I had a really beautiful relationship with Martina until she was eighteen years old and it was problem-free. I raised her alone, her father left us when she was less than three years old. However, once she entered college, her behavior changed drastically. When I introduced her to my then new partner, I never would have thought how much I would regret it…
I expected that my daughter would not accept my new partner. That was a surprise!
It was three weeks until Christmas and I was trying to get Martina to come home for the holidays. She lived in a dormitory in Prague and did not call very often. I wanted to tell her before Christmas that I have a new acquaintance and I would like to meet them. Marek was supposed to spend Christmas Day with me. Martina arrived about a week before the holidays, and it came out that she had one-time sex with her cantor, who was of course married. I was shocked. I wouldn’t say that to her. But I put it behind me, thinking that she was young and burned herself. The day before Christmas, she arrived with a suitcase, a smile on her face, and I could finally introduce Mark to her. “Hello, I’m Marek, your mother’s friend, nice to meet you.” Oddly enough, she was looking at him with admiration, rather I was expecting him to tell me what a fool I had found myself again. During the dinner, they understood each other very well.
And it was worse… Unfortunately, there was sex
Less than a quarter of a year passed and during that time Martina did not show up at home. She made the excuse that she had a lot of learning. Mark and I didn’t live together yet, I had an apartment and he had a small but modern bungalow. However, he began to behave strangely towards me, one time nice, the other aloof. I suspected that he might have a hip. I decided to go to his house to talk. But my cell phone died and I didn’t have time to announce my visit. It was already evening and I hoped to catch him at home and especially not to catch him with someone else. I rang the bell, no one answered. I went around the house through the garden, because one of the French windows was often open. Suddenly I saw him in the bedroom, standing there all sweaty and getting dressed. Window open, duvets thrown on the floor. It was clear to me that someone had been there and ran out the window before I could come. “You slept with someone here now?” I blurted out. “Yes, I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly.
My daughter apologized, but I moved away and cut off contact
At that moment my heart sank. I ran to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. The biggest shock was yet to come. A lady’s spring jacket was draped over the couch in the living room. I knew right away that it belonged to Martina, who didn’t manage to take it when she “ran away”, and apparently she didn’t even realize it. I gasped and felt my hands tingle and break out in a cold sweat. Marek appeared in the doorway, looking at that jacket, and without trying to make excuses or lie, he looked at me with a guilty look that said it all. When Martina found out I knew and I didn’t answer her phone, she started sending me voicemails crying and apologizing for falling in love with him and knowing what she did was unforgivable. At that moment it dawned on me that my daughter was simply attracted to older men because she never had one of her own as a father. I was in love with Mark and I loved my daughter, until then. It broke me so much that I moved to another city and cut off contact with my own daughter. Today I am a grandmother for the third year. I finally established contact with Martina three years after that incident, she is my daughter and time heals wounds.
