Annes’ eyes rolled into the back of her head as she reached the height of her third orgasm. Her husband, Steve, was now pounding into her quivering pussy, as he too, rapidly approached his peak. Trying to muffle her scream, Anne covered her face with her pillow, her orgasm crashing into her as her body convulsed. Steve, feeling her pussy rapidly contract and release repeatedly around his engorged cock, could hold on no longer as he grunted his release into his beautiful wife.
Rope after rope of semen pulsed into Annes’ welcoming pussy, prolonging her own orgasm as she wrapped herself tightly around her husband. Once sated, the two lovers held each other closely as they repositioned themselves into a more comfortable embrace.
Anne shuddered slightly as Steve lightly ran his fingers over her now moist skin. A smile now sat permanently on her more than satisfied face, as she basked in the glow of her husbands’ love.
Anne and Steve had been together for almost 18 years and married for just over 16. Both were now 39yo with Anne being older by 2 months. They had two beautiful girls from their marriage. Christine, aged 14 and Bianca, aged 12. They were Annes’ mini-me’s, it was clear who their mother was. Even at their young ages, they were fast approaching their mother in height, and Christines’ figure was already beginning to develop like her mothers’ as well. Naturally this caused Bianca some grief as she wanted ‘boobies’ too. “Patience honey” was Annes’ usual reply.
Anne stands at 5’7″, with long sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. No-one would ever say that she isn’t an attractive woman. She wears stylish clothing and has that wonderful full womanly figure that comes from childbirth and regular exercise. Her breasts are still an impressively perky 36C, her waist a slim 25″ and her hips a lovely rounded 37″. Long slender legs topped by a firm, yet femininely rounded bottom complete a very attractive figure. Many a man has given Anne appreciative looks over the years and she, like most women, enjoys the attention.
Steve stands 6’2″ and is still a strong and athletic man who regularly exercises to stay that way. Light brown hair, blue eyes and a masculine disposition also gets him many appreciative glances from the ladies. He keeps busy with his two daughters and their myriad of activities and sports, and is a big supporter of their fun.
Anne didn’t want to move from her warm and loving position, but she knew her daughters would be getting up soon and she and Steve had plenty of running around to do. Anne was catching an afternoon flight to attend a 3 day training seminar that her company was sending her to. She was a mid-level manager, and a new computer management system was going to be installed, and Anne was going to be in charge of making sure her division was brought up to speed. It was a good opportunity for her to shine, and more than likely, advance in the company if all went well.
Being a Sunday, the girls had soccer, thankfully, at the same fields this time, so no running from location to location as has been the case plenty of times in the past. Somewhere in the house there was a thud and both parents smirked as they imagined Christine, who hated waking up, ever it seems, trying to get herself together.
With a groan Steve disengaged himself from his sexy wife and went to the bathroom, much to her pouting complaints. The day now went from slow, sensual and loving, to manic mayhem in what seemed like an instant. Showers, food, clothes, sports gear, hustle into the car and off to the ground.
Two wins had everyone on a high as the family piled into their car and raced home. Anne was all packed and ready to go, so after quickly eating, good-byes were said and bags grabbed before Steve drove Anne to the airport. A passionate 5 minute make-out session was broken when Anne had to go and catch her flight, or risk missing it.
“Do you think Mum suspects anything Dad?” Bianca asked with a smile when Steve finally returned.
“Not a clue honey” Steve replied with a broad smile.
“This is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to see her face when we surprise her” Christine followed.
“Yeah, this will be an awesome surprise. I can’t wait to get to the resort. I want to go water-skiing” Bianca exclaimed.
“Well I’m sure we’ll do that and more honey. Your Mum deserves something memorable for her 40th” Steve smiled.
“Yeah, fancy trying to make us promise not to do anything for her birthday, just cause she’s turning 40. God, 40 isn’t old, and Mum still looks great for any age. I hope I look that good at her age” Christine smiled.
