Decision

I have come to a decision. It may not stick because Steve is my weakness, and if I wind up hurting him too much, I'll back down. But I'm done being nice to the dark cloud that lives with us. I'm done doing things to make her life easier. I'm done going out of my way to try to include her.

She's made it quite clear she doesn't want to be part of our family, so done. She's not part of my family.

It will be difficult for me to find a good medium. I don't want to be mean....well, I do, but I won't. The urge to tell her point blank that her mother's nickname for her is Princess Bitchface is so strong, it's incredibly hard to resist. Mostly because it's such an accurate name for her. Oddly enough, it's incredibly fitting for her mother, too. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

She's doing everything in her power to drive Steve and I apart. I thought we were strong enough to weather anything, but now I'm not so sure. He's chosen her over me, and that's fine. No one picks me first. It still hurts a little, though. But if my marriage is going to fall apart because of a spoiled little brat, it's going to happen on my terms. I've done the victim thing, and I promised myself long ago that I wasn't going to be a victim ever again. But I've fallen into the same old trap just trying to be nice to hold the peace.

No more nice. Now, I protect my family. And culling the cancer that's eating away at it is the first step.