My saga of being a surrogate uncle/dad

My nephew I'll call Chris, was born to an unwed mother who was more interested in fucking rich dudes and partying than raising her child. She was room mates with her sister (my future wife) and constantly disappeared for days at a time leaving my wife to care for him with no clue when she would return.

My sister in law I'll call Charlotte, soon married some dude, had a baby with him and as a result her bastard son become even more of a second class citizen. The step dad treated Chris like shit and Charlotte ignored her son in preference for the new baby. Chris had a severe learning disability and his mother was too embarrassed to get her son help. She just lied to everyone about going to specialists and just let him sit in the retarded classes.

I came onto the scene When Chris was 9. He was really close to his aunt (my wife) for obvious reasons. Usually, uncles by marriage do not mean too much to kids.

Chris was different, he was a good kid, and I introduced him to computers, took him to shoot guns, we went to comic book conventions etc... He would spend days at our house and his mother wouldn't call until it was inconvenient for her.She would then have a conniption fit, drag him off and we wouldn't see him for a long time. She had to punish us for crossing the line into her territory.

I would call over and offer to take Chris to play video games or go to a gun show or whatever and his mother would make up some reason to not let him go. Until it again became inconvenient for Chris to be in her house then he would be dumped back at ours.

Chris couldn't read at all. He told me it was because he was stupid. I knew this wasn't true and it took me a long time to convince him he was smart kid with a learning disability.

I built Chris his first PC and took it over to his house, bought him an Internet connection and some games, figuring if he was interested in he could learn through the computer.

This really pissed off his mother. I was interfering with her son and he would never learn to read or use a computer because the doctors said so.

Sure enough, Chris began to read phonetically, just enough to be able to play games or send me an Email asking a question about his new computer. He went back and read all the comic books in his collection and was able to move into some regular classes in school. I of course never got any credit. That was fine, this wasn't about me.

Strangely enough, no matter how much Chris suffered with his abusive step dad, and a family that treated him like he was retard he still loved his lying non-commital disengaged psychotic mother.

As Chris got older, he began to see through his mom's inconsistancies, lies and manipulations. I tried to soften the blow by giving a heads up regarding the truth on current events so he wouldn't be hoodwinked so easily.

Finally, right after highschool, Charlotte and the dickhead step dad got divorced. Chris thought this would be the end of all the problems in the home and they could live happily as a family again.

Wrong. Charlotte started fucking anything that moved, bringing drugs and strange men into the house, she had lied to Chris for years about him having free college paid for by the state because of his learning problem. When it came time for college she basically said "fuck you there is no college and I'm not paying"

Chris snapped and started telling his mother off and acting up. He picked a girlfriend that his mom hated and moved her in, he basically said fuck it.

I offered to let him live at my house and help him with college but the girlfriend had to live at her own house. This was a no go and I didn't hear from Chris for almost 2 years.

Turns out Charolotte twisted the situation once again and told Chris that we had convinced her to kick him and his girlfriend out of the house and refuse to pay for his college.

Chris fell for it, I can't say I blame him because she is such a convincing liar and he still loved his mom and wanted to believe her.

Chris moved in with his girlfriends parents, and got married. His new inlaws convinced him to reconcile with his Aunt and myself because we never did anything wrong. This was difficult for Chris because he had a lot of pride, was still immature and would have to admit that he had been tricked by his mother once again.

It was difficult for me to forgive him for shitting on me after all the years and all the time we had spent together. He was the closest thing to a son I had until I adopted my own kid.

We get along pretty well now, but I have to be brutally honest with him so we don't get into another pissing match based on lies, rumor and gossip.

Chris is in School now learning to be a medical tech, He has two kids of his own and seems to be fairly happy. He finally got treatment for his learning disability and is catching up on all the lost years his mother denied him.

Chris's adulthood, marriage and overall new life does not sit well with Charlolette at all. She hasn't seen her grandchildren but for a few times despite living less than a mile away, constantly spreads lies about her son, her sister and I for daring to associate with him and his family. She lost control of him and can't stand not having complete power. This has resulted in her going off the deep end. I can't say I care that much. This woman has lost her sister, son, grandkids, and my kids due to her selfish
disgusting behavior.

I do feel sorry for Chris's younger brother. It's really sick to see a relationship that often crosses the border into oedipus land.

But that story is for another time