Being a stepmother for one week
A kitty on my wife's lap when all three of us visited the cat cafe
Over a week ago, my wifey and I planned to go to a furry convention with her kid (young teenager, they/them.) Unfortunately due to Hurricane Helene we had to cancel our convention plans due to it being held one town over next to Asheville and the mountains where the storm hit hardest.
It sucked not going to the convention, but fortunately we are in the state of North Carolina where as long you have a car and the patience to drive on i-40 for extended periods of time, you have plenty of things to do here!
Spending the day driving up to Virginia, we picked up her kid from her ex’s place and we drove back. At that point, I was going to have my first true real experience being a step-mom for the first time in my life. As a transfemme in her early 30s, I didn’t think I’d ever get to this point where I could say I would be the step-mother to a child. It’s still a weird feeling.
Picking them up and finally heading back to NC with them, they really enjoyed having me around. This wasn’t my first time with my step-kid as we had one afternoon together earlier this year. But this time they were staying over for several days.
So, while my partner and her kid were reconnecting with one another after being separate for a long period of time. I was having to get to know them for the first time. This included their likes and dislikes, dietary preferences, and teaching them things or showing them things they weren’t familiar with.
I think what I enjoyed most being with them is us sharing the things we love. They showed me a random cartoon that I normally wouldn’t much care for, but they had immense love and joy in as they talk about all the hidden details throughout. They also loved to present their art from their sketchbook(s) and digital drawings from their phone, it was fun to see what their style was and their designs. It’s something I would’ve done back when I was in high school honestly.
Meanwhile I showed them things that brought me joy as well. The first being the game Unpacking, they were familiar with it from let’s plays online but never played it. So for 2-3 days I watched them play the game and experience it for the first time. It was fun seeing them interact with objects and seeing how they placed and organized everything, not to mention the eventual conclusion where we find out the character in the game herself is in a relationship with another woman and showing the two of them together at the end.
Next thing I showed them was the Matrix, it is unfortunate to say kids and young teenager nowadays are watching less film, likely due to TV shoes/series generating more money and views than going to the theater. So my wife and I decided to show them a modern classic: The Matrix. Long story short, they LOVED the film. Saying they never saw a film like it and wanted to watch all the others. Something we’ll definitely have to do later.
In-between us sharing things we loved, I had to cook dinner for the three of us while they were staying at our home, and… serving a table full of people is quite fun. We were like a family the three of us eating together, sharing stories or memes/funny videos on our phones as we ate the meals I cooked.
The few days before they left, I introduced them to one more thing and that was my visual novels. For those that never played my work, they revolve around a young trans woman by the name of Elle just going through life as a trans woman. It’s a realistic story with relatable themes.
I watched them play through the games entirely, and… Not gonna lie, I was nearly in tears from the joy of seeing someone so young praise everything about my work. They loved everything about it and I had to do the right thing and I allowed them to try out the newest game I am developing.
By the time we had to take them home, I was tired from this one week of being a step-parent. But at the same time I kind of miss it? Being a parent full-time isn’t for me, but… that one week of being with them was a joyous time.