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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have confronted DH's cousin for flirting with him?

543 replies

Temporaryusernamename · 05/05/2026 13:56

My husband and I have been together for 18 years, married for 12. We have two children, aged 15 and 13.

Years ago, long before our relationship, when DH and his female 1st cousin were teenagers, they had a brief, secret relationship with each other.

At first, I thought they just slept together, but over the years DH confided in me that he had slept with her once while staying at her house for a week during the summer holidays when they were both 16, but that they also wanted to be together but knew they could never tell anyone.

They lived in different parts of the country and rarely ever saw each other.

My DH has told me he's actually quite angry with his parents for putting them in this position. They were teenagers, who didn't grow up together, rarely saw each other, and yet when the family would meet up once or twice a year, they would always stay over and the kids would be put in the same room, on bunk beds and camp beds, without any thought of the fact that they were developing and going through puberty, just assuming they were innocent kids. He says the curiousity and strong feelings were inevitable and his parents and other adults should have been more responsible.

Anyway, noone at all knows what happened except DH, the cousin, and me.

When they reached young adulthood, the cousin emigrated to a different country and DH and I have only seen her twice in the last 15 years.
However, we are all currently all Holiday together! MIL recently won a large amount of money and took the whole extended family, 17 of us in total, away on a huge Holiday. Cousin is here.

We have been drinking every night and cousin, who is now in her late 30s, and doesn't have a husband or kids of her own, keeps relentlessly saying flirting with DH. Telling him he looks great in shorts, whistling when he takes his top off on the beach, making silly sexual jokes, and hugging him by coming up behind him and resting her head on his shoulder. Noone else seems to notice and DH says not to worry about it as he doesn't feel anything for her and nothing is going to happen and she's just being playful.
But I've noticed she's not like it with any other males here. Just DH.

The final straw for me came last night when she sat on DH's lap while we were all sitting around drinking and put her arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek.

DH just laughed and told her to get up then got up himself and went to the bar.

Again, we had all had quite a lot to drink.

A few minutes later, I went off to the toilet and she was coming back towards me. She was quite drunk and came over with her arms out in front of her to give me a hug. I stepped away and looked her right in the face. I said "Stop flirting with my husband. Don't think I don't know your history. If you come anywhere near him again, I will tell everyone about you two." She looked utterly shocked. I walked away. She must have gone straight to bed.
Today, she's been really quiet all day. Everyone's commented on it but they've just assumed she's really hungover.

MIL and I were sitting on the beach and she commented that this trip has been good for her. She's had a hard time lately as a bloke she was going to marry cheated on her with his ex wife and then went back to her. She's really benefitting from being with family to support her as she's so alone out there.

I feel really guilty for saying that to her last night. I just got so jealous seeing her sitting in his lap, looking amazing in her tiny sundress, knowing their history and she was probably his first love, and felt so insecure. The stupid fling they had was so long ago and they were young and I know at least DH deeply regrets it and is embarrassed about it.

I'm worried I've now ruined her holiday. I didn't know she was going through that. I've been chatting to her to be friendly and get to know her but she never mentioned it

Was I unreasonable?

OP posts:
ItsOkItsDarkChocolate · 07/05/2026 10:17

Temporaryusernamename · 06/05/2026 19:33

I'll update. I'm just on holiday, busy and surrounded by people. I'll get back to the thread, promise.

@Temporaryusernamename

Relax and enjoy your holiday!

The cousin bit is in a way irrelevant. You had a word with a woman who was publicly behaving inappropriately with your husband. You didn’t publicly shame her. It’s a shame DH didn’t stop it, but there you go.

Her troubles are also irrelevant, just unfortunate timing.

Water under the bridge now. You can be normal with her, but she now knows where she stands. Good on you! She seems an attention seeking madam.

I’d be tempted to wait until after the holiday to talk to DH. See if he even notices and comments on cousins behaviour change.

Givingmytwocents · 07/05/2026 10:21

I 100% believe you did the right thing. If she has any morals, she should come to you and apologise for her behaviour, you did nothing wrong. I also do not think your husband is blameless. He was flattered to be getting the attention from her. He should have taken her aside and told her to stop her behaviour that it wasn't acceptable.

