Here we go. My mum didn’t raise me like mothers are meant to raise their children, but she did prepare me for survival. And this is a war I’m willing to wage for Kelly.
“No one asked me, Mum. And this,” I say, pointing to Rob, “this is Rob. Head of security. And if you don’t get your act together, he’ll make sure you don’t step foot inside the wedding hall downstairs.” I stretch to my full height and cross my arms.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she says, putting her champagne glass down on the table and pushing herself up out of the chair.
“Ma’am, you need to sit down. Right now.” Rob’s command startles her back into a sitting position and makes my heart rate spike.
I didn’t expect Rob to get into this role, but he does so convincingly. Almost a little too convincingly, which makes me think he’s enjoying it. But whatever the reason, it works.
“You need to back off. On Kelly. On Daniel’s family. On me. For one frigging day,” I say. “Can you just keep quiet, keep your opinions to yourself for twelve hours?” My head pounds. I can’t believe I even have to ask this of her.
“Well, if you weren’t all such disappointments…”
Rob cuts me a look—Want me to step in?—and I shake my head. My mum’s love language is passive-aggressive and misplaced disappointment. I bite my lower lip instead, taking a deep breath through my nose, trying to push down the anger and temper my response.
“Do you know what, Mother?” She lifts her head to stare at me. “If anyone’s the disappointment here, it’s you. You never fail to let everyone and yourself down. This is meant to be the happiest day of Kelly’s life, and you’ve left her out there in tears.” I point to the room next door.
“But…” she tries to interject, but I’m far from finished.
“I’m not done,” I say forcefully. “You complain that I never come back and visit you, but anytime I’m around you, you put me down. You complain about how I’m not good enough, smart enough, or man enough. Why the hell would I ever want to spend time with you, when all you do is make me feel like shit?”
I glance up at the ceiling, trying to fight back the tears forming in my eyes. Why can’t I just have a normal mum?
“Are you done?” Her face reddens, a vein appearing on her temple.
I pause for two beats, deliberating what to do, but I need to defend myself, too, not just Kelly. Wedding or not.
“No, I’m not done. When Dad died, you blamed me for it. And I’ve carried that guilt for the last four years. But you know what? His drinking and his homophobia killed him, not me. He was the one who decided to storm out. He was the one who didn’t want to have a gay son. He was the one who couldn’t handle his drink. He was the one who fell down the stairs. Not me.Him.”
The tears are now flowing freely down my cheeks, coming from the release of everything I’ve been carrying, that I’ve wanted and needed to say, since my dad died.
Rob looks over to me, kindness and warmth on his face.
“I don’t have to sit here and put up with this,” she says, pushing herself up and trying to get to the door.
Rob takes a step forward and blocks her path.
“I’m going to have to ask you to follow me. I’m under strict instructions not to let you into that room unless you are willing to apologize to your daughter and your son.” Rob nods toward me.
“Did you not just hear what he said?” My mum spins back on her heel to look at me. “If anyone should be apologizing, it should be him, not me.” She snorts.
“Well ma’am, from where I’m standing, what I can see isthat one of your children is next door crying, minutes before her wedding, because of you. Your other child is trying to tell you about the impact of your behavior and the damage you’ve caused. But you seem unwilling even to listen or take responsibility for your actions.”
My mum starts to open her mouth, but Rob lifts his hand to stop her.
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine it would look good to all the guests downstairs if the mother of the bride is not at the wedding ceremony.” Rob raises a brow. “You have a clear choice here. Either apologize and follow me downstairs to the ceremony and let your children come down separately. Or don’t apologize and I’ll escort you from the premises.”
My mum turns to look at me to see if Rob’s bluffing, but I hold firm, arms crossed over my suit jacket. I don’t know how Rob has the ability to remove my mother, but given that he has to deal with overzealous fans all the time, I’m sure he’ll have no problem taking care of her, just like he did Rita.
My mother turns back to the chair and grabs her clutch from the table.
“I’m sorry,” she says, scrunching up her face in a way so I know she doesn’t mean it, but I’ll take it.
She heads to the door and Rob looks to me. I nod and he opens it, letting her through, and follows behind her, leaving me to take a deep exhale before joining them.
“This gentlemen is going to escort me downstairs while you finish up here,” my mum says to the room. She passes Kate and Nicole, who are seated to either side of Alexander, then grabs Kelly’s shoulder and whispers something in her ear. I assume it’s her feeble attempt at an apology.
“I’ll call one of the local security team,” Rob says to Alexander as he heads to the main door, opening it and motioning my mum to leave, before closing the door behindhim. As it shuts, the tension leaves the space. Like the air being released from a balloon.
