How "Lucky" Am I?

Hmmm...

Since I was so lucky in my life, I never questioned things. After all, I had a girl that I shouldn't have. I have a business that I shouldn't have. Why not have kids that I shouldn't have? But now, looking at things in this new light I began to question my good fortune. I wasn't exactly suspicious yet, but I was curious.

Now, with me owning a security company I know many of you are assuming that this is the point where I go all Jason Bourne and start behaving like a spy. You know, setting up security cameras and bugging the house and her car. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I did not do that. This action was presumptuous and not right for me for a few reasons.

I would have to account for all of the security equipment that went missing. That would equal thousands of dollars of lost revenue. I can't sell the equipment and install the equipment if I'm using it.

Installing security is not something you can do without the other person knowing about it, unless you can get them away from the house for a day or so. There is wiring to be ran, cameras to be discretely mounted, microphones to be planted. All of this would have to be run to a computer or set up wirelessly. If you set it up wirelessly then you have to get it online to the internet, and set up your computer to find it. It is very involved and time-consuming.

Before you can even begin with the install, you have to do the pre-planning. You have to figure out the best place to mount this stuff, what alterations you will have to make the house in order to achieve it, etc. A good install will approximately take about 4 hours after the pre-planning stage. But this time frame is for a team to install security, and this is only if everything goes without a hitch. It would take days for me to do it alone, and there is no way that she wouldn't notice.

I didn't have the excess time to do this. It would take a lot of man hours that I had precious little of. I couldn't afford to use that many hours that would bring in no revenue. This added to the lost revenue for the equipment that I would be taking off of the shelves would put me in a hole financially.

To go through all of this on a hunch was not smart. As anti-climactic as it is, the only thing I could do was to just keep my eyes open.

Weeks passed like a watching a pot of water come to a boil. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I vigilantly kept notice of everything, trying to catch anything that I missed over the years. I couldn't find anything.

Melony was still the same beautiful, loving woman that she'd always been. She did everything that a loving wife would do. She went to work, she came home, she cooked for me and the kids, and she embraced me in a warm hug if we'd been apart for a few hours. Either she was really good at this, or she was who she appeared to be.

The only thing that she did do that rubbed me the wrong way was she occasionally hung out with that bitch Tasha. She was careful not to bring her around me because of our mutual distain for one another, but she still spent time her.

I was almost ready to give up and go back into blissful ignorance. It was then that I came across my daughter's hairbrush on the bathroom sink when I was brushing my teeth one morning. A nagging idea popped into my head. Like any seed, it started to grow into an impromptu plan. "Okay Jake, this is it. Do this, prove to yourself that these nagging doubts are bullshit, and just enjoy your life!" I grabbed a couple of loose strands of hair from the brush and put them into a Ziploc bag. Since they were twins, there was no need to get hair from my son.

A quick Google search online let me know of a company that did DNA testing. It cost a little bit, but peace of mind is priceless. So I contacted them, set up an appointment, and started the ball rolling.

A week later I was contacted at work with the results. Alexis and I are not a match. She is not my daughter.

I don't know if any of you caught it, but at the beginning of the story, where is where we circled back to; I said that I HAD two beautiful kids. This is past tense. That was yesterday's truth. Today's truth is that while I still do have a wife, I am sterile and have no kids. My wife cheated on me.

Let's go through our Lois Lane list of evidence, shall we? I know I was surprised when I did. How stupid am I?

I am sterile, yet have two kids

My son is a football star, though I was never much of an athlete.

My son is tall, I am short

My son has natural muscle, I do not.

My daughter is naturally gifted in school, I was not.

Melony and I BOTH have the sickle cell trait, neither of the twins have sickle cell.

Pretty damning, huh?

Today's truth made everything different for me. While I was still proud of the kids that were once mine, I could no longer look at their accomplishments as a reflection of myself. For those of you without kids, let me explain. When a kid does something that is worth noting, a parent is naturally proud. But it's more than just pride for your kid. In a way, the kid's success is a reflection of his parent. When your son scores the winning touchdown, you say, "That's MY boy!" So while you are proud of your kid, you are also proud of yourself.

