Repeat Performance

"I remember the day that we took the first baby step towards a physical affair. I was washing the dishes and Hector came up behind me and kissed me on the back of my neck. I turned around to face him and he kissed me on the lips. It was a passionate kiss. I went back to washing the dishes. He stood behind me and squeezed my breasts. I wasn't happy about that turn of events, but it just reinforced my belief that Hector did need some sex in his life.

"Before long, our emotional affair had turned into a physical affair. At first, I rented a room in that sleazy motel for a couple of hours while the home care people were with Molly. I don't know how many times that happened, but it soon became pretty expensive. That place was charging $30 per hour! That's when I started staying with Hector after the home care people left. I would stay for an hour or two and we would have sex there in the house.

Officer Clark asked: "Where was Molly while that activity was going on?"

"She was in her chair where we could keep an eye on her."

"So, you two had sex in front of Molly?"

"Yes, but you have to understand that she had no idea what was going on. She was too far out of it to be aware of what we were doing."

"Can you be sure of that? What if she knew what was happening but couldn't react to it?"

"I can assure you, that was not the case. I need you to know that I was doing those things, not for my pleasure, but to save Hector. I was doing it to keep Hector from becoming another Evan Monroe. I was giving him what I honestly considered to be a necessary part of his therapy.

"At first, I tried just blanking my mind when Hector was having his way with me. I tried to be there physically, but not mentally. He told me that I wasn't participating in the sex nearly as much as Molly did. He complained about that several times.

"After that, instead of turning my mind off, I began to think about Gregg. I just pretended that it was Gregg and me. Doing that served to make things better for Hector. He thought that I was responding to him, but that wasn't the case. I hated what I was doing, but I knew that it was a necessary part of the therapy that would ultimately assure Hector's survival. It would also be good for Molly since she needed Hector for virtually everything. All of that aside, I was having more sex than I had in my thirties! I just hope I can make my husband understand that it wasn't my choice, it was my duty."

"Good luck with that, Mrs. Morgan."

"Detectives, are you seriously thinking that Hector did something wrong? Do you believe that he abused Molly?"

"Well, Mrs. Morgan, the chances are good that the bruising wasn't caused by mistreatment. Molly's body is still in the morgue and we're awaiting the results of some additional tests, but as of now, we're not convinced that Hector harmed Molly. We're not prepared to charge him with any wrongdoing."

"Did you say that her body is still in the morgue? She wasn't buried at the funeral?"

They assured her that the casket was empty and that the burial would occur later in private.

With that, the officers thanked Leslie for her cooperation, promised to send her a copy of their report, and left the house.

When I heard the door close, I went downstairs to confront Leslie. "Les, I heard what you said to the officers. It's time that you stop seeing Hector. Our marriage is at stake here. Don't throw away all of these years. Don't hurt me any further and don't hurt David and his family. I'm asking you to break it off with Hector right now. When detectives show up at our door, it's time for you to end whatever you have going on with Hector. You have two choices. You can kiss our marriage goodbye, or you can tell Hector that you will never see him again. Which do you choose?"

"Gregg, please don't go there. This thing is going to end in just a few months if not just a few weeks. I have provided a needed service for Hector and it's worked. I've renewed his confidence and his feeling of self-worth. I'm eleven years older than him. He won't want to take on the job of caring for me as I age. He's already looking for younger and prettier women. It's just a matter of time until he won't need my services.

"In the meantime, our marriage hasn't lost anything. We still love each other and after this little bump in the road, we can continue with all of the good things that our marriage represents. We can and should avoid hurting our children. Let's not do anything rash at a time when this thing between me and Hector is about to fall apart under its own weight.

"Right now, I need to go talk to Hector for a few minutes. I'll tell him about the detectives coming here and make sure that he's not upset and losing ground because of it. I'll let him know that it's time for him to move on, too."

