Special Day Ch. 03

I never talked to or saw him again. Tiny conducted all further business with Ron Davis from that point on. At least I knew that Molly would not be meeting or talking with him from that day on. I also knew that Jennifer was safely mine since I had Molly's signature on the adoption papers already. She didn't even know she had signed it and I had no intention of telling her. My attorney would file the papers the next day.

Now, all I had to do was decide what to do about my marriage. At least now I could do it without the added pressure of losing my daughter. After all, I had the biological father's permission to adopt and Molly's infidelity would give me the lever I needed in divorce proceedings, should they come about. I was finally able to relax and think about my problem carefully and without fear.

Molly

Jim came home yesterday looking more relaxed and was considerably more fun to be around than he had been in several weeks. I asked him if every thing had gone his way finally, and he just smiled.

He said, "You wouldn't believe it if I told you. Let's just say, I now feel like I have control of my life back where it belongs."

I certainly was happy with his new attitude. I think I felt for the first time as if we were going to be OK. I know I had been under considerable strain thinking the worst and waiting for the shoe to fall, but it appeared that everything would be fine. I said a small prayer and continued my quest to be the best wife and mother I could be. In this way, I would try to make up for my mistakes and work to make my marriage as solid as it could be.

Jim

I decided finally that I still loved Molly and that the information Ron Davis had given me was enough to allow me to go on. There was no way I could conceive of a life where Molly was not in it. She and Jennifer were my life and without either one of them, I could not be complete. I don't think I ever forgave her but she was a good wife and mother and I allowed myself to forget. She never gave me a reason to doubt her then or at anytime in our marriage, even though I reminded myself that she had done just that.

We went forward from that day on and our life was good. We both loved Jennifer and when I found myself remembering the past, I just worked harder, or played with Jennifer, or took my wife out to a nice dinner and tried to forget. We had a good love life with Molly doing things for me she had never done before. She was willing to try anything I suggested and never complained about anything I asked her to do. I never pushed her in this regard, but it certainly was pleasant. She seemed to enjoy it as well.

I knew that part of it was guilt on her part, but it also seemed very real and, I hoped it was. I hoped that in this way, we could both forget her experiences with Ron Davis. I knew, from my discussion with him, that their assignations were never very long or their sex very original. He actually said that he always felt Molly used him more for the sex than he ever used her. She wanted vaginal sex only and never participated in oral sex. He said that this frustrated him but she would not even consider it. I believed that this was what led her to try other things with me; a desire to put her sex with Ron into the background and to make her memories with me totally different in that regard.

Our lives continued until a week before Jennifer turned 18.

Molly

After that day that Jim said things finally went his way, our lives returned to normal and we enjoyed each other and our daughter. In fact, we did things we had never done, went places we had never been and tried things in the bedroom that were new and different. I never denied Jim anything in our sex life and he never asked for things I wouldn't want to do. The variety we did have was enough to make for truly great lovemaking. I loved making love with my husband and enjoyed making him happy.

Our lives continued until one day, just before Jennifer's 18^th birthday, Ron Davis called me at home to tell me that he was in Cleveland and wanted to see me. I refused and slammed the phone down. I was shaking and began to cry. I thought this was over and that I wouldn't have to face the reality of Jennifer's conception. Jennifer was an adult and would be leaving for school. It was now unlikely that Jim would ever have to know and I had fooled myself into believing that it was over. Damn him!

He called again the next day and said that he would continue to call me until I agreed to see him. He only wanted to talk to me and discuss Jennifer. I finally listened to him and agreed to meet him. He told me where he was staying and I arranged to meet him the next day, Monday.

I collected some pictures, a couple of videos of earlier birthday parties and some other things to show him. I was never going to allow him to see her or meet her or talk to her. I would take steps to prevent him from doing anything to have Jim find out the truth. I was even thinking of something desperate like getting one of our friends to rough him up or even to kill him if it came to that. I knew all of Jim's friends and could get them to take care of a 'problem' for me without Jim knowing. I could probably get Tiny to do it for me. Killing may seem extreme, but it was in my mind and I would have no trouble getting someone to do it if it was going to threaten my family. I had already made up my mind that I could go through with it if Ron refused to do as I said.

My thoughts were going in all different directions as I planned to meet Ron at the motel. I finally calmed down enough to drive to the motel and to find the room number that he had given me. It was almost like it used to be when he and I would meet for a quickie when he was in town. I remembered those times with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. God, what a fool I was then. But today, I had a different meeting in mind. I was able to finally get my stomach under control and went to the room.

Ron answered the door with my knock and reached to give me a welcome hug and kiss. I slapped his hands away and told him that this was not a pleasure trip so to back off! He looked shocked but did as I asked. He stood aside as I entered.

The first thing I said to him was that I would tolerate nothing from him and if he even tried to do anything or suggested anything I would leave. He backed away and sat down in one of the chairs at the table in the small, dingy room. He agreed without any argument.

