All Comments on 'Should've Been'

Typical Stangster success. 5 stars!

Great story! If you have never loved a person with a mental health disorder, you might disagree. It’s a different universe. Five stars!

Poppi123

Weak Man

Thank you Mustang obsessed man.

I guess I could see a reconciliation happening here. This is not a raac why are people saying this as raac? Their was a cost. And we have to understand that as the author portrays Aubrey, she was incapable of love or was emotionally disconnected. Does that make her cheating excusable? Definitely not, she only realised she loved him during her confession of her friend getting a divorce. And she realised she was acting just like that scum husband of her friend. She realised it too late and paid her price, she gave him the divorce and even help him set up a blind date even though it hurt her. I'd like to believe she learned her lesson in the end. Though it be a different story if the mc learned that his friend Steve was not the only one. But even then reconciliation might be possible because it was as before Aubrey was emotionally disconnected.

I don't know why people call this "RAAC" that stands for "reconciliation at any cost" - but that's clearly not what happened here. There was a cost here, a pretty hefty one for both of them. That's the thing I think that bothers people about reconciliation, the person who has been cheated on has to pay, often more, than the person who did the cheating. A marriage is like a business partnership and the currency is love, trust, intimacy and vulnerability. A partnership however is only fair when both people pay into it equally and take out from it equally - in the case of infidelity, often one (or both) partners are paying into it just the minimum and the cheating partner is withdrawing at the maximum. The thing is, in real life, when situations like this happens and when it works out (only 50% of reconciliations work out) the adulterous party has more than a few pages to start paying back into the relationship and making it whole again. It takes time. A lot of time for most people. 5, 10 years is not uncommon. However, the one thing I can definitely say from having witnessed it in my own life is that the people who make it, the ones who start really paying into their partnership and stop emptying their accounts, their relationships blossom. Hearing them say things like, "Our marriage is better than it ever was" is pretty common and the reason should be obvious - if they've made it that long post an infidelity together, then how did they do it? The only logical explanation would be that they figured out how to build something better than what they had. I'd like to believe that this is the direction that Jake and Aubrey are going in, certainly the writing and the narration from Aubrey leads me to believe that she finally discovered how to love and I'm sure being a new mother (and them both wanting a second child) is going to drive that feeling to new heights.

I'm a sucker for the reconciliation route and this was done very well.

I'm not normally a fan of RAAC stories, but this one was well done, and <i>reasonable</i> and believable. Actually 4.5 stars if I could.

1 star - this story failed the RAAC rules - sorry, no RAAC possible for this SLUT.

Crazy story but somehow it worked. She clearly had a mental health disorder from birth.

While unethical, she was smart to not bring up any other trysts before Steve. If she had tried the blackmail story, Jake never would have reconciled. As it is Jake is pretty clueless to think her cheating only occurred with Steve that last six months from time to time, since she admitted yo never actually loving him until recently. Jake and Aubry were pretty attached all the time, so except for during his time at work, she didn't have much opportunity to cheat. Hence the "occasionally" comment.

She was lucky Steve didn't bring up the lawn care guy, probably not out of any sense of nobility but self preservation, since if Jake got wind of the blackmail sex, he would have burned Steve to the ground.

Of course, she was stupid enough after her epiphany of love for Jake to do it "one more time". As she said in the basement, Steve had even more to lose and notice how Steve caved. But suppose without that no story. It is interesting that she rarely had orgasm with other men either before or after she met Jake. She had desire and the sex was pleasurable to a point, but it was more like a task for her and she rarely was fulfilled. Not how she desired the lawn care guy and his chiseled physique, but drew no satisfaction and the sex was poor. As she started to fall in love with Jake, the sexual fulfillment got less and less. If Steve had not blackmailed her, she might have stopped her trysts. Ironic that the last time, when Jake watched them, she did achieve an orgasm but because, in her own thoughts, she was fantasizing about the making love with Jake the previous night after he epiphany, and loved forward to her husband coming come to go at it again. Because she finally had give her all to Jake.

