My Honeymoon Turned Into His Mommy-Moon

The day after our wedding, Justin Hudson and I are finally about to leave for our honeymoon. A trip that's supposed to be just for the two of us. But as we're about to board our flight, his mother, Karen Cruz, shows up beside him with a suitcase and a warm smile. "I'm not here to get in your way," she says. "I'm just tagging along." I freeze. Justin simply takes my hand and tries to reassure me. "My mom raised me all by herself. It wasn't easy. If she wants to come, let her. Don't start acting selfish the minute we're married." The entire trip, the two of them sit together, reminiscing about relatives I've never met and sharing stories I've never heard. Karen even jokes that the neighbor's daughter used to insist she'd only ever marry Justin. Justin laughs as he peels an orange for her. "Mom, don't start." He never even looks at me. When we arrive at the hotel, the front desk informs me that the honeymoon suite I booked has been changed to a family room. Karen immediately takes my hand. "Zoe, I was just trying to save you two some money. We're family. Why pay for two rooms?" That night, she complains that the air conditioning is too cold, the shower is too loud, and my perfume gives her a headache. By the end of the night, she's called Justin over to sit beside her bed. He stays there until dawn. Only then does he finally turn to me. "My mom's getting older. Just let her have this." I stare out at the pale gray ocean. And in that moment, I finally understand. This honeymoon gives the two of them exactly what they want. As for me, I'm nothing more than the extra bride in their story. Chapter 1 I sat on the edge of the bed, clutching the crumpled honeymoon itinerary in my hands. I'd spent three sleepless nights putting it together. A day out on the water. An evening watching the sunset. A candlelit dinner at the cliffside restaurant. A private honeymoon photoshoot—just the two of us. I'd drawn a tiny little heart next to every item. When Justin Hudson first saw it, he'd laughed. "Zoe, why does our honeymoon itinerary look like something an elementary school kid made for a field trip?" My cheeks had burned as I replied, "This is our once-in-a-lifetime honeymoon. Aren't you excited?" He'd pulled me into his arms and smiled. "Of course I am. Nothing matters more than my wife." I'd believed every word. But now, my mother-in-law Karen Cruz's suitcase sat open beside our bed. The honeymoon suite I'd booked had become a family room. And the itinerary filled with plans for "just the two of us" had turned into nothing more than just a cruel joke. Karen leaned against the headboard, massaging her temples. "Oh, my back is killing me. Flying always leaves me sore. Zoe, would you mind going down to the front desk and asking if they have a hot water bottle?" Justin got to his feet. "I'll go, Mom." Karen stopped him. "Don't fuss over me. Let Zoe go. She's young—she'll be much faster." I didn't move. Justin frowned. "Zoe, didn't you hear what Mom just said?" My stomach sank. "I was on that same seven-hour flight," I said quietly. "I'm exhausted too." He froze. In the past, I rarely pushed back. I'd always rush to explain myself first. But for the first time, I realized I didn't want to explain anymore. Karen chuckled. "Oh, forget it. It's your honeymoon, after all. Of course, Zoe comes first. I'm just an old woman. I can handle a little discomfort." She turned away and coughed twice. Justin's face darkened instantly. "Zoe, after everything my mom just said, what more do you want?" I met his gaze. "What did I do?" "She's family," he said, lowering his voice. "She raised me all by herself. Do you have any idea how hard that was? She's come all this way with us, so can't you show her a little kindness?" A suffocating weight settled in my chest. Without another word, I picked up the room key and headed down to the front desk "We don't have any hot water bottles," the receptionist said. I ended up walking three blocks to a nearby convenience store before I finally found some heat packs and a cup of hot chocolate. By the time I returned to the room, Karen was already lying in bed. Justin sat next to her, showing her photos on his phone. Karen's eyes crinkled with a smile. "If only Hannah had come along. With a figure like hers, she'd look absolutely stunning in those honeymoon photos. You know she's always had a soft spot for you. She added, "Sharon always says she likes how family-oriented you are. She'd have complete peace of mind if Hannah married you." Justin chuckled. "Mom, that was years ago." I stood frozen in the doorway. For a moment, I felt less like the bride and more like a hotel employee who'd wandered into the wrong room. I set the hot chocolate on the table. "I'm