Gifted

"That's a heck of a story, Shona, but I still don't understand why it would make you want to have an affair with a teenager."

"Rob, it's my destiny. Gifting led to my existence and my existence has led to me being gifted."

I realised there was nothing further that I could say to change her mind, so I simply nodded and we ate in silence for a while, each of us with our own thoughts. Nevertheless, there was one more important question that I needed to ask.

"From now on I don't want Robbie having any contact whatsoever with Callum or his family. Can you promise me that?" I asked her.

"Of course," she quickly replied, giving me a tentative hint of a smile.

I don't know whether she thought I was accepting our changed circumstances, but it was simply damage control on my part. I was going to do my best to avoid my son being exposed to any strange behaviour that might affect his young mind. It was going to be difficult enough for him to deal with the changes in our family relationships that would be taking place.

After dinner I decided to treat myself to an eighteen year old -- a soothing Glenfarclas single malt that I sipped while we sat and watched some mindless television chat show. Eventually when we went to bed around midnight it was as if an enormous weight had been lifted from me and I fell asleep almost immediately. I have no idea whether Shona slept as soundly, but I'm fairly certain that my subconscious mind had acknowledged the die had been cast and change was inevitable.

On Sunday morning I told Shona I would no longer go to church with her and Robbie. There was no way I was going to play happy families with her and give people the impression that I was content to be a cuckold. I think she knew the reason why I wouldn't go to church with her, but she wasn't completely sure.

"Why won't you go to church?" she asked. "Have you lost your faith in God?"

"No, but I don't think he's here," I replied. "I will go for a walk in the hills instead. If God exists he will find me there."

I didn't actually go hill-walking that Sunday morning. Instead I used the time that Shona and Robbie were out of the house to move my stuff into the guest bedroom. Shona was unaware of what I had done until we went to bed that evening. I made sure I went first and I was in bed with the lights off by the time Shona put her head round the door of the guest bedroom.

"What are you doing here, Rob?" she asked.

"What does it look like, Shona?" I replied. "I'm not sharing a bed with you if you're sharing a bed with Callum MacDarrell."

"Oh, come on, Rob. Seriously?"

"Damn right, Shona. I'm not going to make a big song and dance about it, but you will have to accept it or I will move out. For Robbie's sake I hope it doesn't come to that."

She frowned and her lips tightened in a fit of pique.

"OK, Rob, if that's how it's going to be. I think you're being a wee bit silly to cut off your nose despite your face. You know where to find me if you want me."

*

On the road again the following week, I decided I wasn't going to fuck Heather MacDarrell as compensation for the temporary loss of my spouse to her brother. I wasn't going to go along with the absurd notion that some sort of bizarre infidelity equation was being solved. No way. I was going to fuck Heather simply for my own pleasure, provided she had not been coerced into offering herself to me.

You see, I learned years ago to make the best of a bad situation. My girlfriend at that time didn't like me smoking cigarettes. It was like kissing an ashtray, she told me. Then she said I would have to choose between her and the cigarettes. I could understand her point of view, so I chose to give up cigarettes, but it wasn't easy. The first two months were the most difficult and I was as grouchy as a bear with a sore head. Then she decided she was no longer interested in me and we split up. So how did I make the best of that bad situation? You guessed it. I never smoked another cigarette and I became fitter and healthier as a consequence.

Shona's affair with Callum was another bad situation. Whatever I did wasn't going to save my marriage. So how could I make the best of this bad situation? Well, fucking Heather MacDarrell would be a good start, so I called her on Wednesday and we arranged to meet for dinner in Inverness on Thursday. I suppose I could just have asked her to come to the apartment, but that's not my style. I wanted the pleasure of her company, not just a living repository for my sperm. Besides, I needed to have a serious conversation with her if we were going to get together on a regular basis.

