1st Episode :
The Daughter-in-Law’s Sickness
Having returned from her youngest daughter’s house "retired hurt" last week, my mother-in-law kept a "low profile" 😶 for two or three days, without making any noise.
Since yesterday evening, I have been running a very high fever. 🌡️ Feeling extremely weak and unable to even lift my head, I collapsed onto the bed.
Early this morning, before my husband left for work, he gave me medicine, called my mother-in-law, and said,
"Amma, she is still very ill. Please check on her. Don't bother to cook; I will come early and bring food. Until then, could you make her some soup?"
With great compassion, the mother-in-law replied,
"Oh, yes son, don't let this child get out of bed. I will take care of her. Making some soup for her is not a big task at all."
She spoke like a truly kind Queen Mother.
As soon as my husband left for the office, the Queen Mother's "true colors" 👹 came out.
With my fever raging well past normal, my mother-in-law came to the doorway of the room, coughed loudly, and began her "opening spell."
"I wonder about girls these days; they fall ill just by catching a little cold wind. In our time, we used to do housework even while enduring labor pains. Now, look, the laundry and the house are all left just as it is,"
she grumbled loudly enough for me to hear, and then went to the living room. 🧹
I was angry amidst the fever, but because my body was weak, I stayed silent and played a defensive game.
Around 12 noon, even though I was hungry, I couldn't get out of bed. My mother-in-law came to my room bringing a 'special delivery.' I thought to myself, "Oh, at least she made me some soup."
However, the moment I saw the plate she placed on the table, my fever dropped instantly.
On the plate were reheated sprat curry from last night, which had turned solid in the refrigerator, and two pieces of burnt bread.
"Oh daughter, I can't do anything alone, you see; I got this terrible knee pain today. It's hard even to stand, let alone make soup"
Since you have a fever, you need to eat something spicy, so I reheated last night's gravy and brought it, Eat this and take your medicine,"
she said, and turned to leave like a queen departing her palace.
Then she turned back again and started her nostalgia trip: "In our young days, we didn't lie down no matter what sickness we had. We used to........" 🙄
Just as she was about to start, I, like a batsman who saw a 'bouncer,' forgot my fever and hit a 'hook shot'
"Oh, thank you, Amma, for thinking about me. But the doctor said I have a viral fever, so it is contagious."
I'm just worried that if you catch it with your knee pain, there will be no one to look after you. That's why I'm scared," I said, and coughed a little. 💨
As soon as she heard the word "contagious," my mother-in-law jumped back three feet. "Oh... that's right... I'm not feeling too well myself," she said, and practically flew out of the room.
However, the "match" didn't end there. Around 5 pm, my husband rushed home. He came straight into my room, bringing food and drink.
"Oh babe, I got stuck in a meeting and couldn't come early. Sorry, honey, did Amma give you some soup?"
As soon as my husband asked this, my mother-in-law peeked into the room from the living room. 👀
Without any panic, I showed him the plate of cold sprat curry on the table.
"Amma had a knee pain today, poor thing. But she treated me amazingly. Look,"
I said, putting on a very innocent face. "She brought me yesterday's sprat curry and bread, just the way I like it spicy. Considering Amma's knee pain, it's a big deal that she prepared this for me." 😇
My husband looked at the plate, and then looked at my mother-in-law with a look that said, "Amma, is this how you treat my wife?"
Trying to cover up her shame, my mother-in-law started stammering, "No, son... I... I prepared a tasty meal for daughter..."
Before she could finish, my husband said,
"If Amma was sick, you should have called and told me. If so, I would have arranged something. It's okay now. Amma must be hungry too. I've brought food, let's eat."
When he said that, my mother-in-law was "clean bowled" on a massive scale.
With nothing else to do, muttering to herself, "Oh, I don't know, you can't do good in these houses either," she went to her room and shut the door.
As my husband lovingly fed me, I laughed to myself. Even though I had a fever, the "daughter-in-law's innings" was played brilliantly.
Today's Fever Match Scorecard:
Me: Even though I was bedridden, I took advantage of the situation and played a "match-winning" brilliant innings.
Husband: He arrived at the right time and hit my mother-in-law's "wicket" until it was completely shattered.
