{"id":14120,"date":"2026-07-11T18:46:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/?p=14120"},"modified":"2026-07-11T18:46:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:46:58","slug":"my-mom-moved-her-new-boyfriend-into-our-house-and-at-first-everything-seemed-normal-until-i-caught-him-beating-my-little-autistic-brother-someone-has-to-teach-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/?p=14120","title":{"rendered":"My mom moved her new boyfriend into our house, and at first everything seemed normal, until I caught him b:eati:ng my little au:tistic brother. \u201cSomeone has to teach him,\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

My mom moved her new boyfriend into our house, and at first everything seemed normal, until I caught him b:eati:ng my little au:tistic brother. \u201cSomeone has to teach him,\u201d he yelled at me. What was even worse was my mother\u2019s reaction when she found out.<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
\n

PART 1<\/h2>\n

\u201cIf your brother doesn\u2019t learn with words, he\u2019s going to learn with a slap,\u201d Austin said, standing in the middle of the kitchen with his hand still raised.<\/p>\n

I was seventeen years old, and until that Saturday, I really believed that a house could be held together with enough effort, patience, and silence. My name is Nellie, and I live in a small, plain neighborhood in Cincinnati with my mother, Cynthia, and my little brother, Graham, who is eight. My mother works as a nurse in a big public clinic. She leaves the house before dawn and almost always comes back with a totally blank look in her eyes, smelling like cheap hand sanitizer and pure exhaustion. That is why, since I finished my high school classes early, I decided to take a gap year before going to college. I wanted to work a regular job, save up some cash, and help her with the bills.<\/p>\n

I paid for the internet, the phone bill, and a big part of the groceries. I also cooked, cleaned the living room, scrubbed the bathroom, and watched Graham when my mom had to work double shifts. I didn\u2019t complain about it. Graham is a really sensitive, smart kid who has mild autism and ADHD. Sometimes he laughs out loud at things only he gets, and sometimes he asks the exact same question five times in a row, but he is never mean. He just needs people to have a little extra patience with him.<\/p>\n

Everything started going downhill when my mom brought Austin into the house.<\/p>\n

At first, he said he was only going to stay for a few days because he was going through a rough patch with his delivery job. Then those days turned into weeks, and those weeks turned into six miserable months. Austin would drive his truck for a few hours when he felt like it, but he spent most of his time lying on the couch watching TV. He always left dirty dishes on the table, dropped sticky glasses in the bathroom, and left the fridge door wide open. He would eat literally everything I bought for the week and then just shrug.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just food, not gold,\u201d he said one day. \u201cIf it runs out, you guys can just buy more.\u201d<\/p>\n

My mom pretended like she didn\u2019t hear him. Or maybe she was just too tired to start a fight.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the worst part of it. The worst part was the way he looked at Graham, like my little brother was always blocking his way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat kid is too old to be acting so weird,\u201d Austin muttered when Graham covered his ears because the blender was too loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t talk to him like that,\u201d I told him, stepping right in front of Graham.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not his mother, kid,\u201d he snapped back.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m the one who actually takes care of him,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

My mother always stepped in way too late, speaking in a tiny, weak voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin, just leave it alone,\u201d she would say.<\/p>\n

And he would just laugh, like we were all living in his house instead of ours.<\/p>\n

That Saturday, Graham got a perfect score on his math quiz. To celebrate, I promised to make some blue slime with him, which was something he had been asking me to do for weeks. We spread old newspapers on the kitchen table and mixed glue, blue food coloring, and liquid soap. Graham was so happy. He laughed with that totally innocent laugh that reminded me there was still something good left in our lives.<\/p>\n

Then a little bit of slime got onto his shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s totally fine, buddy,\u201d I told him. \u201cI\u2019ll grab a rag from the bathroom and then we can throw the shirt in the wash.\u201d<\/p>\n

I walked over to the bathroom, and it took me less than a minute to find a cloth.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Suddenly, I heard a loud, heavy smack from the kitchen. Right after that, Graham let out a terrible scream.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t a normal tantrum, and it wasn\u2019t just a scare. It was a cry of real pain.<\/p>\n

