness us saying our vows to each other, together.” I finally said. 

Besides all of our relatives and friends, I actually plan on inviting Diana’s attending doctor. Even though he and Diana lied about her illness, I still somehow find him as a good person. I saw this when we had lunch yesterday. 

As Diana listened to what I said, I noticed that she prepared to fake an anxiety attack. She took her bag and placed it on top of the table. She hurriedly rummaged inside to look for her bottle of medicine. When she found them, she took them right away. 

Diana does not know that I have switched her fake anxiety medicines with the actual real ones. These are the ones she took yesterday, and knocked her out. 

I giggled silently inside. I felt happy knowing that what happened to her yesterday would happen again today, any moment now. 

She can reject me all she wants but I am not backing down that easily. I want her to be my maid of honor so I would do everything to make that happen. 

“No, I don’t, I don’t want to do those tedious things.” Diana said. 

After saying those words, she began to cry. 

But it was so obvious that she was just acting. She wanted Donald’s attention on her again. She wants us to pity her again. 

When Donald saw his mom crying, he hurriedly stood up and went to her side. 

“Mom… come on, mom, don’t cry” Donald tried to soothe her. 

“Here, use this.” He took out his handkerchief and handed it to her to comfort her.

As she was about to reach out and get it, I set out a small sob. 

“Linda.” Donald turned to look at me, and my eyes were red.

He quickly retrieved his hand holding the handkerchief and placed it on his side. Diana missed to get the handkerchief. 

“Don’t mind me Donald. I’m okay.” I told him while waving my hand at him. 

“Linda, no, please…” Donald said in a worried tone. 

“I thought I wouldn’t be so emotional. Sorry, I just cannot hold it back anymore.” 

After saying that, I felt tears running down my cheeks quickly. I wiped them using my fingers then I covered my face with my hands. After that, I acted to cry harder, making my shoulders slightly shake.

I smiled devilishly inside. 

If Diana wanted to play this game again, then I am up for it. If she wanted to get Donald’s sympathy through her crying tactics, I can do it too.  I would never let her win so easily. I can be as sly as her. 

“Mom, I’m sorry but Linda needs me too.” Donald whispered to his mother.  

Donald stood up from where he was and approached me. I felt him give me a warm hug. Later on, he lifted my face up so he could see them. He shoved the stray hairs on my face and tucked it in my ear. He constantly and gently tapped my back to soothe me. While I was looking down, he offered his handkerchief to me. 

“Thank you baby, I love you.” I said as I wiped my tears and looked at him with relief. The feeling felt nice. I felt that whatever Diana does, for Donald, I will always come first. I was his priority.

“I love you too.” Donald took my hand.

I gave him a small smile. 

“I love you too.” Diana’s voice rang in the room again.

“Mom, I love you too.” Donald said, reassuring his mom. 

Later, he motioned me to come closer to Diane. We sat close to each other but we were one meter away from each other. Donald then sat in between both of us. He held my hand with his left hand and he took Diana’s hand with his right hand. 

“I love both of you. You should remember that always.” Donald started to speak. 

“But I do not feel comfortable with both of you crying over a petty thing.” He continued to say. 

“Linda, I know that you badly want mom to be your maid of honor but please understand that if she feels like she can’t, then we have to adjust” He said while looking at me.

“Mom, if this upsets you so much, then just say so. You don’t have to say multiple reasons to avoid the situation. You have offended Linda very much today. She is just excited to do the wedding with you. Please understand that too.” He turned to say to his mother.