They'd both been through marriages that left scars. Dad's first wife got sick—really sick—and killed herself so she wouldn't be a burden. Mom's first husband died in a truck accident on a rainy night, trying to earn more money for the family.
Both of them died when the love was still raw.
Mom and Dad didn't marry for love. They married so their children could have a complete family.
On the wall hung a framed piece of calligraphy. It read: Treat them as your own.
Mom and Dad only had eyes for each other's kids.
If you buy my daughter a new dress today, I'll get your son new shoes tomorrow. However good you are to my child, I'll be just as good to yours.
Perfectly balanced.
They hadn't planned on having another baby.
But as Ethan and Chloe got older, they developed minds of their own. They weren't afraid of their biological parents anymore—they were getting out of control.
Mom could manage Ethan. Dad could handle Chloe. That was the only way to get them to listen.
Being a stepparent is hard. You can't discipline too harshly, not unless you want people calling you an abuser.
I can't come down hard on my stepkid, but surely I can do it to my own flesh and blood.