Still seems unlikely to play out at as a reconciliation in real life. Ironic because for this author the cheating wives almost always do it for irrational reasons, except by definition Aubrey's whole emotional value system was messed up due to her mental health disorder. Also usually the cheating wives in a SS06 role gets pregnant via her cheating. But instead Aubrey is smart and always mandated a condom for whoever she was screwing on the side, in addition to being on the pill. Anyways the reconciliation seemed to brief and should have been more built up.

Clearly they were both miserable without each other. But yeah unlikely. Still I enjoyed it and the author took a risk with the ending. Thought he was going to end up with the female detective. 5 stars.

Cuck stories volume 42

So close to a perfect story, but then you threw in a RAAC. Given the amount of pain she caused l, he should have simply walked away. Option 1: Move his company out of state and paid child support remotely without getting involved to avoid being tethered to the source of his pain. Option 2: Used his mother in law as intermediary for pick ups so he could see his son without having to deal with his ex. Either way, he needs to get away. He hasnt had a chance to escape his pain because the source of it is still in his life. I admit I'm not a fan of RAAC, but SS06's are one of the few I actually enjoy reading on this site, but this one just doesn't work. "Love happily ever after" more like "Lived as a toxic manipulative sociopath's emotional chew toy". Still, baring the last couple of paragraphs, a good story.

I like a RAAC story when it is warranted. I feel it was justified here. It was well-done for 4 and a half pages, and then the reconciliation was over in a few paragraphs. If the reconciliation is the climax to the story, it should get a nicer build-up. This was too wham-bam thank you ma’am

Started well, ended badly.

Five stars all the way.

I enjoyed this one very much. Well written with a unique story line with well developed characters

Story was quite interesting. Felt sad for both. But then the compressed ending. What happened?

I usually hate reconciliation stories because I fucking hate cheaters but…I get it and I actually like the way this one was handled

For better or for worse, in sickness and in health ... 5

Actually add a second 5 for helping us understand the great difficulties damaged people face in life.

Happy for them and glad they're back together. They really do both need each other, and their son needs them both.

Unreal. D

Ss06, eres el mejor de por acá...

Te lo agradezco, te felicito y espero tener la oportunidad de leer tu nuevo material!

Too bad SS06 isn’t still around. I’d love to test my 911 turbo against his latest ‘Stang.

I’m Asperger or “on the spectrum” so I get it. They are both very lucky they worked it out. I’ve been married twice and I’m not sure I’ve ever had a “connection”. It’s not something I miss but intellectually it’s something that baffles me. Stories like this help me to focus on what I might have missed. SS06 didn’t describe a slut, he described a mental illness. Don’t judge until you’ve walked a mile in her shoes.

My 2 cents…

Yup Fred/Ethel scene was the tops!

Funnily enough, I can kind of understand her finally having the "Love switch" flick inside after a life of NO connection with anyone ever in her life, it's a pity she couldn't keep her legs together out of loyalty or just informed self-interest, at she wouldn't have so much extra emotional turmoil to fight up hill against to keep her marriage.

Love a good reconciliation, well done. Oh, and huge points for the Fred/Ethel CPR scene!!

Normally I love stangs stories but this one just wasn’t up to par

This is a total clusterfuck of a story and no there is no excuse for being married and being a serial slut. When the fuck did emotions equate to fucking knowing the difference between right and wrong even Sociopaths know the difference.

We need to consider a huge forgiveness portion is due to her inability to establish emotional connections, this is a more and more medical condition.

You are a great story teller

NO way Jose'. She is an will be a cheat, 'till the cows come home', and beyond (forever). RAAC stories are so predictable. Never, well almost never, do they work out. BTB and be done with her.

Love wins out. I liked the story. Hell, we all make mistakes, we are all sinful humans. But some of us realize our sins and if given the sweet gift of forgiveness strive every day to prove our love and worthiness for that gift.

To dirtyoldbiman, Fred and Ethel Mertz were not on the "Honeymooners", that was Ralph and Alice Kramden. Fred and Ethel were the friends and the landlords of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on the "I Love Lucy" show.

