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Meet the BrothertonsWhen Kristina and Scott Brotherton got married, Steve already had a young son. With the arrival of the couple's own two boys, some of the tensions typical of step-families came to the fore. Find out how they coped. Kristina Brotherton, 28, from Evesham, says: "My husband Steve was married before with a son, Scott, but his wife died. After we got married, we had two boys: Ashley, who's now three and Harry, who's four months. "When I met Scott he took to me straight away. When Steve and I moved in together, I immediately went part-time at work so I could look after Scott. It was difficult not having had children before but we got on okay. "He didn't call me Mummy at first, he called me Kris. But then I received a letter from a child psychologist who had been seeing him who said he wanted to call me Mummy – so ever since then, he has. He never tried to talk to me about his real mother, although there have been times when he's cried and asked why she died. "I'd always wanted children of my own and we talked about it with Scott right from the start and he was over the moon and told everybody. "Problems began when I had my own sons. It was only when I had my son that I realised I couldn't love Scott as much as I thought I could. So I overcompensated and spoiled Scott even more. "We went through a year of hell, when Scott behaved so badly. He never rejected Ashley but when he was two, Scott said 'I wish he hadn't been born'. Otherwise, the relationship is perfectly normal. They play nicely and they fight, like all siblings. "When Ashley was a baby, and now with Harry, Scott helped change his nappy and fed him for me and cuddled him. I think Scott is possibly jealous of Ashley, but no more than Ashley is jealous of Harry." Where to next?
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