In-laws

“Deep breath, it’s going to be fine.” Bridget muttered to herself as she slowly opened the door and sat in the passenger seat of Jack’s car. She buckled her seat belt, eyes wide with terror.

“You okay?” Jack asked, seeing the look on Bridget’s face as she got in the car.

“Yeah. Just nervous. I don’t have the best track record with in-laws,” she muttered, remembering her relationship with Robert’s parents.

“I’ll be fine, just stick close, okay?” she glanced over at him from the passenger seat. He saw the look in her eyes, she was deep in her own head. He reached over and grabbed her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“I’ll be with you the whole time,” he reassured her as his thumb gently rubbed the side of her hand. Bridget took another deep breath as they arrived at Jack’s childhood home.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, Bridget looked up at the beautiful farm house before her. Easily a hundred years old, the house had a lot of character. The green metal roof reflected in the sunlight, making the house look like it was surrounded by an angelic halo of light. She looked down just in time to see a white fluff ball bounding towards her.

“Whoa, Molly, Down, girl. We don’t jump on guests.” Jack chuckled as she pushed Molly’s paws down off of Bridget’s torso. As she turned back toward the house, she spotted a second dog sauntering in their direction. Slower than the first, but with just as much purpose.

“Hey Ricky, same rules apply to you, bud. No paws on the guests.” Jack bent down to give Ricky a scratch behind the ear as Ricky eyed this new-comer with suspicion. Ricky and Molly were Australian Shepherds from the same litter, yet they couldn’t be more different. Molly loved everyone, and wouldn’t know an enemy if it bit her on the behind. For Ricky, however, everyone was a potential threat until cleared by his top-notch security skills. He gave Bridget an ocular pat-down, sniffed around her a few times, and deemed her non-threatening enough to enter the house.

The pair moved toward the front door as both dogs circled around their legs excitedly. As they reached the door, it swung open as if by itself. A small woman stood inside with a beaming smile on her face. She had Jack’s dark hair, and was wearing an apron covered in flour and what appeared to be dried gravy stains.

“Hey, Jack!” She grabbed him by the shoulders and hugged him tightly. “Hey, Mom!” Jack squeaked out, as if she was squeezing all the air out of him with her hug.

“This is Bridget,” he motioned in her direction, still trapped in the hug and unable to see where she was at the moment.

“Hello! It’s so nice to finally meet you, Jack has told us so much about you!” Darlene said as she released her son and pulled Bridget in for the same smothering bear hug.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Bridget groaned as she tried to breathe.

“Come in, come in,” Darlene released her death grip on Bridget and motioned them in toward the kitchen. As the two moved deeper into the house, Bridget spotted six more people sitting around the kitchen table.

“Hey, it’s Jack!” the cacophony erupted as Jack’s entire family all got up to greet them.

“Hey, guys! This is Bridget.” He pulled her by the hand from her hiding place behind him. She was completely overwhelmed by the amount of people in front of her. For a brief moment, she thought back to Robert’s parents and how quiet their house had always been. They were both retired, and Robert’s only sibling lived abroad, so their house was very low-energy. It was the only thing Bridget enjoyed about visiting them.

“Hi,” she said shyly as she clung to Jack’s arm.

“Alright, introduction time,” Jack said, looking over his shoulder at her. He pointed at an older looking man in a ball cap, sitting at the head of the table. “That’s my dad, Martin. And to the left we have my sister Laura, my other sister Haley and her partner Mark, and on the other side of Dad we have my other sister Celeste, and her partner Alistair.” Each sibling took turns waving at Bridget when their names were called. She repeated them back to herself, a feeble attempt at remembering each of them. Bridget was not good with names, and was not at all confident that she would be able to remember all of them.

“Hi, It’s so nice to meet you! Please, sit” Celeste cooed as she pulled out an empty chair at the end of the table, motioning for Bridget to sit down.

“Thank you, it’s nice to meet everyone. There sure are a lot of you,” Bridget joked as she took a seat in the chair next to Celeste. Bridget was awe-struck by how welcoming everyone seemed to be. She was once again thrown back into the memories of Robert’s parents. How they barely acknowledged her presence. Sometimes they couldn’t even be bothered to tear their eyes away from the TV to great them as they entered the house. She remembered the feeling of being unwelcome, like she was a burden they had to put up with in order to see their son.

“Bridget, I know we just met, but would you mind telling me, when is your birthday? I want to add it to my birthday calendar,” said Darlene, turning toward her with a little notebook and a pencil in hand. Bridget was a bit shocked to be asked about her birthday already. Robert’s parents never, in the 12 years of their relationship, celebrated her birthday. They probably didn’t even know when her birthday was.

“Oh, um, sure. It’s actually in a few weeks, July 23rd.” She muttered as Darlene wrote furiously in her little notebook.

“Wow! That’s great, another reason to get the fam together!” Darlene smile widened. The matriarch always made sure everyone’s birthday was celebrated. No one is forgotten in this family.

“You don’t have to do anything special for me, I don’t really celebrate my birthday,” Bridget muttered as she looked around the table. Jack’s entire family was staring at her as if she had two heads.

“Well, of course we’re going to celebrate, it’s your birthday! Everyone deserves something special on their birthday,” said Darlene, incredulous that someone wouldn’t want to celebrate their birthday.

“Aw, you guys are so sweet, thank you!” Bridget felt an overwhelming sense of love and togetherness from the group. She had never been made to feel so special before. She sat with this new uncomfortable feeling, telling herself this is how families are supposed to treat each other. She suddenly felt sorry for Robert and his sad little loveless family. She glanced over at Jack, who was still holding her hand. He winked at her and smiled.

“Alright guys, the food is ready, lets dig in!” Shouted Darlene as she pulled the foil off all the dishes at the center of the table. Bridget grabbed a plate from the stack on the counter and smiled.