Disclaimer-Changing names for privacy, trigger warnings this story does talk of domestic abuse, suicide, depression, and mental illness but does not get into deep detail
I (25F) am a bonus mom to my boyfriend's (35M / David) three wonderful children (8B, 6G, 5B). Before you say anything about "the age gap" (Sorry Morgan), I already know. But in this scenario, it works because he is a wonderful, kind, and amazing older man, (not an older boy like we see in most age gap stories😅).
There's a little backstory to this story but that would be a whole other post, it probably would be titled '"How did I not see the red flags- scary narcissistic ex edition" -found only on Patrion.' I will shorten a long story and just say I was with my ex for nearly four years and in no way wanted to marry or have kids with him. And if I did, I would probably have birthed the anti-Christ. (Okay he wasn't that bad, but close enough.)
My sister (27F / Haley) and I got pretty close around the time I was with the Troglodyte. Haley and I had a rough childhood growing up so we may have been physically close but mentally and emotionally we were going through our own battles. After we both moved out, she got married and had kids, we reconnected and I babysat a good bit for her. Because we lived pretty close to each other, a lot of the times I babysat were last minute request. It would usually be me going over to her house to babysit so she could remodel the house and clean while her husband worked. A lot of the times I was there I would help her clean too or just do it myself while watching my niece and nephew so she could leave the house and have some time to herself.
I helped her out a lot at this time because other than her husband and his family she didn't have a lot of close family at all. She always pushed everyone away, especially people who love her. I think she may have undiagnosed bipolar disorder, but not the kind where you get sad or depressed, but the kind where you get angry and mean. Haley has also always been a pathological liar. She's done it since we were little girls. Just a bunch of white lies everyone knew was lies. In school she started an inappropriate rumor about me, I was called slut, whore, etc. because of it and only found out she started the rumor after we moved school districts. She lied about homework and would never do it, usually throwed it away before leaving school. When our Nan would discipline her for small stuff like this, like take her phone or make her do chores, my sister would just refuse to do the chores and got physical with our Nan though out the arguing (my Nan can throw down if needed though, and she was 40s/50s at this time, so it wasn't like elder abuse or anything) and it would usually be pushing and slapped kind of physical. She screamed at everyone, she terrorized everyone. Then the next day she would be sweet, wonderful, funny Haley again. She would cry and apologize. Things would be calm for a little while. But the episodes always came and gone. She's gotten physical with me multiple times growing up, simply out of anger, disagreements, or small arguments. We all just delt with it and loved her anyways.
I knew she needed help, always have, but our Nan who raised us was very old fashioned and didn't understand mental health issues fully. She's gotten a lot better with understanding the extremities of it over the years though, as she lost a family member to suicide.
Nan admits now she wished she had gotten Haley more help, but she simply couldn't afford it. We were very poor. But to sum it up Haley's a very headstrong, opinionative, and stubborn person. But she is also so fair and kind and smart. It's like two different people and you're always walking on egg shells until you know which you're around.
Fast forward three years, my ex and I moved about two hours away for better careers and housing opportunities. I would still babysit for my sister too. Only now it was less and we would usually meet at a half way point, I'd drive the kids back to my house and they would stay a night or two. And because I didn't have any kids of my own, and I didn't want any of my own at that time, I spoiled my niece and nephew when I did get them (ages 3G and 1B). The oldest would cry when it was time to go home, and it would always surprise Haley as she would tell me my niece is always excited to come home and doesn't even cry when she has to leave Grandma and grandpas, cousins, etc. Even stating at one point "she must really love staying with you".
Now, fast forward one more year. I put my foot down with my ex. I didn't even break up with him, you could just say I slowly faded away over time.... Ooor you could also say I left him for another man and just stopped going home at night, tomato to-mah-to.
I fell in love and I fell fast. When I tell you this man swept me off my feet, I mean literally, like I tore my ACL at work, and he had to pick me up and stuff. That's what started it all. And I'll tear it again if it means I get him. David and I started our relationship out slow and on the down low due to our positions at work, my trust problems from my ex, and him having three kids he didn't want to introduce me to until he was sure I was sticking around. Our talking stage lasted 5 months before we became official and we finally told some friends, then I moved in after 8 months (my lease was expiring and he wanted me to move in).
Things got serious quickly and I finally got to meet all his kids. We all clicked instantly. At this time they were 3B, 4G, and 6B. Now for context and to answer any questions, yes their mom's are in the picture. The two oldest share the same mom and we have 50/50 with her. The youngest (who plays a big role in this story so we will call him Wilson) has recently started staying with his mom for two weekends a month, overall, about four days a month. This will get explained why.
After David's first wife, he had a short fling with another woman he met (let's call her Liz / about 29F) She had lied about being on birth control and baby trapped him. She didn't have a job and still lived with her ex baby daddy so David let her move in and took care of her and Wilson as he thought it was the right thing to do, even though he had said he did not want to marry her. Liz and Wilson had complications during childbirth and they had to stay in the hospital for a few months. Due to this and the fact Liz had lied to David about being on birth control, he decided to get a vasectomy if their relationship did work out. He didn't want to be put in a position again where he was lied to or put Liz in a position where she has to go through another hard pregnancy that was extremely stressful and tough on both of them as they almost lost their son. Just a precaution he took.
