My first foray into Loving Wives. Not a BTB, but definitely not a RAAC. I'm hoping it's maybe a more realistic view of a marriage. Not much sex, but again, probably a little more realistic. And yes, I should have submitted it a couple of weeks ago, but sometimes life does get in the way.
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Friday, October 25, 2019 - the Hansen Realty Company Halloween Party at the Magnolia Hotel in downtown St. Louis.
Chris walked into the party late. He was actually surprised he was here at all. Ever since Sarah, his first wife, was killed five years ago by a drunk driver who was between parties, Chris has hated the idea of any Halloween party. The last four years, when his current wife Steph asked, he always offered to watch the kids so she could go, but the pain still kept him from attending. A couple of times, she made her excuse to her boss and stayed home as well.
This year, Chris decided it was time to stopping mourning Sarah and rejoin the party (pun intended). He hadn't told Steph he was coming, because he wanted to surprise her. He had been planning this for a couple of months, and actually got one of his cousins to help him with his costume. His cousin was a professional camera operator, and had connections to costuming and special effects departments in the movie industry. Chris talked to Cory about getting him a Mandalorian costume. This was big. Nobody had one for sale yet. The show wouldn't even premiere on Disney until the next month. But Chris had always been a huge Star Wars fan, and loved the character as soon as he saw the very first trailer in August. Fortunately, Cory's connections were able to put together a very convincing replica. Chris loved that the helmet would allow him to wander through the party anonymously until he could surprise Steph.
The party was officially beginning at 7:00, but most people didn't get there until an hour or so later. If it was normal, it would last until well after midnight, and because everyone always had a really good time, Steph's boss always rented several rooms for guests to sleep rather than drive home under the influence.
Chris and Steph usually arrived home from work at about the same time, usually by 5:30, and that day was no exception. They had a quick dinner together with their five kids. When they married, they agreed that family meals were important, and unless they had very unusual circumstances, they always ate together at the dining room table, and talked about their day. Mom going to a party later was not considered an unusual circumstance. Besides, dinner was nearly always done by 6:30 and that would give Steph plenty of time to put on her costume and take an Uber to the party. She was packing an overnight bag just in case.
When she came back down the stairs, Chris and the kids were impressed. She was dressed as a Spanish Pirate wench. The outfit was sexy, even though it was a very appropriate outfit for a wife and mother. She wore a white peasant blouse with an under bust corset, and flowing skirts that reached nearly to her ankle. She wore her long, wavy hair down, and had a mask of starched lace around her eyes.
Her teenage son, Daniel was the first to comment, "Wow, Mom! You look great!"
Chris did a double-take, "Wow is right! Beautiful as always!"
Steph did a little curtsy, "Thank you, kind sirs."
Her phone buzzed that her ride was there. She grabbed her bag and gave Chris a quick kiss, "I love you. Have a good night, everybody. I'll probably see you in the morning."
Chris watched out the front door as she got into her Uber and then turned back to the kids, "Daniel and Katelyn, can I talk to the two of you for a minute?"
Katelyn was the first to respond, "Sure, dad, what's up?"
"Well, I didn't want your mom to make a big deal out this, but I'm planning to surprise her at her party."
Daniel nodded and said, "Really, that's cool."
"But that means I'm going to need the two of you to watch your sisters. It probably will be all night."
Katelyn smiled, "No problem. It's good that you and mom get to do this. You never get away that much."
Chris returned the smile. They really were a great set of kids. "Thanks, guys. I guess I should go get changed."
Twenty minutes later, he came down in his full Mandalorian costume, and it was clear the kids were impressed. Daniel was the only other male in the house, and he was immediately jealous. "Where did you find that? I didn't know they had those yet. And it looks so real. I would have expected something more cheaply made."
"Well, my cousin Cory pulled in some favors from his special effects guys, and they custom made it for me. It was a little expensive, but definitely worth it."
Oh, wow, you've got to let me wear that sometime. That is so cool!"
"I think we might be able to arrange that. Particularly after you watch the girls tonight. You guys be good tonight. Your mom and I will see you tomorrow."
Chris decided to drive his own car to the hotel. He knew he would be staying with Steph after the party, and having their own car meant that they could head home in the morning on their own time. He pulled into the large parking garage down the street from the hotel, but he decided to leave his overnight bag in the car until later.
It didn't take long once he got into the hotel before he found the party in the main ballroom. The way it was set up, there was a large open space for mingling and dancing, but that was always a little loud for those that wanted to just have a drink and talk. So there were also decorations set up that provided isolated little areas for more private discussions.
