WEBVTT - Storybook Romance | Stacey's Story 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:06.320 Stacy, would you please read this document? 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:11.840 Okay? This is a court document affidavit of probable cause 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:17.320 from Berks County, Pennsylvania, Honor. About Thursday, January fifth, twenty 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.759 twenty three, a detective received information that the defendant, Justin Rutherford, 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.040 was requesting to have someone murder a juvenile. 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:28.600 Mail detectives in Running, Pennsylvania learned that a Justin Rutherford 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.520 had concocted a scheme to take the life of a 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.839 teenager who was set to testify against him in a 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:39.800 criminal case. Rutherford told his hitman to use gloves and 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.560 to wear layers of clothing so no DNA would be found. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:48.879 Rutherford said he could be buried in the forest somewhere, 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.120 or he could be burned in a barrel. This would 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:54.000 be a good way to get rid of any evidence. 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.840 Stacy, do you know Justin Rutherford, the man who was 0:00:58.880 --> 0:00:59.920 planning the murder? 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:00.600 I do? 0:01:01.760 --> 0:01:04.400 And who is he? My husband? 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.240 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Season three of Betrayal, 0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:32.600 Episode one, storybook Romance A listener Note. Some names have 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:37.840 been changed to protect privacy. I'm so grateful to be 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.720 back for another season of Betrayal. When we started this 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.280 project with Jennifer Fason's story back in twenty nineteen, we 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:48.280 really didn't know where it would go. Thanks to you, 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:52.120 we're back for season three, and there's even more big 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:56.080 news if you love betrayal. This summer, our podcast will 0:01:56.120 --> 0:02:00.680 become a weekly series addressing all kinds of betrayal, from relationships, 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:05.280 to financial deception and more. There are betrayals you won't believe, 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.360 but they happened. What we've discovered is that there are 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:14.000 people everywhere, millions actually, who are struggling with loss and 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.720 shame because something that they believed in turned out to 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:22.880 be a lie. Sometimes the lie is so egregious it's criminal. 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.560 Other times it's just too painful to bear. We've also 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.359 learned that hearing you aren't the only one that has 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:35.240 been the victim of shocking deception is comforting. There is 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:40.760 something inherently therapeutic in sharing our stories, and that brings 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:42.680 me to Stacy Rutherford. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.160 I can talk to my best friends till I'm blue 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:46.680 in the face, but not a single one of them 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:50.000 have any idea what I feel like, and I hope 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:51.600 none of them ever have to know what I feel like. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.440 Stacy heard Ashley Linton's story from season two, and they 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.160 had a lot in common. Even parts of their story 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:01.800 are similar. 0:03:02.680 --> 0:03:04.280 It was kind of one of those things that it 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.920 made me finally feel like I wasn't so abnormal for 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:11.560 feeling some of the things that I felt about the 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:16.160 situation and about grieving my marriage and everything. It was 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.000 just for the first time I felt like somebody knew 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:19.720 what I felt like. 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.960 But there are some very big differences. The stakes for 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.360 Stacy and her family are not like anything we've ever seen. 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.040 When she first reached out to our team, it was 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:34.320 from her home in a small rural spot called Jared'stown, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:38.400 West Virginia. It's about two hours west of DC. She 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.280 works in the area as an administrative support for a 0:03:41.360 --> 0:03:45.200 federal agency. She also spent many years working as a 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:50.960 medical assistant. Her story spans three states, two husbands, two courts, 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:54.120 four children, and twenty five years in the making. 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:58.440 It's a lot, and not everybody can handle that because 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.760 it's a wild story. It's nothing like you think you're 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.640 gonna hear. I found Stacy to be such a contradiction. 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.680 She's a joyful, spiritual person with a great laugh. It's 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:13.200 fun just being around her, but that laugh can turn 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:17.000 to tears in a matter of seconds. It's a fragile line. 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.839 She's holding it together, but not by much. 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.159 First, we need to look at where Stacey came from 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.880 to see how she arrived here. Stacy was still a 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.240 teenager when she got married and started a family. She 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.120 still remembers the night she met her first husband back 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:36.520 in nineteen ninety eight. We'll call him John. 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.320 My high school boyfriend and I broke up right after 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.720 senior year. I went to a party and just we connected. 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.400 John was twenty three, Stacy was eighteen. 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.560 He was fresh out the military. I got pregnant pretty quick. 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:57.719 You know. My dad will always say, I think he 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:58.599 did the noble thing. 