Dire Consequences

[This doesn't belong in "Loving Wives" in the way many of the stories in this category belong. The typical "LW" story doesn't involve a loving wife. A slut wife, a whore wife, a cheating wife, yes, but loving, no. In this story the "Loving Wife" is a loving wife. The cheater is her husband and his girl-friend. There are consequences for their actions. Your votes and comments are encouraged. Thank you.]

A few years ago my wife and I bought a duplex. We told ourselves it was an investment. The mortgage was covered by the rent on the larger side of the duplex and the smaller side we lived in for free. When we bought the duplex a family of four already lived in the big side. It had three bedrooms and our side had two. The family was Jack, his wife Elle and their two daughters, May and Marie. May and Marie were twins and were eleven. My wife, Sara and I were forty-six.

Things were sweet and comfortable for a number of years. We included them in activities and they included us. We attended dance recitals, soccer games and a play or two as the girls got older. The wall between the sides of the duplex were well made and only a few times did Sara and I hear noises from the other side. Those times were when the girls were spending the night with grandparents and it was quite late. We got the impression there was a lot of passion in the relationship between Jack and Elle. When we did things together Jack was always physically affectionate with Elle. He held her hand, put his arm around her and his daughters, danced with them whenever they heard music and the girls and Elle touched Jack often.

In the summer before the girls would begin the eleventh grade things started to change. I'll be bold and say I noticed it first. Jack started working more hours than before. He missed a few things where the girls were counting on him to be there.

I mentioned to Sara that something was wrong. She dismissed it as Jack had a lot on his mind, his job had changed, or he was tired. I said I was willing to bet something was wrong in the personal relationship between Elle and Jack.

One Saturday Elle asked me to fix a door in their place. I went over and looked at it. Somehow the door to the master bedroom had been pulled away from the frame. The screws had been pulled hard enough to rip loose. Elle blushed and said she had not been home when it happened. I didn't press the issue. I fixed the door and left. That night while Sara and I were in bed I heard their car start and drive away. It came back in time for Elle and the girls to go to church the next morning.

After they were gone about half an hour a car pulled into their driveway and Jack came out and got into it. The woman driving leaned over and kissed him. They drove away.

In warm weather I water the yard in the evenings. It takes less water to nourish the plants when it isn't evaporating immediately. That evening I was out in the front yard and saw Jack get out of the same car. This time he got out down at the corner. He walked home. As he got close I said, "Hi."

"Hi." It was all I got.

He went inside and I heard Elle say, "Well, welcome home." Then the door closed.

The next morning Jack left again for work and Elle came over. She walked in our back door and sat down at the kitchen table. We had established permission for that long ago. Sara went to the kitchen and said, "What's up?"

"Jack is seeing someone else."

"Really?"

Elle looked up and said, "I know her. She works in the building next door to Jack's downtown. He says he doesn't love me any more. He told me last night that he wants a divorce but will wait until the girls leave for college."

"What do the girls know?"

"They suspect he has a girl-friend. What they know is that their Dad isn't around any more. When he is home he acts like something in the house smells."

'What do you want to do?"

"I want to punish him. I want to cry and hide in my bed until I die. I want him to come back to me."

"I can sure hear all of that." Sara has always been a good listener.

I walked into the kitchen and sat down. "Morning Elle."

"It is morning. I hope for you two it's a good morning."

"It can't be very good for us when you're hurting."

"I don't know what to do. Do I toss him out? Do I offer my self to him like screwing him will bring him back? What can I say to the girls?"

"What does he say to you?" I asked.

"He says he didn't mean to fall in love with her, it just happened. He says he doesn't want to hurt us, but he deserves to be happy. He wants to spend more time with her."

"You said you know her?"

"We've met."

"Do you want my nose in your business or do you want me to just listen?" I asked.

"Thanks for asking. I guess I want both, neither and I want you to stay out of it and wade right in."

"Good! I like clear thinking. Here's my thinking of the moment. You should have her over for dinner. Sit down as a family and get to know her. Let the girls ask her questions. Let them both explain to the girls why Dad is leaving them and you. In fact, make it powerful, invite his parents to the dinner. Let him explain it to everyone at the same time. Have her present so she can see what she is a part of."

