Son-in-Law
Youre repeating yourself. My past is my business. My personal life is over and done with.
My son lives with his mother in London, and I provide for them both in full. Emily knows all about this. Ive never hidden anything from her.
Shes just a child! She barely knows truth from lies!
Mum, Dad, let me introduce you. This is George. My fiancé.
Katherine felt a cold shiver run down her spine, though the lounge was stuffy from the old radiators turned high.
She slowly turned her gaze from her beaming daughter to the man in the doorway.
He wore a well-cut cashmere coat, held an enormous basket overflowing with tropical fruit, and in his other hand, a bottle of wine sealed with thick, red wax.
Richard, standing beside his wife, went rigid. Katherine gripped his arm with both hands.
How old are you, George? thundered the head of the family.
The man calmly stepped into the room.
Im thirty-eight, Richard. I believe were of the same age, arent we?
The same age Katherine swayed, her hand to her brow. Emily, are you being serious?
Mum, dont start! You always said you wanted me to be happy!
I am happy. We love each other. Age is just a number on paper!
Just a number? Richard finally found his voice and stepped forward, nudging his wife aside. When you were starting in Year One, this man was out drinking and running about with girls!
Do you understand, Emily? Hell be forty soon!
Thirty-eight, Dad! Emily snapped. He treats me far better than you have ever treated Mum!
He listens. He values me!
Oh, he values her, does he groaned Richard to Katherine, searching for support. Kate, did you hear that nonsense? What, was he there looking at her in her cradle?
George, Richard spat the name, arent you ashamed?
George set the basket gently on the table.
I understand your shock. Really. If I had a daughter, Id likely be furious too.
But were not here to create a scene, are we?
I love Emily. I intend to marry her.
Get out of my house, Richard said quietly.
Dad! If he goes, I go too! And youll never see me again understood? Emily clung to Georges coat.
Katherine stared at her daughter and could barely recognise her. Where was the quiet girl who, only six months before, had braided her hair and asked for help with her history essay?
Emily stood, fists balled, ready to fight her own family for a man none of them had ever seen before.
Please, lets just sit and talk, Katherine tried to defuse the tension, voice quivering. Richard, calm down. George, please, come in. We truly need to clear the air.
George nodded wordlessly. The family sat around the table in a tense hush.
When did this start? Katherine asked strictly, eyes fixed on her daughter. Those flowers for your eighteenth those enormous bouquets of roses, the gold necklace was that all from him?
Emily tipped her chin up. Yes. And for the six months before, too.
Richard shot up from his chair.
Six months before? She was seventeen! Do you realise I could call the police right now? You want a criminal charge?
George didnt flinch. We only talked, Richard. I never crossed the line before she was of age. Im no fool. Im a grown man with a reputation and my own business. We went to the cinema, I bought her presents. I waited until she was eighteen before proposing properly.
You waited Richard strode up and down the kitchen. Kate, you hear him? Hes been grooming her!
Dad, stop! Emily shouted. It was what I wanted! I fell for him the moment I saw him in the university café. I spoke to him; not the other way around!
She approached you in a café Richard clutched his head. You are only a child, Emily! You havent seen any life at all!
And have you? Emily shot up too. You married Mum at twenty-one! You had nothing shared pasta, lived in a poky bedsit! Is that what you want for me? To scrape by with some student boyfriend, counting pence until the next grant comes in?
We were young and happy! Katherine retorted. We had a future together. We grew as a couple, dont you see?
We already have, George and I! Emily wrapped her arms around him from behind. With him, I feel safe and calm.
He took me to Paris last week, while you thought I was at Sophies cottage!
George, Katherine met his eyes. Look at us. Were your age. Im thirty-eight. Richards thirty-eight. Do you realise, in twenty years, Emily will be thirty-eight in her prime and youll be fifty-eight? Youll be drawing your pension when she wants another child or fancies a career change. Wholl be raising your children then?
Ive more than enough to provide, Katherine, George returned, his voice gentle. The children will want for nothing. Nor will Emily.
I have no intention of dropping dead at sixty. I keep myself fit, I go running.
