He Just Knew

I haven't written a new story in a while, but have been reading some old stories on the site and it generated ideas. This one is just a mix of those story ideas. It's just a simple story, a bit like real life where the wheels come off because of silly choices that have not been thought through. I hope it works.

I would like to thank my editor kenjisato for his help.

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I, Chris Walker, was standing in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches to tonight's dinner. My wife, Paula, had been away for the weekend with her friends to celebrate the fact they were all turning 30 in the next few months, and I was looking forward to her coming home. We had been married five years and this was her last big event before we started on the next part of our journey-- a family.

Everything was planned, we had just moved to our own new house a few years ago. Well, an old house, but I had carried out a lot of work to get it fixed up. Due to its bad state when we bought it, we had gotten a real bargain. I had carried out most of the work myself and, with careful working, had been able to reclaim a lot of the materials, meaning we had a surprising amount of equity in the house.

Paula and I were your usual couple. We met at her brother's yard party during a warm summer's day. She was 22 and I was 23, but in reality, her birthday was September and mine was April. Neither of us had been to college. I worked as a truck driver for a local haulage company, and she worked in the local bank. Neither of us were going to be millionaires, but as a couple, we were very comfortable. We married two years after meeting.

Our marriage had been good, but things were a little strained over the last few months, as Paula worried about the commitment required to be a mother. It wasn't helped by a couple of her friends not being married and living it up. One, in particular, annoyed me-- Steff was the typical party girl. She was with a different man every time we saw her. Once, I had asked her what she wanted to do, and she said, "I want to be a slut!" I guessed she had made it.

I heard Paula's car pull into the drive, as I checked the timer on the oven. The lasagne should be ready in ten minutes; the red wine was open and breathing; garlic bread was cooked and cooling; and the salad was in the fridge, ready to go on the table.

As I turned around, Paula was coming in the door, and I knew instantly. She had cheated on me!

How did I know? The look on her face was a self-satisfied smirk. The twinkle in her eye said, 'I have done it and there is nothing you can do about it,' and the swagger in her walk said, 'you will never find out,'

I stood still and she looked me in the eye and instantly realised, I knew. Her eyes quickly flicked from my gaze, then she dropped her bag and ran to me, saying, "Oh Chris, I so need you, take me here!"

I avoided her lunge for me by a nimble sidestep, and responded with, "No thanks, don't do sloppy seconds."

Her face was a mask. She didn't know what to do.

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I am Paula Walker, just about to turn 30, and ready to become a mother. The decision to enter parenthood was almost unconscious. About six months ago, my husband, Chris, and I were making love. It was slow and gentle, and for some reason, I whispered in his ear,"Oh god, I forgot to take my pill this morning." His reaction surprised me. The slow lovemaking stopped, and he turned almost animalistic. The only description of what we did was rutted and our mutual orgasm was mind blowing.

When we had both recovered, I started playing with his chest hair, and said, "I'm assuming from that performance, someone would like to be a daddy?"

I had brought the subject of children up about two years ago and Chris had shut me down. At the time, he was doing a lot of work to the house. He was right when he said the house was not fit for a baby and probably dangerous for a toddler, so I had not pushed the subject. This time, it looked like I had an open door.

Chris smiled. "Did you really forget to take your pill this morning?"

I laughed. "You know I didn't, but my body told me to say it. I wanted a baby. No, that's not right, I want your baby and my body wanted to know your reaction."

I'd always been a bit OCD, so we started planning. One of the key elements for me was timing, to ensure that the child was one of the oldest in their class. Yes, I have read all the studies and being the oldest in a class helps. So the plan was to go off the pill in four months.

It was just after I told the girls that we were thinking of starting our family that the enormity of what I was doing struck. I was the quiet one of the group. All my friends, especially Steff, had boyfriends throughout school and ever since. They came and went in a never-ending line. Steff, especially, considered it her obligation to have sex with as many men as she could.

