When Scarlet arrives at her first Thanksgiving dinner as Shaun’s wife, she finds herself looking at a dinner table with no empty seats for her. Instead, she sees a smirking mother-in-law and her husband’s ex-girlfriend sitting next to Shaun, giggling away at his jokes… What will Scarlet do?
Thanksgiving was supposed to be one of those easy family get-togethers, where I could just relax, catch up with everyone, and enjoy some delicious food.
At least, that was what I’d hoped for.
But things get tricky when your mother-in-law is involved, especially one who still insists on inviting your husband’s ex-girlfriend to every single holiday meal. I’d had a few years of dealing with Angela’s snarky, passive-aggressive remarks, but this year, she really outdid herself.
I’ll never forget how that dinner crashed and burned on Thanksgiving, and somehow, I’m the one who got blamed for it all.
Shaun, my husband, had gone to Angela’s place a bit earlier that day. He wanted to help her set up while I made the pies.
“I’ll go ahead and you take your time and make the pumpkin pie, honey,” he said. “And make the pecan pie extra sweet.”
He gave me a kiss on the head and bolted out the door. I wasn’t worried that he left early because Shaun was a menace when I was in the kitchen, always wanting my attention, causing a few burnt meals in the past.
Shaun and I had been married for just five months, and I was still getting to know the family. But still, Angela and I? We’ve never gotten along as well as I’d hoped.
“Why is Julissa sitting next to my husband, but I don’t even have a chair at the table?” I blurted out without thinking.
She has a nasty habit of criticizing everything I do, from how I cook to how I dress. But the kicker? She’s still best buddies with Shaun’s ex, Julissa.
Yeah, you read that right.
“Mom doesn’t have any daughters, Scarlet,” he told me once when I asked about it. “I think she just got close to Julissa when we were dating and they hit it off nicely.”
It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen her at family events before. She’s been around so much that I’ve learned to tolerate it. But when I walked into the house that evening and I saw Julissa already sitting next to my husband at the dinner table, my stomach dropped.
The table was full, with everyone already settled in.
And guess what?
There was no seat left for me.
I wasn’t even late, so I couldn’t understand why they just didn’t wait for me.
But there she was, right next to Shaun, laughing at something Shaun said while I stood in the doorway holding two boxes of pie.
I stood there for a second, trying to stay calm. I mean, let’s face it, I’m Shaun’s wife, right? So, shouldn’t I have a seat at that table? I looked at my husband, waiting for him to notice me. Surely, someone would jump up, grab an extra chair, or make some space.
Wrong.
It was like they didn’t even realize that I was there.
I walked over and asked Angela if there was a seat saved for me. The old woman glanced around and shrugged.
“Oh, sorry, Scarlet,” she said. “Libby decided to leave university for the holidays and she came last night. It seems we’ve run out of seats.”
Seriously?
The whole house was filled with chairs, and no one thought to pull up another one? Just one other chair for me?
I tried to brush it off. It was the holidays after all, and I didn’t want to make a scene. But the more I heard Julissa giggle at Shaun, the angrier and more hurt I got. It felt like a slap to the face.
Everyone went silent. The awkwardness was so thick, you could’ve cut it with a knife.
“Why is Julissa sitting next to my husband, but I don’t even have a chair at the table?” I blurted out without thinking.
Angela froze and narrowed her eyes at me.
“What do you mean? Julissa’s a part of the family, too, you know,” she said. Her voice was dripping with that familiar condescending tone, the one she always used when she wanted to put me in my place.
Julissa, of course, nodded along, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world for her to be there while I stood awkwardly by.
I don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t want to let them see me crack. Instead of storming out like I wanted to, I did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time.
I walked over to my husband and plopped myself right down on his lap.
“I guess this will have to do,” I said, forcing a smile.
Shaun, thank goodness, just smiled back and wrapped his arm around me like nothing was wrong.
Everyone went silent. The awkwardness was so thick, you could’ve cut it with a knife.
I tried to lighten the mood, complimenting the food and asking Shaun if he was comfortable with me sitting on his lap.
“Of course, honey,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t mind one bit.”
We started eating, sharing one plate, but I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Especially the good old mother-in-law.
I’d never seen her so angry before. Julissa, too, kept glancing between Shaun and I, barely touching her plate.
