A/N - Hello all! Well, here we go. I'm throwing my hat into the ring regarding a story in this category. I've been reading a lot of stories in this category lately and, I have to say, this will likely be the toughest category I've submitted regarding the eventual score and any feedback I receive.
I think there are two camps here in this category regarding this type of story. This definitely isn't a reconciliation story but nor does the spouse cheated on 'burn the bitch', so to speak. Having read quite a few stories, though entertaining, a lot of them are not entirely realistic. Whether mine is realistic will be entirely your opinion, of course! And though I have zero tolerance for cheating, which is why reconciliation is out, I'm also left thinking if taking revenge, as per some of the stories here, is ththe right thing to do? Should there be an eye for an eye, or do two wrongs make a right?
Most stories seem to be set in the United States, as I guess the majority of authors are from there, so most divorce laws differ due to the state it's set in, from what I can figure out. For instance, it seems most are no fault, but some still allow divorces based on adultery. As I set most stories in my homeland of Australia, things are a little different here regarding divorce laws and the process of how it all works. In addition to that, though this will start as 'Loving Wives', it will end up being as more of a 'Romance', but I wanted to give writing a story in this category a go. Whether it's a success or not is up to the reader
As always, the usual caveats. I write all my stories using Word. Spelling is generally on point. Grammar sometimes a little ropey. I do my own editing so I won't catch every little typo. Sometimes, I type so fast, I even put the wrong word down and, no matter how many times I review it, I still miss it! Never claimed to be perfect.
Comments and feedback appreciated.
*****
You never think it's going to happen to you. Friends go through the pain of divorce for whatever reason. But because you trust and love your partner, you never believe that you'll end up being another statistic, another failed marriage. But when you look at the divorce statistics, particularly in the modern age, it actually leaves me wondering why people bother getting married at all. 'Til Death Do Us Part' certainly rings hollow, it's meaning lost over the decades.
I should have recognised the signs, I guess, but not due to anything I read online, whether it was stories, articles or simply being more observant. When you're in love with someone, you generally have a blinkered, rose-tinted view of the world. When you're married, have kids, a home, and built a life together, the idea that you'd grow old together is what gives you peace of mind.
But I guess the signs were there, and I'd seen them before.
I grew up in what they eventually called 'a broken home'. I thought my parents' marriage was strong when I was growing up. They certainly seemed to love and respect each other. My father worked hard for a living, a physically demanding job that took a lot out of him. But he loved his wife and family and sacrificed himself for what I guess you'd call 'the greater good'. My mother returned to work once my youngest sister was at school.
Being a kid, we had no real idea what was going on, but looking back, there were signs I'd soon recognise and that's when I figured it all out. She didn't start having an affair straight away. I was a teenager when it started, my brother around eighteen months younger, while my little sister was three years younger.
It started like so how many affairs start. First it was working late. Then it was business trips away. Showers as soon as she got home from an afternoon spent with her lover. Dressing far nicer than she ever did for our father. And, as this was before the time of smartphones, secret phone calls and my mother disappearing at strange times for her liaisons.
The only reason my father discovered the affair was that he walked in one them. I learned later that he was finishing work early, hoping to surprise my mother by taking her out for the afternoon, who told him she was taking half a day to get her hair done and do a little shopping. Instead, he arrived home to find her car in the driveway and a car he admitted to recognising beside it. He parked up the street and walked home, entering through the back door.
He strode into the bedroom to find his wife, my mother, being fucked by her boss. In the marital bed. My dad lost it completely and beat the shit out of him. His name was Jim Thompson, and he eventually crawled out of our house, battered, bruised and bleeding. Despite the age, my father was someone who'd raised his children to never hit a woman. But how he managed to keep a lid on his rage that afternoon, I still don't know. Even he can't explain it.
What my father quickly learned is that adultery meant absolutely nothing in a country where no fault divorces were the norm. Some people state that possession is nine-tenths of the law. My father tried to kick her out of the house, pack up her shit and send her off to her parents. Once they learned what she'd done, they wanted nothing to do with her. Her sister also refused to take her in. As the house was also in her name as well as my fathers, she refused to move.
My father was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he stayed, a divorce wouldn't be possible. A man and wife need to be separated for twelve months, that means living in separate locations, before a divorce can be obtained. More than once, my father tried to have my mother removed due to her adultery, but it wasn't a crime and she was within her rights to remain in the house.
Yeah, sometimes no fault divorces suck arse as there is a guilty party that caused the divorce when adultery is the reason, and for them walk out of a marriage without being 'punished' for breaking their vows does seem a little unfair.
My father eventually gave in, not willing to remain in the same house with a cheating wife. He found an apartment and moved out. He couldn't find a place large enough to take all three of us, so we were stuck living with my mother. I had figured out what was going on and let my mother know immediately what I thought about her. She tried to explain her reasons, but I told her that as soon as I could, I'd go live with my father. My younger brother and little sister were not informed so simply wondered why our father had left. I did my best to explain it without getting in the middle.
The only good thing my mother did during that year was that she never stopped our visits with our father. Those first couple of months, he was a broken man. He did his best to put on a happy face for his children, but even we could see that the smile was forced. Being the oldest, he sat me down one evening after my siblings had gone to bed and admitted we were the only reason he remained nearby, but he would fight for custody and try and get the house if possible.
It was a pipe dream though. Men were rarely given custody back then, and when it came to the divorce after twelve months of separation, it was required they attend court to sort out custody and other matters. As I was old enough to take the stand, I stated categorically I wanted to live with my father. But as my brother and sister were considered too young to make such a decision, though the judge would consider what they said, custody of all three of us was awarded to my mother. The only positive for my father is that alimony isn't a thing in Australia, though there is such a thing as 'spousal maintenance'. However, that is not always awarded, and as our mother made good money anyway, he only had to pay reasonable child support. Unlike what it seems to be like in the United States, child support in Australia is reasonable on the parent no longer in the household, so my father wouldn't be left destitute due to child support payments.