Camryn's Baby

I didn't say anything and Camryn knew not to say anything else and left me to my nightmare. This wasn't getting any better and I really didn't expect it to, but the few feeling I still had for Camryn was clouding my judgement; I was still hoping for a status quo. Now I realised that it will only get worse as Camryn slowly loses all respect for me as her husband. Camryn and my father didn't seem to understand what this was doing to my self-respect. Yes my ego had taken a battering and they seemed to think that I should just take it like a wimp and knuckle under; allow my wife to run my life and family. To say yes dear and bow as I shuffle backwards out the door to do their bidding. I was starting to think that my mother had more of a hold on Camryn than I originally thought. My wants and needs were being trampled into the ground and all for the sake of a neurotic mother; hell bent on repopulating the world with grandchildren. I suddenly realised that I couldn't go on with it any longer.

Camryn was surprised to say the least when a suit knocked on her door one bleak Monday morning, "Camryn Summers?" She had thought that since I had wimped out up till now that she had carte blanche to dictate the rest of our life, and this man standing in front of her was about to dissuade her of her authority.

"Yes! Can I help you?"

"You are served! I suggest that you acquire to services of a lawyer to deal with this matter on your behalf."

I was ready for the fallout and it came as expected, "What's the meaning of this Dave?" It was my father along with Camryn who stormed rather than waltzed into my office an hour after the serving.

"I see that the whore has brought her favoured minion. I would have thought that it was obvious what it means. I'm divorcing Camryn on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. We can't seem to reconcile the fact that she's a cuckolding slut and keeps handing me babies that aren't mine; and expecting me to raise them as my own. I got a call from mum this morning all bubbling over with congratulations on becoming a father again. I can't tell you just how close I came to telling her the truth."

"You can't do this Dave! If you divorce me then I'll have nothing; I love you sweetheart and you're killing me. If you continue with this then your mother will be devastated, and I don't know what it will do for her mental state." Was her teary retort.

"Stop with the drama queen shit Camryn. You and I both know that you're the goose that lays golden eggs. You have my father by the short and curly's; you'll have mother doting over you for the rest of her neurotic life."

Camryn went into a fit of crying and dad was grinding his teeth, "Your concern for my mother is touching to say the least. I had an epiphany after the last pregnancy punch you gave me. I don't feel that she will worry too much, because she has what she wants; she has her acknowledged grandchildren. I just want out of this nightmare!"

My father paced back and forth, "I won't let you do this; we will fight it and I'll make sure that Camryn has the full backing of the family fortune to do so. It will cost you everything you own and then some and in the end you will be coming back with your tail between your legs; begging Camryn for forgiveness."

I saw the look on Camryn's face as my father backed her to the hilt. Up until now I still believed that she loved me in her own way; the disrespect and conceit I saw on her face just now was all I needed to feel less effected about what I was doing. I felt a pang of guilt at the thought that I had allowed it to come to this, even as the last vestiges of love for Camryn faded into obscurity but now dad was escalating it beyond the pall of good grace.

"You won't do that dad; not if I read you and this situation right. All this has come to a head because of your unrealistic need to protect your wife; my mother and her mental health. If you don't convince Camryn to allow this divorce to go through uncontested then I'll withdraw my filing of irreconcilable differences and refile with adultery. And before you go off ranting that this is a no fault state; you're right, but that doesn't stop me citing adultery as a cause for the dissolution of the marriage. I have already got DNA results to prove that Bradley isn't my child, and I'll get a court order for a DNA sample of this one she has now. I have tried to make this as painless as I can and to allow you to protect your precious wife's sanity, but if I have to; I will drag all our dirty laundry out into the open and let the chips fall as they may."

My father's face fell as did Camryn's, they understood the implications of what I was saying and they didn't have a leg to stand on, "If you will read the documents you will see that I'm not asking for the house or contents, in fact all I'm asking for is what's in the savings and cheque accounts and my personal belongings. Camryn has access to the half million that you have given her for the birth of her son; she can have the house and I'll walk away and not bother the family ever again."

Camryn was crying by the time I finished, "So you're willing throwing away seven good years of marriage because you feel that you aren't the man of the house?"

