The Aquarium We Never Reached

I'd taken time off to bring my daughter on a trip, and we were about to head to the aquarium she'd been dreaming about, when my father-in-law called and ordered me to take my mother-in-law to the hospital.

My mother-in-law had always been perfectly healthy. Not a day earlier, not a day later she just had to come to town the moment I took my daughter on vacation.

I was about to refuse, and the next second my husband's message came through:

"The aquarium can wait, can't it? Is my mom's health less important than the kid running around and having fun?!"

Here's what actually happened. I picked up my mother-in-law, brought her to the hospital,

and then she claimed she didn't understand the process, so I had to handle her admission and stay with her through the doctor's visit and a full round of tests.

On the third day, I finally got her settled in, and my sister-in-law arrived.

I thought I could finally take my daughter to the aquarium, but my sister-in-law shoved her two difficult daughters at me instead:

"I really envy you, getting to take your kid out to have fun. I'll stay and watch over Mom. To make up for it, you can cover our plane tickets."

The two nieces turned their noses up at the aquarium and ran up five thousand dollars at the arcade in a single day.

My mother-in-law insisted the doctor fit her with an imported heart stent, and the hundred-thousand-dollar bill was waiting for me to pay too.

I refused, and asked to split it.

My husband scolded me, annoyed:

"You're the daughter-in-law. Isn't it only right that you pay for my mom's medical bills?"

My sister-in-law tossed a lottery ticket at me:

"Forget it, forget it, I won't take advantage of you. This ticket can cover fifty thousand of the medical bill."

It made me laugh out of sheer disbelief.

So the whole family was running one nesting-doll con on me here.

It seemed that all these years, I'd played the part too well. I'd given them too much face.

My father-in-law called:

"Your mom's coming to Chicago to see a doctor. Tristan Stanley can't get away from work. Go to the airport right now, pick her up, and take her to the hospital."

I froze for a second, sure I'd misheard.

My mother-in-law had always enjoyed making my life difficult, and for years I'd swallowed it and catered to her every complaint.

Before I set off with my daughter, I'd arranged everything for my in-laws for the next three days.

My mother-in-law had even sworn up and down that she wouldn't bother me.

And she'd always been in good health, so why was she suddenly coming to Chicago to see a doctor?

My daughter had happily put on her mermaid dress and was spinning in circles:

"Mommy, look! The dress is so pretty. When we get to the aquarium, the sea lion is going to like me best!"

Watching her, so full of hope, made my heart ache.

"Dad, isn't Mom perfectly fine? Why is she coming to see a doctor? Daisy Abbott's been looking forward to the sea lion show all semester. I promised I'd take her today."

My father-in-law grumbled, displeased:

"Your mom's already on her way. Deal with it or don't, your choice. Don't, and you can leave her to die at the airport."

Then he hung up on me.

I was still stewing over it when my husband's message came in:

"Taking Daisy to the aquarium tomorrow is the same thing. Get Mom settled first. She doesn't know the city or a single soul here, and if she goes missing, none of us can answer for it."

I replied:

"For this trip, I spent a month planning the itinerary, saving up my time off, and it took another week just to lock in an aquarium slot."

"Is my mom's health less important than the kid running around and having fun?!"

There it was again.

It was always like this.

In his eyes, the wish my daughter had held onto all semester was some trivial little thing,

and the trip we'd so carefully planned was an optional bit of fun.

Only his family always came first, and no delay was ever allowed.

I turned to look at my daughter.

She still had no idea anything had changed, holding up the hem of her pretty mermaid dress, tilting her little face up at me, eyes full of hope, asking softly:

"Mommy, can we go now?"

A dull ache spread through my chest. I forced a smile and stroked her hair:

"Mm-hm. But first we have to go to the airport to pick up Grandma. Once we drop her at the hospital, we can go."

"Will there still be time to catch the sea lion show?"

I nodded firmly, promising:

"There will."

I rushed to the airport arrivals gate and spotted my mother-in-law from a distance, a small bag in her hand, standing in the crowd.

The moment she saw us, her face hardened and her voice turned sharp:

"Why are you only getting here now? I've been standing here for almost an hour. Do you have any idea how vicious this sun is? Are you trying to bake me to death?"

"I think you dragged your feet on purpose because you didn't want to come get me!"

I knew her too well. Talk back to her now and she'd complain and scold without end, holding up our trip to the aquarium.

I pushed down the exhaustion in my chest and explained patiently:

"Mom, it's not what you think. I'd promised to take Daisy to the aquarium today, and I only came after getting her changed."

"And Tristan's rental is over twenty miles from the airport, with some traffic on the way. We got here as fast as we could."

She grew even more displeased and let out a cold little sneer:

"When can't the aquarium be visited? What's the point of coddling a girl like she's something precious?"

