Independence Day

"None of you need to worry about me. Taking the rest of our assets, including our investment accounts, has left me with a bank balance that is nearly 8 figures, so I'll be just fine. Not that I really thought any of you would be concerned. I think the treatment I've received over that last year makes clear how you all feel about me these days.

"Oh, and if you're worried about me spending my golden years alone, no need to concern yourself there, either. I already have a companion and she's sitting next to me on the airplane right now. But let me introduce you. Deborah?"

The face that matched the feminine voice from earlier came out from behind the camera and stepped into the picture.

"Everyone, this is Deborah. She'll be the one helping me spend your inheritance."

"Hey everyone," said an attractive brunette, who seemed to be in her fifties, as she waved back to the camera.

"Deborah and I have been keeping close company for about the last 4-5 months, after I told her what my wife had been doing. Nothing much more than spending a lot of time together and confirming how compatible we are. But Josephine, you may remember Deborah. You've met her several times. We've been working together for over 30 years, since she was hired on in the marketing department. She took an early retirement to join me in my new home. We've been close friends all that time, and the best part is that her 'needs' are no more than a desire for intimacy. Cuddling and kissing, and maybe a few more things of a personal nature, more than fit the bill for her. I'm looking forward to it."

Everyone looked at Josie to see how she was taking this revelation, and the look on her face made it clear she was not taking it well. Eric paused the video.

"Mom, are you okay?" Leo asked.

"No, Leo, I am most definitely not okay. But let's just get this over with."

Eric restarted the video.

"Josephine," Ray said, his tone becoming more serious. "I've loved you since the day we met. If someone had told me that you could treat me like this I'd have knocked them out before they had finished talking. I was looking forward to spending our final years together and getting visits from our kids, grandkids, and even great grandkids. I'm so disappointed that your physical wants destroyed that for us, for me. For your sake, I hope it was worth it. You should have enough money to last you a long time, especially if you sell the house. If you need more I'm sure the kids that supported your affair will be willing to support you financially as well. Now that I think of it, it was my money that put them through college and allowed them to get good jobs, so I guess I get some credit for that, too.

"I wish I could understand what was so important about a few orgasms that would lead you to what you did. It's been a horrible year and everything was getting even worse. I knew about at least some of the extra time you spent with him each week. I could have wrapped this up a few months ago but I liked the idea of declaring my independence on Independence Day, so I waited.

"I suppose there's a part of me that will always love you, or at least what we had. I wish things had been different but somewhere along the line you forgot our marriage was a 'we' and not a 'you and I'. I always tried to avoid making a choice that was to my benefit and would harm you, like you did with Luke. I guess you thought I'd somehow accept it, maybe because I always sacrificed for you before. I don't know.

"No matter the reason, it's done and it can't be undone. For your sake, I hope it was worth it. Goodbye, Josephine. I'll miss you and what we could have had."

Ray looked directly into the camera as the screen faded. Everyone in the room was in tears, though some more than others. None of them thought that Josie's relationship with Luke would drive Ray away. He had always acquiesced to Josie in the past and thought that would be true here. Deep down, no one thought he had the backbone to do anything but accept it.

Wearily, they all spent the night at Josie's house that night. She would need their support.

[::::::::::]

Epilogue

Rebecca was cleaning her kitchen when her phone rang. About the only calls she ever received were from her husband, Leo, or junk calls of some sort. She checked the screen and the number was blocked. That seemed just odd enough that she decided to answer.

"Hello?"

"Rebecca, it's Ray."

"Oh my God, Ray! How are you? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, Rebecca, just fine. Where I am I'm going to keep to myself for now. More importantly, how are you?"

"I'm good, dad. I do have some news though. I'm pregnant."

"Congratulations! How far along?"

"Just a couple of months. We found out just after you left. I can't believe you've been gone almost 3 weeks."

"Yeah, time flies. Thanks for calling me 'dad' by the way. I thought I might have lost that title."

"Not with me. You know, dad, I owe you an apology. I should have spoken up. When everyone confronted you that day and you asked our opinions, I should have said I thought it was wrong. But I was the newest addition to the family and I was scared."

"I had a feeling, but I don't think it would have mattered anyway. Josie and Kristine seemed pretty intent on making it happen. Consider yourself forgiven."

"Thanks dad. That was really important to me, especially since I'm hoping to have both of my baby's grandfathers in its life. Are...you going to be in its life?"

"We'll have to see, honey. I have no real intention of coming back to the states but maybe we can work something out. I'd love to see you and the baby. So, how are things around there?"

"In a word, tense. Josie is a mess most of the time, though that hasn't stopped her from seeing Luke several times a week. Kristine and Eric are having problems. They're keeping it pretty close to the vest but I think your comments about her having an excuse to cheat on him struck a nerve."

"How are you and Leo?"

"We're doing okay. We're still early in our marriage so it's all still fresh. I think with Kristine and Eric having been married so long...I don't know, I guess it just makes them both a little more wary. The girls, though, are devastated."

"Really? That surprises me."

"You guys were always so close. They miss spending time with you. They still don't think a little...casual sex is a big deal, but do realize doing it when you're just dating is different than when you're married."

"I understand. I saw the distinct influence of Kristine when they answered. Look, can you get everyone together at your place tonight. I think I'm ready to have a conversation with them."

"I don't think that'll be a problem, dad. We'll talk then."

[::::::::::]

The entire family was gathered in Leo and Rebecca's living room that evening. Rebecca had made it clear that Luke was not invited. She had set out some fixings for sandwiches and everyone ate a little bit but they were all too anxious to have much.