Steve and the girls had been planning a little get away for a few weeks now, and even had Annes boss on board for the extra day off.
Annes’ flight was uneventful and on time. She landed as the sun was dipping behind the horizon and made her way to her hotel. She quickly went to her room to drop off her bag, then headed off to the restaurant to get some dinner. She noticed a few other people there, a couple she knew from other offices, and made small talk as they all ended up eating together. They all knew that the days ahead would be tiresome, so the group called it early and went to their rooms to get settled in and prepared for the seminar.
The training seminar was being held in one of the large conference rooms located at the hotel where they were staying, so there was no rush in the morning to get anywhere. Anne slept reasonably well after a long tiring day the day before, best of which of course, was the great loving she and Steve had. After breakfast and a quick call home to her family, Anne made her way to the training room. She grabbed her name-tag, before spending a few minutes to mingle and meet some fellow managers, from several branches from across the country, that she hadn’t come across before.
A new manager that was attending caught her eye. His name tag read Paul and he was fit and quite handsome. During the day, Anne found herself enjoying his company as they sat near each other. Paul was 28y.o. had a fiancé and was getting married in 2 months to his long time girlfriend. Paul was funny, engaging and charming and he and Anne became comfortable with each other. There were no thoughts of anything of a sexual nature between them, as they became friends. Paul also noticed Anne, and found her to be attractive but was certainly not planning anything sexual with the happily married mother of two.
During the course of the day they had nothing but enjoyable interactions together. There was a mutual attraction but neither set out to do anything. Paul kept sneaking glances at the older sexy woman which aroused Anne. Brief touches and smiles heightened the seduction from both sides.
The Monday sessions were done and there was a collective sigh of relief from all participants. There were a lot of things to take in and that was followed up by what felt like reams of handouts and paperwork. That evening most of the 30 attendees met in the hotel bar for a drink before dinner and made more introductions and small talk. There was lots of stories and laughter about different issues, either work or personal.
Anne and Paul seemed to gravitate towards each other and sat beside each other whilst they ate. There were playful touches and glances, as they further enjoyed each other’s company. Anne felt a flush and her breath caught when Paul’s hand grazed her leg at dinner more than once.
After dinner and another drink, Anne said her good-byes and went back to her room to call her family. It was great to hear their happy voices and she felt a twinge of guilt when talking to Steve. She knew she shouldn’t be flirting with Paul, but it was harmless. Wasn’t it? It did feel flattering to have a younger attractive man pay some attention to her. She was dreading reaching 40 in a weeks’ time, though no-one would ever look at her and guess she was that old. She still managed to look early 30’s. In fact Paul guessed her age at 32 and she never corrected him as she felt a warm rush flood her body at the time.
Tuesday and Wednesday were more of the same for the attendees. There was a lot of information to absorb, which seemed to lengthen what were stressful days. This of course was followed by drinks and dinner in the hotel bar and restaurant. Anne and Paul continued to flirt, becoming more comfortable and invariably, more intimate. It was thrilling for them both to feel the rise in sexual tension as they spent more time together. The excitement of those little touches, the closeness as they talked, the looks of desire, all added to their growing lust.
Anne was the one to fall. On the last night of the seminar, before heading home in the morning, she dressed to impress. She had quickly ducked out and spent some time after the seminar shopping, and bought a tight fitting sexy dress that complimented her body perfectly. With a small tinge of guilt, which was quickly over-ridden by the thrill of how provocatively naughty she was acting, her next purchase was a 3 pack of condoms. She just hoped that she got the size right. She had noticed the aroused bulge in his pants the previous evening, and the slight, ‘accidental ‘ brush of her hand across it made her wet, but also sure that he wasn’t too big, or too small.
Her 40th was the following Monday and she was titillated by a younger man flirting with her. Why she bought the dress and the condoms was not even attempted to be rationalised. She felt sexy and wanted to seduce and hopefully fuck the attractive younger man. It was a fling, a dalliance to make her feel young and vibrant again, before she turned 40. She had never even considered anything like this before, and was adamant that it would never happen again. She loved her husband and her family, and would be devastated to lose them. She never even contemplated the risks and therefore, the consequences, as being a possibility.
