My In-laws Called Me Paranoid Until My Sil Almost Let My Baby Fall Out Of A Second-story Window. Now They’re Threatening To Sue Me For Cutting Her Off. What Do I Do?
Confrontation
The male paramedic was writing notes on a clipboard and asked again about the open window. When I confirmed it, he and his partner shared another one of those concerned looks that made me feel sick. Keith’s parents were still standing in the nursery doorway.
His mother started saying that Lily only fell a short distance onto soft carpet and seemed totally fine. His father added that babies fall all the time and we didn’t need to panic over a little bump.
I stood up with Lily clutched against my chest and told them to get out of my house right now. Keith’s mother looked shocked and started to argue, but I cut her off. I said they came here to lecture me about being paranoid, and then Bridget nearly killed my baby while they distracted me.
Keith’s father said I was being dramatic and that Bridget made a mistake. Keith finally turned away from Bridget and told his parents they needed to leave immediately. His mother tried to touch his arm, but he stepped back.
He said they defended someone who kept endangering his daughter, and he was done listening to them. His voice was shaking but firm when he said they needed to go now and not come back until he said they could.
Keith’s mother started crying and his father’s face got red, but Keith walked over and physically guided them toward the stairs. Bridget tried to follow them, but Keith blocked her path and told her she was never setting foot in his house again.
She started crying too, saying she’d never hurt her niece and we were being so cruel to her. The paramedics were packing up their equipment, and the female one touched my shoulder gently and said we should follow them to the hospital in our car.
The Hospital Investigation
The emergency room was freezing cold and way too bright, making everything feel even more awful than it already was. A nurse took us straight back to a room instead of making us wait, which scared me because it meant they thought this was serious. Keith held Lily while I gave the nurse information, my hands shaking so hard I could barely sign the forms.
A doctor came in about 10 minutes later, a tall woman with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail who introduced herself as Elena Richardson. She washed her hands at the sink and then asked Keith to lay Lily on the exam table. She examined the bump on Lily’s head really carefully, shining a light in her eyes and watching how she moved.
Then she asked me to explain exactly what happened. I started describing how Bridget took Lily upstairs during their intervention. Elena listened while checking Lily’s reflexes, nodding but not interrupting.
When I got to the part about the open window right next to where Lily landed, Elena stopped what she was doing and looked right at me. She asked if this was the first dangerous incident involving this person. I felt something break inside me. I told her no, that there had been multiple incidents over the past 2 months.
I listed them quickly, trying not to cry: the water at 3 weeks, the unsafe sleep setup, the honey that brought us here before, the improper car seat buckles.
Elena’s expression changed from concerned to something harder, more serious. She finished examining Lily and then sat down on the rolling stool and said she needed to involve a social worker in this case.
