Chapter 20.2

At the end of the day, Mr. Lawrence chose to stand up to his mother once and for all. In order to facilitate his in-law's wonderful reconciliation, Jeff decided to head over to Mrs. Lawrence's the next day. For the sake of his own future with Tina, he had to work harder.

Ending his night with his girl was always the best part of his day.

For a while, they just looked at each other and smiled through their phones.

"Do you think there will ever come a day that we'll have an argument so big it affects our relationship?" she suddenly asked.

Jeff's heart thumped. Was this her opening up to him about her worries?

"Never. That day will never come," he answered confidently.

"How are you so sure?" she asked back.

"I'll never let you go to sleep angry. When there's a problem, I'd like for us to communicate about it. If it's something on my end, I'll try my hardest to fix it. If it involves one of us giving in, I'll do that gladly. If you're not ready to talk about it immediately, I'll give you time to cool off while still taking care of you and reminding you about how much I love you daily."

"If the problem is on your end, I'll try my best to fix it as well. I'll take 9999 steps, so you just have to take 1 step towards me."

He wanted her to know that in their relationship, she was the most important. He wanted to be someone that she could willingly rely on.

"You look like you're ready to drag me to church right now, hahaha." She laughed at how serious his face got the moment she brought up their relationship.

Before he could reply, she added, "how can I just take 1 step? That's too unfair to you. I'll take 10 steps, so you can take 9990 steps."

He couldn't even get mad because she had the brightest smile on her face as she teased him.

"Whatever my queen says is right." He gladly obliged her.

After talking about their plans for the next day, of course he excluded meeting with her mother, the couple went to bed in preparation for the next day.

Jeff wasn't going to head over to the Lawrence's until afternoon. Right after the decision was made yesterday, he shot his mother-in-law a message and she agreed to meet him at lunch time. It would also be at that time that Mr. Lawrence left to see Martha.

So, as soon as he got to work in the morning, he took the pleasure of terrorizing Bob. He was glad that Bob reported truthfully to Tina, but at the same time, he also betrayed his boss.

Around 11:20, he got a message from Mr. Lawrence to head over as he was about to leave for Martha's home. It didn't take long for him to arrive.

Upon his entry into the house, he could smell Mrs. Lawrence's culinary handiwork. She acted like a grandmother towards him, always feeding him whenever she saw him.

"You've lost weight again. You shouldn't just be concentrating on work. Wash your hands and come to the table," she said as soon as he walked towards her.

He had anticipated her reaction and she definitely did not disappoint him. The meal was simple: rice and beef curry. He quickly washed his hands in the kitchen and sat down at the table. She served him carefully and watched him take a few bites before starting on hers.

"Usually I'm the one who urges you to come over. What hidden agenda do you have today?" she smiled at him as she served him more curry.

"Not at all mom. I just wanted to see how you were doing," he replied. Unlike Tina who found it awkward to call Mrs. Strider as mom, Jeff totally didn't mind. That meant that Mrs. Lawrence already saw him as part of the family, and she approved of him.

"Are you sure? I don't believe you," she gave him a skeptical look.

"Well, I do have some things to talk to you about, but after the meal," he surrendered.

When the meal ended, Mrs. Lawrence cut up some citrus fruits and washed some grapes and carried them to her son-in-law to munch on.

"So, tell me. Are you and Tina having issues?" she placed the fruit on the table in between them and took a seat.

"Not at all, but it also has to do with Tina. Mom, I guess you know of her aversion towards marriage," he started carefully.

Mrs. Lawrence sighed as soon as he said that, looking rather helpless.

"Of course, I know. Not just her, but Lina also. It's because of her dad and me. Even before you started dating her, I explained to her not to worry about it and just live her life. I thought she'd let it go once she started dating, but it seems like she hasn't."

Jeff shook his head in reply to her.

"That's why I am here today. Not to seek your help to persuade Tina, but to understand how I can help you and dad in any way that I can, so that Tina and Lina can be assured."

She popped a grape in her mouth, seemingly in a deep thought.

A few minutes later, she spoke up again.

"The problem between their dad and I isn't a matter of a day or a year. It's been going on for years. Before we got married, I admired his adoration for his mother and how he treated her with respect. However, I didn't expect that respect to be the hill we could never reach the top of."

"I am glad that he still treats his mom with respect. That's what a son should do. What I am angry about is his disregard for his family's feelings. If only he gave me just a quarter of the respect that he gives to Martha, things would be slightly better than they are now."

"He never stood up of for me in front of his mother. He never stood up for his daughters either. When she hurled insults and curses, he always excused them as Martha being elderly. He restricted us with moral conduct of how it was improper to trade insults with the elderly as we'd be seen as unreasonable."

"I endured and endured, and I am still enduring. It was okay when it was just me, but my daughters are my life. I watched as they endured with me and their father stood on the side of morality."

"Tina's father is an amazing man and son, but he's terrible at being a husband. He's a good dad too, but that switch goes off when Martha is involved. He is a better son that he is a father."

Jeff listened as she poured out her heart. What she stated was the exact same thing he pointed out to Mr. Lawrence yesterday. He was commendable as a son but not as a husband.

"Is there anything he can do to make it better? Are you willing to work on your relationship?"

Without hesitation, she replied him, "of course, I am willing. I love my husband. Although over these past years, I've poured more love towards my daughters, I cannot be blamed. I just want him to stand up to his mother and protect his family."

"He won't live with his mother for life. He has other siblings that share the responsibility of taking care of her. I am his wife. We will grow old together. Tina and Lina are his children and they'll expand the family. I'm not asking for him to cutoff his mother completely, but for him to make his stance clear."

"She cannot continue to terrorize us. Because of his reluctance to clear things up, she feels empowered to say whatever she wants. If he had said something, she'd definitely be hesitant to say whatever comes to her mind when she sees my family. I just want Martha and Tina's father to respect me and my daughters."

After understanding how Mrs. Lawrence felt and what she wanted, Jeff was relieved. At least both parties were willing to work on the relationship, so there was a chance for recovery. That'd lessen the pressure on Tina.

Now, he just had to find a suitable day for the three parties to meet and talk things out. Once Mr. Lawrence gave a progress report later, he'd open up to Tina and they can help together.

Since she was his girl, he'd do everything in his power to make her happy and feel secure.