back." Justin finally looked up. "What took you so long?" "It was a long walk," I replied. Karen quickly pushed herself up. "Thank you for going through all that trouble, Zoe. Justin, thank your wife. From now on, we'll always put Zoe first." She spoke as though I came first, yet the first thing she did was reach for the cup of hot chocolate. Justin slipped the straw into the cup and held it to her lips. "Careful. It's still hot, Mom." I said nothing. Inside my suitcase were the matching pajamas and slippers I'd picked out for us, as well as the tie I'd planned to surprise Justin with on our walk along the beach. Now they lay forgotten at the bottom of the suitcase, mocking me. Karen called for Justin twice more that night. The first time, she complained that the curtains weren't blocking enough light. The second, she said the blanket was too thin. Justin turned to me, impatience written across his face. "You're not asleep, are you?" I stared up at the ceiling. "No." "Then could you get my mom another blanket? I have to drive tomorrow." I looked at him for a long while before getting out of bed and placing an extra blanket beside Karen's bed. Outside, the waves rolled in, crashing against the shore again and again. Inside the room, all I could hear were the hushed voices of Justin and his mother. The sea breeze blew through the night. I'd only just gotten married, and already, I was homesick. Chapter 2 Karen was up before I was the next morning. She threw open the curtains and called out excitedly, "Justin, look how blue the ocean is! Come take a picture of me." Still half asleep, Justin sat up. When he noticed me awake, he asked, "Did you sleep okay last night?" Before I could answer, Karen grabbed his camera and pulled him toward the window. "Hurry. This angle's perfect." Justin had fallen in love with photography back in college. During our first year together, he'd promised he'd take hundreds of photos for me. As the years went by, he bought tons of expensive cameras, and his collection of lenses kept growing. Yet somehow, he took fewer and fewer pictures of me. I'd thought this honeymoon would be different. I thought I'd be the only one he'd want to photograph. Instead, there was Karen. There was Justin. And somehow, I wasn't in a single picture. I changed into my white dress and waited off to the side. Justin glanced at me. "We'll take your pictures later. Let me get a few shots of Mom first before her makeup starts wearing off." Karen walked over and ran her fingers across the hem of my dress. "Isn't this a little too short?" she asked. "It's windy by the beach. It doesn't look very formal." She rummaged through her suitcase, pulled out a dark red shawl, and draped it over my shoulders before I could stop her. "There. That's more like a married woman." The shawl smelled faintly of mothballs, so I took it off. Karen's hand froze midair. A second later, she smiled as though nothing had happened. "It's okay. Young people have their own sense of style. I won't interfere." Justin's expression hardened. "Zoe, it's just a shawl. Did you really have to embarrass my mom like that? She was only trying to help." I'd lost count of how many times I'd heard those words since we started planning the wedding. The wedding. The keys to our new house. Trying for a baby. Every time Karen crossed a line, Justin always had the same excuse. She was only trying to help. I didn't have the energy to argue anymore. "Whatever," I said. He seemed caught off guard by my response. His expression then softened a little. "Zoe, don't be like this." … At breakfast, Karen smiled as she pushed the half-finished plate of seafood risotto toward me. "Here, Zoe. Have some. It's good for you, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste." Justin was peeling a boiled egg for her without even looking up. I looked at him. "I'm allergic to seafood." The first time I had an allergic reaction, Justin had carried me into the emergency room himself, his eyes red with panic. After that, he kept a list of all my food allergies in the notes app on his phone. He'd even called Karen to make sure she remembered. Back then, she'd laughed and said, "Alright. Your girlfriend's precious. I won't forget." Now she smacked a hand against her forehead. "Oh dear, I'm getting old. My memory isn't what it used to be." Justin spoke up before I could. "She's gotten spoiled." Karen quickly waved him off. "Justin, don't say that. You should cherish your wife." A dull ache settled in my chest. I'd lost my appetite all at once. "I'm full." As I walked out of the restaurant, my phone buzzed with a reminder. A private sailing tour was scheduled at 10:00 am, and a sunset dinner at the cliffside restaurant was scheduled at 5:00 pm. Under the