We sent our 13-year-old son, Rio, to his grandma’s for just one week. He left with tears in his eyes — and came back with rage in his voice. The first thing he said when he got out of the car shattered me: “You’re not my real mother.”

My mother-in-law had told him what I’d been saving for the right moment — that his biological mom left when he was a baby, and I was his dad’s second wife. To him, it felt like I’d lied for his entire life. He grabbed his bag and told us he was going back to her.

I ran outside and stopped him at the car, begging for one minute. I reminded him of every moment we’d shared — his first steps, bedtime stories, scraped knees, the nights I stayed up when he had nightmares. “I may not have given birth to you, but I’ve been your mom every single day for 13 years,” I told him.

His eyes softened, tears welling up. He opened the door, ran into my arms, and whispered, “I’m staying home… with you.”That night, as I tucked him into bed, I realized something important: love isn’t defined by blood. It’s defined by the moments we show up, by the choice to love someone every single day. And no matter what anyone says, I’m his mother — because we’ve chosen each other.