The Family Secret

I was shattered to learn that my precious child was not mine. My own flesh and blood was gone forever.

I was not going to crumble under the weight of the revelation or consume myself with hysteria or grief.

Instead, I channeled my pain into putting my mother-in-law behind bars and breaking my husband before moving on with my life.

It was our wedding night, and all our guests had cleared out.

My husband, Keith, and I went through the wedding gifts, and the estimated total amounted to 100,000 dollars.

Floored, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face, but the highlight of the night wasn’t the generous gifts. Despite Keith’s protests, I snatched up the gifts and put them away.

Right in front of him, I pulled out a scanty nightgown from the wardrobe and slipped into it.

Just as things were heating up, the pressing knock on the door interrupted Keith from pouncing on me. I threw my nightgown back on. I opened the door to find my mother-in-law, Whitney, standing there, pillow in hand.

Unsure of her intentions, I was a bit on edge.

Whitney was Keith's stepmother. She was not the stereotypical older lady. Thanks to her skincare regime, she looked young and alluring for her age. Her equally skimpy, if not worse, lingerie did little to hide her gorgeous shape, especially since she opted not to wear a bra.

The words that came out of Whitney’s mouth blew my mind.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for you to sleep with us, Whitney.”

“It’s fine, Naomi. You seem to have a problem with me now that you are a part of this family.”

Though stunned, I quickly got a grip on myself and declined the suggestion.

To my surprise, Keith agreed without getting my consensus.

I was disgruntled. It was absurd enough that I had to share a bed with my mother-in-law on my wedding night, but she took up the space between me and my husband too. Whitney glanced at me before sprawling herself across the sanctity of my bed.

“A good wife shouldn’t be so petty. You should be kind to your husband’s family.”

Whitney’s lecture didn’t sit well with me. I doubted anybody would be happy if their mother-in-law crashed their wedding night and hogged the center of the bed.

To make matters worse, Keith didn’t even ask for my opinion.

I didn’t want to make a big fuss, especially since I was a new addition to the family. Since Whitney and Keith didn’t mind, I couldn’t give them attitude on my wedding night, so I bit my tongue.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, I got up in the middle of the night to find Keith sprawled all over Whitney, and Whitney even dropped her bloomers too.

Something felt off, but I didn’t dig deep into my hunch.

I’d just have to vent to my best friend tomorrow.

Keith had better make it up to me tomorrow for our ruined wedding night. I went back to bed, fuming. By the time I roused, I was all alone in bed.

I found Keith making breakfast outside the bedroom. I knew I had married the right guy. At least, I wouldn’t be stuck in the kitchen all day.