Wedding Blues

The Mother in Law

"Anabelle?" The sweet desirable voice I yearned to hear, came flowing through the large cedar door of my dressing room. I rushed over as quickly as my dress would allow and pressed my ear to the cool cedar wood.
"Oh Troy! I have missed you, I can't wait to see you." I placed my hand on the floral carved door, wishing I could touch his face instead. We were adamant about sticking to the classic wedding traditions, including not being able to see each other until we meet again at the altar.
"I know darling, I miss you, I can't wait until I can hold you in my arms once again. Last night was lonelier than I could have imagined." My heart skipped a beat, I completely agreed with him, trying to fall asleep last night would have been near impossible if he hadn't ordered me a nightcap and had it delivered to my room at the hotel. It was those kind little gestures from the heart that made me fall in love with him - Troy has one of the largest and kindest hearts I have ever known, and when he opened it up to me and let me in, it made me feel safe for the very first time.
"Did you get your present? I had my sister slip into your room while you were sleeping, I hope you don't mind." All I could do was smile at the door.
"How could I mind such a precious gift? I love them, thank you so much Troy." He always knew exactly what I would love, his taste was impeccable - before Troy, I didn't even know the difference between cubic zirconia and a real diamond, and now here I am dressed from head to foot in all sort of sparkly gems - just the way he wanted it.
"The guys are calling me back; It's not long now, until I get to hold your hand in mine and call you my wife. I love you my darling." A small whoosh of panic settled in my throat, I didn't want him to leave me, I didn't want to be alone again.
"Oh, yes, of course. Have fun dear, I am counting the minutes until I get to call you my husband." The tone of my voice didn't manage to hide the worry, however I didn't want Troy to notice, I didn't want him to worry about me. I want him to have the best wedding day he could have ever imagined, I just couldn't wait to not have to be cooped up in this room, alone. Always alone.
"Chin up darling, I won't have anything but a smile on that beautiful face today, I know you're pouting." Just hearing him say that brought the edges of my lips up into a slight grin. Troy was right, today I must keep a smile on my face, if not for me to have a good day, but for him too.
"As you wish."

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It wasn't long after Troy had gone off with his buddies that my soon to be mother-in-law, Lena, decided to come keep me company - or so I thought. Lena and I haven't been able to see eye to eye on much - Lena has never been able to hide her disdain for her son's love for me. I truly believe that this woman would never think any woman would ever be good enough for her 'precious boy'. Despite her efforts to try and convince Troy to not marry me, she completely failed and jeopardized her relationship with Troy. In the beginning when we first met, he would let Lena have her little jabs at me, he would let a few eye rolls slide off his back - but she finally broke the last straw when she invited an old family friend of theirs over to lunch one day.