Steve and the girls awoke early, very early, on Thursday morning to catch a 6.15am plane, which was the earliest flight out. Christine of course hated it, but accepted the need under the circumstances. Steve had booked a 3 night stay at a resort on the Sunshine Coast for the family, as a surprise birthday present for Anne. Lazing around the pool, doing all the great water activities and spending time lazing on the beach at a 5 Star resort, was something they all looked forward to. The plan was to arrive early and sneak into Annes’ room to surprise her, before whisking her away for some fun.
They arrived just on 8.30am at the hotel. Christine slept most of the way during the hour and a half long flight, whilst Bianca was simply too excited to relax. After showing ID to the young woman at reception, Steve was given an extra swipe card to Annes’ room. The very helpful young woman allowed them to leave their bags in a side room until they returned.
They snuck in the room as quietly as possible, but Anne wasn’t there. The bed was made and they were confused. Bianca found the bag from the clothing store beside the bed, and when Steve noticed the empty box for three condoms in the bathroom bin, his stomach rolled.
“I don’t understand, where’s Mum?” Bianca asked. Christine was not as naïve as her sibling as she scanned the room, fixing her gaze on the made up bed. She knew that the maid service wouldn’t have been by yet, so it was clear that her Mother had slept somewhere else the previous night.
They were all standing in the middle of the decent sized room, when they heard some murmuring and a quiet laugh from the other side of the door. The door opened and they saw Anne backing into the room, a man with her. He had his hand on her arse, which was totally bare, her dress pulled almost to her waist. They could see that she wasn’t wearing panties.
“Would you stop! My god, you’re insatiable. I told you no more, ok. I’m already sore from last night and this morning. I need to clean up and get packed to go home to my hubby. I can’t have him notice how tender my pussy is thanks to you young man” Anne mocked as she tried to push Paul away.
Paul smirked as he continued to grope Annes’ naked arse. Then he noticed something and stood rigidly as he looked into the now devastated faces of the 3 other people in the room behind Anne.
Anne, thinking she had made her point, easily pushed Paul out the door, “Thank you Paul, you were wonderful. I’ll never forget these couple of days, but this has to be our secret, ok?”
Paul just turned and quickly walked away. All he could think about was the looks on those faces. He knew who they were, he and Anne had shared enough details of their lives over the last 3 days for it to be obvious.
Returning to his room which was only 4 doors down from Annes, Paul closed the door and slumped onto the bed. ‘My god’ he thought as he held his head in his hands. ‘What have I done?’
Meanwhile Anne gently closed the door and rested her head against it, her dress, still around her waist, unknowingly showing her family her nakedness as she smiled to herself. Anne briefly remembered the previous night’s sex, and again this morning. She took a deep breath and let her heart beat slow for a few moments.
As the pounding in her ears abated, she suddenly sensed the sounds of a sniffle and then another. She tensed and stood bolt upright, her breathing stopped and her eyes widened as she slowly turned. Her brain shut down as she looked into the eyes of her family and saw the desolation, disgust and anger now directed at her. Anne collapsed to the floor screaming, tears running like a river down her face. Her dress still around her waist showed off her red, puffy, freshly fucked pussy to her husband.
Christine and Bianca began to wail as the full impact of what they were witnessing crashed onto them. Steve was almost catatonic, as his mind tried valiantly to process the situation, to little effect. Almost on auto pilot, Steve started to walk out of the room. He didn’t even register the hands of his children, which were gripping his desperately for comfort and support. The three made their way past the crumpled form of Anne, stepping over her body to get by. Anne, in her own hell, desperately reached for them, her left hand managing to grab Steve by his pant leg.