"And if he still wants to go?"

"Then everyone can be clear what they are losing and what they are gaining. If he walks out with her the rest of you can say, "Thank God he's gone. He wasn't who we thought he was." If he stays it will be because he has changed his thinking."

"How will I ever get her to come?"

"Invite her. If she says no, then let me know. I'll lean on the situation and she will come for dinner. Invite his parents and yours. Make it for next Sunday evening. Sara and I will help cook."

"It can't be this Sunday. Jack says he's going out of town for the weekend. He didn't even lie and say it was for business."

"Any idea where they are going?"

"He made the reservations from our home computer. I can get the details."

"Do that and give them to me. Have both sets of parents over Saturday night. We shouldn't make the big dinner a shock to them. We'll let them know what Jack's up to this Saturday."

"And the girls?"

"We'll tell them everything we know on Saturday. They are old enough to make up their own minds about what is going on."

On Friday, after Elle and the girls left in the morning Jack came out with a suitcase and got in Donna Kingsley's Honda. I knew they were headed for Denver's airport, Southwest Air flight 3142 to San Diego. Jack had left an electronic paper trail that a ten year old could follow. In San Diego they were staying in the Gaslamp Marriott, room 133. A local PI had the information and would be gathering evidence in case Elle ended up getting a divorce. He had put both tickets and reservations on his credit card.

On Saturday evening I grilled chicken on the barbeque and Sara made a salad. May and Marie made steamed veggies and dessert. We ate in the back yard at the picnic table. After dinner we gathered in our living room. Over the years the two sets of parents had come to accept us as part of the family. As people were getting settled I got a call. It was the PI.

"I have some pictures I can e-mail to you if you'd like. They made it easy. They have a ground floor room and the drapes gap."

"Send me three or four. Put everything from the weekend in your report and send it to me certified. And, Thanks."

I didn't wait for the e-mail. I rejoined the family in the living room. Elle looked at me and then she spoke.

"I want to thank you for coming for dinner. I wish I could say it was a joyful occasion. It isn't. You all asked where Jack was and now I have to admit, I lied to you. I said he went out of town on business. He didn't. The woman who owns the building next to the one where Jack's business is located is having an affair with Jack."

"I don't believe you!" Jack's mother stood up. She was instantly angry.

"We can show you proof, if that what it takes." Elle said.

"You have pictures?"

Elle looked at me. "Yes. The e-mail from San Diego is in my computer now. I haven't looked at it. I can tell you I have the reservations he made for Donna and he to San Diego and into the Gaslamp Marriott, room 133."

"Show me!" Jack's mother said.

"The reservations or the pictures?"

"Pictures." I walked to my office and only Jack's parents followed me. I opened the e-mail and asked her to pick which file she wanted opened. I opened it and it clearly showed Donna naked on her knees with Jack's cock in her mouth. Jack was nude as well and the scar he had on his thigh showed. Five seconds looking and his mother turned and walked out of my office. Her husband followed. I shut down the e-mail and went to the living room. I was in time to here his mother say, "Ok. I believe you. Now what?"

"Next Sunday night I am having another dinner here. All of you are invited and I hope you will be here. Jack and Donna will be here. I want us all to get the answers we want. Maybe I cannot get my husband back. Maybe I can understand what happened to take him away from me. Maybe he can explain to his daughters why he chooses to walk away from them. Maybe Donna can explain to all of us why breaking up a family is Ok with her. But at least at the end of next Sunday night we will all be on the same page."

Jack's Mother sat for about a minute without moving. Then she spoke. "No one says anything to Jack before Sunday night. If he sees a confrontation coming, he'll run. We'll be here."

Elle's Dad spoke. "You want us here, we're here. I haven't felt so sad since my Dad died. I didn't understand that very well and I sure as hell don't understand Jack."

Elle spoke again. "I'm glad you agree. Between now and then please write down the questions you want answered. I figure if I don't write them down I won't ask. I'll be too emotional."

Elle's mom looked at the girls and asked, "Will the girls be here?"

