by Tinman_1903
Holy Carp! This was good. You literally had me in tears.
Thank you for giving them a Christmas miracle.
My experience trying to get pregnant is quite similar to this story. We were in our late 30s and had been trying for nearly 3 years (we married when I was 35 and he 34). 3 IUI with 2 miscarriages and 2 IVF with nothing. My best friend offered to surrogate for us but she was close to our age and my husband wasn't thrilled (long story) we gave up and had our daughter about 2 months after the last failed ivf. Our fertility doctor laughed. Lovely lady.
I like the conversation aspect of this story but Fiona is a literary icon of anger management problems. As miserable and depressed I was, never would I gave tossed my husband's test results in his face. It never crossed my mind because my heart was breaking for him too. The blow up occurs because Chris made the remark about broken pussy. That was retaliation. Many women would argue his insult was worse but I am not one of them. I would argue they are equally cruel... especially in our culture where masculinity is so tied to virility, penis size and vomitous notions of the "alpha male." Fiona's attack on her husband's fertility was far too easily glossed over here as was Fionas obvious inability to argue without escalating to violence. Though I understand Chris wanting to shoulder blame to bring peace and get Fiona back, he took too much of it on his shoulders. Yes, he mentioned both but there is a lack of balance in their issues. That she even thought to make the remark shows that she has lost respect for her husband. That's as big a problem as the argument and it wasn't addressed. The ending was happy but I wasn't convinced. One cannot suppress one's feelings and expect things will get better. That's not true communication.
Fabulous story. Conversation is the foundation of our partnership and you expressed that importance very well indeed. 5*
Beautiful Christmas story. Needed more LW stories like this. Thank you for contributions . Merry Christmas 🎅
Enjoyed it. But…..
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When they were talking about “what happened” to trigger the separation, there was lots of talk about what HE said to piss her off….but hardly a thing about what SHE said that started it all “…if you were a real man” etc. And he basically just let it happen. Weak.
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Also….that Preston did not both professionally and personally (by Chris) suffer for the out and out fraud of sending those divorce papers was weak. At the very least, Chris should have informed Preston’s wife of his behavior?
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Glad it worked out for tnem.
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4 ****
As someone who struggled with fertility for over 19 yes, this story showed the frustration, anger, resentment that occurs. My hubby and I have said those same awful things about each other's reproductive organs. We didn't mean it, we were just frustrated, angry and losing hope. My Dr kept telling me we had to relax, we were both fine. but if I'm stressed I won't get pregnant. In 2018 we decided to stop everything relating to having a baby after having a huge argument about a baby.. In 2019 suddenly I was 4 days late. I honestly thought it was menopause, cause we'd been trying to conceive for so many year's it never occurred to me I may be pregnant. Until I was talking to my hubby and he told me to go get a test. I argued with him it was a waste of money but I went and bought one that comes with 3 tests. Imagine my total shock at 6 am when 2 lines popped up!. I was in so much shock. I didn't believe it and grabbed 2 more tests. Each showing pregnant. I cried for the next 4 hours. I was overjoyed, in disbelief and scared. Even then I still didn't believe I was pregnant--- until I went to confirm pregnancy. I didn't believe I was pregnant all the way up to the first ultrasound. When I finally saw what looked like a Gummi bear, that's when I believed it. My princess just turned 2 and we are currently working on baby #2. I always knew I didn't want to have kids with anyone else but my hubby. When it finally happened I felt like I was in heaven. Fertility issues in a marriage can break the marriage up. As women, we were created to procreate and I felt less than a woman cause I couldn't give my hubby his first child. My husband felt like less of a man cause he couldn't get me pregnant. These type of emotions will mind fuck you. It also opens up the door for other's to create even more problems in the marriage. You have to have a strong marriage to deal with Fertility. We also thought of doing ivf and actually had found a Dr the week before I found out I was pregnant. It's like God was watching out for us cause we were in the process of using our down-payment for our first home to do ivf. 2019-2021 has absolutely been the best year ever. We had a baby and bought our 1st home all in 1 year
Like every witness to a crime the have different memories of their argument. When the get together and talk about the night of the argument Fi remembers Chris accusing her body of not being able to carry a child to delivery while Kris recalls Fi accusing him of not being able to produce viable sperm for the conception of a health fetus. Chris's memory is more accurate. Hope their counseling was able to instill a greater sense of confidence in Fi and get her past the idea that she is not an incubator. As far as Preston's future health is concerned there should be some unhappy issues for him to face.