That was ripped from me. I was no longer the luckiest man on earth. I was the stupidest.

I didn't discuss my findings with Melony right away. I still had to process this new knowledge and figure out where this was headed. Do I want a divorce? Do I want to make it work? Who's the father of my twins? Was it an affair, or was it a one night stand? If it was an affair, is it STILL an affair?

These are the questions that I asked myself, but I had more questions than answers. Before I could figure out where this led, I had to get better footing on where I stood.

So I started at the most logical, and the most expensive place. I hired a private detective. Even with the cost of one, I still came out of it cheaper and more efficient than doing it myself.

So a small team of three followed my wife for a couple of weeks. They monitored the money that she spent. They listened to her phone conversations. They were really thorough.

What they came back with was circumstantial at best, but it was definitely adding points to my Lois Lane list.

I found out that she never sold her condo. In all of these years living together I never knew that she kept it. By now it was completely paid for, so there was no mortgage. But even with that, I wondered how or why she kept it from me for over a decade and a half.

Things became clearer when the detective told me that Tasha was living there with her long-time Ex-Marine boyfriend, Mark. He was kicked out of the Corp with a Dishonorable Discharge for doing drugs.

For some reason, Mark getting discharged didn't surprise me. I was actually more surprised about the fact that Tasha was still with Mark for all of these years and still didn't tie the knot.

The biggest piece of circumstantial evidence was the fact that Melony went to this condo just about every day. I didn't catch it because it happened during the day when she is supposed to be at work.

By now, Melony was so far up the chain at her job that she can pretty much make her own hours. So for her to leave work a few hours early everyday wouldn't be such a big deal for her. But why was she spending SO MUCH time over here? I know that she and Tasha are friends, but this is borderline co-dependent. They hang out during the day without my knowledge, but then still go out to do things when she does let me know.

Like I said; there was no smoking gun. But you can see the mounting evidence. Each piece was like a pixel on a HD TV screen. The more pixels you have, the clearer the picture. Mine was still blurry at best, but I had enough to realize that my "luck" was really blissful ignorance.

I thanked the detective and set up his payment. There was no more need for his services. He was expensive and he already uncovered all he was going to. Anything more would have to be done by me.

The next couple of weeks were agonizingly normal. It would have been better if she just jumped up and yelled, "I don't love you anymore!" Instead, she was the same loving wife that I'd grown to know and love. I was in constant turmoil, jumping back and forth between anger, regret, sorrow, and denial.

Life appeared to be moving as it always had in the Worthy household, but it was anything but the status quo. The only difference now was that instead of living in it, I felt like an outside observer to my life. It was if we were a TV reality show, but I was the only viewer.

Fighting myself made me grow increasingly moody. I barricaded myself in my internal fortress, trying to protect my inner child from any more pain. My wife and kids became the enemy, because being around them hurt too much. I was angry at my kids for not being mine, but I loved them so much that it hurt me to blame them for something they had no power over.

Not to mention the fact that I had to look at Melony's angelic face and fight the urge to stab her with a rusty ice pick. The angrier I became with her, the more grace she extended toward me. She was weathering the storm, hoping that I would find my way through it. Ironically, the storm that she was weathering was Hurricane Melony, and it was destroying everything in its wake.

I was even angry at the doctor for opening my eyes. Before he came along, I was the luckiest man on earth. Now I was a loser who is too stupid to realize that his wife is fucking someone else. Or has fucked some else. Hell, I don't know!

Melony tried repeatedly to get me to open up about what was wrong with me. She was so loving and concerned that she made me fucking sick! After a couple of attempts that were met by near decapitation, she backed off and let me sort through it. She reminded me that she was here if I wanted to talk, and she left me alone. Isn't she thoughtful?

Life limped on slowly, like a zombie dragging its dead leg with each step. I feebly struggled to appear like life was normal, but I was failing on multiple fronts. People at place of work noticed. My "kids" and "loving wife" noticed. Hell, how could they not?