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:04.640 John married after an accelerated courtship in their hometown of Decatur, Illinois, 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:08.880 but eventually moved to West Virginia. They had two kids together, 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:10.320 Mikayla and Tyler. 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.800 Honestly, we didn't spend a lot of time together. I 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.480 know that that sounds crazy, but he loved a fish. 0:05:17.680 --> 0:05:20.800 He could be out there for twelve eighteen hours a day, 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.200 so usually I would just stay home with the kids. 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.760 Stacey admits that the relationship was imperfect, but she was 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:28.479 okay with that. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:31.800 I knew we didn't have this fireworks and passion and 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:35.080 all this. But I was comfortable and I took a vow, 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:36.480 and I took that seriously. 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.919 They were busy young parents. 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.480 He was a forklift operator, but he worked so many hours. 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.719 He works like twelve to sometimes sixteen hours a day. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:53.240 It never occurred to her that it wouldn't last forever. 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:58.520 Divorce was impossible to me. I was just like nu uh, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:00.320 you know, like we're going to be old sitting on 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.080 a porch with our grandkids, because that's what my grandparents were. 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.920 And my parents were like, divorce wasn't in my family 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:13.000 like that. I'd made a post on MySpace or MySpace 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.080 like thank you God for this life, and I just 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:18.919 I'm so blessed and I have two great kids and 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.719 a husband, you know. And two weeks later, he rolled 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.400 over in bed and he just said I'm not happy 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:28.520 and I haven't been for a really long time. I'm like, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:32.479 what the hell. I was like, shut up, and he 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.680 was like no, I'm serious, and I just started streaming. 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.400 Michaela was eight and she ran into the bedroom and 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.479 started screaming, Daddy, don't hit her, don't hit her. She 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.880 thought he was hitting me. Because I was screaming like agony. 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.120 He said it was nobody, that he just wanted to 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:51.120 be alone, that we got married too young. You know, 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.719 he was never going to get married again. 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.680 Stacy is no fool. She knew something was up. 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.159 My sister calls me Angela Lansbar because I won't find 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:06.200 it out. Within days, I knew he was seeing somebody. 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:10.040 Ended up finding out it was a coworker that was August. 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.480 I come home one day and I had told him 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.360 I was going to move back where our family was, 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:16.680 and then I changed my mind and I was like, 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.120 I can do this, you know, we can try to 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:19.840 work this out. He was like nope. 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.440 Stacy's daughter Mikaela remembers her mom confronting the other woman, 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.280 though she didn't really know what was happening at the time. 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:32.400 One day, we were waking up for school and we 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.320 did not drive to school. We went to some random 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.880 lady's house and my mom gets out of the car 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:42.240 and is throwing gravel rocks at this lady and I'm 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.760 just in the backseat, like I don't know what's happening, 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:47.240 and my dad had come out. 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:47.920 Without a shirt on. 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:54.120 Mikaela was too young to understand. Stacy knew exactly what 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:54.720 was going on. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.520 It was soul crushing. I said, just tell me what 0:07:58.560 --> 0:08:00.960 it is and what I can do. And I remember 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:02.680 he did tell me, you know, well you got big 0:08:02.680 --> 0:08:04.320 and I didn't, you know, like to look at you. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.920 Then it was like, oh, it's my fault. 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:13.120 This moment. It fractured her. So many people know this 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:18.080 feeling not feeling enough that haunted Stacy. 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:26.200 I had no self worth, no self worth. I mean, 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.560 I had never in my life been suicidal, and I 0:08:29.600 --> 0:08:33.400 remember I knew I wanted to be alive for my kids, 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.000 but I just had this attitude of like, I'm not 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.280 going to take my life because I'm a Christian and 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:42.160 I don't you know, but if you don't wake me 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:43.560 up in the morning, that would be okay. 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.360 Stacy kept her pain hidden. Her children only saw her 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:49.560 beauty and strength. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.920 Anything could happen to her and nothing would phaze her. 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.520 She's great and I want to be her when I 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.560 grow up. Mom actually worked too jobs, and so a 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:03.680 lot of the time it would be Tyler and I 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.800 at home by ourselves, and I'd be watching him. And 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:08.880 even when I would go hang out with friends in 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:11.959 a neighborhood down the street. He would always tag along 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:12.280 with me. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:16.840 Although Mikayla is six years older than Tyler, they formed 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.360 a close bond during those years. 