Like the process server part and her neighbor giving her CPR. LOL. Fred Mertz and his wife Ethel? Really? Old Honeymooners TV show fan? She really is an empty human being.

Didn't make it past the first page

when she got served was funny and proves her mind, being, emotions are oh so shallow. Neighbor is "Fred Mertz" as in Ethel and Fred from the "Honeymooners" TV show? LOL

A very romantic story. I hope Jake will treat Aubrey less as a goddess and more like a real woman. Yes, Aubrey took her time untill she realized she loves Jake.

I don't know if she will love her baby and if she will remain fatefu. In her mind sex is only a way to pass the time, but I have my hopes.

The ending ruined it a bit for me. It was too fast. While we learned Jake's thought process when leaving his wife, we didn't get any of it at the end. What made him go back?

4 stars for a great story with too quick ending.

One star for cuck boy

1 star - once a cheater ALWAYS a cheater

Not My favorite story by you . I wonder how many times he will catch her cheating on him . Maybe she will Tag his car so that She will never get caught . My Ex bought Me a new muffler system for my 65 Chevelle . Everyone in the neighborhood could hear me coming home 2 miles away . Sadly i came by in a company car and caught her again

except that she was still lying and cheating because he never knew about all the other cheating fucks she had, over many years, so the marriage continues with him in the dark, she is lying, and the truth is unknown. So she never earned reconciliation all she did was mope about, and spout meaningless words that cost her nothing to say.because she was never ever even once truthful. so a total bs raac

Wow! What a great romantic story. Keep writing good stories; you have the talent to do so. 5/5

This was a breath of fresh air, my usual preference is BTB however you have excelled in your story development to allow for this finish, well done. Please continue with your good work.

Gotta love the idiots who confuse an earned reconciliation with a RAAC. Of course most of them would be virgins if they weren't paying for it

Silly rabbits, this wasn't a RAAC. She was contrite, remorseful, paid her penance and earned her way back.

Except for the ending, this was an exceptional story. 5 stars.

Obviously, this is an amateur authors site, so all of the contributors are due a great deal of slack, but I have to say this story has a plot that doesn't make sense and characters who are simply unreal. I'm sure there was a point to this story but I cannot even guess what it was supposed to be. SMH

In six months she’s cheating on him again. In 12 months she makes him watch while another man impregnates her.

Wasnt a bad story. It was a stretch to make it a RAAC one, I will say that.

And thanks for getting the chest thumping wonder wimps all in a tizzy over this one. I enjoyed their wet diapers nearly as much as the story.

StangsStar06 should start calling himself pathetic RAAC author with this kind of worthless dribble.

For someone who loves BTB stories I honesty loved the story especially the ending, please keep up the writing you have a great imagination and exceptional writing abilities. And NO I am not related

Cardboard characters following a rambling and laughable plot which changes in a peculiarly unbelievable at the whim of the author.

1 star and again waaaay toooo long

Jake is just another pathetic cuckold.

He should have sold his business and pushed through the divorce once he learned of her cheating. Instead of on going child support and having to deal with Aubrey for the rest of his life, trust fund for the kids provided his name was not on the birth certificate, the child had Aubrey’s maiden name and Aubrey had to immediately change back to her maiden name. After that move across the country and get counseling to move on with your life.

1 star but even that is too high for dumbass cuckolds that reconcile.

Damm I wanna hate that bitch in this story, but StangStar wrote an emotional moving tale that just have me empathizing just a tad bit with her to where I just despise her. I truly feel sorry for and broken up for Jake. A man so emotionally tied to a woman that he looses himself once the red tinted glasses have been taken off.

So has the sequel come out that has him eating other dudes creampies? This character has all the backbone of a jellyfish. This isn't a reconciliation story, this is the description of how an STI outbreak begins. Truly stupid people are drawn to one another like moths to a campfire, in most instances they die without reproducing, but in some cases, some slip through. Weep for humanity.

A wimpy cuck and a cheating whore back together. Now there's a kid who will suffer when the slimy cunt cheats again!