Running, is it? Richard grumbled, slumping into a chair. Listen here, athlete. You do know youre ruining her life? Shes dazzled by presents and trips to Paris, but what happens when she wants to go out with her friends and you want to sit with a newspaper on the settee?
I dont read newspapers on the settee, Richard. And Emily isnt one for rowdy parties. We have deep conversations. We share real interests.
And what interests could you possibly have in common? Katherine threw up her hands. Cartoons? Or do you give her lessons in tax evasion?
We love architecture, classical music, travel, George remarked evenly. Emilys always been wise for her years. She finds people her own age dull she told me herself.
Of course, she does! Her peers cant buy her trinkets of gold! Richard exploded.
Dad, youre insulting me! Emilys eyes filled with tears. You think Im that shallow? If George had no money at all, Id still marry him!
Oh yes, tell us another tale, Richard turned to the window. Weve heard it all before.
The arguing dragged on all evening and no one agreed on anything. Emily left packed a small bag and simply walked out.
Katherine sat, unmoving on the sofa, her mind spinning. Richard smoked on the balcony though hed quit five years ago.
Kate, its absurd! He strode in, bringing the sharp reek of tobacco. Thirty-eight years old. Hes my age. We probably took O-levels in different towns at the same time. How can I call him my son-in-law? The words stick in my throat.
Shes in love, Richard. Whether its real or not doesnt matter. She cant hear us right now.
And that slippery character? Did you see him? Everything calculated. I waited until she was eighteen. Bah! Hes been grooming her. He probably has Emilys in every city.
I dont know, Richard. He seems serious. Thats what frightens me the most. If he was just a womaniser, shed have noticed. He wants family. She told me she wants children two, right away.
Richard thumped the arm of the chair with his fist.
Children? From whom? From a grandfather? Does she realise in ten years hell start falling apart? Blood pressure, back problems
But shell still be young! Shell want to live!
Ill go and see the high street solicitor tomorrow, Richard said, determined. Let them check when their so-called love started. Ill see him in court.
And lose your daughter forever, Katherine answered quietly. Didnt you see her eyes? Shes just waiting for us to be the villains. That way, hell be not just her lover, but her saviour. A hero who shielded her from cruel parents. Is that what you want?
Richard dropped onto a chair, defeated.
So what do we do, Kate? Give in? Have him round for a barbeque and chat about our creaking knees whenever it rains?
Ill try to talk to her. Tomorrow. Alone.
***
The following day, Katherine met Emily at a small café near the university. Emily arrived on time, fresh and glowing, draped in a new coat certainly not bought on a student grant.
Hello, Mum, Emily perched on the edge of her chair. Dont bother trying to put me off. Youll only be wasting your breath.
I just wanted coffee with my daughter, whom I havent seen since yesterday, Katherine replied calmly. So how are things working out?
George has a huge flat in central London. Its beautiful, Mum A library, panoramic windows. Ive my own walk-in wardrobe now.
Thats lovely, Emily. But a wardrobe is only a cupboard. Living with a man is more than windows and dresses. Habits begin to clash.
We dont have domestic issues, Emily smiled. He has a housekeeper sorts everything. I barely lift a finger.
Katherine sighed, stirring sugar into her cup.
Emily, love, listen to me. Your father and I want the best for you. Were worried. Youre caught up in a whirlwind. But George hes lived through all this already. He knows how to control emotions. He has twenty years over you.
Mum, its just twenty years! Thats barely anything. People in Paris wouldnt even blink.
Thats precisely it. Hes nearly forty. Youre fresh from school. Youre not fully your own person yet. You see life through his eyes. What happens when you develop new interests, and hes stuck on the old ones?
You think Im naïve? Emily narrowed her eyes. You doubt I can handle things?
I think youre rushing. Just wait a year. Live together no marriage. Test your feelings.
No. George wants everything official. He says I deserve to be his wife, not some live-in girlfriend. He respects me.
Or he wants to tie you down quickly, before you wise up, Katherine remarked.
You know, Mum? Emily stood abruptly. You and Dad are simply jealous. Jealous you never had a love story like this. You spent your life scraping to pay the mortgage on that grim three-bed out in Walthamstow. I got lucky. And you cant forgive me for it.
