When I married Toby, I hit the jackpot with my mother-in-law, Julia. She wasn’t just a mother-in-law; she became a second mother to me. She was kind, warm, and full of life. Unlike the typical scary mother-in-law stories I had heard, Julia accepted me from the start.
“I told you,” Toby would say with a grin whenever I mentioned how much I adored her. “She’s loved you since the beginning, Larissa.”
Julia had a habit of showing up at our house unannounced, always ready to take over the kitchen.
“I just want to feed you guys,” she’d say, waving away my protests. “Besides, what else do I have to do? Just meet the ladies for drinks?”
Most days, I gave in, and we’d end up cooking together, our laughter filling the kitchen while we danced to the radio. Toby would come home to the delicious smell of dinner and the sound of music playing as if we were in a scene from a feel-good movie.
Having moved across the country for college and settling here with Toby, I missed my family dearly. Phone calls helped, but there was something about having a mother figure close by. Julia filled that role perfectly.
After three years of marriage, Toby and I decided it was time to have a baby.
“I’m ready if you are,” he told me one evening. “I think it’s time now.”
I smiled. “Me too. Let’s do this.”
But things didn’t go as planned. Month after month, we faced disappointment. Every negative test felt like a punch to the heart. Doubt crept in. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
“What do you want to do?” I asked Toby one night. “Do we keep trying?”
He nodded. “Only if you want to. But, Larissa, I really do want this.”
I wanted it too, desperately. Feeling lost, I turned to Julia for advice. She jumped into action, taking me to meet a wellness coach, scheduling fertility massages, and even surprising us with a brand-new mattress.
“Maybe your body just needs to rest better,” Julia suggested as she fluffed the new pillows. “This could give you the best chance possible.”
That night, as we lay on our brand-new mattress, I turned to Toby. “Do you think this was a bit… unnecessary?”
He chuckled. “Normally, I’d say yes. But maybe Mom has a point. Our old mattress was terrible. Maybe this really will help.”
And, somehow, it did. Less than a month later, I saw those two pink lines on the test. We were pregnant.
At first, I was scared to tell anyone. It felt unreal, fragile, like saying it out loud might make it disappear. But keeping it from Toby was impossible. He lifted me off the ground when I told him, his excitement filling the room.
“Finally!” he cheered, his eyes shining with happiness.
Once we entered the safe zone of the second trimester, we told our families. Julia cried when she heard the news. “I knew it! I just knew it!” she gushed, hugging me tightly.
Months later, our beautiful daughter, Maddie, was born. Julia was by our side, taking care of everything while we adjusted to being new parents. She cooked, cleaned, and even took over the early morning feedings when exhaustion hit me like a truck. I was grateful. My parents couldn’t travel to see us yet, but Julia’s presence filled that gap.
Then, one night, everything changed.
Maddie had a major blow-out. The kind where a simple diaper change wouldn’t cut it. I groaned, shaking Toby awake.
“You handle the bed; I’ll handle the baby,” he yawned, already rolling out of bed.
As I bathed Maddie, she cooed and pressed her little hands to my face. “Sweet girl,” I whispered. “You love making a mess, don’t you?”
Meanwhile, Toby stripped the bed. But as he lifted the mattress, he froze. Something was hidden beneath the mattress protector.
When I returned with a half-asleep Maddie, Toby was staring at the mattress like it had betrayed him.
“Oh, honey, we can’t use this anymore,” he said.
I frowned. “What? Did she get it into the mattress? We can clean it.”
Toby shook his head, lifting the mattress to show me. “It’s not that. Look.”
Pinned underneath was a small silk bag filled with herbs. I had never seen it before.
“Where did you find this?” I asked, my voice laced with confusion.
“It was hidden under the mattress protector. We never noticed it before.”
“Okay, but what is it?”
Toby’s face darkened. “It’s fertility herbs. It has to be.”
My heart pounded. “You think Julia put this here?”
Toby sighed. “I don’t know. But Mom believes in old wives’ tales. What if this was part of her plan all along?”
“She wouldn’t do that,” I said automatically. But doubt crept in. Julia had always been helpful, but this? This felt… sneaky.
That night, Toby refused to sleep in our bed. Instead, we camped out in the guest room. I barely slept, my mind racing. Looking down at Maddie, I traced her tiny nose, her little hands. She was ours. No matter what, she was ours.
But had the herbs actually worked? Was that even possible?
By morning, I woke to the smell of gasoline. Rushing outside, I found Toby dousing the mattress. Before I could protest, he struck a match and tossed it. Flames roared to life, devouring the mattress in seconds.
“What are you doing?” I gasped.
“We couldn’t keep it, Larissa. We just couldn’t.”
Toby hated anything remotely supernatural. The idea of sleeping on that mattress another night terrified him.
Later that morning, Julia arrived as usual, ready to make us breakfast. But Toby didn’t wait.
“Mom, why didn’t you tell us about the mattress? About the herbs?” he demanded, his voice calm but firm.
Julia’s face crumpled. “I just wanted to help,” she said softly. “I knew you were struggling, and I thought that if it worked, you wouldn’t care how. I never meant to deceive you.”
Toby crossed his arms. “What else did you do? What’s in that bag?”
“Nothing!” Julia looked hurt. “Just dried herbs. I can even show you the store where I got them. It’s an all-natural wellness shop. Nothing dangerous, I swear.”
I sighed. “You could have just told us, Julia. How are we supposed to trust you now?”
Julia’s eyes welled with tears. “Does it matter? Maddie is here. She’s ours.”
I glanced at Toby. He softened slightly. “We need to start over, Mom. No more secrets. If you plan to do anything like this again, you have to tell us first.”
Julia nodded. “I promise.”
By afternoon, Toby was browsing for new mattresses while Julia baked us a tart. I sat with Maddie in my arms, watching them. I still didn’t know if those herbs had played a role in our miracle baby. But looking at my daughter, I realized it didn’t matter. She was here, and she was ours. And that was all that mattered.