"I was already feeling less of a woman, Chris. I already felt broken. Bon-Bon and I were raised to believe that our purpose as women was to give our husbands a family."
I interrupted her. "Fi, that's an outdated mindset. That's not your purpose."
From an evolutionary standpoint, that is her purpose, and that's why her hormones would push her so hard. Do we really need all the feminist "virtue signaling" in LW stories?
It's really quite said that in every one of these stories where the wife loses the baby because of miscarriage that the husband ends up taking all the blame. And that the husband is never allowed to grieve or react or have any emotional anxiety and angst
Why is he doing all of the apologizing? She started it by insulting him then she takes off and goes no contact. He sees that she is in fact with preston. Yet he is at fault?
To make his point he should insist on a std test and if and when they conceive get dna done. Show her the damage she caused.
gave it a 4, because she did leave and refused to speak to the man she supposedly loved
Re the divorce petition. That isn't just a "complaint to the bar" level item. That's a couple of very substantial civil suits, against the firm and Preston. Probably two-comma settlements when all is said and done. And I'm sure Preston's wife will be really interested in why he's being sued for interference in someone else's marriages and looking at a high six figure lawsuit. IF she stays with him, I see a draconian post nup in his future. And mebbe a cock cage if he can't control himself.
Why did he go back to the house after giving her the revised, signed divorce papers?
He gave her the house, he should have been completely moved out, even if it was just into a hotel, before giving back the divorce papers. The conversation was a good start for their reconciliation but it should have been harder for her to sit down with and have it.
Who cares how they met? They did, or we wouldn't be here. If you HAD to have back story, why not introduce Preston here, not drop him out of nowhere later.
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"I knew I had overstepped." - No more than she did.
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"After the first, I'll try to get her to talk with you." - Why wait until then?
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"Bon-Bon and Brandon told me I was wrong, but I was already committed." - Why, did you sign a contract?
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"Do you know how much that hurt?" - No more than her calling him less of a man!
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"I threw him in your face because I knew it would hurt you." - So, she KNEW it would hurt him, but HE'S the bad guy for throwing her under the bus?
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Wouldn't the phony divorce papers require her signature? So did Preston forge it? That should be disbarment!
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The cost of IVF was mentioned early, but after a THIRD IVF they could afford a THREE-WEEK cruise.
oh, good god im jaded as hell. my first thought was i hope he got a dna test done lol. yeah, what other are saying a bit one sided there with the make-up conversation
But you conjured up a beautiful Christmas fairy tale for us! So right before Christmas Eve it is really refreshing to read an LW story in which love really comes into its own. Thanks for that!
She left, stayed away for more than a month after initiating a cruel argument. She threw her ex in his face and carried on an emotional affair. She filed a restraining order. And the she was shocked and angry about divorce papers? The woman does not have anger issues. She is just an awful person.
All of the pain of a usual loving wives cheating story, without any actual betrayal or infidelity. Just the brokenness of ordinary people. I suspect one reason I read these stories is to process some of my own grief over a lost marriage and other damaged relationships. This was a good one. Thank you.
Why would the husband put up with the wife's temper? Seems as though he is walking on egg shells when around her. She is a bully. Move on.
I always have to remind myself that I am not a character in the story. I am watching other people handle conflict the way they handle conflict.
Having been thru miscarriage after miscarriage I can appreciate the pain it causes. Even today after two kids I can still remember the pain. Not good.
A great story about love and communication. I like the realistic conversation and the very happy ending. I would have liked to see Preston suffer some real payback for his actions with the divorce papers. This was a really enjoyable Christmas story, especially in comparison to some of the garbage posted recently. Good job and an easy *5.
Gave you a 5. Nice story. Too bad Preston did not get more than a little HR writeup. Should have been a a full lawsuit.
Liked it till the end. Saddletramp needs to help with the revenge on Preston!