Mother-in-Law: Attempting to score points while I was sick, she got "clean bowled" by her own son and "locked down" in her room out of shame. 💨
2nd Episode :
The Younger Sister's Visit
I am still not completely well. But I've been managing to do my usual chores. Yesterday, my mother called me and said, "Daughter,bwe are coming to visit you tomorrow morning." 😊
So, I was bursting with happiness and told my mother-in-law the news.
"Oh Amma... my parents are coming here tomorrow morning."
My mother-in-law suddenly looked up and down, made a wry face, and said,
"Well, one must treat relatives well when they visit." But, she tried to shift to the "safe side" beforehand, saying,
"However, daughter, I'm not feeling well these days; I'm a bit unwell, so I won't be able to help with the cooking." 🙄
"Oh no, Amma, why would you bother? I will take care of everything," I said.
By nine o'clock on Saturday morning, my parents' vehicle entered the gate.
As soon as my mother, father, and younger sister entered the house, my mother-in-law was on the sofa in the living room, welcoming them with a smile saying, "Ah... come... come..."
My mother went straight to my mother-in-law.
"Oh Akka... how are you? I heard daughter was also a bit sick. That's why we came to see you. We also brought some harvest from our garden,"
my father said, placing king coconuts, bananas, and a jakfruit nearby.
"Not only that, daughter told me that Akka only eats light meals for dinner. That's why I made some string hoppers with fragrant red rice flour and some onion sambol for breakfast,"
My mother said, opening the containers and placing them on the table.
Remembering the "bunch of unripe bananas and four slices of bread" my mother-in-law had received from her youngest daughter last week, I wonder if she thought of that, as her face lit up like a "flash."
"Oh... yes Nangi, I hardly eat heavy meals. But just looking at these makes me hungry,"
my mother-in-law said, and put about ten string hoppers onto her plate with the logic that "heavy meals are bad for dinner, but it's okay for breakfast." 😆🍽️
After breakfast, my mother, sister, and I went to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
My mother-in-law poked her head in and said, Nangi, since you all are here, I suggested making some chicken for the daughter. In our houses, a meal is never prepared without meat or fish when a relative visits."
My mother smiled and said,
"Oh, Akka, we eat chicken almost every day, I suppose. Husband brought some fish and prawns yesterday because son loves them"
" That's why I told daughter to make fried fish, a prawn curry, potato, and a salad.
"Oh... yes, fish is good. Fish prices are sky-high these days," my mother-in-law slid back to the living room smoothly.
When lunch was ready on the table, the whole house smelled delicious. As everyone sat down and got ready to eat, my husband arrived early, taking a short break from work.
As soon as he saw my husband, the mother-in-law said, "Look son, I prepared a superb feast for your mother-in-law, father-in-law, and sister-in-law."
As the four of us looked at each other in surprise at that statement, my sister opened her mouth to say something, but looked down, scared by our father's glare. 🥺
Since I'm still not well, my parents left my sister with us for two or three days because she has a break from university.
In the evening, while we were sitting in the living room drinking tea and looking at old albums, my mother-in-law started her usual opening spell.
" Looking my sister up and down at the shorts she was wearing,
"Oh, I wonder about women's clothes these days. In our time, we used to dress modestly, wearing them long, below the knee. I wonder if girls today don't have money to buy fabric to dress like this,"
she launched an indirect attack on both me and my sister at once. 🤔
I was about to look at my sister and play a "defense," but my sister went on the "front foot" and hit a superb "sixer."
"Then Auntie, isn't it Auntie who is wearing a skirt that is not even a foot long? brother-in-law just said that this is Auntie,"
she showed a photo of my mother-in-law's youth.
"Poor thing, it seems Auntie didn't even have money to buy a piece of fabric in those days. Otherwise, she wouldn't be dressing like this." 😲
My mother-in-law's face turned like a piece of charcoal all of a sudden. As she choked on a sip of tea and coughed, she retreated to her room saying,
"These children don't know how to talk to elders."
Today's Daughter-in-Law's Mother Came Match Scorecard:
Daughter-in-Law's Side: With superb "home ground" advantage and a perfectly tasty feast, they took a "hat-trick" of wickets with words alone.
Husband: Today too, like a "cheerleader" on his wife's side, he enjoyed the meal to the fullest, suppressing his laughter. 😁🍽
Mother-in-Law: Went to say unnecessary things and got dismissed at mid-wicket.
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