A distraught dad recently took to Reddit to ask for opinions after he grounded his new stepson for revealing a family secret to the man’s youngest son. This is the full story.
He’s a Doting Dad with a Secret
OP is a father of two daughters, ages 12 and 7, and a son, age 11. He has been married to his second wife for 18 months, and her 15-year-old son from another relationship lives with them, too.
OP and his first wife split up after their first daughter was born. They got back together soon after, but not before his wife had a fling with another man.
Right after they got back together, OP’s first wife found out she was pregnant. When their middle child, the son, was born, it was obvious that he did not belong to OP due to vastly different skin color and features.
But OP has always raised the boy as his own and loves him just like he does his daughters.
His First Wife Died
Then, 7 months after their third child was born, OP’s first wife died. All of the kids had trouble adjusting and missed their mother dearly, but their son took it harder than anyone.
In recent years, the son has been in therapy, and OP thinks the boy has made great progress. He was considering finally telling his son the truth about his paternity, just looking for the right opportunity.
But almost as soon as OP’s stepson moved in with the family, he started griping about his “small” room. He continually argued with his stepdad and stepbrother because the younger boy had a bigger room.
OP’s wife wanted him to swap the room, moving his son into the smaller one and letting her son take the larger one. But he refused, saying his son had been in the bigger room long before the stepson moved in.
His Middle Son Was from Her Affair
One weekend, OP came home from running errands with one of his older children to find the two boys arguing over the room again. And he was shocked to hear the stepson tell his younger son the family secret.
OP’s stepson said that the younger boy didn’t have to listen to their dad about not swapping rooms because he obviously was not the boy’s real father.
That devastated OP’s son, and OP spent the rest of the weekend trying to reassure his boy that he considered him his real son. He also told him he’d help him find his real father if he ever wanted to do that.
OP grounded his stepson for lashing out at the younger boy, saying it wasn’t his place to reveal the truth. He also took away the family gaming console, which mostly just he and his stepson used.
His Stepson Told His Son the Truth
OP’s wife was angry that he grounded her kid and told him it wasn’t his place. She wanted him to lift the grounding, but he refused.
Later on, OP found out that his youngest daughter was hiding pictures of her dead mother under her bed. When he asked her why, she said that her stepmother had thrown them in the trash.
OP’s daughter didn’t want to get in trouble for rescuing the pictures of her mom, so she hid them.
OP followed up on his original post by saying that he could not tolerate that sort of behavior from his wife and her child, and that he was planning to end the marriage.
He Should End the Marriage
Redditors overwhelmingly support OP in his decision to ground the stepson and to keep his son in his original room.
Many wonder why OP never told his son the truth about not being his father before the new mom and stepson moved in, though.
Others warn OP that his new wife was showing him a new side to her personality, maybe her true self, once she moved in and got comfortable in her new life.
Several urged OP to consider leaving the marriage, which seems to have been his ultimate choice.
So, what do you think of this story? Was OP justified for grounding his stepson?
Or should he have considered changing the boys’ room arrangements?
And what do you think the right move is for OP moving forward?
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The post His Son Was the Result of His Dead Wife’s Affair and the New Stepson Told Him the Devastating Truth first appeared on The Net Worth Of.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Dean Drobot. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
Source: Reddit