Gonna be getting seconds .

Again .

Just like he always has .

Pathetic.

Should you rename yourself MattMoreauToo ?

Nothing more than a wimpy cuckold! Why not have him cleaning cum from her pussy? Might as well be.

Honestly it was far closer to reality than 99% of the stories in LW's.

All those stories of manly men who not only kick the shit out of everyone that needs it in the story and easily walks away from the wife are usually laughable, written by guys who'd cry and not even try and walk away from their cheating wives.

Well done.

This is some gay shit.

But it was a good story regardless.

You people. She is most certainly not a sociopath. That word is thrown about way too easily. The wife was a narcissist certainly and very immature. As others pointed out, she was shocked into changing. Hitting bottom can do that to you. Whether she stays that way is the question.

If she was a sociopath she wouldn't empathize with how she destroyed her husband. She would scheme but it would be about her and her needs. She might notice the pain and she might even realize her actions were the cause but she wouldn't feel guilty.

great story, well executed, i didn't like the way she lied though, she constantly cheated and when she finally got the feelings for jake she had 1 more time, if that was real love then she wouldn't of gotten caught because she would of said no whatever the consequences.

great bit where she bared her soul and jake reacted the way a small number of guys would, by being lied to when she said i love you or even at the alter, really good bit that was.

ending was ok i guess, he realised that without her he wouldn't be able to continue living, with her she done great work not having sex for a year, maybe that was a lie as well we will never know

People sometimes do change and even though in a lot of cases I'm all for burning the cheaters. If someone really changes for the better and you can see it then I would give them a chance, only one though.

A situation where you don't realise what you've got until it's gone can sometimes as in this case waken you up to reality.

In reality love is not about bodies but about hearts and minds if both partners truly love each other and are willing to repent and make sure they will not cheat again then Forgiveness is in order after all we are only human and we make so many mistakes in our lives.

We need more back story on Aubrey. A sociopath really isn't capable of feeling what she described, but it didn't seem like she had a trauma in her past either. She could have been psychotic, but nothing in the story leads me to believe that either. The fact she can only feel for Jake and when Jake is around is very unusual, and does make the story a lot more complicated and in my opinion more interesting. Loved the writing SS06, thanks for sharing.

A story about a really fucking skanky ho and a fucking idiot

An interesting story that left me oddly conflicted.

Aubrey was a sociopath and in reality, she would be incapable of changing. Jake would have been well-advised to keep the hell away from her and get custody of the kid before she did something horrific to their son. After cheating on Jake repeatedly throughout their marriage, she really deserved to be burned.

However, in the story, Aubrey had miraculously been cured off her sociopathy and was now deeply in love with Jake. After her epiphany, then the heartbreak of losing her now-beloved husband, I think it'd be a cold day in hell before she even thought about cheating on him again. She'd been transformed into a devoted Stepford Wife, so if he could accept that Aubrey was basically a completely different person now, then the reconciliation ending kinda works.

....with a welcome ending-at least, for those of us who believe in forgiveness. Very entertaining and were it possible to award more than five stars, I would have.

Why waste Your life with a Slut .. Get the Divorce and Move on down the road .

"Over the next couple of years, I started using what I had to get ahead. It wasn't like I became a whore or anything. But if I needed a few bucks for my rent...I got it. If I needed new shoes or an outfit...I got it." Maybe I learned it wrong, but isn't this the basic definition of "a whore"?

"Besides the fact that the guy didn't get me off, I felt bad about it. That was a first. So I decided that maybe I should stop. Maybe whether I loved him or not I should respect him enough not to." Ya think? Maybe?

"I was simply not worthy of the way he felt about me." True, so true.

"I realized then that he loved me far more than I had ever considered. I didn't deserve to be loved like that." Again, true, so true.

"Even before I realized how I felt about Jake I had too much respect for him to have anyone in our bed." Seems a tad bit late to worry about such a fine line.

"Adama" That's a first name. "Fred and Ethel Mertz" William and Vivian hated each other in real life too.