Over dinner we got to know one another a lot better. Apart from being a very beautiful young lady, she was intelligent and a good conversationalist. In September she would start her final year at University and a lot of her time would be taken up with studying. In the meantime she had a summer job at a well-know firm of chartered accountants in Inverness. She had a steady boyfriend called Donnie, who was studying Agriculture at UHI. He was working on a farm during the summer break and they only met up at weekends, so she could be my friend with benefits whenever I stayed over in Inverness during the week. She had a big grin pasted on her face as she told me this. I felt a bit sorry for Donnie, but she told me they weren't exclusive. I would have been willing to bet he thought otherwise.

Heather hadn't been coerced by her mother, so I took her back to the apartment that Thursday evening. I hadn't been with anyone other than Shona for the best part of eight years and I had forgotten about the great pleasure of getting to know a new sexual partner. Heather was a good deal younger than me, so I thought it would be a significant challenge to keep up with her and I wasn't sure whether my state of mind would be a handicap.

I was wrong on both counts.

It turned out that Heather hadn't been particularly active sexually. She wasn't a virgin, but she told me her experience was limited to giving handjobs and having face-to-face sex in the missionary position. She had jumped at the chance of having a no strings relationship for a short while with a trustworthy older man, which is how her mother had described me.

That first night I showed her how good it can be to take plenty of time, go slowly and build up to a bigger climax. I wanted her to be completely relaxed in my company, so we sat and kissed on the sofa for a while, touching and rubbing one another while fully clothed. When she was calm and relaxed and ready to take it a stage further we went to bed.

As I helped her undress I kept telling her how beautiful she was. Words didn't fail me. There were plenty to describe her - fresh, youthful, soft, gentle, awesome, stunning, amazing. She stood proudly naked, her firm and ripe young breasts providing the perfect balance to the roundness of her tight hips framing a well trimmed black bush. Then it was her turn to help me undress, picking up on the idea of talking about what she was doing as she progressed and finishing by kneeling in front of me, hesitantly pulling down my chinos, then my boxer shorts to free my hardening penis.

I was pleased her efforts had been rewarded with a healthy and happy reaction from my nether region, despite my recent state of mind.

She kissed and held my penis gently and I briefly wondered whether she would use her mouth on me, but there would be time enough later for her to practice her oral skills. It seemed clear that she was expecting to follow my lead, so I took her hand and we got into bed. Under the duvet I held her tenderly as she snuggled up to me. We lay face to face on our sides and kissed lightly as we caressed each other. I turned her onto her back and began my journey south, licking and nibbling for a while on her hardening pink nipples before drifting lower and kissing my way down her flat stomach, all the while using my hands on her thighs and then my thumb to rub her blushing labia and nubby clitoris.

The attention I lavished upon her had the desired effect and she started to moan and grind her hips. She told me later that no one had previously spent so much time on foreplay with her and she had no idea it would dramatically improve stimulation, heighten her feelings and lead to more powerful orgasms. When I eventually got my mouth on her trim and juicy little pink pussy I licked and tongued her for absolutely ages while she wriggled and squirmed, gasping and panting her way to a powerful climax with her hands clutching at my hair.

I moved back up the bed as she came down to earth and I held her as she twitched a couple of times from the aftershocks.

"Oh my God!" she finally said, her face splitting in a huge grin. "How did you do that? I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!"

"It's no big secret," I said, taking her hand and guiding it to my stiff prick. "Let's see what else I can teach you." She stroked me to attention and then I turned her slightly away from me, which she hadn't been expecting. She quickly caught on to what I was doing and positioned herself to allow me to get behind her, putting my leg between hers with my arm round her and my hand cupping her mons. I pulled her back until she could feel my prick pushing between her hips and nudging at her pussy.

Heather was on the pill and there was little risk she had any nasty infections, so I wasn't worried about not using a condom. I teased her for a little while, slipping just the tip of my prick in and out of her well lubricated slit while I fondled her tits. She was purring quietly and pushing her hips back to try and get me to fill her up. Eventually she reached between her legs, as I knew she would, and pulled my prick into her. She turned her head and kissed me as we lay there, joined together, her tightness grasping my hardness.

