Not My Daughter's Fault

This story could be in a number of categories. I chose loving wives since it's about a marriage with problems. I want to thank my two special editors and friends LadyCibelle and Techsan for their editing. They always make my stories a much better read. Just so you know that after they edit my stories, I make the changes and still make mistakes.

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It's hard to believe I've been out of high school for five years. I'm now a college graduate and headed for my five-year class reunion. I wasn't the most popular guy in school; in fact, most people considered me a geek. I was of normal size and weight in stature, but since I didn't play sports and was more into computers than most, I was considered a geek.

I was the valedictorian, getting straight A's all through school. I was also named most likely to succeed. I hung with the so-called geeky students. I seemed to have more in common with them. I never understood why kids always teased other kids. To make fun of someone because they are smart never made sense to me.

During my senior year, I became friends with a lot of the students. I didn't hang out with most of them but they treated me fairly decently. I helped a lot of them out with their studies. I never had to study much myself; it all came rather naturally. I really didn't date in high school. Like every guy, I had the hots for different girls. Sandy was one of the cheerleaders that spoke nicely to me. We were friends but never dated. I remember telling her that someday, she would wish she went out with me because I would own my own business. She was the school flirt, so everyone wanted to date her. She pretty much stuck with the jocks.

Then there was Elizabeth. There was just something special about her. She was a mixture of Afro-American and Italian. She was one of my friends at school but wasn't allowed to date me, because I was white. I went to her house one day and her dad, who was black, said, "Son, don't take this wrong, but I don't want Beth dating right now. Please understand that it is not you personally but I want her to learn the black culture. So please stay away from her."

I couldn't believe it! Beth cried and went to her room. I left the house wondering what the hell I had done wrong. I asked my dad about it when I got home. He told me that there were black people who were just as racist as some whites. He told me that maybe in time things might work out, but for now I should heed the man's words. After all it was his daughter.

I saw Beth the next day at school. She told me she and her dad got into an argument about me. She told her dad that she liked me and I was a nice guy. He just got madder and forbid her to see me.

I asked her if she was allowed to date black guys and she told me her dad had to approve of them first. I asked her what her mom had to say about dating since she was white. She told me her mom said that one day she would be on her own and would be able to make her own choices, but for now she would have to listen to her dad.

I know during our senior year I saw her date a couple of the football players. She was a cheerleader also and they tended to lean toward dating jocks. I did date a couple of times with girls I knew, but we didn't have sex. My first time was at a college party but that's another story.

I headed off to the reunion. As I mentioned, I graduated from college and started my own computer firm. For a young guy, I was doing great. I actually started my business while in my junior year at college. My dad supplied me the front money and I had already paid him back. So I was going to the reunion as an entrepreneur. I earned my title, 'Most Likely to Succeed.'

I entered the reunion and it was funny seeing all the kids from my class; so many of them had changed. After signing-in, I walked around and talked to my so-called geek friends first. Most were college grads and in different businesses. Some of my jock friends changed quite a bit. Some made it through college and others dropped out or didn't have the scholarships to attend college. Most everyone at the reunion had jobs of some kind.

I learned that we had lost four members of our class. Two had been killed in the service, one died due to leukemia, and the last was a suicide. It really makes you think how fragile life really is.

I should mention that I no longer was taken for a geek. I did work out at the gym, I had a nice physique but it wasn't muscle bound, just toned. I guess I could handle myself if need be but I never had any altercations.

As I was sipping a beer, this beautiful blond came up to me. I knew it was Sandy. Like the saying goes, 'She was built like a brick shit house.' She came running up to me and planted a kiss on my lips. I have to say that I never expected it.

I spoke first. "Well, hello, Sandy, you look as gorgeous as ever. What have you been doing these past few years?

"Hi, Robert. God, it's so good to see you. I hear you have your own business and moved back to our big city."

I went out of state to go to college. I had a full ride scholarship and decided to take advantage of the best offer.