Angela didn’t say a word throughout the meal, and honestly, neither did the rest of the family. Shaun’s brother, Jasper, tried to make some small talk to cut the tension, but it was obvious that no one was listening.
Shaun and I kept talking to each other about absolute random nonsense and he kept kissing me on the cheek from time to time.
Julissa eventually excused herself to the bathroom, and Angela followed right behind her. They both left their plates untouched, and nobody needed to guess what they were talking about in there.
When dinner ended, Shaun and I took slices of pie to eat on the porch.
“I’m sorry about the chair situation, Scarlet,” he said. “But I’m not complaining about the fact that you were sitting on me the entire time.”
I smiled. At least my husband had the decency to apologize about it.
“Your mother isn’t going to be happy about the entire thing, though,” I said. “But, really? That was so inconsiderate.”
Shaun didn’t say anything else, he just squeezed my hand and ate quietly.
When we went inside, everyone was sitting around in the living room, drinking cider and nibbling on desserts. They were talking to each other animatedly, but when we walked in, they all stopped talking.
Shaun glanced at me and took my hand. We both knew what this was about.
“Okay, we’re heading out,” Shaun announced to his family. “We have a long drive to Scarlet’s parents’ house tomorrow.”
“You could just stay and let Scarlet go alone,” Angela said. “We barely spoke to you today. I didn’t catch up and tell you about my health scares recently, son.”
What? Are you okay?” my husband asked immediately.
“Mom’s fine,” Jasper said, rolling his eyes. “She wasn’t well and thought she had some rare illness, but all her results came back clear.”
“Don’t just dismiss it like that, Jasper,” Julissa said, perched on the couch next to Angela. “It was quite a scary experience.”
I actually rolled my eyes. Who was this woman? And why did she think that she had a place in this family?
Did she?
It was clear that Angela wanted her to be in Shaun’s life. And she was probably praying for a wedge to come between us, ending our relationship so that Julissa could claim her place.
The thought made me sick.
What kind of mother would actively want to ruin their son’s relationship just because she couldn’t get over his ex-girlfriend?
“Well, as long as you’re fine, Mom,” Shaun said. “I’ll come and see you during the week and we can chat about that.”
Angela looked disappointed, but she didn’t try and argue with him.
“Come on, Scarlet,” Shaun said, taking our leftovers and grabbing the car keys.
We went home and I wanted to ask Shaun about Julissa’s place in our lives, but I didn’t want to ruin the evening. And I had noticed how Shaun had given me so much attention when I got to Angela’s house. If I’m being honest, he barely acknowledged her presence.
“I’m going to take a shower and then we can watch a movie?” Shaun asked as I put the leftovers in the fridge.
“That sounds perfect,” I said.
As I sat on the couch and waited for Shaun, my phone buzzed.
There it was, the thing that I had been waiting for since we left Thanksgiving dinner.
A text from Angela.
You ruined Thanksgiving with your childish stunt, Scarlet. You were inappropriate for sitting on my son’s lap. And you made Julissa uncomfortable. You could have gotten a chair from the kitchen or a stool from the mudroom. You could have been a reasonable adult. But you’re not. You’re immature. I am so disappointed in you.
I stared at the message for a good ten minutes, my anger rising to the surface again. I mean, was it my fault that no one saved me a seat at the table? And why was Julissa always treated like some queen in the family while I was always left to fend for myself?
“Should I reply?” I asked myself. “Should I show it to Shaun?”
I thought about it long and hard, and before I knew it, Shaun was out of the shower and sitting on the couch next to me.
My husband pulled me toward him, making me forget about Angela’s horrible message.
The next day, I posted the entire story online, just needing to vent and hoping that someone, anyone really, would have my back.
Most of the comments were on my side. But quite a few said that Shaun should have stood up for me, or at least gotten me a seat before I arrived.
A few people said that I should have left the second I realized they didn’t make room for me.
Other comments went like this:
Why isn’t he managing his mother and shutting down her matchmaking with the ex?
Ultimately, this needs to go through him, and he seemed passive in all of this.
What on earth? I’d call out the mother-in-law and ex-girlfriend at the table. And then demand that my husband leave with me. Fast food for Thanksgiving is always a good idea.
As I sat there, reading through the comments, I realized that I needed to have a much bigger conversation with Shaun. And I needed to have a confrontation with Angela and Julissa.
If not, I was just bound to ruin the next family dinner too.
