The other day, Brady’s mom called me. She never calls me.

When I picked up, she said, “Oh, hello. I didn’t expect you to answer.”

What was that even supposed to mean?

“I thought I’d call to check in with you. I’ve sent a couple of text messages and gotten no response,” she continued.

“Oh, sorry. I’ve been busy, as you can probably imagine,” I said.

“I understand.”

There was a beat of silence and then she said, “So I heard you’ve returned to work.”

“I have. Luckily we are still in operation. I was kind of worried I’d come back and there’d be no job for me, but that wasn’t the case. There’s plenty of work still for me to do.”

“And how is Winnie adjusting? It must be hard for her – she’s used to having your undivided attention so I imagine this is quite a transition for her.”

I could not roll my eyes hard enough. “She’s fine.”

“Do you need any help?”

“No. I’ve got it under control. Brady’s helping a ton when he can and everything is perfect.”

“Well, we’d like to see her,” Brady’s mom said. “We were thinking of driving to Connecticut on Saturday for a visit. We don’t need to stay long, perhaps until dinner and then we will leave.”

I didn’t say anything. Surely she was kidding as this was against everything we are supposed to be doing right now.

“How does that sound?”

“I don’t know,” I began. “We’re all supposed to be isolating so probably not. At least not right now.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Reese,” Brady’s mom said dismissively. “We want to see our granddaughter.”

A few months ago, I’d decided that I was not going to deal with Brady’s parents – his mom in particular. Like I just don’t have the patience or desire to and she has no right to be a bitch to me. So I’ve been pushing them back onto him.

“Why don’t we talk to Brady about it? He probably has a better perspective,” I said. She huffed and we hung up.

A few days later, she called me again.

“Brady told me Winnie is measuring in the 20th percentile. This is a huge concern, Reese,” she said.

I almost fucking lost it.

“She’s small! She’s a petite baby. Sometimes babies are small!”

“They are, but usually due to an underlying issue or malnutrition, Reese. I’d like her to see our family doctor here in Massachusetts. He’s one of the best in the country.”

I quickly rushed off the phone, but she texted me afterwards and said, “I’m sure Brady already told you, but we are coming on Saturday to see the baby. We will bring lunch.”

I didn’t reply and when Brady got home, I let him fucking have it. If he isn’t going to control his mother, then he will have to take the abuse from me.

“Oh my God, relax. She’s not trying to be rude, she just wants to make sure Winnie is healthy,” Brady said, rolling his eyes at me.

“Of course she’s healthy! Didn’t you tell her that? You heard the doctor say she’s literally perfect!” I screamed. “And how could you give them permission to come here with this gross virus going around?”

“How could I not let them come visit? That’s so unfair. They haven’t seen her in months.”

Naturally, I was absolutely furious at Brady for being, in my opinion, irresponsible and taking his mother’s side over mine. I didn’t talk to him for the rest of the week.

As promised, Brady’s parents arrived at 11am on Saturday morning. I’d spent the morning crying because the whole situation was out of my control. Winnie, however, was excited for visitors and screamed and giggled as they all greeted each other. I stayed in the kitchen, pretending to clean.

“Reese. It’s nice to see you,” Brady’s mom said after she had come to find me.

“You as well,” I said back politely.

The dad followed her in, carrying the bags of food they brought. He was polite and hugged me (social distancing?????) while Brady’s mom began to unload the food.

Brady came in carrying the baby and his mother said, “Son, how about a tour of your house?” And then she turned to me. “You’ll set up the food, won’t you?” As if I’m some sort of slave!

By the time they got back from the tour, the food was exactly where she’d left it because I was too busy texting my mom, Kendra, Carly and whoever I could think of to complain about her. Brady’s mom gave me a disappointed look as she continued pulling takeout containers out of the shopping bags.

We sat down for lunch where Brady’s parents and Winnie did most of the talking. I’ve noticed that Brady is a teeny bit more confident around his mother now and actually gives his opinion on things. At one point in the lunch, he said, “That isn’t true,” and the mother said, “Yes, it is,” and Brady said, “Mom. That’s false and it’s absurd.” And she backed down. I don’t even know what they were talking about but it was nice to see Brady win for once.

After lunch and several mimosas for me, everyone headed back to the living room while I put Winnie down for a nap. When I got back, everyone stopped speaking and watched me walk in. It’s like, I know you’re talking about me. But I couldn’t even bring myself to care.

Brady’s mom starting talking again, asking Brady if he’s spoken to his brother. “Dominique is threatening to leave him and take the children with her.”

I almost choked on my mimosa at this piece of gossip. Brady didn’t seem to care and didn’t bother asking follow up questions so I had to.

“Why?”

Brady’s mom looked at me. “Because she’s selfish, immature and unreasonable. He should have never married that woman.”

Soooo…not because he goes around having unprotected sex with random women he meets in bars?

“Aww, but if he hadn’t, you wouldn’t have those adorable grandkids,” I said.

“If he had married someone normal and not someone from the ghetto, we wouldn’t have to deal with this crap and we would still have grandchildren.”

I gasped, Brady exclaimed, “Mom!” and Brady’s dad said, “Honey…”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. She’s going to go after his money and assets. It’s no coincidence that she’s doing this now after he sold his patent. She’s classless.”

I couldn’t not say anything. “Have you considered that maybe Hunter hasn’t been a great husband to her?”

