I Knitted a Blanket from My Late Mom’s Sweaters for My Baby Brother – My Stepmother Threw It in the Dumpster, but Then My Grandma Made Her Regret It

Dad sank onto the sofa. For the first time since Mom died, I saw tears in his eyes.

He covered his face with both hands. “I’m so sorry. I should have protected her. And you two.”

He looked at Grandma and me.

Melissa stared at him. “Are you serious right now?”

“I admit that we flirted sometimes,” Dad said. “But I never realized Claire saw or how much it hurt her.”

“You’re twisting everything!”

Grandma’s voice grew firmer. “But what happened after she died doesn’t excuse the way you and I’ve treated my daughter.”

Dad pointed toward the blanket in my hands and looked at Melissa. “You’ll never throw away anything connected to Claire again. If you can’t respect that, then you should pack your things.”

Melissa laughed bitterly. “I don’t need this negativity in my life.” She stormed toward the bedroom. “Being a stepmother sucks, anyway!”

A few minutes later, she came back dragging a suitcase.

“Being a stepmother sucks, anyway!”

“I’ll get the rest of my stuff later,” she said.

Then she slammed the door on her way out.

The house felt strangely quiet after that.

“I’m sorry,” Dad said to me, before pulling me into a hug. He hadn’t held me like that since before Mom died. “I’m going to do better,” he promised.

Grandma smiled softly. “We’ll figure things out together.”

Andrew babbled from his play mat on the floor. I wrapped the knitted blanket around him.

For the first time in a long while, the house finally felt like home again.

“We’ll figure things out together.”