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"Troy darling, could you get the door?" Lena's bell like voice chimed with a smile as she gently placed her hand on Troy's shoulder.
"Yes, mother, I will be right back." Troy pushed his seat out from the glass dining table on the family mansions terrace. It was my first time here at the estate, I had to admit that I was completely out of place, there was no doubt in my mind I didn't belong here. The unfortunate scowl on Lena's face only confirmed what I was feeling, I had trespassed into her perfect life and I was the last person she wanted for her son.
"So, Anabelle, how did you meet Troy again?" Lena is a tiny woman, about two heads shorter than myself, she is a platinum blonde that always has hair as big as Texas and never leaves the house without a full face of makeup. Lena and I were cut from two completely different cloth's.
"Well, Troy is the T.A. in my Econom ics class, and I was having some issues early on in the semester. As kind as he is, he took the time to help me get back on track in the class." It wasn't long after our first tutoring session that Troy asked me out to dinner where he practically swept me off my feet. Troy is a charming man, tall, dark and handsome. The way only the good ones come. I was extremely resilient towards Troy's affections in the beginning, but he managed to break down my walls to let himself in.
"That's my boy, always rooting for the underdog." Ouch. The first stab of many I presumed - I gently cleared my throat and gave her a shy smile. Thankfully in that moment Troy made his way back onto the terrace, accompanied by a model-like blonde with a smile that could light up the night sky. This woman took me completely by surprise, her long blonde hair was perfectly groomed, the slit on her designer dress brought my attention to her tan legs that never seemed to end.
"Mother, were you expecting company?" I quickly searched Troy's face for any sign of an attraction to this unknown woman - I have never been jealous, is this what being jealous felt like?
"Rose! Oh dear, you are a vision!" Lena gushed over this blonde leggy monster - I should have known, this was a set up. "Troy, you remember Rose don't you?" My eyes shot to Troy's who's eyes were already locked on mine.
"Vaguely." He must have known it was a set up too, he smoothly walked across the terrace to my side of the table that was overlooking the many acres of the family estate.
"Oh sure you do, you both went to camp when you were 12, you came home that summer saying you were going to grow up and marry her someday." It was like a sterling silver knife was in the freezer and someone plunged it deep into my werewolf heart. The cold, painful, burn of his mothers words would be stuck with me until further notice.
"We were just kids, I'm sure even Rose hardly remembers that summer." Troy tried to laugh it off, I know he could see the visible tension between my hand, and the cloth napkin in my lap that I was twisting into a knot.
"Of course I remember! You gave me a watermelon ring pop as a promise ring, I had it for the longest time, until the family dog got a hold of it." Rose's too big smile and her chime like laugh was beginning to grate my nerves. Of course she remembers you Troy, you were probably just as amazing then as you are now.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. So, Mom, are we going to eat or just talk about what is practically history?" Troy who was standing behind me with his hands on my shoulders, pulled out a chair and sat beside me. I have always found Troy's deep ocean like eyes positively entrancing, he brought my hand up to his mouth before giving me a smile and a gentle kiss on the back of my hand.
"Of course, we can do both!" Lena's utmost excitement made my stomach twist as tight as the knot in the cloth napkin. Does she really not realize how uncomfortable she is making both Troy and I? Or maybe she doesn't care, maybe this is her way of trying to get me to leave her son alone.
"No mother. Food, and normal conversation or nothing at all." The firmness in Troy's voice caught us all by surprise, I had never heard him raise his voice to anyone, let alone his precious mother.
"Troy, what has got into you?" Lena placed her hand on her heart as if he had struck her with his words.
"Mom, we know exactly what you're doing. No offense Rose, but I'm not interested. I am marrying this wonderful creature next to me. I apologize for whatever it is my mother promised you with to get you here today, because it's not going to be me." All of our jaws had dropped, I don't think Lena expected him to call her out on her plan, because I certainly didn't. Rose's cheeks turned so red she practically matched the strawberries in the fruit salad - I found myself pitying her, she had actually thought she could come in and take Troy from me. I didn't even have to say a word, and she was shot down and sent on her way. Rose quickly pushed back her seat and ran off the terrace and into the house.
"I didn't raise you to be rude to company, you need to go apologize to that poor girl." Lena was standing with her hands firmly placed on the table as if she was trying to make herself look bigger than her usual 5'0" stature. Troy stood to match her.
"I will not, you brought her here completely out of disrespect for me and the woman I love. If anyone should apologize to her, it should be you." Troy turned to me and took my hand, I grabbed my purse and we quickly rushed back into the jaw dropping mansion and didn't stop until we reached the car.
"Troy! Troy!" Lena ran yelling after us, but we didn't turn back. I watched Lena in the rearview mirror, standing there defeated in her perfect driveway watching her perfect son drive away with the most imperfect woman.
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"Well Anabelle, you make an absolutely flawless bride." Lena's arms were wide open as if she wanted to hug me as she circled me and made a fuss.
"Thank you Mrs. Williams." Every time Lena is around, I do my best to be as polite as I possibly can - I refuse to give her any reason to think that I'm not the perfect match for Troy. All of her thoughts about me are strictly because of her feelings towards me, not my actions.
"Oh, please, call me Lena. We are going to be family now." I didn't like this distinct sound of a scheme in her voice, she had something up her sleeve and I could tell. Two years with Troy, and I know exactly what it sounds like when his mom is about to bring a storm cloud in.
"Ok . . . Lena." Even saying her name out loud made me uncomfortable, alright lady, what's the catch? Lena just smiled as if she knew something I didn't know.
"Since we are . . . Family now, I need you to do something for me." Lena reached into her box like black purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"What is that?" I could feel the flutters in my chest of either anxiety or anger, I couldn't quite tell which one it was yet.
"This?" She held up the paper, "Well it's a little itty bitty thing I need you to sign. In the long run it will protect both you and Troy." If this was true, then why wouldn't Troy be the one to have me sign it? I took the paper from her hands, probably in a completely impolite way.
"This is a prenuptial agreement . . . " My heart sank deep into my stomach - did Troy know anything about this? There was no way Troy knew about this, if he did, he would have asked me to do it himself. I looked up to see Lena with the largest grin, she had been waiting for the perfect moment to present me with this, I just know it.
"Does Troy know about this?" I waved the paper in the air in anger - Lena refused to say anything, just stood there with that stupid smile on her face. Today, of all days. We had been planning this wedding for over a year, how could she have waited this long to present me with this awful piece of paper. Something that says, "I don't trust you." Troy should know that I would never take a thing from him, it took him almost an entire year to get me to let him buy me dinner without me paying for half.
I looked up at Lena, back down at the paper - then, she handed me a pen.