When Scarlet arrives at her first Thanksgiving dinner as Shaun’s wife, she finds herself looking at a dinner table with no empty seats for her. Instead, she sees a smirking mother-in-law and her husband’s ex-girlfriend sitting next to Shaun, giggling away at his jokes… What will Scarlet do?

Thanksgiving was supposed to be one of those easy family get-togethers, where I could just relax, catch up with everyone, and enjoy some delicious food.

At least, that was what I’d hoped for.

But things get tricky when your mother-in-law is involved, especially one who still insists on inviting your husband’s ex-girlfriend to every single holiday meal. I’d had a few years of dealing with Angela’s snarky, passive-aggressive remarks, but this year, she really outdid herself.

I’ll never forget how that dinner crashed and burned on Thanksgiving, and somehow, I’m the one who got blamed for it all.

Shaun, my husband, had gone to Angela’s place a bit earlier that day. He wanted to help her set up while I made the pies.

“I’ll go ahead and you take your time and make the pumpkin pie, honey,” he said. “And make the pecan pie extra sweet.”

He gave me a kiss on the head and bolted out the door. I wasn’t worried that he left early because Shaun was a menace when I was in the kitchen, always wanting my attention, causing a few burnt meals in the past.

Shaun and I had been married for just five months, and I was still getting to know the family. But still, Angela and I? We’ve never gotten along as well as I’d hoped.

She has a nasty habit of criticizing everything I do, from how I cook to how I dress. But the kicker? She’s still best buddies with Shaun’s ex, Julissa.

Yeah, you read that right.

“Mom doesn’t have any daughters, Scarlet,” he told me once when I asked about it. “I think she just got close to Julissa when we were dating and they hit it off nicely.”

It wasn’t like I hadn’t seen her at family events before. She’s been around so much that I’ve learned to tolerate it. But when I walked into the house that evening and I saw Julissa already sitting next to my husband at the dinner table, my stomach dropped.

The table was full, with everyone already settled in.

And guess what?

There was no seat left for me.

I wasn’t even late, so I couldn’t understand why they just didn’t wait for me.

But there she was, right next to Shaun, laughing at something Shaun said while I stood in the doorway holding two boxes of pie.

I stood there for a second, trying to stay calm. I mean, let’s face it, I’m Shaun’s wife, right? So, shouldn’t I have a seat at that table? I looked at my husband, waiting for him to notice me. Surely, someone would jump up, grab an extra chair, or make some space.

Wrong.

It was like they didn’t even realize that I was there.

I walked over and asked Angela if there was a seat saved for me. The old woman glanced around and shrugged.

“Oh, sorry, Scarlet,” she said. “Libby decided to leave university for the holidays and she came last night. It seems we’ve run out of seats.”

Seriously?

The whole house was filled with chairs, and no one thought to pull up another one? Just one other chair for me?

I tried to brush it off. It was the holidays after all, and I didn’t want to make a scene. But the more I heard Julissa giggle at Shaun, the angrier and more hurt I got. It felt like a slap to the face.

Everyone went silent. The awkwardness was so thick, you could’ve cut it with a knife.

“Why is Julissa sitting next to my husband, but I don’t even have a chair at the table?” I blurted out without thinking.

Angela froze and narrowed her eyes at me.

“What do you mean? Julissa’s a part of the family, too, you know,” she said. Her voice was dripping with that familiar condescending tone, the one she always used when she wanted to put me in my place.

Julissa, of course, nodded along, as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world for her to be there while I stood awkwardly by.

I don’t know what came over me, but I didn’t want to let them see me crack. Instead of storming out like I wanted to, I did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time.

I walked over to my husband and plopped myself right down on his lap.

“I guess this will have to do,” I said, forcing a smile.

Shaun, thank goodness, just smiled back and wrapped his arm around me like nothing was wrong.

Everyone went silent. The awkwardness was so thick, you could’ve cut it with a knife.

I tried to lighten the mood, complimenting the food and asking Shaun if he was comfortable with me sitting on his lap.

“Of course, honey,” he said, chuckling. “I don’t mind one bit.”

We started eating, sharing one plate, but I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. Especially the good old mother-in-law.

I’d never seen her so angry before. Julissa, too, kept glancing between Shaun and I, barely touching her plate.

Angela didn’t say a word throughout the meal, and honestly, neither did the rest of the family. Shaun’s brother, Jasper, tried to make some small talk to cut the tension, but it was obvious that no one was listening.

Shaun and I kept talking to each other about absolute random nonsense and he kept kissing me on the cheek from time to time.