My sister-in-law had two daughters of her own, and she never said a word about them, treating them like treasures.

But her own granddaughter got nothing but nitpicking.

I held down my anger, stopped arguing, and got her to the hospital.

"Mom, tell the patient guide where it hurts and they'll take you to see the doctor."

"The aquarium show I booked is about to start. I have to go now."

But my mother-in-law dropped down onto the floor, beating her chest and stamping her feet, wailing at the top of her lungs:

"Everybody, come look! My daughter-in-law only cares about taking her kid out to have fun, and doesn't care whether I live or die..."

Every eye in the room turned toward me, and the whispering started, fingers pointing my way.

My mother-in-law claimed she didn't understand the procedures, so she made me handle the admission, front the hospital fees, and walk her through test after test.

I checked the time on my phone. One hour until the sea lion show.

I raced to register her and get the test orders written up.

Some tests could be done today. Others had to wait for tomorrow.

I asked a hospital aide to take her for her tests, but she flat-out refused, clamping onto my arm so I couldn't leave.

"Delia, you heartless girl, you'd hand me off to a stranger? What if she mistreats me, cheats me out of my money?"

No matter how I explained, none of it got through to her.

The minutes ticked away, and with only twenty left, even if we hailed a cab right then we'd never make it.

I was worn out to the bone, and somewhere deep inside it felt like a thousand wild animals were howling at once.

I took a long breath, crouched down, my voice scraping dry.

"Daisy, I'm sorry. Mommy... can't take you to the aquarium today after all."

The light in my daughter's eyes dimmed, bit by bit. She pressed her little lips together, fighting back tears, and asked in a small voice,

"Why, Mommy? You said once we got Grandma to the hospital, we could go."

I had no answer.

How do you tell a five-year-old that because Grandma suddenly showed up sick, because Daddy took it all for granted,

the aquarium trip she'd looked forward to for a whole semester had come to nothing.

I spent the whole afternoon getting my mother-in-law admitted and through part of her tests.

That evening, when I was about to head back to my husband's rental to rest, he called and told me to stay at the hospital and watch over his mother.

I frowned, my voice thick with irritation.

"I thought we agreed you'd be the one staying with her?"

He stammered on the other end.

"The company just told me I have to travel for three days. There's nothing I can do."

"No. It's hard for me with Daisy here, and there isn't even a bed. We can't get any real rest."

"Rent a cot and make do for one night. If she sleeps badly, she won't have the energy to fuss about the aquarium anyway."

I was speechless, and I pressed him.

"What's wrong with a kid wanting to go to the aquarium?"

Not only did he feel no guilt, he turned it around and snapped at me.

"My mother is sick and in the hospital, and all you can think about is dragging our kid off to have fun everywhere? Do you have any conscience at all?"

"I changed the front-door code. Even if you go back, it won't do you any good."

My mother-in-law settled it, her voice booming with strength.

"Tristan, you go on your trip and don't worry. You work so hard every single day, you make sure to rest up. Delia's here, that's enough."

I turned to look at her.

"Mom, I have a job too. On top of work I take care of you and Dad. I'm tired and worn out as well."

She scoffed.

"You call that tired? All you do is cook us a few meals and stock shelves at the fruit store. It's all just physical labor. How is that anywhere near as hard as my son using his head to earn money all day?"

My daughter had already fallen asleep in my arms, exhausted, and not wanting to wake her, I swallowed my anger and let it go.

I paid a scalper extra to book tickets for the next afternoon.

The following day, I dragged my worn-out body around and had just finished getting all of my mother-in-law's tests done when my sister-in-law showed up with her two daughters.

She threw her arms around her mother and put on a show of crying.

"Mom, I'm here. I couldn't rest easy with a stranger watching over you. Today I'll take care of you myself."

As she said it, she shoved her two kids at me.

"You're the lucky one, Delia, getting to take your kid all over the place. Since I'm here caring for Mom, why don't you cover the cost of our plane tickets, as a little payback."

I was about to refuse when she added,

"You reimburse my tickets, and I won't trouble you again over Mom's stay in the hospital."

Grinding my teeth, I transferred the plane-ticket money, willing to pay just for a little peace, so I could finally make good on my promise to my daughter.

I had barely led Daisy out through the hospital's front doors when the two nieces, Lindsay Whitney and Celine Whitney, came chasing after us.

They were whining and clamoring to go to the arcade downtown.

I softened my voice and explained:

"We already planned to go to the aquarium today. Daisy has waited so long for the sea lion show, and it's about to start."

Lindsay let out a snort, her tone dripping with sarcasm:

"Who even goes to the aquarium anymore? It's so childish. That's a place for little kids."

I answered quietly:

"Right, it's a little kid who wants to go. Daisy's been looking forward to it all semester."

