{Here is another of those "There is almost no sex at all in this story" warnings.}
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Life has a way of trapping people. Responsibility can dictate the need to care for someone, it can be an elderly parent, a mate, even a child that after becoming supposedly adult, still has their hand out.
Walker felt that way, trapped. His wife Carla was now his problem. She was recovering, but it was a long and slow laborious process.
Love had long since left him, the cheating, lying killed what was there before.
There had been those insane moments of shock, outrage at his discovery of the truth of what Carla had done. He had even envisioned mayhem, and had taken steps towards exactly that.
But time and a calmer head prevailed. His gut instinct reactions would only have served to lower himself to the level of Jonathan, the man he had come to hate.
Walker would have simply left Carla, his intent was to do exactly that but before he could complete the preparations, the trap was sprung.
His wife Carla became an invalid, he just could not drop that responsibility upon his daughter Sara. He loved Sara more than life itself, no way could he do that to her.
Sara had her youth, her beauty, her future and her right to a shot at happiness, a full rewarding life. He knew very well that if he did just leave Carla to her own fate, Sara would step in and sacrifice herself and her own future to care for her mother.
For Sara, Walker would do anything, give anything to make sure she had her own shot at life. The choice was obvious to him.
So Walker stayed himself, caring for Carla. It was not for his wife, it was for Sara.
The trap of life became one day bleeding into the next, doing what he felt he must. There appeared to be no end to it. He fed her, clothed her, bathed her, even assisted at first with toiletries. Every day was the same.
The times that Sara dropped by in the evenings were one blessing, Walker could leave for a few hours. Without fail he drove down to the old bar, without fail that old woman sat there waiting. A retired therapist, not once did she ever ask for a single thing, she just saw the pain that was displayed clearly in him and tried to help.
They talked quietly for hours, it was like a portion of his life became hers. In her words, he found his own strength.
When she suggested he try to find a nurse for Carla, Walker realized the old woman was right.
The first person to respond to his ad was Melanie, after just a few minutes of conversation, he hired her.
Part of that was the fact that the woman was obviously bright, the other part was the little girl that stood there holding Melanie's hand, huge round eyes and a thumb stuffed securely in her mouth.
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Walker glanced over at Sara as she reached out to slip her hand into the crook of his elbow. His heart swelled with pride, she caught his eye and smiled, then the music began.
Sara was, in that instant, the most beautiful creature on Earth. The gown she wore was flowing white, demonstrating for all to see her purity.
Walker was completely sure of that.
This one moment filled Walker with happiness. There had not been much of that in his life for quite some time. He brought up his sleeve to wipe away a tear of joy, catching the smile in Sara's face as she looked at him.
He leaned down and touched her smiling cheek with his lips. That was the very instant he gave up the very greatest gift a father can give.
Then the music began.
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Finding out his wife of over two decades had carried on a sporadic but very long term affair with a former lover was a terrible shock. Walker had considered evil, but the idea of actually doing what he had planned in those first periods of insane rage just left him sickened when sanity returned.
The discovery also that the lover was the true Father of the Daughter he worshiped? That bad moment did not last long, Sara was his, his from the moment of birth until now and nothing on Earth could change that in his mind.
Walker had stood there and watched Sara enter the world, she was his and nothing on Earth could change that fact.
Physically, he had failed in his one attempt at revenge. His poorly thought out attack had failed miserably. Walker had no skills in fighting, and her long term lover Jonathan was a far larger and more powerful man.
That was nothing more than genetics, a simple fact of life.
The only relief from that was finding out what that man was really like. Jonathan might be his physical superior but he was no match for Walker as a human being.
Three years, the Judge had said. It seemed like so little for causing so much pain.
He had planned to just leave Carla, ending the relationship, but first there were those terrible injuries Jonathan had caused to deal with. Carla would have no place to go if he simply abandoned her, and the only other person on Earth that would step in was Sara.
Thinking she would heal quickly, Walker stayed to care for her until she could manage on her own.
