Empty Nest

I got off the elevator and followed the signs to Mark's room. Before I opened the door, I took a second to work up my nerve. I was actually nervous about going in. How had it come to the point where I was uncomfortable seeing my family? "Okay Jason. Get yourself together and just go in and be yourself." So, I took one last breath and opened the door.

"Daddy!" Savannah exclaimed. "I'm so glad you finally made it!"

She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tight. "Well hello to you too baby girl." I then saw my other son, Jeff, sitting in one of the chairs. I looked over at him and smiled, "what, no hug for the old man?"

"Hey Dad," he said. When I got to his chair, her stood up and hugged me too. "It looks like Mark's going to be laid up for a while, so I guess now when you come up to school that you can just take your favorite son out to play a round of golf, huh?"

"Yeah," I laughed. "I guess I won't have to take Mark along just to keep him from getting jealous, but when he gets back to normal, we'll have to play it cool and ask him to come along too."

I turned to Mark's bed and he appeared to be asleep at the moment. Annie was sitting by his side, like I knew she would be. It was obvious that I was making her nervous. She had yet to raise her head to look at me. If we were going to make it through the next few days, I knew it was going to be up to me to ease the tension.

I walked over beside the bed next to her. "So, Annie, how's our boy?"

"Well, not too bad at the moment, but he gave us quiet the scare yesterday," she answered.

For the next couple of hours, we sat around Mark's room and reminisced about the kids growing up and some of the crazy things they did. After the initial tension, everyone seemed to relax. At around 7:00PM, I insisted that everyone go home. I told Savannah and Jeff to go back to school and that either their Mom or I would call them as soon as Mark was out of surgery. I also made Annie go home. She looked exhausted and I really wasn't ready to be alone with her yet.

The next day, Mark's surgery went well and a few days later he was released to go home. Annie and I managed to get him home and settled into his room. Being back in the house brought back some unpleasant memories, but I had promised myself that I would just suck it up for Mark's sake. After he was settled, I told him goodbye and that I would stop by to see him tomorrow.

I was almost out of the house when Annie stopped me to remind me that I had promised to talk with her about what had happened before our divorce was finalized and that we only had a few weeks left before the court date. "Damn!" I knew she was right. "Okay, I guess I've put this off as long as I can" I thought. "How about I come by on Saturday morning and I'll let you tell me everything you have to say?"

"Yeah, Saturday would work for me. How about around 8:00AM and I'll fix some breakfast?" She asked

"Sounds good, Annie. I'll see you then."

I spent the next two days catching up at work and figuring out what I wanted to say on Saturday. Cathy and I met for dinner on Friday night and talked about the prior weekend. I just wanted to make sure she was alright with everything that happened and she was. We both agreed that neither of us was ready for another serious relationship right now, but we both also agreed that an occasional date and roll in the hay was still on the table. And, just to prove it to ourselves, we went back to my apartment and fucked like a couple of horny college kids for a couple of hours before she had to head home to her boys.

True to my word, I showed up at my old house at 8:00AM. Annie met me at the door and had a big breakfast ready. After I checked on Mark and the three of us ate breakfast, Mark headed to his room to catch up on the classwork that he had missed the past week and Annie and I went out on the patio for some privacy.

She sat there nervously for a few seconds, obviously trying to make sure she said things just right. "First of all, I need to tell you that I am sorry. I'm sorry for what I did with Sam. I'm sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry for all the lies. You need to know that I realize that this is all my fault. You did absolutely nothing to deserve what I did. I just want to try to explain why I did what I did, but please don't take any of these to be excuses because there is no excuse for what I've done."

At this point she paused to see my reaction. I just sat quietly and waited for her to continue. This was her show and at this point, I still wasn't in any mood to go easy on her. Her apology did mean something to me on a certain level, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to accept it yet. I had forgiven her weeks earlier, but that was for my sanity. I was so wrapped up in my anger that it was making me ill at times. Then Cathy convinced me that I needed to forgive Annie. She helped me process the idea that by forgiving her I wasn't saying that what she did was okay. I was just telling myself that it was time to move on with life.