Saying that, Leslie grabbed her handbag and headed for the door. I yelled at her to either tell him that their affair was over or stay with him. She went out the door without a word.

Her "few minutes" turned into a few hours. Her few hours turned into all night. Once again, I went to bed alone. The third time was not the charm.

Strange Proposition:

After a fitful night of sleep, I got up and had breakfast by myself again. It was apparent to me that Leslie had made her choice and it wasn't me. I need to develop a plan of action. After breakfast, I went to my home office to think and plan.

At about 10 am, I heard the front door open and close. I walked into the living room and saw Leslie and Hector standing there together. Leslie was holding a small packet of papers.

"Hi, Gregg. We've been up all night talking about the situation that the three of us find ourselves facing.

"I talked to Hector about the visit that we had from the detectives and then I told him that I thought it was time for him to move on with his life. I told him that he needed to find a woman of his age so he could have a relationship with a future. He told me that he wasn't at all interested in doing that. He said that he wanted his future to be with me.

"So, here I am; facing a real dilemma. You're my husband of 50 years. We've been through thick and thin together. We've produced and raised a fantastic son together. We've had a wonderful life together. You've given me everything that a woman could want and there's absolutely no doubt that I love you more than life itself. The quandary that I find myself in is that while I still have feelings for you, I've fallen in love with Hector. I've fallen very hard, Gregg. I never meant for this to happen, believe me, but happen it did.

"As I said before, Hector and I wrestled with this situation nearly all night. I want to be fair to both of you. I don't want to hurt you, but I need Hector in my life.

"Since Hector is a skilled paralegal, he helped me draft a contract that I think will allow us all to go forward with minimal heartache and maximum happiness all around."

She handed me the papers and I read every line. When I forget about all the "whereas" and "party of the first part" language, I'm looking at an agreement that attempts to account for Leslie's time on a weekly basis. More importantly, she freely admits that she's having a physical affair with Hector. She admits to committing adultery.

As to how her time will be divided, the easiest place to start is on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On those days she'll spend the day and the night with Hector. On Friday, she'll come to our house after breakfast. She'll work with me to prepare for the weekend with our son and his family, whether they're coming here or we're going to Waco. If we won't be seeing our son and his family, she'll use the time at our house to do all of the other things that it takes to keep a home functioning. Things like cleaning, washing, shopping, gardening, etc. She'll stay with me until dinner time on Monday. At that point, she'll return to Hector's house and stay until after breakfast on Friday. Then it's just "rinse and repeat."

She's made an effort to equalize the time with each of us. She wants everything to appear normal for our son and his family. She hopes that they won't even suspect that anything has changed.

She made it plain that she wants to stay legally married to me. That means that I'll continue to cover her under my health plan. She'll continue to be covered on my car insurance. I'll keep my retirement account and she'll keep hers. There will still be a joint account, but she'll only use it when she's shopping for me. She'll also be able to write checks on it for medical purposes, beauty shop appointments, and a few other things that she's spelled out.

When she's with me, she'll be a maid, cook, and roommate. She'll make sure to prepare enough meals to get me through the week. She'll make sure that I have clean clothes to wear and a spotless, functional house. We'll continue to sleep together to maintain appearances for our son and his family.

When she's with Hector, she'll be a wife to him in every way. Make no mistake about it, she'll be his wife in every way, except legally.

She points out that this arrangement is much better for me than a divorce would be. If we were to divorce, since it would be "no-fault", she would get half of our combined income. She would also get half of the value of our house and half of all the rest of our assets. She would also, of course, get her car and all of her personal belongings plus most of the furniture.

She tells me there's no way that I would be able to keep the house since my share of our income would not be enough for me to get by on. She assures me that the contract has been well thought out and advises me to sign it.

I tell her that there's no way that I'm going to go on record as being willing to share my wife with another man.

She says that it's better than the alternative. Also, it doesn't have to be "on the record" since it will be known only to the three of us.

