Collateral Damage in Greenville

Collateral Damage in Greenville

Wife's affair hurts more than her own marriage

This story has been written a hundred times on this site. A wife is having a midlife crisis. She enlists her children to help her either convince their father to let her do it, or they support the mother and distance themselves from the father.

I wanted to do a story from the son-in-law's perspective. This starts with the husband's point of view to establish the story's background, then moves to the son-in-law's story.

This is my 75thstory on Lit. I was deciding on finishing this one or another I'm working on. I normally post Loving Wife stories. I've set a goal to write a story in each category. This one came to me while reading another story.

I hope you like the story.

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THE HUSBAND'S POINT OF VIEW

"Bill, there is something we need to talk about."

"What's up, Dad?" My son-in-law asks me. Let me back up a little bit, and you'll understand what I'm about to tell him.

Me: I'm Martin Mullins. I was called M&M when I was in school. I hated being called that; very few people still do, though. But after thirty-five years, what can you do? I'm fifty-five years old. My family and coworkers call me Marty. I work for Tryon Logistics. I'm the operations manager. I make sure things get to where they need to be. And since we're a logistics company, that is very important. I started there after graduating from Vanderbilt University. I make a good living. I was able to provide a stable household for my family, Rebecca, who most people call Becky. My wife of twenty-nine years. Our two daughters, Martina, twenty-nine, yes, I know. We didn't get married because Becky was pregnant. I married her because I loved her. It just moved the timetable up a little. Her sister, Megan, is twenty-four. Becky went back to work when the girls were in elementary school. She works in the back office of a construction company.

Martina, who prefers Tina, also went to Vanderbilt and studied Engineering. That's where she met her husband Bill. They both found jobs in the area. Bill works in Hickory, and Tina works in Fort Mill. Greenville is right in the middle. They have a beautiful little girl, Beth, who is four and expecting a boy in four months.

Megan is graduating this year from Davidson with a degree in Hotel Management. She's been dating a nice young lady for the last two years. They have talked of getting married. What's holding them back is children. Luisa, her girlfriend, always wanted to be a mother. Megan is unsure at the moment.

Getting back to the issue at hand. With the girls out of the house, the last two years have been somewhat difficult for me. Two years after Megan left for school, things were great. Becky and I acted like teenagers and newlyweds all over again. We sexually re-christianed every room in the house, including the basement and backyard. We went out nearly every weekend, to dinner, a movie, or out dancing. We took day trips and truly reconnected.

Over time, as with most things, it slowed down. Before the girls left, we had made love two to three times a week. Those two years afterward, it shot up to four to five times a week. I noticed it had begun to level out to twice with very little passion on Becky's end. I always tried to please her in bed. I thought she did the same to me. I have noticed that over the last four or five months, she has seemed more disengaged. I knew she had faked a few orgasms. She wanted to do it doggy-style more often. Like she didn't want to look at me, or for me to see her face. When we did it missionary style, she would close her eyes. I felt like she was thinking of something, or worse, someone else.

Our weekly outings became twice-monthly, then down to once a month. She would beg off, saying she was tired or didn't want to go out. Instead of cooking dinner, she ordered delivery more often. I'm sure the DoorDash drivers knew our address by heart. During our last few dates, Becky always seemed preoccupied.

I would ask her if everything was okay or if I could help her. I tried to get her to talk to me. She always blew me off until that fateful evening a few weeks ago. One Friday evening, I came home from work to find Becky sitting at the dining room table with a glass of wine and some Chinese food containers. She had a serious look on her face. "Sit down, Marty." She instructed.

I looked at her suspiciously. This was like one of the stories you read on Reddit. I put my briefcase under the hallway table along with my wallet and car keys. "What's going on, Becky? Are the girls okay?" I asked in concern.

"The girls are fine. I want to talk about us." She said, sounding deadly serious.

"What about us, Beck?" As I said, I knew things had changed over the last few months. I didn't know why, and she wouldn't say, until now. I didn't know how it would upend my world.

"I'm not happy, Martin. I think you have noticed over the last several months. I feel like I'm going through the motions in life. The girls are gone, I'm a grandmother for God's sake. I feel old and useless. I want to feel alive again. Hell, I want to feel again. Right now, I feel dead inside."

