Is My Marriage a Trope?

This is a fictional story with a few parts that might be unrealistic, but it's only a story, right? So please allow a little disbelief.

It's full of the usual tropes. Characters are probably caricatures, some readers may prefer more development.

All that said, nothing written here is meant to be personally insulting to anyone. Differences, distinctions, and contrasts are for the storyline, but I'm not putting down and am not biased against any culture, career, schooling, level of education, economic status, race, sexual orientation, occupation. This is just a story showing some contrasts that may lead to conflict.

Story covers about 25 years, so hopefully readers can follow the timeline.

Thanks to BentNotBroken for editing and contributions.

* * * *

For some reason I get a lot of pleasure out of reading about cheating wives and all their reasons. So many stories seem impossible, unrealistic, have crash and burn endings, or endings that are abrupt. I have no personal desire to cheat, I just read these for recreation I guess.

It's also hilarious to read the comments criticizing the writing, especially about the overused tropes. But I wonder, just how many tropes there are? Eventually they've got to be reused!

Sometimes I think my mood changes after reading a story, maybe I'm a little cranky, pissed off, unnaturally quiet, or even sexually aggressive with my wife.

There have been times, only a few, when I've let some of the story plots invade my mind and make me suspect my wife of something, or at least look for whatever signs there may be. Usually it doesn't take long to get past these feelings. There've never been anything close to the signs of cheating with Renata.

On the other hand, my wife isn't stupid. Not at all. In fact, she's really book smart. She didn't go to college out of high school. Neither of us did. We grew up in an area and an economic situation where basically no one went to college, and no one would be able to afford college.

Mostly it was retail work, Walmart, waitressing or if one was skilled, hair stylist and beauty school - none of which were her goals in life.

Us men ended up in a factory, warehouse, truck driving, laborer, rough carpenter, mechanic, and/or the army.

When any of our friend group got married they'd have to rent for a while, work two incomes, no kids, scraping together enough money for a FHA low down payment on a small ranch or bungalow and a used car. Maybe two if we had friends who were mechanics and could keep them running.

None of this meant any of us were stupid or lazy. We all worked hard, after all, sometimes you're stuck with what you were born into. Some are single-parent homes with huge financial strain. Some have serious health situations that cost money and take time away from work. Others run into drug issues, or are born with addiction no fault of their own. Some join gangs just to survive.

Renata was smart in high school. She helped me a lot with some subjects and we dated and went steady. Like every kid in the small town we knew pretty much everyone and pretty much everyone dated each other.

Our relationship grew from being neighbor kids, to years as friends just hanging out with other classmates, to study buddies, to our first kisses as we began dating, and upon becoming exclusive, our less-than-innocent exploration of each other's bodies as we gave in to our hormones.

I can't help smiling as I recall the day we relieved each other of our virginities. Under the light of the summer full moon, we rode our bikes out to ol' man Nevonen's barn, snuck in and carefully made our way up to the hayloft.

Playing a bit of grabass, I chased her up the ladder with her muffled giggles and squeals being music to my ears. We tripped through the deep hay to a comfy-looking spot where I quickly shook out the blanket from my backpack before pulling her close to kiss her sweet lips, falling to the quilt in each other's arms.

The tenor of Ren's moans increased as one of my hands cupped her taut butt cheek while the other gently squeezed her breast, teasing her nipple to perk up. She ground her pubic bone against my hard cock as my lips nibbled along her jawline to her ear and curve of her throat.

My wandering hands moved under the hem of her t-shirt to find the front clasp of her lacy bra and released more than a handful of her tits, their turgid nipples begging for my eager mouth.

Having only played with her naughty bits through her clothing, I was extremely excited at the prospect of touching and tasting every sweet inch of her skin. This is what's called 'young love.'

Resting my forehead on her chest, I had to breathe several deep breaths, trying to control my reaction to her kisses, the touch of her silky skin, the sexy teasing movements she used against me before I completely embarrassed myself and prematurely ruined our special night.

