Chapter 1 - I Learn The Awful Truth
My name is Dan Fanning. I'm an average thirty-one year-old male. My wife, Kimberly, is twenty-eight years old, five foot seven, blonde with a killer shape. We met in college during my senior year, dated for two years, and got married upon her graduation. Rocketdyne Servos, a manufacturer of airplane parts, already employed me when we married.
My best friend, Brian, met Kim's older sister, Betty, at our wedding. They began dating and within a year were married. Betty was one year older than Kim with more of auburn hair color and about two inches taller than Kim. Brian was my size at about six foot, and one hundred and eighty pounds.
Brian had obtained work at a up and coming software company located on the other side of town from my office.
We bought homes next to each other in a really nice neighbor that was between our two places of employment. Betty and Kim took part time bookkeeping jobs for several businesses at the local shopping mall.
Brian and Betty had three children in the first five years of their marriage. We had not been so lucky.
In our fifth year of marriage, Kim announced she was pregnant with our first child, Megan. Kim was so happy, we had tried for five years to have a child. We had been tested and my sperm count was very low. But the doctor indicated that given the right circumstances, even my low sperm level could produce an offspring.
I'll never forget that day when Kim told me she was pregnant. She walked in to the family room and jumped in my lap. She had hugged me tightly and delivered a huge wet kiss to my lips. She grabbed my face with her hands, looked me straight in the eyes, and announced, "Well, Mr. Fanning, I would like to announce that you are going to be a Daddy!"
I was elated. I grabbed her waist tightly and asked, "Are you sure, Hon? I mean we have been trying for so long. Is this for sure?"
Kim just smiled at me and nodded her head. "Yes, I found out today! It must have happened that night we watched the porno films with Betty and Brian. I know we were really hot for each other that night!"
I thought back to that night and nodded. "Oh yeh, we were two animals that night weren't we?" I laughed and hugged her again.
The pregnancy was normal and Kim gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. We named her Megan and for the next three and half years had a wonderful life together.
That all ended when Megan was getting ready to enter pre-K head start classes. We had to get her the various vaccinations required by the school, and perform other various tasks. One of these tasks caused our family's downfall.
I had to take Megan to the school for a blood testing day. This test was to ensure the school had an accurate record of each child's blood type in case some emergency arose that required immediate blood transfusions. This was now common practice due to the rising foreign and domestic terrorist actions around the country.
We arrived and Megan cried when the nurse took the small blood sample. We both comforted Megan afterward and she soon stopped whimpering. The nurse looked at me and said, "Mr. Fanning, I can take a sample of blood from you and put it in the database also. This will let us know if we should use you or your wife as a blood donor for Megan if the needed ever arises."
I thought it was a good idea, so I allowed the nurse to draw a sample of my blood. Rolling down my sleeve and taking Megan's hand, I gave it no more thought and left the school. Megan and I went and had ice cream together.
Two days later, at my office, I received a call from the nurse. It took me a second to place her when she gave me her name. She said she was the school nurse who had drawn the blood samples. I said, "Oh Hi. Is everything OK with the samples? I'm surprised to hear from you."
"No everything is not alright with the samples. I don't really know how to tell you this. It happens once in a while to either the husband or wife of a child we test."
"What happens?" I asked.
"Megan has type O+ blood. You have type AB blood."
"So, what? That just means my wife, Kim, is the future blood donor, right?"
"Well, Mr. Fanning, no. It means that you cannot possibly be Megan's biological father"
The light in the room dimmed around me, my ears had a tremendous roaring sound, and my hand holding the telephone receiver began to shake violently.
"Whaaat. I. I mean... What! What the hell do you mean I am not Megan's father?" I gasped.
"There is no medical way that a Type AB can be the parent of a Type O child. Blood just does not work that way. I was hoping you would tell me that Megan was adopted, but I can tell from your response that that is not the case. I am so sorry as to the implications of this are to for you," the nurse said apologetically.
I don't remember if I replied to her. I just remember later becoming aware that I still held the telephone and a dial tone was buzzing into my ear.
This means Kim is screwing around on me. Or at least she was screwing around with someone when she got pregnant. She never changed her attitude or disposition toward me. I never noticed anything that would indicate she had been fucking someone else.