Sorry, readers, but I disagree with most of you. It was a great story. Yes, the wife was very wrong in her actions of avoiding her husband. Unforgivable, very close! But their conversations ( get it ) explained all actions. And yes, the husband did more "apologizing" but in a make up session a man's thoughts of protecting his wife outshine all others to the point of sacrificing himself to make her realize the truth. This story was an excellent example of this precept.
IANAL, but there have to be some significant legal ramifications here re: Preston, perhaps both civil and criminal. A 7-figure check from his dad to settle this all quietly would cover a lot of expenses for fertility treatments! And why wouldn't they be sure to inform Preston's wife about his actions?
You had to have the protagonist fall into the whiskey bottle.
It is a Christmas story after all but I kept thinking he was dreaming and drank himself into an alcoholic haze and froze (Thinking the heat was off or he open the windows etc) I know I'm dark sometimes. That being said my take is unbelievable but would a law firm sanction filing divorce unrequested for someone?
This story had such love and pain in it. I really felt fir each of the main characters and as someone who has been through 2 miscarriages I know how hard it is on the wife and the husband. She was very immature to run the way she did but the love they found in the end was so with it. Well done.
The MC is sooo Beta that some say he looks like a tropical fish. His constant apologies, while never calling her out for equating his worth as a man with the quality of the sperm produced in his testes, were subservient and distasteful. She knew exactly what she was saying during their argument, and she meant every word of it at the time. It is clear she seriously considered leaving her husband for the fully fertile man whore. The MC's failure to personally and physically convey his thoughts and feelings about the interference in his marriage to the slimy perpetrator is shameful.
Very well done overall. The personality traits you developed for the two characters are not easy to present in a realistic way —— especially of the volatile, yes, combustible Fi. If I have one disagreement it’s that I felt you diminished its critical importance to any successful restart of the marriage. To me it was of first order importance. It came across as just one list item among many.
Thanks for a good read!!
This is bad.
Whatever it is you are trying to present, it doesn't feel balanced.
1 person is shouldering everything and whenever that person return fire, that person felt overstepped. Even though the person crossed that line first.
Forgiveness? No.
Nice story. The emotions and self doubt that surrounds a couple when they are going through conception problems can easily lead to emotional outbursts and the blame game. Glad these two survived.
Thanks Tinman.
This story still bugs me. He makes a PERFECTLY reasonable request, to take a break (NOT stop trying!), and she attacks his manhood. Then, when he JUSTIFIABLY reacts in kind, suddenly he's the bad guy.
Excellent story, about a very difficult subject. I can't think of anything more damaging to any man's ego and self-esteem, then to say what she said during her tirade. A statement about any man's virility, is like the proverbial snowball pushed down a hill, gaining speed and size until it can no longer maintain its size and shape and it finally flies apart. It is just as bad as his statement that her puss was broken. Words can raise us up or send us into the abyss. I got the impression it was mainly told as his perspective so maybe a little more about his thoughts and how it affected his thoughts and the depression, he felt as that statement kept resonating and repeating in his head. Great story. 5 Stars, but I think it could have been a little better with just a little more of his insight about the pain those word caused.
Well done.
Strong plot on big problems
that can pop up in a marriage.
Really well done.
Top ratings from me.
Nice story but I would go have a talk with Preston and make it clear he should never near my wife again. Thanks for writing.
Weak, weak handling of redress and recrimination for the obviously criminal actions of Preston, his law firm, and his father's company. Only a couple of paragraphs were devoted to the subject in the story, and no real punishments resulted.
In any civilized country, there would have been criminal charges and prison time for the lawyers and Preston, disbarment for the lawyers, and lawsuits for all of these, plus Preston's father's company. Regardless of whether the marriage survived, or not!
Law firm sanctioned? Preston receives HR counseling? What in hell do THESE mean?
Shame on you, Tinman!
Liked it, scored it a 5, but would rather given it a 4.5. (wish we could do that) Hated the way the MC kept trying to re-connect with his angry sharp tongued wife. Smacked of being a wuss.
Marriage isn't easy, and all the love in the world doesn't make it so. Understanding comes hard, and takes real work. Throw in a crisis, and it's easy enough for a marriage to die. I'm glad these two saved theirs. That's what the story is about. Preston is just a tool. Toss him to the side and ignore him. Excellent story.
