Chapter 2

Keaton's face grew darker and darker as he listened, but he didn't want to embarrass me, so he kept sipping his coffee.

Michael kept sneaking glances at me, trying to read my expression.

When he saw I wasn't about to blow up, he let out a quiet sigh of relief, his grin getting wider as he stood up, holding Clara's hand.

"Mom, Dad, we'll go rest in our room for now. Call us when dinner's ready," he said.

I reached out to stop them and finally spoke up. "You've set up all these house rules and drawn your lines, and we'll respect them.

"But we've got our own lines too. I'm sure you can respect those, right?"

Keaton, still holding his cup, gave me a surprised look.

Michael was taken aback. He didn't expect me, usually the easygoing one, to bring this up.

Clara, still basking in her happiness, looked smug. "Of course."

I gave a wry smile. "First off, whether you are close to us or whose place you spend the holidays at, we don't mind. We understand, you young people aren't that attached to family.

"Keep the gifts from your friends and coworkers. But any gift from other relatives needs to be returned, especially the ones Clara asked me to pass on to Anne.

"I'll make sure to do that. And that 15-thousand-dollar gift Anne slipped you in private needs to go back. After all, it's best not to take things from strangers. You can handle that, right?"

Clara, who always talked about boundaries, looked a bit embarrassed, but she went along with it, though it was clear she wasn't thrilled.

"I don't care. Stay out of our business. That's best," she said.

Michael looked a bit anxious, like he wanted to say something, but I shot him a cold glare.

He stopped short, clammed up, and kept quiet.

I said, "Second, the easiest way to keep boundaries is not living together.

"Keaton and I begged you two to move in, and now the wedding's done, so it's time to pack up and head out.

"And don't eat at home anymore. Everyone has their own preference. Eating together means compromises. That's no boundaries at all."

Keaton sat there, mouth hanging open, stunned.

Clara, who'd been all smug a second ago, suddenly looked like she'd swallowed a lemon, and Michael gave me a look as if I'd ruined everything.

I pretended not to notice their reactions and put on a look of fake surprise as I turned to Michael and Clara.

I said, "Don't tell me you're thinking of staying put? Didn't you say the most important thing about boundaries is respecting each other's private space?

"You two aren't planning to settle in here and never leave, are you? Or maybe you're waiting for us old folks to move out first, so you can have the place all to yourselves?"

"Of course not!" Clara snapped, annoyed. "I'll start packing right now."

"Mom!" Michael yelled, exasperated. "Why are you being like this?"

I gave him a baffled look. "What's the problem? Weren't you two always talking about boundaries?

"Your dad and I are used to living alone. We're worried we might step over some line, and you end up losing your wife. That'd be a real mess."

Michael was left speechless, and then the sound of a door slamming echoed from the other room. He rushed after Clara.

I let out a cold snort and looked away.

As for Clara, I didn't have much to say to her. She had a point, after all.

I never gave birth to her or raised her, so I never had any expectations for her anyway.

But I put everything I had into Michael, and now he had turned out to be a total ingrate. I was washing my hands of him for good.

Keaton, worried, took my hand and asked, "Why are your hands so cold? Don't get yourself all worked up. It's not worth it. You'll hurt yourself."

I looked at Keaton, the man who'd been by my side for forty years, and suddenly that old fear of losing him, like I did in my last life, came flooding back. I couldn't hold back my tears.

He sighed, thinking I was sulking and throwing a fit over what Michael and Clara had said.

Keaton sighed, gently squeezing my hand. "Forget it. You always say that, as long as they're happy, everything else doesn't matter to us. You always loved having the whole family together, right?"

"Let's live together for a while. If it doesn't work out, we can do what you suggested before. Let them move into that smaller, newlywed apartment downtown. Out of sight, out of mind."

Back then, once they moved into this big house, they never left.

After all, they never had to lift a finger. Everything was served up for them, and with all those rules, nobody dared call them out on anything.

If anyone said a word, they'd shoot us dirty looks and act like we'd crossed some sacred line.

Keaton and I had to walk on eggshells in our own home.

Meanwhile, they kept preaching about boundaries, but never bothered to ask us before changing everything in the house.

Keaton's beloved study got turned into a walk-in closet, and my favorite open balcony was sealed off with floor-to-ceiling windows.

When our grandson, Johnny Osborn, was born, I asked if Clara was breastfeeding.

Clara's face dropped, and she blew up at Michael, yelling that I had no sense of boundaries and was an overbearing mother-in-law trying to force her to breastfeed.

When Michael tried to blame me, Keaton slapped him across the face, and the whole place exploded into chaos.

In the end, Keaton and I had to move out and rent a place to put a stop to all the family drama.

As for that little newlywed apartment, once it was put under their names, Clara's family moved in and took over the place.

Later on, even for this house, we couldn't even step inside without asking Clara for permission first.

Most of the time, we were only allowed to show up when Johnny needed someone to help out.