notes, I'd written, "Our first day. Just the two of us." A few minutes later, Justin came out. "Mom wants to stop by a church." I looked up at him. "But we're supposed to go sailing today." Justin frowned. "We can go sailing anytime. Mom wants to pray for us—to ask God to bless us with a baby. When did you get so selfish?" Karen let out a quiet sigh, her eyes glistening with tears. "I just want the two of you to have a child soon. I'm getting older… I don't know how much time I'll have left to see my grandchild." In the end, we canceled the sailing trip and went to the church instead, just as they wanted. Karen walked arm in arm with Justin under the blazing afternoon sun. The whole way, she talked about lighting candles, saying prayers, and asking for God's blessing. A tourist smiled at me. "Are you traveling together as a family? You seem so close." She glanced at the mother and son walking ahead of me. I smiled back. "Yeah. So close… There's hardly any room left for me." Chapter 3 By the time we got back from the church, I was running a fever. After I told Justin, Karen rummaged through her bag and pulled out a bottle of herbal medicine. "You probably got a little heatstroke. Here, drink this. I made sure to pack it before we left." The sharp, medicinal stench hit me, and my stomach lurched. Karen paused, caught off guard. Justin's voice turned cold. "Zoe, you're a grown woman. Do you really have to act like such a princess?" I leaned back against the headboard. My head felt heavier by the second, and before I knew it, I drifted into a feverish sleep. When I woke up, the room was empty. All I could hear was Justin's promise from our wedding day echoing in my mind. "I swear I'll spend the rest of my life taking care of Zoe. I'll treat her like a princess and protect her, always." Only now did I understand. A promise was just a promise. I called the front desk and ordered a bowl of chicken soup. While I waited, I saw Karen's latest post. Justin was holding an umbrella over her as they strolled along the beach. Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, the two of them looked more like a couple on their honeymoon than we did. Her caption read, "My son's all grown up. He's finally taking his mom on the vacation she's always deserved." The comments were already pouring in. "Karen, you're so lucky." "Justin's such a devoted son." "Where's your daughter-in-law? I don't see her anywhere." Karen replied, "Zoe loves sleeping in. We didn't want to wake her." I stared at those words. "We didn't want to wake her." My fingers slowly tightened around my phone. So, in her version of the story, the fever that had left me bedridden in the hotel room had become nothing more than me sleeping in. A few minutes later, Justin posted, too. The photo showed him and Karen sitting by the shore, the sunset painting the sky behind them. The caption was only one sentence that read, "Finally got to see the ocean with her." I stared at that single word. Her. He'd used it for me once. Back when we first started dating, he'd taken pictures of me by the river at sunset. The caption had read, "Finally got to watch the sunset with her." I'd kept a screenshot of that post for the longest time. Only now did I realize that "her" had never belonged to me. It could be anyone. The chicken soup arrived. I managed a couple of spoonfuls, but the hollow ache in my stomach refused to go away. Justin and Karen didn't come back until well past midnight, chatting happily about the fireworks they'd watched that evening. The noise woke me. Only then did Justin notice I was awake. He rubbed his temples with a weary sigh. "It's Mom's first time traveling, Zoe. I couldn't exactly ruin it for you." In the middle of the night, Karen called out for him again, saying she was having heart palpitations. My fever had left me barely conscious. I reached out and caught his sleeve. "Don't go…" He looked down at me as Karen called from the other bed, "Justin, am I dying?" Without another word, he pulled his sleeve free from my grasp. "Mom's not feeling well." He hurried over to her side, checked her blood pressure, poured her a glass of water, and gently rubbed her back. Meanwhile, I lay shivering with a fever in the other bed. No one looked back at me. Not even once. Chapter 4 My fever had finally broken by the next morning, though I still felt weak and lightheaded. Karen, on the other hand, was full of energy. She was on a video call. "Hannah, the ocean here is gorgeous," she said. "We should've brought you with us." A laugh sounded from the other end of the call. "What are you talking about? Justin's married now." Karen chuckled. "So what if he's married? He'll always be your Justin." She turned the phone toward me. The woman on the screen wore