Steve stopped and slowly his head and eyes drifted down to Annes left hand clutching at his leg. He stared for a moment, then grabbed Annes’ hand forcibly to remove it. He noticed her wedding rings were missing and his pain increased. He looked at the naked finger, then started to crush Annes’ ring finger between his thumb and forefinger as he stared with a growing rage.
Anne felt the pain, saw the anger and knew she was lost. Her marriage was over, and there was no coming back from this. She quickly assessed the evidence. The sexy new dress bought brand new, no underwear, no rings on her fingers, the condom packet sitting in plain view on the carpeted floor. Add to that, the clearly overheard talk at the door, of her spending the night with her one time lover, her little pre-40 fling. She had thrown her family away. The 3 now hated her. She would never be able to remove the images and knowledge from their minds.
As they walked past Pauls room, he could hear the sobs of the devastated kids. He felt a wave of guilt and disgust wash over him as he realised the consequences of his actions. He, himself was about to get married to the only woman he had ever truly loved. But was that now true? He had become something that he hated.
A cheater.
He had seen what cheating had done to his Uncles marriage. How it destroyed such a good man. Now all he could see was what he believed was another good man, devastated, with his help. How could he have done what he did? And the family he had just destroyed? Those poor people, those poor kids. He began imagining him being on the receiving end, imagining himself, standing in that room, and Karen walking in like that with another man, after having sex with him all night. “FUCK!!” he exclaimed. ‘I can never forgive myself’ he thought as he felt tears trickle down his face as he stared at the floor in front of him. ‘How can I look at myself in the mirror. How can I look at Karen! Oh my God! Karen! I’m so sorry. God, what do I do?’ he asked himself as he lay back on the bed. The very bed that he had become the scum that he now knew he was. His heart was racing as the full impact of his selfish actions lay heavily on him. His stomach twisted and turned as his emotions and guilt washed through him.
Three forlorn souls sat at the airport trying to reconcile what had happened as they waited for their flight. Steve was taking them to the resort, even though the trip was not how they expected it to be. He decided they needed some time away, knowing Anne would undoubtedly head straight home. She had no idea where they would be, since the surprise was now, well and truly on them.
Anne lay on the floor, too devastated to move for a long time. She needed to go to the bathroom and whilst there she noticed for the first time how she was dressed. She broke down again as she sat on the toilet, realising what her family had seen of her. The slut that she allowed herself to be, that they now knew she was. They clearly saw every bit of her betrayal in all its ignominious glory.
She packed and made her way to check-out. The customer service rep at the desk looked at her knowingly as she signed her room tab. When the womans’ family had arrived, they were so excited about surprising her with a birthday trip. The 2 girls were almost giddy. But when they came down, they were obviously distraught and were having trouble holding it together. Sadly, she knew what they must have found when they entered this womans’ room. She had seen or been made aware of these types of occurrences many times since starting work at the Hotel. ‘Why can’t people be faithful anymore?’ she thought as she tried to fake a smile for the woman in front of her. Her face almost matched that of the younger man that checked out 20 minutes earlier. Same floor, same training seminar. It didn’t take a genius to see what had happened.
Anne made her way home to try to save her marriage. When she arrived, the house was empty. She had no idea where her family was. She couldn’t believe that she had done what she did. She never thought anyone would know. It was a little fling, some harmless sex with a young, good looking man. How did it end up so wrong? How could she get her family back? Where were they? She tried Steve’s phone but it went to voicemail. The girls phones were in their rooms, she discovered, as she aimlessly wandered the house. She noticed some clothes missing from their closest and dressers, but not enough to be gone long. Did they get home before her and pack an overnight bag to stay away from her? And why were they in her room this morning? They couldn’t have known what she was going to do. It wasn’t like she planned it out. It was only something she decided to do on the spur of the moment. Could someone have seen her with Paul last night, a friend of Steves’ and called him? Surely not. Then why? Why were they all there in her room, waiting for her? It made no sense. Unless. Unless they wanted to surprise her for her birthday. Oh god, that had to be it. She told them she didn’t want to celebrate her 40th. It would only make her feel old. That was a big part of the reason she slept with Paul. She wanted to feel young and sexy and desirable to someone other than Steve. What an idiot she was.
