When Kayla’s mother leaves, her father does everything he can to raise her. Everything is fine until he meets Tanya, her stepmother, who comes to live with them with her children. When Kayla’s father dies, things look good until tragedy strikes. Tanya takes care of her, and she has to decide what to focus on while she’s away from home.
My mom was never meant to be a mom. It was about three months ago, and she told my dad that exact thing. Then she left.
She told him, “I’m sorry, Collin,” as she put her things away. “But I don’t want this kind of life.” I can’t do this. There are times when I feel like giving up because I don’t know how to be a good mother.
My dad told me, “But Kayla needs you.”
She said with tears in her eyes, “I’ll do more harm if I stay.”
After that, she left our lives.
My grandparents raised me for many years because my mother had left us. They were good at making me feel loved and cared for even though their daughter had left them.
“I know it’s hard,” my grandmother told us one day as we sat down to eat. “Kayla, you should remember that not everyone can be a parent.” People sometimes find that out too late.
I got my grandmother’s point of view; it made sense to me. I had no power over this. However, it wasn’t easy to accept that my mother had decided to leave me and that her love for me wasn’t enough.
However, my dad became my everything as I grew up. He was the only person who would do anything for me.
We were up against the whole world.
Then, when I was 12, my dad met Tanya at school. The twins she had were one grade above me, and they met at a school dance.
“Are you sure Kayla that we want to spend our Saturday at your school?” As he took one of the cupcake cases from the car, my dad muttered to me.
I told him, “It’s only for a few hours.” “Then we can go.” I know that both you and Uncle Jim want to watch the game on TV.
My dad laughed, and with the baked goods in our hands, we walked to the football field. Ready for Bake Day to start, we set up everything so that we could sell our cupcakes and leave.
Then Tanya and her twin girls, Allie and Avery, came over and put their brownie dishes next to mine.
“No way!” Tanya screamed and almost dropped a container when she tripped over a tablecloth. My dad rushed to help her.
He picked up the box, put it back on its feet, and helped Tanya free the piece of fabric that was stuck on her shoe.
That was the start of the end.
I gave Tanya my number, and by the end of the benefit, they had agreed to meet for dinner the following week.
After two years, they got married, and Allie, Avery, and I were girls.
I learned what it was like to have a mother for once.
Before, everything was fine because Tanya took care of me.
My grandmother told me to be careful. “She’s being nice because she married your dad.” Hold on until everything calms down. But I hope she’s everything you need her to be for you, my sweetheart.
It seemed like Gran’s words brought out the mean side of Tanya. It went from being nice to her losing it with me. It became clear to me that the way she treated me was different from how she treated the twins.
When we went for a run together, my dad told me, “Don’t worry about it.” His cholesterol had been very high lately, and the doctor told him he had to start living a healthy life.
“It’s not that the twins are getting new things,” I replied. “It’s also that she doesn’t even try to make me feel like I deserve them.”
My dad stopped to catch his breath and said, “It’s been Tanya and the girls for a long time, love.” “They only know each other.”
On the way home, my dad told me that he would always be there for me, no matter how I felt.
Until he wasn’t. A few weeks after I turned 15, my dad had a heart attack and died in his own bed. I learned that I no longer had any parents after the funeral. Things were the way they were.
Tanya cried her heart out at my dad’s funeral. She put on the best show of her life to show everyone how much she loved him through her tears.
My grandma held my hand at the funeral and said, “You can always come to me.”
I knew I couldn’t, though. My grandma was getting old and weak, so right before he died, my dad made plans for her to move into an old-age home where she could be cared for.
It was getting worse over time for my grandma, and I knew that even if I thought about moving in with her, she would need more care than I could give.
I lived in the shadow of my old life for a year because my father’s death had changed everything for her. Tanya and her girls treated me less like a family member and more like an inconvenience.
In between school, all I did was clean up around the house.
The girls’ sweet sixteen party then came around.
“There will be a big party!” Tanya said. “My two girls deserve a party.”
With my dad’s money, which was meant to help me pay for college, of course an expensive party was planned. The twins got new clothes for their birthday and the newest iPhones, which they had been talking about for a while.
A few months later, on my birthday, I wasn’t really looking forward to a sweet sixteen, but I did think Tanya and the twins would throw a nice dinner party with cake.
That’s what I had hoped—I just wanted to enjoy the moment and feel loved a little more. Because it was my first birthday without my dad.
But, of course, I was let down.
Going to the kitchen on my birthday morning with the hope that my stepfamily would show me that they cared was my only goal.
Tanya had one cupcake on a plate instead.
She told Kayla, “Happy Birthday.” “Here you go!”
It was one of the girls’ old school bags with her name still stitched on the side. It was my birthday present.
Tanya told her, “This is what you deserve.” “You should only think about yourself and your schoolwork. Don’t think about boys or parties.”
I was shocked. Something about Tanya was hard for me to understand. I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to do anything fancy for me, but I really thought she would have tried to change things up a bit.
But my stepmother’s message was clear: I was just a memory of a bad time that should have been forgotten.
I cried for my dead parents by myself in my room. I was shocked to find myself by myself. I didn’t recognize anything anymore. Even the house was being fixed up because Tanya wanted something new.
As I cried, I looked at the used schoolbag, which was a sign of how much my stepmother disliked me. I wouldn’t let it tell me how valuable I am.
Instead, it made me want to do better.
That bag became my world of rebellion against the story they tried to force on me for the next two years.
I quietly stuck with things until they paid off as high school went on. I got really involved in activities outside of school, did great in events, and learned new things.
My teacher told me, “Kayla, you’re doing so well.” “Even though your father died. You should be very proud of yourself.
I was not only at the top of my class when I graduated, but I also got a full scholarship to a well-known college.
Allie and Avery, on the other hand, squandered their benefits by using what Tanya had given them and being happy with average results because they knew their inheritance would cover any losses. But I learned that life is more favorable to those who are ready.
After many years, I’m now sitting in my dad’s house with a successful job that I started right after college. I’m a well-known neighborhood vet who most pets love, and most people also know my name.
There was a gathering for my high school class last weekend. I held on to my school bag as I stood there, ready to give the major speech I had spent hours writing.
Each of my stepsisters was sitting with their husband at a table in the back of the hall.
“Thank you to the woman who gave me this bag because she thought it was the least I could do. You didn’t think much of me, and that made me want to go further.
As I left the stage, I finally felt like I had done it right, as I saw my sisters look at each other.
What would you have done?
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