Stepdad Takes My Mom And His Kids On A Vacation Without Telling Me, Leaving Me Home Alone...

Family Background and Initial Struggles

I’m a 16-year-old high school student, living between two homes because my parents share custody. My mom remarried two years ago to a man named Eddie, who’s 42, while my mom is 40. My parents never married each other. I was the result of a brief fling after college that unexpectedly ended with my mom getting pregnant. She decided to keep me, and my dad has always wanted to be involved in my life, so they agreed to split custody equally. I alternate between living with my mom and dad every month.

I love both my parents and recognize the sacrifices they’ve made to stay close to me. They have stayed in the same city despite career setbacks just so I wouldn’t have to travel much between their houses. My mom turned down several serious relationships because she wanted to focus on raising me instead of juggling a new marriage and family life. I only learned all this indirectly through Eddie, who’s far from an ideal stepfather.

My mom told me all this to convince me to accept Eddie, hoping that since she made so many sacrifices for me, I could at least try to accept him. But honestly, I never asked for any of this. She could have chosen to terminate the pregnancy or let my dad raise me alone, yet she chose to raise me herself.

Despite that, I never argued because I love my mom and want her happiness. I tried to accept Eddie, even though he clearly doesn’t like me. He doesn’t speak to me, ignores my existence in the house, and his kids have been taught the same. I don’t understand why a grown man has such issues with a 16-year-old who’s done nothing wrong.

Eddie never talks rudely, but he acts like I’m invisible. This cold shoulder has lasted three years. My mom says it’s just how he is — not necessarily hostile, but definitely distant. It’s frustrating because if you dislike someone, at least have a reason. I suspect it might have to do with me being my mom’s first child, but I still don’t know why.

Before Eddie and my mom married, he would sometimes interact with me and ask questions. Then suddenly, he stopped. It was baffling and hurtful, but my mom told me he was just getting used to having me around since he’d only dated women without kids before. That didn’t make sense because he has two sons himself, and their mother passed away years ago.

Eventually, I accepted that Eddie would never speak to me. After they married, Eddie moved in with my mom and brought his kids along, and none of them spoke to me. It was hard living in the same house where everyone pretended I wasn’t there. I felt like a criminal, judged without knowing what I did wrong.

Rising Tensions and The Breaking Point

Years passed, and nothing changed. Eddie continued to ignore me whenever he visited my mom’s house. I was used to it by now — the cold silence, the avoidance, the invisible treatment. His kids were trained not to speak to me, either. The only person who ever talked to me at that house was my mom.

I wanted to spend time with her, so I put up with the silence from everyone else. I asked my mom countless times to talk to Eddie about his behavior, to fix the situation, but she refused. She said she already talked to him, and that Eddie had “personal reasons” he wouldn’t disclose to me. She told me to “suck it up” and deal with it for her sake because she made many sacrifices for me.

I felt trapped — I wanted to fight for myself, but I didn’t want to hurt my mom’s feelings. I never told my dad about any of this because they had very different views on parenting, and I knew it would only cause more conflict. I didn’t want my dad to file for full custody or start a custody battle.

So I pretended everything was fine and kept going back and forth between the two houses. But things finally came to a head last month.

One morning, I woke up and found the house completely empty. No one was there — no mom, no Eddie, no step-siblings. The day before, everything had been “normal,” or as normal as it could be, with everyone talking (ignoring me, of course), but no one mentioned going anywhere.

I called my mom, and she told me she and the kids had gone on a trip for the week. She asked me to stay and take care of the house. I was on summer break, so I didn’t have school, but I was not okay with being left home alone without warning or any say in the matter.

I was upset they hadn’t told me about the trip. If they had, I might have even said yes because, honestly, who wouldn’t want a week in an empty house? I might have invited friends over, had fun — but I was too mad at how my mom was treating me to even consider it. Plus, I was already dealing with problems with my school friends and felt pretty alone.

I told my mom she owed me an apology for leaving me like that. I understood Eddie didn’t like talking to me, but the least they could have done was inform me beforehand. She told me I was overreacting and hung up without letting me respond. When I tried to call back, she ignored me and texted that she was enjoying her trip and would talk to me later.

That was the last straw. I packed up, locked the house, left the keys under a plant pot like mom usually did, and went to live with my dad early. He was surprised to see me so soon, but I had had enough.

Consequences and Family Fallout

When I got to my dad’s place, I finally opened up and told him everything — about Eddie’s ridiculous behavior, how he had trained his kids not to talk to me, and how I felt like I was being punished without knowing why. I explained how my mom refused to address the problem and kept making excuses for Eddie’s coldness, saying he had “personal reasons” she couldn’t share.

I had been putting up with this for years, trying to be kind and compassionate, even though I felt like an outsider in my own family. I told my dad how hurt I was when mom left me home alone without warning so she could go on a trip with Eddie and his kids. She expected me to act like a watchdog in the house, which wasn’t fair.

After I finished telling my dad, I broke down crying. I hadn’t realized just how much the whole situation weighed on me. Before all this, my relationship with my mom was normal. But after she got together with Eddie, everything changed. I felt invisible, insignificant, and unloved by the person who was supposed to care for me the most.

My dad was upset but told me he was glad I shared everything with him. He said he would take care of things from now on. He told me I’d be living with him and that if I ever wanted to go back to my mom, it was my choice — but he wouldn’t recommend it.

For the first few days, my mom didn’t try to contact me. Then, after about five days, she finally called, but it wasn’t to check on me. Instead, she yelled at me, blaming me for the house being robbed while I was gone. She said expensive things like their TV had been stolen, and she held me responsible. I tried to explain I had tried calling her to tell her I was leaving, but she didn’t answer. She argued I should have texted her, but I told her I didn’t do it on purpose — I was upset and made it clear I wasn’t willing to stay alone in the house. Our fight escalated, with her saying I was careless and ungrateful for leaving the house empty.

Eddie even called me once during this time, yelling and blaming me for their misfortune. He said he always knew I would cause trouble. I still don’t understand what that means since we never interact. My parents started fighting, with my dad blaming mom and mom blaming me. Mom even demanded that dad pay her for damages, insisting that if he defended me, he should bear the costs too. She said she’d only drop it if I apologized to her and her family, but I had no intention of doing that.

Revelations and Moving Forward

It’s been two weeks since everything happened, and a lot has come to light. I finally found out why Eddie hated me so much. Early in their relationship, Eddie asked my mom if his mother could move in with them. My mom said no, not ready to deal with the burden of an ailing mother-in-law. She wasn’t upfront with him and instead blamed me, making me sound like a juvenile delinquent who scared away her boyfriends.

Mom told Eddie I had made rude comments about his mother and kids — things I never said. She said I called his mother a useless burden and threatened to make her suffer if she moved in. She claimed I called his kids "little evil goblins" who would ruin their family. Because of those lies, Eddie stopped talking to me and treated me badly.

Recently, Eddie pushed my mom to cut ties with me completely, but she refused. Eventually, she confessed the truth to him. Now, Eddie and my mom are living separately because of the mistrust and lies. Eddie apologized to me in an email for mistreating me and hoped I could forgive him. I haven’t responded yet because I’m still processing everything.

My dad is filing for full custody now. Mom is devastated and claims she wanted us to be a happy family, but you can’t build happiness by destroying others’ lives. Eddie has filed for divorce too. Mom is dealing with it oddly, posting sad quotes on social media.

I have blocked my mom everywhere. I don’t want to speak to her again. I endured a lot for years out of love and wanting her to be happy, but she clearly didn’t feel the same. Now, I’m focused on life with my dad. Things are going well; I’ve made up with friends and am ready to move forward.