"Yes! Jack is doing this to all of us. The girls are women. Whatever the emotional, physical and spiritual storm is about to break will rain on all of us, together. I won't ask them to hide off to the side."

"We will all need each other over the next weeks and months, no matter what happens next Sunday. Standing together will enable each of us to be stronger." Sara said.

By nine everyone had gone home. Sara looked at the pictures. She looked at me and said, "If Elle asks to see them, don't let her until after Sunday night. She'll never get the images out of her head once she sees them. There's no way she could ever love him with her body if she sees those." I agreed.

I saved them to a CD and marked it Alaskan Vacation. Elle wouldn't look on that CD.

On Sunday Elle took the girls and they drove to Steamboat Springs for the day. Jack got home at about seven-thirty and they got home at almost nine. Jack had discovered the guest room made up with his name on the door when he got home. He wanted to know where they had been. May looked him in the face and said "You first. Where have you been and what have you been doing?"

He didn't answer. On Monday Elle called Donna at work and when she invited her to dinner Donna didn't know what to do. She said she would call back later and answer. Elle asked that she call back by Tuesday afternoon and if she couldn't come on Sunday could she give Elle a couple of alternate dates that would work for her.

Half and hour later Jack called Elle and asked her what the hell she was up to.

"What do you think I'm up to, Jack?"

"I don't know!"

"There appears to be a new person in your life. Your wife and daughters would like to know her. Maybe we can love her too. Let's have dinner together and find out."

"She's not coming. You're trying to ruin everything!"

"I don't think so. Oh, you're invited too. Would you like steak or salmon that night?"

"I don't care! We won't be there!" He slammed down the phone.

Elle walked to our house and told me about the calls. I told her to go ahead and plan the meal, they would be there. On Tuesday morning I drove into town and parked a block from Donna's business. I went to a copy shop and made twenty copies of a flier I'd made on my computer. It advertised a film to be shown at a small theatre on the north side of town. The film was entitled "Their Cheating Weekend" and stared Donna and Jack. The tag line said, "Far from Colorado they bare it all for you to see."

A black and white grainy copy of the first picture from the e-mail was below the words. I put a round yellow sticky label on the photo, just big enough to cover Jack's cock and Donna's nipples, and the fliers were ready.

I walked into Donna's business and she didn't recognize me. The glasses and moustache I had never worn before helped, I think. I asked if I could post a flier on her front window for a benefit movie showing next week. She asked what the benefit was for.

"A family abandoned by the husband and father."

"I'll need to see the flier before it gets posted." She said as she got up from her desk. One look and she went white as a sheet.

"You cannot post these! This has to be illegal!"

"I don't see how. No laws were broken to get the pictures. We aren't charging for anyone to see them. Everyone does need to be over eighteen."

"How many of those fliers do you have?"

"I have about twenty in this stack. That's just for this block. Later I'm going downtown, then to the shopping malls."

"How can I stop you?"

"Go to Jack's house for dinner Sunday night. If you aren't there from six until nine the fliers go up on Sunday night, all over Denver. It is also your job to make sure Jack is there too. Understand?"

"He doesn't want to go."

"I don't care what he wants and I care even less what you want. Think about what could be on a two hour video shot in San Diego at the Gaslight Marriott and what it can do to both of you in Denver. Be at dinner."

"Who are you?"

"The best friend anyone would ever want. And, the worst enemy." I walked out. She still held the flier in her hand. On my way back to my car I took off the glasses I had worn and the moustache. The extra padding in my jacket went into a trashcan.

The next morning Jack told Elle that he and Donna would be at dinner and they picked salmon. I bought the fish and the fixins on Friday. On Saturday Elle, Sara, May, Marie and I cleaned both places and did the yard work as well. I borrowed another picnic table from a friend and we were ready. Jack had spent Thursday night and Friday night at Donna's. We didn't expect him to stay Saturday night.

At ten his car pulled into the driveway and he got out. He had a bag of laundry with him. The front door was locked. He used his key and walked in. Elle and the girls were watching a movie in the living room. He didn't say anything, just walked to the service porch and started a load of wash. He went to the guest room and found that it had not been touched since he had last been there. The bed was not made. The socks he left on the floor were still there. All Elle had done was close the door.

