These days, Ryan Edwards is sober after a long, painful battle with addiction.
Of course, he’s now learning that lesson that all recovering addicts learn eventually — not all of his problems were caused by substance abuse.
Ryan still has considerable drama in his life, and much of it is the result of his tumultuous relationship with his eldest son, Bentley.
Maci Bookout has full custody of the 11-year-old, and currently, Ryan is not allowed to see Bentley at all.
That’s obviously not an easy thing for Ryan to deal with, especially during this time of year.
But the fact of the matter is, he has no one to blame to but himself.
In the first months of his sobriety, Ryan continued to behave erratically, and his actions sparked concern among both Maci and Teen Mom viewers.
MTV cameras caught Ryan bullying Bentley about everything from his golf game to his troubles with girls.
Following an incident in which Edwards appeared to be intoxicated at Bentley’s birthday, Maci made the decision to cut off all visitation between father and son.
The move was confirmed by Ryan’s father, Larry Edwards, who spoke about it in a recent interview.
“Their relationship hasn’t been going well. It’s not any better. Something came up that she wanted and needed,” Larry said.
“Ryan wasn’t going to comply with everything she wants and needs and we’ve been shut down,” he added.
“Bentley right now, we can’t even see him, they’re not even allowed to see him. It is what it is.”’
It’s a sad situation, and Larry’s comments seem to be a sort of public plea for sympathy from Maci.
Ryan and wife Mackenzie Standifer, meanwhile, have yet to publicly comment on the situation at all.
Instead, they seem to have taken the opposite tack.
Rather than appeal to Maci for sympathy, they’re attempting to create the impression that all is perfectly well within the Edwards-Standifer household.
Mackenzie switched her iPhone into portrait mode to capture photos of her three kids in various holiday settings.
“Christmas cuties,” Mackenzie captioned the photo set.
Fans, of course, were quick to praise the pics.
“You have a beautiful family! Happy holidays!” one user commented.
“You have the cutest kids! Must keep you very busy!” another wrote.
That seems to be the message Mackenzie was hoping to send here.
Obviously, her main goal was simply to share some seasonally-appropriate pics of her three children.
But these photos double as a subtle message to Maci that there’s no shortage of holiday cheer in Ryan and Mackenzie’s lives.
Mackenzie and Maci have locked horns many times in the past.
These days they both tend to keep their comments to themselves, but it’s not hard to see how fans might interpret posts like Mackenzie’s latest as subtle shade directed at Maci.
That’s probably a bit of a reach, but it stands to reason that Maci might have crossed Mackenzie’s mind while she was posting the pics.
Whatever the case, here’s hoping Bentley won’t be caught in a war among the adults in his life for much longer.