In this continuation, Rie, her husband Tsuyoshi, and their children Sakura and Haruto are living together. Rie’s mother-in-law, who has always harbored animosity towards her, treats the newborn children unreasonably harshly. Tsuyoshi tries to bridge the gap between the family members. When Tsuyoshi’s father passes away, he supports his struggling mother-in-law, leading to a lifestyle where he spends weekdays with his in-laws and weekends at his own home. Despite his efforts to support his mother-in-law, Tsuyoshi misses important family events, leaving the children disappointed. The family struggles to balance caring for the mother-in-law and spending quality time together.
Continuing from last time. I (Rie) lived with my husband (Tsuyoshi) and two children (Sakura and Haruto). My mother-in-law, who had harbored animosity towards me from the onset of our marriage, treated the newly-born children with unfair and harsh attitudes. It felt like Tsuyoshi was desperately trying to connect us as a family with his parents. Then, when Sakura was in 6th grade and Haruto was in 4th grade, my father-in-law passed away. Tsuyoshi initially went to support his struggling mother alone in her daily life. However, Tsuyoshi gradually became exhausted and was forced to live with his parents during weekdays and return to our home on weekends.
Since Tsuyoshi couldn’t see us on weekdays, he supported us a lot on his days off. While Sakura was preparing for high school exams, we went out together as a family, watched our favorite anime, and had meals together. However, whenever Tsuyoshi was at home, he would receive frequent calls from his mother-in-law. “I’m feeling sick,” “I have a headache,” “I’ve collapsed, please come quickly.” And Tsuyoshi would hurry back to his parents’ house.
On weekends, Tsuyoshi, who was with his mother-in-law, couldn’t attend the important sports day event that the children had promised to go to. “Dad… you didn’t come after all,” Haruto, disappointed, was comforted. “It can’t be helped. Grandma isn’t feeling well.” Sakura, who had been looking forward to seeing the last sports day of elementary school, was shocked and in tears because the promise was broken. And this kind of thing didn’t happen just once or twice.
I know that Tsuyoshi is doing his best to support his mother. However, Tsuyoshi, who was supposed to value family time, is now being controlled by his mother. At first, the children were saddened by their father’s absence, but seeing their expectations shattered repeatedly, they seem to have lost hope. However, Tsuyoshi will eventually leave his mother alone and, despite not wanting anything bad to happen to his stubborn mother…
I’m sorry for the children, but I think maintaining the status quo is the best choice for both of us.
To be continued in [Episode 4].
Original Story: Mamastar Community Script: Tae Watanabe Illustration: Kayo Nekota Prints: Teruko Ii