Nice story for this time of year, I like that this was an LW story, without cheating. It’s good to mix things up once in a while, thanks. KS
This woman might not have cheated but she's a legit terrible wife and will make this guy's life miserable. Not even because she wants to, but because its who she is
I kept waiting for the hammer to drop that she was pregnant by someone else. I was happy to be wrong. Happy endings for Christmas.
Why all the talk about waiting till the new year for Fi to come back? I think she was trying to get pregnant with Preston's baby but found out he got snipped after his two kids. Plan A fell through and Fi thinks husband is catching on so goes back to him. Fi has massive anger issues and acts without thinking about consequences when mad.
Good story. I hope she grew up. He did way too much apologizing for things that were her fault.
Liked the story, didn't like the petulant child Fi was. Chris really had no reason to be apologizing for her bad behavior towards him and the marriage.
Yep on this site women screw up and men apologize.?
Why?
Both sexes screw up in many ways.
Why discriminate?
Two good people but Fi has, not just a serious, but physically dangerous, anger control issue. It wouldn't take much for her to lash out and create serious physical or even lethal damage.
We're it me I likely would never have married a woman an unstable as she when it came to anger.
Also, she is impulsive and a bit narcissistic; a saving grace is she has the capacity for insight and the ability to be accountable.
Good read.
They tried IVF three times and it failed? He had slow wigglers but after all of that he got her pregnant? Are there enough DNA kits available in his town to check this little miracle out? I can't imagine anyone, male or female putting up with a spouse that talks and acts like this little girl wants too.
"Maybe I should have stayed with Preston. I know he's a real man; he's produced two kids already!"
And domestic violence as well ? NO coming back from that.
BUNNY BOILER! RUN!
Also, get a DNA test on the kids.
She started the verbal abuse by saying that he wasn't a man but her ex boyfriend is, but he's the one who is wrong for saying her pussy is broken? That's a bridge too far
Nope, Preston and the law firm serving the fake/illegal Divorce papers should also have been sued for mental distress, alienation of affection, and inappropriate conduct then the Bar can slap their license down too. Sue the Law firm for at least $50K to cover the IFV's... Then sue Preston for sexual harassment, interference in an employee's, and mental distress of an employees family for a cool +$1M after taxes. Teach them all a serious lesson.
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Fi drew first cheap-shot blood and continued to refuse comm with Chris for over a month. Fi needs far more shrink help than Chris.
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I'm not a lawyer but don't divorce papers need to be registered with the Court before they become legal documents? How did this faux law firm get Fi signature for the Court filing? Stink test issue here.
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4****, Hooyah, almost a 5* but for the serious misses
That they didn’t fall of the edge of the cliff was well scripted. I liked that they communicated the helped each other back from the edge.
I quite liked this. Your writing style is loads better than 99% of the stories I read. Again, you gave us interesting characters faced with a bit of moral ambiguity. So much better than the usual cartoon tropes found in LW stories.
"I could see in her eyes that she was telling me the truth"
Bullshit.... Nothing else
Infertility can split marriages. It didn't help that there was a snake in the grass. Just like in real life, many times after they relax from "trying to have kids", it just comes naturally. I have heard many stories about how couples after going the adoption route suddenly find themselves pregnant.
Insipid and unrealistic story, well strike that, it seems the MC is a bit of a spineless wimp. The bitch started this mess and never atoned for her bullshit.
A good story, human fertility can be very unpredictable. I once knew a couple who were unable to conceive and eventually adopted a child.
In less than a year she was pregnant!
Sounds like my buddy's Russian wife.
MC never should have married the crazy cunt to begin with. He had the chance to walk away from baggage bitch and he missed it.
Sorry, but it feels like Preston should have gotten a bit more punishment than that. He should have felt some of the pain he caused and know it was his own actions that brought it on. Thanks for sharing your story with us, I look forward to reading more of your work.
If I were married to Fi, I'd take up knife throwing as a hobby. The next time she launched a projectile at my head she'd be met with a knife accurately thrown at her face in self defense. A prominent facial scar would have a lasting impact on such a narcissistic woman.
