by Stephen South

Created on: November 14, 2008

I woke up at around one o'clock in the afternoon that day, the day my wife May gave me the wonderful news.

"Hey baby get up, my parents are coming over for dinner tonight", May's tone of voice seemed upbeat as she closed the front door.

"Geez, I know it's October but 45 degrees so soon?"

May crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly.

"They'll be here at about 6pm today. "

I mean yeah, they were her parents, but they had nothing in common with her. May was an only child so it's not as if any anger her parents took out on her was divided between other siblings first. They fought over little things when we both lived with them a few years back. That's pretty common in that particular type of living scenario, but when a fight took place between May and her parents sparks flew. May was such a hot head and her parents were right behind her.

When they fought it was like "The Clash of the Titans". It was amazing and frightening at the same time. They would all scream at the top of their lungs at each other and it wasn't uncommon for things to be thrown around either. In the end May would say something hurtful to her mother Annabelle, and Annabelle would leave the room in a fit of tears. Then her father Hank would say something to make her feel guilty.

"How can you be so cruel toward your own mother?" he would say.

Then he would follow-up with an insult directed at me.

"Don't take Daniel's shortcomings out on us! We knew you couldn't handle marriage so soon, and Daniel? What were you thinking?"

Their arguments never took place too far from me. It was as if they intentionally did so in order to inform me of their disapproval of our marriage without being so direct. The funny thing is they would always have May bring me into a room where they were all waiting for a family meeting afterwards, and Hank and Annabelle would tell me I was like their own son.

Hank would always have a concerned look on his face when he told me of his love for me, and Annabelle would be right behind him nodding reassuringly while she rubbed my shoulders to comfort me. It always humored me when it happened because whenever they were around to hear May and I argue they would always mention her as their daughter instead of by her name.

I mean c'mon, if you were to attempt breaking up an argument between your daughter and your son would you mention only one of them as your child while mentioning the other by their name, or would you mention both of them as your children or by their names? I think the

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