My 17-year-old stepson visits on weekends, but recently my 14-year-old daughter begged me to stop him from coming. She wouldn’t say why—just that his presence made her uncomfortable.
While doing laundry in his room, I found a hidden family photo, one of her old school pictures, and a handmade card she’d given her dad. Nothing threatening, but it felt off—especially since he’d never shown interest in keepsakes before.
My husband brushed it off, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. When I asked my daughter again, she said he hadn’t done anything wrong but often stared too long or asked strange questions about life before he lived with us. She didn’t feel unsafe—just unsettled.
My stepson later texted that he felt like an outsider in our family. I realized he was lonely, not creepy—but my daughter’s discomfort still mattered. So I asked if he could stay with his mom for a few weekends while we sort things out.
Now my husband’s angry, my daughter’s withdrawn, and my stepson won’t reply. I don’t know if I made the right call—or just made things worse.