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:21.400 I mean, honestly, I loved it. 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:25.280 I loved being around Tyler when mom was a single 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:27.680 mom and it was just him and I a lot. 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.200 Mikayla has grown up a lot since looking after Tyler. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:35.480 She's a master's candidate and a newlywed, but when she 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:37.640 was a kid, she admits to being a bit of 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:40.520 a wild child, like I was a hot mess, express 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:44.160 Stacey says. Tyler, on the other hand, was a happy 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:45.839 kid who adored his mom. 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:48.800 When my first husband and I divorced, he was two. 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.440 So Tyler and I have always had a huge bond, 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:55.959 and he's always been a MoMA's boy. He loved the 0:09:56.000 --> 0:09:58.559 Kardashians and he'd be like When's Sister Wives on, And 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:00.520 you know there was so much as SI in that 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.280 house at that time, Like the poor guy had no chance, 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.559 but it made him the sweetest soul. He will die 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:09.120 if I tell you this, But like I am a 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.160 bath and body works and that like my probably need 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.880 a twelve step program, but I always like have it 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:16.800 and so he would lay in bed when he was 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:19.720 little and he'd smell my arm and he'd say, oh, mamma, 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:21.319 you smell so beautiful. 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.640 Seventeen years later, Stacy has acquired the wisdom to view 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:30.160 the end of her first marriage with a different lens. 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:32.760 I didn't know what I was doing. You know, I'm 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.280 a young mom. I'm a young wife, not knowing how 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.839 to manage money. So I completely accept that I had 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:41.320 a hand in the devise of my marriage too. 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:45.559 Still, the loss of her dream left Stacy wounded. 0:10:46.280 --> 0:10:48.920 I can honestly say that I've never been the same 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:50.559 since my first marriage ended. 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:01.480 Even after the demise of her marriage, Stacy hoped to 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:03.959 find love and a partner to share her life with. 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.079 She was cautious she had to be. 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:09.559 I didn't want to be that mom that just had 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:12.520 random different men coming in and out of her home, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.240 and then for the kids to like lose that person. 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:17.120 That was always my fear. 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.319 The divorce was in two thousand and seven. Stacy has 0:11:20.400 --> 0:11:24.559 had a few long term relationships and some forgettable dates. 0:11:25.400 --> 0:11:30.560 Stacy's son, Tyler, recalls one boyfriend that left an impression she. 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:33.960 Was a real bad drunk and would just scream and yell. 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:36.040 So he wasn't too much of a good guy either. 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.880 He was just good to us kids. She always kind 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:41.319 of had bad experiences with men. 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:45.920 And Stacy's daughter, Mikayla, harbored the fantasy of many children 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:46.600 of divorce. 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.320 I want my mom and dad back together still, So 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:52.240 I was also like, who are you coming into my house? 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.040 I was always mean to like every boyfriend she had, 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:58.160 anytime she would tell me she was on a date, 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.880 something was dying, or my toe nail was falling off 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.720 and she had to come home because like fat guy. 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:08.319 And then like there would be times if she had 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.760 like a boyfriend over and they were in the living room, 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.400 I would purposely interrupt and you know, be an annoyance. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:20.680 Then in twenty fifteen, a new man came into Stacy's life. 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.960 My name is Karen, and I met Stacy when my 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.600 son dated her daughter in high school, and we've been 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:30.840 close friends ever since. I met Justin when he was 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:34.360 doing like a round or rotations. I worked at a 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.840 lab at the doctor's office and he was a student 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.480 there and we just started to chat. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:40.720 Justin was in medical school. 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.920 I knew he was single, and I'm like, I feel 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:45.680 like you and my friend were really hit it off. 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:47.440 He had a good sense. 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:49.600 Of humor and she had a good sense of humor. 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.080 So I'm not sure if I gave her his number 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.800 or if I gave him her number, but either way, 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.240 he ended up reaching out and they met up. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.920 Him and I met at All of Garden Right off 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:06.000 the bat, we started joking. Our whole entire meal was joking, 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.360 and he just kind of said to me, you know, 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.360 I'm a poor Med student. I don't have time for anyone. 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:13.720 I don't have any money. I can't really take you 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:16.880 on dates like this, you know. He actually our biggest 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:18.559 joke was he used to coupon on our first date, 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:20.559 and he was mortified to bring it out of his pocket. 