The Incriminating Dots Pt. 03: Discovery

Jack had been sitting in yet another lonely hotel room on yet another lonely evening, lamenting the escalating demands of his career that compelled him to travel so often when the fateful text arrived. His most recent business trips had been even lonelier than usual because of his lingering anxieties about Jill's recent business trip. He could vividly recall his last words to her before she left for her own business trip three weeks earlier. "If 'things' happened, there would be no recriminations as long as she was discrete but not deliberate or deceitful."

Jill had said nothing alarming whenever she phoned him during her trip. She had said nothing revealing during the few weeks since she had returned home. There had been nothing strange about her behavior or demeanor during their weekends home together. If anything, she had been more affectionate and amorous than usual. However; her inflamed libido had further inflamed Jack's anxieties.

The text was the periodic update from Jill's ovulation tracking app. Given Jack's anxieties about her recent business trip, he was relieved to see that his wife had finally began menstruating. The copy of her ovulation tracking app that she had insisted on downloading onto his phone after their youngest was born had made it impossible for Jack to remain oblivious to the rhythms of her body. He had expected her to be menstruating during his most recent visit home. Her failure to begin menstruating when the app predicted that she should had inflamed His anxieties about her recent business trip.

Jack felt his penis swelling as he reminisced about how eager for sex his wife had been in recent weeks, especially the previous weekend. Unfortunately; the swelling of his penis was soon accompanied by a painful tension in his gut and groin. His waning libido had asserted itself during his recent weekend home, repeatedly. Jack had generously employed his lips and tongue as a surrogate for his stubbornly flaccid penis. Jill had even allowed him to use a few of the toys that he had gotten for her.

The ticking of Jill's biological clock as it counted down towards menopause had been evidenced by a surge in her libido. It was as if she was experiencing a nova of sexuality that they were both eager to exploit. They instinctively understood that while her sexual desire might linger, her fertility was waning. They had agreed that they didn't want anymore children even before their youngest was conceived, but the prospect of no longer being able to procreate was depressing.

Jack often wondered if Jill's insistence on relying almost exclusively on various combinations and permutations of the "pull and prey" method and her ovulation tracking app might be a gesture of defiance to this biological reality. It was not unreasonable for her to distrust her diaphragm. The contraceptive device had failed them at a time when they had been exceptionally diligent about using it. They had always been acutely aware of the often ignored statistics that reveal that such failures were common. Throughout most of their marriage, those statistics had allowed Jill to rationalize relying on the allegedly riskier family planning methods that she had always favored. The fact that there only unintended pregnancy had occurred during a time when she had been exceptionally diligent had allowed her to justify her insistence on relying almost exclusively on her ovulation tracking app combined with the "pull and pray" method since the baby was born. She had even delayed weaning the baby because nursing mothers were somewhat less fertile.

Jill had dutifully gotten refitted for a new diaphragm after she had recovered from her most recent pregnancy and birth. She had also assured her doctor that she would discuss the possibility of a vasectomy with her husband. However; Jill had not been persistent in her efforts to nag him into getting his balls cut. Given Jack's waning virility, she had understood why he perceived the procedure as a threat to his masculinity.

Jill had been keeping her new diaphragm conveniently close at hand in her nightstand drawer. However; it had remained seldom used. It was merely a talisman that allowed her to assure her doctor, her mother, her sister and a few friends that they were being careful when in fact they were flirting with the risk of pregnancy.

Only during the last few days of his business trip had Jack finally allowed himself to contemplate the implications of his wife being so late to start her period. He had sought solace from his anxiety by concentrating on the the possibility that she would still be flowing when he returned home in a few days. While most couples avoid having sex at such times, Jack and Jill had always cherished the opportunities to make love without reservation or restraint.

As Jack began to enter the date that Jill had started menstruating in his copy of the app, he became confused. She had began menstruating on the Monday that he left but she had delayed sending him the update until Thursday. Dismissing the delay as an oversight, Jack finished entering the date Jill's period had started in his copy of her app. The wheel shaped screen widget reassured him that while Jill would no longer be menstruating when he returned home, she would still be in the first, safer phase of her cycle.

