When Emilia’s daughter, Ruby, is three weeks old, she and her husband decide to introduce her to the family with a party. But when Ruth, Emilia’s mother-in-law, shows up uninvited—the couple just wants her out, revealing how she took advantage of the couple when the baby was born by legally changing the baby’s name without consent.
It was the morning of our daughter’s arrival party—which is something that Jake and I had been planning during the last few months of our pregnancy.
You’ve been put on bed rest, Emilia,” Jake said. “We’re going to take that seriously and stay safe at home. When our daughter is born, we can have a little arrival party to make up for it.”
Then, my husband told our family and friends that we needed space in the weeks leading up to our daughter’s birth.
They’re not going to be happy,” I said, as I rubbed my stomach, our daughter kicking away inside.
“I know,” he said. “My mother especially, but it’s about respect, Em.”
So, now that our daughter was three weeks old and thriving, Jake and I wanted to show her off to our closest family members and friends—all the people who had showered us with gifts at the hospital.
As Jake set up the decorations in our backyard—pink and white balloons everywhere—an unexpected cloud hung over the event, one cast by my mother-in-law, Ruth.
“Hello!” her voice carried through the house.
I cringed as I fed my daughter. I didn’t want Ruth here. I didn’t want to see or speak to her. I knew that she was my husband’s mother, and the grandmother of my child, but I still needed time to get over what she had done.
The conflict had ignited three weeks prior—the night that our daughter had come into the world
During the months of bedrest before our daughter’s birth, Jake and I had chosen to name our daughter after my late grandmother—a decision that held deep emotional significance for us both. Grandma Ruby had been the first person to welcome Jake into our family with open arms.
Ruby is the perfect name for her,” Jake said one day as he handed me a mug of hot chocolate.
“Isn’t it too old-fashioned?” I asked, thinking about the strange names that celebrities named their children.
“No,” he chuckled. “But maybe she’ll be a cute little hipster kid, and it will be her whole personality
But then, everything changed. I had gone into labor early in the evening, and Jake rushed me to the ER. Everything was going along as we expected, and we knew that soon our daughter would be with us.
As the hours went on, my labor began to take a turn, causing me to bleed.
“Tell me what to do,” Jake told the doctor who was monitoring my progress. “Tell me what we’re going to do.”
“We’re going to deliver the baby now,” the doctor said. “And then we’re going to take care of Emilia