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:21.760 He's like, you know, I got like a bye one 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.400 get one half off kind of thing going on. And 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.319 he was just like, you know, so do you want 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.640 to adopt a poor Med student? And I was like yeah, 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:30.520 I mean, like, why not add another kid to it? 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:35.200 You know, I'm all for it. Our joke for years 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.920 was that who once already made family? And he was 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.560 like whooh me, you know, And that's kind of how 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.000 our relationship started. Telling me he had no time for 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.000 me and then ended up. We were together all the time. 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:50.240 He said that she was nice, but I think that 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.120 he was attracted to her sense of humor because that's 0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.840 what makes her really beautiful, because she's so funny. 0:13:56.720 --> 0:14:01.240 Stacy and Justin were vibing. They just loved being together. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:05.240 I had butterflies when driving home from our first date. 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.920 I remember calling my dad and I was like, Dad, 0:14:07.920 --> 0:14:10.320 I think I just met my husband. And he was like, 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.400 oh my god, did you tell him that? And I 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.120 was liked, no, I didn't tell him that, Like why 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:15.880 would I tell him that. He's like, oh, thank god, 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:17.480 because he would have run her. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.520 Dad didn't need to worry. The affection was mutual. 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:23.280 They hit it off and I was pretty proud of 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:24.680 myself for being a matchmaker. 0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:28.520 All the years I had dated. Between my first husband 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:32.640 and him, it was so just ugh a cesspool. Really, 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:35.480 people felt like they had an agenda or there was 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.080 something that they wanted from me, but Justin it was 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.920 just wholeheartedly. I never felt there was anything that he 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.760 wanted from me. He just wanted to be with me, 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:47.640 and for me, I was like, wow, that's the first time, 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:49.080 you know, I've ever felt like that. 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:53.000 When it was time for Justin to meet Stacy's kids, 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:56.920 fifteen year old Mikaela had every intention of giving the 0:14:56.960 --> 0:15:02.160 new guy the same treatment every other man had unwelcome. 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:04.720 They had been dating for a couple of months, and 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:06.720 I remember I was at my dad's house when my 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:09.040 mom was like, Justin was coming over and I was 0:15:09.080 --> 0:15:13.680 going to meet him. The whole time I'm talking shit, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.520 I'm like, Dad, f him. I already don't like him. 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.600 He's probably fat and ugly. And my Dad's like, michaela 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.680 be nice and I'm like, I don't care. I don't 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:25.720 want to know you. And then when we walked in 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:30.160 the house, it was immediately like Hi, I'm Justin and 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:35.280 like open arms, super talkative, asking me like what I 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.520 want to do when I grow up? How high school is? 0:15:37.560 --> 0:15:40.520 You know, just like blah blah blah blah blah talking 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.640 to me. And I was still kind of stand offish 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.120 because I'm like, can you. 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:44.640 Take the heat. 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.440 I remember the first day we met him very vividly. 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:52.080 Actually, Tyler was about ten at the time. He was impressed. 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.400 He really just seemed like such a great guy from 0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.360 the start. You came over, We're looking at it. Oh, 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.680 mom's got a new boyfriend. Here's another asshole. And then 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:05.080 surprisingly he was one of the first guys to ever 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.880 have an interaction with me and like, I actually played 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.720 football with me, so to me, I was like, Okay, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.720 he's actually a pretty good guy. That was the first 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.120 time I really saw her with another man, truly happy, 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.160 and Mikayla thought it too. 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.160 I liked him a lot, and I was like, okay, 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:25.040 I won't scare him away. Yeah, they had a good relationship. 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:27.280 Like I thought they were good together. 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.520 We started dating in March and Thanksgiving we went to 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:33.960 Myrtle Beach with his family and I was like, oh, 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.640 this is so great. We spent a lot of time 0:16:36.680 --> 0:16:37.800 with family and friends. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:44.400 Time together was precious then. Medical school was all encompassing 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.640 for Justin, but they made it work. 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.400 I also, you know, would help him when he would 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:52.600 study because I'm in the medical field too, so when 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.280 he was studying prescription med names, we would like go 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:56.800 back and forth as kind of like a game. 0:16:57.600 --> 0:17:00.960 Stacy didn't need to be wined and dine. She wanted 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.600 kindness and connection and someone to be part of her family. 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.280 It just never felt complex. We spent a lot of 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.680 time with like family and friends, and if we weren't 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.280 we were studying. You know, we didn't do a whole 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:14.120 lot in our first year. 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.359 Justin was also willing to be a father figure and 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:19.600 wanted to be involved in the kids' lives. 