Steve and the girls went to the resort. The mood was sombre, with each stuck in their own mind, with their own painful thoughts. The girls were confused, angry and upset. Steve was crushed by what he saw and now knew. Sadly, he looked at his daughters and couldn’t help but wonder if they were actually his by blood. How long has Anne been cheating on him? How many times? This was not the first time she has been away for work over the years. Has she been unfaithful every time she went away? Was he a regular lover or just another in a long list? Was he inadequate as a lover, a husband? These sorts of questions were circling incessantly inside his tortured mind now. The anxiety he felt was reflected in the face of his children as he tried to console them, even though he himself, was inconsolable right then.
That’s what cheating does. It destroys trust. It puts into question every action, every decision, every word that has come out of the cheaters mouth. All of it is now tainted. All of it is now slathered with the acrid musk of deceit and betrayal.
The three of them tried to make the most of a very bad situation, but it was pointless. There was no fun to be had. They swam, they water-skied, they walked, they lazed by the pool. Most of all, they talked and talked, about things that they knew and how the future was now looking. The girls accepted that their parents would divorce. Their father was never going to be able to forget, none of them were, and forgiveness would be a long time coming, if ever.
Steve tried to get the girls to talk less harshly about their mother, but it was a hard sell after what they had seen, and what they all knew was lost to them. What they thought was an amazingly happy and loving family, had been ripped apart. The girls, especially Christine, vocalised a lot of the hard questions over the few days they were there, that Steve was asking himself. Steve was thankful that they never voiced, and hopefully never even considered his worst fear, that he was not their biological parent. That would crush them, and if it was true, destroy them all. As much as he knew it will kill him, he also knew that he would have to find out. Not that it would have any impact on how he felt about his daughters, and they were his, no matter what the result. But the idea, that some other man could come along, and make claims on them as his own, was making him feel physically ill every time he thought of it.
Over the four days and three nights that her family were missing, Anne was slowly going insane. She had no idea where they were, and she couldn’t call anyone. How could she possibly explain why they were gone, or why she didn’t know where they were. She thought of calling her mother-in-law but just couldn’t do it. She was lost in a sea of self-loathing and despair. All she did was cry and ache all over as she awaited some sign, some forlorn hope that they hadn’t completely abandoned her.
Steve looked at his two beautiful girls as they exited the airport terminal on Sunday afternoon and headed towards the long term parking area. Their faces had aged years it seemed in the blink of an eye. They had all been forced to face a lot of truths over the last four days. Life as they knew it was forever and irrevocably changed. The girls had confirmed that they had no interest in living with their mother. There was way too much pain still to be processed for all of them, and just looking at their Mother was going to cause them to relive certain aspects of the cause of that pain.
Arriving at their house, no longer a home, the three sat quietly in the open garage, the rising tension was palpable. Annes’ car was still there and they expected the sound of the garage door opening to get her attention, so they sat and waited in silence to see if she appeared. With a deep and tense sigh, Steve made the first move to exit the car when Anne didn’t appear. ‘Maybe she wasn’t home’ was a sadly universal thought at this stage.
Steve and the girls grabbed their bags and made their way into their house. They had talked about this and tried to prepare themselves for the first time they saw Anne again, but the here and now was a lot more intense emotionally than they could have predicted. It was a strange feeling, the tension was rising as they were almost preparing to defend themselves from an assailant. Their eyes darted around, first the kitchen, then dining and finally the lounge room, as they entered, each cautiously with their guard well and truly up.
The house was quiet as were they, as they made their way through to their bedrooms. They noticed the master bedroom door was closed, all three now coming to a stop as they stared. Steve opened the door and they saw a lump under the bedclothes, and assumed correctly it was Anne. Bags were dropped into each girls bedroom and the threesome retreated to the kitchen to ponder things. The girls were holding their Fathers hands and finding support in each other. It was a horrible time for them and they knew it was only going to get worse.
