Jim and Laura: Quid Pro Quo

I called Mr. Duncan and I can say that overall our discussion did not go well. When I asked him if he knew Laura Grovsner, he feigned stupidity and told me that he didn't know anyone by that name. Further, he couldn't remember if he had been at the Vegas convention the previous year and that he was extremely busy and had to go. As a parting comment I told him that Laura would be contacting him about his daughter, just born, and that I would be requesting a court ordered DNA test. There was dead silence on the phone.

I also asked Mr. Duncan to verify his home address and telephone number so that the court order could be delivered. At that point the telephone line suddenly went dead. Go figure. You see Mr. Duncan has a Mrs. Duncan and three little Duncans, at home. No telling how many more he had spread out around the country.

So, to sum up, I have a long-time cheating wife that got knocked-up by her convention boyfriend and she had a biracial child. My children are somewhat perplexed by the fact that their new sister has much darker skin than they do, but in their kid innocence, they're not that fussed by it. I have a bit of explaining to do for them in a few weeks. Right now I have some work to do with Laura. Our future together may be in doubt.

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Laura

Well, I've certainly got my self in a big mess. I need to talk to Jim and see if we can work through this. He's normally a very reasonable man and there is no reason that he can't be a father to this baby as well. He'll see that with time, he'll be able to accept her as his own. I may call Glen to let him know that it's a girl. I talked to him after I knew that I was pregnant but he wasn't at all keen to have anything to do with me. He virtually hung up on me and even suggested that if I try to contact him he might take some legal action to stop me. That's a fine 'how-do-ya-do,' the man professed to love me in Vegas as he was sticking his dick in me. He does have a big cock but its not doing me any good right now.

Jim has avoided me as much as possible since the baby was born. He is quite normal with our kids but refuses to touch the baby. When the baby cries he just looks to me to do something. In fact, after he puts our two oldest to bed, he spends most of his time in his office.

Jim moved out of our bedroom. He moved his things to the closet in the spare bedroom up on the third floor, and took all of his toiletries to the ensuite bathroom. He set up the crib in the master bedroom where I'm still sleeping.

I know that in a few weeks he'll calm down and want to talk about this. He'll also want to start having sex again. I'm going to get back to the gym again and get rid of the rest of the pregnancy weight. When he sees me naked he'll want me and we'll get back to normal.

Jim is spending more time out of the house with the kids. He says that they are hiking in the park a lot. The kids come home excited and want to tell me about what they saw and did. I'm here most of the day and night doing all the care for the baby. I need a shower.

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Amanda

I had learned an important lesson in my marriage to Michael; just when you think that you've won, you've lost. Michael's new wife, Rebecca, had been patient and waited for me to fuck up. And when I did, and failed to realize it completely and take action, she took action. That's why she's married to a wonderful man and has two children with him. They live somewhere in Scotland, the highlands, somewhere by the ocean, I think. They love the country life and live on a fairly large property with an old house that they're slowly renovating.

So, not to be contrite, I waited for Laura to fuck up; and she had, big time. It was time for me to make my play for the man that I wanted. I had learned to keep my legs together for men other than the one man that I wanted; Jim. I knew that he was, first and foremost, a good man, a good father and wanted to be a good husband. It was too bad that the woman he married was cheating on him, for years. It was easy for me to spot the signs of her infidelity, because I had committed the same mistakes many times. My children were fathered by two of my lovers, instead of my husband. Thus the reason that Michael was another woman's husband now. I wouldn't make the same mistake again.

I made a point of being emotionally intimate with Jim as well as physically when we got together. At work, I would drop by his office when I had the time and talk to him and we were meeting for lunch more often. Tongues around the firm were wagging. It was common knowledge, amongst the lawyers and paras that Laura had been having an affair and gave birth to a daughter that wasn't Jims. They were all quietly speculating when the divorce would happen. Every time Jim would leave the office on personal business, there were looks amongst those that worked with him seeking to find out what was going on. Maybe this was the day? Maybe the end of his marriage was near. His personal lawyer's office was only a few blocks away so it was normal for him to walk there and back. It gave him time to think and burn off some stress. He had gotten in the habit of texting me when he was going there for a meeting. I always waited to see what was coming. I knew that the end of Laura was getting closer.

