Marriage and Family
Chapter Three
Martin woke up early the next day and, unable to go back to sleep, he got up and looked around the bedroom. Sam hadn't been in here for almost three months, and it was starting to show.
There was dust gathering around the whole house because he hadn't been doing a very good job of keeping the place clean in her absence. In anticipation of her hopefully coming home within the next few days, he decided to spend the day cleaning.
So that's what he was doing right now. He was cleaning up and straightening the bedroom. There were new magazines that had come while Sam was gone and he didn't dare throw them away because she might get mad if they weren't still here for her to read when she came home.
He picked them up and walked over to her side of the bed so that he could put them in the nightstand. When he opened up the drawer, he found that there wasn't much in there, except five books that looked like journals.
Out of curiosity, he picked them up and sat down on the bed to open the first one. To his surprise, he found that Sam had been keeping a detailed journal of her innermost thoughts and feelings for the past five years.
He wondered why she started to keep a journal five years ago, and then remembered that the date of her first entry was two days after his father came to live with them.
Although he knew that this would be a huge invasion of her privacy, he couldn't help but wonder what she wrote in her journals. He could ask her, but he was certain that she would shut him out and tell him nothing. So he flipped to the first entry and started reading.
Saturday, March 21, 2026Well, today is the day that Victor moved in with us. I'm still torn about whether or not this is such a good idea, but I don't think I have any real choice in the decision. He's been alone ever since Katherine died and every time we've visited him he's gotten worse and worse.
His memory's fading and he's beginning to need more assistance to do normal, everyday activities. He can't drive because of his failing eyesight and has a bad heart problem.
So I can completely understand Martin's desire to make sure his father is being taken care of in his old age, but couldn't someone else do it? Couldn't we send Victor to one of the many nice nursing homes around our house? There has to be at least three close ones that would be perfect. Victor could get the care he needs while still being close enough that Martin could visit all the time.
That sounds horrible. Rereading that paragraph makes me cringe. I sound like a terrible human being for wanting to just shove Victor into a nursing home. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't try to approach Martin about that idea. He'd probably get really upset with me if he knew that I was thinking about that.
He'd probably say that I just wanted to do that so that our lives wouldn't be interrupted. Then he'd probably say that it was also because I've never really liked his father. But in all fairness, Victor has never liked me either.
My relationship with my father-in-law has always been one of mutual tolerance. He tolerates the fact that his son married me and I tolerate the fact that he is Martin's father.
Maybe the fact that I don't want our lives to change is a part of why I thought about putting him into a nursing home though. I mean, after all, if Victor wasn't moving in with us, Martin and I wouldn't be giving up our master bedroom to move upstairs into Claire's old room.
God that also sounds selfish. Well it's not even like I really care about moving out of our bedroom so that Victor can have a big room with his own bathroom on the first floor. It's more than practical to give him the bedroom on the first floor so that he doesn't have to constantly climb stairs. It's just that this is such a big change.
And I wasn't consulted about it. I don't know if Martin was even aware that he did it, but he decided to move his father here without even talking to me about it first. One minute we were talking about the problems his father was having and the next minute Martin's making the arrangements to go to New York and bring his father here to live with us.
We didn't discuss it. We didn't weigh the pros and cons of bringing Victor into our home, nor did we discuss the possible repercussions it would have on Sean and Rachel. Claire's already in college and out of the house so this won't affect her as much. But Sean is just starting high school and Rachel's in middle school.
I honestly don't think that Martin thought about that when he decided to bring Victor here. I think he has tunnel vision when it comes to his father. He's so concerned with trying to score points with his father and finally try to establish a good father-son relationship before it's too late that he's being oblivious to what's going on around him.
I'm really trying to be supportive of moving his father in with us but it's hard when I don't really think it's a good idea. And of course Martin is completely oblivious to the fact that I don't think it's a good idea.
Although maybe some of the blame is on my shoulders because I haven't exactly come right out and said, 'Martin I don't agree with this'. But still, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out.
Martin stopped after reading the first entry. Thinking back, he realized that she was right. He hadn't ever actually asked Sam if it was ok to bring his father here and he didn't consider what kind of a drain having his father live with them would be for all of them.
He had just assumed that it would be ok with her, even though he knew that his father didn't really like her and she didn't really like him. He had just assumed that she wouldn't have any real objections to it. He was apparently wrong though.
Just after reading the first entry of her journal, he realized that there were many things that he was oblivious to. Curiosity made him want to keep reading, even though he knew that Sam wouldn't like it if she found out. But she wasn't here to stop him, and he rationalized his actions by thinking that maybe by reading her journal he could figure out how to get their marriage back on track again.
Sam walked into the living room where Claire was watching a cooking show and sat her suitcase down by the couch before sitting next to her daughter.
"Going somewhere?" Claire asked, hoping that her mother was going to go home and talk things out with her father.
"Yes." Sam nodded. "I got thinking about it, and I've decided that when we go to pick up Nikolas from the airport, you should leave me there. I have a flight to catch tonight."
"Where are you going?" Claire questioned. "Home?"
"No, not yet." Sam shook her head. "I haven't been to visit everyone in New York for a long time so I think I'm going to go to New York, see your Uncle Danny and Aunt Michelle."
Claire smiled at the fact that her mother still called Danny their uncle and Michelle their aunt even though they weren't related. It was nice that she had friends she was that close to that she would want to call them her family. But she was also disappointed that she wasn't going home. Being in two separate states wasn't going to help her parents.
"There are a couple of other people I want to see and catch up with, so I thought I'd spend a few days there." Sam continued. "Danny and Michelle are going to let me stay in their guest room."
"Then are you going home?" Claire questioned.
"Yes." Sam nodded.
"Have you told dad about your plans?" She couldn't help but wonder if her mother had let her father know about what she was doing and where she was going.
"Not really." Sam answered, noticing her daughter's frustrations. "What?"
"I just think you should talk to dad and at least tell him what's going on." Claire replied.
Sam had to admit that it would be nice to let Martin know what she was planning on doing. Besides, she would need a ride home once she flew back to Houston. She made a mental note to call Martin before they left for the airport. "I'll call him before we leave, ok?"
"Good." Claire smiled.
Sam patted Claire's knee. "Don't worry about your father and me. Ok?"
"I can't help it." Claire pouted. "You guys mean a lot to me."
"And you mean a lot to us." Sam put her arm around Claire and let her daughter rest her head on her shoulder. "But I don't want you to worry. Your father and I have been through worse and gotten through it. So why should this be any different?"
"I just don't want you two to throw away what you have." Claire admitted.
"Sweetie, I may not like your father much right now and I may think he's being incredibly…what's the word I'm looking for…" She thought about it for a moment before continuing. "Aha! It's obstinate. That's the word I'm looking for. He's being very obstinate. But that doesn't mean that I don't still love him because I do."
She sighed. "You'll find out for yourself after you and Nikolas have been married for awhile. You won't always like him. There will probably be times when you just don't want to be in the same room with him. But in the end it doesn't matter if you like him as long as you love him and realize that neither of you are perfect."
"So you aren't going to leave dad?" Claire asked, really hoping that the answer was no. Although she was a grown-up, the last thing she wanted to see was her parents break up. They were her role models for the way a marriage should, and in a few cases shouldn't, be.
"No." Sam shook her head. "I just need some time away from him. After I go see a couple of people in New York I'm going back home. So don't worry. Please?"
Claire gave her mother a small smile. "Ok. I guess I won't worry right now, but I'm reserving the right to worry in the future."
"Fair enough." Sam laughed.