I spent the next hour telling Ron about Jennifer. I relaxed and just let my love for her flow into words. He listened and only asked a few questions. I told him of her accomplishments and her love for both of us. I made sure that I told him of her devotion to Jim and her love for him. I let him know that I would not permit anything or anybody to come between Jennifer and her father. I reminded him of Jim's business and the

contacts I had with many unsavory characters. I asked him if he understood what I was saying. He nodded yes.

I showed him some pictures of Jennifer with her friends and with Jim and I. I also played some videos of earlier birthday parties so that he could get an idea of her vitality and her joy for life. Again, I reminded him that all of that came not from him, but from Jim. As I played the videos and showed him the pictures, he became very sad. I know that he was seeing a daughter that he had no chance of ever knowing or sharing a life with. However, I had no sympathy for him since he had a family of his own that he turned his back on every time he was with me.

As I was ready to leave, I told him that he was not to contact Jennifer in any way at any time unless I told him it was OK. I told him that Jim did not know about him and that Jim had no idea that he was not Jennifer's biological father. I would not permit him to interfere in our lives unless I could assure myself that Jim would not be hurt. He finally agreed but said that he would be in town for another week and to call if anything changed. I left and never looked back.

As I drove home, I told myself that I was not going to allow Ron to enter our lives at any point. Things were good at home and Jennifer was going to school in the fall. Maybe I could find some way for Ron to see her at some time in the future without Jim knowing anything. I wasn't sure how to arrange it with Jennifer but that was for later. I had no plans to tell Jim about Ron at that time and I doubted that I ever would unless somehow forced to change my mind. Why hurt him if it wasn't necessary? It was a painful time in my life and it could only make him unhappy and ruin what had been 17 wonderful years as a family. I could not see how confessing to a 17 year lie was going to do anyone any good. I had learned to live with it and I would carry the burden to my grave if fate were kind. There was no reason to impose that burden on anyone else.

I forgot about Ron as I thought ahead to Jennifer's upcoming birthday party and the after prom party and the other things that made up my life; a life that I loved and would not give up without a fight.

Jim

I had forgotten that I had put Woody Tree on an annual retainer and that Tiny was making sure that Woody was keeping an eye on Ron Davis. Apparently Tiny had Woody give him an update once every couple of months for the first year or so and then a yearly report after that. Woody had put a contact out with someone he knew in the town where Ron Davis lived now. He followed his life via tracers on his home phone and his credit cards. Apparently, he still had most of the same cards he used for travel. Woody knew every time he came to Cleveland and always let Tiny know. Tiny usually made it a point to follow Ron for awhile when he came to town, probably hoping Ron would make a mistake and try to contact Molly. Never happened, until a week before Jennifer's birthday.

When Woody let Tiny know that Ron was in town, Tiny followed him to the Holiday Inn. Tiny put a trace on him from the time he checked in. He was taking a turn watching the room when he saw Molly's car pull in and Molly get out. He perked up right away and watched to see where she went. Sure enough, she went to Ron's room and knocked on the door. He saw Ron open the door and reach to kiss Molly. He watched as she slapped his had away and had a glimmer of hope. His hope died after he waited for Molly to reappear. It wasn't until almost 2 hours later that she came out. She got into her car and left. He did not see Ron come out so he finally left.

Tiny gave me the news of what he had seen with tears in his eyes. He said that he didn't know what went on in the room, but that Molly had remained there for over 2 hours. He told me she left and that he didn't see Ron come out of the room for over an hour after that.

"What are you going to do, boss man?" Tiny was worried that I was going to do something foolish and he did not want that to happen. He looked at me hard and said, "Remember you have a daughter that needs you and a wife that loves you regardless of what she may have done."

"I have no idea of what I am going to do. I know that I will have to tell Jennifer about Ron Davis and who he is. I also know that I can't live with Molly any longer if she is still involved with that piece of shit."

I wondered if I even had a marriage any longer. If not, I had no idea of how I was going to live without Molly. It's strange how you can love someone so much that they control your life with their actions. They can make you happy and they can destroy you without even knowing it. Molly was my life and I had put her infidelity aside 17 years ago and had learned to live again. She had been my joy and my strength for all of those years. She had been my partner in building a life for Jennifer and us that was full of joy and laughter. She had never let me down in all those years. I would have bet my life on her love for me.

It appeared that might have been a bad bet.

I decided that I needed to make some plans. I took the information that I had kept all these years to my attorney and laid out the whole sordid story for him. He wanted to know what my plans were and I told him that I wanted to move to divorce Molly now that Jennifer was of age. I wanted to do so in an amicable way so that there would be no bitterness due to the conditions of the divorce. I told him Jennifer was already taken care of and needed nothing from us at this point. He said that all would be ready by the end of the week. Jennifer's birthday was Friday.

I also put all of the information about Ron Davis on paper, made copies of the adoption papers and parental rights waiver and put all of those into a folder for Jennifer. I checked on the investment and had that changed over to Jennifer's control. That was something that Molly knew about and had agreed to.

I was ready for Jennifer's 18^th birthday, or was it to be the end of my life as I knew it to be then. I did not know what Jennifer would say when she found out that I was not her natural father and what she would say about her mother's infidelity. I may find that she would come to hate me for doing what I was going to do. It was a risk that I had to take for my own sanity. Only time would tell.