I looked at her like she had two heads. She felt dead? We were having monkey sex not six months ago. Enjoying ourselves all over the area. From Columbia to Asheville and beyond. She was the one who stopped wanting to go out and kept refusing sex. "What are you saying, Rebecca?" I asked, and I only used her full name when I was mad.

"I don't want to argue, Marty. What I am saying is... I feel we need to expand our relationship." She started to explain. Only to make it more confusing to me.

"What the fuck does that mean? Expand our relationship?" I demanded.

She went on to explain how she wanted to date other men. She still loved me and wanted to grow old with me, but she wanted to bring the excitement back into her life. She still loves me, she kept repeating, but after all our time together, she felt stifled in our marriage. She didn't know how long it would last, but it wouldn't be forever. She wanted to grow old with me, yadda yadda. All that cheating wife bullshit. That, of course, was the worst argument we've ever had. I know I said some things that were hurtful and can never be taken back. It ended with her running and locking herself in the bedroom.

That whole weekend, we didn't speak one word to each other. She went to Tina's house on Saturday. After doing the yard, I went to Bojangles for lunch. Since she didn't come home for dinner, I decided to treat myself to Golden Corral. I woke up Sunday morning, and she wasn't in bed. At first, I was furious, thinking she was out fucking some guy in her drive to find excitement. I found that she had slept in Tina's old room.

I made a breakfast sandwich for myself along with some coffee and sat and watched SportsCenter. She came down around ten, looking blurry-eyed. She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat in the chair opposite me. "Can we talk, or are you going to yell and curse at me?" She asked sheepishly.

"Depends on if you still want to fuck other men," I responded, not hiding the contempt I was feeling.

She went over the same ground she covered Friday night. It's not just about sex. It's exploring and experiencing new things with new people. Yes, she said, people. When I asked if that meant she would be eating pussy, she ran off again. I ended up at Tino's for dinner.

The rest of the week settled into an uneasy detante. We only spoke to each other when necessary. I made sure I didn't need to talk to her. The following week, she came and told me she was going out Friday night and would be home no later than 11. "You might as well stay out all night, Fuck, take the whole weekend for all I care. You made your bed, you might as well spread your legs in it as long as you want." I screamed at her. I didn't come home until 8 on Friday night. I knew if I saw her dressed for another man, I would lose it. Maybe even end up in jail.

If there was a detante, the following week turned into the Cold War. I caught her talking to someone on the phone about her date. I called her a whore loud enough for whoever was on the phone to hear as I walked past. From that point on, any talk we had became an argument. She pleaded that she loved me, and only me. I argued that her actions said otherwise.

Thursday, Tina came by the house. I hadn't seen or talked to her since this bullshit with her mother started. She refused the offer of a drink. "Dad, I didn't come here to have a drink. We need to talk." She started talking to me like her four-year-old daughter.

"And what would that be, dear daughter of mine?" I countered.

"Please, with the sarcasm, Dad. It's serious. This thing between mom and you."

"And what do you know about 'this thing between your mother and me?' Yes, I used quotation fingers. I was pissed at the audacity of her coming between Becky and me. And, I wanted to find out how much she knew.

"You need to understand Mom's feelings. She tells me you've been rude to her. She loves you, Dad. She's not leaving you. She just needs to feel alive again. She's at that age, and with Megan and me out of the house, she feels old and useless." She tried to explain.

"Oh, she is, is she. I guess you two have talked. Did she tell you that we would have dinner, go to the movies, and dance once a week? Until she stopped wanting to go out, did she ever tell you that we had sex twice as much after Megan left, until she started denying me? Did she tell you that?" He saw the look on Tina's face. "I figured not. It's just an excuse to cheat without feeling guilty."

"You're looking at this all wrong, Dad. So what, she's dating a guy. It's not even serious. They haven't even had sex yet. Plus, he's a nice guy if you get to know him," she said smugly.

"Wait, you say she's dating someone? As in going out with the same guy?' I asked, bewildered. My anger rocked Tina back. "How long has she been spreading her legs for this bastard?" I banged on the table, "Dammit, you knew about this and didn't tell me? I'm your father, dammit, and you think it's okay if your mother is out slutting around. How does Bill feel about this? Does he know that you support your mother's cheating?