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:22.440 He was really nice to me and would do stuff 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.520 with me. He was a big video gamer. He helped 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:30.159 me build my first like big gaming computer, which was 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:34.760 really cool, and he was very tech savvy. 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:36.520 If I wanted to play games, he was a guy 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:37.240 to play games with. 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:40.560 So I was happy to have what I thought would 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:41.479 be a father figure. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.120 It was like the dad and best friend in one. 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.359 It was now twenty sixteen. Stacy and Justin had been 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.119 together about a year, but he was on the medical 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:03.240 track and to relocate to continue his training. Stacy and 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:07.159 Justin's relationship was getting serious. Sometimes he'd stay at her 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:10.000 place for several days at a time, or she'd spend 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:13.639 the weekend at his apartment. It couldn't imagine being a part, 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.680 so the couple decided that Stacy and her kids would 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.680 move with him for his residency. It was the last 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:23.280 stage of training before becoming a doctor. 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:25.880 He was just kind of like our not really silent deal, 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:27.840 but our deal that he was going to take care 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:29.360 of me and I was going to take care of him. 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:34.560 Justin matched with a hospital system in Pennsylvania, so Stacy, Mikaela, 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.960 and Tyler packed up their life and moved with Justin. 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.240 This was the beginning of their next chapter as a 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.800 growing family. Stacy's sister Heather, it was. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:50.080 Like the story book Growing My sister one of more 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:52.320 children having children. 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.560 He loved her kids. 0:18:54.960 --> 0:18:58.200 And Justin wanted kids too. A year after the family 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.280 moved to Pennsylvania, the couple had a baby girl together, 0:19:01.800 --> 0:19:06.280 and shortly after Stacey became pregnant again. She shared an 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.840 amazing family moment with me a video where Justin opens 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:12.240 a gender reveal envelope. 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:14.520 Oh God, thank you Jesus. 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:16.760 That. 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:22.080 Oh wow, I was about two seconds away from actual 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:23.360 job into the ground. 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:32.520 Their baby boy was born in twenty nineteen. 0:19:33.200 --> 0:19:37.880 He delivered both of our kids my ob right when 0:19:37.880 --> 0:19:39.639 the baby was about to come out, she stepped to 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:44.040 the side and let Justin deliver the babies. I remember 0:19:44.080 --> 0:19:47.160 I made a Facebook post like after it and I said, 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.480 I didn't think I could love this man anymore, but 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.199 when I saw him with his babies, it made me 0:19:55.320 --> 0:19:58.840 love him in a whole different way, you know, on 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:02.840 a different level. He was just so happy, Like you 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:05.320 could tell, he just was so excited to be a dad. 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:09.840 They had their love, their children, their family was complete. 0:20:10.400 --> 0:20:12.920 As they set their sights on the future, Justin received 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.840 a full time job offer. It was official they were 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:18.240 staying in Pennsylvania. 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:22.480 After residency was over, he accepted a position with their 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.600 family med office in Exeter, Pennsylvania. 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:30.720 My sister worked extremely hard to bring in enough money 0:20:30.840 --> 0:20:32.960 to take care of her kids and still try to 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.320 give them the life that they deserved. 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.080 But Justin offered her a sense. 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:42.960 Of freedom, I mean the salary. 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:47.840 And Stacey also had support. When the family moved to Pennsylvania, 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.199 Justin's godmother moved with them. Her name is Deborah and 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:54.040 she helped Stacy with the little ones. 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.440 We called her Nanny mcdee like the Nanny McPhee movie. 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:00.000 She was a part of our family. 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:04.879 D was living with Justin's mom since he was a baby. 0:21:05.440 --> 0:21:09.000 When his mother died tragically during his college years, Nanny 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:13.399 continued to maintain a close relationship with him. Here's Justin's 0:21:13.400 --> 0:21:15.159 college friend, Stacy Hayden. 0:21:15.920 --> 0:21:22.760 Justin's mom got cancer and passed away and her best 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:27.400 friend was d and she had promised to always take 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:31.160 care of Justin. As soon as they moved to Pennsylvania, 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.280 Dee was living with them in like a taking care 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.240 of roles, so she was a living nanny and helped 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:37.960 around the house. 0:21:39.160 --> 0:21:42.280 The extra set of hands made a huge difference. Dee 0:21:42.320 --> 0:21:46.080 could watch the kids while Justin and Stacey worked. Although 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.440 the couple were financially comfortable, Stacy learned a lot from 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.960 her first marriage. Finally, those hectic years would pay off. 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:57.159 He made basically like what I make right now, So 0:21:57.200 --> 0:21:59.679 we lived tight during that time, and then once he 0:21:59.840 --> 0:22:02.600 ran graduated from residency, I was going to continue working 0:22:02.640 --> 0:22:04.200 for the next five years instead of being a state 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:06.119 home mom like. He gave me that option, but I 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:07.160 was like, no, I want to work. 0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:11.840