Janie143 · 07/05/2026 10:26

Assuming your in the UK it's legal for cousin to marry so not sure why that is a major factor in anything. The only relevant thing is they had a "thing" a 16 year olds and hadn't interacted for years until now. Then she goes into full on flirt mode and he didn't knock her back. You had to intervene. I would be very annoyed with him.

Whattodo127845 · 07/05/2026 10:31

You poor thing, this sounds like an awful situation.

Try and enjoy the holiday and the fact you shouldn't see her again for a very long time.

sugarpiebunnyhunch · 07/05/2026 10:42

Error404FucksNotFound · 05/05/2026 19:21

I wouldn't apologise to her. She cant regret it that much if she's flirting so blatantly and sitting on his lap. She doesnt get a pass to behave so badly because she's had a tough time.

Your husband was far too passive in all this. He should have told her bluntly to stop the moment she started. He should have known failing to do so could give her the impression he was enjoying it.

Hopefully you can all move on from it.

This. She was massively disrespectful to you and needed to be told that.

Flyingkitez · 07/05/2026 10:42

You shouldn’t have had to tell her to stop dh should have. I wonder if it was this scenario at 16 with her chasing him. I presume she is embarrassed that it was so obvious and she was drunk particularly in front of your children.

LilacReader · 07/05/2026 10:53

If all family were sitting around with you both then it would have been difficult for you dh to tell her to stop. What he did was fine (got up so she had to stand). No matter what anyone says, he was a 'boy' of 16 and thankfully his 'immature but not bad' behaviour back then has not swayed your feelings for him and nor should they. I'm glad you spoke to her as she was acting innappropriately for whatever reason, but now it's all done. Inform your hubby before she does that you've said something and move on and enjoy a lovely holiday xx

SparklyLeader · 07/05/2026 11:05

YANBU What you did was highly effective in curbing her behavior, but it was your husband who is the real problem.

On a side note, cousins! Gross.

Hellohelga · 07/05/2026 11:14

I wouldn’t tolerate any adult woman sitting on my DH lap and nor would he. Not ok.

snowmichael · 07/05/2026 11:26

From what you've said, your husband hasn't encouraged her, in fact his standing up while she was on his lap was active discouragement
And you've put her in her place with your effective threat

xrayted · 07/05/2026 11:46

Apologies for missing the point (OP you were bang on) but I don’t see how £23k can go very far on a holiday for 17 people.

Witchonenowbob · 07/05/2026 12:10

I think you were justified on pulling her up for flirting, I think mentioning the relationship she and your DH had, will stir up a hornets nest!

But it can’t be undone now.

winnieanddaisy · 07/05/2026 15:24

I don’t know why everyone is pretending to be so horrified to hear about cousins shagging . I’m not sure but i believe that it’s still legal in this country to marry your first cousin . It is not incest as some have stated .

Witchonenowbob · 07/05/2026 15:44

winnieanddaisy · 07/05/2026 15:24

I don’t know why everyone is pretending to be so horrified to hear about cousins shagging . I’m not sure but i believe that it’s still legal in this country to marry your first cousin . It is not incest as some have stated .

I don’t think people are pretending to be horrified, they just are, because whilst legal it’s unusual.

sunflowersandsunsets · 07/05/2026 16:09

winnieanddaisy · 07/05/2026 15:24

I don’t know why everyone is pretending to be so horrified to hear about cousins shagging . I’m not sure but i believe that it’s still legal in this country to marry your first cousin . It is not incest as some have stated .

Uh, people aren't pretending. I am genuinely disgusted that so many posters are normalising it.

SorcererGaheris · 07/05/2026 16:29

winnieanddaisy · 07/05/2026 15:24

I don’t know why everyone is pretending to be so horrified to hear about cousins shagging . I’m not sure but i believe that it’s still legal in this country to marry your first cousin . It is not incest as some have stated .