The phone rang promptly at 8:00 and Rebecca put her phone on speaker.

"Hi dad. Everyone is here."

"Thanks, sweetheart. Just so everyone is aware, Deborah is in the room with me, as well. Let's all try to be civil and have a conversation instead of a shouting match. Agreed?"

There was a general mumbling of agreement from the assembled family.

"Good. I thought we should talk but I wanted to wait for some time to pass. Obviously, I reached out to Rebecca first. I did that because some things I overheard led me to believe she was not as on board with this as the rest of you. Leo, congratulations on the baby."

"Thanks dad. I'll try to live up to the fatherhood standard you set, and I'm not just saying that."

"What's the saying: the best thing you can do for your kids is love their mother. Remember that and you'll do fine. Allison, Julia?"

"Yes grandpa," his granddaughters said practically in unison.

"Girls, I was disappointed that you supported your grandmother in this, but your Aunt Rebecca and Deborah have convinced me that you may have been unduly pressured, and that you didn't have the life experience to understand the dynamics of adulthood and a 40-year marriage. I still have your emails and phone numbers so we'll talk more later, if that's okay."

"Of course, grandpa," answered Allison. "We just miss you."

"I miss you, too. Why don't you guys go find something to do while the rest of us talk."

The girls said their goodbyes then went to make themselves busy. They did stop and give their grandmother a quick hug before leaving.

"So," Ray continued. "Does anyone have anything they're just dying to say?"

"Ray, honey, please," Josie started, to no one's surprise. "Please come back. We can get past this. If you had told me you were actually considering leaving me, we could have figured it out."

"Why did it have to get that far, Josephine? I told you I wouldn't accept it and you went to the family for back up. Then you started inviting him to family events and seeing him several times a week. You replaced me with him while you and I were barely even roommates. You let it happen and I finally had enough."

"But you never said anything again. I thought you had accepted, had understood that it was just...something I did."

"It drove a wedge into our marriage, and there was no way it would ever do anything but that. From the time I became aware of what you were doing and you chose him over me, our marriage was doomed."

"I'm sorry, Ray. Can't we..."

"No Josephine, we can't. Even if I wanted to, which I don't, I've made a commitment to Deborah and I intend to honor it."

"What about your commitment to me? You made that first!"

"Yes, I did. And I would still be there honoring it, but as far as I'm concerned when you violated yours you released me from mine and freed me to make a new one. Which I have."

Everything went quiet, with only the sounds of Josie's sobbing breaking the silence.

"Josie," Ray spoke softly. "I'm sorry but there's no point in having this conversation. Whether you meant to or not, you tossed me aside. There's no going back."

Without another word, Josie stood up and left the room to take refuge in Kristine and Eric's room.

Kristine attacked.

"Very nice, dad. Did you call just so you could hurt mom and make her cry? All because your ego couldn't take that another man was making her feel better than you could?"

"I suppose that is how you would see it, Kristine. Eric, how's your ego doing? Is it ready to be okay with another man making your wife feel better than you can?"

Kristine rather suddenly dropped her offensive under the glare from her husband. For the entirety of their marriage, Kristine had been the dominant partner and Eric, like many husbands, went along to get along. But the last few weeks had seen a significant shift, and Kristine knew her marriage was in real trouble. You can't support another woman's right to cheat on her husband without having a little guilt by association.

"No, Ray, it certainly isn't. And you were right. I never thought about it in those terms. My wife and I are having some pretty serious issues in the aftermath of all this."

"I understand, and let me say this, for whatever it might be worth. Fight for your marriage before it's too late. You love each other but you've started taking each other for granted. I could see that even before this whole mess started. Don't let this end things but do let it be the catalyst for change. You're a team. Remember that. Josie didn't."

There was a long silence, mostly because no one else had anything to say at that moment. Then, in a voice that was almost like that of a little girl...

"Daddy," said Kristine. "Would it be okay if I talked to you in private?"

"If everyone else is okay with it, it's fine by me."

Kristine glanced around and no one objected so she picked up the phone and moved into a spare room, closing the door.

"Daddy, I'm scared. Eric has been talking about divorce, and at the very least counseling. What do I do?"

"You fix it, Kristine. That's what you do. Your girls are grown, at least mostly so. Now put the time you used to raise them back into your marriage. It's not free time, which I guess is one of the things your mother thought. Remember that you're not his boss, you're his partner."

"He's really mad. Once he started looking at it like I was giving myself free reign to cheat on him, he's been so angry. He snaps at me all the time and I know he wonders if I've already done something."

"Have you?"

"No, daddy, no. But I don't know how to convince him of that."

"All you can do is make sure there's no reason for suspicion in the future. If you do that, the questions about the past should fall away."

"Dad, I'm sorry. Isn't there some way to fix this? You and mom, I mean?"

"It's too late for us, sweetie, but not for you."

"Okay, daddy. I love you."

"I love you, too."

[::::::::::]

fin

[::::::::::]

Afterword

Inspiration: A familiar trope, both on Literotica at large and my library in specific, of the older man losing his ability to perform very well and the wife taking the opportunity to seek satisfaction elsewhere. Not the first time I've done it and probably not the last.

When I first conceived this story, I was going to BTB and BTF (that's Burn the Family), but as you can see I ended up taking a gentler approach. That's just me, I guess. I felt Ray was a more forgiving person than that and he would forgive, to an extent, if the person seemed genuinely sorry.

Permission: I hereby give my permission to anyone interested in writing a follow-up or alternate version of any one of my stories. Please just remember to give credit where credit is due. I'm not always very diligent about checking my email for permission requests.