"He doesn't need to know about this. This is about you and mom. You need to get your head out of your ass. You keep acting like this, and you will lose her." She said, trying to get back on the offensive.

"You know, Tina, you should have stayed in a child's place and not gotten in the middle of your parents' business. You want to play grown folks games, you win grown folks prizes? Let's find out how Bill feels about your attitude towards infidelity." I threatened.

Her eyes widened, "You don't need to involve Bill in this," was her clipped response.

"Oh no, you want to get involved in my marriage. I'm going to get involved in yours. I mean, since you don't see anything wrong with your mother cheating on your father, I'm sure Bill feels the same way." I got up from the table and walked into the backyard. She was following behind. I was on the deck with my phone out.

"Stop, why do you need to try to ruin my marriage? Grow up, Dad." She said as she reached for my phone.

"Too late for that loving daughter of mine. You can't stop me from calling him eventually." I told her as I put my phone back in my pocket.

"I can't believe you. No wonder Mom had to find another man." She screamed as she left out the side gate.

I was beyond pissed now. Not only was Becky a cheating slut, but now she turned my daughter against me. I wasn't going to call her husband, but that last remark sealed her fate.

Becky came in a couple of hours after Tina had left, with steam coming out of her ears. "Did you threaten Tina today?"

"Well, if by threat, you mean that I will call her husband and let him know that she supports her mother whoring around on her husband. Then the answer is yes, I did threaten Tina." I told her.

"Why would you do that to her. She has nothing to do with what's happening between us." She pleaded.

"Then she shouldn't have come over here to convince me to let you have your fling. Also, it's nice that I finally found out that you have a steady boyfriend. Expand our relationship, yeah, sure. God, I must be the dumbest guy in the world not to see I married a cheating slut. Why didn't you file for divorce and be done with all this bullshit?"

"Because I don't want a divorce. I still love you, Marty. I keep telling you that. This is just a phase. I'm not sleeping with anyone. You need to stop calling me a slut and whore!" She stomped her foot like she was four years old.

"Yet, you haven't had sex yet. That's what you mean. From what Tina says, you've been seeing this guy for a while. I'm sure he's tired of waiting for you to spread your legs. As you said, you're not getting any younger."

I was done arguing for the day. Between Tina and Becky, my mind was fried. I drove down to Keepsake Brewery to wallow in my misery. I knew I was going to have to call a lawyer on Monday to end this farce of a marriage. My phone was blowing up with texts and voicemails, and Becky and Tina as well. The only one not calling was Megan. I wondered if she knew what was going on? I eventually turned it off. I got home at 10. Becky was still up, but I ignored her and went to sleep in the spare room.

Friday, I got home before Becky. She waltzed in an hour after I did. She was carrying a garment bag and had a new hairdo. I ordered dinner from Smokehouse BBQ. I sat at the dinner table waiting for it to arrive when Becky came down the stairs. She was dressed to the nines. At fifty-one, she was still a knockout. The heels she had on told me she wasn't going out dancing. The dress was shorter than she normally wore, and the top showed a lot of cleavage.

As she stood in front of me, I took a picture of her. I made sure it had a time stamp on it. I took a pic of myself in front of a mirror. I was not dressed to go out. "He must be special for you to dress up like that. I guess he's finally getting lucky." I said, despite wishing I could have kept my mouth shut.

She smirked at me. "Don't wait up, I know you have an early bedtime." She was out the door before I could respond.

That was the final straw; divorce was the only solution. I sent a text to Bill, asking if we could get together tomorrow for lunch. He said sure. We were going to meet at the Route 74 diner at noon.

Which takes us back to the beginning.

SON-IN-LAW'S POINT OF VIEW

I don't know what's going on with Tina and her father. She came home Thursday evening with fire coming out of her ears. I tried to find out what was going on, but she wouldn't say anything, only that it was a family situation. I caught her cursing about her father under her breath.

I always got along with Marty. My family lives in Western Tennessee, north of Memphis. I only see them a couple of times a year. Marty treats me like the son he never had.

Friday night, he sent me a text asking to meet for lunch on Saturday. I got to the diner at noon to find him sitting at a booth in the back.