@winnieanddaisy

To be fair (and I say this as someone who supports the decriminalisation of non-procreative incest between consenting adults) - people are almost certainly not pretending to be horrified about the cousins' relationship. It's not manufactured, it's clearly genuine, and it's probably not a situation that other posters have had any exposure towards.

HardyFox · 07/05/2026 16:30

Talk it through with your hubby to put your mind at rest, though a bit of me wonders if there isn't always a bit of something lingers on after a sexual encounter, however long ago.
You've warned her off, I would either do the same with hubby - who seemed to be enoying it a bit too much - or keep a very close eye on them for the rest of the holiday. Whichever you do, neither her nor his behaviour was within appropriate limits so you are well within your rights to address it.

LeDix · 07/05/2026 19:17

Can't blame you

Safarisagoody · 07/05/2026 19:31

HardyFox · 07/05/2026 16:30

Talk it through with your hubby to put your mind at rest, though a bit of me wonders if there isn't always a bit of something lingers on after a sexual encounter, however long ago.
You've warned her off, I would either do the same with hubby - who seemed to be enoying it a bit too much - or keep a very close eye on them for the rest of the holiday. Whichever you do, neither her nor his behaviour was within appropriate limits so you are well within your rights to address it.

I guess maybe for you, as you wonder this. For me I can categorically say no, anc certainly not for young boyfriends. Some ex’s I’d not look at again quite frankly. I would think more she feels shame.

KhakiOrca · 07/05/2026 22:57

First loves truly have a deep connection.
I know you were acting a bit like a petulant child when you said " I won't be updating, so there"

So here is the honest truth for you OP and anyone else who may be going through similar.

I know cousins that were forbidden to have a relationship to the point that their own family would disown them,
However, their love was so strong and couldn't be denied. They met again and had children together and those children called themselves pedigrees at their parents funeral. They called it a special bond that couldn't ever be broken.

You know your husband found her attractive and thats the reason you went in on her rather than him.

I hope that this hasnt destroyed your relationship with your husband. And sorry but if he didnt actually tell her to leave him alone then he probably l Iiked it.

mikulkin · 08/05/2026 00:02

AussieManque · 07/05/2026 09:17

Surely he would be sleeping with his child in this example, not his half sister? And he would know it was his child and there would be a big age gap. The comparison doesn't stand.

I don’t think you read this correctly at all - I wasn’t suggesting he would be sleeping with his own child, I was suggesting OP’s child would be sleeping with his half sister and then blaming op for putting them in this position.

AllTheChaos · 08/05/2026 02:20

mikulkin · 08/05/2026 00:02

I don’t think you read this correctly at all - I wasn’t suggesting he would be sleeping with his own child, I was suggesting OP’s child would be sleeping with his half sister and then blaming op for putting them in this position.

Half siblings would be deemed incest in law, and therefore not legal. Cousins is legal. Gross, but legal. And all too common in some parts of the country, rural and city alike.

Temporaryusernamename · 08/05/2026 12:21

People! I am so sorry I haven't updated. I've had a crazily busy few days on Holiday but we are now waiting in the airport on the way home.

