Can Their Marriage Survive?

"Okay. I'm glad that you're thinking of things like this. It shows that you're trying to give things a chance of working out." Beth said.

Beth drove over to the house. Kelly, like Beth, was a stay at home wife so she was still home when Beth rang the doorbell at just after 8:00.

"Good morning Beth. Come on in, can I get you a cup of coffee?" Kelly asked.

"Yes please." Beth said.

They went into the kitchen, Kelly poured two cups of coffee and they sat down across the table from one another.

"Has John slept yet?" Kelly asked.

"Yes, he slept for 8 hours yesterday, then sporadically through the night." Beth said.

"I'm glad to hear that. Did he send you over with another list of questions?" Kelly asked.

"No, actually he sent me over to ask you to do something." Beth said.

"Anything, I'll do whatever he wants." Kelly said.

"He wants you to sell this house." Beth said.

"What? Why?" Kelly asked.

"Because after what happened here he can never again think of it as home. If he does decide to come home to you, it can't be here, it has to be in another house." Beth said.

"So where am I supposed to live when I sell this place?" Kelly asked.

"John also wants you to find a house in the same kind of price range and move into it. Basically he wants you to move to a place where the image of what happened won't be in his head every time he enters the bedroom." Beth said.

"Okay. I'll call Sally, she's a realtor. I'll get the house listed as soon as possible and start looking for something similar. It will take time to find another house and sell this one; what does he want to do until then?" Kelly asked.

"I don't think he has any idea. The weeks or months that it will take to sell this house and move into another one might be how long it takes him to decide what he wants to do." Beth said.

"Months?" Kelly asked sadly.

"It could be. You want to try to make things work, but he has to figure out what he wants. He still loves you, there's no doubt of that, but he has to decide whether he can forgive what happened or if he can be with you without forgiving you, or if he'll want a divorce." Beth said.

Beth went back to her house.

"She's gonna call Sally and start the process for putting the house on the market and try to find another place." Beth said.

"Good. That will take time, but I think it's time that I need. I guess I'll get an apartment or a hotel or something." John said.

"Like hell you will John. You shouldn't be alone when you're going through something like this. Ideally you'd be with Kelly, but since she's the reason you're going through this Tom and I will have to do." Beth said.

"I've already been enough trouble." John said.

"You're no trouble at all. You had me worried when you wouldn't sleep, but we insist that you stay with us until you make your decision, one way or the other." Beth said.

"You're too good to me. Thank you." John said.

John hugged Beth. For the rest of the week Beth would come out and make breakfast for John after Tom had left for work. Monday finally came and John went back to work.

For the next five weeks Beth kept John up to date on Kelly's efforts to sell the house and find another one. On the Friday of the 5th week John got back to Tom and Beth's and Beth gave him a hug as soon as he walked through the door.

"Well hello. What's got you so excited?" John asked.

"It was a really good day. Kelly signed papers for a new house and accepted an offer on the other one." Beth said.

"That's good news. I guess the next thing is to get all the paperwork in order then move." John said.

"That's right. The house she bought isn't occupied right now so as soon as the paperwork is finalized, she'll need you to sign it by the way, she can move in and be out of that other house." Beth said.

Two weeks later Beth handed John a key when he got back to the house Friday after work.

"What's this?" John asked.

"They key to your new house. I'm gonna take Kelly shopping tomorrow so she'll be out of the house so you can go take a look." Beth said.

"Oh...okay...I suppose that's a good idea." John said.

The next day John went to the house Kelly had bought. John felt strange walking into the house for the first time, but he also felt very much at home. Sure the rooms were different, the layout was different, and it had a bigger backyard, with a pool, but all of the little homie touches were there.

Their furniture was there. The pictures that Kelly had all over the other living room were all over this one. The table by the front door was the same one that had been by the old front door. John climbed the stairs and walked into the master bedroom. His mind didn't fill with the image of what had happened in the other bedroom. Their old bed wasn't there. It was a brand new king sized bed. The bedroom smelled like home. Kelly's perfume lingered in the air.

After about 20 minutes John found himself in the kitchen. He was thirsty so he opened the fridge. There were several bottles of beer in the door. Kelly doesn't drink. John could only assume that she'd bought it recently because moving it from the other house wasn't something that she would do.

He grabbed one, twisted it open and drank it. Right by the fridge, where it's always been, was a pad of paper and a pen that Kelly writes her grocery list on when she realizes they're out of something. John grabbed a piece of paper, wrote a little note, and left.

A few hours later Kelly and Beth got back to the house.

"His car isn't here so either he's come and gone or he decided not to come at all." Beth said.

Kelly opened the door and they went inside. They took the groceries right to the kitchen.

"He was here...look." Kelly said.

She picked up the empty beer bottle and the note that John had left.

"Kelly, it looks like you picked a pretty good house. Let me buy you lunch tomorrow at our usual spot, around 12:30. Thanks for the beer. John." Kelly read.

"That's got to be a good sign right?" Beth asked.

"It might be a good sign, or it might be a really bad one. I'm pretty sure that it means he's reached his decision though." Kelly said.

"Well, I guess you'll find out tomorrow." Beth said.

"Oh God, I'm so nervous." Kelly said.

Beth headed back to her house.

"So how was shopping?" John asked.

"Okay. We didn't find much we liked at the mall, but we found some delicious treats at the grocery store. Our day got a lot better when we found your note." Beth said.

"So is she going to meet me for lunch?" John asked.

"Are you kidding? She'll probably be there at 5:00 in the morning to wait for you." Beth said.