It was actually Melony who jump started me back into action. She cornered me in the bathroom one day and locked us in. I was actually on the toilet when she did this, so I was as much a captive audience and you could be.

"Okay Jake. Now it's time."

I looked up at her through empty eyes. "Time for what?"

"It's time for you take action. You don't have to tell me what's wrong with you. I wish you would, but you have your reasons for keeping it quiet. But you can't go on like this. It's killing you. Because it's killing you, it's killing us." She pointed her finger at the both of us, letting me know who she was referring to.

"Now I've given you time to process things. But time's up. You need to take action and handle whatever is going on. You are a warrior, not some fucking damsel in distress. Get up off of your ass, slay this dragon, and return back to me as the husband and father I know you to be."

I sat on that toilet and cried for about 10 minutes after she left.

When I left that bathroom, I was a new man with a mission to complete. Melony was right. She may be a liar and a cheat, but she knew that it was time for me to take action. She knew that if I remained in this place for too long, I would die. It was time to get some resolution and figure out what my future holds. Time to kill this mother fucking dragon!

First things first. The kids, the condo, Tasha, all of these were connected somehow. I didn't know how, but I knew that they were. If anyone was behind my wife stepping out on me, it would be that bitch. I needed more than a hunch to get pixels though. If I wanted a clear picture, I have to start there.

So I decided that I would have to take the financial loss to my business to get the answers that I was searching for. I started small though. I took a couple of early afternoons, a camera, and a notebook and staked out across the street from the condo.

Between what I got from the detective and my own findings, I knew when Melony was coming over to hang out. What I didn't know is what involved in "hanging out". Were there orgies, or was it just one bastard that was fucking my wife and using Tasha as a cover? That fucking bitch! I bet she just loves the idea of Melony cheating on me. I bet she sits around and laughs her ass off at the chance to stick it to me.

I watched as Melony would come over and use her key to get into the condo. For some reason, that struck me as odd. But why would it? After all, it was her condo. But she just walked in like it was her HOME. She looked as casual as she would have been walking into our house.

I couldn't catch anything from where I was. I also couldn't just go up and peek into the windows. This condo was patrolled by security. The last thing I needed was to be arrested for being a peeping tom.

I had to get into that condo and find out what went on in there. I still wasn't keen on installing cameras. I didn't have a big enough window of time to do it without their knowledge. But I could sneak in there and quickly set up a few wireless bugs. That way, I could at least listen in when Melony was supposed to be there and hopefully pick up something useful.

I have now entered the Jason Bourne phase.

With a plan to go along with my mission, I had my marching orders. I grabbed a few bugs from my stock room and prayed that none of my vigilant employees noticed. Yes I was the boss and I could just tell them not to worry about it, but that would open up questions and curiosity that I would just as well do without.

I went home and locked myself in my office. It was here that I set up a few bugs and linked them to my computer. I also made plans on the best places to put them. I did decide to put one in her car, under her seat. The others would have to go in the condo. Luckily for me, I'd lived in that condo before we got our house, so I already had an idea on where I could place the bugs. Thus cut down a need to pre-assess the place. The only thing I needed to do was get them out long enough for me to do what the hell I needed to do.

Luckily (there's that damn word again) Mel solved my problem for me. She's such a good wife.

It was coming up on Tasha's birthday. I found her on her laptop surfing the net, trying to come up with a decent gift. She normally didn't ask my opinion because of the fact that the bitch makes my skin crawl, but this was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up. I suggested a weekend in Vegas.

That's right. I'm an evil genius. Mwah Ha Ha.

Before I could rub my hands together and twist my mustache, I remembered that I completely forgot about Mark. He was no longer in the Marines and he just sat around the place like furniture. Ever they booted his ass out he's gone from the few and the proud to a mooching leech. According to the report from the PI and my personal investigation, he hardly ever left the house.

But as luck (goddamit) would have it, this problem was also solved for me.

