Unplanned Reconciliation

"No. In fact, Tracy wants the two of you to talk before you decide."

"She wants to talk to me? She has refused my apologies so far."

*****

VERA AND TRACY MEET

With tears in her eyes, Vera blurted out, "Tracy, I am so sorry for betraying our friendship. I certainly didn't set out to do that. I hope you believe that."

"But you also didn't care enough about our friendship to not start it, much less to not keep going on and on. I can't believe that somewhere along the line you didn't realize how hurt Bob and I would be."

"I kept lying to myself that we would never get caught or that we might convince you and Bob into wife swapping. Our families were so close that most of the time I didn't even consider what Austin and I were doing was cheating. I imagine that sounds pretty ridiculous to you."

"I'm afraid to admit but you might have had a chance with the wife swapping proposition. I have had a crush on Bob almost since we first met. When we would dance together at parties, I would try to get him to hold me close and let me rub against him. I think he realized that he could have had me. He told me that he wouldn't betray his marriage. I respected him for that, but I still lusted for him. It's ironic that Bob and I kept from having sex with each other partially out of loyalty to our spouses. Boy, did you make fools of us.

"Vera, I was the one to propose the bedroom arrangement Bob presented to you. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I want to get some revenge on you and Austin. It's your tough luck that Austin is not alive for me to get rid of some of my anger on him. You can thank him for you getting his share of my revenge. I want to fuck Bob as hard and as often as I can for a couple of years to help me get rid of that anger. After that, who knows. Once I get that measure of revenge on you, I might be willing to become friends again although I doubt we will ever be best friends again."

"Tracy, I do want us to be friends again. It hurt me almost as much to lose you as a friend as it did to lose Bob as a husband. Your proposal is awfully harsh on me, but I deserve it. Most of all, I do want to delay my divorce if there is any chance I can get Bob back. Will you let me have at least some private time with Bob? You need to realize that I promise I will have sex with him any way he wants in order to keep him considering cancelling the divorce. It won't just be for sexual release on my part."

"Okay Vera, you and I can agree on a schedule of time with Bob. I don't think I will be jealous. I may even date some other men. You will not, however, have an advantage on the type of sexual activities to use on Bob. I intend on letting my passion and revenge rule my body's interaction with his. Forget bringing your A game, honey. I'm bringing my A+ game." Tracy smiled.

*****

THE NEW ARRANGEMENT -- Bob's version

Tracy and Shannon moved in with us. Shannon and Alicia had fun redecorating Alicia's room in order to accommodate two people. Soon, it was hard to remember they had not been sharing that room forever.

Harvey came over regularly for supper or family events. Often, he brought Leonard with him as they were bonded almost as closely as Alicia and Shannon.

It took me a while to move my stuff out of the bedroom I had used as my office at home. I agreed to a small redecoration fund for Vera to make the bedroom more to her liking. She mostly used furniture from the master bedroom and leftover furniture from what Alicia got rid of to make space for what Shannon brought to keep expenses down.

Tracy moving into what had been Vera's and my bedroom was harder than I thought. Short-term meetings for sex with Tracy was different from spending night after night together with her. Sharing a bedroom entailed sharing a bathroom, dividing the space for toiletries (women have to have more than 50% of the space), deciding who gets what closet and dresser space, coordinating bath and morning prep activities. Of course, we had sex although it was different knowing that we were living together and not just having sex together on the side. We had both been part of another married couple for many years and the habits we had with our respective spouses were challenged. There were a lot of 'Vera used to' and 'Austin used to' statements popping up in our conversations. We resolved our issues with compromise and laughter, but never anger.

I was more nervous when Vera showed up for our first night of sex under the new rules than I had been on our wedding night. I still had a lot of feelings for her and tried to channel those feelings into making love with her. She cried a lot, said she was sorry a lot, and expressed gratitude a lot. Loving her was familiar, comfortable, and successful from an orgasmic sense. Vera was still a beautiful woman and an accomplished lover. We studiously avoided talking of either Tracy or Austin. Tracy usually arranged to be gone overnight to accommodate my and Vera's time together. I was interested in how Tracy would handle it when she returned the first time. As it turned out, she didn't seem upset. If anything, she was even more aggressive in bed. That was a relief to me mentally but challenging physically.