"What's up, Dad?" As we greeted each other with a hug.

"Let's order first." He said. He looked like he really didn't want anything to eat, but was using it as a delaying tactic. It caused me some concern. We would get together occasionally for drinks or go to a game. We never had problems talking. So I figured it was something serious. Maybe he was sick or something. We ordered drinks, sweet tea, and we both ordered sandwiches.

After small talk about nothing, we were halfway through lunch. "What's really going on. I can see it in your face, you have a problem. Are you sick, is that it?" I asked him directly.

He looked up from his food. "No, it's not about me. Well, kind of, but I'm not sick. Not physically?' He said cryptically.

"Than what is it, or do I have to play twenty questions?"

"Becky is cheating on me." He said bluntly.

"Wait, what, Becky is cheating on? How is that possible?" I asked loudly.

"She came to me a couple of weeks ago. She said she felt stifled in our marriage and dead inside. She said she needed to find herself." He told me.

"What the hell does that mean, find herself?" I asked again. Not believing what I was hearing.

"To be blunt, it means she wants to spread her legs. She's been out on a couple of dates since she made her big announcement.' He said with deep anger in his voice. 'But that's not why I needed to talk to you. Tina came by the house last week. She tried to convince me that what her mother was doing was okay."

"Tina thought her cheating on you was okay? What kind of BS is that?" I nearly yelled. I looked around to see if anyone noticed my outburst. My wife thinks her mother's cheating is okay. Who is this woman I married? Why would she think infidelity was okay?

"That's not the worst of it. She knew about it before I did. As a matter of fact, she's met the guy her mother is sleeping with. She actually said he's a nice guy. So saying that finding herself was some bullshit excuse so she could openly cheat, and she's introduced him to your wife. I don't know how long she's been running behind my back. Tina knowing about it and not saying anything to me is a step too far. Has she said anything to you about it?"

"No, if she did, I would have told you. I can't believe she didn't say anything. She came home one day last week, mumbling what an ass you were acting, but wouldn't tell me what the problem was. How can she keep this a secret? I wonder what else she isn't telling me. Now you got me thinking, Marty. And what I'm thinking isn't good." I said, looking off into nothing as I contemplated what this meant to my marriage.

"I don't want you to go off half-cocked. I'm not saying she's doing anything wrong to you. I'm concerned about her attitude. I do think it needs to be nipped in the bud now. The last thing you need is for her to follow in her mother's footsteps." Marty said, putting a calming hand on my arm.

I leaned back, letting out a breath. "I don't know, Marty, this pisses me off. We talked about fidelity before we got married. I thought we were both in agreement. There will be no second chances. She knows my favorite uncle cheated on my aunt. It caused a big rift in the family during the divorce. I'm not going to go years waiting for the shoe to drop." I said testily.

"Talk to her, Bill, maybe it's just hormones with her being pregnant. I'm not saying she's cheating, or will cheat. I just wanted you to be aware. Before you do anything crazy, sit her down. You know what, bring Beth over next Saturday and take her out to dinner. A place where you can talk without causing a scene." He instructed.

"That sounds like a plan. I'll make reservations at that Ethiopian place. She's been wanting to try it for a while. Yeah, that's what I'll do." We finished lunch and headed back to our respective homes. I still had questions, but I still felt a little better.

When I got home, Tina was out. She left a note saying she was out with her mother and Beth, shopping for baby clothes. I laughed to myself. How many clothes do babies who haven't even been born need? We still had Beth's clothes that were nearly new. We decided to wait to find out what sex the baby was. We both were hoping it was a boy. He would be a junior if it were. A girl would be named Debra Helen Billings. She thought of naming her Beverly. I had to put my foot down. I knew Beth would eventually be called BB. One of those was enough.

I puttered around the house for a while, until finally sitting down and watching golf on TV. They came trooping in around 4 pm. The best feeling in the world is Beth running to me and jumping into my arms. Tina was loaded down with bags as usual. I untangled myself and went to help her. As she showed me what she bought. I told her about going out next Saturday. "Yeah, we haven't been out in a while. Dad said he would babysit for us next Saturday. How about I make reservations at Almaz for dinner and maybe some dancing afterwards? What ya say?"