I nibbled her earlobes and nuzzled her neck, sawing slowly in and out of her as I held her hand and pressed it tightly against her clitoris, pushing her fingers onto it. Her breathing gradually became more ragged as she built up towards another climax. I was determined not to come too soon, so I concentrated on helping her to get there before me. I pulled her up onto her knees and kneaded her buttocks as I fucked her doggy style. She responded by pushing back onto me as I thrust into her and we raced towards the finish line.

Afterwards we cuddled for a while and she told me she couldn't stay over at my place. She shared a flat with two other young women and she didn't want to set any tongues wagging. That was fine by me, so I called a taxi for her as she got dressed. I had offered to drive her back to her place, but she thought that would also have been indiscreet. We kissed farewell and she told me how much she had enjoyed being with me and that she was looking forward to the next time.

That Friday I took some time off work to go and consult a lawyer, so I would be well prepared for what was likely to happen as a consequence of the actions I was planning to take.

*

As summer gradually gave way to autumn, things got both worse and better. My relationship with Shona changed. Although she was still 'giving herself' to Callum MacDarrell, I was not unfriendly towards her. I did all of the same household chores as previously, but I showed little affection for my wife whenever we were together and I avoided contact with any of her relatives or friends.

Instead, I concentrated on connecting with young Robbie, even if all three of us were present. For example, if we were out walking somewhere, I would be happy to hold hands with Robbie, but not with her. Nevertheless, we still had some good times together at the weekends, taking Robbie for picnics in the hills or driving to the coast to buy fresh lobster or crab in a small fishing port.

I'm sure Shona understood why I had disconnected from her, but maybe she thought it was only temporary. We seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that we wouldn't discuss anything to do with her affair and the status of our marriage. That suited me, because I knew what I was going to do and I didn't want to signal my intentions too early.

In the meantime my love life with Heather MacDarrell was getting very spicy. We got together every Thursday when I had to stay over in Inverness. She would come to the apartment and cook dinner before spending the night. She had come up with a cover story and told her flatmates she was staying with an elderly aunt every Thursday.

Heather's sexual prowess improved in leaps and bounds. She learned how to give an absolutely fabulous blow job and she usually had my dick in her mouth within five minutes of arriving at the apartment. She told me she loved the taste and she took to licking me clean after we fucked. Her favourite starting position when we were in bed was a sixty-nine and she liked to finish either doggy-style or cowgirl, yelling enthusiastically as she squeezed my dick with her pussy.

I expect Donnie was also benefiting from Heather's improved carnal knowledge and skills, as she told me it looked like he might propose to her. He had no idea he was sharing her with me, but she wasn't wearing anyone's ring at this stage, so I was happy to keep fucking her.

*

It was around mid September when the shit hit the fan, or more accurately the vomit hit the pan.

Making breakfast one Sunday morning, I heard the sound of someone throwing up in the toilet. A very pale Shona appeared some time later, clutching her dressing gown with one hand and leaning against the kitchen doorway.

"Rob, could you do me a favour and make me some weak tea?" she asked. "No milk or sugar. I'm going to go and lie down."

"Of course, Shona," I replied. "No problem. By the way, how far along are you?"

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I don't know," she said. "Let's talk later."

She turned to leave and I put the kettle on.

Shona spent most of that Sunday in bed as far as I know. The weather was glorious, so Robbie and I took my car and went on a little expedition to admire the beautiful autumn leaves on the trees in the surrounding area. We stopped at a lovely countryside inn for Sunday lunch and eventually got back home in the late afternoon. Robbie had gathered some of the fallen leaves to show his mother, who was sitting listlessly in the lounge, dressed in jogging pants and a shapeless pullover.

I made dinner while Robbie chatted with Shona, who was doing her best to hold up her end of the conversation as he enthusiastically explained to her how the leaves of deciduous trees change colour after the summer ends. I was very proud that he remembered what he had learned from me, even that people in some other countries call autumn 'fall', because the leaves fall off the trees.

Later that evening, after Robbie had gone to bed, Shona and I had our adult conversation, although it was more along the lines of her setting out her vision of the future.