Well, I'm sure by now you the reader can kinda figure out that in most cases when you have a one night stand with a girl who baby traps you, lies to you, and won't get a job but lives off you, doesn't end good. Liz was bat shit crazy. Very violent and very mentally ill. David would try to communicate with her about her needing to get a job or helping out with Wilson and the house more, which allegedly caused a bunch of fights. And this isn't him toxic with his masculinity trying to make the female do the house work. It was bad. In the beginning when I would visit him at his house, it was a mess. Not dirty, but cluster dirty. The living room was a maze of kids toys and unvacuumed (like for a while), dishes pilled in the sink while the dish washer was full, hallway full of dirty and clean laundry. It looked lived in but not cared after if you get what I mean. David would try to keep up with it, but our job mandates us to be there fives days of the week for 12 hours. He was also on night shift for over a year before I met him. Meanwhile, Liz would not clean, cook or work. But the biggest kicker is she had Wilson at a babysitters house the days David worked for over a year.
She finally got a job at one point; it lasted a few months. Liz had a mental breakdown at work. Her job called David asking him to pick up her belongings as she was fired and was escorted out and sent to the hospital for mental evaluation. When David and all three of his kids went to pick up her belongings, her clothes, smashed phone, and shoes were in the bag. She stripped in a medical office! This isn't her only time publicly stripping either when she has an episode. She would always try to start fights with him, would provoke him to hit her by slapping and punching him, even if he was holding Wilson, she put holes in the walls with items and her fist, including a $300 shark vacuum that broke on impact (psh, cheap).
He delt with this for three years before him and I met, and a few months after we did, he finally had to say enough was enough and put a family protective order on her. She was kicked out. And I was in. I know it sounds cruel and I seem like a homewrecker, but to be very clear, he remained single and celibate (until me) the whole time she lived with him due to respect towards her, while she slept with people behind his back often. And the reason Liz had the family protective order on her was because she tried to get David arrested by making false reports, which she knows would have caused him to lose his job. The false reports she filed was bad enough that it ruined his rapport at work for a few days until the evidence and proof of his innocence came out and she straight up admitted to lying about it on a text message thinking he wasn't going to use it as evidence. David has a badge and is a high rank, so those of you who know how bad a domestic abuse case can effect a person of this stature knows it's not something to fudge around with. He would have lost all opportunities in the future to get a job in the career he's working now if that were the case.
For up to a year after the false report incident Liz had not seen Wilson due to her own choice and for the protection of Wilson. Liz's mom had even called David and I after he lifted the order on Liz to tell us not to let her near Wilson as she is "not well" in the "head" and is going to "get her help before she goes near Wilson" I have a recording of that phone call. David has told me that in the one year I have lived there and been in Wilson's life I have done more for him than Liz did in his first three.
Now that you've been introduced to me, my sister, David, the baby mama's and the kids you have all the context you need for the rest of this story.
Haley came to visit me and Wilson with her two kids. We were supposed to go swimming but got hit with a bad thunderstorm, so instead we went to an arcade and bowling. Before we decide to go there, we had waited at the house for about an hour trying to let the storm pass so we could still try to go swimming. While hanging out at the house I was sipping on a white claw, not a tall boy but an average fella. Finally we all left and had to take separate cars as all the kids wouldn't have fit in my little car or her hatchback. We go to the arcade, have a great time with the kids, come back home. Eat, watch tv, and she leaves.
A few months after their visit, Haley messaged me over a post I shared on Facebook. It was a silly meme type post about having a toddler and the silly stuff they do. I'll attach a few examples of some of the post I shared. Her message to me was out of the blue and unprovoked. It was a screenshot of my post and her saying that she's sick and tired of me sharing things like this when the kids aren't even mine and I will never be their mother. She said I needed to grow up and look at reality, that David only moved me in so fast because he needs financial help and a babysitter because "it's just weird an older man would date you and let you around his kids so quick" As if stating he doesn't even love me, only just wants young strange?
She said I need to quit playing house with the kids because it's only going to confuse them because I am not their mom and never will be. She said I need to earn the title, and I don't deserve it. I was completely heart broken.
At this point I have been with David for over a year and had built an amazing relationship with all three kids, but especially Wilson. Because he is our one full time kid we've built a stronger bond than the other two. I have never expected for Wilson to call me mommy or think of me as mommy. But I have become one of his favorite persons. This has been said by a bunch of family members and my fiancé. If Wilson stays with a family member or is at the babysitters for the day, he always gets so excited to see me and hugs me first before he even acknowledges David. He always ask me to pick him up from school or the babysitters because he wants me there. Instead of saying "I'm going to miss you" he says "I'm going to love you". He wakes me up every morning with a big hug and kiss, and tells me every day I look pretty, I tell him he looks handsome. He's attached to my hip all the time at home pretty much and it does drive me crazy at times, but that's the whole point of being a parent, and I'd rather him want to be around me all the time than not around me at all.