"Yes, I do, and, yes, I did. I do prefer to be called Rob now. A lot of people just call me Jonesy, but you can call me whatever you want. So, did you go to college or what?"

"I went to the community college for two years and got a business degree and I work over in the Montgomery Building as a secretary. So are you married, divorced, dating now?" she asked.

"No woman in my life yet. Would you like to apply for the position?" I laughed.

"Now that sounds like a proposition to me," she laughed. "I just might take you up on it."

She leaned over and kissed me again. Damn, she was hot. I spent the evening mingling with everyone. Sandy kept coming back to me. A couple of guys told me a little about Sandy since she got out of high school. They said she did get her degree and worked as a secretary in the Montgomery Building but that she was considered one hot mama. I asked what they meant by that and they told me she dated a lot of guys.

"She was looking for Mr. Right, or should I say Mr. Wealthy?" stated Bob.

Bob told me she was engaged to a guy named John for about a year but it didn't last. She was looking for security; someone with money to keep her. Brad, the guy she dated in high school was a year ahead of us in school so he wasn't at our reunion. He quit college and worked at one of the local businesses. He probably wasn't able to meet her financial requirements either.

I asked around about Beth but no one seemed to know much about her. I really kind of wanted to see what kind of woman she turned into. She didn't reply to the reservation form so of course she was a no-show. I did see a couple of her close friends; at least, they were five years ago. They told me Beth did well for herself and got a degree. The last they heard she got married.

It kind of hurt me inside. I didn't care if she was mixed race or not; I really cared for her.

As the reunion was winding down Sandy, came up to me and asked me to call her. She kissed me again and I headed for home. I couldn't believe my luck. The homecoming queen, the cheerleader everyone wanted, asked me to call her.

I mentioned that I had my own computer business. I had two good guys who worked for me. Even though I rented a small building, I usually worked out of my home. Of course I went into the office everyday and made sure business was taken care of. I also had a cute counter girl who took appointments and answered the phone. It was cheaper to pay a secretary and let my guys repair computers. I did most of the larger business jobs where I had to go to the businesses and do setups and repairs.

I did call Sandy the following Monday and asked her if she wanted to do lunch. We met at one of the local restaurants and talked over old times. You would have thought she was my old girlfriend or something the way she talked to me. She would say how she always liked me and regretted us not dating.

You have to understand that even though I was intelligent, I wasn't that street smart. I was a pretty naive guy. Sandy was looking for money and a man with a future. I guess I was it but didn't realize it at the time. All I could see was sex with a hot babe. My hormones were working overtime. I can't really say I loved her but I definitely wanted in her panties.

We began dating and had sex on our first date. Sandy was hot. This girl was a do-it-all sex machine. From the moment we entered my condo till she went home the next day, it was all-night sex. As I had mentioned, I did have sex with a couple of girls at college, but it couldn't hold a candle to Sandy. We did more in that one night then I've done in my short lifetime.

Sandy started coming over about three times a week and we had sex. We dated about three months when she asked me about getting married. I asked her why the hurry and she told me she was pregnant.

I told her of course I would marry her, especially since I got her pregnant. We were going to have a very small service and were going to get married by a judge and just have a couple of witnesses. I told my mom and dad about the wedding and the pregnancy. They weren't the happiest about it but they would go along with whatever I wanted to do. My dad told me to get a pre-nuptial agreement just in case the marriage didn't last. I told him I would.

I have to say a couple of things here. The sex with Sandy was fantastic. I learned so much in the way of sex from her. I can't say I was in love with Sandy but I did love the sex we shared. One thing that really bothered me was that Sandy was so good. She couldn't learn that overnight. I often wondered how many sexual partners she'd had. It was something we agreed never to talk about, which probably was a big mistake on my part.

As I mentioned, I wasn't sure I loved Sandy but I did get her pregnant and it was my child so I was going to do the right thing for the baby.