I ran back to the kitchen and saw Austin leaning over my brother, pointing a finger right in his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou messy little brat!\u201d Austin yelled. \u201cLet\u2019s see if this finally teaches you not to make a mess like an animal!\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham\u2019s left cheek was completely bright red. His eyes were full of tears, but he couldn\u2019t even cry out loud because he was totally frozen with fear.<\/p>\n

I felt like the ground was disappearing under my feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you hit him?\u201d I asked, even though the answer was right there in front of me.<\/p>\n

Austin turned around and gave me a crooked smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone has to teach him some discipline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t stop to think. I just grabbed Graham, pulled him out of the chair, and carried him straight to my bedroom. He was shaking like a leaf against my chest, repeating the same thing over and over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an accident, Val\u2026 it was an accident\u2026\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n

Austin followed us down the hallway, shouting that I was a disrespectful brat and that nobody talked back to him in his house.<\/p>\n

His house.<\/p>\n

Something inside me just broke.<\/p>\n

I reached into my bag, pulled out the small pepper spray I had been carrying since I started walking home late from work, and pointed it right at his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake one more step and I swear you will never touch my brother again,\u201d I told him.<\/p>\n

Austin laughed out loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you actually trying to threaten me?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He kept coming toward me.<\/p>\n

I sprayed the gas right into his eyes without waiting.<\/p>\n

Austin started coughing, cursing, and screaming like he was the one who got hurt. I took the chance to push him out the front door, grabbed the extra key from the hook, and locked it tight. Then I packed up his clothes, his shoes, his phone chargers, and everything else I could find and threw them right out the window into the yard.<\/p>\n

Then I called my mom.<\/p>\n

I thought she would sprint home. I thought she would ask me if Graham was okay. I thought that, for once in her life, she would choose to be a mom before being a woman who needed a boyfriend.<\/p>\n

But her voice sounded totally cold, almost like she was annoyed with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNellie, what did you do now?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin hit Graham,\u201d I said clearly.<\/p>\n

There was a long silence on the phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s wrong, yeah, but you always blow things out of proportion,\u201d she said. \u201cDo you know what you just did? You probably just ruined my relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

I looked at Graham sitting on my bed, with a dark bruise on his cheek and his hands pressed hard against his knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour relationship?\u201d I asked, and my throat felt like it was on fire. \u201cMom, he hit your eight-year-old son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t make a huge deal out of it,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll talk when I get home.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then she just hung up on me.<\/p>\n

That night, I dragged Graham\u2019s mattress right next to mine. I locked my bedroom door and jammed a heavy wooden chair under the handle. He fell asleep crying, holding onto my t-shirt with his tiny hand.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t sleep at all that night.<\/p>\n

Because I finally realized that the real danger wasn\u2019t just outside our house anymore.<\/p>\n

And what my mom did the next morning was something I still can\u2019t believe.<\/p>\n

PART 2<\/h2>\n

My mother got home at dawn with her nurse uniform completely wrinkled, her hair a mess, and her eyes looking way too bright. She didn\u2019t look tired from a long shift. She looked totally desperate.<\/p>\n

She walked into the house without even asking how Graham was doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is Austin?\u201d was the very first thing she asked.<\/p>\n

I was sitting in the kitchen, holding my phone next to a folder full of photos showing Graham\u2019s bruised face, Austin\u2019s nasty texts, and his clothes scattered on the grass outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not coming back here,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n

My mom let out a dry, fake laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not your choice to make, Nellie,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you let him back in this house, I\u2019m calling the cops immediately,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Her face changed fast, showing a look of absolute panic mixed with anger.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you dare ruin this family,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ruined it the second he put his hands on Graham,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham needs to be disciplined,\u201d she muttered.<\/p>\n

I felt a cold chill go straight down my back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did not just say that,\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n

My mother looked down at the floor. For the first time, I saw something that scared me way more than her words, which was deep guilt. It wasn\u2019t guilt for letting Graham get hurt, but guilt because she got caught.<\/p>\n