Story failed for me . They both seem to have issues regarding pregnancy , and I accept perhaps her maternal instinct is in overdrive and she is going hormonal crazy !! But pointing out to her husband that her ex has produced , that is sired two offspring , is not only counter productive but unnecessary cruel .
Like others have commented , with her propensity to lash out , throw things , etc , this was a great opportunity to find a mate who would show him what real love is .
Faking divorce papers ? Surely that's a criminal offence ?
2*
DK
Excellent story. Lot of pathos. Intense characters. Preston should have gotten sued in civil court. While what he did was technically not a crime (assuming her signature was not forged, assume it was unsigned), they could seek relief for emotional harm/distress. They would have won.
Enjoyed the story, but the wife is portrayed horrible. Take out the issues of dealing with grief from her miscarriages and feelings of 'not being a woman' because of them.
She says something incredibly cruel to her husband. She then says something else incredibly cruel. He counters with an equally cruel comment. When they reconcile, she tells him that he couldn't understand the pain his comment caused (questioning her womanhood), and he incorrectly agrees. She later apologizes for questioning his manhood, but I'd argue what she said was worse, because she directly referenced another man and implied that her ex was more of a man than her husband.
Then when he comments "as long as it didn't go any farther than you say" regarding forgiving her, she gets angry. This is _after_ she stormed in demanding "Do you have some slut lined up already?"
She mentions how she realized her ex was a snake after seeing how badly she hurt her husband, yet still refused to do anything about it until her family forced her to. The wife doesn't get a pass simply because she's grieving. He is too. The excuse "I was committed" is no excuse. They've been married long enough that there shouldn't be any unknown anger issues.
I'm giving this story 5*, because I get what you were trying to do. But the wife's attitude really pisses me off.
Buzzsawlenny below said it will. It is amazing how so many lit authors and folks in general fall into the double standard that is so prevalent in society to blame the man no matter what. She insults his sperm motility and his man card, but when he insults her womanhood through multiple miscarriages, well, nuclear winter sets in, everybody is ok with this of course, she is entitled to that reaction. and of course he needs to apologize. This is ingrained thinking that needs to be corrected. Writers that do this in print or even on sights like this just serve to normalize the double standard.
Good story. They both hurt each other in anger and pain. We only see the husband's perspective. She was hurting also. The big mistake was her getting so angry that she fled to her sister's and refused to communicate. Bring Preston into confidence was also a dumb mistake (that started before she left the house in anger). She clearly had anger issues but mostly deep pain regarding miscarriages. Miscarriages do not affect a loving couple equally. The woman often takes it MUCH harder. My wife had a miscarriage in her 2nd month with her first pregnancy. She was really depressed for months. At first I tried to be ultra supportive. It hurt me as well but I could see it really hurt her more. She didn't get better at first and I stupidly turned to my work. After 3 months m, I could tell our marriage was wounded still. Took 2 weeks vacation and booked us both yo go to Maui. We didn't do much beside lay on thr beach, sleep, eat and make love. Even then it wasn't magically resolved. Finally holiday season came, we had some good times and we tried for her to pregnant again. Apparently my swimmers swim fast because she got pregnant again quickly. 7.5 months later after a challenging and harrowing pregnancy our daughter was born (premature, yes I know usual gestation period). Both mother and daughter pulled through nicely. I told my wife that our daughter "L" had come back for a second time. It helped my wife finally frame the first miscarriage. My son was born 3 years later and then we stopped. My point is that miscarriage typically hit the expectant mother way harder than the husband. So her grief and pain was much worse at the time of their fight. And both said hateful things. Fortunately with communication, a loving couple can get over pretty much anything (with certain limits). Her running away in anger was a big mistake, while hiding behind her sister and her brother-in-law. Preston was a colossal dick. They should have filed a civil suit. They would have won damages for emotional distress. The lawyers didn't not represent her. He instigated and action on her behalf that was fraudulent. Especially if there was a forged signature. Glad they worked it out. Well written.
4 stars - people who have so little control of their emotions really piss me off.
So her verbal and physical attacks and his retributions quickly escalated beyond their control.
To me that signaled the end of the marriage and the way you tried to resolve the issues did not ring true.
I looked up the word "desperation" in the dictionary and, damn, that was his picture there.