You really need to give us a name for the blonde process server along with her back story.

You must really hate Generous Motors. Damn, I miss the snow. it's fucking hot in SW Texas and I miss the Jeeps.

Aubrey is/was a sociopath. Is as in seeing everyone as bugs, was as in eventually she was healed and realized she loved Jake. Not possible in any reality but this is a SS story and all things are possible in the land of SS. So if SS says they lived happily ever after it's just like the saying "...he said "Let there be light "and by God there was..."" Signed: BTW

those two are actual soul mates

...Most would agree the chances of their reconciliation lasting more than a year are like a snow ball in hell. People rarely change. She will be back on her back in notime.

That would make a great follow up story. From happy ever after, back to cheating slut wife in twelve months. Maybe he will get together with the cop. People want to believe that RAAC is permanent. And they lived happily ever after. Too bad statistics don't back that up! But hey nice story, well written. Kudos for excellence!

he should have bedded that super cool police woman.

i'm all for the RAAC. But she learned to love him, her process almost killed his heart.

He...NEEDS to love her less. It's that simple. A quick fuck might have helped, especially with a stressed out police woman with a good moral compass. Some may disagree, but i'v been where he's been. My psychologist, my research, and my experience all taught me that loving someone less can sometimes be the healthiest thing. I feel great these days. Having unconditional love is pathological. It's not healthy. It's not 'cute'. It's not 'romantic'. It's toxic. Kudos to his shallow wife for growing up. But him having that pathology means HE TOO needs to grow up.

He actually watched some guy fucking his wife and later found that he wasn't the only one, how the fuck does he ever touch that skank again without that video running in his head? And how the hell does seeing a woman who's attractive and with similar interests cause him to decide that abandoning a future and going back to a fucked up past is the way to live life? Sorry, the end of this story completely fucked up the rest of it.

I understand the pain and unwillingness to forgive and I understand the consequences. His awakening at the end was gratifying. Very good story!

I understood all of it. It flowed that well. I have known women like her, vacant of self. This story would have been a lot different if it was Steve's kid, but maybe not. If your smart, love wins. If you reach 100 yo, you'll wonder where the time went. Life is too short, not to have love in it.

Thought screwing with security code was a good ides

Some are unreadableaOoao

Why not name other characters Lucy and Ricardo?

Great story.

As usual, a great job by Stang, it's usually pretty easy to dislike the wife, but you wrote her in such a way that I ended up sympathizing with her!

I actually liked your wife in this story a little better than the husband.

Not bad!

but the way stang wrote it, fleshing em out, giving them depth.. yeah I'm a fan of this one 5

This is a story, a work of fiction. For those of you keeping score at home, that means that isn't real! As written, Aubrey is a sociopath. She does not see people as real ( kind of the opposite problem from y'all, right)? During the story, she is somehow cured- never happen for real- and comes to love poor Jake. That's because the author, the guy who these for us, wrote it that way. He also put them back together and made sure (remember, he wrote it so he's the boss) that she would be faithful forever. In a perfect world, he would have given Steve a permanent case of jock rot, but we can't have everything. Great work SS06. Thanks. JPR

You did warn everyone in prologue most would not like story

We miss you here Stang !

Annony is just an old fat ugly fag fool!

Why must these men be fucking chumps in these stories? So you love the whore, so what! They have treatments for that! Dumbass! I would have gotten custody of my kid and moved on. What a fucking chump!

im not normally one for reconcilliation but if you can accept that she was sick, emotionally barren and really didnt know how to love, she truly wouldnt know what she had till it was gone. and vows work both ways, forsaking all others is the one we all like to preach but in sickness and in health is just as important.

also the kid gets to have a "normal" family life. and lets face it! aubrey is a looker and he gets to fuck her everyday even if he cant love or trust her like he did. how bad can it be having a big titted blonde spend the rest of her life trying to be the best wife and mother possible.

PS no need for all that mustang shite though.

You write about a character with the spine of a sea urchin and the resolve and strength of will of a bowl of rice pudding and expect us to take your writing seriously.