"Randy? What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" she asked, innocent concern evident in her voice as she stopped rubbing her mound against me.

I looked up at her, giving a quick kiss to her swollen lips, "Baby! You're just so darn sexy, you're driving me crazy! I want to make this so good for you, too - not just for me. I just don't want to lose control and mess things up."

"Oh, sweetie! There is zero chance that you'll mess anything up with these strong hands and your talented lips, Randy. You should know that by now. I am yours and you are mine. Forever. All mine!"

The steamy look in her pretty eyes drove out any other noble ideas I may have uttered before she flipped me over and straddled me, before whipping her t-shirt up and over her head to jiggle her pretty headlights in my face - still framed by the hot pink lacy scrap of what she called a bra.

I couldn't hear anything from the pounding beat of my heart.

Reaching up, I tugged and tweaked her dark pink nipples, "Come in Tokyo! Come in Tokyo!" Looking back I laugh at how juvenile it was to say that. But I was a kid, yeah, one of legal age and hormonal, but God, just looking at those breasts inspired stupidity!

Her teenage, young, firm, tanned, sleek legs spread wide over my hips as I humped my iron bar up against her crotch, inducing a squeal and giggle. Bending up, I motorboated between her luscious breasts as her throaty laugh turned into low moans when I latched onto a nipple, sucking deeply as my tongue flicked and stroked.

Pushing her scrap of lace off her shoulders, I pulled back, stretching her stiff, rubbery stalk away from her quivering tit before popping off, quickly repeating on her other nipple... back and forth, working her into a panting frenzy.

With a final suck and nip, I slurped off her tit before rolling her onto her back, her fingers scrambling at her button and zipper on her shorts, making my job of slipping them down and over her slight hips and down her legs easier - her matching hot pink bikinis going along for the ride.

As I swept her final items of clothing off her hot little body, Ren's hands literally shredded my old t-shirt down the middle before ripping at my button-fly jeans. Had I not been so focused on the stunning minx before me as I gazed down at her in wonder, I would have been fascinated with her agility as she used her feet with her hands to shimmy my jeans down my ass, conveniently spreading open her secret garden for my eager eyes and fingers as we were now completely bared to each other for the first time.

"Ren, are you sure? Really sure? I will stop if you have ANY doubts about ..."

"Randy! Holy shit! How can you doubt how much I want this with ONLY you! For you! You are my man and I want you to make me yours forever! Slide in me and make me YOUR woman! PLEASE!! Ple - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yes!!!!!"

Renata's impassioned soliloquy cut off as I notched my cockhead at the wet mouth of her vagina. I slicked up and down her lower lips, spreading her copious glistening fluids around and along the length of my pulsing rod - waiting for her to rise up to meet my motions. A fleeting glimpse of unease flashed across her eyes as she felt the heat and strength which was teasing her, before she caught her bottom lip between her teeth and she lunged towards me as my cock dipped low, spearing her wet, hot hole with my throbbing cock.

Oh lord! Words can hardly describe the myriad of sensations coursing through my body. From the look on Ren's face and the sounds coming from her chest, I like to think that she was feeling amazing sensations like I was. We both froze, blinking at each other with our breathing deep and rapid as we tried to get a grip on this monumental moment in our lives together.

Slow, shallow strokes became steady, deeper pumping as we took liberties with our hands and mouths on the others' fun bits while our 'privates' rambunctiously bumped and ground, triggering growing gasps and moans from both of us as we built up steam. "Randy? Raaaaandddddy... More, more, please, yessssssssss!"

"Ren... Ren...I'm losing my mind! I'm going to cum - I'm going to pull out... "

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Don't stop, Randy!!!! Please! For the love of Pete, don't stop!!! Cum with me!!!"

Young love with firm and flexible bodies creates indelible memories for a lifetime. At that time, we were One...

* * * *

Ren did really well in high school but like most of us she got married to me shortly after and started having kids. I got lucky in that she married me, a factory line worker but she never lost her love of learning. Frequently she'd spend her quiet moments reading all sorts of subjects.