What was the point of wasting half a page on drinking that rotgut whiskey and the effects on him it caused? Pretty cool and classy to drink himself stupid?
He tries to come off as patient and understanding but sounds like a pussy whipped whiny little boy. He needs to grow up and grow a pair.
What did Preston's wife think about his intersecting into Chris and Fi's marriage? Was she brought into the know of Preston's feeling that marrying her was a mistake and he wanted to marry Fi? Without answers to those questions, the story remains unfinished
This is as bad as the ghost story. I won't repeat myself, the same issues apply. That you seemingly glossed over the total emasculation of the insults Fi leveled at her husband is rather telling to be honest. I question your sincerity.
I am not a hair trigger rage bitch like your wife here but my husband and I went through this. I had to terminate twice. My first was an abnormal implantation outside my uterus. My second was far worse. Our son had Edward's, trisome 18. He was already developing wrongly in me. He wouldn't have survived and there was no prenatal surgery that could fix it. If my baby managed to survive birth, he would die shortly after so we did the only thing we could at 4 months. It was the worst experience my husband and I ever experienced. He had poor motility. I felt like a complete failure as a woman. We never fought and we managed to lean on each other but make no mistake, our relationship absolutely suffered.
Do you think that story could be handled in less than 10k words? You cheapen real lived experience. Sorry to be so direct this time but I feel like it needed to be stated. If you are going to take on heavy themes and examine healing and reconciliation, do the work.
these authors have no idea how to write a man with self respect, just because you love someone doesn't mean you aloow them to make you unhappy. 1*
Good story, but hard to believe that Preston wasn't successfully sued in civil court. That petition never originated with her. The junior lawyer would give Preston up to keep his law license.
Seems to me she got off easy. Her words were every bit as vile when she disparaged his manhood.
Why apologize for a spoiled bitch ? She started their "relationship" with a lie:
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". . . I have a boyfriend." followed by "I'm sorry, I don't have a boyfriend. I just tell guys that to keep them from hitting on me. If you're not interested, don't bother calling." THAT lie should have been a waving red flag, a clear sign for Chris to stay the hell away. A courteous "No, thanks," or "You're not my type" from Fiona would be honest. Instead, she demonstrates her "trustworthiness" from the very beginning. But although telling him to stay clear of her would have been good advice, it's minor in this tale of some man blaming himself for her defects.
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But he responds to her confessing to actually lying with "I'm so sorry, I meant no harm." HE is already apologizing for a polite inquiry that needs no apology. He already TOOK "no" for an answer. At that point, any date would be a pity date.
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Later: ". . . she fit that hot-tempered redhead stereotype to a T." No, she's a child who can't keep her head on straight when she gets told "no." We call that "complete lack of impulse control," and it's a blinking "DANGER! DANGER!" sign of future emotional or physical abuse. Which, predictably, follows. Starting when SHE revealed her inner ugliness:
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"Well, if you were man enough to produce good sperm in the first place, we wouldn't need to be spending all of our money on IVF, would we?" . . . "Maybe I should have stayed with Preston. I know he's a real man; he's produced two kids already!"
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He responds but then blames himself "...I did what I should never have done." No, Chris, you responded to her disparaging you as a man with RECIPROCITY. Something someone should had done with her spoiled-rotten ass long before. She was the absolute bitch who started then when -- wait for it -- someone tried to tell her "no."
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And she responded with a textbook DOMESTIC VIOLENCE incident. If he'd tried to punch her when she mad the "man enough" comment, would that be forgivable as well? Yoda says: The double-standard is strong in this story.
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"Wow, how big of an ass am I for thinking she was banging some dude?" Chris, you're not. Not after her "man enough" and "stayed with Preston" insults. It was a perfectly reasonable explanation given how big an asshole she was.
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She kept herself away from him, spent time with an old boyfriend AFTER saying "Maybe I should have stayed with Preston." and the author asserts that CHRIS thinks himself the problem? Chris is not in love, he's infatuated with a woman who is, or at least has become toxic. Divorce was the correct option.
a comment on this story says a man shouldn't ' allow ' a woman to make him unhappy ? isn't that what happens to everybody at one time or another ?? sometimes being happy is a personal choice,we all have bad days and times when we're down . love is not ALLWAYS sunshine and roses .