For months, I had been finding weird things around the house like burnt metal spoons in the bathroom, rolls of aluminum foil hidden behind the trash, random nosebleeds, and crazy mood swings. But I had refused to see what was happening. My mom had a really bad drug problem when I was a little kid, which was why I spent a year in foster care, a time I still hate thinking about because it makes me sick.<\/p>\n

I really wanted to believe that part of our lives was over.<\/p>\n

But standing there in the kitchen, I knew it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom,\u201d I said slowly, \u201clook at me and tell me you\u2019re not using drugs again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t move an inch.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t start with me, Nellie,\u201d she muttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me the truth,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me,\u201d I demanded.<\/p>\n

She slammed her hand down on the kitchen table.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d she yelled. \u201cAre you happy now? Yes, I messed up and relapsed! Is that what you wanted to hear?\u201d<\/p>\n

I felt completely empty inside, like all the air had been sucked out of me. I didn\u2019t scream or cry, but I just thought about Graham sleeping in my room, thinking I could protect him from the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Austin using drugs with you?\u201d I asked quietly.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

My mom didn\u2019t say a single word.<\/p>\n

That silence told me everything I needed to know.<\/p>\n

I grabbed my backpack, my ID, Graham\u2019s birth certificate, and my college scholarship papers, which I kept in a yellow folder. My classes were supposed to start in September. It was a full scholarship, and it was my only ticket to a better life.<\/p>\n

But I knew I couldn\u2019t leave Graham behind in this house.<\/p>\n

I called my dad, Ivan. He isn\u2019t Graham\u2019s biological dad since my mom and he split up when I was a toddler, but he never stopped checking in on me. He wasn\u2019t a perfect guy, but he always told me that if I ever needed to run, his door was open.<\/p>\n

He picked up almost immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cDad, I need you to help me,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t ask a bunch of annoying questions, and he didn\u2019t lecture me.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me where you are and I\u2019ll come get you right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

My mom heard the whole conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not taking my son away from me,\u201d she screamed.<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham isn\u2019t safe with you anymore,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am his mother!\u201d she yelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen start acting like one,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n

She smacked me right across the face.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t as hard as the hit Austin gave Graham, but it was enough to make everything clear.<\/p>\n

Graham suddenly walked into the hallway, barefoot and wearing his dinosaur pajamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cVal?\u201d he called out quietly.<\/p>\n

My mom tried to take a step toward him.<\/p>\n

Graham immediately took a big step back.<\/p>\n

That small movement hurt her more than any words I could have said. For a second, I saw a glimpse of the mom she used to be, the one who made me warm soup when I was sick and told me she was proud of me.<\/p>\n

But that woman was totally gone now.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo get your shoes on, Graham,\u201d I told him gently. \u201cWe\u2019re leaving with my dad.\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded and went to get them without asking any questions.<\/p>\n

My mom started crying hysterically.<\/p>\n

\u201cNellie, please don\u2019t do this to me,\u201d she sobbed. \u201cAustin loves me, and you have no idea what it feels like to be completely alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I do know,\u201d I told her. \u201cI\u2019ve been raising your son by myself for months while you\u2019ve been taking care of a guy who beats him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right then, my phone buzzed in my hand.<\/p>\n

It was a text message from a random number, but I knew it was Austin.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell that little brat that when I get back I\u2019m going to teach him some real respect, and I\u2019ll deal with you too,\u201d the text said.<\/p>\n

I took a screenshot of it immediately.<\/p>\n

My dad pulled up twenty minutes later in his old pickup truck, getting out fast with a really angry look on his face. He didn\u2019t start a huge yelling match, but he just looked at my mom and then at Graham, who was hiding behind my legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go,\u201d my dad said.<\/p>\n

My mom blocked the doorway.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have any legal right to take him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

My dad pulled out his phone calmly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I don\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cBut a judge will, and with what Nellie has on her phone, she\u2019s got plenty to hand over to Child Services.\u201d<\/p>\n

My mom\u2019s face went completely pale.<\/p>\n

I thought she was going to beg us to stay, but instead, she gave us a creepy smile I had never seen on her face before.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you think anyone is going to believe a couple of kids?\u201d she laughed. \u201cNellie is a minor, Graham has mental issues, and Austin can just say the kid fell down the stairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Graham spoke up from behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t fall,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

