Mother in law

 “Mum, why does Grandma treat me differently? Dick and Heather get treated well,” I asked. There was no response from my parents. My dad looked at my mother and she looked back at him without any response. 

“ Now, finish up your dinner, ” my dad smiled. I silently ate my dinner. Then, my dad’s mother came down.She looked at me from her giant black eyes and I shivered down my spine. 

“Filipino food!” she said in disgust. 

“Yes, I cooked Filipino food. James wanted filipino food,” my mother answered rudely.

“Anna, cook something else for me!” instructed the old hag. She looked at me in disgust. I didn’t know why she disliked me.

“You move! I don’t want to see your face while eating my dinner! It makes me feel like vomiting,” I was about to get up when my mother held my hand. 

“My daughter will not move! Maybe you can move instead!” The old woman moved away angrily.

“My mother is a real pain!” my dad mumbled. 

My mother rushed through her food and went upstairs. We finished our dinner and the butler carried our plates. I knew my mum was very upset and I knocked on the door to her room. Out she came, dressed in a blue satin dress. She smiled at once when she saw me. I lay down on her lap. I pretended to fall asleep. 

“It’s not fair how Regan is being treated differently! Your mother has to understand that she has dyslexia and we are doing treatment,” my mother said.

“She doesn’t understand why Regan is different,” my dad answered.

“You’re a doctor and you can explain it to your mother! It’s either you yourself don’t care about Regan. If you don’t care about her, just tell me! I can bring her to the Philippines and raise her by myself. ” my mum said. I began to have tears in my eyes. My heart felt the pain and I slowly opened my eyes and sobbed. Whenever, I used to cry my mum would always say this,

“Sinta, stop crying. Dad and Mum are here,” That would be my mother’s dialogue. After that, my dad would give his own dialogue.

“Regan, I I love you so much. Don’t cry, you're making me upset,” he said. He  would then kiss my forehead. I began to calm down and went to bed. It was the next morning, and I woke up to have my breakfast. There was my Granny with Dick and Heather. Dick and Heather were my aunt’s children and she was also sitting there. There was a last piece of black pudding and I wanted to take it with my fork. Granny took it and smirked at me. My aunt immediately said,

“Here you can have my piece,” I ate it in a jiffy and went away on the couch. After a few minutes, my parents came down. 

“Mum, Alice and I won’t be having breakfast. I’ll be going now. I have an operation so I’ll be coming home late,” my dad said. 

“Shouldn’t someone be taking care of her? I’m very busy and your wife should take care of her,” she said.

“Regan will be fine. ” They both left and I was at home. I went into my art room. I started drawing a picture of my parents. I painted it and wanted to show it to my Aunt and Granny. They were both after their tea. My aunt saw me and smiled lovingly.

“Regan, come and have tea with me. I’ve baked some cake,” she said. Regan ran towards her aunt and showed her the picture.

“That’s such a wonderful painting, your parents will love it,” she smiled. My Granny pulled the picture and saw it. 

“What a disgusting drawing! My son will hate it. Anyways, he is not your dad,” I began to cry. She then grabbed the painting and threw it. Regan began to cry. Her granny slapped her and sent her into her room. Her aunt called her but she refused to listen. She called Alice to come home. 

“Regan, please open the door,” her mother called, feeling stressed. She slowly opened the door. Her almond shaped eyes full of tears and her nose full of blood and mucus. She began to sob when her mother came. 

“Mum, why did Granny say that?” the little girl sobbed. After ten minutes, James came home. 

“Regan, what happened?” he asked, seeing Regan sobbing loudly. His wife explained everything. He gave her some medication. 

“I think she’s having a fever. Let her rest for a while,” he said. Her mother went down while her dad lay next to her. Her mother was in the room and then James came out of the washroom. Regan was asleep with her innocent face. 

“Could you please speak with your mother? This can’t continue or else I would bring Regan to the Philippines,” she warned. He went downstairs and had a word with his mother.

“Alright, whatever,” she smirked.

“Thanks Mother,” He went upstairs to see if Regan was still asleep. Her mother was next to her using her laptop.

“Is she feeling better?” he asked, sitting on the bed.

“She only woke up once. I gave her the Honey Lemon Tea. Anyways, did you have a word with your Mother,” she asked rudely. 

“Yes, I did. Are you searching for air tickets?” he asked. 

“Yes, in case this happens again to Regan. I will go back to my own country with her,” He just kept silent and after a few minutes Regan woke up.

“I’m hungry,” 

“Wait, I’ll make something for you,” He rushed downstairs and made her a meal. He then came upstairs and saw his daughter’s innocent look looking at him. He fed her the stew as she was too weak to even hold a spoon! 

“Dad, what’s for dessert?” she asked.

“I’ve made something special for you,” he smiled.

“Dad, please bring it,” the girl smiled faintly. Her dad brought Jam Roly Poly. Andrea smiled at once.

“James, I want some,” she said, springing on him. 

“I’ve got  a rum cake for you,” he smiled. She gasped and hugged him in joy. 

“Regan, will you be fine alone? Dad and I will have dinner and return,” asked her mother, smiling. They both went downstairs for their dinner smiling and laughing.

“Is Regan feeling better, Aunt Alice?” asked Heather.

“Yes, she is. You can go and play with her. Dick you can go too,” Heather rushed upstairs along with Dick. Their dinner was over and everyone went to their own rooms. The three kids were in the playroom while Alice and James were together.n 

“When are you going to bring my rum cake, darling?” she asked, laughing. He refused to reply to her. He left the room and came with a beautiful baked rum cake. He sat on the bed and cut a slice and fed his wife.