flawless makeup. "Hi, Zoe," she said. I gave her a small nod. Karen smiled and said, "You know, Hannah's always been such a sweetheart. When she was little, she'd run straight into Justin's arms every time she saw him." She always knew exactly where to stick the knife, then acted like she'd done nothing wrong. I got to my feet and started packing. Justin asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm switching hotels." "Why?" "This room isn't meant for three people." The smile on Karen's face froze. "Zoe, are you saying I'm in the way?" I stuffed my toiletry bag into my suitcase. "Yes." The room fell silent. Justin strode over and pressed a hand down on my suitcase. "Zoe, watch your mouth." "No." "She's my mother!" "So?" I looked him straight in the eye. "She's your mother. Not the third person on our honeymoon." Justin's face darkened. Karen's eyes immediately welled with tears. "Justin, forget it. This is all my fault. Now that you're married, your wife comes first. I won't matter to you anymore." Justin let go of my suitcase and turned to hold her. "Mom, don't say that." She'd probably played this card before. And it worked every single time. This time was no different. When he turned to look at me, all I saw was disappointment in his eyes. "Zoe, my mom just wants to spend a few more days with me." I held his gaze. "And what about me?" He said nothing. I pressed on, "On the second day of our marriage, your mother is sleeping in our honeymoon suite. Our plans have been changed. Not a single photo was taken of me. I was burning up with a fever, and no one even cared. So tell me, Justin. What does that make me?" His lips parted, but no words came at first. Finally, he said, "Don't make it sound so awful." I let out a quiet laugh. "So you do know how awful it sounds." Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a confirmation from the hotel. "Dear Ms. Myle, the private beachfront honeymoon dinner you reserved for two has been changed, at Mr. Hudson's request, to our Mother & Son Celebration Package. The floral arch, couple's cake, and private photography session have been updated to a family-themed setup. Please confirm these changes." Below the confirmation was the note I'd left when I made the reservation. "I'd like to surprise my husband for our honeymoon. If possible, could you reserve a quiet table with the best sunset view?" I stared at the message. The phone suddenly felt cold in my hand. Justin saw it too. The color drained from his face. "Zoe, let me explain." I held up my phone. "A Mother & Son Celebration Package?" Karen got to her feet and said with practiced innocence, "The restaurant said the honeymoon package was much more expensive. I figured it was just a photo setup anyway. Changing the theme didn't really matter. "You two are young. You'll have plenty of chances to take photos together. But I'm getting older. How many more chances will I have?" Justin lowered his gaze. "It's just… It's not every day Mom gets a chance to travel with us." I stared at him. Then, to my own surprise, I laughed. I'd waited an entire year for that honeymoon dinner. I'd made the reservation a month in advance. To get that table, I'd even paid triple the usual deposit. I'd wanted to surprise my husband. But he'd given it to his mother. I opened the hotel's booking page. One by one, I canceled every reservation I'd made. The refund notifications began popping up on my screen. Only then did Justin panic. "What are you doing?" I looked up at him. "I'm going home." Karen's voice sharpened. "You can't be serious! What kind of family takes a vacation together and has one person fly home alone?" I pulled the mothball-scented shawl from my suitcase and dropped it into the trash. "You wanted me to look like a proper wife," I said. "I'm afraid I can't live up to your standards." Justin stepped in front of the door. "Zoe, calm down." "I am calm." "You're really going to make this big of a deal over something so small?" "I should've said this a long time ago." I looked him in the eye and spoke each word with certainty. "Justin, I want a divorce." … On the way to the airport, I received a message from Justin. "Can you stop being so stubborn? Mom's been crying so hard she can barely breathe. Just come back, apologize, and we can put all of this behind us." I replied with a screenshot of the hotel's confirmation and typed, "Hope you and your mom enjoy the honeymoon." It was a long time before he replied, "Zoe, don't use divorce to threaten me." I looked out the window as rows of palm trees slipped past. Then I typed one last message, "It's not a threat. It's a notice." The world fell silent after I turned off my phone. I wasn't about to sacrifice my honeymoon just so he could play the devoted son.