My Aunt Gifted My Baby A “Daddy’s Maybe” Onesie At Her First Birthday Party. I Responded By Revealing Her $22,000 Theft From My Dying Grandma. Am I The One Who Went Too Far?
The Future
That evening Daniel and I were cleaning up after dinner when he brought up the idea of having another baby. I stopped loading the dishwasher and looked at him. He said he’d been thinking about it for a while and felt like we were in a good place now. For the first time since Lily was born I wasn’t immediately worried about what color hair another baby might have or what anyone might say. I told Daniel that and he grinned. He said he hoped they had red hair too just to make a point. We both laughed and agreed we’d start trying in a few months once we felt completely ready.
Christmas came and a card arrived in the mail with Beverly’s return address. Daniel brought it in from the mailbox and we both stared at it on the kitchen counter. He asked if I wanted to open it and I said no. We talked about this in counseling, about how any contact with Beverly had to be on our terms and timeline, not hers. We weren’t ready yet and might never be ready. Daniel put the card in a drawer unopened and we went on with our day.
Kayla started coming over every Thursday evening to watch Lily while Daniel and I went to dinner or just took a walk. She’d arrive with little gifts for Lily and spent hours playing with her on the floor. One Thursday she stayed after we got home and asked to talk to me privately. We sat in the kitchen while Daniel gave Lily a bath. Kayla told me she was ashamed of how she’d acted when Beverly first started spreading rumors. She said she was grateful I was giving her another chance to be part of Lily’s life. I told her I appreciated the apology and that watching her with Lily now showed me she’d genuinely changed.
Our anniversary fell on a Saturday in January. Daniel had planned a nice dinner at home after Lily went to sleep. He cooked my favorite meal and we ate by candlelight at our dining table. After dessert he pulled out a small wrapped box. Inside was a necklace with Lily’s birthstone hanging from a delicate chain. He said this past year had taught him that I was the strongest person he knew. I told him that standing up to Beverly had been terrifying but knowing he had my back made it possible. We sat together on the couch afterward just holding hands and talking about how far we’d come.
The next weekend we drove to the cemetery where my grandmother was buried. It was cold and gray but not raining. We bundled Lily up in her winter coat and walked across the grass to grandmother’s headstone. Daniel held Lily while I told grandmother about her great-granddaughter who had her beautiful red hair. Lily reached out and touched the cold stone with her little hand. Daniel held my other hand the whole time and I felt like grandmother would be proud of how we’d protected our family. We stayed for a few more minutes then walked back to the car with Lily between us, each of us holding one of her hands while she tried to jump over puddles.
6 months later my dad called while I was folding laundry in the living room. He said Beverly was moving to another state to live near her daughter and he thought it was probably for the best. I asked if he’d talked to her and he said no, he’d heard it through my uncle. Dad said the family gatherings had been much healthier without her there and everyone seemed more relaxed. He told me he was proud of how Daniel and I had handled everything and that standing up to Beverly was the right thing even though it was hard. I thanked him and we talked for a few more minutes about Lily and work before hanging up.
Daniel got home that evening and I told him about Beverly moving away. He nodded slowly and said good, that maybe now his family could stop walking on eggshells wondering if she’d show up somewhere. We decided to celebrate our progress by going out that weekend just the two of us. Kayla agreed to watch Lily on Saturday night and we drove to our favorite restaurant downtown. We made a rule before we even sat down that we wouldn’t talk about Beverly or any family drama at all.
Daniel ordered wine and we spent the whole dinner laughing about silly things like the weird guy at his office who microwaves fish every day and the time I accidentally dyed my hair orange in college. He told me about wanting to take Lily camping next summer and I reminded him about the time he got lost on a marked trail for 3 hours. We held hands across the table and I felt like we were dating again instead of just surviving together. On the drive home Daniel said he felt like we’d finally moved past survival mode into actually thriving and I agreed completely.