About two months after we were married, I was looking for some aspirin. Sandy was at work and I looked everywhere. For some crazy reason, I even looked in our drawers. I knew Sandy put a lot of her cosmetics in one of her drawers and figured she might have some kind of Excedrin or something. I didn't find the aspirin but I did find her birth control pills. I was wondering whether to confront her with my findings or wait to see what she had to say.

I was kind of pissed now. I didn't like being used and that was what Sandy did to me. I remember watching an episode of 'Desperate Housewives' where the husband exchanged the wife's birth control pills with sugar pills. I decided to do that. I went to the drugstore and found the closest pill to her birth control pills and went home and changed the remainder of her month of pills and the pack she had for the following month. It wasn't easy but I did manage to get it done.

I made sure Sandy and I had sex most every night. I checked after a couple of days and she was still taking the pills. About a month and a half went by and Sandy said she wasn't feeling very good. She felt nauseous and her stomach hurt. I told her it was probably from the pregnancy.

She looked at me and said, "Rob, I think the pregnancy was a false alarm. I was afraid to tell you because I didn't want you to think I tricked you into marrying me."

I wondered how long it would be before she made up some excuse. The problem is, if I divorced her, we had a pre-nuptial agreement and she really wouldn't have gotten much. It made me wonder if she might have been telling the truth.

"Sandy, you could have trusted me. Isn't that what marriages are all about? I would like to be a dad and maybe it will still happen. You aren't on birth control, are you?"

She waited a few seconds before answering me. "No, of course not. I'm not on birth control. Maybe it will still happen." She tried to force a smile but I knew she just lied to me.

"Well, you better take the time to see the doctor and get rid of that flu bug or whatever you have. I'll make you an appointment for tomorrow and I'll take you over at lunch time."

She knew better than to argue since she felt like she had just deceived me again on the pregnancy.

I made the appointment and drove over to her building. She came out at lunch time and hopped in the car. I drove her over to the clinic. I actually went in and sat with her till it was time for the doctor's examination. Before walking out, I mentioned to the doctor that she had thought she was pregnant but it was not to be.

After the examination, the doctor had Sandy wait with me in the waiting room. He then called us both into his office. He had a beaming smile on his face. "Well, Mr. and Mrs. Jones, you are going to be parents after all. I would say about seven and a half months from now. Congratulations!"

"No, it must be a mistake," Sandy replied.

"No mistake, Sandy. That's why I had you wait in the room while I reran the tests," the doctor replied.

I looked over at Sandy and said, "Isn't it great! We're going to be mommy and daddy after all." Before Sandy could say anything I leaned over and kissed her in front of the doctor.

I thanked the doctor and we got up and left the office. Sandy didn't have a lot to say. After all she had been taking birth control pills all this time and told me she hadn't. Now she was stuck with her lies.

I told everyone about the baby just so Sandy didn't try something stupid. She was always worried about her figure and now she was pregnant.

A couple of months went by and we still had some good sex but Sandy's mind was somewhere else. I asked her one day if she was going to quit work and be a stay at home mom.

She told me she would never quit her job. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. When she was around six months gone and was really starting to show she told me she didn't want the baby. She didn't say anything about it earlier because she thought she might grow to love the idea of being a mom. She told me she was not cut out for motherhood and didn't want the child. She was thinking about abortion but it was now too late. No doctor would perform an abortion in the sixth month of pregnancy, Maybe she would give up the child for adoption.

I was stunned! I told her, even though she was carrying the child, it was my child too. When we first married, it was because we thought we were going to have a child then. I thought we were going to be this happily married couple. I wasn't going to let her abort or give up our child. I honestly couldn't believe that a mother wouldn't want her child. It made me sad every time I thought about it.

We argued day after day about the child. She said she would have it but it wasn't going to get in the way of her life. She was too young to sit at home and watch a kid. If I wanted the child, then it was my job to take care of it. I knew from that day forward that our marriage was in a downward tailspin.