She had first thrown up earlier in the week and went to the local doctor's. They did a check that confirmed she was in the early stages of pregnancy, possibly six to eight weeks along. She hadn't told Callum he was going to be a father, because he had already decided to accept an offer of a place at the University of Edinburgh and would be leaving the glen next week.

"So now you expect me to simply forget it all happened?" I asked.

"You knew it was only a temporary arrangement, Rob," she said. "It's finished now that Callum has decided to leave the glen and go to Edinburgh."

"I don't see how you could possibly think we could just go back to the way we were," I replied. "Apart from the weeks and months you spent shagging Callum, there's that baby in your belly."

"I'm asking you to forgive and forget what happened," she pleaded. "You're a wonderful husband and father, Rob. This baby will need a loving family and I'm hoping you will see it that way."

"Well, that's not exactly how I see it," I replied. "I think Callum and you need to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions. Please don't expect me to share that burden."

"But the new baby won't be a burden to us," she said. "It will be good for Robbie to have a little brother or sister and one more child won't add a lot to our costs."

"I don't think you understand," I told her. "I'm not interested in reconciling with you and I am not going to take on parental responsibility for your bastard."

She looked stunned and then she burst into tears. "How can you be so cruel?" she exclaimed, as she fled from the room.

*

I had Shona served a few days later while I was on the road. The petition for divorce included details of when and where her adultery with Callum MacDarrell had taken place and stated that she was carrying his child. Even if she had been living in cloud cuckoo land for a while, I expected Shona would now get the message about having to deal with the consequences of her actions.

Shona called me when she got the papers, but she was distraught and wasn't making much sense. The gist of it was still how could I be so cruel, to which my response was "And you weren't cruel to me?"

I didn't go back to Lochmagandie that weekend, because there was no way I was going to be living in the same house as Shona and giving anyone grounds to believe that the marriage had not broken down irretrievably. It was a tough call, but I expected to be able to visit Robbie for a few hours each weekend soon enough, even if it meant driving back and forth from Inverness each time.

On the same day that Shona was served, I called Heather MacDarrell and told her Shona and I were divorcing and I was calling a halt to the friends with benefits arrangement. I had enjoyed fucking Heather, but I didn't want any complications from a continuing involvement with her, particularly if her boyfriend Donnie was serious about his intentions.

Lots of people tried to intercede over the next few months, including Lady Fiona, who accused me of going back on a deal she thought we had made. I pointed out that I never said I would not divorce Shona. As far as I was concerned, Heather had made a no strings offer, simply because she fancied me. I thought it unlikely that Lady Fiona would allow information about her daughter's affair with me to be used in a divorce case.

From my earlier discussion with a lawyer I knew that in Scotland you can get a divorce if you are separated and live apart from your spouse for two years, even if your spouse doesn't agree. I could have gone down that route, but I chose to cite adultery, not just because I could name Callum MacDarrell. I wasn't being cruel for simply no reason. Of course I got some satisfaction from naming and shaming him, but I didn't want to end up with parental responsibility on the grounds that I was married to Shona when the baby was born. Callum and Shona could shoulder that responsibility and the Child Support Agency would make sure Callum paid for his child's upbringing. I needed to get a divorce as soon as possible if I wanted to steer clear of that mess.

Lawyers who specialise in family law are no less avaricious than other types of lawyer, but I made a generous offer that allowed Shona to keep the cottage in Lochmagandie and I committed to a schedule of monthly child maintenance payments until Robbie turned 18. Both sets of lawyers tried to stall and make more money out of us, so it took another few months, but Shona eventually acknowledged we were finished. It seems she reached a financial settlement with Callum and his family. Her pregnancy was unproblematic and she gave birth to a baby girl in late April, a couple of weeks after the date we were officially divorced.

*

I rented a small apartment in Inverness on a permanent basis and drove to Lochmagandie every second Saturday to spend the day with Robbie. I wasn't interested in hearing about what was happening in Shona's life, but Robbie was delighted to have a wee sister and both Shona and I took great care to encourage him to be a caring and loving older brother.