The young couple’s wedding was lavish, as the mother-in-law believed. She confirmed this by saying that 25 years ago, she and her husband just got married at the courthouse, without inviting anyone, because they had no money. But with Emily and Alex, it was a whole different story.
There were a full 15 people at the restaurant. But they couldn’t have had fewer. You couldn’t do without the parents and other close relatives.
Alex’s mom and sister with her three kids—that’s already 6 people. And there was no way to skip her aunt with her husband, their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson.
They always help out and give good gifts. If you don’t invite them, they’ll get offended and stop giving anything. So that’s another plus 5 people.
And the bride with her parents—3 people. Naturally, the witnesses had to be invited as a must. No matter how you look at it, it couldn’t have been fewer.
Just getting married at the courthouse—Alex’s own mother raised a fuss that it couldn’t be done that way. Our Aunt Linda invited us to her daughter’s wedding, she reminded about her aunt.
You have to invite for the sake of decency, otherwise they’ll get offended. Probably, this Aunt Linda didn’t get offended, because their family gave more than others—a whole $20,000. But the bride’s parents paid for the banquet.
Although they wouldn’t have minded if the young couple just got married at the courthouse. But, as they say, the one who fusses the most contributes the least. The mother-in-law usually stirred up noise and then stepped back, leaving others to handle the mess.
For example, it was on Regina Johnson’s initiative that the young couple started living with Emily’s parents. Initially, Emily and Alex wanted to rent an apartment. But the future mother-in-law immediately lectured them.
She said they had no sense yet. She understood they were young, but if they couldn’t think it through themselves, they should ask experienced people, meaning her. Regina Johnson shared her experience…
Instead of wasting money on rent, they should save for their own apartment. And they could live with parents. That’s what parents are for, to provide support.
«I think it’s our duty,» Regina Johnson noted matter-of-factly. Emily thought she was offering for them to stay with her temporarily. After all, she wasn’t just talking for nothing.
Although it was unclear where to stay with her. There were already four people in three rooms. But who knows, maybe she was ready to sacrifice comfort for her son’s family.
However, she made the suggestion, discouraged them from renting, and then silence. And later, when discussing the wedding with the parents, she asked when they needed to help Alex with his things.
Emily was stunned. And the future mother-in-law calmly clarified that the young couple would live with her parents. After the wedding, they had to live together, as a family.
The in-laws were taken aback. But they were basically backed into a corner, couldn’t refuse. Although, in principle, they weren’t against it.
They needed to support the young family. And soon the son-in-law moved in with them. His mom dragged the suitcase ahead of him.
She seemed glad. It was crowded for them all together. And after the wedding, Emily and Alex set about saving.
They were sure it would go quickly. Before you know it, they’d move into their own apartment. Their salaries were decent, no rent to pay, nothing should interfere with saving money.
But in three months, they hadn’t saved a penny. They’d just start, transfer part of the salary to a savings account. And then the husband’s family would cry for help.
It turned out something was always needed there. Regina Johnson had set up her son. But with her daughter, it was trouble.
Katie was raising three kids alone. She was catastrophically short on money. Besides her brother, no one to help.
And Alex couldn’t refuse her. He was the man, considered it his duty. Emily wasn’t against it if her husband spoiled his nephews occasionally.
But it was a black hole: no matter how much you give, it’s never enough. And as soon as he got married, Katie had some kind of bad streak. She didn’t stop asking for help.
You couldn’t get by with small things, had to help big time. And this on top of the fact that he already transferred money to her every month. Just school started, it’ll be easier later, Alex calmed his wife…
Emily waited for when it would get easier. But her parents, seeing that with such a son-in-law you couldn’t make progress, nothing was accumulating for the young couple, took matters into their own hands. They hustled, gathered all their savings, took out a loan, and helped the kids with money.
«That’s what it means—they wanted to get rid of extra mouths!» giggled the mother-in-law. Regina Johnson thought the in-laws were stingy. She knew they could help.
Good thing she convinced the young couple to live with them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have given anything. The mother-in-law got so inspired that she called her son several times a day to ask if they’d found an apartment yet.
«Don’t buy without me!» she insisted. «I have a sharp eye, I’ll spot all the problems right away!» But the daughter-in-law refused the help. Said they’d manage themselves.
Emily didn’t want Regina Johnson hanging around them. What sharp eye, if she only worked at the property management office before? She went around checking meters in apartments. And that was long ago.
Back then, people would fudge things and pay her to look the other way. And that was the happiest time in her life. She didn’t need money.
But when they tightened the screws, and shady schemes became risky, she switched to the city hall office and sat there on minimum wage. And she sat until her husband left her. He stopped having enough for booze.
After that, like she’d been stung, she started running around for side jobs to feed the kids. The husband, the scoundrel, didn’t pay child support. Disappeared without a trace.
Maybe he died altogether. Other men of the same type came along. They liked to hit the bottle.
In the end, she never settled with anyone else. Apparently, the daughter took after her mother, since her chosen ones were about the same. Fun, but deadbeats.
Didn’t like to work, but drank a lot. Katie didn’t like to work either. She dreamed of a rich husband, so she could sit at home and do nothing.
As soon as she finished school, she started searching. Didn’t rush to enroll anywhere. Thought such a beauty as her would be spotted by a billionaire right away and offered to be the keeper of his home and wealth.
But Katie herself wasn’t too smart. She’d see a guy with the latest model phone and cool clothes. And she’d fall for it.
And he only had that phone as expensive property. And he himself was broke as a joke. Of course, this could be figured out after a few dates…
But there was also the thing that her chosen ones, in her opinion, were promising. And she gave them chances. They didn’t live up to hopes, but left kids as mementos.
After three failed attempts to find a rich husband, Katie was left with three children and minimal child support. At least, you could say her personal life was stable. Same old rake, sharp eye like her mother’s, but each on their own thing.
Katie got upset, of course, but didn’t kill herself over it. She had a brother, and she could count on him. And his wife would also like to count on him.
But to her chagrin, he thought his sister needed his help more. One good thing was that he was so busy with Katie that he didn’t make big demands on the future housing. Said it was a start, let’s buy something at least, and then figure it out, do the repairs.
The thing was, they didn’t have enough for a good apartment. Emily was afraid of getting into a big mortgage. And what they could afford wasn’t very appealing.
In the end, they decided to take a studio apartment without repairs. Alex said they’d do the repairs themselves. However, the repairs just didn’t happen.
The husband also transferred round sums to his sister monthly. Katie had nothing to feed the kids. And she couldn’t go to a normal job.
The kids were still small. The oldest just started first grade, they get sick often. She’s tied to the house for now.
No education, no desire to learn anything. She only knows how to do eyelash extensions. At least she got into that at some point.
So she does it sometimes. Clients come to her at home. Few clients, but it suits her.
She still has the bright dream of becoming a billionaire’s wife. The brother himself understood that Katie needed to take off the rose-colored glasses. Sometimes he joked about her, but didn’t stop tossing money.
And he told his wife that his Katie was unlikely to interest anyone with three kids. She’d already given up on that idea. Come down to earth.
Find a normal job and stop making people laugh. Emily once suggested to her husband to stop helping his sister. Then she’d definitely have to start hustling.
