Mommy in law

"No." Peter insisted. "I'm sure I'll find a job soon."

"It's been three months," Nicole reminded him. We're running out of savings. We won't be able to pay the rent next month."

Peter snorted. He knew his wife was right, but what she was suggesting was demeaning.

"It's not like we're begging. It was Mom's idea. She wants us there."

"Yeah, but..." Peter didn't believe that last part. He'd never really gotten along with Nicole's mother.

"Her house is big enough," Nicole continued. "And now that Jessica has moved out, Mom is all alone there."

Stefan wanted to argue, but he knew the matter was already settled. They had no other choice. They were going to move back to Amanda's hometown to live with her mother.

Nicole's mother: Elizabeth is a tall, slender, and beautiful woman, 52 years old, with graying hair but a youthful face.

They soon arrived at their new home.

"Nicole!" her mother greeted her with a tight hug. "Welcome home."

"Thanks, Mom." Nicole returned her hug.

"Hi, Elizabeth," Peter said. He wasn't surprised, but he was still annoyed by her apparent indifference to his presence.

Elizabeth released her daughter. "Let's get you settled." Then she finally acknowledged his presence: "Peter can get the bags."

Peter rolled his eyes as he retrieved their suitcase. When he returned to the front door, the women were already waiting in Nicole's old bedroom.

Nicole was a very girly girl. She was still very feminine, but in a more mature way. There was nothing mature about this room. Almost everything was pastel pink and frilly, and the shelves were lined with shelves of dolls and teddy bears.

Of course, Peter had seen this room before. He had often teased Nicole about keeping her room like a little girl until she moved out. However, it hadn’t really registered until that moment that it was now her room.

Then he realized another problem. “Um…where are we going to sleep?” he said, pointing to the single bed decorated with big pink hearts.

“It’s okay.” Elizabeth wasn’t worried. “It’s a wooden bed that Nicole’s friends used to sleep in.” She pulled it out to show him.

Nicole could tell Peter wanted to say more, but he spoke before she had a chance. “Thanks, Mom. We’ll figure it out from here.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.” Elizabeth turned to leave, then returned with a sigh. "It's so good to have you home again."

After giving Elizabeth a chance to gamble aimlessly, he said loudly, "Are you asleep? I'm your husband."

Nicole tried to calm her down. "Calm down. When one of us gets a job, we can buy a bigger bed."

"I told you she doesn't love me." Peter didn't seem to hear her. "She thinks I'm not good enough for you."

"It's not you. She's had trouble with men since she divorced my father."

"This really doesn't make me feel any better."

They unpacked and then had lunch with Elizabeth. While Nicole chatted happily and caught up with her mother, Peter ate in awkward silence, planning to get to the bedroom as soon as possible.

Just as he was about to run away, the doorbell rang.

Nicole put down her fork and was about to get up when Janet stopped her. “Let Peter get the door. He’s finished eating.”

Peter got up and went to open the door. At least it got him away from the table.

“Oh. Hi, Peter.” Jessica was Nicole’s sister. “Where’s Nicole?”

Peter pointed to the kitchen. “She’s having lunch with your mother.”

Jessica went to see her sister without another word. She hated Peter. He looked a lot like his mother, and she got along just as badly with him.

As Peter passed the kitchen on his way back to the bedroom, he heard their excited greetings. Almost out of earshot, he heard Jessica ask, “Why are you still married to him?”

He leaned closer to hear Nicole’s response. “What are you talking about?”

She’s useless. You had to come back here because she can’t hold down a job.

"The company went out of business. It wasn't his fault."

"Well, he had plenty of time to find another one. Instead, he's here, beating Mom."

Peter couldn't take it anymore. He went back to the room and wondered if Jessica was right. What kind of man was he? He couldn't even support himself and his wife.

That night, Peter lay awake on the wooden bed.

"Are you okay?" Nicole asked from his bed.

"I heard Jessica talking about me."

"Oh." Nicole immediately knew what she was talking about. "Don't take this too seriously. She won't understand."

"I'll find a job."

"I know you will, honey."