“It tastes awesome. We better finish it before Regan comes,” she said hurriedly putting a slice in her mouth. Just then, they saw the doorknob turning, they thought that it was Regan but instead it was James’s mother!

“So you two are enjoying here! Where’s that daughter of yours, Alice?” she asked rudely. Andrea got up from the bed and said,

“She’s playing with her cousins. She’s not only my daughter but James’s too. I wanted to know why did you tell her that James is not her dad?” she asked to get up.

“My son would never get a disabled child,” she remarked.

“Then whose child is it?”Regan barked.

“I don’t know if I can go and get a DNA test. James does a DNA test on her,” she barked.

“Mum, that isn’t necessary. She’ll only be in pain!” he answered. The woman left the room. Andrea insisted on doing a DNA test and James finally agreed! Regan came upstairs to sleep. She lay on her father’s laps to go to sleep. 

“James, believe me Regan is your child!” Andrea said, crying.

“Yes, she is and she isn’t faulty.,” The three of them went to bed. It was the next morning, and the test was performed and Regan reached home. Aunt Jennice was seated there. Regan ran to Aunt Jennice and sat on her lap. Andrea went upstairs and soon received a call from James. 

“Regan is my daughter! I knew she was!” 

“I told you, silly,” she smiled. Soon, she went downstairs and saw a young girl sitting down and chatting with James’s mother. She didn’t know who it was so she went downstairs. 

“Hi, I’m Dr. James’s wife,” she smiled. 

“Hi, I guess you’re divorcing him,” the woman asked. Alice was shocked and she gasped,

“Divorcing him? Never, I have a child with him! I won’t let you marry him. I can even end my life but I will never let you have him,” she said crying. 

“Behave yourself! So what if you have a child with him? He doesn’t even need her. You can take her away! He can have new children with her. He doesn’t love you or your faulty daughter! He is only pretending to love you!”” the woman yelled. Andrea was crying bitterly. Soon, she saw James entering and he saw his wife crying loudly.

“Mum, why is my nurse here? Is there any issue?” he asked, surprised.

“Son, how about you get married to her? She can cook well. I can arrange to divorce your wife,” He was so shocked.

“Are you mad? I’m not getting married to her. Andrea is my life! Regan is my life and you think I can leave them,”he said angrily. Andrea began to stop crying. James went upstairs and Andrea followed him. 

“James, your mother said you don’t love me anymore. I know that is not true,”she sobbed.

“No, I love you so much. I won’t marry her alright. Stop now,” he said, hugging her.

“I want to go back to the Philippines with Regan and you. I don’t want to stay here anymore. Please, we can get a large house there and lead a beautiful life. Please James,” she sobbed.

“What about my job? And Regan’s school?”

“I’ve already found a special school for her. You can work in the hospital. We can stay with my parents for a while and then find a place. Please,”she begged.

“You can go earlier with Regan and I’ll join you later. I’ll need to settle things with the hospital. When are you planning to go? I can get the flight tickets booked,” he asked.

“I already got them booked, it's just that I need to pay for the tickets. I booked a mid night flight so I don’t need to tell your mother. It’s not as if Regan is treated like her granddaughter. I’ll pay for the flight tickets now and we are set to go at midnight,” she said smiling. She informed her daughter and they got ready. It was dinner time, 

“Mum, Jennice Alice is going back to the Philippines today at midnight. I’ll also be shifting there soon after I resign,” James said.

“James, you’re the head surgeon and you want to move?” his mother asked.

“I am doing it for Alice and my daughter. You treat Regan so badly and you think I can deal with it? In front of Alice you brought Nina who is a scrub nurse. Alice is my wife and you think I can leave her? You slapped Regan just because she drew a picture of me. You told her that I’m not her biological father. Why? Are you saying that my wife then threw something behind my back and carried somebody else’s child? Then, we had a DNA test and it was confirmed that Regan is my child. You slapped Regan and she had a heavy nosebleed. Alice sent me a photo of the amount of blood on the tissue. If it happens, again she will get anaemia,” he said angrily at his mother.

“I don’t want to be your son. I’m also going to move to the doctors headquarters,” he yelled.

“Do you want to know who had dyslexia in this family?” he asked.

“My real dad from Japan had dyslexia. The husband that you claimed died in a car accident . You married who knows who and told us that our dad died. Jennice was  nine and I was seven and you actually tortured our dad until he left. You think that I can forgive you? Regan got dyslexia from my real father,” he said crying. His eyes were red from crying. Jennise was crying after hearing this news. She ran to her brother and hugged him. 

“James, go to the Philippines and lead a better life there. I want to move along with my children. I want to go back to Wales with my children and husband. She can stay alone,” she said, hugging her brother. He wiped her tears.

“I still forgave you thinking that you were a single mother but now I will never forgive you. What you did to my daughter is unforgivable. Now, I need to tell this to Jennice,” he said.

“When Alice was once home resting, this shrewd woman fed her poison. Luckily, I was there. Nevertheless my wife forgave her. But no, I’m moving out of this house tonight,” He left the dinner table and went to pack his bag. He sent Alice and her daughter to the airport and after a week he came to the Philippines. He became chief surgeon over there and they bought a penthouse. Jennice came during the vacation to see them. One vacation, Jennice came with her children. 

“Regan, Aunt Jen and your cousins are here,” she called. A girl came out with a barking dog behind her. Regan smiled lovingly. They followed her inside the house. 

“How are you keeping up, Alice with Regan and James. He must be really liking it here,” she smiled. 

“I’m good. James is in the swimming pool. Dick and Heather, you may both enter. Come on Jen, we both can have our lunch together,” Alice smiled.