" I told them everything almost...I left out the other times that I had sex with other men before I was caught. It wouldn't make Jake feel any better and since I was never going to do it again, they didn't matter."

This is why once you're lied to, once you're cheated on, once you're BETRAYED, there can NEVER be trust given to that person again.

No trust, no peace of mind, no belief in a future together.

Aubrey was a slut, Aubrey is a slut, Aubrey WILL ALWAYS be a slut.

This had a ring of believability to it. The link of the race refused at the beginning and accepted at the end was a master writer touch.

BTW I always knew Fred Mertz was a letcher. I never knew what Ethel saw in him. I bet he hit on Lucy all the time.

I absolutely loved this story....couldn't stop reading.

This writer is a magnificent word merchant and a very brave soul.

You get a long hard look into his/her mind with most of his/her stories. And his/her soul (or mind) seems to withstand the acid test of most of the site's critics. With a few notable exceptions, almost all commenters leave the impression they will happily read his next offering.

All decent civilized writers are the most vulnerable of all God's creatures. They are exposed and defenseless. As a result of their incomprehensible compulsion to write, they must "let it all hang out." I have in mind Steinbeck, O'Hara, Shell Scott, C.S Lewis, Truman Capote, Dashiell Hammett, Kathryn Anne Porter, William Faulkner and, of course, F. Scott Fitzgerald. And don't forget America's ardent defender, Willa Cather.

Those who share StangStar's niche on this site, and the number is limited, usually strike a blow for "Goodness" with each post.

StangStar, hopefully consciously, validates the culture governed by the core values that demand respect, dignity and integrity. Know what culture that is?

Even the best critics on the site must give him/her that. At the risk of presuming too much, I must say that I believe that StangStar sees with a piercing eye and still believes in a fundamental hope that "Love" will win the day money.

Critics on the site for the most part are insightful. But, like StangStar, they want all of us to be better, smarter and above all more intuitively perfect than Providence made possible. Just ask Eve.

Let's give that edge to StangStar. The writer makes an admirable effort to meet the critic's requirements.

I wonder if StangStar agrees with me when I say that I value these Lit critics and fervently hope they realize how much they reveal of themselves when they write a reaction to what we expose of ourselves. Obviously, the writer spends creative capital every time he posts.

Would it not be a happy day when all on the site demand and give respect, dignity and integrity.

Good show, Stangstar.

Most critics don't produce the products they review. The ability to write, paint, act, produce, play music ect.... is not the criterion for a critic.

Since these stories are presented to the general public then the criterion for reviewing them is basically the ability to read and appreciate the story.

Whether as Anonymous or User Logged In each reader has the right to review, praise, criticize or deplore the story as provided by the author.

As for you rublicks, feel free to lick your ass and bark at the moon!

When you write and post your own story,then you have kudos to critisise

You can really mix absolutely stupid parts with a decent story and fuck it up like no one else can. Shame , it was a good story for the most part

Garbage story with a really horrible bitch.......... No way a man takes this cunt back......

All that anger and angst, he has one date and goes back to the ex-wife? Why? There was no satisfactory answer in the story to explain why he would go back to the bitch. And the end came so suddenly. Not good, not good at all.

Aubrey: "The next week was my turn for total honesty. And I told the truth. I told them about how broken I was and now disconnected. When we first met Jake, I knew there was something different about you. I told them everything almost...I left out the other times that I had sex with other men before I was caught. It wouldn't make Jake feel any better and since I was never going to do it again, they didn't matter".

Hmm, total honesty? More deceit, more reason to never trust the lying, cheating, vow breaking, sociopath slut!

Let all the RAAC, wimp, creampie eating metrosexuals line up and go Aw, that's so nice they got back together. They deserve to be cheated on and disrespected if this ending is what they want.

Ending was to fast and sudden.

Sociopaths can't be mended and they can slide by for years before you find out ,all those "I love yous" was just to keep a roof over their heads while fucking untold numbers.Un fortunately it happened to me and I still think about many times a day