We all stopped and looked right at him.<\/p>\n

His eyes were watery, but his voice sounded really steady and clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin hit me,\u201d Graham said. \u201cAnd mom let him yell at me all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

My mom opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.<\/p>\n

My dad helped us load our stuff into the truck quickly. As we drove down the street, I looked in the side mirror and saw my mom standing alone on the sidewalk, crying and talking on her phone.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know if she was calling Austin or someone else.<\/p>\n

But an hour later, when we were sitting inside the police station, Graham squeezed my hand tight and said something that made my blood run cold.<\/p>\n

\u201cVal\u2026 there are a lot of other things I never told you,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n

And that was when I realized that the slap in the kitchen was just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

PART 3<\/h2>\n

At the police station, Graham refused to talk to any of the cops in uniform. He just kept hiding behind my shoulder, covering his ears, and saying he wanted to go home, but we didn\u2019t have a home to go back to anymore.<\/p>\n

A social worker named Rachel came over and sat right on the floor near him without crowding him. She handed him a bottle of water and a box of crayons with some paper, waiting quietly until he felt comfortable.<\/p>\n

Graham started drawing a kitchen table, a TV, and a huge, scary-looking man with giant arms.<\/p>\n

Then he drew a little plate with dark spots on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that on the plate, Graham?\u201d Rachel asked nicely.<\/p>\n

Graham kept looking down at his drawing.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood with ash,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n

My stomach twisted into a painful knot.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsh?\u201d I asked him.<\/p>\n

Graham nodded without looking up at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cMom would put her cigarettes out on my plate if I didn\u2019t eat my dinner fast enough,\u201d he whispered. \u201cShe told me that if I cried, Austin would get mad at me, and sometimes she would spit in my water cup when I wouldn\u2019t stop crying.\u201d<\/p>\n

I felt like I couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n

I worked every single afternoon, thinking Graham was totally safe at home with our mom. And the whole time I was working to pay for our food, cleaning the house, and studying for college, my little brother was just trying to stay quiet so he could survive.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

My dad put his hand on my shoulder to keep me steady. I didn\u2019t let myself cry there because Graham was watching me, and if I lost it, he would think he did something bad by telling the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for telling us, buddy,\u201d I told him. \u201cYou are never going back to that house again.\u201d<\/p>\n

We wrote down the official police report that same afternoon. My dad hired a lawyer named Ms. Cross, who was a really serious woman who didn\u2019t sugarcoat anything or make fake promises.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis court stuff can get really ugly,\u201d she told us in her office. \u201cBut you have great photos, threatening text messages, the kid\u2019s own story, and a clear history of drug abuse, which means a lot to a judge.\u201d<\/p>\n

My mom tried calling my cell phone 34 times in two days. When I didn\u2019t answer, she started sending desperate texts.<\/p>\n

\u201cNellie, please forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAustin is gone for good, I swear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham needs his mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you take my baby away, it\u2019ll kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t reply to any of them.<\/p>\n

Then a voice message came through from Austin\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stupid girl, you\u2019re ruining your mother\u2019s entire life over a stupid kid\u2019s tantrum,\u201d his voice growled through the speaker. \u201cThat brat just needs a firm hand to teach him how to behave.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer actually laughed when she listened to the audio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, thank you, Austin,\u201d she said. \u201cYou just made our job a whole lot easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next few weeks were a blur of legal meetings, court papers, and quiet nights. Graham slept on a mattress right next to my bed at my dad\u2019s place, which was a small, clean house in Columbus with nice cream-colored walls and plants all over the roof. My dad hadn\u2019t spent a ton of time around Graham before this, but right from the start, he treated him like a real person.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is ever going to yell at you for making noise or laughing in this house,\u201d he told him.<\/p>\n

Graham didn\u2019t say anything back, but that night he left his juice glass on the kitchen counter without nervously asking if it was okay, which was a huge step for him.<\/p>\n

