The Surrogate Wife
2019 Sethp All rights reserved. Seth's mother-in-law moves in to replace his late wife. This was a quick little very short story. Unedited and quick. Don't be too harsh on it! Hope you enjoy it!
Surrogate; to be put into the place of another as a successor
Seth sat alone in the garage, again. He had meant to work on his motorcycle, but once he settled onto his wooden stool by the workbench, he was unable to move. He'd been unable to do much of anything for months. The sudden death of his wife had shattered him. He hadn't been into work in weeks, and was barely keeping it together for his children. They had lost so much already, Seth had to make sure they didn't lose him too. But as he sat there in the still space of the garage, he knew the truth. He knew he was inadequate for the job of single parent. He was barely a man any longer.
The doorbell rang.
"What...who the fuck is it at this time of night?" Seth grumbled as he went into the house and to the front door, irritated at being disturbed from doing nothing.
He pulled open the door and froze.
"Catherine?" He asked stupidly, as he stared at his mother-in-law.
"Oh good, you didn't turn into a full retard. Maybe there's hope for you," she said, with a little too much acid on her tongue.
"No... I mean...what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I'm here to help. Can I come in?" she asked, but pushed past Seth, into the house. "There are two more bags by the sidewalk that you could get for me. I'm going up to say hi to the kids." Then she was up the stairs.
Seth stood in the doorway, mindlessly, for a minute before forcing himself to go out to the curb and pick up the bags that the Uber driver had unloaded. What was Catherine doing here uninvited and unannounced? Except for the week after the funeral, they had barely spoken in the last several months, and truthfully he couldn't really stand her. She smoked too much. She drank too much. She complained and gossiped too much. She was a nosy know-it-all, and was way too bossy. But he was sinking and he'd never been so happy to see anyone in his whole life.
Seth poured himself a stiff drink and got one for Catherine too, and then sat down in the living room. Catherine eventually sat down and gratefully accepted the drink.
"Catherine," Seth began.
"Shhhh," she said, cutting him off. "We know you need some help. I'm here to help. I'm here for the kids mainly, they've been telling me how things are here, but I'm also here to help you. You look like you need reinforcements." She drained half her glass.
"The kids don't," Seth began, but Catherine cut him off again.
"They haven't had a bath all week. They told me."
"We've been busy."
"They're behind on their homework."
"We'll catch up."
"You forgot April's recital and her school lunch yesterday."
"That was a onetime thing, and she got a hot lunch,"
"The kitchen trash is overflowing, the grass hasn't been mowed in weeks and there are fruit flies living in the kitchen sink. When is the last time you cleaned the bathrooms?"
Seth knew that answer. It was never. Well, not since Karen had died. "Look," Seth began.
Catherine took hold of his hand. "I know. I know Seth. It's overwhelming and I should have come here weeks ago. We've all been so sad. I'm here to help until we get things turned around, and I'll stay as long as you need me. That's what family does."
Seth thought of a thousand things to say and protest against, but simply said, "Thanks. Thank you."
Catherine drained the rest of her drink. "I needed that. I also need to take a shower and change. Can I use your bathroom?"
"Yes," Seth said.
"Thanks and can you get me another drink when I get out and bring my bags up to the spare bedroom."
"Uh...about that spare room," Seth mumbled, but Catherine had already charged up the stairs. He had thrown all of his deceased wife's stuff in there. It was a big pile of junk, papers, exercise equipment, make up, clothing and assorted stuff from her life, that would take days to clear out. He decided that he would give Catherine his bed and sleep on the couch for the next few weeks. It wouldn't be that bad.
Seth took his mother-in-law's bags up to the master bedroom and then changed the sheets on the bed and cleared away the beer bottles and candy bar wrappers. He could hear her singing in the shower. This could be really good for the kids, he thought. Satisfied that the bedroom was clean and tidy enough, he went back downstairs and made Catherine another drink and went and sat on the couch, flipping through shows on the T.V.
Catherine came down and joined him after she was done. She was wrapped up in big, pink terry cloth robe that was a little too small for her size. Her large bosom was threatening to stretch the material. She thanked him for the drink sat down on the chair.
"Thank you for coming. I appreciate it...you should have let me know though."
"Don't worry about the mess. I'll start cleaning everything up tomorrow. You sleep in, and I'll get the kids ready for school. You guys probably need some good home cooked meals too."
"Yeah, that will be good." Seth said, remembering that Catherine was a great cook. "There's a problem though."
"Oh, don't worry about Brian," Catherine replied, talking about her husband, and the kid's grandfather. "He's got his beer and is happy enough fishing and drinking while I'm away. He won't even know I'm gone," she finished, looking down at the floor sadly for a moment. Seth caught that look though.
"Uh...well that's not what I meant. I mean the spare room. If I'd have known you were coming, I could have cleaned it out. There's no way,"
"Oh, don't be silly. I'll sleep in your bed."
"Good," Seth said, relieved. "I'll take the couch and we'll be all set. I even put fresh sheets on for you."
Catherine finished her drink. "Can you get me another one, even stronger? And don't get all modest on me now, Seth. We can share the bed. The couch is filthy and you look like you haven't slept in weeks."
"I don't know," Seth started to protest.
"I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed. I'm really here to help you and I can tell you need sleep, as do I. If anyone is taking the couch, it's me. So, it's not up for discussion any more, now get me another drink already, will you?"