This couple was done with the relentless pressure from parents to reunite with estranged half-siblings.

After repeated refusals were ignored, one son-in-law decided it was time for a sharp reminder that not every family gets a Hallmark ending.

Read on for the story!

AITA for telling my parents to forget the Hallmark movies and move into the real world?

My parents have been pressuring my wife for a while now to reach out to her older half siblings to establish a relationship.

My wife (27f) was an “affair baby.” Her half siblings share the same mother as her but are aware of her status as the child from the affair.

She was 7 the last time she saw them but she remembers very clearly they did not like her or accept her. She knows this hasn’t changed because they maintain contact with extended family while also not attending anything she might be attending.

This is pretty juicy.

My wife’s parents were married but it became a toxic marriage based on cheating and she’s no contact with them as a result.

My wife is pregnant with our first child and this trouble with my parents started when my wife admitted to wishing things could have been different for her and her siblings.

My parents told her she should reach out because she never knows how they’d respond. She told them she did know, because they continued to keep their distance and not be around her.

That she accepted it and would not push or risk a very vitriol filled rejection from them.  But that she appreciated they (my parents) wanted the best for her.

Seems like this should end there.

My parents told her she shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the idea. And they have brought it up roughly a dozen times since.

I have told them to stop and reminded them that this is my wife’s decision alone and she should not be backed into a corner by them.

The last time was Friday night. My wife grew frustrated by the mention again and I told my wife we should leave, because clearly this wasn’t the right place for us to be at that moment.

Not at all.

My parents said we didn’t need to leave and they were trying to support my wife.

I told them to forget the Hallmark movies and come into the real world where not everyone is desperately waiting to be reunited with family, where people can hold onto resentment and hate for decades and lifetimes, where people refusing to attend an event that another person might be at should be taken at face value and seen as a boundary instead of being treated like a cry for the other person to reach out.

I told them it’s not destined for a happily ever after when ignore clear signs and reach out anyway. And to clarify my parents are HUGE Hallmark fans.

Just like that, Hallmark dreams shattered like a Christmas ornament hitting the floor.

My parents sent me three texts right after we left saying I should have kept my sarcasm away from people who only want to help and support my pregnant wife.

We have decided a break is needed from my parents. But their texts about my comment to them has left me wondering.

AITA?

The confrontation has left everyone tense and uncertain. But did the tough love go too far?

Let’s see what Reddit had to say…

Basically: NTAs all around.

This person thinks distance between them is necessary.

This person has some jokes.

Just remember, each holiday…

Not every family drama ends with a tearful hug at Christmas.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.