My parents had me quite late in their lives. They both actually thought they were incapable of having children. It was pretty obvious as I was growing up that they never wanted children.

I was always taught even when I was still a baby that children should be seen and not heard. If i spoke without permission then I was scolded and sent to bed without dinner.

I never had any friends when I was a child as everyone thought I was weird due to the fact that I never spoke. It was hard to have noone to spend time with, but I fell in love with reading in my spare time. Reading was the only part of my life as it helped me live in a fantasy world.

I was considered a freak in school as all of the other children bullied me relentlessly. I remember once walking up to the teacher and asking her for a spare pencil. I remember her letting out a scream as everyone had assumed I was a mute. Slowly I came out of my shell and made a few friends in school.

When I turned 18 my parents kicked me out with only the clothes on my back. I was forced to live on the streets for a few weeks before I could afford to rent an apartment.

I moved on with my life and met my husband and have been happy with how everything turned out. My parents and I have communicated a few times over the years. They asked to come visit me as they wanted to finally meet my family. I reluctantly agreed as I still didn’t trust them.

It has been very awkward since they came to visit as they still try to instill their beliefs in my house. I have repeatedly had to shut them down and point out “my house my rules”. I could tell they weren’t happy about it but I threatened to kick them out until they agreed.

This morning I had to run a quick errand and asked them to watch my son while I was gone. They agreed and I rushed off in the hopes of getting back as soon as possible. It took me almost an hour to get back as the shop was busier than usual.

I arrived home to find my parents sitting there with contented smiles on their faces. I walked into the nursery to check up on my son and froze in my tracks as I gazed down at him. I could see tears streaming down his cheeks while he wept silently, as his mouth was sewn shut.