She says there's one more thing that I need to know. She and Hector intend to have a wedding, of sorts. It won't be legal, but they'll go through the motions and actually say vows to one another. There'll just be a very few friends and members of Hector's family present. I can attend if I want to. Of course, our son must know nothing about those plans. It will happen in two weeks.

After the ceremony, she and Hector will spend a month "honeymooning" in Pigeon Forge. So, we'll have a few days before the "wedding" to live under the contract. Then there will be a month where I'll be on my own. When they return, we'll live under the contract from then on, except for a two-week vacation every year for each of us. She won't accompany me on my vacations unless it's arranged as a joint vacation with David and his family.

At that point, she hands me a pen and advises me to sign the contract.

I know I need to do some thinking. She probably has a point about a divorce bankrupting me, but I can't any other answer. I ask her to give me a couple of hours alone to think it over. I'll call her when I've made a decision.

She agrees to that but advises me again that the contract "beats the hell out of a divorce" and would be my smartest choice. She thinks it's the only choice that makes sense.

Two hours later I call her cell. When she answers, I tell her that I've decided to make sure that the contract has some kind of legal standing. I'm going to have an attorney examine it. If he determines that it's not just some sort of scam, I'll probably be forced to go ahead and sign it.

She argues for a while, but she finally accepts my decision. She reminds me that the clock is ticking on her "wedding" and she wants it all decided before then. I agree with that. In the meantime, she wants to move most of her stuff to Hector's house. They show up a half-hour later and move a large number of her personal items out of our house. Some items that I'd bought for her on various special occasions went out the door with them. So much for memories! The house was emptier and so was my heart.

The next day, I did some research online and found a legal firm called "The Armstrong Group" that seemed to meet my requirements. Besides having several attorneys in different specialties, they also have private investigators and marriage counselors.

When I arrived for my appointment, I was ushered into Gary Hightower's office. He's a specialist in divorce law.

After the usual formalities, he examined the contract. After reading it, he wanted to know how we got into this situation in our marriage. I told him the whole story.

He proved to be an intense listener. He was intrigued by the story and said it was unique in his experience. His most important question for me was whether or not I wanted to preserve my marriage.

I told him that Leslie and Hector said that a divorce would mean bankruptcy for me. If it wasn't for that fact, I would be seeking a divorce. After what I heard my wife say to the detectives and after her actions since she met Hector, the love that I had for her through so many years has pretty well disappeared. If it were economically possible, I would choose divorce.

He began to develop a strategy. He would make a few changes to the document and then have me ask Leslie and Hector to accept them. He went over the changes with me.

First, instead of making it a contract between just me and Leslie, he included Hector as a third-party participant. All three parties would need to sign it, and the document would have to be notarized.

He also made some additions to the paragraph where Leslie confesses that she and Hector went from being friends to having an emotional affair which finally became a physical affair.

After the sentence where she admitted that they frequently engaged in sexual acts, he added language stating: "Signing this contract in no way infers that Mr. Morton condones the sexual acts between Mr. Greely and Mrs. Morton. Mr. Morton abhors those actions and considers them to be in direct violation of the marriage vows that they embraced 50 years ago, most notably 'forsaking all others.' Mr. Morton also states that he's never broken his marriage vows and has no intention of violating those vows himself as long as he remains legally married to Leslie Morton."

In the paragraph that describes the "wedding" that they are planning, some language was added stating that: "Mr. Morton doesn't, in any way, endorse or approve of this illegal ceremony and considers it to fall far short of making the actions of Mr. Greely and Mrs. Morton anything less than adultery. Mr. Morton does not recognize their planned ceremony as a true marriage. If, however, they obtain a marriage license and use a licensed individual to perform the ceremony, he reserves the right to charge Leslie with bigamy! Otherwise, the planned ceremony will in no way replace the existing marriage between Gregg and Leslie Morton."

