I returned home with my newborn twins and discovered that the locks had been changed, my belongings had been thrown out onto the street… and a note was waiting for me inside.
After the birth of my first children, I believed that my husband would eventually choose us over his mother… but that didn’t happen. This time, however, he chose her over me for the last time — and I exposed her for who she really is: a tyrant and a liar.
You’d think coming home with newborn twins would be one of the happiest moments of your life. For me, it started out that way… but within minutes, it turned into a nightmare.
After three days in the hospital to recover from a difficult delivery, I was finally allowed to be discharged. I was ready to go home with our beautiful girls, Ella and Sophie. I had been imagining this scene for months: Derek, my husband, arriving with flowers, his eyes shining, picking up one of the babies with that quiet pride that is impossible to forget.
But instead, at the very last moment, I received a hurried phone call that turned everything upside down…
‘Hello, darling,’ Derek said in a short, tense voice. ‘I’m really sorry, but I won’t be able to come and get you as planned.’
‘What?’ I whispered, adjusting the blanket around Sophie. ‘Derek, I just gave birth to twins. What could be so important that…’
‘It’s my mother,’ he interrupted. ‘She’s not well. She’s having severe chest pains. I need to pick her up and take her to the hospital near her house.’
His words froze me.
‘What? Why didn’t you say anything earlier? Derek, I need you here.’
‘I know,’ he replied, struggling to keep his composure. ‘But it happened suddenly, and it’s serious. I’ll come to you as soon as I can.’
I clenched my teeth, holding back the urge to scream — out of disappointment, exhaustion and hurt.
‘Okay… I’ll take a taxi.’
‘Thanks,’ he muttered and hung up.
His mother lived in another city. To be honest, it was naive to hope that he would return the same day. I knew Derek: when it came to his mother, everything else took a back seat. So I called a taxi.
As soon as the conversation ended, my stomach churned. I tried to convince myself that Derek wasn’t cruel, he just couldn’t cope… a ‘mama’s boy,’ as they say. But the burning feeling of disappointment didn’t go away. And the very same mother-in-law who insisted that we make duplicate keys ‘to help with the children’ had ‘suddenly’ fallen seriously ill at that very moment.
I tried to push these thoughts away. I put the babies in the car seats their father had brought the day before and got into the taxi.
When we turned onto the driveway, I froze.
My suitcases. Diaper bags. Even the mattress from the cot.
Everything was scattered on the lawn and near the door. A hard, painful lump instantly formed in my throat. I paid the driver, got out with the twins, my heart pounding so hard it hurt. Something was wrong. It was obvious.
I approached the door, awkwardly fumbling for my keys. Without even realising it, I called Derek’s name — even though I knew he couldn’t come back.
The key wouldn’t turn.
I tried again. And again. Nothing.
And then I saw it: a folded piece of paper taped to the suitcase.
I tore it off with trembling hands.
‘Get out of here with your parasites! I know everything. — Derek.’
My breath caught in my throat. Literally. It was as if all the oxygen had suddenly disappeared from the world. I reread those words over and over, trying to make sense of them, hoping that my mind was just playing tricks on me.
It was impossible.
Not Derek.
Not the man who held my hand at every appointment. Not the man who cried when he first heard our daughters’ heartbeats.
And then the worst part of the day began.
I called Derek immediately.
Answering machine.
I called again.
Answering machine.
Panic overwhelmed me when Sophie started crying — and Ella soon joined her. I rocked the car seats with one hand, as if it could keep the world from falling apart, and tried to think.
‘Mum…’ I whispered.
My fingers trembled as I dialled her number.
‘Jenna?’ she answered on the first ring. ‘What’s wrong? Are the girls okay?’
It was hard to get the words out. I didn’t want to upset her, especially with her poor health, but… I was on the edge.
‘Derek… he changed the locks. He threw out my things. Mum… he left a terrible note.’
‘WHAT?!’ her voice shot up. ‘Stay there. I’m on my way.’
The minutes dragged on like hours before she arrived. Seeing the chaos, she narrowed her eyes in anger.
‘This doesn’t make sense! Derek would never do this… He loves you, he loves the children!’
‘I thought so too,’ I said, reassuring Ella. ‘But he’s not answering. And… what does “I know everything” mean?’
I handed her the note.
She hugged me tightly.
‘I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Let’s go to my place. We’ll stay there until we can get in touch with him, okay?’