Hoping On Forever

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~ Mike ~

When Matt appeared on my doorstep and told me some outlandish story about my wife having an affair with his husband, I didn't believe him. And then he showed me the pictures and I knew it was true. I was devastated. I never saw it coming. I wasn't sure what I was going to do until I realized if I didn't act, I could lose custody of my two-year old son, and I wasn't about to let that happen. I just needed a little help.

~ Matt ~

When I found out that my husband had been having an affair and wanted a divorce I had no problem agreeing. When he offered me twenty-five thousand dollars to take full responsibility for our newborn daughter, I couldn't sign fast enough. I didn't even tell him about the video I had of him and his affair partner, but I had no problem telling her husband.

Cheating was the absolute worst betrayal of trust, but I quickly discovered that cheating was the least of my ex-husband's crimes. As Mike and I try to navigate the horrors of our married lives, I start to realize that I had simply married the wrong man. I had a much better chance of forever with Mike. I just had to convince him.

STORY EXCERPT

It was now or never.

I knocked on the door and then held my breath until it swung open and I was face to face with the man I had come to see. "Mr. Stapleton, I'm not sure if you remember me, but—"

"Matthew Tambole, right? Our kids attend the same daycare."

A small smile crossed my lips. "Yes."

I almost wished he didn't remember me.

"Yeah, I've seen you picking up your daughter a few times from daycare." The man's smile was friendly and welcoming, but I knew that wouldn't last. "What can I do for you?"

"Is your wife home?" 

This could go bad real quick if she was.

"No, I'm afraid not. She went to the coast for a couple of days with some girlfriends of hers. Is there something I can help you with? Is your daughter okay?"

"Yes, Lilly is fine. Thank you for asking." Here goes nothing. "I actually wondered if I could speak to you for a moment."

"Of course." The man stepped back, holding the door open. "Come on in."

I tried to keep the smile on my face as I stepped inside the house. I was a little surprised at the interior of the cute little craftsman cottage. I guess I expected something totally different, but this was nice. Lots of crown molding and hardwood floors to go with the overstuffed furniture and built-in bookshelves.

"This is nice," I said. "It's actually bigger than it looks on the outside."

"Yeah." Mr. Stapleton's chuckle was deep and rich. "Karen always says we need to move to a bigger place, but this house belonged to my grandparents. They willed it to me when they passed away a few years back and I just can't imagine living anywhere else."

Karen...yeah...

"Is your son awake?" I asked. "I'm only asking because what I need to talk to you about isn't for little ears." I'd left my daughter with some friends just for that exact reason.

The frown was instant. "I laid him down for a nap a few minutes ago."

"Good."

"What's this all about, Mr. Tambole?"

"Please, call me Matt." Under the circumstances, we could probably be on a first name basis. Besides, I wouldn't be a Tambole much longer.

"I'm Mike," he replied. "Now, what's all of this about?"

"Do you have any coffee?" I asked, procrastinating like crazy. I knew what I needed to say. I just wasn't sure how to say it. I also wasn't sure what Mike's reaction would be to what I had to tell him.

"Yeah, sure." Mike turned and walked across the living room and around the corner. 

I glanced around the living room again, wondering at why I was so much more comfortable standing in a complete stranger's home than I was in my own home, and then trailed after him.

Mike was at the coffee pot when I walked into the spacious kitchen. He turned to look at me over his shoulder and then waved to the small dinette set against the wall. "Go ahead and have a seat. This won't take long."

"Thank you." I sat down at the table, setting my leather briefcase on the chair next to me before pushing my glasses up my nose. 

Mike walked over with two cups of coffee a few minutes later and sat down across from me before handing me one of the cups. I set it down in front of me and stared at it, not really interested in drinking it.

"Matt, what's going on?"

"Have you ever seen the other man that comes with me to pick up my daughter sometimes?"

Mike nodded.

"That's my husband, Derek. I'm an omega so he's—"

"Lilly's father?"

I nodded this time as I glanced up. "We've been married for about four years." 

Mike's dark brown eyebrows drew together slowly. "Is your husband hurting you, Matt?"

I let out a nervous little laugh. "No, not the way you're thinking."

"Then I don't understand. Why come to me, a complete stranger, and tell me this?"

