You may have heard "people in abusive relationships" either "don't know they're abused," or "won't admit they're abused."

This is my wife's family, and extended family. On her mom's side are hardcore Christians. On her dad's side are hardcore athesits (many members of their respective families didn't want them to marry, and it's been a bunch of issues, for decades).

On the Christian side, when we were needing some help, I was told "If you work on the Sabbath, you can't stay here." I'm not bible expert, but that doesn't seem very Christian. Then, I overhear that only I would have to leave, but her biological grand daughter (my wife), and our months old baby, could stay.

On the athesist side, it ranged from filing a partially false police report, indicating my wife and I, and her oldest sister (my wife's the oldest of 7) and her husband were responsible for the (statutory) rape of a minor. Not only was this ludicrious, but her dad, her filed the police report, was there (despite lies that he wasn't), and he even had the guy at his house. This had led to CPS agreeing that the dad should have the remaining minor kids, even though (medical/legal) paperwork states he's not to be alone with kids. Years later, and not only does he still insist (to a cop, no less!) that I helped, but he's got my wife convinced it was my fault for bringing the guy to their house. Hello? It's your house. You knew, and had others tell him, that this man is mentally disabled, and it's his responsibility, as the dad, at the least, to tell me that I need to take my friend away from the house, and not to bring him back.

This is the same father who beat, with a board, the same daughter that was "raped;" one of the other sisters says that not only did she she her younger sister go out the door, but asked their dad why he was letting it happen, and he just went back to bed. The oldest sister recently told the "Christian grandparents" that her husband raped her, when she was 16, before their marriage, and when she finally got the courage to tell her dad about it, he did nothing about it.

Recently, her dad and his mom were spreading the lie that I threw our 1-year old across the room "and it could have killed him." This was on an empty lot, with no rooms to even throw him across.

Despite all this, my wife still wants these people in our lives, and I'm at the point where she clearly has more love for them, than for me, and that by wanting these deranged people around our boys, and allowing them around, but not me, that she doesn't have their safety in mind. I am talking with some counselors, as well as a legal clinic...just reaching out, to try and find additional support.