“He’s provided her with everything she could possibly want including two perfect children. She was living in squalor when they met, mind you. I’d say he has been nothing but excellent to her,” she said.

I got up and walked back to the kitchen. I couldn’t listen to it anymore. How out of her mind must she be to think Hunter is a good husband? I’d rather be poor than have my man treat me the way Hunter treats Dom. And obviously Dom thinks the same thing. Brady followed me into the kitchen.

“I think they should leave, don’t you think?” I said.

He nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

“I wonder what she says about me when I’m not around. She’s probably telling people that I’m from a trailer park and that my parents are uneducated drunks, you know?”

“She doesn’t say that. I’m sorry for what she said about Dom. I think she’s just really upset about everything,” Brady explained.

And whether she’s really upset or not, her words are hurtful and unacceptable and I don’t ever want my daughter to be around it.

Maybe I was turned on by Brady kind of standing up to his mother because that night we had sex. Well, we tried to. After an hour of kissing and fooling around, Brady put it in and I said, “Oh, I’m not back on birth control yet.”

“Ugh, Reese,” Brady whined like a baby and it was actually quite funny. “I’ll pull out.”

“Does that actually work? Like, have you tried it with a woman who isn’t on birth control and she didn’t get pregnant? Actually, don’t answer that,” I went on.

Brady put a finger over my lips so I’d be quiet.

“But honestly. Winnie is not ready for a sibling yet. She needs to have the undivided love and attention from us for at least a few years.”

He continued, not saying anything.

“Wow, do you want more children like right away? I never even thought to ask you. How many do you want total?”

Finally, Brady stopped and got up.

“Wait, where are you going?” I asked, still completely naked on the bed.

“Forget it. I’m gonna go check on the baby.”

I guess my line of questioning was a turnoff. Also, once everything dies down I need to figure out birth control.

After their visit, I didn’t hear much from Brady’s mom, but she sent me a Mother’s Day gift: a bottle of Dom Perignon and a set of gorgeous crystal champagne flutes (that were $1,200, I Googled). There was absolutely no reason or explanation for the nice gift, and I considered not accepting it. After the comments about Dom and the things she said to me while I was pregnant, I don’t want to accept anything from her. But sending them back would cause more drama so I decided to just thank her and move on. I felt a bit bad that we’d only sent a card, but when I called her and the first thing she wanted to know was if I’m feeding Winnie regularly and if she’s gained any weight, I got over it.

The other thing I got for Mother’s Day is a car, finally. A beautiful white Audi SUV. Too bad I have nowhere to go in it, but it looks fabulous in the garage.

I’ve been eavesdropping on Brady’s work calls again. It’s so hard not to. The other day, he was working and I heard him shouting so Winnie and I ran upstairs to see/hear what the commotion was. Brady never shouts.

“If he doesn’t get his medication in the next fifteen minutes, he will die! Do you fucking understand me? Do you want to be responsible for his someone living as a vegetable for the rest of their life? Get him the fucking medication now!”

Winnie, not wanting to be left out, began screaming at the top of her lungs too, right outside the door. We had to make a run for it.

Another day, I heard Brady say Hunter’s name and I rushed to hear the latest drama.

“She’s fucking crazy. She went and got my cell phone records and has been calling every number this past week. She called my boss and all my business partners.” Hunter said this.

“Why is she doing this now? What set her off?” Brady asked.

Hunter began to respond, but to my disappointment, Brady took the phone off speaker so I couldn’t hear the rest of Hunter’s explanation. Just a bunch of Oh jeez’s. I tried to get the scoop later, but Brady wouldn’t reveal anything. A few days later though, after a couple of bottles of wine, Brady told me that Hunter has been meeting up with women from apps for sex. During a global pandemic. I lost it.

“Is he out of his mind? That’s so fucking vile!” I screamed.

“I know. He regrets it and feels really bad…”

“Of course he feels bad! What a terrible thing to do. And your mother is blaming Dom for being ‘poor and unreasonable.’ I think not wanting your husband to fuck random girls while there’s a deadly virus going around is far from unreasonable.”

Brady looked like he regretted telling me.

I went on. “And you refuse to hold him accountable. If someone I loved behaved like that, I would refuse to have a relationship until they stopped.”

“But he’s an adult. He can make his own decisions.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! That’s not how an adult acts. He’s a fucking child!”

I hadn’t heard much from Brendan. He wasn’t even responding to any emails that I copied him in and he wasn’t posting anything on Instagram. I was going to text him to see why he’d been silent, but before I did I ended up on his wife’s Instagram page. And she’d posted a picture of her laying in a hammock with a man and her legs draping over him. Neither of their faces were in the picture but based on the outfit, shoes, and gold bracelet (why do I have his wardrobe memorized?), I knew she was with Brendan.

And I felt a lot of things. Mostly, why is he even giving that manipulative girl another chance? She’s been so cruel and awful to him during their separation, I can’t see how he’d even want to go back to her. And I have absolutely no right to feel this way, but I guess I was a little bit jealous too. Just imagining her treating him like trash but him still worshipping her. But anyway, it has nothing to do with me and I have no right to feel anything at all about it.

I texted Brendan the other day though. I just wanted to see where he’s been and if he’d fess up. But he didn’t. He said, “Hey, I’m so glad you texted me, I’ve been thinking about you. Things have been so busy.”

And he absolutely did not fess up. Which is weird that he didn’t, but it’s also weird that I think he needs to admit anything to me at all.

That’s all for now.