Steve finally looked at what there was in the fridge and pantry for dinner and realised there was nothing added to either since they left Thursday morning. He was in no mood now to cook, knowing Anne was in her bedroom. He could no longer call it his. His, now massive amounts of self-doubt and insecurities about Annes fidelity had destroyed his trust. Now everywhere he looked in his house, was a place that Anne could have fucked someone else behind his back. He looked at the dining room table,
“Come on girls, let’s go get something for dinner” He said sadly.
They returned to his car and left with no real destination in mind.
Anne stirred and her eyes opened. Did she hear something? She wasn’t sure anymore. She had lost hope by this stage and was doing little more than existing at this point. Dragging herself out of bed, she made her way to the kitchen. She had eaten hardly anything for the past four days, living primarily on strong black coffee. Her phone had rung a few times but since it wasn’t Steve, she let them go to voicemail.
As she passed her daughters’ rooms, she suddenly came to a halt. There were bags in their rooms. She was shocked, elated and fearful. Her pulse sky rocketed and her breathing became laboured as she moved down the hallway. She noticed Steves bag in the spare bedroom and she sobbed at the implication. Trying to hold herself together she moved through the lounge into the dining room and finally stopped in the kitchen. They weren’t here. Anne sat at the kitchen bench and sobbed as the pain she had been dealing with flowed over her again.
An hour later, Anne heard the garage door opening. She sat tensely and expectantly as she waited for her family to come in. What would they say or do? What would she? She had managed to pull herself together somewhat, knowing that they were back, and hoped they would return again soon.
Christine was the first through the door and came to an abrupt halt as Bianca walked into her back with a squeal. They both just stared at their Mother with tense faces and furrowed brows, their breathing short and strained. By this time Steve had moved up behind them and the four just stared blankly at each other for a few moments. Anne sobbed and rose from her seat as she began to move towards her family.
“Don’t!” was almost hissed at her from Christine, causing Anne to stop in her tracks. Her faced screwed up as a wail came from her collapsing body as she looked into the deadened eyes of her daughters. In a scene all to reminiscent of Thursday morning when they first discovered her betrayal, Anne sat bawling on the floor, while desperately pleading through woeful sobs, her hand extended to her family for comfort and forgiveness. None was forthcoming.
Once again, her family walked past her and went to the spare bedroom and closed the door. Steve did notice, with some distaste, that she now wore her wedding rings. ‘A bit late for that now you cheating slut’, he thought.
Anne sat dejectedly on the floor for some time. No one checked up on her and she had never felt more alone in her life. Self-pity was rife in her mind as she struggled to reconcile what she has done to herself and her family. The pain of realising the devastation she has caused her once amazing family was almost unbearable. And there was still so much more pain to come. Extended family and friends were yet to learn what she has done. They would all be disgusted, no more than she now was in herself. She knew that she had thrown everything away, all for a fling with a younger man because she was feeling old. ‘Well how are you feeling now, you stupid slut?’ she asked herself as she again cried over her agonising loss, that was all too clear to her now.
Steve and Bianca sat cuddled on the bed in the spare bedroom, again lost in thought and pain, as Christine paced back and forth, getting increasingly agitated.
“Nanna, you need to come to the house right now!” Steve suddenly heard Christine say. He looked up to see Christine on her phone and asked what she was doing.
“Someone has to be with Mum.” She stated. “I hate her and I don’t want to have to deal with her. Do you?”
Steve nodded no, and resigned himself to the fact that his Mother-in-law would be there in about 20 minutes or so. He thought it wasn’t the best option and wished Christine hadn’t been so impulsive, but it was done now and had to be dealt with.
When they heard the door bell, they all left the bedroom and wandered into the lounge room. Anne was still in the kitchen, and had at least gotten herself onto a chair at the table. She was staring blankly at the glass of water in front of her, and didn’t even register their presence as they walked by. Steve opened the door to a distressed Coral Ambrose, Anne’s mother, and Larry Ambrose, her father, standing behind her with a furrowed brow.
