Husband Traded Triplet Daughters for Son; I Kept Girls

My husband's family carries a gene for multiple births, and I went into labor at the same time as his eldest sister and his second sister.

They both had triplet sons. I had triplet daughters.

I traded two of your daughters, one with my eldest sister and one with my second, for their sons.

Lisa Swanson, you'll spend the rest of your life thanking my two sisters for what they gave up, so that you could have both a son and a daughter.

He stood there cradling two "sons," his face full of satisfaction.

I threw off the blanket to go find my daughters. "I don't want a son and a daughter. I only want my girls."

He grabbed me, annoyed. "I went to all this trouble for you. Don't be so ungrateful. Go feed the boys."

"Girls can just drink formula. Breast milk has the real nutrition. I'm doing this for your own good, so that when you die you'll have someone to wear mourning and someone to smash the bowl for you."

I was shaking with rage. "I would rather rot in a gutter when I die than give my daughters away."

His face went dark. "This was decided by our whole family. Lisa, you need to take a good hard look at yourself."

"If you want to blame someone, blame your own useless belly for not giving me a son!"

I sent my sister overseas a voice message in Russian: "I'm going to leave him and keep my daughters."

...

Maurice Roman snatched my phone away and locked the bedroom door.

For a full day and night I was shut in there, dragging my body around after a C-section just to change my daughter's diaper and feed her.

They meant to break me. Not a single grain of rice was sent in, and my milk quickly ran short.

No matter how I pounded on the door, the people outside acted deaf.

Only after I broke down and apologized did Maurice open it.

I held my daughter, who had cried herself hungry, and looked at him with hatred. "Locking up your wife and daughter during her recovery month, are you even human?"

"When I was pregnant you said we had no money for prenatal checkups, then turned around and gave each of your sisters a hundred thousand for theirs."

"When I found out, you swore you'd put me and the children first."

"And now? Give me my two daughters back!"

Maurice set down a bowl of rich bone broth, said nothing to any of it, and turned to leave.

I grabbed his shirt. "I don't want your sisters' sons. I want my daughters."

He shoved me off, impatient. "Back then my mother had a master read your belly. It was all girls. Not worth spending money on checkups."

"My eldest sister said you're just selfish, that you want to leave me without an heir. Daughters belong to other people's families anyway."

"My second sister said we haven't thrown you out, we even sent you sons, so what more do you have to complain about."

I screamed through my tears. "Maurice, you don't deserve to be a husband, and even less to be a father."

"Your mother, your eldest sister, your second sister, they're all women. You were born from a woman too."

"My daughters deserve the best of everything in this world. I'm going to call the police and have all of you arrested."

I was past hope. This was the man I'd fought with my sister over, the man I'd insisted on marrying and moving far away for.

His mother says, his eldest sister says, his second sister says. Every single time.

I was an outsider, and now my daughters had become outsiders too.

Maurice spoke as if he had every right. "Even if the cops show up, this is a family matter. My two sisters and I are triplets. We help each other raise our kids. What's wrong with that?"

"Now drink your soup, or you won't have milk for the boys."

"Honey, where we come from, having no son gets you looked down on. The two girls are being raised at their aunts' houses. You can see them whenever you want."

I pretended my stomach was killing me and curled up on the bed. "Maurice, take me to the hospital, or bring the postpartum nurse back."

I'd carried triplets and was only seven days out from a C-section. My body was already wrecked, and after what they'd done to me, I truly couldn't hold on any longer.

But right then, all I wanted was to get out and find my daughters.

"Don't try anything. My mother says what woman doesn't hurt after giving birth? If you go to the hospital they'll put you on medicine, and that'll ruin the milk."

"Lisa, you're a mother now. Stop being so precious. Drink the soup! My mother made three big bowls. My eldest and second sisters both drank theirs." He pushed the bowl to my lips.

The pain had me breaking out in a cold sweat. I knocked his hand away. "I won't! Bring my daughters back or I'll die right here in front of you!"

"Lisa, my two sisters generously gave us their own sons. What is there for you to be unhappy about!"

"Don't eat, then starve! Three days without food and you'd eat dog shit!" Maurice finished cursing me out and locked the door again.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

2.

I clenched my fists, so hungry my vision blackened, and looked at my wailing daughters as I forced down that bowl of rich bone broth, swallowing back the nausea.

Three hours later there was still no milk. My breasts were swollen hard as stone, and when I touched my forehead it was burning.

This was mastitis. I'd learned about it in the prenatal classes while I was pregnant.

I held one of my daughters and sat against the door, knocking weakly. "Maurice, open the door. I have a fever."

I don't know how long I knocked before it opened. It was the groom's elder sister and the second sister.

"Sweetie, the first rule of being a Roman daughter-in-law is obedience, and giving us sons." The elder sister looked down at me with disgust.

"Since you can't produce one yourself, we're each giving you one. You'd better be grateful. Don't be an ingrate." The second sister crouched down and patted my cheek.

Marina Roman appeared behind them. "Back then, when Maurice insisted on marrying her, I was against it. Scrawny little thing. Anyone could see she'd never bear sons."

