“I did. What of it? It’s nice to know that they don’t have to use my money again in half a year, but it’s not like Logan’s college will give me my money back so he can pay out of the fund instead.” I commented nonplussed.
“No, but...” Now she seemed just as confused as I was. “You can take your money back from the fund.”
I blinked at her. That was news to me.
“Danny, do you happen to have a copy of that document lying around? Because, as far as I remember, the beneficiaries of that fund were explicitly listed. My name wasn’t in that very short list.”
“WHAT!?” I suddenly heard John’s distant voice through the kitchen passthrough, and my and Danny’s heads snapped towards it.
Next, Danny’s head snapped back to me, regarding me with a nervous and embarrassed look while I glared daggers at her. So that was the reason for her panicky behavior and why she tried so urgently to get favorable statements about Claire out of me. She had her and John listening in on us.
“Not trying to deceive me, huh? Just making it seem like we’re having a private conversation, so I say shit you knew I wouldn’t say with her next to me. How about, next time, you try to parent-trap us to ‘sort out our differences’?” I said in a mocking voice.
That got to her. And, yes, I enjoyed it.
Suddenly the kitchen door opened when Claire and John stepped into the living room. Both of them looked just as embarrassed as Danny did, as they sat next to her on the sofa, though Claire looked as distraught as the day she left after handing me her letter.
“I’m sorry, Honey. I ju...”
“I don’t care.” I interrupted. “I really don’t. You needed answers and wanted a ‘Professional’ to lead the conversation.”
Danny saw me make air quotes around the word ‘Professional’, but refrained from voicing her disagreement. John did it for her.
“Tim, I know this looks bad, but we all really only had the best intentions!”
“You be quiet, please. You’re the reason we are in this situation in the first place.” I countered, and he recoiled in surprise like his wife did a few minutes earlier. “After you visited me on Christmas and told me what happened here, what did you tell Mom about my demands?”
He collected himself before he spoke.
“I told them that you were willing to try again, as long as she worked with Danny to make sure we all knew how we got to this point, and can make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Uh-huh. What I actually told him,...” I explained, turning towards Claire and Danny. “ ... was that it pissed me off how Mom showed up at a worksite and put my job at risk by demanding yet another thing I do for her, while she was still unable to give me any reason for why I should even try. So, the next time she wanted to talk with me, I wanted to hear EXACTLY what happened for her to simply forget about having a third child.”
“Oh boy.” Danny sighed while Claire slumped in her seat. Only John looked from face to face, looking for an explanation.
“I wasn’t willing to try again, John. I wanted her to work with Danny, so she would realize why I had no reason to give her another chance.” I let that stand for a moment, to make sure it had the intended effect before I continued. “Of course, that’s obsolete now. If you hadn’t misunderstood, she wouldn’t have written that letter. Without the letter, I wouldn’t have allowed her into my apartment, and she would still be just Claire to me. So, there was progress.”
“So ... is there hope?” Claire was silently crying again, and yes, it got to me. But I had to be clear here.
“Look, Mom. You all don’t get to treat me like dead weight for half a decade, and then fix everything by acting like decent human beings for a week. I don’t know what it is you’re hoping to achieve here, but this is not going to go the way you apparently think it will. Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t need any of you. I might need help right now, but I don’t need your help. Since I saved their daughter’s life, the Millers have offered to hire a housekeeper for me, to take care of all the cooking and cleaning. And you saw that I can very well take care of bathroom duty myself. It might not be pleasant, but it’s possible.”
“I understand.” Claire sniffled, but I was relentless. She needed to know where she stood.
“I might acknowledge that you are my mother, but it’s gonna take a long time before I’ll see you as my mother. That is also the reason why I insisted on paying you as much as I can. It makes it easier for me to accept your help. It also gives you some form of limited independence from Aaron, so you can make up your mind about your marriage without having to worry about immediate money issues.”
“Wait. Make up her mind about Aaron!?” John asked, irritated. He was obviously not in favor of the two of them getting back together.
