My Mil Changed My Baby’s Name While I Was Unconscious.

Then Ruth stepped forward into the middle of the space between Carol and our little group. Her voice was loud and clear when she announced there seemed to be some confusion about the baby’s name.

She said perhaps Carol would like to explain to everyone what really happened with the birth certificate. Carol’s face went completely white; all the color just drained out.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Ruth didn’t let up.

She asked Carol directly if she had changed our baby’s name without our permission while I was unconscious. The entire pavilion erupted.

People started talking all at once—shocked voices asking what Ruth meant. Carol stammered something about a paperwork mix-up at the hospital.

She tried to laugh, but it came out nervous and fake. Ruth cut her off.

She asked again, louder this time, if Carol had changed the name without permission. A woman I didn’t know spoke up from the crowd—Trinity, I realized from Jester’s descriptions.

She asked how changing someone’s baby’s name without permission could possibly be considered help. More voices joined in.

Carol tried to talk over them. She said she was just helping because we were too emotional to think clearly.

She said she had more experience. She said she knew what was best.

Jester’s voice cut through the noise; it was shaking with anger in a way I’d never heard before. He described coming out of recovery to find his mother had committed fraud on our daughter’s birth certificate.

He pulled the folded legal documents out of his jacket pocket and held them up. He showed everyone the unauthorized changes.

He told them about the $800 we’d spent fixing it. He told them about the three months of court appearances and newspaper publications.

His hands were shaking as he held up the papers. Carol stood there in her stupid pink shirt with her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

She had nowhere to hide now. Everyone was staring at her.

The truth was finally out there in front of her entire family, and there was nothing she could do to take it back. Carol’s face crumpled and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

She looked around at everyone staring at her and her whole body seemed to shake. She kept saying she only wanted what was best for her granddaughter.

She said we were being so cruel to humiliate her like this in front of everyone. Her voice got higher and louder as she talked.

She said she was just trying to help us make a good choice. She said young parents don’t always know what’s best.

Several relatives shifted their weight and looked down at their feet. A few people glanced at each other, but nobody stepped forward to defend her.

Nobody put their arm around her or told us to stop. The silence from the crowd felt heavy and uncomfortable.

Carol kept crying and wiping her eyes with her hands. She looked at Jester like she expected him to make this all go away.

He just stood there holding Luna and staring at his mother with this expression I’d never seen before. It was like he was looking at a stranger.

Wyatt stepped forward from the crowd. He was Carol’s cousin and I’d only met him once before at another family event.

His voice was calm but firm when he asked Carol why she thought she had the right to override our choice as parents. He said he’d been listening to everything and he couldn’t understand how she justified what she did.

Carol opened her mouth, but nothing came out at first. She stammered something about experience and knowing better.

She said, “We were too young and emotional to think clearly.”

Wyatt shook his head and asked again why that gave her the right to commit fraud on legal documents. Carol’s crying got louder and she kept saying, “We don’t understand.”

She repeated it over and over like it was an answer. She said nobody understood what she was trying to do.

She said she raised Jester and he turned out fine, so obviously she knew about parenting. Her words weren’t making sense anymore and people in the crowd started whispering to each other.

Ruth reached into her purse and pulled out several pieces of paper. She held them up so everyone could see.

She said these were screenshots from Carol’s Facebook page. Her voice carried across the whole pavilion as she started reading them out loud.

The first one was Carol’s post announcing baby Caroline’s birth. Ruth read how Carol wrote that we’d asked her to choose the perfect name as a special honor.

She read the part where Carol said Luna was just a temporary placeholder until we met the baby and realized Caroline was perfect. Carol’s face turned bright red as Ruth kept reading.

Another post talked about how proud Carol was to have a granddaughter named after her. Another one said she’d always dreamed of this honor and we were such thoughtful parents.

Ruth’s voice never wavered as she read every lie Carol had posted. People in the crowd started shaking their heads; some of them pulled out their own phones like they were checking if the posts were real.

Carol tried to interrupt, but Ruth just talked louder. She read a comment where Carol told someone that Caroline was a family tradition we wanted to continue.

She read another where Carol said we’d realized during delivery that Luna didn’t suit our daughter’s face. The lies just kept stacking up with each post Ruth read.