Love and Truth

There is no sex in this story. A big thank you goes out to my editors LadyCibelle and Techsan. They always make my stories a much better read.

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We've been married for five years. Unlike most of our friends we didn't start a family yet. We decided to wait till we were a little older and more financially stable.

I didn't want to be like my older brother who's on his second marriage and has his two kids from his first marriage come and visit every other weekend. His second wife's three kids live with them and now she's pregnant with his child. They have five kids in all with one in the furnace. Kids are great but not in messed up marriages like that. Unfortunately there are a lot of marriages like that today. It's got to be a little hard on the kids.

I love my wife and want to be with her forever. I want a family but not till we're both ready. The sex and love between us has been great since we got married. There's nothing that I wouldn't do for her. Like they said in that one movie, "She completes me."

I work in a manufacturing plant as a laborer but was hoping to move up eventually. I started this job right out of high school which was seven years ago.

Brittany went to college and received a two year associate degree and accepted a position at the local newspaper office in the secretarial department. With us both working we were able to buy a lot of things for a young couple. The only problem was that we bought most of it on credit. It was fine as long as we were both working but I got the bad news that I was getting laid off.

The bad news rocked my little world. Since we didn't have any kids my unemployment was going to be low. I didn't know if we would be able to make it on just Britt's salary and my pittance of unemployment.

Of course when you don't pay your bills on time, creditors get mad and spouses start fighting. It's what was happening to Britt and I. To top things off, I tried drowning my problems with booze. It just made things worse and I spent more money that we didn't have.

Our love life was getting strained to the limit between arguments and the drinking. I look back now and realized we didn't handle it well. It's times like these that tell whether a marriage is strong enough to survive. Here's what happened in ours.

She would go to work and I would try and do a few things in the house. I would go on a few job interviews but the job market was tight and the jobs for a high school graduate were slim and low paying. I'd find myself at Joe's bar and start drinking. Britt was getting pissed at me and told me I needed to try harder.

A couple of bar girls approached me for sex but I always refused it. I love sex but I wasn't going to cheat on my wife. It's how my brother got in trouble and I didn't want to follow that path. Some nights I went home smelling pretty bad. After a few months like this, Britt called me a useless husband during an argument. I can't tell you how much that hurt me. I might have been drunk but to have her of all people tell me I was useless was more than I could take.

She accused me of having sex with the gals at the bar. I told her it was totally untrue.

"Yes, they approached me but I never had sex with them," I tried to explain.

"Did you buy them drinks with our house money? Money that we needed to pay our bills," she asked me.

I didn't want to lie to her so I told her the truth.

"Yes, I bought them drinks and they sat with me. I was lonely and wanted company."

"You son-of-a-bitch! I'm out working and trying to pay the bills and you take what little money we have and buy other women drinks. You come home to me too drunk to even make love to me and you want me to feel sorry for you? What about me? Don't you think I get lonely too, coming home to an empty house while my husband is cajoling other women? Get out of my sight, you worthless bastard. Maybe I'll find a real man. One who won't cheat on me!"

She ran into the bedroom crying. I knew she was too mad to try to talk to. I walked out and spent the night at Joe's bar. I got drunk and passed out and he closed up and let me sleep it off. Later I found out that he called Britt to let her know I was there and he would see I was taken care of. Of course I didn't know it at the time. The next morning I drove home and Britt had already left for work. I called her at work to apologize and she didn't take my call. Later that day she called me and said she might have to work over. I tried to apologize to her but she wouldn't listen to me.

I decided I'd have to make it up to her somehow. My unemployment check arrived in the mail and I thought I would take her out for dinner and make it up to her. I knew money was tight but my marriage was more important than paying a damn credit card bill.

I cleaned up and stopped and bought her a small bouquet of flowers. I decided I would go meet her at work and apologize to her and take her out for dinner. She usually got off at five so I headed to the parking garage a little after five. I wanted to give her time to get to her car before I surprised her.

As I was driving though the parking garage I remembered her saying she might have to work over. I figured I would just park my car and walk up to her office. I knew she always parked on level two. She did that so she wouldn't forget where she parks. I headed up to level two and saw her car. She was standing next to it and was talking to a guy who was holding her hands. As I pulled up she didn't notice me at first. The man was talking to her; I couldn't hear what he was saying. Britt was looking down toward the ground.

I pulled up in front of her car and she looked up and saw me.

Her mouth flew open as she said, "Peter, what are you doing here?"

She quickly let go of the man's hands. He looked very nervous when he saw me. My first thought was to jump out and confront the fellow who was holding my wife's hand. I was totally out of it and wasn't sure what to do.

"I came to apologize to you and ask your forgiveness but I guess you have other ideas, like telling me you were working over."