Celine bent down, pinching my daughter's cheek, coaxing her:

"Daisy, forget the aquarium, come to the arcade with us, okay? They've got claw machines, racing games, shooting games. Way more fun than watching sea lions."

Her cheek squeezed, Daisy tilted her head slightly, keeping it lowered as she pushed back in a timid little voice:

"I still want to go to the aquarium. I want to see the sea lion show, I want to play with the sea lions."

The smile drained from Celine's face. She rolled her eyes at Daisy, her voice full of disdain:

"So boring. No fun at all."

Beside her, Lindsay was already sixteen, and her mind worked faster than her sister's.

She glanced at the look on my face, grabbed Celine by the arm, and spoke with a threat in her voice:

"We'll go by ourselves, Auntie. If you're fine with it, take Daisy to the aquarium. But we don't have any money on us, and I can't promise we won't get into some kind of trouble."

Anger itched at the roots of my teeth, and my chest felt so blocked I could hardly breathe.

My daughter saw how stuck I was and gave a soft tug at the hem of my clothes:

"Mom, maybe we don't go to the aquarium today. I want to see the arcade too."

Seeing how well she understood, something turned sour and bitter inside me.

But once we got to the arcade, my daughter clapped her hands over her ears, her little face scrunching up:

"Mom, why is it so loud in here? Aren't they afraid of going deaf?"

Before I could answer, Celine sidled up to me and said, as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world:

"Auntie, give me 5,000. We want to buy a credits card."

I froze on the spot, shock all over my face:

"5,000? Why do you need that much?"

The two sisters looked at me in unison, eyeing me like I was an idiot, their faces full of scorn:

"5,000, is that a lot? We can play here all day, and grab snacks and drinks while we're at it. Food and fun, all covered. What a deal."

Angry and helpless, I threw the question back at them:

"Would your mother be willing to fork over 5,000 for you to play here?"

Celine pursed her lips:

"My mom definitely wouldn't. That's why we came to you, Auntie. You're the best auntie we've got."

I refused flat out:

"No. I only make four thousand a month. Five hundred is the most I'll load for you, not a cent more."

The two exchanged a glance and grudgingly agreed.

I lowered my head and opened the payment page. I had just entered the last digit of my password when Lindsay suddenly snatched the phone from behind me and told Celine with a grin:

"I saw Auntie's payment password, it's 201108. Load 5,000, hurry."

Lindsay tossed the phone to Celine, who stood a little way off, then turned and wrapped her arms around my waist to hold me back.

Lindsay was taller than me, and stronger too.

Before I could break free, Celine had already finished the charge.

When she returned to the main screen, her eyes went wide in disbelief:

"Wow, Auntie, you've still got a hundred thousand in your balance!"

"You have a hundred thousand and you couldn't stand to load us 5,000? That's so cheap."

Ever since I gave birth to my daughter, I'd lived with my palm turned up.

Once, right at the end of the month when the living expenses had run dry, my parents came to visit, and Tristan would only give me 58 dollars for groceries.

When my parents found out, they were too angry to eat, but they still urged me to endure it for the child's sake.

After all, my three exes had all been left half-dead by the time I was through with them; not one of them ever recovered.

It was from then on that my parents gave me 3,000 every month to help with the household.

This hundred thousand was the emergency fund I had scraped together, penny by penny, for me and my daughter.

I grabbed the phone back and changed the password at once.

The two of them huddled together, muttering, and Celine looked at me with a mocking smile:

"So stingy. No wonder Uncle doesn't want you. I'll be honest with you, Uncle never went on any business trip. He's been living at Auntie Noreen's place this whole time, and Auntie Noreen's even pregnant with a little brother!"

"If you're willing to be generous with your money, we'll accept you as our auntie. Otherwise"

Celine was about to go on when Lindsay yanked hard on her arm:

"Shut up. Did you forget what Mom told us?"

I was stunned for a moment, then immediately shifted my tone:

"Celine, Lindsay, if you tell your auntie about Auntie Noreen, I'll give you another 2,000, okay?"

Celine's eyes lit up. While she and Lindsay whispered it over, I quietly tapped the record button on my phone.

Lindsay lifted her eyes to me and warned me with the air of someone far older:

"We can tell you, but you absolutely cannot let my mom know it came from us."

I nodded calmly.

Between the two of them, the sisters laid out the whole truth, piece by piece.

It turned out Tristan, because I'd had a daughter and refused to have a second child, wanted to divorce me and marry that woman named Noreen.

The reason he hadn't laid it all out yet was that I still had use value: I could take care of his parents for free.

Once his mistress had the baby, he'd find a way to register the child under our names.

I'd go on caring for his parents plus the two kids, while he went on living it up with his mistress.