Soon he heard Nicole's changing breathing and realized that she had fallen asleep. It took much longer.

Stephen woke up late the next day. Nicole was already gone. He sat on the bed, browsing job postings on his laptop until the need to use the bathroom prompted him to leave the room and wash up daily.

He had barely returned from the bathroom when he heard Elizabeth's voice. "Stephen. Can you come here?" She sounded like she was addressing a naughty child.

He quickly put on some clothes and followed the sound outside the room to see Elizabeth standing in the bathroom doorway. "What?"

"See for yourself." He pointed to the tiles.

Peter looked where she was pointing and Roth saw the urine.

“Excuse me.” There was no reason to deny it since he was the only man using the toilet. “I’ll clean it.”

“Yes, you will,” he said, then added, “And if we keep this up, I’ll have to teach you from scratch.”

She blushed as Peter rushed to get cleaning supplies.

As he was mopping the floor, he heard the doorbell ring and Nicole answered.

“Hi, George.” Nicole greeted the guest. “Wow. It’s been a while.”

Jessica told me you moved in. A male voice answered. “I should have seen you.”

This set off a red flag for Peter, who quickly finished his work and washed his hands.

She joined them in the living room.

Nicole introduced them: “Oh, there you are. This is George. We dated in high school.” “George, this is my husband, Peter.”

"Hi," Peter extended his hand politely. An ex-boyfriend sniffing around was the last thing he needed right now.

"Hi." George shook his hand a little tighter. "I heard you're having trouble finding work."

"Well, we just got here," Peter said, releasing George's hand. "I'm sure I'll find something soon."

"Maybe I can help you," George offered. "I run an accounting firm."

"Thanks." Peter tried to sound as cordial as possible, but he couldn't bring himself to think about working for Nicole's ex-boyfriend. "But I'm not an accountant."

"I know, but there are other jobs. There's an opening in the mailroom right now."

Peter almost cursed George for suggesting such a menial job.

Nicole sensed this and quickly changed the subject. "So. Are you seeing anyone right now, George?"

"No." he replied. "I haven't met anyone who compares to you."

"Oh. You're so sweet. I'm sure you'll meet someone. You're a great guy."

Peter didn't want to be around this man anymore, but there was no way he was going to leave him alone with Nicole.

When George left, a few hours later, Peter was furious. He also had a terrible need to pee. He had been holding back, not wanting to leave George unsupervised with his wife.

He locked himself in the toilet and let the flow go. Since he was focused on other things, much of it was missed. He finished speaking and looked at the mess he had made. Remembering Elizabeth's reaction last time, he knew he should clean it up, but he was so angry.

"Damn it." he declared, flushing the toilet and not even bothering to put the seat back on.

It didn't take long for Elizabeth to find her mess. "Peter!"

This time Peter knew exactly what it was about. He stayed in the bedroom, staring at his laptop. Hiding here wouldn’t save him, but there was no way he could get to her.

He braced himself, expecting Elizabeth to burst into the room at any moment. She didn’t. Instead he heard her talking to Nicole. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but he was sure she was complaining about the state she’d left the toilet in. A few minutes later he heard the front door close and everything was quiet again.

Finally he mustered up the courage and poked his head out of the room. Elizabeth and Nicole were gone. His urine was still on the toilet floor. Now that his anger had subsided, and considering what Nicole must have thought of him, he was embarrassed to leave it like that.

He cleaned it up, then went back to the bedroom to figure out how to explain himself and apologize to Nicole and her mother.

She had made very little progress on this when she heard them return. Moments later, Nicole followed her mother into the bedroom. Both of them were carrying bulging shopping bags.

"I'm really sorry," Peter began.

"It's too late for that." Elizabeth stopped her. I warned you what I would do if you messed up the toilet again.

"Huh?" Peter was confused.

"I want to repeat your potty training." Elizabeth reached into one of the shopping bags and pulled out what looked like a stack of white towels.

"I thought you were kidding." Peter watched in confusion as she took the top off the stack and unfolded it on his bed. Unlike the towels, it was square.

"You clearly don't know how to use the toilet properly. So I'm going to teach you and we'll start from scratch."