She's here.
I ease out of bed to make coffee. I take it to the couch and start making calls. I call Dom first.
“I need your help,” I say after we exchange pleasantries.
“Name it.”
“I'm organizing a lunch next Saturday at a restaurant in Long Island. Neutral ground. Mom and Dad, Lorraine Bennett, Jasmine, and me. I want you and Sarah there too.”
Dom is quiet for a moment. “You're putting Mom and Jasmine's mother in the same room.”
“Yes.”
“On purpose.”
“On purpose.”
“And you think this is a good idea?”
“I think it's the only idea I have left. Mom hasn't spoken to me in weeks. Jasmine and I almost broke up because the family pressure was crushing us. I can't keep living with our families at war. Something has to change, and waiting for it to change on its own isn't working.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Be there. Bring Sarah. Help me keep it civil if things go sideways.”
“I'll be there. Sarah, too.” He pauses. “For what it's worth, I think you're right. Mom needs to see Jasmine as a person, not as a threat. And Jasmine's mom needs to see that not all of us are the enemy.”
“Thanks, Dom.”
He laughs. “Don’t thank me yet. This could go spectacularly wrong.”
I can’t help but smile. “I’m aware.”
Dom sighs. “Why does she do it? Mom. Why can't she just let us be happy?”
I shake my head. “I've been asking myself that for years.”
“I've thought about it a lot, and the only thing I keep coming back to is that she gave up everything for Dad's career and then for ours. She quit her own sports career and built her entire identity around being the hockey mom. And now, when we choose women who have their own lives and their own careers, it threatens her. It makes her feel like her sacrifice wasn't worth it.”
I frown. “I’ve never thought of it that way,” I admit.
“It's the truth. When we fall in love, Mom feels threatened and attacks.”
It makes sense, but still. “That’s crazy.”
“Think about it,” Dom says. “She's done the same thing to Sarah.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know how you handle it.” I could never be as cool as Dom about it.
“At first, I told myself it wasn't that bad. That Mom was just being Mom. But it hurt Sarah. After the first year, Sarah sat me down and said she loved me, but she needed to know if I was going to let my mother treat her like furniture for the rest of our lives.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her that Mom's behavior was Mom's problem, not ours. We made a pact. We show up, we're polite, we don't engage when she's being difficult, and we go home to our own apartment and live our lives.”
“And that works?”
“It works because Sarah and I are a unit. Mom can say whatever she wants at Sunday dinner, but it stays at Sunday dinner. It doesn't follow us home.”
