Beloved mother-in-law

Two weeks. It had only been two short weeks since his mother-in-law had arrived, and those days seemed the longest Ruddy had ever known, with one exception, but that was another story. Only two weeks and he was already feeling the strain. And it was only just beginning.

Tiana was rather amused by the frequent and childish bickering between her mother and her husband. She liked to think that the constant spats were a form of affection between them.

Comfortably installed on a deckchair in the garden, Ruddy sighed with ease.

-Finally, some peace and quiet.

Tiana, who was quietly reading a book beside him, rolled her eyes. Her mother had gone to the market to run some errands, and it was this relative absence that was the source of Ruddy's delight.

Closing her book, she settled down more comfortably on her deckchair and turned to him.

-What is it about her that bothers you so much, can you tell?

Ruddy sighed soulfully, with a deeply dramatic air.

-This mania for meddling in everything, for interfering in everything, for behaving as if she knew everything about everything, is very annoying to me.

Tiana laughed in spite of herself.

-You're not wrong about that.

Taken aback, Ruddy slowly turned his head towards her, looking incredulous.

-You notice it too?

-Don't be silly, honey. Do I have to remind you that I grew up with her?

-And that doesn't bother you? Not even a little?

-Let's just say I learned to live with it.

-Well, I guess I'll never get used to it.

Anxious to get Ruddy's annoyance down, Tiana tried a joke.

- What's the difference between a mother-in-law and a TV?

-I don't know, sweetheart, TV makes you see life in color.

Tiana almost choked on her juice, caught off guard.

-Your answer is even funnier than the rest of my joke.

-Oh, yeah? Always say yours.

The difference between a mother-in-law and a TV is that the TV can be muted.

Ruddy laughed loudly and cheerfully.

-Your humor, sweetheart. One of the things that charmed me most about you.

-And my mother too, is not it ?

At his dark look, she winked at him.

-Only if we could have turned off the sound.

-Oh my sweet! If you only knew how much I love talking to you. I could spend hours, days, months, years even!

-What a smooth talker!

-I am sincere my sweet. Your voice, your wit, your strange humor, everything.

-You're going to make me blush, honey.

They looked at each other, and Tiana saw a glint of mischief in her man's eyes.

-I know what that look means.

This remark made Ruddy laugh.

-Honey? Do you remember that day? The day you slammed the door in my face.

-A memorable day, honey.

-Then you left me standing outside your door for hours, ignoring my pleas. Finally, I gave in and left.

-A reaction that had disappointed me greatly, by the way.

Ruddy brushed aside this remark with a nonchalant gesture and continued, unperturbed. Deeply immersed in his memories.

-That day, I just wanted to explain to you why I didn't want us to be together. It was obvious that we were both very unlucky in love. I didn't want us to risk hurting each other, even though as friends we had a great relationship. Also, at the time, I wasn't really sure what my feelings for you were. My breakup had made me realize that love was not for me. It is often said, "forewarned is forearmed," and life had already warned me of the dangers of love. I had the choice between risking it with again, or stay in my comfort zone. Not surprisingly, I chose the second option. The simplest. The loosest. But in the days following our breakup, our friendly breakup, I wasn't feeling well. And that wording is a sweet euphemism. Why this uneasiness?

He paused for a moment to look at Tiana's eyes. To communicate to her the depth of feelings that words could not express. He took her hands and applied a gentle pressure.

-I missed you. Terribly. I had started to miss you the moment you left the house after your declaration; I thought that I would get over it after a few days. Alas, I was sadly mistaken. I missed everything about you. Your smile, your laughter, your favorite expressions, your perfume, your gestures, your unique way of looking at me, the attentions that only you gave to me. Even your little faults suddenly became qualities that I couldn't ignore. Your presence had become indispensable to me. Every day that passed away from you, my oxygen became less and less. With each new day, I was suffocating a little more. I would soon be suffocated by your absence. The lack, the emptiness that you had caused in me, was making me sink little by little into unreassuring depths filled with hostile creatures. I wanted...yes, selfishly, I wanted you to come back to me, without me granting you totally what you expected from me.

-On my side, I was in low spirits. I didn't want to do anything. I kept asking myself what was wrong with me. Didn't I have the right to be loved by the man I love? I missed our talks, our outings and evenings. I was angry at myself for ruining our beautiful friendship. I didn't want to see anyone, least of all you. I was too ashamed. I told myself that the problem was not with the others but with me, so I shut myself up. Neglecting everything but my work. It was the only thing I still wanted to hold on to. The only thing that didn't have the power to break me. Again.

He moved closer to her and kissed her tenderly.

-I'm starving, sweetheart.

She gave him a mischievous smile.

-My mother may be unbearable at times, but there is one merit that cannot be taken away from her, despite her advanced age.

-And that is?

-Her exceptional cooking skills.

He laughed. As a great gourmet, he had at least the delicacy to recognize a talented cook when he came across one, even if it was his recalcitrant mother-in-law.

-I can't deny that, my sweet.

-So there's still a good chance you'll stop this mutual animosity one day. Good food releases the happy hormone, which is conducive to bonding.

-Sweetie, I think you're starting to lose your mind with hunger.

-No, sweetie, that's more like you.

-Touché.

-I'm back, kids.

Tiana and Ruddy looked at each other, each with a smile on their face.

- Dragon mother is back in his temporary den. Is she aware that we're not kids anymore ?

Tiana lift her eyes to the heavens.

- You'll never stop calling her that way, will you ?

With a mischievous wink, he replied :

- Only the future will tell us.