I reached over and grabbed the bouquet of flowers and threw them out the window.

"Enjoy your fucking date," I yelled and squealed out with tears running down my cheeks.

I saw her through my rearview mirror standing next to the stranger. I honestly was blank on what to do. I know we argued but I would have never thought she would have cheated on me. My first thought was to go to Joe's and get drunk and laid in no particular order but my mind just wasn't working right. I just drove and drove thinking about running my car off the road or into an embankment.

Tears were streaming down my face. I had just hit a new low, my personal rock bottom. No money, no job, and was about to become a wimp husband and then a divorced one. Losing the only woman I have ever loved.

"Why, God? Where did I go wrong?" I kept asking myself.

Now, I have to tell you I am not a religious man. I believe in God and went to church on and off as a kid. The last time I was in a church was to get married, five years ago. I remember saying my wedding vows and how warm and clean I felt at the time. Britt and I together forever, that's what I remembered.

I was just driving around. Nowhere in particular, but I found myself in the church parking lot where Britt and I were married. I don't know why I was here but I got out of the car and checked the church door and it was open. I walked in and walked up to the altar and got on my knees and just started crying.

I realized I wasn't saying anything. I didn't have to because God knew why I was there. He could read all my thoughts. I knew that I was in good hands and just let the tears flow. I don't know how long I was there but eventually I got up and drove home. I knew I had to talk with Britt, regardless of the outcome.

I pulled up at the house and saw Britt's car there. The front door of our home flew open and Britt came running out crying. I stepped out of the car as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I didn't do anything, Peter, you have to believe me. I didn't do anything. Please let me explain. Please, I love you and only you. I was so worried about you. I called everyone and no-one had seen you. I drove to Joe's bar and he said you haven't been there the whole day. I've been worried sick. Oh, God, Honey, I was so scared that you wouldn't come back and let me explain. Where were you?"

"I was in the church where you and I said our wedding vows. 'To have and to hold, from this day forward. Forsaking all others till death us do part.' I don't know why but I was led there, maybe because that was where the two of us became one."

She was still holding on to my hand as we walked into the house.

"Who was he and why were you with him?" I asked.

"His name is Mark and he works in the same building as the newspaper office. He's been hitting on me for months but I usually try to avoid him. A few days ago he said he was in Joe's bar and saw you having sex with a woman who works there. Of course I told him it was a lie and that you wouldn't do such a thing to me. He said he took a couple of pictures with his cell phone of you with this woman and it was in his car. He asked me to meet him in the parking garage after work and he would show them to me.

"After our argument yesterday, I didn't know what to think. I told you I might work over because I was going to see these pictures. I'm usually home like clockwork and didn't want you to worry about me. At the same time, I needed to see these pictures. I know you can understand that. When you pulled up he had just showed me two pictures of you with the woman that works at Joe's. She had her arm around you. I didn't realize he had taken my hands in his. I was in deep thought about the pictures.

"I was surprised to see you. You screamed at me and threw the flowers out the window. By the way, I picked them up and they are in a vase. They are so beautiful, but the thought of you buying them for me meant so much more. Anyway, you took off before I could explain all this to you. I love you more than anything in this world. I wasn't going to cheat on you; I could never do that. When you drove off I called Mark a big prick and told him if he ever bothered me again I would have him arrested. Honey, it's you I love and only you. It was stupid of me to have said the things I hadsaid to you"

I knew she was telling the truth. I had God as my witness. When Britt stopped talking, I had a warmness that came into my heart. I knew God had answered my prayer, even though I never spoke it.

"I love you too, Britt. I always have and always will. Do you want to know about me talking to Daisy?"

"No, when I went to find you, Daisy told me how she tried to console you after you walked out. She told me what a lucky woman I was to have such a devoted husband. 'Even though he drinks too much.' She did say that Mark hangs around to find husbands so he can approach the wife. I guess the next time he goes in, Joe's going to bar him from the place."

After our talk we went in our bedroom and made love.

Epilogue:

I stopped feeling sorry for myself and went looking for work. I met Britt each day for lunch and she was never bothered by Mark again. I was kind of hoping to come across him but his office said he transferred to another branch. Too bad, I really did want to see him for at least five minutes.

About two weeks after the incident my employer called me back to work. We are now caught up on our bills and we decided to be a little wiser in our future spending. Especially since we decided to start our family. She stopped taking the pill. Wow, in seven months, I'm going to be a daddy.

We learned our lesson. We always talk to each other before assuming anything. We don't want anymore close shaves. Michael or Michelle will have the best damn parents in the world. We are both sure of that. We have a lot of love to share.

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Hope you liked my story

Comments are always welcome.

DG Hear