Mother-in-law is Pregnant with Her Second Child

A week before the wedding, my fiancé Albert Jackson's mom, Linda, dropped a bombshell on Instagram—she's pregnant with her second child.

Friends and family flooded the comments with congratulations. One person even snarked. [Sophia hasn't even married your son yet, and you're already having another baby? Aren't you worried she might not like it?]

Linda didn’t take the bait. Instead, she tagged me. [Sophia’s not the jealous type. She’s sweet and generous. Our second son will have Albert and Sophia to support him when he grows up.]

Albert chimed in with a big grin. [No problem! When Sophia and I have a boy, they can grow up together and keep each other company.]

When Linda tagged me on Instagram, I was in the middle of a wedding rehearsal with Bella, my maid of honor and best friend. I stared at the post, completely stunned.

Finding out my future mother-in-law was pregnant in her sixties was surprising enough. No wonder Albert bailed on the rehearsal halfway through. His dad, Leon, had called to say Linda was in the hospital, but he didn't tell me why. Well, she might have pregnancy complications.

Looking at the comment, [Thank God for this blessing. Five months along and everything is great!] and then Albert’s replies, I couldn’t shake the weird feeling in my gut.

Bella leaned over and asked, "What’s up?"

I said, "Linda just announced she's pregnant. She’s five months along."

Bella was shocked, "You never mentioned this!"

I replied dryly, "I just found out too."

Bella was about to say something but held back. Then she glanced at my phone, her expression changing.

"Sophie, you might want to check this out. Linda said you need to help raise her son."

I looked down to find another tagged comment.

Linda, noticing I hadn’t replied, directly asked in the comments that Albert and I take care of her younger son after we get married.

"I understand you young folks delay having kids. For these two years, you can help look after my second son. When he’s older, you can have your own kids, and I can help you take care of them."

My eyebrows furrowed as I finally understood the discomfort I felt earlier.

Linda being pregnant and choosing to tell me or not is one thing. Telling me is understandable because it’s a significant family event, and I’m about to become part of this family. Not telling me is also justifiable since Albert and I aren't married yet, and it might be awkward to bring up.

But deliberately hiding it from me? What's that about?

Was she afraid I’d think poorly of her for being pregnant at her age? That seems unlikely. Both Linda and Leon are retired teachers. If they cared about that, they wouldn't have announced it so excitedly on Instagram.

So, what was the reason?

Moreover, hiding it for five months?

Albert and I met our parents a year ago, decided on the wedding six months ago, and even changed how we addressed each other. Linda showed no signs of pregnancy during all this time.

I felt like an outsider, and naturally, I attributed my uneasiness to this.

After Bella left, I went straight to our apartment. Albert was already home. I figured since we’re going to be family, we shouldn't keep things bottled up to avoid future conflicts. So, I decided to ask Albert what was going on.

To my surprise, as soon as I brought it up, Albert chuckled, "This works out great for you, right? Mom won’t be pushing you to have a baby. You won’t have to suffer but still get to have a little one to play with. Isn't that perfect?"

I swallowed back the words, "Why didn’t your mom tell me she was pregnant? She even came to help with the renovations."