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Jim

So, here's the thing. I've been wracking my brain for days about the great question: what the fuck do I do with a wife that has had another man's baby? A wife that has been unfaithful to me for years and now is really rubbing my nose in it in a very public way.

My brain was screaming at me to get some boxes, fill them with all her shit and shove them and her and her baby to the curb. While that might have been the most satisfying solution, I knew that it wasn't realistic, considering that the kids would ask questions and I didn't want to be the one to have to provide the answers, just yet. That, and I'm not a completely heartless bastard. Well, I want to be.

But I had to do something. I had a pretty good idea of what it was, but I also knew that doing it would be painful for my entire family. Laura's father had quietly told me to do what I believed was the right thing, what ever I decided that was. He couldn't believe that his daughter was that stupid.

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Laura

My mother and father lived not far from Albany and they were keen to come and see their new grandchild. When they went into the master bedroom to see the baby in her crib both Mom and Dad were...surprised. That would be an understatement.

My mother put her hand to cover her mouth, staggered backward and had to sit in the chair that was next to the crib. My father just looked at me, shook his head in disgust, and left the room. Dad went downstairs to the liquor cabinet, poured himself two fingers of scotch and sat at the dining room table to drink it. He didn't move when Mom and I came downstairs a few minutes later. I had the baby in my arms getting ready to breastfeed her.

Mom looked at Dad and he poured her a drink and shoved it across the table to her. She took a sizeable gulp and then they both looked at me.

I decided that it was best to tell the truth, but maybe not all the truth. That might be a bit much for them to hear today. So, I admitted to having sex with a black man in Vegas last year. My Dad made a crack, almost muttering it, 'not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.' While that was true it wasn't needed.

My mother went to the obvious question right off. "What are you and Jim going to do now?"

I exhaled before answering, "I don't know."

My mother looked at the table as she asked, "Are you leaving him?"

My head snapped up, "No!"

She went on, "Is he kicking you out?"

"We haven't said more than a few words to each other since the baby was born. He spends as much time with the kids away from the house, as he can. He moved to the spare bedroom, the one that I was going to use for the baby. That's why the crib is in the master bedroom."

My mother was shaking her head. My father was just looking at the table. Neither even breathed much.

My mother summed up her thoughts with, "Jesus, how could you be so stupid? I thought we raised you better than that." Her comment was a statement, not a question.

I sat not saying a word as the baby was busy drinking from my breasts. My mother had hit the issue squarely on the head: would Jim force me to leave? I had hoped that he would listen to reason and be a father to this little girl. But I knew that every time he would look at her, he would be reminded of my infidelity. That I had cheated on him was plainly evident. We hadn't talked about it at all. He had avoided me at every opportunity. And I couldn't blame him. What man wants to be reminded that his wife got pregnant by another man and here is the product of that affair.

It's not like I was having a lengthy affair with Glen. He was well known in the business and was a very personable guy, always able to dish out the compliments to women. This time I had had way too much to drink and found my self in his hotel room on the first night of the conference. We spent the next few days fucking and it was wonderful. All the normal things from home: work, kids, husband, were forgotten and I just enjoyed the attention that he gave me. That and his big cock. He was good with his cock; I'll give him that. It was constantly pushing against my cervix and giving me one sweaty orgasm after another. At the end of the conference I went home barely able to walk. My pussy was worn out and I knew that I had to clean up before the flight and then get ready to see Jim and the kids.

When I got home the kids were quick to tell me that they had just gotten back from Disney World in Florida. I mentioned to Jim that Disney World was something that I wanted to do with the family. He looked at me and said, "you need to actually be around for that," and walked away.