“What on earth is going on Steve?” she questioned as she quickly walked in. “That call from Christine was so short, it’s made me frantic. Is Anne ok? Are the kids ok? Did something happen? What’s going on Steve, why do you all look so upset?” she finished as she looked at the three standing there.
Steve resigned himself to having to deal with things, something he was in a way, hoping to somehow avoid forever. Taking a long deep breath, he let out slow, sad sigh. He looked at the scared face of Bianca, and the much angrier and harsher face of Christine before beginning.
“Coral, Anne’s in the kitchen. Maybe you should go see to her for a few minutes before we go any further.” Steve suggested.
Coral was concerned, but also confused as to why her two daughters were not with their Mother. They seemed to be hovering closely to their Father and all of them were in some emotional pain, it was all over their faces. She knew she wasn’t going to like what she was going to see and hear as she made her way into the kitchen.
Larry Ambrose was a quiet man, always listening more than talking. Always looking and really seeing what was in front of him before acting. What he’d seen and heard so far was very disconcerting. His son-in-law was tired and depressed, his beautiful grand-daughters were sallow and on the tipping point of emotion. Whatever was going on, was destroying them. He feared the worse. Cancer? Disease? Or the one thing he didn’t want to consider, infidelity.
Coral paused and stared at her daughter as she sat at the table in front of her. Anne’s vibrancy was gone. Her once serene and cheerful demeanour crushed by a weight of pain and anguish as she now looked at her Mother. Anne got to her feet and seeing her Mum’s open arms, moved quickly to be enveloped by the loving embrace. An embrace she wasn’t guaranteed to receive again once her arrogance and stupidity was revealed. She cried woefully in her Mothers arms, great wracking sobs of heartache flowing from her.
Larry sat quietly with Steve and the girls in the lounge room, as they listened to his daughters emotional release. He wanted to go to his child, but he also wanted to see her family’s reaction. Larry again studied them as they huddled close together for support and comfort, their eyes blank and devoid of any real emotion. ‘This is real bad’ he thought to himself. ‘None of them were even tempted to go to Anne, and other than what looked like a snarling smirk from Christine, there was nothing. What has she done to them? God, please don’t let it be cheating. Not Anne, please’
Anne finally started to quiet down as she allowed her Mother to move her back to the chair she had previously been seated in. Drawing another chair next to it, Coral sat and held her daughter as she cooed and tried to sooth her.
“It’s alright baby, I’m here, your Dad’s here, your family’s here. Whatever the problem is, we’re all here and we’ll get through it. We all love you” Coral softly spoke.
For the next few minutes the house was filled with the sounds of Anne’s tortured soul as her honest belief that her family did NOT love her, caused her to break down and cry piteously all over again.
Larry could hold off no longer and went to join his wife and daughter to support them both. His fears were evident on his face as he looked into the sad eyes of his wife of over forty years. They both knew that whatever has happened, Anne was the sole cause, and it has quite possibly, destroyed her family.
It took a long time, with several stops for her crying, but Anne finally got out what had happened while she was at the conference. By this time the whole family was sitting around the kitchen table. Coral and Larry were shocked beyond anything they have ever been before. Anne was bawling and pleading for forgiveness all at the same time. Steve and Christine were almost impassive, while Bianca hugged her Father and wept into his chest.
Steve’s emotions were somehow deadened. He felt nothing for Annes’ pain. No sympathy, no desire to comfort the woman he once loved. Yes, he accepted, he no longer loved her. Some say you can’t turn love off like a tap, no matter what has happened. Well, Steve realised, he could. From the highest of highs, that his love once was, it was only despair and disgust that fuelled his emotions now.
