“Not yet.”
“Mel, this is ridiculous.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we staying?”
I glanced around the room.
My two closest friends had traveled across town to celebrate with me. There were presents stacked on the gift table. People had made arrangements to attend.
And Diane stood in the middle of everything, glowing with happiness.
I lowered my voice.
“I don’t want our son to be born into a fight between his mother and his only grandmother. Let’s skip the remaining games, open the presents, and go home.”
Levi looked at me for several seconds.
“Fine. But if she crosses another line, I’m stepping in.”
I nodded.
What he didn’t know was that something inside me had already changed.
I wasn’t enjoying the shower anymore.
I wasn’t even trying to convince myself that Diane meant well.
I was simply enduring it because I thought that was the price of keeping peace in our family.
When the gift-opening began, my best friend Tasha handed me a beautifully wrapped box.
I smiled.
For the first time that afternoon, something actually felt like it belonged to me.
Then Diane dragged her chair across the floor until it was pressed against mine.
“Let Grandma help!”
Before I could touch the ribbon, she lifted the box from my lap.
She tore off the wrapping paper and pulled out a tiny baby outfit.
“Oh, look at this!” she exclaimed, holding it up for everyone to see.
Then she added,
“This will be perfect for when he spends the night at Grandma’s house!”
People laughed.
I sat there with empty hands.
The next gift arrived.
Diane opened that one too.
Then another.
And another.
Each time, she removed the wrapping paper, held up the present, and explained how she intended to use it when the baby visited her.
I barely touched anything.
At one point, I looked down at my hands resting in my lap and realized I hadn’t opened a single gift myself.
Earlier that day, I’d been sad that my mother wouldn’t get to share the experience of being a grandmother.
Now I finally understood what Diane was doing.
She wasn’t simply making space for herself in our child’s life.
She was taking space away from me.
It was supposed to be my baby shower.
Our baby’s celebration.
But somehow, I’d become a spectator.
I looked across the room and caught Levi’s eye.
He had been watching everything.
This time, I didn’t smile reassuringly.