It went on to state: "Mr. Morton also doesn't approve of the month-long 'honeymoon' that they have planned and considers that action to be 'abandonment' by his wife."

He added an escape clause. The escape clause stated: "Any of the parties may nullify this contract at any time by notifying the other signees of his or her intention to nullify the said document. A drop-box will be provided on The Armstrong Group's web site to facilitate this provision. All three signees will have the URL and password. All messages left in the drop-box will generate a message to all three parties. Furthermore, all parties must monitor the drop-box daily

Any of the parties can utilize the drop-box to post their desire to nullify the contract. The day after said posting will become the official end date of the contract. No response is needed from the other parties. The agreement clause calling for daily monitoring of the drop-box by all parties serves as proof of notification. Signing this contract automatically serves as acceptance of this notification procedure as being valid and binding on all parties.

"Immediately upon nullification of this contract by any party, all other actions, including but not limited to divorce, will be available to the affected parties."

After handing me three copies of the new pages to be added to the contract, he explained his strategy.

"The stuff Mr. Greely said about 'no-fault' would be true in Kansas, but we're not in Kansas anymore. Unlike Kansas, you don't have to file 'no-fault' in Texas. We can file for the cause of adultery and/or abandonment in Texas. We don't want to make Leslie and Hector aware of that, of course.

"By getting a notarized signature from Leslie and Hector on the contract, we will be in possession of a legal document containing an outright admission of adultery on the part of Mrs. Morton. Under Texas law, the judge can penalize her severely for her actions. She would not benefit nearly as much as she expects. Depending on the judge that presides, she might be left with very little except for what she brought into the marriage.

"About three weeks into the 'honeymoon,' you will use the drop-box to nullify the contract. Soon after that, Leslie will be served with divorce papers. Our investigators will locate her and will know where and how to serve her. That will mark the beginning of the end for your marriage."

This is great news for me. It looks like I may win in the long run. Why am I not overjoyed at this? Why do I feel this pang of sadness and loss?

When I get home, I call Leslie and ask if they can meet me at the house. I'm ready to sign the contract.

In just a few minutes, Leslie and Hector are sitting on the couch in the living room. I explain that my attorney has insisted that the contract be signed by all three of us in the presence of a notary. Also, an escape clause has been added since one must be included to make the contract legal. Finally, I explain the other additions which basically say that my signing the contract doesn't mean that I approve of their actions.

Leslie is not happy with the changes. She's suspicious. Surprisingly, Hector becomes my ally. He says that they already knew that I didn't approve of their actions. Having it in the contract was no big deal. He understood the requirement for the notarized signatures. Also, the escape clause didn't mean anything since I couldn't afford to go the divorce route anyway. It was just legalese that wouldn't matter in the long run.

It was apparent to me that Hector was the driving force behind the contract. He could see himself getting all of the benefits of a wife without any of the associated responsibilities. Plus, he was sure that he would benefit financially.

About an hour later, I had a signed and notarized copy of the new contract in my possession. I called Gary with the update. He said, "That's great, Gregg. Now the ball is officially rolling. Come in tomorrow and we'll give it a big push."

At my appointment the next day, Gary gave me a check-off list. It listed all of the things that I needed to do as soon as the "couple" left for Pigeon Forge.

Gary had investigated the house deed and determined that either party could sell the house, but the proceeds would have to be split equally. That discovery led to me signing the papers to sell our house to Royal Properties Management. It would happen two days after the "couple" left for Pigeon Forge. Gary had set it all up.

Perhaps I could have sold it for a little more money by listing it with a multi-list realtor, but that would take too much precious time. This way, the money would be in our account as soon as Gary gave the word to Royal. They're buying the furniture and appliances too. It's a turnkey deal. Within a few days, Royal will have leased the furnished house to a client. That's how they make their money. They buy properties slightly below the appraised value and rent them out on long term leases. It's a good deal for them and it's a good deal for me. It's a "no-hassle" solution.