Jack reopened the most recent, periodic update to peruse the chart. As always, his gaze was drawn to the graphical representation of Jill's observations of the position and condition of her cervix. The image always evoked memories of watching his spouse perform her nightly ritual or perhaps examining her cervix for her. However; the graphical reminder that his fecund spouse remained potentially fertile as she matured had become an erotic fixation for him.

They had agreed that they didn't want more children which was why she had for a few years become exceptionally diligent, perhaps even obsessive about using her diaphragm. The conception of their youngest in spite of her precautions had been unexpected and not entirely welcome. However; the awareness that they might be creating new life had always enhanced the eroticism of their lovemakings.

As Jack continued to gaze at the chart, he yielded to the temptation to open his robe, exposing his penis so he could masturbate. It was a guilty pleasure that perhaps was not so shameful because his own wife was the source of his erotic fixation. He had long since abandoned his efforts to coax her into posing for boudoir photos, so these periodic charts had become the focus of his fantasies.

Jack's orgasm was becoming eminent when he finally noticed the incriminating dots. The OvuView app included a feature that enabled a woman to keep a record of when she had sex. The updated chart that Jill texted to Jack as well as her doctor at the beginning of each cycle included a row of normally innocuous and almost always ignored dots that attested to their normally mundane, marital lovemakings. The half dozen, incriminating dots were obviously suspicious because they coincided with the workweek when Jack was almost always out of town rather than their weekends home together.

Jack perused the incriminating dots more carefully then checked his calendar to be certain of his recollection. The incrimination dots coincided with the week his wife had been away from home to attend a convention with her boss. The position of the dots revealed if the lovemaking on a particular day had been in the morning or the evening, or sometimes both. The first, incriminating dot coincided with the Tuesday evening of her trip.

Jill had phoned home to tell Jack that her boss was taking her out for an evening of a nice dinner and then may be dancing which might keep her out late. She had nervously asked him if he thought her little, black dress that she had packed to wear at a formal reception might be too risqué. The image of how the strapless style dress accentuated her figure and flaunted upper curves of her big breasts made Jack reluctant to assure her that it would be appropriate. However; he had been relieved to see her packing that little, black dress along with the bustier that she always wore under it because the other, simpler, wrap around style dress revealed far more of her deep cleavage and was prone to have a wardrobe malfunction. Jack had assured his wife that it was okay to wear the dress for an evening of dinner and dancing with her boss.

That first, incriminating dot that coincided with Tuesday evening was followed by a second, incriminating dot on Wednesday morning. Jill's first, extramarital, sexual encounter during her business trip had not even an isolated event that had immediately provoked her remorse and repentance. The incriminating dots that coincided with Wednesday evening, Thursday morning, Thursday evening and then Friday morning suggested that his wife had been eager to repeat her adultery.

Jack was relieved to see that the first, four, incriminating dots were lightly shaded. A lightly shaded dot indicated that the sex had been protected. Jill encouraged her doctor to presume that a lightly shaded dots on the updates that she emailed to her indicated that she was diligently using her diaphragm. The shameful reality was that she was relying on her husband to restrain himself.

Jack became alarmed when he realized that there last two incriminating dots which coincided with the Thursday night and Friday morning before Jill's return home from the convention were both darkly shaded. While some women might classify sex as unprotected if their partner failed to use a condom or they failed to use their diaphragm, Jack's wife was less stringent. She would not classify sex as "unprotected" unless Jack actually ejaculated inside her when she was not using her diaphragm. The implication of the darkly shaded, incriminating dots was that Jill's paramour had inseminated her at least twice.

Jack briefly wondered if Jill had rationalized that she could risk allowing her paramour to inseminate her because she was in the safer first or third phases of her cycle. However; the chart confirmed that his wife had been in the second, most fertile phase of her cycle during her trip. She had still been fertile when she returned home to her children and husband that following weekend. Jack suddenly understood why his wife had been willing to defy the warnings of her ovulation tracking app by risking intercourse with him during their homecoming lovemaking.