How can I find out who she was with? Is she still seeing him? Can she cheat so easily as to never give me any indication that anything was amiss?
I stewed over this for a couple of hours at the office and then called it day. I did not want to head home yet because I was still seeing red. I drove to the park and began walking around the lake path. I had walked about a half mile when it hit me. Megan is not my child! Yet, I have been paying for her care and upbringing while some asshole Don Juan was sampling Kim's merchandise and leaving me with the expenses.
I loved Megan to death, but she was not my daughter any more.
How could Kim lie to me for so long about something this important? Why would she use me this way? I got madder and madder the more I thought about this whole situation.
I calmed down and began thinking about what to do. A plan. I needed a plan.
Ok. First thing, I will take Megan to cross town clinic and get DNA tests done on her and myself. That would be the final proof of Kim's cheating.
The second thing to do is figure out if this cheating has ended or still going on. I'll need a recording device for our home's wireless phones. Let's see if she talks to the asshole about 'their daughter." Let's see if she makes dates with him even now.
If they are meeting, I can figure out later how to get audio or video evidence of the meetings. And then I can decide what the appropriate response is for both my cheating wife and the asshole sleeping with her. But, first things first.
I drove to the nearest Radio Shack and found a small recording device that would activate when any of the house wireless phones were activated. So, if she were talking with him, I would catch it. The audio was captured to a memory stick. I could play the memory stick contents on my laptop PC.
With the recording device and a dozen memory sticks in my shopping bag, I drove home. This was Kim's day at the mall shops doing the books. I beat her home by several hours. Enough time to set up the recording device and call a cross-town clinic to set up the DNA tests.
Kim got home about five minutes after I completed my sleuthing chores. She had picked Megan up from day care on her way home. She was her normal loving self. She embraced me and kissed me. I pulled back from her because I did not want any intimacy with her. I was still boiling mad inside.
She stopped and looked at me. "What's wrong? Are you mad about something?"
"No, I am just very tired tonight." I lied.
"Well then, why don't you go sit down and play with our beautiful daughter until I get dinner ready?" Kim suggested.
I was seething at this point. "Our beautiful daughter? Who was she kidding?"
As I sat in the family room with Megan in my lap, I began studying her features really intently for the first time. Maybe something in the facial features would give me an indication of who the father is. I took note of her chin, nose, and eyes. Maybe I will see a guy with one or more of those features. In fact I swore I knew someone who had the same upsweep on the nose and the same intense brown eyes. But, from where?
Somehow I made it through dinner and went to bed several hours before Kim did. I pretended sleep when she came to bed. Se touched my shoulder but I did not respond. She sighed and rolled over. Soon I could hear her deep breathing. I tossed and turned most of the night. I was still nagged by the lingering thought that I knew those eyes from somewhere. I became icy cold in my desire to find out who Megan's father was and to punish both my cheating wife and the miserable asshole that had fathered my supposed daughter.
Morning came. At breakfast I told Kim that I had the morning off and wanted to take Megan to the park. She instantly agreed. The speed of that agreement gave me pause. Was she going to contact her lover while I am out with my supposed daughter?
I drove Megan and myself to the clinic where the swabbed our mouths for the DNA test. I then took Megan to the park and made sure she had so much fun on the rides that the clinic had completely been forgotten.
That evening Kim said she had a meeting at church on some committee and would go with Betty and Brian. She left the house at seven and walked next door to Betty and Brian's.
As soon as Kim left, I got Megan ready for bed, tucked her in and went to the basement corner where I had installed the phone recorder.
I removed the memory stick from the recorder and inserted a new one. I took the memory stick to my basement workbench. I had taken my laptop down and placed it on the bench earlier.
With shaking hands I clicked the play icon on the laptop screen. The first few conversations were normal household duties. Talking with the painting contractor, arranging for Megan to join a ballet class, and stuff like that.
The fifth conversation was between Kim and Betty.
Betty said, "Hey Kiddo, are you ready for tonight?"
"Yes. I can hardly wait." Kim replied.
"Well, I hope it takes this time. The last four times were sure duds. Brian is getting worn out too."
"Brian's a good guy and you are lucky to have him," Kim said.
"Are you sure Dan suspects nothing?"
Kim giggled, "Not a thing. He has no idea! And I want to keep it that way!"
