Happy New Year, everyone. Even me! (Especially me.) Even DH! (Especially DH.) Even SS26! (Ahem.)
So he came to town for his holiday visit. His Dad grieved and fussed because his boy no longer will be crashing in our home. But they had a few Dad/son days to themselves totally free of my malign presence. Other than that it was, Hello, SM. Merry Christmas, SM. Happy New Year, SM. Seriously, almost nothing more. DH must have preached hell to him.

DH mentioned a couple of days ago that he and his boy would be going to lunch on New Year’s Day, and that of course I was invited. Which he knew, of course I would not go. Today, New Year’s Eve, he gets a text from SS26 saying that nothing is going on so he’s heading home, see ya when. Now DH has been butthurt but stoic about having to treat his boy this way, and he reacted butthurt and stoic to the news that his boy would not be hanging around to get lunch tomorrow.
Oy vay, what a mess of strained diplomacy. I thanked DH for his considerate and tactful handling of the situation, and apologized for the millionth time because it has to be handled. It’s OK, really, he assured me. More butthurt, stoicism, sulking.

This is how I attempted to take some sting out of the obvious agony of telling his kid to entertain himself.

“So I asked DS24 i[the likeliest candidate of my bios] f he wanted to spend New Year’s Eve hanging around with us! He just laughed and said no! Imagine that—a young man not wanting to spend New Year’s Eve with the old folks!” And then we segued into a jolly talk about what would happen if I invited my other bios to spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with us. Much hilarity ensued.

I hope it helped. I’m really not looking for another divorce.