Chapter 3 The next morning I woke up to the smell of Mom making burritos . I jumped out of bed , threw on some clothes and went straight to the kitchen . I grabbed three plates and split the burritos between them . I carried them to the table and yelled for Mark and Zoe to come eat . When they showed up , Zoe picked up her plate but then frowned . " Mommy , where's Grandma's food ? " Mom was already glaring at me with a face like thunder . Just as she opened her mouth to bitch , I jumped in : " Grandma's not hungry . Let's just eat . " " Besides , we've all got places to be - work and school . Grandma can fix herself something later when she gets hungry . Not like she's short on time or anything . " I turned to Mom with my fakest smile : " God , it's so nice having you here . I don't even have to drag my ass out of bed early to make breakfast anymore . " " You can clean up the house a bit later too . " Mom's eyes bugged out . " Me ? Clean ? " I nodded . " Yeah , we'll all be gone , and you'll just be sitting around doing nothing anyway . Oh , and we're out of burritos . Pick up some more , would you ? We all like the meat ones . " I hurried Mark and Zoe to finish up , then we dumped our dirty plates in the sink and bolted out the door . Without the whole " good daughter " bullshit hanging over my head , I felt like I could finally breathe . But as soon as we got in the car , Mark started in on me . " Becca , aren't we being kind of shitty to your mom ? " " I mean , yeah , she's a complainer , but making her do chores and sleep on the couch ? What if she goes around telling everyone what a terrible daughter you are ? " I took a deep breath . I couldn't really blame Mark for thinking this way . In my past life , after we got married , my mom had me completely brainwashed . I was always going on about how hard she had it raising three daughters by herself . So I bought into that whole " parents can do no wrong " crap and gave her everything just to be called her most dutiful , most understanding daughter . After years of that , Mark - who lost both his parents when he was young - started drinking the Kool - Aid too . 14:10 Reborn , My Family Tried to Bury Me , So I Burned It All Down ! 18.6 % Chapter 3 Then I just smiled and said , " Let her talk all she wants . I've finally figured out what matters : the three of us being happy together . " After work that day , I scooped up Zoe and called Mark to meet us for dinner out . We were already digging into our appetizers when Mark finally showed up . He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw it was just the three of us . " Where's your mom ? " Hearing his words , I just kept laying out napkins and forks . " At home . " Mark frowned . " You didn't ask her to come ? " I piled food onto his and Zoe's plates . " Nope . Just us tonight . We'll eat and head back . " Mark still looked uncomfortable . " Isn't that kind of … messed up ? What if your mom cooked dinner and is sitting there waiting for us ? " I put down my fork and shot him a look . " Seriously ? Based on everything you know about her , do you honestly think my mother would cook dinner and wait for us to come home ? " Mark shut up , but Zoe was shaking her head like crazy . " Grandma's always saying her back hurts and her legs hurt , " she said quietly . " Whenever she visits , you and Daddy do all the cooking . " I smiled but didn't push it . " Let's just eat . We can take a walk after and then head home . " By the time we finished dinner and our walk , it was already eight o'clock when we got back . Mom was sprawled on the couch watching TV . The second she heard the door open , her face turned black as coal . She jumped on me the second I walked in , and laid into me right away : " Where the hell have you been ? Nobody made dinner , and I've been starving all day ! " I calmly replied , " Mark and I both got stuck working late . Nobody could pick up Zoe , so she had to hang out at the office with us . That's why we're late . " " Mom , why haven't you eaten anything ? Can't cook , or just weren't hungry ? " Mom's mouth twitched . " You've got some nerve ! You made me sleep on that damn couch last night , and my back is killing me . I can barely stand up straight , let alone cook anything . " While she complained , she rubbed her lower back dramatically , putting on her best poor - suffering - mother face .