He went to the kitchen and got a beer from the fridge. It was the last one. He opened it and noticed the snacks Elle always had in the kitchen, because he liked them, were gone. On his way back to the guest room he looked into the master bedroom and saw that both sides of the bed had been slept in. He looked in the girl's rooms and both beds had been slept in. He felt the anger rise in him. He wondered who had been on his side of the bed.

When his laundry buzzed he saw Elle get up and go to the washer. She shut off the buzzer and went back in the living room. He went to the washer and transferred the wet clothes to the drier. He went to the living room.

The movie was over. May said, "Marie, I need your help, please." They got up and left the living room.

Jack sat on the couch. "We need more beer for tomorrow."

"May, Marie and I don't drink beer. Why do we need more beer?"

"I drink beer and you invited me for dinner."

"So I did. You're right. I'll get you a beer. Anything else?"

"We don't have any snacks in the house."

"We have plenty. May went to the store today. We have celery sticks, carrot sticks, hummas, string cheese and fruit. What did you have in mind?"

"Chips, cookies, peanut butter."

"Too much sugar and too much fat for us."

"Not for me."

"We noticed, you don't stay around here much anymore. That stuff is too much temptation to just sit here waiting for your occasional visit. You could bring some with you when you come for a visit. Please don't leave it here though. We don't need the temptation. Ok?"

"Ok. You've made your point. You didn't even make the bed in the guest room."

"We don't even have a guest room. That's your room. What you want to happen in there you will do. I make the bed in my room when I want the bed made. May and Marie make their beds when they need to. When you lived here with me I made the bed everyday because I knew you liked it. Since you took over that bedroom I've discovered what you liked was having me serve you. Thanks. Now I don't need to make the beds every day."

The drier beeped and Elle didn't move. It beeped again and she got up. Jack watched and she walked in and shut off the beep. She shut off the kitchen light and went to the master bedroom and closed the door. A few seconds later Jack heard the door latch. It hadn't had a latch since the girls were little.

He started folding his clothes and heard the shower run. When he finished he went to bed. Elle stayed up pretty late. She slept better since I reinstalled the locking latch on her bedroom door.

She knew nothing about the fliers.

In the morning she took the girls and went out for breakfast. Jack wasn't invited. He hung around until almost noon and then came out and got in his car. As he was leaving Elle and the girls drove up and waved at him. He stopped. He rolled down his window and May said, "We want to eat just after six so can the two of you be here by six?"

"We'll be here."

"Thanks, Jack." May said. Elle pressed on the gas and pulled past him and parked. It was the first time in her seventeen years she had called him Jack. He drove slowly away feeling the sting.

I arranged with both sets of parents to pick them up over at the nearby Denny's parking lot and bring them to the house. That way Jack wouldn't see their cars. They were all in the back yard well before six. Elle had made healthy snacks and lots of iced tea for everyone. There was one beer in the fridge with a wide piece of tape on it that said, "Jack's beer."

At one minute to six Marie was looking out the window and loudly said, "They're here!" She left the living room and came out back with the rest of the family. She sat between her grandmas. May was helping me at the bbq. Elle was setting food on the tables. Sara poured iced tea in the glasses.

To this day I wish I had a picture of Jack's face when he stepped into the back yard and saw all of us. Anyone in the world would be able to read that expression as "Oh Shit!" Donna looked and wanted to run. I give her credit, she didn't run.

I said, "Good! You're right on time. Everyone get a plate and come get the meat. It's ready."

Elle handed plates to her parents, Jack's parents and her daughters. Sara got plates for us. Jack fumbled and Donna got plates for the two of them. I had plenty of salmon and chicken. Each person chose which pieces they wanted and I served. Jack picked a smallish piece of salmon and Donna picked another small piece. Everyone passed the salads, the beans, the corn, the mango chutney and the condiments around. The conversation was about the summer vacation for the girls, plans grandma and grandpa (Jack's parents) had to go visit their other grandchildren in California, and the plans the other grandparents had to visit Elle's brother and his family in Seattle during the summer. The banter was light and ignored the elephant at the table until Sara asked Jack, "And what are you doing this summer?"