Should Outlaw In-Laws

(My husband and I live with my parents. He’s very ill, so one day, I take him to receive treatment at an emergency clinic. We go to a pharmacy directly afterwards where we have a lot of difficulty picking up a prescription due to problems with insurance approval. We finally return home 11 hours after we set out. We’re greeted by my parents and by my brother and his wife, who are on vacation and visiting us.)

Mom: “You’re finally back! How many hours left do you have?”

(She’s referring to my online job. I’ve been so busy that I wasn’t able to finish.)

Me: “Still three more hours.”

Mom: “You guys are hungry, right? I’ll cook something, so what do you want?”

Me: “Um, I’ll eat whatever. Pick something easy, though.”

(My mom is busy in the kitchen. Meanwhile, my husband is resting, and I jump on my laptop to get back to work. My brother and sister-in-law are sitting in the den with me, also on their computers. After just a few minutes, my mom calls from the kitchen.)

Mom: “[My Name], please help.”

(It takes me a few moments to register her request.)

Me: “Wait… ME?”

Mom: “I know. It’s not fair.”

(I look at my brother and sister-in-law. Neither is wearing headphones, but they’re staring very intently at their computers and willfully ignoring everything around them. It occurs to me that they are in “vacation-mode” and have probably been like this all day.)

Me: *sigh* “I’m coming.”