DEAR ERIC: Our niece (my husband’s brother’s daughter) is expecting her first child. While we are very happy for her, the way she announced her news, and some of her past actions, have affected my feelings toward her as they had directly impacted me, my husband and our kids.

This niece announced her pregnancy to us (via FaceTime, as she doesn’t live locally) at a family birthday dinner that was held for her father’s and our son’s combined birthdays. While my brother-in-law may have been OK with sharing his birthday with his daughter’s announcement, our son was not forewarned nor had any say in how the events unfolded. Apparently, everyone at the dinner knew of our niece’s pregnancy and how she was to announce it, except for us.

To add insult, the birthday “present” our niece gave to her

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