I, on the other hand, was the good girl. I was saving myself for my wedding day. I had a few boyfriends, but most of the relationships fizzled out as they just never went anywhere due to my refusal to be intimate. I was beginning to think I was not only making a mistake with this choice, but I also realised I was missing out on the fun. I had resolved that I was going to lighten up and become as free as the others, and then the party and Chris came along.

The party was in my brother's yard, and I was helping his wife put out the sauces for the burgers when he breezed into my life. I didn't think he saw me, but I certainly saw him.

My sister-in-law looked at me and then at him, and asked, "You like?"

I just nodded, but kept on staring.

She laughed, then added, "Down, girl! His name is Chris, give me ten minutes and I will get Alan to introduce you."

Alan was my brother, and sure enough, he worked the party getting me beside Chris within fifteen minutes of his arrival.

My first impression was that Chris liked me as much as I liked him. We spent most of the day together and by the time he left, we had our first date all planned.

After Chris left, Steff came up to me. "You went for that in a big way, what happened?"

I couldn't help but smile, as I responded, "I felt it, I have to have him!!"

"Go pop that cherry, big girl!" was all Steff said.

And that was what I did. I didn't hold anything back from Chris, and was very happy for it to get physical on our fourth date.

Our near seven years together had been wonderful, but realizing I was going to be tied down, I got an itch. An itch that said, "You need something different, something for yourself!"

I could not talk to Chris about it, I knew how he would react. If he even had a hint I might cheat, he would stop the plans for children and might even divorce me. There was no way I was asking for a hall pass.

So I started talking to Steff. She was appalled. "How could you even think about that, or have you fallen out of love with Chris?"

"Good god, no," I squealed. "I love Chris, I want a family with him and I want to be with him forever. This is something I want for myself. Something that shows I can make more than one man happy with my body. I can't explain it, but I want some memories like you have-- other men. Chris had plenty of women before me, I need more than one!"

"Oh god, Paula, you are mad," hissed Steff, "especially now. Why did you not do this when you were single? I hope you are still on the pill because if you do this and get pregnant by another man, it will be the biggest clusterfuck ever."

"Of course, I'm still on the pill!" I spluttered, how could she think I would want another man's baby. "If I went off it now, the child would be too young in its school year. No, I was planning to go off it in four months." Then, an idea hit me. "We are having the big bash for our combined 30th in six months. I will stay on it until then, do what I have to do, then go off it when I get home and the timing will work. I can even tell Chris I'm delaying for two months to make sure even a premature baby is in the right school year."

"How long have you been planning this?" Steff asked, with incredulity in her voice.

"Ever since we decided to start a family. Will you help me?" I pleaded.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Steff. "I suspect you will do it if I help or not, but you will definitely get caught if I don't help. So I beg you to forget about it. Get off the pill and get knocked up by Chris. You don't need this and you will regret it, I know you will."

So the deal was set. Steff was going to arrange for a couple of her male friends to join us at the big birthday bash. The other girls going were as upset with me as Steff, but agreed to keep it a secret from Chris.

My OCD kicked in for the party. I wanted it to be perfect. Ideally, I could have two different men, one on Friday and one on Saturday. I told Steff of my idea and she just shook her head, but said, "This is getting out of hand, you have gone from one to two. Of course, the guys will happily take you, on separate nights, but I fear for you."

I was overjoyed and the knowledge of what I was planning, gave me a wonderful sense of satisfaction, especially at home when I curled into Chris-- I just felt clever.

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It was about two months before the party that something started to grate on me. I could not place it. Paula usually bubbles about going away with the girls and I expected by this time to have a full itinerary of her plans. But I had nothing.

Her calls with Steff were made away from me.

Paula loves to walk, and normally she gets plans for the national parks in the area and shows me the routes she is planning. I saw nothing. I was given the hotel name, but that was all. Normally, I heard about the spa, the sports center and even the bar and restaurants-- I had zip.

I was also concerned about other items in our lives, most notable was Paula's decision not to go off birth control until after the party. Paula was OCD, she had charts of her fertility which she had started two years ago when she first mentioned kids. She had already researched schools in the area and had planned the timing so the child would be born literally days after the date change over that marked when a child had to go to school. She wanted the child as old as possible in its school year.

