Chapter 12 - Infidelity

Mike and Vicky didn't start having sex until her daughter Melanie was six months old. To an outside observer, that might have seemed strange, given that whenever they were in the condo, they both were always naked. However, it was precisely because they were so accustomed to seeing each other's bodies that there was no novelty or excitement. Besides, Vicky was still nursing and did not feel sexy in the least. Still, they became close as friends, spending more time with each other than either was spending with their respective partners. Through their conversations and just hanging out, they realized how much they really had in common.

Mike didn't openly complain to Vicky about his resentment over Ruthie's absences, but they did talk at length about the projects Larson and Dan had Ruthie working on and a lot about their personal relationships in general. They also talked about their fathers and compared their experiences growing up. Mike shared details about his father's suicide and the effect it had on his outlook on life and on making money, as well as how it estranged him from his mother and sister, both of whom were currently living in Arizona. Vicky was silent after hearing about the fate of the Sinclairs. Staring at the floor, she commented:

"Well, at least they're still alive. You can be grateful about that. Someday, you might be able to make up with 'em. I can't say that about my relatives. I won't ever get that chance."

"Because of the tornado?"

"Yeah. 'Cause of the tornado."

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When Vicky stopped nursing Melanie, her sex drive returned. Unfortunately, by that time Nicholas' age was finally starting to show and he was having problems with erectile dysfunction. She felt bad for him and didn't push the issue to avoid embarrassing him, but she was frustrated. She was in her early '30s. It was way to early to simply give up on sex.

And then, there was Mike. At that point, they were close enough that under the circumstances, becoming more intimate became inevitable. It started one day they were cooking dinner and he had bent over to take a pan out of a bottom cabinet. On pure impulse she gave him a hard slap on his bare bottom. That was all it took. When turned around she noticed his penis stiffening.

"Well, aren't you the bad girl?"

She smiled and touched his chest.

"That's right. So, what are you gonna do about it?"

They passionately kissed each other while she grabbed and stroked him. They went into the bedroom and he immediately entered her. Their first time went quickly, given that it was so spontaneous. They were shocked when it was over and they realized what they had just done, but they didn't regret it. They wanted more and were determined to do better the next time, with more foreplay and build-up.

By that time in their lives, Vicky was well-aware of her cousin's spanking fetish. She also knew that Mike spanked her as part of their sexual foreplay. She didn't know that Ruthie couldn't get aroused with Mike (or any man) unless she received a spanking first, but she was aware that it was something she deeply enjoyed. Vicky was curious: she wanted the experience for herself, and she specifically wanted to have it from Mike. She didn't understand that strange desire, because not once had her current husband ever spanked her. Larson clearly had an appreciation of eroticism, but the thought of sharing erotic discipline had never crossed either of their minds.

Mike was just as curious as Vicky over the idea of giving her a spanking. When they cuddled again, patted her bottom her and dropped his first hint:

"You're such a naughty mommy. So you like it? You like being the bad mommy?"

"Mmmm... yes I do."

"Then naughty mommy needs to go over my lap, doesn't she?"

"Yes, Daddy."

OK.... well... that just came out. So, during their foreplay she'd call him "Daddy". That excited both of them. He positioned her over his lap on the sofa and caressed her upturned bottom. It was nice to see that, unlike her breasts and stomach, her bottom looked just like it did before she got pregnant.

Mike alternated caresses with light slaps during their first session. He was careful not to over-do it, to gauge her response to each slap and see how much harder she'd want him to slap her the next time. For their first session, the idea of spanking excited them more than actual physical stimulation. Also, he wanted her to trust him, to know that he would never push past her limits. He needed to figure out where those limits were and to push up to them, without passing them. Mike, after having spanked Ruthie so many times in the past, was determined to satisfy that desire in Vicky.

Without realizing it at the time, he had decided his relationship with Vicky would be more than a one-night-stand or passing affair. They already were close friends, so adding sex to their time together wasn't a huge leap. Yes, she was married, but it seemed that Larson's sexual difficulties put that part of him out of the picture. Mike wanted Vicky, every bit as much as he had wanted Ruthie 15 years before. He wanted to make sure she would not have an affair with anyone else, that he could satisfy her needs and that she could replace his frequently absent girlfriend.

For three years Vicky spent most of her time at her cousin's place, keeping her child entertained during the day and spending the evenings with her cousin's boyfriend. For their first two years, before Melanie learned how to talk, they didn't have to be particularly descreet. That changed when the kid was able to speak well enough to describe things going on around her.

Shortly after Melanie's third birthday, Nicholas Larson had surgery to remove several blood clots. Reluctantly he would have to follow his doctor's advice and take a break from his frenetic schedule, cutting back on traveling in particular. He surprised his wife by telling her that he'd like to have Melanie at home with him while he recovered. She was happy about having more free time, but wondered that perhaps Nicholas was keeping details about his condition from her and wanted to spend time with their child while he still could.