I think she's beautiful, a natural beauty that even without make-up is the girl next door, blonde and a nice body. Not huge tits (certainly not small), nice firm butt and great legs. Even after giving birth to Ricky and Roni she maintained her figure.

Renata was a fantastic wife. She keeps a nice home, is a wonderful mother, a good neighbor and she maintains nice friendships. And she's good to me, especially since I have to occasionally work some overtime as I can to meet the bills for our little family.

Even with the overtime schedule and meeting the kids' needs and demands, we still had really good communication, sharing our thoughts, dreams and our daily events. Good sex too! We were friends, true friends. Yeah, lots of married couples say that but we truly were each other's best friend.

We talked about everything, and when there were issues, we talked through everything. Open honesty was the foundation of our conversations, and though at times we got upset with each other, we were still willing to be vulnerable to each other and not use it to hurt or gain advantage of the other.

Even within our friend group it was recognized how thoughtful we were to each other, and because of that we frequently would be other couple's source of advice. This only helped our relationship, because as we heard what others dealt with, and how they chose to deal with the conflict, we realized how what we had was truly really, really special.

Our 'little family' is just one of the families in our tight knit community. We all grew up together, went to the same high school, the teachers probably taught our parents, so everyone in the area is at least familiar and some are quite good friends.

Many of us have not only kept in touch after high school, but since we all basically stayed in the community and married some of us are quite close. This is one of the heart of America areas, where neighbors truly are neighborly. We all have the same issues everyone else does - economic pressure, health and family issues, marital arguments, running kids around.

The difference here is that we support each other. The washing machine breaks? Someone will spend their Saturday helping to fix it. Got a flat tire? A neighbor will come out and help change it. Need a sitter? Plenty of good families are willing to take the kids even on short notice.

We have regular outings, like watching the high school football team, fireworks, the parade on Main Street, regular backyard get-togethers. Are there disagreements and the occasional drunken outburst? Yep. But that's all part of the closeness of our modest, humble area we are blessed to live in.

About eight years into marriage with a five and seven year old now in school, Renata's homelife lightened a little and I could tell she was feeling a little restless.

"Randy, honey, I was Googling "best careers for professional women" and one of these really interests me, a pharmacist."

"Wow babe," I responded, a little taken aback at such a thought. "Do they make a lot of money? How does anyone even become one?"

"Yeah, a six-figure income but it requires a lot of schooling. I'm thinking, well, you know with the kids all in school now and I have some time, perhaps I can study to become a pharmacy tech as a start."

"Well, Renata, why do you want to work? I mean after having taken such good care of the kids why not enjoy a little time off? Besides, how much would that cost?"

"I'm bored honey. I mean, I love our life but I could use being with adults a little more and using my brain more than figuring out healthy meals and folding clothes. From what it says here it depends on what State we live in, but here it looks like an associate degree certificate program would qualify me as a tech. And they make about $32,000 a year. That could go a long way for our family and the kids' college."

"College for our kids? I know we talked about that before Ren, but that would sure be different from everyone else in this town."

"But don't you think it would be nice to get our kids out of the rut everyone here is in?"

Calling our life a "rut" sort of smarted, but I didn't let on. She may be right, of course, but this 'rut' was a good life. I knew she could do this, but it would cost money.

"Randy, our local community college has a partial online and classroom program for only $10,000! That means I could do some of this at home and some in town. I could work this around the kids and housework. Can I, please? What do you think?"

"Oof" I grunted. "$10,000 is like ten million to us. Goodness babe, I mean, I want to support you but wow, we have a hard time saving as it is!"

"What if I could get a grant or something for some of it? Can you think how we'd make up the difference?"

"I guess I'd have to try and move up at the factory while getting as much overtime as I can. I mean, I could do that but it would take time away from you and the kids."

"But if you did honey, I'd be studying while you're working. Can you see if you can make that work and I'll see about financial aid? Would you let me do this, please?"