She even researched the chances of a premature baby and had decided the risk factors for her in a first pregnancy was too small to consider. But then, out of the blue, she changed her mind based on something she had already ruled out. That was totally out of character. So, why did she need to be on the pill during her holiday? It was not like she was a drinker, she didn't smoke and going to the gym or the spa would not have affected her if she was in the early weeks of pregnancy.

I also noticed changes in our daily lives. Our sex life changed in a way I could not put my finger on, but it definitely felt off. Like she was thinking of something when we made love, or when were we making love, were we just fucking.

Her attitude also changed-- she was a bit more snappy with me. A bit more condescending, like she had a secret and she was enjoying it. I knew these things were subconscious for her, but I could see and feel them, and that told me I needed to be worried.

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It was only a week from the party, and I could not wait. Steff had introduced me to the men who were coming with us a few weeks back, and I was, well, impressed. Hell, I might even try for a quickie on Sunday morning with a third one.

I was totally absorbed in the planning and preparations, and to be honest, I was trying to keep Chris out of the way. I had bought some sexy underwear and a see-through nightie. These were going to be thrown away before I left the hotel. Chris hovered around me, as I packed on the Thursday night. I actually had to send him out of the house to get milk. He was like a little boy who had lost his puppy.

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Everything stayed the same around the house. Something was off, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Paula was being strange and I had a bad feeling.

Everything went wrong on Wednesday. I have text alerts to my phone when the bank cards are used. Paula had an old account she rarely used, but I still had the alert. Just after lunch, I received a message saying 199 dollars and 95 cents had been spent on that account at Victoria's Secret. That shocked me for a couple of reasons-- first, why was she using this account? The card was kept in the safe, so she had to go and get it. Second, she hated Victoria's Secret; she said nude was sexier.

I watched her on Wednesday night when she came home. No bags came into the house with her. When I checked the safe at six PM, the card was missing; at eight PM, it was back.

That night, I found sleep difficult, so at around three AM, I left Paula sleeping soundly. First, I went out to her car, but found nothing. As I came back to the room, I saw her small suitcase just inside the door of the guest room. Normally, when she goes away, she only takes it out the night before, not two nights before. I opened it and found nothing inside, but then I remembered the zipped compartment on the top. When I opened it, there was the Victoria's Secret bag. It clearly was not for me, it was for taking away. A quick look inside revealed two thong underwear sets, a lacy bra and a see-through nightie.

This was not proof of anything, but it showed intent. My wife obviously had ideas about cheating on me.

On Thursday night, I did what I always do when she packs. I sat on the bed to talk. But she didn't want to talk and eventually she told me to go to the store to get milk. I left the house feeling very depressed.

We always made love before either of us went away, but that night, Paula said no. Apparently, she had just had her hair done and she didn't want me 'messing it up' in the heat of the moment.

I was not happy.

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Friday morning dawned, and I was up bright and early. I was on cloud nine-- this weekend was my last hurrah, and by next week, I would be down to some serious baby making. I was sipping my morning coffee when Chris came into the kitchen. He looked terrible. I asked "What's up, you look like you haven't slept a wink all night."

Chris took the coffee pot and poured a cup of black coffee then did something unusual for him, he stirred sugar into it, before replying, "No, I had a terrible night. Have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that life is just about to fall off a cliff."

I didn't really listen to what he said, just nodded, and said, "Well try and get some rest, you know what starts next week!" I gave him a sexy smile and a wink. A quick check of the time and I jumped up, adding, "Got to go. I am leaving work at midday, I'm driving Steff up and Karen is going with Megan."

Chris nodded, then asked, "Why are you going in two cars, surely you can all fit in one?"

I hadn't thought of that. We needed two cars as there were eight of us, the four girls and the four men, but I couldn't tell Chris that. I was pleased with my quick answer. "Oh, Karen has to go to her aunt's on the way home, so she needs her own car."

