Wife and I got married just before everything went to shit. Went down to the courthouse and got it done as quick as possible. Didn’t mention it to MIL. Wife and I agreed that we’d have a ceremony at some point down the line.
Things are going well, we keep it from MIL that we got married (kept our rings off around her) and it seems like we’re at somewhat-peace. She’s still preaching about how us being together is wrong, and she still attends church. Things are decent. We keep the peace so we have access to Wife’s minor brothers (9 and 12).
One day, MIL’s over at our house to watch Son for us. We get home, we’ve forgotten to take our rings off, and MIL found out. She freaks out, and eventually calms down. We plan to get together at her house to talk about it, since MIL is hurt. Understandably, but we were worried about her reaction in the first place.
We go to MIL’s house. We had to bring Son with us since we couldn’t find a babysitter, but that was fine since Wife’s brothers got along well with him. We sit down with FIL first, and we make small talk. MIL’s gone out to grocery shop, she’d be back soon. We were hoping she’d hurry up. At some point FIL tells us that MIL’s late. That’s fine, we can reorganize this meeting for another time.
We go to grab Son and leave, and we can’t find him, or Wife’s brothers. We panic. We get frantic, FIL just sits there. We call the police, tell them we can’t find the boys, they come over and help us try to find them. They search the neighborhood, and after asking FIL again and again why he isn’t doing anything, he tells them that MIL had the boys.
It took the police the rest of the night to find MIL and the boys. Both MIL and FIL ended up being arrested. Wife’s aunt ended up coming to pick up Wife’s brothers.
To make a long story short, FIL was released, MIL was not, and she has a court date coming up soon. A CPS case was opened, and Wife’s brothers were temporarily placed with Wife’s aunt. We’re not allowed to go into specifics, but due to some serious things found in MIL’s phone and in her house, it doesn’t look like she’s going to get away with it.
I’ve been doing my best to comfort Wife since then, and all three of us (us and Son) have gotten into therapy. We’re doing well, and I’m happy to report that I don’t think we’ll have to deal with MIL again.