I drew in a shaky breath. "I recently found out that Derek is cheating on me."

Mike leaned back in his chair quick enough that it creaked under him. "Oh man, I am sorry. Cheating is the worst."

He didn't know the half of it.

"It took me awhile to pick up the clues, but I suspect it has been going on for awhile now. He started to work later and later and take more business trips. He's a lawyer. What does he need with business trips, you know?"

Mike nodded like he knew, but I doubt he did.

"And then I found a pair of lacy underwear under the bed. I don't wear lacy underwear. When I confronted Derek about it, he gave me some bullshit story about finding the maid undressing in the bedroom and running her out. He said that was why he fired her, but I ran into her the other day and she's pregnant. She said Derek is the father."

Without saying another word, Mike got up and walked over to a cupboard. He grabbed a bottle off the top shelf and two glasses, carrying them all back to the table. He poured us each a glass before lifting one of them to his lips to take a sip.

"When I confronted him about the maid again, he admitted he'd had an affair with her. He said I had been so wrapped up in Lilly's birth that I had forgotten about him and he'd had to go somewhere else to get affection."

I ground my teeth together, seething with guilt and rage. "I can't say that he was wrong because I was pretty wrapped up in my daughter's birth."

"That doesn't excuse cheating," Mike said vehemently. "Nothing excuses cheating."

I wasn't sure that statement made what I had to say easier or harder. "I recently found out that he's having an affair with someone else, someone he met through work."

"You said he was a lawyer?"

I nodded.

"Were they a client or something?"

"No, they met at a party his law firm was hosting. I don't know all of the details, but my understanding is that she attended the party as a guest of one of his clients and they recognized each other from a brief meeting they'd had a few weeks earlier."

"I see."

No, he didn't, but he would.

"When I confronted him again, he didn't deny it this time. He admitted that he was having an affair with this woman and that he would continue to have an affair with her for as long as he wanted to. He even suggested that I needed to start thinking about moving out of our condo because he was going to divorce me and marry her. Apparently, she makes a much better spouse to an up-and-coming young lawyer than I do."

"I'm sorry, Matt. That's tough." Mike patted my hand gently, which was a good thing considering his hand was twice as large as mine. "What about your daughter?"

"He doesn't want her. He offered to pay me a lump sum of twenty-five thousand dollars in lieu of child support and alimony. All I have to do is sign on the dotted line."

"Are you going to sign?"

I nodded. "I was already thinking about divorcing him when I found out he was sleeping with the maid. Things had been pretty tense between us for awhile. I wanted to wait until Lilly was born to see if that would change anything, but it obviously didn't. Now, I just want out, but I want to make sure I get my daughter. I don't even care about the money." 

"You should take it," Mike suggested. "It's not easy to raise a kid on your own nowadays. That money can help."

"I do okay with my design business. I'll probably put the money into a college fund for Lilly or something. It's more important to me that he gives me Lilly without any strings."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do, Matt?"

"It's what I have to do," I said. "Like you said, cheating is the worst, and he's not even sorry he's doing it. He also has no plans on stopping."

"He's a lawyer, right?"

"Yes." I'd already said that so I was curious as to why Mike had brought it up again. "Why?"

"Look, this might not be my place to say, but if the money is important to him and Lilly is important to you, then offer to let him keep the money if he signs over all rights to her to you."

"That's the glory if this. The paperwork he wants me to sign states that if I accept the money, then I will never try and pursue him for child support or acknowledge him as Lilly's father in any way. Once the divorce is final, I can't even put his name on the birth certificate, not that I would anyway. Lilly is my child."

"It sounds like you are coming out of this ahead then. You get rid of your lying cheating husband, and get to keep your daughter plus twenty-five thousand dollars. I'd think you'd be happy to have it all over with."

"Oh, I am." I grabbed the glass of alcohol he'd poured me and took a deep gulp. "I know you think I'm nuts for coming to you about this considering we just know each other in passing, but I assure you, I am not. I have a reason for being here."

Mike raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms over his wide chest. "And that reason would be what?"

I grabbed my bag off the floor and pulled out the file I'd compiled. It was amazing what one could do with a little technological knowhow. "Please understand that I wouldn't be here if I didn't think you had a right to know what was going on."

Mike frowned.

"The woman my husband is having an affair with is your wife."