Anger and hate consumed me and I practically tore Lee a new asshole when he came home from work after speaking with Pam and learning about the possibility of yet another woman. First I showed him the phone bill, he was speechless. I screamed at him how I could never, ever heal from this or trust him again. He tried to say "Sorry" but I wouldn't have it. I then asked him about having an affair on his affair partner and he adamantly denied it. I did not believe him. I was sick.
After contemplating the entire ordeal I decided I could not be with this man who committed marital infidelity and told him I wanted to leave. The rest of the afternoon was spent in silence. My husband sat in a zombie-like state on the couch and I went to Ryan's room and held him close; with the phone in my hand at the time, I called home.
"Dad?", I said to my stepfather who I grew close to after living with him and my mother for a year while Lee was in Cuba.
"Yes, Kay?"
"I want to leave Lee. May I stay with you and Mom until I can find a job and get settled? Can you come and get me?"
He knew about the affair because my mother was the first person I called when I found out.
"Are you sure?", he asked with skepticism.
"Yes.", I answered, bawling.
"Okay, but I better not drive a hundreds of miles to get all the way down there only to have you change your mind. I'm asking again, are you absolutely sure you want to leave?"
"Yes."
"Alright, I'll head out first thing in the morning."
My stepfather left as promised early the next morning and drove in blizzard conditions when he came through Kentucky and Tennessee so it wasn't until later that evening that he arrived. Lee went to the store when my stepfather called from a local gas station to get directions to our apartment because he was afraid my stepdad would punch his lights out. Turns out Lee had nothing to fear. When he came back home my stepfather asked my husband and I to sit down.
Looking us straight in the eyes with a serious tone in his voice, he asked, "Do you two kids love each other?"
Lee and I looked at each other through teary-eyes and then simultaneously replied, "Yes", to my stepfather's question. He then spoke the following words, "Then you should at least stay and try to work things out. People make poor choices, and regardless of how bad Lee's choices were he still loves you and you him. He's a good man who mad a poor decision. Nothing would make me happier than to drive back to Michigan without you and Ryan."
I couldn't believe my ears. As a then Christian I was astonished to hear those words stem from the mouth of an agnostic, regardless, I allowed them to sink in for awhile. Lee, my stepfather and I had a long discussion about the good things in our marriage and our love for one another. After a few hours I decided to go ahead and give our marriage a chance. My stepfather ate dinner with us, slept a short time and then left early the next morning. After that evening Lee and I hugged and kissed a lot and made arrangements to have a babysitter once a week so we could go out.
I still cried often but nearly as much over the next few months. We were communicating and flirting with each other like we did earlier in our marriage and Lee and Ryan were beginning to bond. However, we pretty much swept my husband's wrongdoing aside after the talk with my stepfather....a HUGE mistake so fresh after what had happened. Trust was broken and the result was me becoming a controlling wife.
To be continued...
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