Pāhonoa te oro

I used to think people exaggerated when they talked about “monster-in-law” stories. Then I met her. The first time I went to dinner at my boyfriend’s house, everything seemed normal—at least on the surface. His mum smiled when she opened the door, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She hugged him tightly, then looked at me like I was something she’d found stuck to her shoe. “Oh,” she said, after a pause that lasted just a second too long. “You didn’t tell me she was… coming.” I laughed it off,