When she realized that I was not going to respond she decided to continue. "Also, just so you know, I have been seeing a counselor for the past couple of months to try to figure out why I did what I did so a lot of this comes from my discussions with her.

At this point, I'm thinking "great. Now comes the part where all of this is my fault or her parent's fault or the kid's fault"

So, I sat there for the next hour and let her say everything she wanted to say just as I promised I would. It was all a load of shit of course, but I let her say it all. I'm sure it made sense to her.

Apparently, this all started when the boys left to go to college. She felt lonely and depressed. She had spent the past twenty years focusing most of her attention on the children and now they were all gone and didn't need her anymore. She had always suffered from mild depression and the kids all leaving home just made the depression worse.

I was wrapped up in my work and didn't spend much time with her. Her counselor told her that when children leave home, the parents must shift their focus from the children and find their fulfillment from other people or things, preferable from their spouse. According to her, I had my work which was what I had always turned to for fulfillment, but she had nothing. Her job was just a job to her, A way to keep herself busy.

So, she was bored and lonely and Sam just happened to be there and started inviting her to lunch. She acknowledged that it was wrong, but she was lonely and he was so attentive. Over a few months their conversations became more personal as they started complaining to each other about me and Cathy. Then one Wednesday, they were at a client function and after a few too many drinks, Sam walked her to her car and kissed her. She didn't know why, but she kissed him back until her guilt stopped her and she pulled away.

The rest of her story was sadly predictable. They kept having lunch. They kissed again which led to making out in Sam's car after lunch. This progressed to fondling each other over their clothes until Sam pushed it further one day and fingered her pussy. It continued the next week with more fingering and a blowjob in the car. Then came the first encounter that Cathy and I knew about when they came to our house for the first time.

She swore that it was just sex and that she never loved him. She was just lonely and he made her feel good about herself and feel wanted. She didn't enjoy the sex so much as the thrill of doing something she knew was so wrong. She still loved me and wanted to stay together and work on our marriage, blah, blah, blah.

When she was finished, I took a second to gather my thoughts before I responded to her. "So, I only have two questions. One, was this the first time that you cheated on me? And second, have you continued seeing Sam after I left the house?" What she didn't know was that I knew the answers before I asked the questions. I just wanted to see if she would be honest with me.

"Oh my God, Jason, please believe me that this was the first and only time that I've cheated." I actually believed her. I had paid a private investigator to dig into her and Sam's past. Cathy and I provided access to all of our cellphone and banking information, and I gave him access to Annie's personal laptop. He found nothing suspicious on any of Annie's devices or our bank accounts until a couple of weeks before she and Sam came to our house for the first time. At that point, there were tons of sexually charged text messages between them late at night.

"Okay Annie, I guess I believe you. I have no reason to believe that there's been any other affairs. Now how about the second question?"

"We talked a few times to compare notes on how to handle things with you and Cathy, but we haven't actually seen each other since the day that video was recorded."

Well, so much for honesty. I knew for a fact that she had seen him twice in our house since I left. "So, Annie, here's my problem. I know that is a blatant lie. Sam was in this house the first two Friday nights after I left and he stayed here the entire night both times." A look of panic was now spreading across her face. "Do you remember Bill Stevenson stopping by to remove the cameras after I confronted you?" She nodded yes. "Did it ever occur to you that I just might send him back to reinstall them when you were at work that next week? Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that, after fucking this asshole for who knows how many weeks, that when I've left you and Cathy's thrown him out of his house that the two of you wouldn't get together for some 'feeling sorry for yourself' sex?"

"I'm so sorry! Please let me explain. I was scared and alone. You and Cathy had left us and we just needed someone to talk to." She said with tears streaming down her face.

"Well, I know you did more than talk, because, unlike you, the cameras don't lie! You know Annie, I could deal with the truth, but I'm not going to put up with lies. In the grand scheme of things, two more times are not that big of a deal. But, lying is a deal breaker. Even at work, I am fairly tolerant when people make mistakes, but if anyone lies to me, they are gone,"

I had heard enough. "Well, I kept my promise and let you talk, but you've proven that you're not ready to be completely honest. So, my suggestion for you is to let our divorce become final at our court date and move on. I've got enough video of you two to start a porn site and if you try to stall things I might do just that. Goodbye Annie!"

