CW: trauma, substance abuse, attempted murder, manipulation/affair (including implied relations with minors)
[name_f]Kasmira[/name_f] [name_f]Noelle[/name_f] [name_f]Walentyna[/name_f] Malczyk ‘ [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] ‘ (35) is Matty’s birth mother. The adoption was semi-open, so [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] has received photos and text updates throughout Matty’s whole life, but [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] agreed with Matty’s adoptive moms that there would be no physical contact until [name_u]Matty[/name_u] decided that for herself. So far, [name_u]Matty[/name_u] is still uncomfortable with it, and [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] not only doesn’t blame her, she’s actually kind of relieved.
[name_f]Kasia[/name_f] has never been at a point where she feels ready to parent. It’s enough of a struggle to take care of herself, really. She has intense bouts of depression, CPTSD, and a few health complications due to various forms of substance abuse that she is planning on going to rehab for, once she can afford it. That has been one of the biggest hurdles of her dumpster fire of a life: poverty. She wasn’t as “lucky” as [name_m]Chuck[/name_m], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], and Lucy’s mother; she didn’t get a large sum of hush money from the guy who impregnated her at 19–which is ironic, given it was the same guy.
[name_f]Kasia[/name_f] had just been an intern when she worked for [name_m]Todd[/name_m] [name_m]Jenkins[/name_m]. She was fresh out of community college—which she’d fought tooth and nail to afford by washing dishes in diners, teaching piano lessons, and applying to every scholarship she could find, including an essay about being raised by her Polish immigrant grandmother, Katarzynka, her namesake and last living relative. They were one bounced check away from being kicked out of their apartment, so when her rich boss started showering her with gifts and promising her a paid position in return for certain “favors”, [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] fell for it. She even fell for him, a little. He was charming…
But of course as soon as [name_m]Todd[/name_m] found out she was pregnant—and she found out that he had been manipulating girls like this for years and he did not take kindly to her plan to tell his wife and the police since a few of those girls were younger than her—he showed his true colors. Which were violently vibrant. [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] still has scars from where he tried to “take care” of her. She doesn’t know exactly what happened to make him stop—maybe he thought he’d been successful when she fell unconscious, or he just got freaked out and ran. Probably the latter, because as far as she can tell, he’s never tried anything that drastic again, or is just much, much, much more careful about it, and about birth control. The only other pregnancy she knows about for certain is the triplets’. But that discovery was kind of an accident. And it took almost 15 years.
Because the thing is, [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] repressed so much of her trauma that she didn’t remember Todd’s attack or even how she became pregnant until it came back in bits and pieces over the years (and unfortunately, given the amount of time that passed and lack of solid evidence, she had no legal way to make him pay for all he did). And then in one of the updates about Matty’s life, [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] saw a photo of [name_u]Matty[/name_u] hanging out with [name_m]Chuck[/name_m], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], and their family. And [name_f]Kasia[/name_f] recognized their mother as her former coworker and another girl that [name_m]Todd[/name_m] had manipulated. It didn’t take much time or effort to piece it all together.
Obviously, there’s no familial connection to her and the triplets, but she feels some kind of bond to them. She especially loves the jewelry that [name_m]Chuck[/name_m] makes and hopes to buy some once she’s in a good financial place.
She’s had odds-and-ends jobs here and there. And as much as she misses living with her grandmother, she’s relieved that she has passed on to (hopefully) a better place, and that she only has to worry about taking care of herself, no other humans or pets or plants or anything of the sort.
There are some good, peaceful things in her life! She solves puzzles and writes songs (which sometimes even earn her some money when people hire her to play the piano at events). And she loves birdwatching. There’s just something comforting to her about the songs and colors and behaviors of her feathery friends. And she deserves comfort, dang it! She deserves healing and peace. And she’s determined to get it.