Anne had pushed him off a cliff in the worst possible way he could imagine. He was once safe, secure and happy. The love of his family, and the love he felt for his family, was immoveable and impenetrable, or so he thought. The absolute betrayal that she had perpetrated was soul destroying. There was no excuses that could explain it away, no perverse self-serving rationalities that could absolve her. The marriage was done, simple. He’d had days to think and anguish. Days spent running an endless parade of thoughts and emotions through his head, trying to search his heart for a glimmer, a spark, of hope, for his sake, for the sake of his precious girls.
His girls. Yes, no matter what, they were his. He would fight the world to keep them, no matter what any test may tell him. Did he even want those tests? Did he want to know? Did the girls need to know? ‘God damn you Anne!’
Sure, the last few days could have been handled a hell of a lot better by him, especially as far as the girls were concerned, but they saw it all, up close and personal at the same time and in the same way as he did. He was barely able to hold his own mind together, let alone being cohesive enough to deal with his daughters emotions. ‘God, what a fucking mess.’
Anne spent almost the next hour pleading with her family for forgiveness, for another chance. It was a mistake, she was feeling old and unattractive, she was seduced, it meant nothing to her, it was just sex, just a fling, they could get past it and be happy again like they were. And on and on, and round and round it went until Anne made a final, fatal error.
“Think of the kids Steve, They don’t deserve to have a broken home. You can’t do that to them.”
Steve, by this time had been on a slow boil as she was rolling out the best of the Cheaters Handbook of Excuses, obviously sold in all major bookstores, since it sounded so formulaic.
He quickly came to his feet and just stared at Anne with disdain.
“YOU did this. YOU caused all this. YOU betrayed me, betrayed the girls, betrayed US! For what Anne? FOR WHAT? So you could feel younger, more attractive to other men, younger men? Well congratulations. We are done. You can have all the younger men you want, and feel as young as they make you. Your pathetic justifications disgust me. You disgust me. Coral, Larry, please take your daughter home with you. I will be seeing a Lawyer in the morning. It’s over.”
Anne collapsed with a wailing “NOOOOOO” as what Steve said sunk in. She watched as he walked out of the kitchen, followed by a scowling Christine. Poor Bianca just sat and hugged her Grand-mother as she cried. All but Anne seemed to know this decision was coming, but it was still hard on everyone.
Anne was eventually helped to her parents car. Coral and a sobbing Bianca, packed a couple of bags of clothes for Anne to take with her. Larry was worried that Anne was having some sort of breakdown, as she sat in the back seat muttering and shaking her head constantly.
He tried to reason with Steve, but knew it was pointless. He couldn’t accept his daughters behaviour in the slightest, so had no sincere hope of changing Steves’ mind. But he did make a token effort.
As was expected, Steve met with a Lawyer that following week and sought a divorce. He petitioned for sole custody and got it without even a whimper from Anne. She knew the girls were devastated by her actions and Christine especially, wouldn’t even talk to her. She wasn’t going to force them to live with her, she had lost that right with her actions.
The split of assets was close to 70/30 in Steves’ favour. He kept the house and took over the mortgage, while Anne moved to her parents, needing at least some support. Anne remained at work, and had her pay garnished for Child Support.
Steve needed some assistance with baby-sitting the girls because of his work hours. Anne cried initially when Coral was asked to be at what was now Steves’ house when the girls came home. She knew that they didn’t want it to be her, even if she could get the time off work.
All four of them needed counselling for some time after this all happened. Anne was never able to truly understand, let alone justify, even to herself, why she did what she did.
Steve and the girls saw a nice therapist for a few months, who’s efforts made the pain lessen and the transition to a broken home more tolerable. The memories of their Mother from that hotel room were especially hard for the girls to get over.
Anne was given reasonable access, but was at the whim of her daughters. Initially, they didn’t want to see or talk to her very much. The pain and memories were too fresh. Over time, Bianca softened the first, but Christine held out much, much longer. It took some joint sessions with the Therapist and her Mother to sooth the pain enough for at least some dialogue.
Steve had no interest in ever seeing Anne again, and only communicated through email if needed regarding the girls. He held onto the pain of loss for a much longer time.