Barely home, a blood clot had caused a major stroke, seriously compounding the situation.
Walker now found himself with no other real choice but to continue to care for his wife. The love was gone, he knew that. But the duty remained.
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Who would have dreamed that the fat and bubbly little girl he had spent countless hours sitting in the living room delighting in watching her learn would grow up to become this vision?
Walker looked up at the man turned their way waiting as they stepped down the aisle to the music, a smile on his face.
Tim Herrington, the tall and strong man she had chosen, handsome in his tuxedo stood waiting for his prize.
A policeman? Who could have even dreamed of that?
A Doctor, Lawyer, perhaps a Corporate Executive was what Walker would have expected. A major politician, perhaps? Yet it was her choice to make, and that choice was this fine young man.
As they approached the elevated podium, Walker looked briefly at his wife Carla. She sat quietly watching, but a smile was on her face.
It had been many months since he had seen her smile, he looked again carefully to be sure.
Yes, she was smiling. Her full time nurse Melanie sat by her side, Walker noted that Melanie held Carla's hand securely.
The rest was a blur, it went swiftly. Tim lifted the thin veil, leaned in and kissed Sara gently. In that instant Walker saw her eyes, so like her mother's. That same smile he had just seen on her Mother's face was momentarily clear.
Then somehow they were at the reception. The giant hall they had rented was barely adequate, every chair was in use, and many others stood around talking.
When finally the monstrous limo left, and the endless stream of people coming by to shake his hand ended, he helped Carla to their car. Melanie stood there quietly waiting.
"Would you like me to come over to help tonight, Walker?" Melanie asked him.
"Thanks, but we will be OK. I think we would like to be alone tonight. Go ahead and take the rest of the day off."
"All right. I will see you in the morning." She smiled. Walker watched her walk towards her vehicle. Melanie certainly was attractive. If his situation was different, he knew he might just act on his thoughts, but there was no hope, no chance the way things were.
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The long day, full of all of the things he was supposed to do, to say had ended. Now finally Walker felt he could relax. They pulled into the driveway, he went around and helped Carla out of the car.
Each day she seemed to be slightly better, gaining strength in her right side. He watched as she reached out for the doorknob, pleased when once again she managed to turn it enough to open it. Then she turned and flashed him that smile.
Walker smiled back and nodded.
"Good." He said. Melanie's efforts at helping Carla regain her strength, her use of her body was having amazing results.
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Walker had tucked his anger securely into the deepest recesses of his mind, then confronted Carla when they got home from the hospital that first time after her beating.
She still spoke clearly but with an effort. The blisters that had covered her skin from bleeding into her brain were gone, the team of Doctors were actually surprised at her fairly rapid recovery.
"It's very good that you are right here, it helps her to recover mentally." One old Physician had told him.
Unable to bear not knowing all of the truth, Walker had asked her the painful questions, so many of them. Carla was past lying, he was sure of that and she tearfully told him the truth.
That man, Jonathan had been the very first she had ever been with. Then running onto him at an out of town meeting a few years later had been nothing more than a simple act of fate. Carla had chosen Walker over Jonathan.
One thing had led to another, it was only a visit, bringing things up to date in their lives.
Jonathan was a man that Carla liked, the man she has given her virginity to. For him, the new seduction was an easy thing to do.
A few drinks, lowered inhibitions, and Carla woke up in his bed. She felt sudden shame, and knew that if Walker ever found out, she would lose him.
Finding herself pregnant, then terrified at what she had done, she took steps to protect her marriage. The day Sara was born, Carla knew the truth. Then fearful of what a second child might reveal, she chose to not have another.
Why the interludes continued, each over a year apart, she had no answer to. The fact that Jonathan had been her very first somehow stayed in Carla's mind, and that made her indiscretions easier.
Each time she felt guilt afterward, telling herself it would never happen again. Yet each time, it did.
The truths hurt, and refreshed Walker's anger, but he managed barely to not just explode. He made up his mind, he was going to move out the moment he felt she could care for herself.
That resolve had lasted just five days.