I didn't know what the fuck to do. I was mightily hung over and I couldn't shower enough to wash away the realization that I might have fucked-up big-time in Vegas. I got in way over my head with Glen. The alcohol and the part of my brain that likes sex did the thinking. The rest of my brain, the part that knows I have children and a husband was pickled in martinis. I realized that I spent at least four days fucking Glen. He's a guy who's pretty full of himself. His ego is larger than his dick, but his dick is pretty big.

And I should know; it had been in me for most of the time I was there.

When I got home I knew that I needed to have sex with Jim as soon as possible. I figured that it might heal the rift between us. The rift that had been growing for a while now. Maybe he knew about Jason too?

I know that Jim and I had not been intimate with each other much lately and it was spilling over into our family life. At the time I thought that spending more time with Jim and the kids would be something that should be a priority.

A few weeks later I missed my period, my nipples were extra sensitive, and I was getting morning sickness. I knew that I was pregnant and so decided that I had to decide on a plan. I should have had an abortion. But I didn't. I silently prayed, please God, let this baby be Jim's!

But it wasn't.

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Jim

To answer the obvious 'what the fuck do I do' question, I decided that a visit with my lawyer might help to provide me with a better view of the challenges that I'm facing.

You see, my brain was fully convinced that divorce from Laura was my only option. I mean, I would have a very difficult time being a father to her child when it was clearly evident to everyone that saw us that she had gotten pregnant by another man. A biracial child to two very white parents is somewhat obvious. I had thought initially that the father might be Jason, the guy that she was fucking on a regular basis. Clearly it wan't him. She had been unfaithful to him as well. I had to laugh to myself about that.

I know what you're thinking; it's the 21^st century and my attitude is extremely racist. This has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with my wife getting pregnant by another man. The child is innocent in all of this. The child doesn't have a choice of parents. Its mother and father are who they are. Just because the mother is white and the father is black is not the issue. The issue is that my wife had another mans child. Really simple in my mind.

My lawyer asked if I had DNA tests done; I had and passed over the results. I also passed over the information that my investigator had gathered about the child's father, along with pictures. Then we had a heart-to-heart discussion about NY State family law and what that meant for me. Especially now that Laura had so clearly had sexual relations with another man all while we were married.

I told LeeAnn that my first priority was my two children. I wanted full custody and was prepared to go nuclear to get it. I was prepared to say that Laura was an unfit mother, use all the evidence that my investigator had collected, and so custody should be with me. I was reasonably well-off and could afford to fight this out if need be, and to hire a part-time nanny to assist with child care after school.

There were several precedents in the court to allow for this. I would retain ownership of the house and be glad to pay Laura half the value. The kids and I would remain in the house since it provided a high degree of stability for them and allow them to remain in the same school. The youngest was now in school and so that meant that after-school care was the main issue. I had that well covered.

I didn't even go near the issue of child support from Laura. All I wanted was for her to pack up herself and her baby and move out. To get things underway, LeeAnn suggested that we start with a formal Separation Agreement.

Now, for the benefit of those that are unfamiliar with what this type of agreement is (this is the lawyer in me talking now), an SA is a legally binding document that is essentially a run-up to an actual divorce. I suppose you could say that it allows couples some breathing space to live apart and decide if they want to salvage the marriage. The truth of the matter is that the majority of SAs become the template for the divorce, since few couples actually return to the marriage. I guess it's really divorce in stages. I wasn't sure that an SA was what I wanted. I figured that the SA stage was just putting off the inevitable. Why bother delaying things?

LeeAnn figured that using the SA would be a good way to see if the child's father was prepared to acknowledge the child as his and provide financial support. As well, the SA was a method of moving Laura out of the house and allowing the kids and I the chance to see how we make out on our own. I would gladly allow Laura liberal visitation with them; I suppose the challenge for her would be taking care of her baby and the kids every other weekend on her own.

