A mother was left heartbroken after discovering that two of her children have formed a romantic bond.
Sharing her heartbreak on Reddit, the mum said she was shocked to learn that her son and stepdaughter are in a relationship together.
“When my son Nathan was two, he met a friend in his daycare class, who we’ll call Abby,” she wrote on Reddit.
“Her dad, Jack, was one of the only other single parents there, as his wife had left after Abby was born,” she continued.
“Jack and I bonded over our children and ended up dating for a year and a half before getting married, and we had our daughter Eliza less than a year later.
“Jack and I always raised all three of our children the same, and though they knew that Nathan had a different dad and Abby had a different mum, we had never thought to question if they saw each other as siblings.”
The devastated mother said her life turned upside down when Abby and Nathan admitted that they had been in a relationship for years.
“She said that it happened after they were both adults, that they had gone to relationship counselling when it first started and that they were seriously thinking about marriage,” she said.
“Nathan then told us that they had admitted to having feelings for each other as teenagers, but had never acted on it because they were afraid of ruining their friendship, hurting each other, and most of all what we would think.
“At this point, Jack looked at me, grabbed my hand and hugged our children. He told them that he was sorry for us keeping them apart and that he ‘could tell how happy they are together’.
“I just got up and left.”
The frustrated mother struggled to cope since the two made their confession.
“I haven’t responded to any of their messages or calls, and pretended I wasn’t home when they tried to visit during the day,” she expressed.
“I’ve been fighting with Jack since this happened, even so far as telling him … they would never have my blessing, and I would put them both in therapy for having incestuous desires.
“This really upset him, and the fighting got so bad that I had him sleep in the guest house.”
She added: “I’ve never gone this long without talking to my children. I’ve never fought my husband. He’s even threatened me with divorce.
“I have no idea how to navigate this, and every time I think about it their whole relationship just makes me sick and angry.”
Reddit users sympathized with the mother’s reaction.
One person commented: “It doesn’t matter if they technically don’t share blood. They were raised together as siblings since they were three years old, which is about as far back as any of us can remember. This is messed up.”
Another wrote: “They were raised as brother and sister, and while they don’t share blood, they do have a sister together. I think your reaction is completely normal and justified.”
But other Reddit users think there was nothing wrong with Abby and Nathan dating.
One wrote: “Perhaps, you should consider therapy to work through your issues with their relationship. After all, they aren’t biologically related so this isn’t incest. You can’t force them to feel like siblings just because they grew up together.”
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