My Bio Mom Tried To Sabotage My Trip To Japan By Giving Me The Wrong Airport Terminal. She Didn’t Realize My Stepdad And Brothers Would Choose Me Over Her. Aitah For Refusing To Forgive Her Until She Went To Therapy?

A New Understanding

The following week brought our last family therapy session before the holidays. We all sat in our usual spots in the therapist’s office, and the room felt less tense than it had during our first few sessions. Catherine asked Linda to share what she’d learned about her jealousy patterns over the past few months.

Linda took a deep breath and said she’d been thinking a lot about why she reacted so badly to me. She admitted that she’d always competed with other women for attention and validation, going back to her own childhood with two sisters who she felt got more love from their parents. She said that when she married Frank and saw how easily I got acceptance from him and the boys, it triggered all those old feelings of not being good enough.

She said watching me fit in so naturally when she still felt like an outsider made her feel like she was losing some kind of competition she didn’t even know she’d entered. Her voice got shaky when she talked about how threatened she felt by a 17-year-old girl, her own daughter. Catherine nodded and asked Linda what she understood now that she didn’t understand before.

Linda said she’d learned that love wasn’t a limited thing that got used up and that Frank and the boys loving me didn’t mean less love for her. She said her jealousy came from her own insecurity about whether she deserved to be loved, not from anything I actually did wrong. Then Linda turned to look directly at me for the first time that session.

She said she was sorry for trying to exclude me from the family and from the Japan trip. She said her jealousy was about her own issues and not about anything I did wrong. The apology came out stilted and uncomfortable, like she was forcing herself to say words that didn’t come naturally, but her eyes were wet and her hands were shaking slightly, and I could tell she meant it even if she didn’t know how to express it smoothly.

It wasn’t a perfect apology, and she still seemed like she’d rather be anywhere else, but it was more genuine than anything she’d said to me in over a year. I looked at Frank, and he gave me this encouraging nod. Then I looked back at Linda.

I told her I appreciated the apology and I understood she was working on her issues in therapy, but I also said it really hurt to have my own mother try to keep me away from people who actually wanted me around. I said it made me feel like I wasn’t worth loving, like there was something wrong with me that made her want to hide me. Linda started crying harder and nodded, wiping her eyes with a tissue Catherine handed her.

I said I was willing to keep trying if she was, but that I needed her to actually treat me like family instead of like competition. Catherine said this kind of honest communication was exactly what we needed to keep doing and that both Linda and I had shown real courage in being vulnerable with each other. The session ended with Linda and me not hugging or anything dramatic, but with this understanding between us that we were both trying, even if it was messy and hard.

Christmas morning arrived cold and bright. I woke up early and went downstairs to find Frank already making coffee and Tom and Bobby arguing about which presents to open first. Linda came down a few minutes later in her bathrobe and actually wished me good morning before getting herself coffee.

We all gathered around the tree and started opening presents, and for the first time since Frank and Linda got married, it felt somewhat normal. Linda didn’t make weird comments about how the boys should open their presents from her first or try to create separate mother and son moments that excluded me. She sat on the couch next to Frank and watched all three of us kids rip through wrapping paper and compare gifts.

When I opened the present from Linda, I found a leather journal with Japanese characters embossed on the cover. Inside the front cover, she’d written a note saying it was for practicing Japanese writing. I looked up at her surprised, and she said she remembered how much I’d enjoyed learning the language for our trip.

It was actually thoughtful, showing she’d been paying attention to my interests instead of just buying something generic. I thanked her, and she smiled a real smile this time that made her face look softer. Tom got new basketball shoes and Bobby got the video game he’d been wanting, and Frank got a watch from Linda that he seemed to genuinely like.

We spent the morning in the living room surrounded by wrapping paper and ribbons, and while it wasn’t perfect, it felt like an actual family Christmas instead of the tense performance it could have been. After we finished opening presents and cleaned up the mess, Frank asked me to help him in the kitchen. Once we were alone, he told me how proud he was of how I’d handled everything with grace and maturity.

He said most kids my age would have fought back or caused drama, but I’d stayed calm and let the adults work through their issues. I felt my throat get tight and had to blink a few times. Frank put his hand on my shoulder and said that no matter what happened with Linda’s progress, I would always be his daughter and always have a place in this family.

He said when he married Linda he gained a daughter, not just stepsons, and nothing would change that. Hearing him say those words made me feel secure in a way I hadn’t felt since my parents divorced years ago. I’d spent so long worried that Linda would eventually succeed in pushing me out, that Frank would choose his wife over his stepdaughter.

But standing there in the kitchen with him looking at me like I really was his kid, I finally believed that I belonged here. I hugged him and he hugged me back, and when we went back to the living room, Linda was watching us with this complicated expression on her face. She didn’t look angry or jealous this time, though. She just looked sad and maybe a little hopeful, like she was starting to understand what she’d almost destroyed.

The week between Christmas and New Year passed quietly with everyone relaxing at home. On New Year’s Eve, Frank suggested a family game night instead of going out. We set up board games in the living room and ordered pizza and spent the evening competing over who could win at trivia and strategy games.

Bobby kept making jokes about Tom’s terrible guesses during trivia, and Tom kept threatening to tackle him. I made some comment about how Tom’s basketball skills clearly didn’t translate to brain skills, and Linda actually laughed. It was this genuine surprised laugh that made everyone stop and look at her.

She seemed almost embarrassed that she’d laughed at my joke, but she didn’t take it back or make it weird. The moment felt significant even though it was small, like maybe she was starting to see me as a person instead of as competition for her family’s affection. We played games until almost midnight, then watched the ball drop on TV with sparkling cider that Frank poured for everyone.

Linda stood next to me during the countdown, and when we all cheered at midnight, she smiled at me. It wasn’t forced or rehearsed this time. It was just a normal smile between two people celebrating together, and that felt like more progress than any therapy session could create.