Annie decided to take my advice and our divorce became final about two weeks later. The week after that, Savannah graduated from college and both Annie and I did our best to focus on her that day. We were both really proud of her. We gave her a two-week European cruise for graduation and after that she was going to come work for me full-time.

The private investigator found a lot more dirt when it came to Sam. Annie may have thought she was special, but she was his fourth affair in the past three years. The investigator found that Sam had been with two more women and a man. That was all Cathy needed to make her mind up and follow through with her divorce.

I couldn't resist sending Annie a copy of the investigator's report with a handwritten cover sheet from me. "You may want to take a look at this report. Apparently, you weren't as special as you thought. And, by the way, you will probably want to get tested for STD's. Affairs with three women and a man would lead you to believe that this guy will stick his cock into just about anyone."

Cathy and I continued seeing each other regularly over the next few months. I really liked her and I think the feeling was mutual. We did agree to take things slow for a while until all of the wounds from our divorces healed. She had a lot of really attractive qualities and I enjoyed spending time with her. She was a lot of fun to be around, and on top of it all, she was a lot of fun in bed too. Good companionship and great sex, what more could a man ask for?

I did have one more debt to pay. I had been trying to think of how I was going to pay Sam back for all the hurt he caused, preferably one that kept me out of jail. I finally came up with an idea and ran it by Cathy. At this point I cared too much about her to do anything that would cause her pain. She laughed and said her only regret was that she wouldn't be there to see the look on his face.

When the PI was investigating Sam, he discovered that he stopped at a particular bar every Friday night after work before heading home to his apartment. So, one Friday night, about two weeks after Sam and Cathy's divorce was final, I had one of my project managers go with me to pay Sam a visit at the bar. Bob was about my height, but he was probably fifty pounds heavier.

We entered the bar and found Sam exactly where the PI said he sat every week. He was in a booth by the windows, sitting by himself. I walked around so that I could approach him from the rear and Bob approached from the opposite direction. When we got to his booth, we both pushed our way into the booth with me beside Sam and Bob facing him. "Well, well old friend. Do you remember me?" I asked.

It took a second for it to register in his brain that I was Annie's husband. Then his eyes went wide and the color drained from his face. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I'm really sorry for what I did so can't we just let the past stay in the past?"

I flagged the waitress down and told her "my friend here wants to buy us a drink. Can you bring us two of your best bourbons? Oh, and make them doubles. After all, when you fuck a man's wife, the least you can do is buy him a drink." At that, Sam sank a little deeper into the bench.

"You know Sam, you don't just get to fuck a guy's wife and not have to pay some kind of price. It was a good thing for you that I didn't find you when I first saw that video. My first thought was to rip that pitiful little dick of yours off and shove it down your throat until you choked on it. But, lucky for you, I'm too old to go to jail. So, let me explain to you how things are going to work for you. You will never speak to, interact with and certainly never fuck Annie again! Is that clear?"

"Yes sir" he meekly replied. "Don't worry about me. I'll go the opposite way if I ever even spot her walking down the street."

"Good! Now that we've got that clear there's one other thing. You will never miss, be late with, or short-pay your alimony and child support to Cathy. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir. Chrystal clear."

I turned my drink up and finished the last bit and then reached into the bag I had sat beside me when I walked in, pulled out a box, gift wrapped in black paper, and handed it to Sam. "Go ahead and open it asshole."

Sam cautiously opened the gift and found a box containing a 1.75-liter bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label. Confused, he said "I'm not sure I understand. What's this for?"

"Do you remember me just telling you that when you fuck a man's wife the least you can do is buy him a drink?" He nodded that he understood. "Well, asshole, as much as I've fucked your ex-wife in the past three months, I figured I owed you a whole bottle! Enjoy."