"No Camryn! It wasn't seven good years at all; it was five good and two made in hell. And I'm not throwing away anything that means all that much to me now; what I'm doing is cutting my losses. If you have any interest in what I think then here it is. I don't think my mother is at all in jeopardy of going insane; what she is in jeopardy of, is losing control of her family. Ever since I can remember, she has been the driving force in our family and dad here has allowed her that leeway. She is the supreme matriarch of the family; she snaps and everyone cowers or jumps to attention and says "Yes Maam!" What I believe is that when my brothers and I left to pursue our own lives she realised that she had lost control of her flock and decided to meddle in our to regain it. This last eighteen months have all but confirmed my suspicions; she has been in our faces and interfering in our lives more than being where she belongs, and that is in her own home looking after her own husband. My father here has sat back and allowed it in the first place and now is actively going about ensuring it. I believe that while she'll be pissed at me, and I dare say at both of you for allowing me to get out from under her control; she won't be heading off to the loony bin because of it. As long as she has her perceived grandchildren who she can bring up as she sees fit and you as her faithful obedient lapdog, kissing her ass; then she'll do just fine. What you have to decide is; are you willing to take the risk? You made your bed Camryn, now you have to sleep in it by yourself, or you could ask mother to join you, but don't complain when she tells you what pattern she wants on the sheets or which side you're sleeping on."

Dad was sitting in a chair and staring at the floor. I think he knew that most of what I had said was true and his juggling act had come to an end, "There is one apology I have to make to you Camryn. I am truly sorry for bringing you into this fucked up family; you definitely didn't deserve to be confronted with them. I understand that your background made you vulnerable; not having family of your own; you latched onto something you had no experience with. Just because there is family doesn't mean that, that family is at all balanced. In my own defence; just like the Spanish Inquisition; I never thought it would get to this stage. If it makes any difference to you; I did love you Camryn, I loved you with all my heart and in some stupid way I still do. I loved you enough to spend two years in purgatory; trying to find a way around this mess. Every time I opened a door to an idea, all I found was a brick wall. It took two fucking years for me to find the only door with no brick wall behind it, and that door had divorce printed on it in big red letter. I didn't want to go through the door, but I finally realised that it was the only door to get out of my hell hole you stuck me in."

"You killed our marriage by not talking to me about your concerns. The lack of communication and my meddling mother was what brought us undone. It pains me to have to do it but I will do it; don't make the mistake of thinking that I'll come around and knuckle under and be a good little boy, because I won't. I really do hope things will turn out well for you and your children Camryn; you atleast deserve that much."

I turned to dad, "I have also put in the divorce papers that you and mum look after Camryn. The two of you were the primary reason she got herself in this situation so I feel it only right that you bear the responsibility of financially and emotionally supporting her and her children until they reach adulthood. You once told me that I was responsible for my actions; well I now ask you the same question. Will you take responsibility for your actions?"

Dad had nothing to say and only nodded his understanding.

My father and Camryn left my office; Camryn with one last sorrowful look over her shoulder as my office door closed behind them and I haven't seen or heard from them since. When they arrived I was in the process of typing up my resignation. I left my resignation and company cell phone on the desk, along with the keys to the company car and walked out with a measure of regret that brought tears to my eyes. I had got everything I wanted out of the house the weeks prior to the papers being served on Camryn. The divorce went through uncontested, and I not only left the state but the country as well. I even changed my complete name just so it would be harder for them to track me down.

David Jeffery Summers cease to exist; he disappeared into the ether the minute I left my lawyers office for the last time. The last two odd years had been so traumatic for me that as I walked through the door I felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders.

I won't tell you what my new name is or where I now live but I can say that the weather is sunny, the women are gorgeous with long tanned legs, and work is more than I could hope for. I have bought myself a house of my own and I have two cars in the garage.

Will I go back and see what has become of them? I doubt it; although I do have times when I consider it a possibility; only time will tell.

Will I ever get married again? Who knows, but I seriously doubt that as well; the family I grew up with wasn't all that great and I thought I could make mine better. We now know that never happened.

But I am happy and what more can a man ask for?

I am finally master of my own destiny and I intend to stay that way.