My MIL Kept Calling Me Elise — Then I Learned There Were Two Elises
“Then call her now!”
Beverly and Arthur spun around.
I had only returned for my coat, but I’d just heard Beverly say she would call Elise after I left.
That was impossible.
Less than an hour earlier, Colin had told me Elise was his mother’s daughter—and that she had died as a little girl.
“Then call her,” I said.
Beverly went pale.
“This isn’t how you were supposed to find out.”
“Find out what?”
Before anyone could answer, Colin walked in.
I confronted him.
“Is Elise really dead?”
“Yes.”
“Then who is your mother calling?”
Silence.
Finally, Arthur said:
“Make the call, Beverly.”
Beverly reluctantly dialed the number and put it on speaker.
After two rings, a woman answered.
“Bev? Everything okay?”
I stared at the phone.
A living woman named Elise.
I turned to Colin.
“You told me she was dead.”
“She is.”
“Then who is that?”
His face changed.
“That’s not my sister.”
The woman suddenly asked:
“Is that Natalie? Is Natalie there?”
My stomach dropped.
“You know who I am?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Colin.
“Who is she?”
He swallowed.
“My first wife.”
Everything went silent.
His ex-wife was named Elise.
Suddenly, all those “mistakes” made sense.
“Elise would’ve known not to serve this with potatoes.”
“That’s an interesting color, Elise.”
“Elise always made time for family.”
Beverly hadn’t been confusing my name.
She had been comparing me to Colin’s ex-wife.
When I confronted her, she finally admitted she had grown close to Colin’s first wife after losing her own daughter, also named Elise.
She had loved them both in completely different ways.
But that didn’t excuse what she had been doing to me.
Then I looked at Colin.
“How long did you know?”
He hesitated.
“Months.”
I felt betrayed all over again.
“You knew your mother was comparing me to your ex-wife and never told me?”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“No,” I said. “You were protecting her.”
That night, I made one thing clear.
Beverly could love Elise.
She could miss her daughter.
She could remain friends with Colin’s ex-wife.
But I would never again be expected to compete with either of them.
And Colin finally understood that keeping the peace with his mother could no longer come at the expense of his marriage.