I would be grateful for any advice you could give me. I'm sorry this is long and not entirely about stepchildren... I'm going to try to tell my story in 3 parts because it's so long. 
 

Part 1: The Beginning 

8 years ago I started dating a single dad, "D", to a 13 year old boy. We met on a dating site. At the time I was 27 and I had never dated a man with a kid before, but I was not worried. I have younger brothers around the same age and I enjoyed watching them and being around them and all their friends. In my family, I was the babysitter and I really enjoyed it!

D was 44. I fell in love with him almost immediately and that had never happened to me before. Yes, I had dated other older guys in the past (and I cared about them), but this was a very different feeling. We were so compatible! He had a average job selling insurance and his own small house. I was a poor college student, finishing up the last year of my Masters degree but would soon have a good job.

I met his son ,"DJ", right away (the third date) and I got the feeling his son didn't really like me all that much haha. I think he was afraid that I was stealing his father's attention away from him. Believe me, I had no intention of doing that! Right away you could see that DJ and his father were very close. He 100% idolized his dad and he was also his father's "pride and joy". D was very proud of his only son and he clearly loved him a lot. He spent a lot of time teaching him to hunt, playing video games with him and going to his baseball games.  D didn't really have any other family either. His sister lives in another state and his parents have passed. He had only a couple close friends and I was his first serious relationship since his divorce 2 years prior. It seemed like it had just been the two of them for a long time. He is somewhat quiet and a very private person so maybe that is why he wasn't close to many people. 

His ex wife had cheated on him with a man from work (soon after she married this other man) and she also initiated the divorce. DJ was used to having his dad all to himself and I understood how he felt. I wanted them to stay close and have as much "guy time" as they wanted. I had my own life too! I just wanted to be part of theirs. 

Our relationship lasted for only a few months. He obviously liked me but he really wasn't ready to date anyone. His focus was his son and I was heartbroken. Also I believed now I was immature and impatient and I moved too fast for him. I probably scared him away haha because I loved him a lot and pushed things too fast. He told me he wasn't ready for something serious and he needed time. It broke my heart at the time and I broke everything off with him and started dating someone else. I thought I had heard the last of D... 

(to be continued)