John had been sleeping pretty well over the past few weeks, but he didn't sleep a wink that night. John got up late, showered, got dressed, and walked out to the kitchen. Beth was cleaning up the dishes.

"Hi, sorry, you missed breakfast." Beth said.

"That's okay; I don't think I could have eaten anyway." John said.

"John, you probably won't tell me, but I'm planning to have pork chops for dinner tonight, should I prepare enough for 3 or just 2?" Beth asked.

"You're right, I won't tell you. You'll find out sometime this afternoon. Either I'll come back or I won't, that's how you'll know." John said.

Beth gave John a hug before he left.

"Good luck John. Whatever you've decided; Tom and I will be here to support you." Beth said.

"Thanks." John said.

At 12:28 John walked into the Blue Dove Café, is and Kelly's favorite place to go when they would eat out. He saw her sitting nervously at their usual table towards the back. John walked back to the table. She stood up. She was trembling. John was trembling a little too. It was the first time they had seen each other since that night; two months ago.

"Hello Kelly." John said.

"Hello John. I've missed you so much." Kelly said.

They embraced, but John wouldn't let her kiss him.

"Why won't you let me kiss you?" Kelly asked.

"I'm here to discuss our situation, not to play kissy face." John said.

Kelly looked down. John assumed that she thought it meant that he'd decided to divorce her.

"Okay. It's just that this is by far the longest I've gone without kissing you since we've been together." Kelly said.

"I know that Kelly. Let's sit down." John suggested.

They both sat down. Kelly kept her eyes turned towards her lap.

"Kelly, please look at me." John said.

Kelly turned her eyes up slowly, but she kept her chin down.

"Kelly, what you did hurt me more than you can possibly imagine." John said.

"I know John. It was a horrible, stupid, selfish mistake that I will never forgive myself for." Kelly said.

"As I stood in that doorway I was crushed. To see you willingly giving yourself to two other men in our bed destroyed me. My heart broke into a million pieces. I didn't sleep for more than 72 hours because when I closed my eyes the image of you on the bed was all I could see. It would have hurt me less if you'd stabbed me 137 times twisting a jagged rusty blade in each wound." John said.

"John...I'm so...I never...I don't..." Kelly sobbed.

"I know Kelly; I know. From almost the moment I met you I've been completely in love with you. I'd have gladly taken a bullet for you. I'd have jumped in front of a speeding truck to push you to safety. I'd have walked through the fires of hell and spit in the Devil's eye for you. I'd have gladly accepted any of those pains for you. So if the pain you caused me when I saw you on that bed is the price I must pay for your love then so be it. The pain of spending the rest of my life without you would be far worse than the pain I feel now." John said.

John was fighting hard to hold back the tears, but it was a losing battle. For the first time since it had happened he wept openly.

Kelly moved around beside John and held him.

"Oh John; I love you. I'm so sorry about all of this. You've given me the chance to be the wife you deserve and I promise not to mess this one up." Kelly said.

She had one of her arms across John's upper chest holding him. He lowered his head and kissed it.

"I saw you got a new bed." John said wiping the tears away.

"Yes. Beth suggested I get rid of the other one and she was right. I haven't been able to bring myself to sleep in it though yet." Kelly said.

"Then where have you been sleeping?" John asked.

"I've been sleeping in the guest room, even back in the other house." Kelly said.

"Why?" John asked.

"Because without you there it didn't feel like home; I felt more like a guest." Kelly said.

"That changes today. The new house, and the new bedroom will be home...for both of us." John said.

"Suddenly I'm not very hungry. Let's get our food to go and go home." Kelly said.

"Good idea. Waitress!" John called.

They got their food to go and then John followed Kelly to their new house...their new home.

They fell down twice on the stairs and another time in the hall way as they were trying to strip one another's clothes off, and kiss as they scurried up to the bedroom.

It was wild, it was passionate, it was satisfying, and it was just what they had both needed.

As they lay in bed in each other's arms afterwards she kissed him.

"So what do you think of our new bed?" Kelly asked.

"I like it. That old one had a lot of 'miles' on it anyway. I think we need to paint this room though." John said.

"You don't like the pink?" Kelly asked.

"It will give me nightmares." John said sarcastically.

"Well I can't have that. I've already given you enough bad dreams. I only want to give you sweet dreams from now on." Kelly said.

They drifted off to sleep in each other's arms. John didn't ask Kelly, but he knew that it was the most restful sleep he'd had since the whole thing started. They'd fallen asleep in the late afternoon. Monday morning at 9:00 John woke up; Kelly was holding John and just looking at him.

"Good morning." Kelly said.

"Good morning." John said.

"You're late for work." Kelly said.

"Oops. I'll call and let them know that I'm not coming in. Then we can go over to Tom and Beth's to get my stuff." John said.

"Okay, I'll get through the shower." Kelly said.

"I think I'll join you." John said.

They made love in the shower. As they were getting dressed John called work and told them what they already knew; he wasn't coming in. They got in John's car, drove over to Tom and Beth's. The door was unlocked so they just walked inside.

"Oh hey guys. I'm glad to see you together. Are you here for John's stuff?" Beth asked.

She got up and walked over to them.

"Yeah, there's no sense in my stuff being here when I'm going to be there." John said.

"Well I'm glad to hear that you're getting back together." Beth said.

"We owe you everything for the way you helped us. If not for you being the go between we might never have made it this far. We'll never be able to repay you for everything you did." Kelly said.

"Well, I'm glad I could help." Beth said.

They loaded up John's car with his stuff and then they both hugged Beth, thanked her again for everything she'd done, and drove home to get started on spending the rest of their lives together.