During the funeral of my two-month-old son, my mother-in-law said that everything happened because of me: In response, my older daughter suddenly whispered: — “Mom, can I tell you what Grandma used to do with baby brother?”

During the funeral of my two-month-old son, my mother-in-law said that everything happened because of me: In response, my older daughter suddenly whispered: — “Mom, can I tell you what Grandma used to do with baby brother?” 

A few months ago, my son was born. He wasn’t my only child — I also have a seven-year-old daughter.

After the baby’s birth, my mother-in-law seemed to lose her mind. She came to our house every single day, interfered with everything, taught me how to put the baby to sleep, how to feed him, how to bathe him. According to her, I did everything wrong. And if I dared to contradict her, she would make a scene, shout, take offense, and try to turn her son against me.

Sometimes my daughter said things to me that I didn’t take seriously at the time.

— Mom, does Grandma feed the baby the right way?
— Mom, she hugs him so tightly, maybe it hurts him?

I was tired, irritable, sleeping only two hours a night, and didn’t pay much attention to a child’s words.

But…

One morning, I woke up to feed my son and, with horror, saw that he wasn’t breathing. His lips were blue, his skin cold, his body lifeless.

I screamed, called an ambulance, but it was too late. The doctors said it was sudden infant death syndrome. “It happens,” they said. It happens…

My mother-in-law was the first to arrive. She cried louder than anyone, hugged her son as if she had lost a child, not me. I stood beside them like a shadow, numb, feeling nothing.

During the funeral, when the little white coffin had already been lowered into the ground, my mother-in-law suddenly lifted her head and said loudly:
— “My boy is gone because he had a mother like that.”

Her words cut through me like a knife. I already blamed myself for everything, but hearing it from her… it was unbearable.

At that moment, my daughter, standing beside me, looked up and said quietly:
— “Mom, can I tell you what Grandma did with baby brother?”

Everyone present froze in horror  Continued in the first comment 

There was complete silence. I knelt down next to my daughter, trying to understand what she meant, but she didn’t look away and continued calmly:

— “When you weren’t home, Grandma always came and took baby brother. She said he was too attached to you and that ‘real children should listen to their grandmother.’ Sometimes she wouldn’t let him eat for a long time, saying it would make him stronger. And if he cried, she’d hold him tight and shake him, saying he was being spoiled.”

My daughter hesitated, then added:
— “One time she put a pillow over his mouth and said he had to ‘learn to be quiet.’ I got scared and wanted to call you, but she told me that if I said a single word, she would take me away and I’d never see you again. After that, baby brother coughed for a long time.”

I felt my knees give way. The people around us stood pale, shocked; some started crying. My mother-in-law stood motionless, her face like stone, then suddenly screamed:
— “She’s lying! She made it all up! She’s just a child — why are you listening to her?!”

But her voice was trembling, her hands were shaking, her eyes darted nervously — it was obvious: the truth had come out. My husband stood beside her, pale.

And I just stared at that woman who came into my home every day with her advice, her lectures, her fake care — and I finally understood that maybe it was she who had taken my son away from me.