When I was 6 my parents sat me and my brother down and told us they were divorcing. We were heart broken. We just moved overseas and had no extended family nearby, so just as we were adjusting to it being us four things shook up again. I remember him moving out and some tension as a few times we caught mom getting angry to our dad and him looking sullen. Then not even 6 months later when we were at Chuck E Cheese together, he introduces us to a new woman and her toddler and says “he is your brother now, no questions asked.” He shortly gets married to her and soon enough it just became accepted that she is my step mom and he is my half brother.
I’ll skip the details of how turbulent this made my childhood except for the fact it wasn’t until I was 13 where I pieced together that my half brothers birthday predated the divorce by over a year. I also started remembering a few times my dad had previously brought us around our step mom when she was pregnant before the divorce. I didn’t talk about that with my mom until I was 18. I’ve never talked about that with my dad. He’s gone weeks without talking to my half brother even when they were in the house together, hes always been a neglectful workaholic so weve never been close either.
Fast forward to last weekend, i see my step mom post in her story. She and my father are celebrating their 25th anniversary. I’m 26, so it becomes obvious to me that their affair had actually started years earlier than I thought. I didn’t think I’d be so upset since I already knew about the affair, but knowing how that he betrayed our family so much sooner than I knew is actually so upsetting. I haven’t been a fan of his for a long time for many reasons, but knowing this is almost too much now. I want nothing to do with him anymore, but he his only way of showing affection is providing money. So until I have no more need for his money I’ll keep the peace, but the part of me that was a little boy wanting his dad more than anything is gone and never coming back. Just needed to vent.
