family ...

N: "He's mine you know.  Not yours.  No matter what you say or do, he will never, ever, ever be yours."

C: "Yes, Nadena.  I know that he is your child.  I'm not trying to replace you as his mother.  I'm just trying to be his friend and give him a strong foundation for the future that shows the two of us can work together for his benefit, along with his father."

N: "YOU are not to be involved whatsoever in creating any kind of foundation for Devan.  That responsibility is strictly for me and Jason.  I don't want you involved in any way with his life."

C: "That is going to be a little difficult to do, Nadena, since I am now married to Jason, and Devan does spend part of the year with us.  Am I supposed to just pretend he isn't here when he visits and completely ignore him?  Devan has come to me asking things that are inappropriate, and he's basing that on what you have told him when he calls you every five minutes."

N: "You be careful with your tone of voice when you speak to me, *itch.  My son has a cell phone so that he can call whenever he needs ME.  Not you.  If he is coming to you for ANYTHING you need to tell him to call ME or his father.  He should not be asking you anything at all.  Ever.  Do you understand me?"

Image Source: Bing

It was a good thing during the two years Jason and Devan were in my life that we were never on video calls.  Otherwise, Nadena would have seen me flying around the house flipping birds at everything she said.

I knew by that time in my life, I would never be having a bio-child of my own, but I still longed for a "family."  I believed, wrongly in this relationship, that co-parenting Devan would be the best thing for him and would be easy-peasy.  But Nadena continued to dig into my heart and soul with each hate-filled lie that she spewed in my direction through her manipulative control over her son and ex-husband.

The joy that I first felt in helping Devan decorate what would be his bedroom when he stayed with us turned into sadness. Instead of taking those lemons and making lemonade, I used the slices in rum and cola drinks as I hid away from him on my serenity deck every time he came to visit.  I tried not to become attached to Devan, but it was difficult when I saw in him the hurt and frustration that mirrored my own childhood of divorced parents.

Yesterday morning, I enjoyed breakfast with a family of my choosing.  Celebrating the 60th birthday of my friend with carrot cake and coffee.  Time spent laughing and making plans for future weekend road trips.

I'm participating in Words for Wednesday here.