I quickly gave Chris a kiss on the cheek, then ran out before he could ask any other questions, especially as Karen's aunt had died two years ago. I just hope he had forgotten.

The drive to work and the half day went like a flash. At midday, my phone pinged with a message from Steff, telling me she and the two guys were waiting for me at the agreed place. We picked a hidden park to meet, so no one would see the men getting into my car.

Karen was also in the park, and we travelled in convoy to the hotel, arriving around two PM. My holiday out of time had started, and I was going to make the most of it.

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When I came down the stairs, I felt the weight of a million broken dreams on my shoulders. Paula was drinking her coffee with a smile, or was it a smirk, on her face. She took one look at me and enquired, "What's up, you look like you haven't slept a wink all night."

She was right, I hadn't and the reason was her. I went for a cryptic response, to see if she picked up on it. "No, I had a terrible night. Have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that life is just about to fall off a cliff."

It went straight over her head and when she replied with, "Well try and get some rest, you know what starts next week!"

I felt even sicker. If she was going to do what I thought she was going to do, did she think we would be making children next week? If she did this to me, to us, we would be getting divorced next week.

The attempt at a sexy smile and wink fell flat, but again, she ran out of the house, giving me a peck on the cheek which said, "Not interested in you, got something better to do."

I sat at the table and took one sip of coffee. Why had I put sugar in it? I threw it out and poured a new one without sugar. That one hit the spot.

My next thought was on the taking of two cars, that didn't make sense. Why did the mention of Karen going to her aunt's sound forced? It was another circumstantial piece of the puzzle, which I didn't like because everything felt off.

It was time for action, I had to know what she was doing. I called a friend, Dave, who worked as a researcher in a lawyer's office. After some opening pleasantries, I asked, "Dave, I need to find out what someone is doing, how do I go about it?"

Dave's voice went from friendly to business like. "Who is the person and what do you think they are doing?"

I didn't want to spill my private life to Dave, so I asked, "Why, is that important?"

"Because there are different ways to research this. So I need to know what the purpose is before I can advise," responded Dave.

That, regrettably, made sense, so I started, "Dave, this stays between you and me, OK?"

He grunted, "OK."

So, I continued, "Paula is away this weekend with Steff and the girls, and I have a bad feeling Steff has talked her into cheating on me."

I heard a long intake of breath, then Dave came back, "OK, you need a PI. We have one on the staff. Send me the name of the hotel, a photo of Paula and I will get him over there. I owe you a favour, so no charge." With that, he hung up, clearly this was business.

I emailed Dave everything he wanted. He then phoned me back. "OK, the PI will be there. We will have a report for you on Tuesday. I suggest you try and forget about it until then. Make sure you don't go anywhere near the hotel, and only phone Paula at the times you agreed with her. We need you to act normally so she will act normally. I know this is hard, and I might be asking you to let your wife cheat, but sometimes shit happens and you have to clean up the mess."

I did go to work on Friday, but the boss sent me home because I looked unfit to drive. After spending most of Friday feeling sorry for myself, I went out to a bar and had a beer, came back and sat in front of a football game, although I couldn't tell you who was playing, never mind the score.

Saturday consisted of yard work, a pizza and an early night. On Sunday, I went shopping to get things for dinner. Even if Tuesday was the end of my marriage, I at least wanted a pleasant homecoming.

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There were only four rooms booked in the hotel. Steff walked up to me and whispered, "Will you do me a favour and leave, and go and fuck Chris silly this weekend?"

I looked at her, and said, "Why would I do that, this is my little adventure. Please don't ruin it for me."

She took a deep sigh, then took Mark by the hand, and placed it over my hand. "Mark, look after my little Paula," she said, before walking away holding Mike's hand.

Mark and I went to the room, and it was fantastic. We were just into the room and doing some light petting, when the phone rang. It was Steff to say they were going to the spa and to hurry up. I quickly went into the bathroom to change into a new bikini which left little to the imagination, and clearly gave Mark some ideas, as he suggested we arrive late in the spa.