By Rossie Cortés
Everything around the house
gleamed in the light and not a spec of dust could be found anywhere. All wood
furniture had been buffed, floors scrubbed and carpets aired, which meant only
one thing… the in-laws were coming to Chile.
They came every year about the
same time, and each time Sara would bust her back making sure everything was
spotless, perfect. Every activity was programmed, every meal carefully planned
to ensure her mother-in-law’s happiness during her annual inspection, as Sara
used to call it.
This visit was no different and
Sara would hate every minute of it, like always.
One of the things Sara liked about
being an expatriate was that she no longer had to suffer the awkward visits or
criticism from well-intentioned family members. In Chile, it was just Patrick,
Diana and her. At least it was until her mother-in-law began to visit.
No matter what she did or what she
said, her mother-in-law always looked at her as if Sara was a strange bug she
couldn’t discern or classify. Sara had tried to open herself to Patrick’s
mom by being the perfect daughter-in-law without any success; so she settled
for making everything beautiful and pleasant during the visits.
That’s why that day Sara spent
most of her afternoon preparing all of her mother-in law’s favorite dishes,
which included Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon –that took over six hours to
make-- and a torch friendly Baked Alaska for dessert. It hadn’t been an easy
task but she’d done it, even with little Diana asking one question after the
other.
“Why are you cooking so much?”
Diana asked in a singsong tone.
“Because tonight is special.” Sara
sighed.
“Is that for grandma and grandpa?”
Diana stood on the tip of her toes trying to see over the counter.
“Yes,” Sara said annoyed, pointing
at the kitchen table, silently ordering her to sit.
But Diana went and danced around
the table instead. “Why are they coming?”
“Because your grandparents love
you and Daddy very much so they make the trip to see you.” Sara turned to look
at Diana playing with the folded napkins on the kitchen table. “Why don’t you
go to my room to watch some Playhouse Disney?”
“Really?” A smile flashed across
Diana’s face.
“Go ahead.” Diana turned and ran
excited towards the master bedroom slamming the door behind her. “Maybe now
I’ll be able to finish on time.” Sara murmured to herself, stirring the beef
broth simmering on the stove.
Hours later Sara was ready to take
a bath and change clothes to face the dragon. She walked into her room and
stopped in her tracks. “Diana! What have you done?” Sara ran to the bed,
now covered with an array of makeup, jewelry, clothes and toiletries from her
drawers.
“I just wanted to get pretty for
Grandma and Grandpa,” Diana explained as if that would justify the mess. She
picked a mascara container and taking out the brush. “What is this?”
“That’s make up for your
eyelashes,” Sara took it away from her but Diana just grabbed something else
from the bed.
Diana showed Sara a gel mask for
the eyes, which would cover most of her face. “Is this a superhero mask?” Sara
gathered the clothes from the bed and stuffed them back in the drawer.
“No, that’s for when mommy is
really tired.” Sara grabbed her makeup bag and put everything inside.
“And this?” Diana showed her a
female pad in its plastic wrapping. Sara looked at her and froze. “Those are…
those are mommy’s special napkins.”
“Special napkins? Can I have one?”
Diana asked thrilled by the concept.
“No, those are only for grownups,”
Sara snatched the pad from Diana’s curious hands. “I have to change, honey. Why
don’t you go change clothes for grandma?”
“Can I use the pretty dress?”
Diana’s eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement.
Sara looked at her eager face.
“You want tonight to be special, don’t you? Sure, why not? Go ahead.”
Diana had left the room jumping
and singing even before Sara finished saying it.
Patrick and his parents sat in the
living room enjoying Diana’s repertoire of stories while waiting for Sara’s
finishing touches in the kitchen. Diana told them about her adventures with her
new kitten, always mimicking the cat’s silly jumps and faces making everybody
hoot. Everybody but Sara, who was doubting her menu decisions in the
kitchen.
“Is everything all right?” Patrick
asked softly from the doorway.
“Yes. Yes of course.”
“Okay. Just take it easy. She
really doesn’t hate you, you know.” Patrick caressed her back in small circles
as if to loosen her tensed muscles. “If only you would give her the chance to
see the real Sara. Not this,” he gestured towards the fancy dishes and her
conservative clothes. “This is not my fun loving wife. My mother would love my
fun loving wife, but she tends to vanish when my mother is around.” He took her
face in his hands and placed a tender kiss in her lips.
“Very funny. You keep saying that
but…” Sara made a face not believing a word he said.
“Just enjoy our time together.
That’s what I do and it seems to work.”
“I can’t! At least not when she’s
here.” Sara put her arms around his waist. “She doesn’t like me, and I wish she
would.”
“Sara, I’m telling you that’s not
true.”
But Sara didn’t want to listen.
“Just get them to the table. I’ll bring the bowls in a minute.” He shrugged and
left to escort his family to the table.
“Laugh about it. Tell HER to laugh
about!” She murmured, convinced his mother would not tolerate her laughter.
“Honey, I think you should come
here.”
Sara sighed annoyed. “In a minute!
I’m almost finished.”
“Sweetheart? I really think you
should come here and see this.”
Something was wrong. She could
hear it in Patrick’s voice. She stopped everything and headed out to the dining
room.
“What’s wrong?” She looked from
Patrick to her in-laws and back, not understanding.
“Have you looked at the table?” He
asked, trying to keep a mischievous smile under control.
Sara looked at him then the table.
“Of course I have. I set up everything before going back to the kitchen.”
“Are you sure?” He made a gesture
toward the table.
The table was beautifully set up
with their best china, sparking glasses and a simple but elegant flower centerpiece.
Everything was in place except for the linen napkins.
“Oh, no!” The napkins had been
replaced, and Sara felt the blood rush to her face.
“Don’t you love it mommy? I did it
all by myself,” Diana turned to her grandma to explain. “Those are mommy’s special
napkins, only for grownups on special occasions. But she forgot to put them on
the table, so I did it!” Diana jumped around her grandparents, happy at her own
cleverness. “Grandma, grandma! Mommy made everything special for you,
cause she loves you very much.”
“She does?” Her grandma looked
into Diana’ eyes, unable to contain the laugh any longer. “I guess she does!
Doesn’t she?” She chuckled, her laugh followed by the others.
Sara still in shock, looked at her
in-laws, the female pads opened and spread all over the table and Diana
cheerful dancing around the dining room. How did this happen? What was she
supposed to do now?
“Don’t worry about it,
sweetheart.” Sara felt the touch of her mother-in-law’s hand and turned to her
smiling face. “Diana is right,” she continued. “Today is a very special day
indeed,” she patted Sara’s hand with tenderness. “Everything is beautiful, as
always. Thank you.”
Sara looked at her in shock. “You
like it?”
“I do. I always have. The one
thing that gives me peace about Patrick being in a foreign country is the
knowledge that he has you. You’re good for him,” she said looking at Patrick.
“I like that.”
Sara looked over at Patrick to
find him smiling at her, with a I-told-you-so expression on his face. He had
been right and she finally relaxed enough to laugh.
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