Julissa eventually excused herself to the bathroom, and Angela followed right behind her. They both left their plates untouched, and nobody needed to guess what they were talking about in there.

When dinner ended, Shaun and I took slices of pie to eat on the porch.

“I’m sorry about the chair situation, Scarlet,” he said. “But I’m not complaining about the fact that you were sitting on me the entire time.”

I smiled. At least my husband had the decency to apologize about it.

“Your mother isn’t going to be happy about the entire thing, though,” I said. “But, really? That was so inconsiderate.”

Shaun didn’t say anything else, he just squeezed my hand and ate quietly.

When we went inside, everyone was sitting around in the living room, drinking cider and nibbling on desserts. They were talking to each other animatedly, but when we walked in, they all stopped talking.

Shaun glanced at me and took my hand. We both knew what this was about.

“Okay, we’re heading out,” Shaun announced to his family. “We have a long drive to Scarlet’s parents’ house tomorrow.”

“You could just stay and let Scarlet go alone,” Angela said. “We barely spoke to you today. I didn’t catch up and tell you about my health scares recently, son.”

“What? Are you okay?” my husband asked immediately.

“Mom’s fine,” Jasper said, rolling his eyes. “She wasn’t well and thought she had some rare illness, but all her results came back clear.”

“Don’t just dismiss it like that, Jasper,” Julissa said, perched on the couch next to Angela. “It was quite a scary experience.”

I actually rolled my eyes. Who was this woman? And why did she think that she had a place in this family?

Did she?

It was clear that Angela wanted her to be in Shaun’s life. And she was probably praying for a wedge to come between us, ending our relationship so that Julissa could claim her place.

The thought made me sick.

What kind of mother would actively want to ruin their son’s relationship just because she couldn’t get over his ex-girlfriend?

“Well, as long as you’re fine, Mom,” Shaun said. “I’ll come and see you during the week and we can chat about that.”

Angela looked disappointed, but she didn’t try and argue with him.

“Come on, Scarlet,” Shaun said, taking our leftovers and grabbing the car keys.

We went home and I wanted to ask Shaun about Julissa’s place in our lives, but I didn’t want to ruin the evening. And I had noticed how Shaun had given me so much attention when I got to Angela’s house. If I’m being honest, he barely acknowledged her presence.

“I’m going to take a shower and then we can watch a movie?” Shaun asked as I put the leftovers in the fridge.

“That sounds perfect,” I said.

As I sat on the couch and waited for Shaun, my phone buzzed.

There it was, the thing that I had been waiting for since we left Thanksgiving dinner.

A text from Angela.

You ruined Thanksgiving with your childish stunt, Scarlet. You were inappropriate for sitting on my son’s lap. And you made Julissa uncomfortable. You could have gotten a chair from the kitchen or a stool from the mudroom. You could have been a reasonable adult. But you’re not. You’re immature. I am so disappointed in you.

I stared at the message for a good ten minutes, my anger rising to the surface again. I mean, was it my fault that no one saved me a seat at the table? And why was Julissa always treated like some queen in the family while I was always left to fend for myself?

“Should I reply?” I asked myself. “Should I show it to Shaun?”

I thought about it long and hard, and before I knew it, Shaun was out of the shower and sitting on the couch next to me.

My husband pulled me toward him, making me forget about Angela’s horrible message.

The next day, I posted the entire story online, just needing to vent and hoping that someone, anyone really, would have my back.

Most of the comments were on my side. But quite a few said that Shaun should have stood up for me, or at least gotten me a seat before I arrived.

A few people said that I should have left the second I realized they didn’t make room for me.

Other comments went like this:

Why isn’t he managing his mother and shutting down her matchmaking with the ex?

Ultimately, this needs to go through him, and he seemed passive in all of this.

What on earth? I’d call out the mother-in-law and ex-girlfriend at the table. And then demand that my husband leave with me. Fast food for Thanksgiving is always a good idea.

As I sat there, reading through the comments, I realized that I needed to have a much bigger conversation with Shaun. And I needed to have a confrontation with Angela and Julissa.

If not, I was just bound to ruin the next family dinner too.