The last couple of years Laura had left the bulk of the parenting pretty much to me. Her job and her extra curricular activities with Jason had amounted to her coming home to the three of us, being tired, hungry and wanting to get caught up on her work. Often she would take off in the evenings to see potential clients or to go show a house to somebody. Some weeks the actual amount of time that we spent together as a family was pretty much zero. So, over time, I got busy with the kids, they became less dependent on their mother and we all got on with life.

Laura and I had hardly spoken to one another since the birth of her baby. I didn't contribute any effort at tending to the child's needs; that was all on Laura. So, on a Friday night about a month after the birth of the child I started.

I pulled out a large envelope and said to her in my very controlled voice, "Laura, we need to talk,"

The look on her face said it all. She paled a bit and knew that this was serious and that it wasn't going to be something that would end well for her. I knew that she was hoping that the longer we delayed having a talk about the baby and her infidelity, the greater the likelihood that I was going to ignore that fact that she had another mans child.

I poured her a glass of wine and slid it over the dining room table to her. I had a glass of ice-water for the discussion. I had the manila envelope on the table with me and she was staring at it as she took a drink. She nodded towards the envelope and slowly asked, "What do you have there Jim?"

I got right to the point, "This is a Separation Agreement that my lawyer has prepared. I think it's time for us to think about the future. I think that you and I need some space to be able to examine what it is we want and clearly our marriage is not in good shape. Evidently, I'm not the man that you want as a husband. And right now, you're not the woman that I want as my wife. So, I think that for both our benefits we need to separate and re-evaluate our marriage."

Laura's eyes were wide and her hands started to shake. She took a large gulp of her wine.

I kept going, "My lawyer prepared this agreement and it says that I will stay here with my kids and you and your baby will move out. You can take a month to find a new place for you to live. You can take as much of the furniture from the house that you think you need. You can have as much time with the kids as you want but they will live with me. I've arranged for a part-time nanny to assist with after-school care and to cover any times that I need to be away. I've made arrangements with work to adjust my schedule and will be able to work from home much more."

Laura had a deer-in-the-headlights look to her face. Clearly I had surprised her with this SA and she needed time to think about her options.

"Jim, why do you want me and the baby to move out?"

The look on my face said it all. Time to be blunt, "Come on Laura, get real. You decide to fuck around and then get pregnant and you want me to act as if it's all just fine. Un-uh. Ain't gonna happen. You should have known by now that I wasn't gonna stand for that level of disrespect from you. You've been unfaithful for years now, and now it comes to an end. So, you've got thirty days to pack, find a place to live, take your child, and get out!"

I was building up a good head of steam, and I really wanted to vent my frustrations at her. But I knew that it would do no good. It would serve little purpose and I had to think of my kids first and foremost. Being calm and controlled right then, was very hard to do.

I pushed the envelope across the table to her. "Here's the separation agreement. I've tried to be very fair to you. Get yourself a lawyer and review it if you want, in fact I would highly encourage you to do that. But know this, I don't have any intent to recognize your baby as my child."

I got up from the table and walked out of the room. The house was silent.

So, for the next month things in my house were as normal as I could make them considering that my wife and her baby were going to move out. She actually went out apartment hunting and found a two bedroom place not far from her office. Her maternity leave would give her time to move in and get situated before she would have to get back to work. The SA had dates attached to the parts of the document and I would occasionally remind her that her time to be out of the house was getting close. We walked around the house and she let me know what she wanted to take to furnish her apartment. I took all of the photos that were around the house and removed them, especially the ones that she was in. I made a few notes about changes that I wanted to make to the house when she moved out.

In all this time I kept my relationship with Amanda separate from Laura; in fact I wasn't even sure whether Laura was aware that I knew Amanda. I kept seeing Amanda a couple of times a week and on the weekends we would often do things together with our kids. Hikes in the parks and visits to local recreation places were a welcome relief for me. The kids, who were a year older now, loved it.