Through top-notch investigative work that would shame Sherlock Holmes, i.e. I happened to fall upon a phone left unattended while Mel was in the shower, I read a couple of texts that alluded to the three of them "Tearing it up in LV". Since I didn't even get asked to tag along I can only assume that the three of them are Melony, Mark, and Tasha.

That struck me as a bit strange. If Mark were the third person, how is it that he is qualified for an invite above me? Now, it could be because I fucking hate Tasha's guts and it is HER birthday, but it felt like there might be another pixel there. After all, why would you want to go to, let alone pay for, an event that your husband wasn't invited to?

I had to count my blessings though. Even if it was fucked up, Melony's lack of consideration for me left me with an entire weekend to set things up. Since it was the weekend, I didn't have anywhere else to be to take my mind off of my mission. So I swallowed my hurt feelings and pretended that everything was normal.

Back to my Jason Bourne mission, I made sure to get a copy of the condo key made before Mel left. She was so busy planning everything that she didn't notice that I'd slipped the key off of the chain and made a trip to the local hardware store. When I slipped it back on she was still picking out bikinis.

Even though I'd accepted the fact that my wife was probably still cheating on me, I wasn't above checking her suitcase to see what kind of panties she was wearing. As I feared, they were Victoria Secrets best quality. I gulped down the tears as I left the room.

As I watched Mel drive off to go on her fantastic trip to Vegas, I was a tornado of mixed emotions. I felt victorious that I had formed a plan that was coming together nicely. I was a little anxious about the coming weekend and what I was going to find. I was relieved to be on the right track to getting the answers that were needed. The surprising feeling that I had was the perverted delight that I got at finally being able to manipulate Mel into doing what I wanted for a change.

When I first arrived at the condo, I took a few moments to re-familiarize myself with the place. There was no need to rush. I noticed a few furniture changes and minor rearrangements, but nothing major. I expected the place to be a lot sloppier and more...Tasha. I was surprised to see that it was still like Two-Face's lair. There was still an even portion of Mel and Tasha. If I didn't know any better, I would assume that Mel still lived here.

I meandered from room to room, getting a feel on the people I was going to be spying on. I noticed that the master bedroom that Mel and I used to share was Tasha's room. There was no denying that. But the room that used to be Tasha's was Mark's room. If Tasha and Mark are together, why do they need separate rooms?

As I took my tour, pixels started falling into place by the dozens. My eyes began to lose the love colored film that covered them for so long. It's funny what you learn when you look at things from a different perspective.

The biggest "aha" moment came when I was inside of Mark's room. There were pictures of him with family and friends. There were a lot of pictures taken with Tasha and Melony also. They were from various places, and they ranged over the years. Some were taken back in college; others appeared to have been more recent. But it was Mark's high school picture that stood out the most to me.

Mark was crouched down in his football uniform, cradling the pigskin. It looked almost identical to Alex's football picture. Same smile, same eyes, same grade of hair. The resemblance was uncanny.

More points for the Lois Lane list.

Mark was tall and looked like an older Alex.

Mark played football.

Melony was ALWAYS attracted to athletes in college.

Mark went to the same college that we went to

I was able to quell my anger long enough to get the job done. I couldn't keep that photo out of my head though. That asshole is my Alex's real dad. Not me. Him.

When I got home I changed my mind on not installing the cameras. I was leaving nothing to chance. I needed to make sure there were no loop holes to make me doubt the truth. It was worth the financial burden. So bright and early the next morning I returned and installed a camera in the Tasha's room, one in Mark's, and one in the living room. It took me a few hours, but it was time well spent.

The Sunday that they were to return I was getting everything online and set up. I was fully operational before their plane landed.

Melony was in such a good mood when she returned that I knew she had the time of her life. She tried to playfully usher me into the bedroom for some fun, but I passed. I had no doubt that she fucked Mark all weekend. Her jubilance added to the knowledge that I now possessed was as much of an in-your-face-clue as I was going to get. This wasn't a past affair. It was a current one.