"Renata, I love you and want you to be happy. I'll do this as long as you stick with this all the way through, otherwise it will be a waste of time and money."

So that's the way it worked out. I was able to snag a repairman job on the line which paid more, and took a lot of overtime. She did get a grant for some of the tuition and eventually passed the course two years later. With our new schedules, the time we were able to spend together as a family was even more precious.

Now that the kids are seven and nine, they are more self-sufficient, and Renata was able to qualify for a Pharmacy Tech job at the local drugstore. I was very proud of her accomplishment, and the money she brought home was helpful.

It put our income over our expenses so that we weren't so stressed about watching every dime, and that was nice for a change. She enjoyed her job, she enjoyed the recognition from the community for what she accomplished, and I think she felt fulfilled that she was able to use her brain outside our castle.

We were even able to afford a little vacation to Disney World, staying offsite in an efficiency apartment and making our own meals to cut down on expenses. When the kids were at the pool, we made our own pool of liquids in our hotel bedroom! We were able to recharge and our bond and our family unit was stronger than ever.

This was nice for about two years when she began to think that she too could become a pharmacist, but that would require more schooling. A lot more schooling. I didn't think it was necessary because between us we were finally putting money in the bank, but she felt she was topping out at her job and had been watching and learning from the Pharmacist and knew she could do the job.

A little sex, a lot of pouting and pleading twisted my arm, and she was enrolled in the Pharmacy Program at the University about an hour away in the city. This meant student loans, drive time, fewer hours working at the pharmacy and spending time as a family, as well as me working a hell of a lot more overtime.

Eventually the classwork became too much and she had to quit the pharmacy, which put even more pressure on me to work to meet the bills and work in the kids' evolving school commitments. The semesters seemed to drag on over the next six years, because she had to complete an undergrad degree then go into the graduate program to be a full-fledged pharmacist.

About the only saving grace financially was that she paid in-State tuition.

These six years were quite stressful in the home. We didn't see our friends very much. I was working hellish hours, she was away studying or at home studying or with other younger students (obviously) in their study groups.

Admittedly I was jealous of her, mostly because of the time she spent with others rather than me. And the kids would take up any other free time she would have, leaving basically the housework, cooking and cleaning as times we both could be together, jointly taking care of these mundane tasks.

Even at night we were both tired and our intimacy became infrequent at best. And because of that we would become snippy with each other over minor things, but would apologize and blame it on the stress.

There were times, though, I felt she was drawing away from me. Was I jealous? Maybe. Resentful? Yes, I was resentful of the vast quantity of time she was not with me physically or emotionally. Maybe that was the reason behind my feeling of her drawing away. On the other hand, it did seem her attitude had shifted toward our life in general. I couldn't put a finger on it, but there was something different.

She was an excellent student, after all, she was smart. Our kids were 15 and 17 when she graduated and we were in the audience whooping and whistling when she crossed the stage. We had a party at home with family and friends when she made an announcement that changed the course of our marriage.

"Everyone, please settle down, I have an announcement. I want to thank my dear husband for his support over these years without which I would never have been able to complete my schooling. I love him so much for this that words cannot express my feelings.

"But I have some incredible news. The University's Placement Office helped me find a job to use my degree, and Trinity Hospital in the city has agreed to hire me as a full-fledged Pharmacist!"

The room erupted in shouts of congratulations and cheers, for no one in our dinky town had ever achieved what my wife had. However I was shocked. I didn't know about any of this at all, and the hospital is an hour away, that's a daily two hour drive!

I couldn't very well be the downer during the party, so I kept a happy face and accepted everyone's congratulations. But when the party wound down and Renata and I were cleaning up I asked her, "When were you going to tell me about this job?"

She didn't look up but continued to load the dishwasher. "Randy, can we talk about it tomorrow? I'm tired, it's been a long day."

Um, it immediately occurred to me how many Literotica stories have a husband asking his wife a question and she defers to another day? Naturally, or perhaps unnaturally, my heart started thumping at what I was imagining. But unlike so many Literotica husbands, I didn't let it sit.