Not a lot of sex but there is some. I need to thank my editors, LadyCibelle and Techsan for making my story a much better read. I also need to thank Jake Rivers for his input.
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Why don't people understand how much cheating tears a family apart? Day after day, week after week, the paper is always filled with divorce notices and dissolution of marriages. I should talk; I've been married twice and divorced once and am now a widower. Let me tell you my story.
I guess I could say I got married too early the first time. Hell, I was only a teenager. My girlfriend and I played around with unsafe sex and of course she got knocked up. We thought we loved each other and got married. Our son was born and life looked pretty good. After a while the grind of married life, which I wasn't ready for, started happening.
Bills and more bills, her mom telling me I wasn't good enough for her daughter, that Mary could have found someone better. She was always coming between my wife and me. I'll agree I wasn't the greatest catch but she sure wasn't helping us much by tearing me down.
I was a high school dropout and ended up working in a warehouse, moving furniture. At least we got a discount on all the furniture we bought. I worked a lot but missed doing the things teenage kids do. I'm not feeling sorry for myself here. I made my bed and now had to sleep in it. I'm just trying to paint a picture of our situation at the time.
Mary didn't use birth control and got pregnant with our second child. Her mother berated me for getting her daughter pregnant a second time, like it was all my fault, Mary could do no wrong. Nine months later we had our second son.
We lived in a trailer park, which was all we could afford. We were even renting the trailer. I didn't consider us what some people call trailer trash. We were a young couple trying to make their way in life. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed.
I forgot to mention that Mary's parents were well off. Not rich but they had enough money to live comfortably. They helped buy a lot of the things we needed for the kids. They also bought things for Mary. They wouldn't help us out financially. I knew her mom was working against me hoping our marriage would fail. Sex was the only thing holding it together and little by little we were doing less of that.
One day I had had enough. I turned twenty one and went to the bar. I got drunk and got in my car. I was arrested for driving while intoxicated. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. I lost my job and Mary's mother convinced her to divorce me.
Life didn't go very well for me for a while after that. I moped around and kept drinking. I picked up a few bucks here and there doing odd jobs. My wife took the kids and moved back home with her mother. Every time I called their house, I got hung up on. One night after getting drunk I went over to their house and raised hell. I'll admit I was a total idiot and threatened her parents. I was arrested again and a restraining order was issued. Now I wasn't even allowed to see my sons.
In the months and years that followed they turned the boys against me. As they were growing up they were told that I was a bad person and to stay away from me. I got even by not paying any child support; not a smart move on my part but that's what I did, or didn't do in this case.
About two years later Mary got remarried to some guy that worked in her dad's office. I got a call one day from Mary's attorney asking me to relinquish my rights to the boys and they would stop the proceeding against me for back child support. It seems that Mr. 'New Husband' wanted to adopt my boys.
It didn't leave me with much choice so I signed the damn paper giving up my legal rights to the boys. It wasn't like I was a good father or anything, but I lost my sons which were a part of me. I went on another drinking binge.
The only person that stood beside me was my sister Kate. She was two years older than me, married with two kids. She convinced me to seek help for my drinking and I did. It was really odd that I was drinking more out of boredom and depression than being an alcoholic. I drank to forget about my life. After going to counseling I decided to turn my life around and went back to school and got my GED. I then took up a trade as a mechanic. I studied hard and found a job in a car dealership repairing vehicles. I found that I liked the feeling of accomplishment and I was good at repairing vehicles. I started saving money to open my own vehicle repair shop.
After a few years of saving money and learning more of my trade I was ready to take the next step. There was a local gas station for sale and I put down my down payment and started my own business. The hours were long but I loved working with my hands and I was becoming successful.
Throughout the next few years I dated a few women but nothing serious. I even saw my boys as they were becoming teenagers. Strong healthy boys and they seemed pretty smart too. I kind of followed their lives without intruding on their privacy. I saw Mary a few times but never spoke much to her. She had a new life with her husband and I noticed she was pregnant and later she had a daughter.
From then on my life was that of a confirmed bachelor. I dated but didn't want to get involved anymore. I just wasn't all that good with relationships. My business was my life. I hired a couple of good mechanics and it freed up a lot of my time. I could pretty much come and go when I wanted.
I did go to my sons' graduations. Even though they hardly knew me, I was proud of them. They both were headed for college. I guess I made the right choice for their well-being. It did bring a bit of sadness to me. It's hard to explain but I guess they will always be a part of me. As they say, "Life goes on." I always wondered who 'they' are since they say a lot of things.
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One night, when the shop was near closing, a car pulled up. It was an old car making a lot of noise. "Can you fix this?" the woman asked me, looking really concerned.
"Probably, but I'm about to close. If you want to leave it here I'll look at it tomorrow."
"Can I use your phone? My daughter and I need to get home and I have to try to find a ride."
I looked in the car and a sweet girl maybe six years old was sitting there looking a bit scared. "Come inside, the phone isn't a portable. I'll continue closing up while you locate your ride."
She thanked me and started making calls. She was beginning to look flustered. I figured she wasn't having much luck locating a ride.
"Where do you live?" I asked her.
"About eight miles down the road on Rose Lane. We moved there about a month ago," she answered.
"If you aren't too scared of strangers, I can drop you and your daughter off at your house. I'll only be a few more minutes."
"That would be great; I don't want to inconvenience you."
"No problem, just going out for dinner and then back home."
