Steve begins his day like any other \u2014 nothing out of the ordinary, just a man saying goodbye to his wife as he leaves for work. But as the day moves on, he receives urgent calls and texts from his son. When he gets home, nothing is as it seems. Now, there\u2019s a strange man in his house, a pregnant wife with a baby that may not be his, and a crying son. What does it all mean?The day started like any other. My wife, three months pregnant, kissed me goodbye as I left for work, her smile as reassuring as the morning sun.\n
\u201cI\u2019ll cook when I get home,\u201d I told her. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it.\u201d\n
Laura worked from home, so I knew that she was going to get our son, Jackson, ready for school and out the door before heading back to bed. There she would read a book and have her morning cup of tea before logging onto work.I worked through the day, approving marketing strategies and listening to presentations, all the while thinking of baby names for the little tot we were going to meet in a few months. But as the office clock ticked past two, my phone vibrated insistently. Glancing at the screen, I saw my son\u2019s name flashing. I was in a meeting, which was in full swing, so I had no choice but to silence his call.Knowing Jackson, he probably wanted to ask if he could go out after school. He and his friends had discovered the thrills of bowling, and they often tried to finesse their way into after-school hangouts.When my phone lit up a second time, a knot tightened in my stomach \u2014 urgency pulsed through the text that Jackson sent, seconds after I silenced his second call: Dad, please come home! It\u2019s about Mom! I\u2019m scared. Panic, raw and unfiltered, coursed through me. Excusing myself from the meeting, I rushed to the parking lot, my hands trembling as I dialed my son\u2019s number.But my call to Jackson went unanswered. I tried my wife next but was met with the same eerie silence. With my heart pounding against my chest, I floored the accelerator, my mind racing with dreadful possibilities.\n
Every red light was a torturous wait, every slow driver a test of my fraying patience. I was thinking the worst. That Laura had been in some kind of accident. That there was a pool of blood in the kitchen or bathroom. Turning onto our street, my breath caught at the sight of my mother standing on the porch, her face pale. She stood there, her fists clenching and unclenching every few seconds.\u201dWhat on earth is going on?\u201d I asked. \u201cIs Laura okay?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, Steve,\u201d she said, her voice faltering, and the ground giving in beneath my feet. \u201cWhat? No! What happened? Is it the baby? Tell me, Mom!\u201d My mother looked confused for a moment, and then her next words struck a different, unforeseen chord. Her eyes met mine, filled with a sorrow that immediately told me whatever news came next, it wouldn\u2019t be good.\u201dNo, darling,\u201d she said. \u201cShe is fine!\u201d \u201cThen why did you apologize?\u201d I asked, wondering why I was still standing on the porch instead of rushing to see my wife.But there was something about my mother\u2019s overall energy that made me feel uneasy. I put my briefcase down at my feet, waiting for her to say something.\u201dI apologized because I didn\u2019t want to be the one to tell you,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Laura has been cheating on you.\u201d The world stopped spinning. The betrayal sliced through the shock.\n
It turned out that my mother had come home because she wanted to use our bathroom.\u201dMy building doesn\u2019t have any water, and I just wanted to come over and shower,\u201d she said. \u201cI came in, and there she was with him.\u201d It turns out that when my mom walked in, Laura had been on the couch with the man she was having an affair with. My mother couldn\u2019t let him leave; she wanted him to be there when I got home.A mix of anger and agony surged through my veins as I pushed past her into the house. The scene before me \u2014 a man, disheveled and awkward, trying to avoid my gaze \u2014 was like a surreal nightmare. \u201cWho are you?\u201d my voice was a low growl, directed at the stranger in my living room. He started to speak, but I couldn\u2019t hear him over the blood roaring in my ears.Then, she appeared. Laura. My wife. Her face was ashen and her eyes brimming with tears. She reached out to me, a gesture which was once so familiar, yet felt so alien now. \u201cSteve,\u201d she said through her tears. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you like this.\u201d \u201cSorry?\u201d my laughter came out bitter, hollow even. \u201cYou destroy our family, and you\u2019re sorry?\u201dThe room suddenly filled with the sound of our son\u2019s crying, his body shaking in the living room doorway. Seeing him \u2014 a witness to our crumbling lives, broke through my anger, replacing it with profound sorrow. \u201cCome here, buddy,\u201d I said softly, reaching out to hold onto him. \u201cWhy, Mom?\u201d he asked. \u201cWhy did you do it?\u201dJackson\u2019s voice was muffled against my shirt, his question simple yet loaded with confusion and hurt.\n