So DH came back from his hike just before dinner the other night, we were able to speak briefly before as we were getting ready. I told him I'm feeling really uncomfortable with cousin's flirting and that I had a word with her the other night. He wasn't surprised, and he immediately said that he really should have stopped it before it got to the stage where she sat on his lap, and that actually, he was going to pull her aside that night as he could see he'd let it get too far and he saw the look on my face when she did it, but then she went straight to bed after so he didn't get a chance to do that, and then was away all day. I told him that yeah, she went to bed straight after because I spoke to her...
And he said that he was really sorry and that he just saw her as being a bit drunk and stupid and harmless and he was worried saying anything might disrupt the holiday and make things awkward but that he should have just done something. He said I 100% have nothing to worry about, and that he isn't remotely interested in her and actually just feels really sorry for her and thinks she's a bit "pathetic" as her life is a bit of a mess in loads of ways.
Turns out MIL (who likes a bit of gossip) told him too about the ex thing and the getting cheated on, but actually went a bit further, she said that she has had a drinking problem for years, and also a bit of a coke problem which no-one knows if she still has because she denies it, and that actually the bloke she was going to marry had also got her pregnant, and had asked her to marry him after finding out about the pregnancy but then left her and went back to his ex so she had an abortion two months ago so she's also going through that.
He said this is no excuse for her behaviour but that's she generally just a bit of a mess and he just humoured her because he feels sorry for her and doesn't really take her seriously, feels bad about telling her off when she's so vulnerable, and worries about causing a scene. He said that was wrong though and he should have told her sooner before the sitting on his lap thing.
He asked exactly what I said to her and I told him. I could tell he was slightly pissed off that I threatened her with their secret but he knew better than to say that. I did then say that I would never have actually told anyone, which I wouldn't have really.
So anyway, that all said, we went down to dinner. Cousin was there, but sat at the other end of the table. She was already pretty drunk when we got there and was drinking more and more, then about half an hour after dinner, my husband and I were at the bar by ourselves talking and she comes stumbling up to us and says "well you both hate me now, don't you?" and I said "no, of course we don't, we just needed to set some boundaries, but could have gone about it better way, it's done now so don't worry, we can just move on"
And then she said "well, I'm going to go home tomorrow, I've booked an early flight so you don't need to worry about me any more " and I said "there's really no need, like I said, we can just move on from it" and she was like "well it's done now" and then DH's auntie, her mum, comes over and says "what's done now?" and cousin said "I'm going home tomorrow, I've booked a flight, I'm GOING, don't want to talk about it" and she walked off, and auntie walks after her. Me and DH are sat there thinking shit hit shit, it's all going to come out.
15 minutes later, auntie comes back over to us, and says "whats wrong with her, she's in a right state and keeps insisting she's leaving tomorrow and she's booked a flight for 11 but won't tell me why" and we kind of played dumb, said she's upset and we're not sure why which I feel bad about but I wasn't sure what the hell else to say.
Because if we say that I confronted her for flirting with DH and they don't know the history I am going to look like the fucking weirdo.
So Auntie says can you guys go and see if you can get it out of her because she's always thought the world of you (meaning DH). So we say yes, because we can't really refuse, and then we go up to her room. On the way up, I tell DH that he is dealing with her, not me, but I'm coming in case she fucking tries anything else and DH is just like FFS this is such a mess. We get to the room and she's just lying there on the bed with the door open, so we go in and she says "Please just leave me alone, I'm going tomorrow and there's nothing you or mum can do about it, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused but I will be gone in the morning so please just shut the door and leave me alone."
So now I start to feel bad and I ask her if she's going to be OK and she says "Yes, I'll be fine, but I shouldn't have come on this Holiday, it was a huge mistake" and DH says "look, you've had a lot to drink, why don't you just get some rest, your flight isn't until 11, so just see how you feel in the morning, there's no need to go, we can just move on" and she says yeah, sure, I'll see how I feel in the morning but I am asking you now to please leave me alone. So we leave and tell Auntie we can't get it out of her either and Auntie says "Oh she'll be fine in the morning".
But nope, she left early the next morning before any of us got up and at 11am sent a picture of herself on the plane to the Holiday whatsapp group saying thank you to MIL and to all the family for such a wonderful time but she's had to go home early due to a crisis at work (she owns a small business) and everyone was like "Aw what a shame" and Auntie was like "Oh, well, that's not what it sounded like last night" and is obviously still suspicious but said she will talk to her when she gets home (Auntie lives in the same place cousin emigrated to).
So now me and husband feel pretty shit, guilty, and quite worried about cousin. Auntie is probably going to grill cousin once she's home, and we're all kind of in a bit of a crappy limbo land, not really sure WTF is going to happen.
Make of all that what you will!! :(

OP posts:
glowfrog · 08/05/2026 12:28

Don’t feel guilty. She is clearly in a very bad place and she may need to hit some kind of rock bottom before she can start to address it. Her behaviour towards your DH was not ok and you were right to confront it.

I hope she is able to face her problems and make a change.

ReadingSoManyThreads · 08/05/2026 12:30

Wow, she really is a mess. Oh dear. Listen, you weren't to know, so don't blame yourself.