I should mention that Sandy was raised by her Grandmother. Her mother was unwed and got pregnant. Then after giving birth, she left the baby, Sandy, to be raised by her grandmother. Sandy told me she saw her mom only a couple of times when she was young. She moved to California to be a star. I don't think she ever got any movie deals other than being an extra. Sandy must have gotten her good looks from her mother. I guess she also received some of the same type personality traits as her mom. She never did know who her father was.

Her grandmother was still living but was in her sixties. I had talked to her and she wanted to be in our baby's life but of course couldn't take care of the child. My mom and dad were happy about the baby. They were sad about the way Sandy was set against the child. After all, the baby didn't ask to be born.

Now I was sitting there wondering about the trick I pulled on Sandy. God, I would never have done it if she would just have told me the truth in the beginning. It was my fault that she was pregnant. It was now my responsibility to see this child had a chance at a good life. With a mother who didn't care about her and, I guess, a stupid father, the kid already had a strike against her. Yes, it was a girl. When she was born, she was the sweetest, most innocent little creature I have ever seen. She was beautiful! I decided then and there that she was going to have a good life. I was going to be the kind of father she could be proud of.

After the baby's birth, our married life went downhill. Sandy did some of the motherly things when she was home. I honestly thought she was changing her mind about the baby. After all, it came out of her body; it was part of her.

I hired a full time nanny who treated Abby like her own child. Abby was short for Abigail. I named her after Sandy's grandmother. I took Abby over to see her great grandmother every week. Her great grandmother loved the child. You couldn't help loving such a cute baby. I figured that was why Sandy started to work longer hours. She didn't want to be home and become attached to her daughter.

I asked Sandy if she thought we should all have some type of therapy or counseling. Not wanting to be part of your child's life had to come from somewhere deep inside.

Of course she said, "The only problem I have is that I let you talk me into having the baby. I ought to sue the birth control company for their pills not working."

She looked at me stunned. She realized what she had just said. I looked at her and just stared. I didn't say a word. She thought she knew what I was thinking.

Now it was out in the open. "Why did you trick me into marrying you? Why didn't you tell me you didn't want kids? Was it always about the money?" I asked.

"I love you, Rob, but you never asked me to marry you."

"We only dated three months. What was your hurry if you weren't pregnant?"

"My past, if you knew the different men I'd been with, you might not have asked me to marry you. I wanted a secure future and I knew you always liked me."

I was sad thinking about what to do next. I figured my marriage was about over but I was still going to try for the sake of my daughter

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I stopped in at the office the next morning and got a call from the receptionist at the Montgomery Building. I was a bit perplexed knowing that Sandy worked there. I returned the call and was asked if I could see them about some computer installation. This was one big account if I could land it. I didn't want to say anything to Sandy in case I didn't get it.

I headed over and was greeted by the receptionist. Sandy worked on the eighteenth floor and I was up on the vice president's floor. I was greeted by Jim Smith. I laughed when I introduced myself as Rob Jones. There was just something about the names Smith and Jones. We decided up front to call each other by our given names.

"Rob, I hear that if computer work is needed, your firm is one of the best."

"Yes, we try our best to please our customers. We try to give the customer what they want. What is it that you're in need of? It looks as though the systems here are fairly new," I replied.

"To be honest with you, Rob, we want a surveillance system put in. The owner of the building had a system installed but we want one of our own. Someone on the inside has been messing with some of the company documents and leaking out information to our competitors. It has to be an inside job. It's been going on for a few weeks now."

"When you look at the present surveillance tapes, doesn't it show who's in the building at any given time? Isn't there a guard check in system of who's in the building after hours?" I asked.

"Rob, the answer is yes to both of your questions. Mrs. Jones, my secretary, thinks that since most of our employees have a key access to the building and offices that they must have found a way in and know how to get around the present cameras. She suggested your firm could put in mini surveillance cameras and hide them in legal places because we don't want anyone to know where they are except me, you, and of course someone from our legal department to make sure we don't break any laws. Do you think you can handle it?"