Jack speculated about the circumstances of those last, two, darkly shaded, incriminating dots. Had her paramour simply become so overwhelmed with lust that he had been unable to restrain himself? Had his wife became so aroused that she forgotten to ask him to be careful? Perhaps the prospect of inseminating another man's wife without her consent had motivated him to ejaculate inside her intentionally? Did that second, darkly shaded, incriminating dot confirm that her first insemination had been voluntary or had she simply resigned herself to repeated inseminations after paramour had ejaculated inside without her consent that first time?

These last possibilities evoked Jack's sympathy for his unfaithful wife. The idea of her paramour inseminating her without her consent made her adultery seem more innocent and forgivable.

As Jack contemplated the incriminating dots, his attention was drawn once again to the single, innocuous dot that coincided with Jill's return home from the convention that Friday night. She had seemed nervous but eager as they made love. The realization that at least traces of her paramour's semen must have remained inside her vagina as he pleasured her orally provoked his shame. In hind sight, he realized that perhaps he had noticed, at least subconsciously, subtle nuances in Jill's aroma and flavor. Those nuances had seemed to inflame his desire for his wife rather than dissuade him.

Jack's shame inspired him to seek solace in the realization that he was neither the first or only husband to not take conscious notice of the lingering evidence of his wife's infidelity. He contemplated the statistics that had been cited in a program on The Science Channel that he and Jill had watched together. Somewhere between one-tenth to one-half of all wives would commit adultery at some time during their marriage. Hundreds of millions if not billions of husbands had no doubt made love to their unfaithful spouses without noticing the lingering traces of their rivals' semen.

Jack was still struggling to contemplate the implications of the incriminating dots when his cell phone rang. "Do you know yet if you will be coming home this Friday evening or will your business trip be prolonged again?"

"Unfortunately; the project is taking longer than it should, so I had to rebook for a redeye flight that will get me home on Sunday morning. Why?"

"The symphony has a concert scheduled on Saturday evening that I want to attend. I need to know if I should recruit a client to be my escort again. Treating a client to an evening of dinner and the symphony and may be dancing is an excellent ploy to seal a deal, but having to cancel on them because my husband returns home earlier than expected isn't."

Not for the first time Jack worried about his wife's evolving custom of recruiting clients to be her escort to the symphony. They had noticed that it was neither unusual or socially unacceptable for obviously married women to be escorted to the concerts by younger men who obviously were not their husbands. Since he had been convinced that there would be no scandal, Jack had reluctantly given his own wife his blessing to emulate this custom. However; he had never been sanguine about it.

The sight of the incriminating dots inflamed Jack's anxiety. Perhaps the incriminating dots in the most recent update from Jill's ovulation tracking app were not the first incriminating dots? Had there been incriminating dots in earlier OvuView updates that Jack had failed to notice? Now that he had noticed the half dozen, incriminating dots, would it really change anything in their marriage if there were more incriminating dots in the next update?

Jack considered the implications. The fact that two of the six incriminating dots were darkly shaded provoked his concern. However; when he glanced at his phone, the familiar wheel shaped, OvuView screen widget assured him that Jill would still be in the safer, first phase offer cycle the upcoming Saturday night. She was unlikely to get pregnant even if her symphony escort inseminated her, either with or without her consent. Jack made his decision.

"You should go ahead and invite a client to be your escort." Jack continued, treating him to a concert and dinner, and may be dancing, might let you make another sale."

"You will not be worried if I stay out late?"

"Our oldest daughter is mature enough to watch over her younger siblings, and now that she hasher driver's license, she can be their chauffeur." Jack hesitated before continuing the knowledge that his spouse was home rather than away on a business trip reminded him that her diaphragm was available. If she wasn't in denial, she might think to take the precaution of putting her diaphragm in her purse or even inserting it before leaving for the concert. "If things happen, there will be no questions or recriminations as long as you are discrete but not deliberate or deceitful."

"Thank you," Jill replied. "I love you."