Interim report on SS28's visit to our new home in a tropical paradise: So far it's shockingly bearable!

That's largely because I absolutely insisted that SS28 stay anywhere but in our home. Let me emphasize the importance of this to anyone with doubts or questions. The fam MUST stay elsewhere.This is YOUR HOME, not a lodging house. DH is silly about guests, and felt that he was betraying his beloved son by acquiescing to my shrewish and irrational demand. Although I think he's secretly relieved we have the house to ourselves at night and in the mornings, DH insists that true hospitality requires him to throw a cheap air mattress and a couple of surplus sheets on the floor for our guests, Most of whom have been thoroughly spoiled by the staff and amenities at the nice hotels they can well afford,

SS28's journey here was filled with the joy obtainable only to those spending 18 hours on planes and in airports. I would have greeted him with a huge hug and then handed him a paper bag containing a delicious sandwich, a perfect mango, and a bottle of cold beer before driving him to his BnB. But for DH, nothing would do but to feed his travel-weary son a heavy meal and then spend a few hours nursing a couple of whiskeys and bonding over a conversation that went far into the night. I'm amazed DH didn't have to load his spawn into a wheelbarrow and then push him uphill so he could dump him into bed at the BnB.  

SS has been on his best behavior during the couple of hours a day I see him. This is quite a change from the snottery of past visits. A couple of years ago he bought a house and moved his GF a thousand miles to join him there. She was OK when I first met her, but somewhere along the line she got the idea that it was open season on Miss T. One year SS brought her to our Thanksgiving dinner. Of course DH noticed nothing amiss, not when she was simpering and flirting with him and not when she was sneering at the feast I'd prepared.

Anyway, she dumped SS28 as I'd known she would. There is a demographic imbalance where they live--a surplus of affluent young men--and women there can afford to be picky. Without a doubt she took a look around and decided  that SS was not quite up to standard and she could do better for herself. No one has admitted to me that this is what happened, but I'd put money on it and I'm not a betting woman.

SS is mildly autistic and not the sort of physical specimen that appeals to most young women. Whether time has taken its toll or SS is stressed from losing his mate, he's gone downhill since I last saw him several months ago, His autism symptoms have worsened and he does not look like a vigorous young man in the prime of life. Although I will never trust him I actually feel a little sorry for him.

DH coaxed and charmed an agreement from me to cook 2 dinners while SS is here. (Yes of course I let him charm me into it. You have to encourage people by rewarding good behavior.) Last night I made one of those meals and for the first time ever SS conplimented the food I served him  and said that he's always loved eating what I cook. Gee, thanks, kid. You're about 15 years too late, and didja notice how fast I stopped preparing meals during your weekends at our house? But thanks anyway.

In sum, things are going surprisingly well, considering all the bad blood that's flowed between us over the years. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it probably won't for the duration of this trip. Maybe when/if he manages to snag another female co-conspirator? I'd say "stay tuned" but it  probably will be awhile.