As time went on, the biggest issue we had as an expanded family was finances. The kids got tired of hearing how we couldn't afford this or that YET. They told us that we were lying. YET wasn't ever coming. Luckily, Shannon and Alicia shared Austin's old car. We could not have afforded to get a separate car for both. Before long, the 'where we can go to college' sub-issue of our finances arose. Shannon and Alicia were dead set (a state of being often seen in teenagers) against going to the local community college even for just two years. They said only losers and poor people went there. "We are poor" was my response which, for some strange reason, was not well received. I told them that the reasons for the sacrifices we were making now included sending Shannon and Alicia to the college of their choice.

Our joint finances gradually got better. Both Vera and Tracy turned all monies over to me. I was surprised how little Vera asked for her allowance. She said she was motivated to get the whole mess over with. All of us got raises during this time which helped. The biggest boost financially came from the death of my father. Most of what he left me was a paid for house and car. I offered the house to Tracy and the car to Shannon, but they both declined. I sold both and I got a nice chunk of money for it. I put the money immediately into a college fund for Shannon and Alicia. Tracy tried to reject my kindness, but I wouldn't give in. We were all in this together. All our relationships deepened because of that. Even Vera was touched and thanked me for my generosity.

As we closed in on the end of our second year of our merged family, I began to prepare the family for what was to come next as we were close to our financial goals. Soon, we would be able to establish separate households. The question was, 'What were the households going to look like?'

Vera was the most certain. "I want Bob to forgive me and give me a second chance to be his wife. I want to live with him and share the bed with him, only him, and I don't want to share him with anyone else."

Tracy was more ambiguous in what she wanted. "I have really enjoyed sharing Bob's love. There is no way I can ever repay the sacrifice he and you (Vera) have made on behalf of Shannon and me. I do want to get a place of my own so I can give Harvey all I can before he goes off. Shannon is so close to going to college that I can understand if she wishes to spend the rest of her senior year with Alicia. I will miss, really miss, being able to be with Bob, not just for the sex part although that is certainly a good part. I will miss our times snuggling and talking about our lives, our kids, and our possible futures. I have been so rewarded by what you two have done that I could accept whatever you two choose to do."

It was up to me. "Vera, I have been most impressed about how you have handled our situation. In spite of having me sleeping with Tracy in the same house, you have been willing to sacrifice for a future you hoped for. Have I forgiven you? I still can't say I have 100%, but I have more understanding of what you and Austin had since Tracy and I have been together. I don't know if what Tracy and I have had was love, but it sure seemed close to being that. I can see a future with you in it with me whether we live in the same house or not.

"Tracy, despite the hurtful circumstances that brought us closer together, I cannot be other than grateful for the opportunity to be intimate with you. That's about the only thing I can be thankful to Austin for, may he rot in Hell. I am really conflicted about our future. On one hand, I am glad we have improved your financial position where you could do well on your own. On the other, I will be sad to see you leave.

"My preference to what I want to do is to cancel the divorce with Vera and go back to planning our retirement."

Vera was crying tears of joy. "Thank you, Bob. I promise not to cheat on you again. I have learned my lesson. Tracy, thank you. I hope we can be friends again."

Tracy was crying but hers were tears of sadness. "I want to thank both of you for what you have done for my family. I will do anything for both of you. Vera, I have been impressed about how you have treated me while I was with Bob. It makes it difficult for me to ask this but, Vera is it possible I could have some time with Bob every now and then until I find a 'Bob' of my own?"

"I guess I still owe you that much for a few more months. Bob, are you okay with that?"

"Vera, does that mean that you get to have other men?"

"No. I'm done with that. I will not have sex with other men and Tracy is the only other woman you can continue to have while we are still married. Tracy, find your own 'Bob' soon, okay?"

"I agree." Group hug.

*****

EPILOGUE

The families split but were closer than ever if that makes sense. Friends and neighbors probably wondered about us, but we didn't care. Our relationships were abnormal, but we lived in a world where normal was unusual. Tracy found a new home for her and Harvey. She dated and now has a steady boyfriend. When she agreed to give up seeing me, it made us both sad.

Vera has been a very loving and loyal wife. She goes out of her way to explain where she is and who she is with although I never ask her. If I can't trust her, I can't live with her. We have a second honeymoon trip coming up soon.

The kids all seem to be turning out well despite the years of the effects of merged families and financial hardship. I hope they learned from the experience.

I have to admit that prior to my experience with Vera and Tracy, I considered myself a 'Burn The Bitch' man. I couldn't believe one should or could forgive a spouse of cheating and reconcile. In truth, I still harbor some ill will for what Vera did, but the value of the sex with Tracy and helping her out made me glad Vera had tolerated it. I now believe Vera will never cheat on me again. Then, maybe she will.

My last word: Life is never perfect. Deal with it.