"What a waste of our family's good multiple-birth genes. I haven't even gotten to hold a single grandson."

My throat felt like it was being cut, my head hot and thick. "Please, take me to the hospital."

"Hospital for what? You're just clogged up. The girls are too weak to suck. Swap in the boys, they've got the strength." Marina scooped up my daughter without waiting for an answer.

The elder sister undid my clothes, and the second sister pushed a baby at me.

I lay collapsed on the floor with no dignity left, and Maurice just stood there lecturing.

"Lisa, listen to Mom. She's got experience. Stop making a scene!"

Tears slid down from the corners of my eyes. In that moment I was a lamb for the slaughter, and every one of them could raise a knife at me.

My vision kept going dark, and I was forced to nurse another woman's son.

And that wasn't the end of it. They brought over another baby.

The wounds on my body and the wounds in my heart bled together.

"Won't someone save me?" I stared at the ceiling, the dark closing in on me in waves.

The moment the doorbell rang, hope rose in me.

"Who is it?" Marina bellowed.

"Hello, we're the professional postpartum nurses Ms. Swanson hired for Ms. Lisa Swanson."

"You can leave. We don't need a nurse here. That kind of money's better spent on more pig's feet." Marina shouted, irritated.

I stared at the door in despair, silently pleading, "Don't go. Please don't go."

"Ms. Swanson has already paid in full for the nurses and the premium ingredients. You won't owe any extra." The nurse explained patiently through the door.

"Mom, if Lisa can't use a free nurse, my sister and I will."

"Mom, I want the premium ingredients. You kept the dowry money for both of us older sisters, and I've had no good life at my husband's place."

The elder sister and the second sister were flushed with excitement and greed.

Only then did Marina open the door. Two nurses came in carrying big insulated food carriers.

I was face down on the floor. I raised a hand and called out weakly, "Save... me."

Maurice took my hand and carried me back into the room.

"Honey, even though your sister paid for the nurses and the food, my sisters have given up so much. Don't fight them for it."

"This little problem of yours, just listen to Mom. Drink more water, more soup, and the milk will come."

I was dizzy, as if I were floating up in the clouds, drifting, unable to say a word.

"Honey, honey!" When Maurice saw my eyes roll back and my whole body twitch, he quickly slapped at me.

Getting no response, he screamed in terror, "Mom, sisters, come quick and look at Lisa."

"I think she's... she's dead!"

Marina came in cursing. "Making a whole production out of having a baby. Scaring my son again."

"Ms. Lisa Swanson, we're here!" The two nurses forced their way in, one pressing a cooling patch to me, the other feeding me warm water.

I opened my eyes, my voice hoarse. "My daughters..."

I gripped the nurse's hand. "My daughters..."

"Ms. Swanson, right now you have a breast infection with a high fever and dehydration. Everything else, trust me, leave it to me." Jane soothed me.

Annette started clearing people out. "Out, all of you out! I'm caring for the mother."

"We're mothers too. Come out here and take care of us." The groom's elder sister ordered the nurse around like a servant.

"Sorry, but Ms. Swanson didn't pay for the two of you. If you want care, scan the code and pay. One thousand dollars per session." Annette pulled out her phone.

The elder sister shouted, furious. "Lisa, what's your problem? Your sister has money, so that gives you the right to bully people?"

The nurse shut the door. The elder sister pounded on it from the other side.

Jane worked to clear my blocked ducts, and I screamed from the pain.

"Ms. Swanson, bear with it. If we don't clear it now, you'll suffer far worse later."

I bit my lip and nodded for her to keep going.

Annette fed formula to the daughter in the room, and watching the baby gulp it down, I felt some of the weight lift.

I couldn't collapse now. All three of my daughters were waiting for me to save them.

The high-end nurse's technique was good. The ducts cleared.

After she cleaned me up, I changed into fresh clothes, ate the first proper meal of my recovery, and slept the most comfortable sleep I'd had in days.

The next day, the dining room was loud.

Annette had finished cooking, and my mother-in-law had snatched the food to eat with the two sisters.

Maurice blocked Annette. "Lisa's young and healthy. My mom and my sisters have never had food this fancy."

I stood up, and Jane helped me walk to the dining room.

My mother-in-law and the two sisters had their arms wrapped around the plates, guarding the food, oil smeared across their faces and mouths.

"Lisa, your sister has all that money. Tell her to buy more. This isn't enough." My mother-in-law smacked her lips and swallowed what was in her mouth.

Jane leaned close to my ear and told me there were only seven children in this house. One girl was in my room.

Which meant Maurice and the others had sent my other two daughters away.

I grabbed Maurice by the collar and roared, "Where did you send my other two girls?"

"My mom is looking after three mothers and nine children all by herself. You want to work her to death?"

"Sent them to my eldest sister's place and my second sister's to be raised. Keeps them from growing up soft." Maurice's face was completely indifferent.

I slapped his face. "You animal, they're your own daughters. Bring them back to me!"