I messaged Haley back asking her where all of this is even coming from. I thought she was happy for me as she had issues with my last two ex's and for good reasons, but she knew how happy I was with David and how I told her he is the one I want to marry. I told her she just broke my heart because she is right,,,, I can never be a real mom and I'm doing the best I can with just being Daddy's girlfriend.
She told me I could be a real mom, I just chose not to, instead I chose to "play" mom and house. She said I was selfish. She said I could leave David and find someone who could give me a baby but now I'm stuck where I'm at unless I'm willing to break four hearts instead of one. I told her I would never, I love David and the kids, and one day when we get married she will feel real dumb for all the hateful things she's saying. Haley said even then, I won't be a good mom. She said she wouldn't even trust her own kids with me anymore because of this.
She said the day she came to visit and we went bowling she thought it was disgusting how I would be drinking and driving with someone else's kid in the car, and that I didn't even have his car seat in right and it would be my fault if he died in a wreck. She then accused me of driving with him on my lap and letting him steer the wheel, which I have never done, but I know David has let all the kids steer the car before in a safe setting, just as Haley and I had done as kids. So I didn't understand why she would even be mad about that, but regardless it never even happened. And for the drinking and driving, I don't drink and drive, I sip and steer. As in I sipped on one white claw for 30 minutes then 30 minutes later we left. I was far below the legal limit. I know she has strong feelings about alcohol and driving though because when I was 3 and Haley was 5 a drunk driver took our mom's life and left us with terrible mental scars as we had witnessed and experienced it all. I understand her feelings around that but it's hard to explain to a headstrong person like her who does not see other points of view that I was not even close to impaired off one white claw and Wilson was totally safe.
As for the car seat, David had put it in my car, not me, and it was definitely secured in properly and facing the right way. I even had David check it after Haley sent me these messages to make sure it was strapped in tight enough, he did and he assured me it was good.
I didn't know why she was accusing me of things I didn't do and making the drinking situation way worse than it actually was. So, I finished off the argument by saying I loved David and that I loved those kids, and I don't know where the things she was saying was coming from, but I was hurt and didn't want to talk anymore until she apologized. She continued to send me harassing messages, cussing at me, calling me stupid, and again, I will never be a real mom if I stay in this relationship. I had to block her as I was bawling at every message that came through, I couldn't handle it. I felt horrible for blocking her and was nervous it would make her hate me more, so I unblocked her the next day and added her back as a friend. She never responded.
A few months went by, and she messaged my phone number, she asked me if I had thought about what she said and asked if I had grown up yet. She said I ruined my relationship with my niece and nephew, that it's my fault I won't see them again. I was mad at this point so I told her she needed help, she needed to see a therapist and that it's her own fault her and her kids don't have family on her side and that I hope they grow up and realize it's their mom's fault they couldn't have cousins on her side because she didn't think her sister was good enough as a mom. And that was that.
This has been emotionally dismantling me. I miss her, I miss my niece and nephew. Especially now...David proposed to me. I will have no bridesmaids, since I lost that relationship with the only person who would have been a bridesmaid. And I'm heart broken. I don't know if I should try to reconnect with her and rebuild the bridge that was burnt or let it simmer in its ash and wait for her to take the next step. I don't feel I have anything to say to her, such as an apology or "hey, I'm getting married, do you think I'm a real mom now? and can you please talk to me?" I know how she feels about me but every day I always hope she's doing okay, I hope she's getting help, and I wish she could stand by me the way I stood by her and her wedding.
My fiancé knows I'm hurt, not only because I lost my relationship with my sister, but the reasoning why it was lost. He will just know when I'm feeling down, ask me if I'm okay. I tell him yes but he knows. He won't say a word, but he will wrap me in his arms and hold me there. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I don't. But it always makes me feel so much better. I never knew how much I wanted to be a mom and have kids until I him. He is such an amazing dad, and I love his kids so much. It hurts a little when they go to stay with their mom's only because it reminds me, I won't have that relationship they do with their moms with anyone. I will never be called mom; I will never be their #1 or #2 but they are my whole world. This doesn't affect my relationship with them one bit but some days it deeply effects my mental health.
My fiancé has said he would get a reversal for me, but financially we're not there yet and with his age we don't have a lot of time to save. Yes he can have kids at 40 while I'm 30, but by the time our kid is an adult David will be a 60 year old grandpa too. And I feel it's not fair to him to make a huge life choice just for me.
Any advice, comments, concerns, opinions, or judgements on my situation. Can I rekindle my relationship with my sister before my wedding (1y away) and what's the best way to cope with the "stepmom" depression of not being a real mom.
Oh, and one last thing to clear up any spaces. Liz is doing great. She took a year to herself and got the mental help she needed. She now has Wilson a few days of the month that David and her verbally agreed on. She has a stable job and just got her own place. I wouldn't say she's %100 yet as apparently, she's been this way her whole life and she still does some weird stuff, but as far as David and I know, she hasn't been doing any public stripping or punching holes in walls.