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For the second time in her life, Vicky missed her period. Oh shit... The chances that she was pregnant with her husband's kid were minimal. Still, she had to know for sure, so she scheduled a paternity test. There were delays getting the test actually done, and then there was a delay getting the results back, due to a data breach at the clinic's testing lab. The weeks went by incredibly fast while Vicky waited and her stomach started to swell. She was already six months into the pregnancy when she finally got the answer. Nicholas was not the baby's father. The kid was Mike's.

For Vicky, it already was way too late to get an abortion. She would not have been against getting one during the first trimester, but for her the maximum cut-off was 90 days. Had the child been her husband's, she would have wanted to carry it to term. Even though the child was not her husband's, she felt she had to think about Mike. He wanted children of his own and Vicky knew that with Ruthie, it was never going to happen. If Vicky was willing to complete the pregnancy, Mike would have his kid. She felt that to terminate the pregnancy would be a betrayal of Mike, so she'd keep going. She'd have the baby, and deal with the consequences later on.

Now that she knew for sure she was pregnant with Mike's kid, Vicky knew that the most logical thing she could have done would have been to stay quiet and hope no one figured out the truth. For Vicky that was not an option. She was racked with guilt, a lingering result of her religious upbringing and mid-western values. She had betrayed her husband, but she felt much more guilty about betraying her cousin. The guilt about what she had done built up to the point she felt that she needed to confess.

Ruthie struggled to suppress her real emotions when Vicky came into her condo and started crying. As the tearful confession came out between broken sobs, it turned out Ruthie was not angry at all. She was elated. Vicky pregnant with Mike's kid? That was perfect! A major worry in her life had just been resolved. Mike was going to get that kid he wanted, without Ruthie having to deal with a pregnancy. The only thing remaining was to figure out the best way further turn her cousin's pregnancy to her advantage.

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It became clear to Vicky that her cousin was not angry at all. In a way that disappointed her, because she felt that she needed to face Ruthie's anger and endure punishment, even if it was just being yelled at. But... Ruthie clearly was not upset, even though she half-heartedly tried to pretend that she was. She actually seemed... happy... WTF?! She left her cousin's residence and returned home to the house she shared with her husband and her daughter. She had a lot on her mind, not the least of which was that the confession did not go as she had expected. She wondering why Ruthie seemed so calm about it: pleased, it seemed. So weird...

Well, at home there was a much bigger crisis waiting. Even before Vicky got inside, she could hear Melanie screaming her guts out. Why? Where the fuck was Nicholas? When she entered his workshop, she found him lying on the floor, motionless in a contorted position. It looked like he had been painting, and when he fell he knocked over the picture he had been working on.

Vicky checked his pulse and breathing. His body had cooled and there was no pulse and no breathing.

No! No! She didn't want to accept it! She desperately pressed on his chest, hoping to bring him back. She frantically called 911 and tried to follow the operator's instructions about compressions, while their daughter looked on and continued screaming. While she waited for the ambulance, she tried valiantly to revive him, but it was no use. Chairman Nicholas Larson was most definitely dead, and Victoria Burns Larson was now a widow.

Now she had something else to feel guilty about. Had she been at home and not chatting with her cousin, could she have intervened sooner and maybe had time to save his life?

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It was obvious that Vicky needed to move out of the house as soon as the funeral was over and the publicity from Larson's sudden death had passed. His heart attack and her failure to do anything about it weighed on her every time she was inside. She couldn't bear to be there, having to look at the spot where he died whenever she passed through the living room. Certainly she couldn't stand it at night when she was alone.

So, what was the solution? Where would Vicky go? She had options, because Larson had left her about 85% of his estate in his will. That would be plenty to buy another nice house, even in central California. But, go where? Where was Vicky going to settle, especially with a young kid, and another one on the way?

Ruthie wondered the same thing, where was Vicky going to settle, but for a different reason. She needed to watch over her cousin and make sure she could control her future. She settled on a plan, but for that plan to work, she had to keep her cousin nearby and under her watchful eye. She didn't want Vicky to return to living with her and Mike in the same condo, but she did want her cousin close-by. It turned out there was an solution. As luck would have it, a another unit in their building was available. The set-up couldn't have been better; it was on the same floor as Mike and Ruthie's unit and just two doors away. She pushed her cousin into buying it and selling her house. Mike's employees moved her furniture.

Vicky had her second child two months after she moved into her new residence. The second child entered the world at a time of change in the lives of both cousins. By the time Vicky gave birth, Ruthie had quit modeling to start her graduate studies in paleo-biology. Her close partnership with Dan Lakewood was replaced by a more tense relationship with Richard Dickerson. Her skimpy sun dresses and Danubian chemises were replaced by cargo pants and work boots. Outwardly she was destined to become a totally different person in life circumstances and physical appearance, but inwardly the change would take place much more slowly. She had always felt that being a model was her calling, but like all models, she was eventually betrayed by her own body and the natural process of aging.

