Mum wants to bring her new companion to Sunday lunch. My brother says it's too soon. What can I do?
Family“If he's there, I'm not coming,” my brother said after Mum asked to bring the man she has been seeing to Sunday lunch at my house.
Dad died two years ago. Mum met Peter through a walking group and has been having coffee with him for several months. She didn't ask us to call him anything special or clear a place in Dad's old chair. She asked whether we would meet him.
My brother says bringing him to a family meal makes the relationship official before the rest of us are ready. I feel awkward too, but I want to know the person Mum is choosing to spend time with. I told her yes before speaking to my brother because I thought it was my invitation to answer.
Now he says I've chosen Peter over him. Mum says she can withdraw the request if it will cause trouble, which isn't the outcome I wanted either.
Should I keep the lunch invitation, suggest meeting Peter somewhere else first, or give my brother more time? I don't want to make Mum responsible for arranging everyone's feelings around her own companionship.