This time the mother-in-law came to Chicago under the excuse of seeing a doctor, and the sister-in-law just happened to tag along, mainly to go comfort Noreen, who was carrying the "crown prince," and to squeeze in a little sightseeing.

Once I'd heard all of it, all that was left inside me was a cold smile.

It seemed that all these years, I'd put on too good an act, and given them too much face.

I acted like nothing had happened and took my daughter down to the lobby to play with her blocks.

Bored, I opened my phone and saw the post the sister-in-law had put up five minutes earlier.

In the grid of photos, my husband, the one supposedly away on business, was sitting in a mall restaurant enjoying a fancy dinner with his mother, his sister, and a woman I didn't recognize.

The caption read:

"Thanks to my little brother, first time ever having a real fancy dinner. Four hundred and eighty-eight a head. So satisfying."

The woman's belly was already showing. That had to be Noreen Simmons, Tristan's mistress.

She sat between my mother-in-law and Tristan, arm hooked through the older woman's, leaning her head on her shoulder like a spoiled child.

My mother-in-law's face was creased with smiles, her mouth practically split from ear to ear.

I gave the sister-in-law's post a like. A second later, a message came in from Tristan:

"I took time off and came back. My mom's in the hospital, there's no way I'd leave her on her own. Don't read too much into it."

A thread of mockery slid through my eyes. I typed back, casual:

"Who's that woman?"

He replied:

"A friend of my sister's, works out here too. We just called her out to catch up, that's all."

I used to believe Tristan. For the sake of our little family, for the sake of climbing higher, most of his salary went to greasing connections and wining and dining contacts.

Only now did I understand. The reason he gave less and less for household expenses was that he was keeping another woman on the side.

His whole family knew. I was the only one kept in the dark.

I went on playing dumb, but a whole performance was already taking shape in my head.

All of my mother-in-law's test results were back, and the doctor said plainly that it was only mild heart ischemia,

a common minor issue in older adults. With a little care in daily life, it didn't need treatment at all.

But right there she went pale with fright, clutching her chest and crying out in pain.

"How is it not serious? I'm this old and I still haven't held a grandson. What if I just drop dead?"

"I don't care, it hurts! I want the best stent, an imported one! The expensive ones are the only ones that work!"

"If you won't get me the surgery, I'll take you to court!"

In the end the doctor couldn't win against her. The estimated surgery cost: a hundred thousand.

The day before the surgery, Tristan handed me the order:

"Go pay it."

Before I could even refuse, he raised an eyebrow, sizing me up, his voice full of displeasure.

"Lindsay already told me you've got a hundred thousand in savings. Delia, you've really been hiding it deep, quietly squirreling away that much on the side."

I lifted my eyes and kept my voice level.

"That money is the backup for me and Daisy. Not a cent of it gets touched."

The words were barely out before the sister-in-law blew up beside us, pitching her voice higher to lay into me.

"Delia, do you have any conscience at all? My mom's lying in a hospital bed waiting for surgery and you're worrying about your little private stash? You're too selfish, too cold-blooded!"

I raised my eyes to her.

"I'm selfish? Fine, you want me to pay, then the medical bill gets split evenly. Fifty thousand per family. You pay, I pay."

The sister-in-law choked for a second, then said coldly:

"I don't have money."

"Is it that you don't have money, or that you don't want to pay for your own mother?"

"All right, all right, I won't take advantage of you. Let these lottery tickets count as my fifty thousand of the medical bill."

Lottery tickets to cover a medical bill? It was so absurd I actually laughed.

I let that go and kept asking.

"After Mom's surgery, who's taking care of her?"

Tristan and the sister-in-law answered in the same breath:

"You are, obviously."

I looked at the sister-in-law with mockery.

"Didn't you say that once I paid you back for your plane ticket, you wouldn't make me worry about Mom being in the hospital?"

The sister-in-law didn't miss a beat.

"I already spent a whole day with Mom, isn't that enough? Waiting on your in-laws is a daughter-in-law's duty in the first place!"

I turned to Tristan.

"You think so too?"

Tristan nodded hard.

"My sister's right."

The whole family had their accounting worked out nicely. Not one of them would part with a cent, and the labor got dumped on me as a matter of course.

A worthless scrap of paper to wipe out fifty thousand of debt, and I'd be left to cover everything else.

I suddenly smiled, and there was no warmth in it.

"Fine. Whatever you say. Only the bank's closed now, and a large sum needs me to go in tomorrow and raise the limit before I can withdraw it."

The moment they heard that, both of them lit up, smiling in satisfaction.

Early the next morning, Tristan messaged me.

"Did you get the money out? Mom's gone into surgery. I just fronted twenty thousand, hurry up and pull the money and pay me back!"

I let out a cold laugh and switched off my phone.

There was no hundred thousand for the surgery. But I hoped the two million in debt would give him a nice surprise.