The one thing I hate about Disney

is that it has advertised stepmothers as evil every single time. I know there are some real-life evil stepmothers out there, but most of the time, they are not the women that Disney has set them out to be.

CAUTION! LONG POST AHEAD! Probably no one cares about my journey in my relationship with my stepmom

My stepmom and my dad began their relationship when my mom and my dad were still together. They’d gotten divorced so that my dad could go to Canada (we lived in Cuba at the time) and the process would be easier bc of immigration. My parents were still emotionally attached, just not legally married anymore. I was 4 when he left and my sister was 1. A few years later, my dad moved to the U.S. and some time after, he met Alba (that’s not her actual name but she likes it). By that time, my dad had decided that he needed to move on from my mom for reasons that he explained to me a few years ago but I will not disclose. Anyway, Alba and him had mutual friends and were both invited to a house party and when she knocked on the door, carrying some kind of snack, my dad was the one who answered the door. He said hello, took the snacks, and shut the door before she could go in. He immediately opened it back up and laughed and explained that it was a joke. She didn’t find it amusing. Later, she asked her friends about him and they said that he was Cuban and had two daughters still there. She assumed that he was married. Then he introduced himself on a nicer note and said he was not married. She never knew that my mom and him were still “together” at the time.

My mom found out about the affair through a picture where there was a photograph of her in the CORNER, on top of a dresser(I swear to God my mom is Sherlock or something) and she called him and they had a huge fight over the phone. I thought she was fighting my paternal grandfather because my dad and his dad have the same name. My mom always called my dad by his nickname, and through the fight she was saying his whole name, so you might be able to see how a child could get confused. I was 7-8. I can’t remember. My mom ended things with my dad and all that stuff. She told us that Alba stole our dad from us and she wasn’t our friend. She was incredibly angry at the time and didn’t know the whole story.

Back on a lighter note, Alba and my dad got married just a year or so later at the BEACH 😍 It was beautiful and she looked so pretty and it was in Miami near the lighthouse in Key Biscayne. They lived in California and went to get married in Miami because that’s where their families lived and it’s as near to Cuba as they could get.

During our years without my dad, we were constantly trying to get out of Cuba. When they gave my mom permission to leave the country (doctors need a special permission to leave), then my sister and I were the ones that couldn’t because of some immigration issues. My mom stayed back and this happened more than once. A few months before we actually left, my dad called to tell my sister and I that we were going to have a baby brother and we were jumping — no, really, we were jumping — with excitement. We got out of Cuba and took a detour to stay with my mom’s sister in Spain. We hadn’t seen her and her family in years and my grandma was also there. That was the last time I saw my grandmother before she passed away. We had a really terrible time in my aunt’s house. She was Aunt Petunia and my grandma, my mom, my sister, and I were all Harry Potter. I thank God for the times that my cousins would defend us and when my uncle briefly came back from working in northern Spain (he is a sweetheart and my aunt’s polar opposite; I literally don’t know how they’re together) On our second month there (in hell), we got a call that RJ, my brother, was born. We were so, so happy.

I met Alba at the same time I met my brother. He is my half brother, I know, but most of the time I don’t even remember that. I knew when I first saw him that I would give the world for him. He was a part of me and I never felt any kind of rejection toward him. My sister was not very fond of the whole idea of not being the baby anymore, so she insisted that RJ was not her brother and that she hated him, but she too was soon charmed. Alba, though . . . I don’t know what was wrong with me. She was always nice to me and she sacrificed so much for us but I didn’t notice because I was ten and Disney was on my side and I was easily influenced my my mother’s opinions. I hated her so much for stealing my dad. Of course, I never did anything to let her know how I felt about her. I was raised to be polite at all times.

We only saw them during summer and sometimes winter because my mom liked Miami and they still lived in California, so I only had a little time with them.

As I’ve grown and matured, I let go of that prejudice I had and asked myself, “Is she really that bad?” So I gave her a fighting chance three summers ago, when they moved to Indiana and we stayed with them. She really wasn’t. She was great to us. I started to notice everything. Every little smile and the little winks she gave when she laughed. She worked so hard and was such a great mother and wife and I did my best to get to know her better. This process might’ve gone faster and not have taken years if we lived near them and saw them frequently. I also learned to forgive my dad. That summer we went to a really cool water park/hotel/theme park and it helped us build a friendship. It really did. We were all in the same room and my sister and I slept on a really cool bunk bed and the whole experience was unforgettable. At the end of summer, I saw a picture of a positive pregnancy test and asked Alba about it. She said that her best friend (who I knew) was pregnant and had sent her the picture. I’m pretty sure that was the summer when my stepmom and I stayed up until 5 AM (what a rebel) watching the BBC show of Pride and Prejudice, commonly known as “the one with Colin Firth.”

That winter, we arrived from the airport and went into our rooms and I heard my sister scream. I was freaked out so I ran to her room and was confused for a split second. There two little blue baby outfits on my sister’s bed, and I understood. I turned around so ask if it was a joke and I see my stepmom entering the room with a HUGE ASS belly. The whole ordeal was very emotional and exciting.

PL was born the next year and on the summer of 2017, I met him when he was three months old. He was beautiful, to say the least. I mean, RJ was adorable, but PL was a gorgeous baby. He had big, round eyes and a tiny little chubby face and because I was older than with RJ, my maternal instincts came out immediately and I basically treated him as my own 😂

The family bonded over Game of Thrones, which I was finally allowed to watch. I’d seen two episodes from different seasons while I stayed with them previous summers and it looked so good but I’m a good girl and waited until I was allowed to. Unfairly, I had to wait until I was 14 and my sister started watching at the same time at 11 🙃 Us older children always have to wait longer. Anyway, we all shared that passion for the show and that brought us very close. Alba also took me to get very subtle caramel highlights on the lower half of my hair (most people don’t even notice I have them). My mother was not amused, but I loved them.

This summer, though. This summer was mind blowing. Alba is now both a teacher and a real estate agent and she is so passionate about both of her jobs and I am so incredibly proud of her success. She brought me along as her assistant, and when I sprained my ankle on Father’s Day (let’s just say it was a true fatherly test for my dad), she did everything to keep my mind off the pain and keep me comfortable and calm throughout the week that I didn’t walk. I even went to an open house with my boot, which caught the attention of a couple who became my stepmom’s clients and are now in the process of buying their dream home. We watched old movies almost every night and rewatched Pride and Prejudice and other shows based on the books of Jane Austen and some other authors of her times. All the girls in the house did that almost every single night. That included the dog. We now also shared the desperation of having to wait another year for the final season of Game of Thrones, our love for the kids, and our newly-found interest in taking daily walks and being healthy. We went on a little road trip to Chicago and fell utterly in love with the city. I also had a little extra fascination due to having read so many books and watched so many movies and shows based in Chicago.

Also, NEWS: RJ started kindergarten while we were there (he hated his first homework) and PL can now say my nickname and started WALKING (finally!). He was a little late to walking, but it went from 0 to 100 in no time. He started running almost immediately after.