Emily, dont be ridiculous! Theres no envy just worry for you!
I dont want your worry. Im getting married in a month. The dates booked at the registry. You can come or not. Your choice. And with that, Emily left the café.
***
At home, Richard was seething.
Done some digging, he said curtly. George William Harrington. Owns a security firm. Divorced. Has a fifteen-year-old son from his first marriage almost the same age as our Emily!
Katherine covered her face with her hands.
God, Richard thats all we needed.
I spoke to his ex-wife. She called him a tyrant. Barely escaped with her child.
He wont mention that. And if we do, Emily wont believe us.
Ill confront him at work, Richard got up, jaw set. Man to man.
No! Richard, dont! Youll only make it worse.
But there was no stopping him. The following afternoon Richard showed up at Georges Mayfair office. No cordial chat took place.
Listen here, Harrington, Richard leaned both hands on the polished oak desk, I know about your ex. And your son. Whats your game? Shes eighteen! You could be her father!
Richard, George leaned back in his leather chair, youre repeating yourself. My past is my own. My son lives with his mother in London entirely provided for. Emily knows all of this. I’ve hidden nothing from her.
Shes a child! She doesnt know truth from fantasy!
Shes a grown woman. Shes made her choice. I propose peace between us. Lets not descend into melodrama. Well marry whether you approve or not. My legal team have checked everything possible. Your threats are empty. Now, if youll excuse me.
***
A month later, the wedding took place. Katherine and Richard did not attend. Later, Emily sent several photos herself in a breathtaking gown by a renowned designer, George in his tuxedo, the two of them standing before a stately English manorMonths drifted by in uneasy silence. Emily sent a short email after the honeymoona single, blurry photo of her hand in Georges, two gold bands glimmering. Katherine stared at it for a long time, unable to recognize her daughters slender fingers against that mature, unfamiliar grasp.
Seasons turned. Letters from Emily came sporadically, then not at all. Christmas approached; presents were returned unopened. Richard began sleeping with the light on.
One bleak February morning, just as the city coughed up its first reluctant crocuses, the Harringtons bell rang. Katherine, heart pounding, opened the door.
Emily stood in the hallway. Her eyes seemed larger now, darker. The coat hung off her shoulders.
Can I come in, Mum? she said softly.
Katherine nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Inside, Emily wandered the lounge, running her fingertips along old photographsher tenth birthday, her first day at school, the three of them at Brighton pier. A silence passed between them, heavy as fog.
I wanted to see you both, Emily finally began, her voice thin but determined. I thoughtmaybeId figured everything out, but nothings ever simple. George is complicated. Not unkind, not cruel, but the world is his shape, always. Hes generous, but strictlike living inside someone elses life.
She took a ragged breath.
I miss you. I miss laughing about nothing in the kitchen. I miss making mistakes and not having to be so polished.
Katherine closed the distance, enfolded her daughter tightly. The old warmth, so fiercely missed, rushed back between them.
Come home, she whispered. Stay until you want to leave again. We dont need to talk about anything right now.
Emily gripped her mothers hand, almost little-girlish, and smiled through her tears.
Later, Richard stumbled in from work, briefcase underarm. For a moment, father and daughter simply stared at one anotheruncertain, stubborn, and aching.
Hello, Dad.
Richard blinked rapidly, voice rough. We kept your room just the same, Em. Even the stuffed pandawell, your mother did.
Emily laughed, shaky but real. Thanks, Dad.
He cleared his throat, brushing dust from the mantle. Stay as long as you want. No speeches.
That night, as they ate takeaway around the old, wobbly table, stories from years past gradually returned. Laughter crept in, tentative and then unrestrained. Emily looked around at the home shed once dismissed and felt a fiercely unexpected relief.
Some loves are brilliant and blinding and burn themselves out; others weather quietly, enduring in spite of heartache. In the end, Emily realized, the truest safety was not found in grand gestures or Parisian hotels, but in the steadfast warmth of those willing to open their arms, no matter how untidy the return.
Outside, the streetlamps flickered against the rising spring, and behind thick curtains, a family pieced itself back togetherfragile but unbroken, mending by the dim, golden light.