My mother had to go to court. At first, she told the judge I was just being a dramatic teenager, that I hated her boyfriend, and that Graham was making up lies because of his mental problems. Hearing her say those things hurt worse than getting hit.<\/p>\n

But the evidence was too big to ignore. The texts, the photos, the recorded voicemail, a statement from our next-door neighbor who heard the screaming, the doctor\u2019s report on Graham\u2019s cheek, and the court-ordered drug test.<\/p>\n

My mom tested positive for drugs.<\/p>\n

Austin did too.<\/p>\n

When the lawyer called to tell us the judge signed the protection order, I felt a mix of pure relief and deep sadness. A tiny part of me still wished my mom would clean up her act and apologize, but life doesn\u2019t always have a happy ending. Sometimes you just get legal papers and a closed door.<\/p>\n

Since I was only a few months away from turning eighteen, my mom gave up fighting for custody of me. But getting custody of Graham was a lot harder because Ivan wasn\u2019t his real dad. My dad applied for temporary custody with Ms. Cross\u2019s help, proving to the court that Graham was doing great with us and that splitting us up would totally mess him up emotionally.<\/p>\n

The day the judge officially said Graham could stay with my dad for good, my brother hugged me so hard it hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t ever have to go back there?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I told him, holding him tight. \u201cNever again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Austin got sentenced to almost a year in jail for child abuse and assault. My mom got put on strict probation, had to go to rehab, and lost the right to see Graham without a social worker in the room. A lot of people told me that wasn\u2019t enough jail time, and honestly, I thought so too because I wanted them to pay for what they did to him.<\/p>\n

But I realized that justice doesn\u2019t always feel like winning a big game. Sometimes it just feels like being able to breathe without a heavy weight on your chest.<\/p>\n

I started college, but I chose to commute an hour each way from my dad\u2019s house instead of living in a dorm. He drove me to the bus station every single morning before his shift started, and even though I told him he didn\u2019t have to do that, he always said the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour life and your dreams aren\u2019t getting ruined just because some adults made terrible choices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Graham started going to a new school down the street. He cried a lot the first week because he was scared, but he found a really nice teacher who let him wear his headphones when the other kids got too loud. A few weeks later, he made a friend named Liam, who also loved collecting plastic dinosaurs.<\/p>\n

One afternoon, when I walked in after my college classes, I saw Graham and my dad sitting at the kitchen table working on a giant puzzle. There was soup warming on the stove, some quiet music playing, and nice sunlight coming through the window. Graham was laughing out loud. He wasn\u2019t doing it because he was scared or trying to please anyone. He was just genuinely happy.<\/p>\n

I stood there by the front door with my backpack on my shoulder, and for the first time in months, I just started crying tears of relief.<\/p>\n

My dad looked up and saw me.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything okay, Val?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

I nodded my head.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I told him. \u201cI just\u2026 I didn\u2019t know a house could actually feel like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

That night, I went into my settings and blocked my mom\u2019s number for good. I didn\u2019t do it because I hated her, but because I needed peace. Maybe she\u2019ll get her life together someday and realize what she threw away, but my brother couldn\u2019t keep waiting around for his own mother to choose him over a guy.<\/p>\n

Sometimes your real family isn\u2019t the person who gave birth to you. Sometimes family is the person who opens their door when you show up scared, who believes you when everyone else calls you a liar, and who steps up to raise a kid who isn\u2019t even theirs.<\/p>\n

And if I learned anything from all of this, it\u2019s that saving the people you love doesn\u2019t make you feel like a hero. Sometimes it just feels like breaking apart inside, signing legal papers with a shaking hand, and turning your back on the person you used to love the most.<\/p>\n

But looking at Graham sleeping like a baby without any nightmares, I knew I would do it all over again.<\/p>\n

Because no relationship, no love, and no amount of fear is worth staying in a house where a little kid thinks he has to apologize just for being alive.<\/p>\n

THE END.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My mom moved her new boyfriend into our house, and at first everything seemed normal, until I caught him b:eati:ng my little au:tistic brother. \u201cSomeone has to teach him,\u201d he … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,6,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-inspiration","category-news","category-real-life-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14122,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14120\/revisions\/14122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storyreadin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}