On Mother’s Day, my mother-in-law handed me the $367 dinner check and called it my “gift” to the real moms at the table. I smiled, paid for myself—and gave her a surprise she’ll never forget. I’m 35, and for nearly ten years, my husband Ryan and I have been through fertility treatments, miscarriages, and more heartbreak than I can count. I don’t talk about it much anymore—it’s just too painful. But Cheryl, my mother-in-law, has never been subtle about what she thinks makes a “real” woman. She’s made comments at family dinners about my “unfulfilled purpose,” always smiling like it’s a joke. This year, she hosted a “ladies-only” Mother’s Day dinner—just me, my sisters-in-law (both moms),

and her. From the moment I arrived, I felt out of place. Cheryl toasted “the mothers” with prosecco, passed out gifts to Amanda and Holly, and didn’t even wish me a happy Mother’s Day. Just a stiff pat on the arm. Then, after dessert, she tapped her glass, stood up, and said it didn’t seem fair to split the bill evenly since I wasn’t a mother. So I should treat them instead. Then she slid the $367,