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As soon as Vicky got home from the hospital, Ruthie was there to assist and comfort her disoriented cousin, who was now a single mother saddled with a four-year-old and a newborn baby. Fortunately, Vicky's inheritance included enough money to enroll the older daughter in pre-school. And it helped tremendously that Ruthie and Mike were living just two doors down the hall. If Vicky needed to go out, she could ask Mike or Ruthie to come over or leave the kids with them.

After she moved, Vicky's psychology changed, with her husband dead and living alone with two kids. She became psychologically dependent on Ruthie and Mike, because it turned out she really didn't have any other close friends. She became morose and depressed, to the point that Ruthie started to worry about the safety of the children. In spite of the fact Nicholas was 30 years older than Vicky and in spite of having cheated on him, she deeply missed him. She regretted that her older daughter would have no memory of him. Above everything else, she hated the fact she was a widow at age 34.

Things were getting increasingly tense between Ruthie and Mike. His relief that her modeling career had ended turned into extreme frustration when she departed for two weeks to participate in her first fossil dig. That was just the first dig: there were others that followed soon after. His resentment was building. He was expecting Ruthie to be more available when her modeling career ended, but instead she now was roaming around the Rockies looking at shale deposits. When were all those trips going to end? When was Ruthie finally going to settle? He pressed harder to get married and to have a kid of her own. Vicky already had two of Larson's kids. Ruthie was 35 and her biological clock was ticking. There was more, the fact that she was away so much, doing her final photo-shoots with Dan, and then going on her first fossil digs for Chairman Dickerson. Mike had expected Ruthie to be more available as soon as her modeling career ended, but instead she was now roaming around Colorado. His resentment against his longtime girlfriend was building.

Then, there was Ruthie herself. She wanted to "go off the grid". She wanted to put any memory of modeling completely behind her, but at the same time she wanted to stay active and away from her life in Davenport. She wanted to spend her time in isolated places digging fossils. She could be alone, or with a few like-minded companions, far away from the whirl of publicity that had been central to her life just a year before. What she definitely did not want was to have Mike's children.

So, how to fix all that? Vicky's loneliness, Mike's impatience, and her own desire to get away?

She had a plan.

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Ruthie invited her cousin and the children to stay at her condominium as much as possible. For a while she talked endlessly about the fossils she had recently dug up, while Vicky pretended to be interested. One morning, when she was showing off some large trilobites, she made her move.

"Look, I'm going back to Utah on Tuesday to see if I can get some more of these. I'm gonna clear out my room so you can put the crib in there. You might as well be there while I'm gone. I don't want you sitting by yourself."

"But... you're not worried... that..."

"That you're gonna fuck Mike? No, I'm not worried, because I know you're gonna fuck him. And I'm good with that."

"But... I... really don't want to take him away from you... That wasn't what I was thinking."

"You already took him away from me, when you got pregnant with his kid. Now you're gonna have to figure out how to finish the job."

"No! That wasn't what..."

"Stop! You hear me out on this! Ever since you confessed about the baby, you keep telling me you'll do whatever you can to make it up to me. OK. I'm gonna hold you to that. Here's what you're gonna do. You're gonna do everything you can with Mike to replace me whenever I'm away. You're gonna keep him company, you're gonna fuck him, you're gonna hang out with him, and you're gonna get him used to being around the kids. One of 'em is his anyway. And there's one more thing..."

"What's that?"

"You're gonna get pregnant again. And when you do, that's when you tell him what happened. You're the mother of his two kids. And, you'll be his partner. That way, he gets the kids he wants, you get a replacement husband, one who'll treat you really nice, and I get to dig fossils without him guilt-tripping me about being gone all the time."

"Are you serious? Another pregnancy?"

"Yes, I'm serious. I want you to replace me in Mike's life. I want to end the relationship, but I don't want to hurt him. You and him get your family, and I'm out."

"That's totally weird, Ruthie."

"No it isn't. It solves Mike's problem with me, it solves your problem, and it solves my problem."

"But, then, you don't... love Mike?"

"I do love him. More than you can possibly imagine. But, I've got issues with him I can't explain. And I need you to help me, 'cause that's what you promised you were gonna do."

Vicky was so stunned by what Ruthie was proposing that she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Three days later Ruthie and Vicky moved the crib into the spare room. She departed for Utah the following day. Her plan was to be at the excavation site for at least two months.

If Vicky did what Ruthie expected of her, Mike wouldn't have the chance to miss her very much.

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Six months later, Michael Sinclair and Victoria Burns Larson got married. They decided to go full-traditional, with the pastor from Mike's old church officiating the wedding. Mike had not set foot in the building for nearly 20 years but, for whatever reason, he felt that he owed his new wife a fully traditional wedding. His sister and some of his co-workers attended on his side, while Candace, Penelope, and a couple of former classmates attended on her side. Ruthie served as her cousin's maid-of-honor and Dan volunteered to be the wedding photographer. It was the only time in Ruthie's life she ever attended a wedding inside a church.

On the day she married her second husband, Mrs. Victoria Burns Larson, soon to be Mrs. Victoria Burns Sinclair, was already four months pregnant with her third child.