Maurice shoved me away, irritated. "Enough! Someone raising them is someone raising them. If they weren't mine, I'd have dumped them by the roadside already."

My mother-in-law lunged forward in a single step, hand raised to strike me. I caught her arm. "You have two hours. If I don't see my daughters, I'm calling the police."

I flung her arm off. She dropped to the floor, slapping her thighs and wailing.

"What a curse on this house. A daughter-in-law wants the police to arrest the mother-in-law who's been waiting on her through her recovery. There's no justice left in the world."

"I hired someone to help take care of the children. Is that a crime? Maurice, what are you standing there for! Hit this disobedient woman."

Maurice looked torn, glancing from his mother to me, not daring to move.

Seeing this, my mother-in-law got to her feet. "Maurice, if you don't hit her, I'll smash my head against this wall and die right here."

"Honey, hurry and apologize to my mom. The two girls are at my sisters' places, they're doing just fine." Maurice grabbed my arm, trying to force me to bow.

I pushed him off and stepped back twice. "Maurice, I want a divorce."

"Lisa, what's that supposed to mean? My whole family treats you like this, and you still think we're wrong? Don't you know a woman without a son is incomplete." Maurice was beside himself.

"Divorce? Not a chance. Don't even dream about it!"

I looked at him, my heart flooding with grief.

This was the punishment I'd handed myself, out of all the men I could have chosen.

A man's disguise lasts until the woman marries, gets pregnant, and gives birth. Then his true nature comes out.

This, I'd lived through myself.

I picked up my phone and called the police.

Maurice snatched the phone out of my hand and hurled it against the wall.

"Lisa, this is family business. The cops don't touch this. What's your problem?"

I looked at the man who'd chased me for two years, dated me for three, and been married to me for one, and I laughed at myself.

"Then why smash my phone if you've got nothing to hide? I was blind to marry you, Maurice. That doesn't mean you bought me."

"And my daughters are not your trading chips. I have no interest in raising somebody else's sons."

Seeing I wouldn't budge, his voice softened.

"Don't fight it. They're a quarter blood to me, so that basically makes them my sons."

"This way all three of our girls have two big brothers to look out for them. It's the best arrangement. Trust me, honey. Please?"

I laughed until I was crying. "You'd use my suffering, my daughters' whole lives, just so you can have a son and a daughter."

"The biggest mistake of my life was believing you!"

Marina slapped me across the face. "Son, stop wasting your breath on her. You let this woman run loose and she'll tear the roof off the house."

"My God, you people beat a woman who just gave birth?" Jane's face was pure disbelief.

Annette had already slapped her right back. "Swapping babies is against the law, and now you're beating a new mother. A whole family that doesn't know the first thing about the law."

Marina clutched her cheek and wailed. "Son, your wife hired someone to hit your own mother. I've got no reason left to live!"

"I'll go die right now, I'll go find your father in the ground!"

"You dare hit my mother!" Maurice's face twisted, and he drove his fist into Annette's face.

She went down screaming, and still he kept kicking and punching.

Jane rushed in to help and got her hair yanked by the groom's elder sister and Maurice's second sister.

"Stop, stop hitting her" I clawed at Maurice's shirt.

Annette was in her fifties, sixties. How was she supposed to take a full-grown man's fists?

"Hit her, son, hit her! That's what a real man does!" Marina cheered her children on from the side.

Maurice's elbow swung back with the punch and caught me in the nose. Blood sprayed out.

Everyone froze. I cupped my nose, blood running out through my fingers.

The pain was so sharp I was sure the bone had broken.

"Lisa, you stood behind my brother on purpose!"

"Trying to play the martyr to force the whole family to do what you want. Not a chance."

The groom's elder sister and the second sister watched me like I was a threat.

Whatever guilt had been in Maurice's eyes vanished. "Lisa, play the martyr all you want. It won't work."

"I want a son. I will have a son!"

I raised the phone watch and gave a broken little laugh. "I already called the police."

The watch was Maurice's wedding gift to me. He'd said it had live location tracking, so if I was ever in danger I could reach him first thing.

Now the danger was him and his family.

The only ones who could save me were the cops.

I dragged both nurses into this, got them hurt and bleeding. I'm so sorry.

"You little slut, you actually called the police! The Romans don't want a daughter-in-law like you. Son, divorce her!"

"After triplets her belly's like a rind of watermelon. Who'd want her?" Marina sprang up, screaming at me.

Maurice glared at me, threatening. "Lisa, last chance. Call them back and say it was postpartum depression, that you reported it by mistake."

I clenched my back teeth and glared right back. "In your dreams. I'm going to see every one of you eat prison food."

Maurice's hand closed around my throat, his face twisted. "Lisa, you're forcing me. You did this!"

I couldn't breathe. I beat at his hand. "Let go let go of me!"

Both nurses charged in again to help me, and Marina and the groom's elder sister and the second sister set on them.

Just as I closed my eyes in despair, the door crashed open.

Sibyl Swanson. My sister was here!

She'd come with a whole squad of bodyguards in black!