It turned out that he had walked in when my mother was confronting Laura; his initial response was that something had happened to Laura because of her crying. He wanted to protect her. But then, his grandmother had taken him into the kitchen and made him a sandwich, telling him the truth.Laura knelt beside us, her hand reaching out, but I pulled him closer to me. \u201cSometimes, people make terrible mistakes,\u201d she said, her voice breaking. \u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t love you both.\u201d \u201cBut it does mean that things can\u2019t stay the same,\u201d I added quietly, the reality settling in. I couldn\u2019t believe that my wife had cheated on me. It made me question everything, including the paternity of the baby that Laura was carrying.As we sat there on the couch, Laura reached out to me. She went on about promises and wanting to make things right. But I didn\u2019t see how we could move past it and be okay. I wanted Jackson to live in a home with two parents who loved and trusted each other, but after this \u2014 I didn\u2019t see a way through it.Later that evening, I took Jackson out for dinner. We needed to escape our home and the uneasy atmosphere that had taken over. We needed a break. \u201cWill you move out?\u201d he asked me as he dug into his burger. \u201cNo,\u201d I reassured him. \u201cMom and I need to figure some things out, sure, but I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d\u201dI thought that Mom wasn\u2019t okay,\u201d he admitted. \u201cWhen I got home from school, Gran was trying to get Mom to come out of the bathroom \u2014 she kept calling and Mom just kept on crying. I didn\u2019t know that there was another man in the house.\u201d \u201cWhere was he?\u201d I asked, cracking open a beer. \u201cHe was sitting on your bed, or so Gran told me,\u201d Jackson said.After dinner, we just didn\u2019t want to go home. There was a disconnect between our home and the reality of the situation. But I was grateful that I had Jackson with me.\n
Much later that night, when I went home, Laura was sitting on the couch biting her nails \u2014 something she did whenever she was stressed. \u201cWhat now?\u201d she asked. \u201cTell me what to do. Tell me how to make it right.\u201d She moved the book that was next to her and patted the couch.\u201dI think only time will decide that,\u201d I said. \u201cBut I need you to tell me the truth \u2014 is the baby mine?\u201d Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, barely able to contain her anxiety. I could feel it, bubbling off her skin and surrounding the room.\u201dI\u2019m not sure,\u201d she whispered. In the next few weeks, Laura decided to go for therapy \u2014 she said that she needed to understand why she acted out. \u201cI didn\u2019t think that I would be the person to do this,\u201d she said while making us cups of tea. \u201cBut you did,\u201d I said.Laura nodded. \u201cI\u2019m going to stick around until the baby is born,\u201d I said. \u201cAnd once we do a DNA test, we can decide on our marriage.\u201d I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going to happen next, but I do know that I\u2019m not prepared for the reality of that test.What would you do? Enjoyed this story? Here\u2019s another one for you! | Husband Texts He\u2019s in a Business Meeting & Cancels Our Date\u2014I Saw Him Leaving Work at the Same Time Leighton, after witnessing how her parents celebrated their anniversary, is sure about one thing \u2014 when she gets married, she will do just that.\n
But when her anniversary rolls around, her husband skips their romantic dinner and lies about a meeting. Curiosity prevails, and Leighton follows Josh, only to find him at a motel with the first person he ever loved. Is there a hidden truth, or is the story exactly what it looks like? I grew up in a home where anniversaries were important and had to be celebrated. It was just something that my parents always paid extra attention to.My mother would bake a cake every year on their anniversary, even if my father had dinner plans for them.\u201dIt\u2019s important to celebrate a marriage, Leighton,\u201d my mother would say. And she would usually be decorating the cake at this point. \u201cI mean, you\u2019ll understand it one day,\u201d she said. \u201cBut married life is difficult, and that\u2019s why you have to celebrate making it another year.\u201dSince then, I knew that if I ever got married, wedding anniversaries would be a big deal. And then I met Josh, who seemed to understand the importance of it \u2014 or at least, the sentimentality of it all. So, the other day was our sixth anniversary, and because it was the middle of the week, there just wasn\u2019t going to be enough time to plan something intimate at home.A dinner out was going to be our best option. But then, my husband tried to pull a fast one on me. Then, on the day, I arranged to pick Josh up from work, excited for our romantic dinner at our favorite restaurant.I left work a little earlier than usual and parked across the road from Josh\u2019s building, waiting for him to leave work. I sat in the car, reapplying my lipstick and sorting my hair out. I sang along to the radio and waited. Twenty minutes later, Josh still hadn\u2019t come out. I tried calling him, but he didn\u2019t answer either.Eventually, I sent him a text: Hey, honey! I\u2019m waiting outside \u2014 I\u2019m parked across the flower shop. Not even a minute later, my phone pinged with a text message notification.\n
Caught up in a meeting, don\u2019t wait for me. I\u2019ll see you at home.My heart sank. I understood the importance of work \u2014 especially because Josh loved his job, and he always brought work home, often going through spreadsheets in bed at night. I was disappointed, I mean, it was our special day. But I knew that these things were sometimes beyond our control. I picked up my phone to reply before driving off.Sure, see you later. Starting the car, I could only think about sinking my teeth into a sugary donut. \u201cYou can\u2019t keep eating your feelings,\u201d I told myself. \u201cBut today calls for it.\u201d Just then, I saw Josh push open the building door, his briefcase at his side, and his phone in his hand.Want to know what happens next? Read the full story here. This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author. The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided \u201cas is,\u201d and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.\n
My Son Urgently Asked Me to Come Home as He Was Scared for His Mom \u2013 My World Collapsed When I Entered the House Steve begins his day like any other \u2014 nothing out of the ordinary, just a man saying goodbye to his wife as he leaves for work. But as the day moves\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":79852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/32-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}