By the time Chris got there, the party was in full swing. Hansen Realty was a large operation, so there were lots of employees, as well as spouses, boyfriends, and girlfriends. But the firm was also noted for inviting a few other guests, usually contractors that did renovations for the firm, or frequent customers.
Chris first went to the bar where he could get a drink before tracking down his wife. He suddenly realized he hadn't considered this part of the costume. He didn't want to take off the helmet and carry it around all night, because that would definitely ruin the effect. So, as strange as it sounded, he asked the bartender for an draft beer with a straw. There was enough space under the helmet to reach his mouth with a straw. He and the bartender had a good laugh about the guy in the full armor drinking beer with a straw, but it worked.
He then set off on his quest to find his wife. He wandered around looking for Steph, but he couldn't find her on the open part of the floor. When he finally found her in one of the side areas, he suddenly wished he hadn't. Steph was in one of the more private corners surrounded by coffins and skeletons, in a deep embrace passionately kissing another guest. In this case, it wasn't any guest, it was John, Chris's best friend, and he was dressed as a pirate, which meant that Steph had planned her costume as part of a couples thing.
Chris knew nothing would be the same. Even if she wasn't actually cheating on him, just being in this situation was breaking the spouse rule, and he would have a difficult time trusting her after this. He also knew he needed to know more of what was going on. He walked past the couple and into the next space where he could take a seat and pretend to nurse his drink. At least in this situation, he had the perfect disguise to witness and listen to everything they did and said. Unfortunately, all he could hear at this point was the sound of kissing and light moaning. He pulled his phone out hoping he could it would record a little of what they were saying. He didn't know if it would work or not, but he thought it was worth a try.
"Steph, we can't continue on like this. You know I want you. Leave Chris and marry me."
"Be very clear, John. I love you and want to be with you. But I am a package deal. I've got three kids to think about as well."
Chris' heart broke wide open at that. They had five kids, although it was a "yours, mine, and ours" situation. Steph had two kids from her first marriage, he had two from his first marriage, and now they had one together. But something about the way she talked about only three hurt him more than he expected. From the moment he met them, he loved her two kids as much as loved his own. To him, it was always their FIVE kids.
Chris' mind flashed back to when he first met Steph nearly 5 years earlier. He and his daughters had just moved to St. Louis from Kansas City. It was January 2015, and his wife had died the October just before that. Those first months after her death weighed very heavily on Chris, and he knew he needed to make a change quickly before he was overwhelmed.
His daughters, Ashley and Emma were only three and one at the time, so they didn't really even understand the move. Chris's parents lived about an hour east of KC, so they could still easily make the drive to visit them in St. Louis. He talked to his boss, and they arranged a transfer to the plant in the suburb of Wentzville. Chris was a mechanical engineer doing quality checks for GM. Moving from the Fairfax plant in KC to the Wentzville plant simply meant that he was going from checking out Cadillacs and Malibus to checking mid-size pickups and vans.
Chris met Steph when he started looking for a new home. Even though they were still relatively young, Chris and Sarah were smart enough to invest it good life insurance policies, so Chris was able to look for a nice house in a good neighborhood that didn't force him to commute for long periods of time that kept him away from his girls.
Steph had several properties for him to visit. They seemed to get along fairly well. And visiting several houses over several days gave them time to talk to each other. They quickly became friends sharing stories about their families.
Chris and Steph had stopped for lunch and coffee when Chris began his story. Steph learned how Chris had first met Sarah at a college Halloween party during their Sophomore year. Neither one was very experienced. Both had dated a little in high school, but both were fairly quiet, shy people. Chris joked that since he was an engineer, it was pretty obvious that he was a nerd, and that pretty much killed his love life.
Sarah wanted more than anything else to be an elementary teacher. She really wanted to teach Kindergarten or First Grade. Of course, she joked that being a teacher basically automatically made her a nerd as well, so she and Chris were perfect for each other. They decided to be exclusive by their third date. The funny thing about that is that they never really needed to make that decision, because neither one of them had ever dated anyone else in college. The same night they pledged their love and gave each other their virginities.
"I'm not sure why I'm sharing all of this with you. I've never really shared it with anyone else." Steph smiled at him as he continued , "I guess I just needed to get it off my chest."
"I'm glad you did."
Chris continued, "For the rest of our college years, we were inseparable. The only times we were apart was when we were in classes. We spent all of our evenings together, basically like we were already married. We would have dinner together, talking about our day, and reviewing what we did in class, and then we would usually end up going to bed and making love most nights.
