I was just ten days away from my due date when I discovered a flight check-in message on my husband’s phone. Curious, I asked, “Who did you buy tickets for?” Jack hesitated, avoiding eye contact as he mumbled, “For me and my parents.” Shocked, I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked again: “You have tickets for tomorrow with your parents? Where are you planning to go?” Jack paused, then reluctantly said, “We’re thinking of going to the capital for a few days.” I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Incredulously, I asked him, “What are you talking about? I’m about to give birth, and at this crucial time, you’re planning to go on a trip with your parents?” Jack tried to explain, “I’ve been so busy with work lately, and now that I finally have some time off, my parents have been wanting to visit the capital. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to take them on a nice trip.” I found it unbelievable and said, “The only reason you have time off is because you took paternity leave, right? And you’re using that paternity leave to go on vacation with your parents?” Jack frowned and said irritably, “The paternity leave is my time off, and how I use it is my business. Besides, your due date is still ten days away. I need to plan this time reasonably. I can’t just sit at home with you every day. You’re not going to give birth that quickly, and I’d be so bored!” “Plus, we’re only going for five days. We’ll definitely be back before you have the baby.” No wonder he had insisted on taking his paternity leave early. I thought he was worried about me being alone at home and might go into labor at any time, so he wanted to stay by my side to reassure me. I was quite touched. I never expected he had planned all along to use this time for a vacation. I tried to suppress my anger and said, “Then why didn’t you tell me about this beforehand?” Jack muttered quietly, “If I had told you in advance, you definitely wouldn’t have agreed…” I interrupted him: “So you decided to act first and inform me later, is that it? Last time we went for a prenatal check-up, the doctor also said that the baby might not necessarily come on the due date, it could be earlier or later. What if I suddenly go into labor when you’re all gone and I’m left alone at home?” Jack said impatiently, “It’s not that easy to give birth! Besides, doctors say that to avoid liability. If the baby comes early or late, they can’t be blamed. Even if you do go into labor early, the hospital is right next door. You can call 911, and an ambulance will be at our doorstep in five minutes. The doctors and nurses are so professional, there’s no way anything could go wrong. Plus, my mom said that first babies always take longer to be born. You’ll probably be in labor for several days, so we’d have plenty of time to fly back.” I stared at him in shock, never dreaming these words could come from a man about to become a father. Seeing him argue so forcefully, I didn’t want to reason with Jack anymore. Jack didn’t want to comfort me either, and the atmosphere became tense. Just then, a phone call broke the cold war. Jack’s face froze when he saw the screen. He hesitated for a moment before answering the call, saying in a low voice, “Mom, yeah, we’re all ready… No, we didn’t fight… Don’t overthink it.” “Sigh, why are you suddenly saying you won’t go? We really didn’t fight.” “The flights and hotel are all booked. You’ve been talking about wanting to visit the capital for so long, I’ll definitely take you there.” “No, no, no…” Jack hung up the phone and sighed after a while, saying, “See how considerate my parents are of you? As soon as they knew you were unhappy, they immediately said they wouldn’t go.” “My parents have sacrificed so much for you, why can’t you consider them a little? My parents were so excited about this trip, they told all our relatives about it. Everyone envied them.” “After you have the baby, my parents will come to help take care of the child. For at least the first three years, forget about traveling – they won’t even be able to take a day trip to the next city.” I laughed coldly to myself. If they really cared about me, they wouldn’t have talked about going on a trip at this critical time. I conceded, “Let’s compromise then. I don’t want your parents to resent me over this. They can go on the trip tomorrow as planned, and you stay home with me.” To my surprise, Jack reacted strongly, jumping up and saying, “That won’t work! My parents are old and have never traveled far. They’re unfamiliar with the place. Forget about sightseeing, they wouldn’t even know where to go after getting off the plane! How can you suggest I abandon two elderly people in the capital? How can you say such a thing? You’re so heartless!” I retorted, not backing down, “So you’re fine with abandoning me alone at home? Aren’t you worried that I might go into labor at any time with no one around? Don’t you know that giving birth is like having one foot in the grave? There’s always a risk of both mother and child dying. Are you unaware of this?” Jack glowered at me and scolded, “Stop trying to scare me with that nonsense! With today’s advanced technology, how could anyone die from childbirth? If it were that dangerous, would so many people still have children? What are the odds that this one-in-ten-thousand chance would happen to you? Driving a car is more likely to cause an accident, so why do so many people still drive?” “I was hesitating about whether it was appropriate to go on a trip with my parents without you, but now I think this decision was absolutely right! We’re definitely going tomorrow!” And so, neither of us was willing to back down, and we ended up not speaking to each other after the argument. In the middle of the night, I lay stroking my swollen belly, recalling Jack’s words from earlier. Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized that in his mind, taking his parents on a trip was more important than me giving birth to our child. Unable to sleep, I opened my phone and saw that Linda had posted several WeChat moments after hanging up the phone: “Sigh, I never thought that after working hard all my life, my daughter-in-law wouldn’t even let me go on a trip. Getting old really makes you unwanted!” “You can pour your heart out for someone, but they might never be satisfied, I guess. After all, I’m not her birth mother.” “Nowhere is suitable to go, might as well just stay at home! Saving money for my son.” “Thank you all for your concern. We’ve decided not to go on the trip. We’re used to staying in our hometown all these years. Now that we’re old, we won’t trouble my daughter-in-law anymore!” With all this passive-aggressive venting, I had become an ungrateful daughter-in-law who didn’t want her in-laws to enjoy life. But the truth is, my in-laws have never sacrificed anything for me. Jack and I are both only children, but my family’s financial situation is a bit better than his. They live in a self-built house in the countryside, while my parents bought an apartment in the city for us newlyweds to live in.
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