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Family is Not Blood Ch. 01

By: wieliczka



This story was just going to be a BTB story, but sorry, I am a romantic and I sincerely believe in people making changes and growing. The characters were slices of different people that I met in real life over my 60+ years, from different generations and cities, but were the approximate age in the story when I met them. I put 'them' in this made up situation. The type of people they were at that time I met them really wrote the story themselves. That amazed me, all I had to do is keep up with them.

By the way, 1984 is here today. Anyone can buy all the equipment needed to do this at Fry's and get cheap older laptops on ebay for a couple of hundred.

Don't do anything in life that you are not willing to explain to your spouse, children or grandchildren in 15 seconds if you were caught on a hidden video cam. 

*********************************

I was getting dressed to go to work. I've been pretty busy lately. Been married for two years, working full time at an office and going to night school to get a masters in Accounting. Being a little behind my normal schedule, I was rushing and picked up my pants the wrong way and dumped my change all over the carpet. Bending over, I picked up some of the coins, but half were still missing. 

I got on my knees and started collecting what rolled under the bed. Under the bed, I found a top strip of a condom packet. Cathy and I use condoms for birth control. In fact I just bought a dozen last week and we used two of them. I never rip the top off, but leave it connected to the rest of the wrapper. It makes it easier to pick up. It's the same color as the carpet. Looking at the condom box, I found that there are two less than there should be.

I know that my face immediately went pale. Something was really wrong, but Cathy? With whom? Why? Have I caused this? I know the pain and shock was totally on my face. I needed to talk about this with someone I trust, and now that is not my wife. But the first thing I did was to clear the feelings from my face and get out. I rushed past Cathy saying that I forgot about an 8 AM presentation and that I'll have to eat on the run. She says "Bye Mike" and with a peck on my cheek, I'm out.

My father died 3 years ago. I was very close to him, and it was a real loss. My mother passed away when I was 14. The people who stepped up were my Uncle Stan and my father's sister Iwona (Yvonne in English). She was named after her Polish grandmother, my great grandmother that never left German occupied Poland. They both treated my sister Carol and me with love over the years. Carol started Med School in California last fall. Now would be a bad time to take any of her energies away from her. Knowing his work schedule, I called Uncle Stan on his own way to work and asked to meet with him Tuesday. That is when I should have been in my evening class.

I made it a point of working late on Monday, calling Cathy and giving her the excuse about work deadlines. I knew that I really could not face her now. I needed to talk with someone, I was bursting inside. On Tuesday after work I went directly to Uncle Stan's home. When my Uncle Stan first saw my face, he knew that there was trouble and invited me into the kitchen for a beer before dinner. We never got to dinner. We did get into a lot of beers.

Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona listened to my story, about what I saw, about what I felt. I spoke about what I was afraid of, if I was wrong, or worse, if I was right. After the initial outpouring of emotions and facts, Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona started to ask for some clarifications and made some observations. They validated the feelings that I had, but counseled patience right now. They were helping me make sense of what I saw and felt, as much as can be when betrayal was staring you in the face.

As the evening and the Zywiec beers went on, I was able to understand that more information was needed. I really could not confirm that it really happened. 

Stan said, "Cathy is a person, and that people make mistakes. If it did happen, was it a once off or was this a long term affair? ALL People make mistakes, sometimes even good people. We are all human, and you need to go forward with that. You have to remember who you are and where you came from. This will be the hardest thing to do right now, but you have to keep your humanity. That really is most important, no matter what else the outcome is. This is about you and your being. When this is all said and done, you will still have to look at your self in the mirror for the rest of your life."

"Remember, you are part of a family, a large extended family. You are not alone. You are not a mean and nasty person, you are honest and caring. Do not do anything right now that may not be able to be undone. Hurting now is not hurting forever. You need to understand, life is sometimes messy."

Then Stan brought forward his ideas on how to handle this. He reminded me that I acted a little in highschool and college. I now have to act as if nothing has happened while more information is collected. Stan told me that his good friend Bill can help and without even a nod from me, Uncle Stan dialed him up. Bill came over right on over. Stan said that Bill is in IT and has been working with webcams for a while as a hobby.

Bill is a man in his late 50's who works in the computer dept for a small manufacturer. His wife passed away from breast cancer five years ago, and has not really connected with anyone in particular since. He and my Uncle Stan and my Aunt Iwona and Bills late wife Irena were all friends growing up on the north side of Chicago. Stan introduced him to me and asked me to explain what was going on.

After he heard my story, Bill asked a few questions, not about the relationship, but technical and legal ownership questions. He then suggested course of action on what can be done. "To be blunt, you need to know what is happening in your bedroom. Since this is your own apartment, there are no legal hurdles involved if you approve the installation of recording equipment. You personally own that phone, and you said that you have had that phone account years before you were married. That home computer had to be yours before your marriage because it is that ancient. Let me guess, it is damn slow?" I nodded yes.

"We can monitor all of these things with out much legal or technical concern. But we always have to be careful about the legal aspects. There are things that you find out that may never be able to go anywhere. As a hobby, I have created several webcams that have been disguised as something else. I'm not a voyeur, just a tinkerer. To me it was a challenge to keep me busy. The recording's activation is motion detected. I never thought my creations would get any use outside of catching the kids who were knocking over my trash in the summer."

"I also have several older laptops to wirelessly collect the data. We'll use large usb drives, fast and easy to use. I don't want to stream it over your network to a remote server. You said that you have broadband internet access and I guess that you have the administrator password. I will need that information. The laptops will need to be hidden in or near the apt. The web cam should be plugged in as batteries are a pain in the ass."

"I am also suggesting a keystroke logger on the PC and changing some settings on the home computer to leave an electronic trail. On your home computer, my guess is that you have not cleaned up that baby for years. I will do a cleaning and several virus checks and make sure it will be able to handle what I need from it. The other thing, I suspect from what you have said, Cathy is not a technically proficient individual?"

"Cathy just got a new android. I bought it for her and she has had a heck of a time making it work. I do not know if I have her password, but I can guess and let you know." 

I paused a minute and started saying "I want to talk about the cost because...." when I was rudely interrupted by Uncle Stan. "You are family and this is something that shakes us all to our core. We had had divorces in our family before, there has been one night stands, but there was no betrayal, at least not locally. That was not always true with your cousins that away. There has been alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling and other sicknesses. There were people that grew apart, and there have also been reconciliation. There even has been redemption. We have to be there for one another. We are all human and therefore weak."

"I also know who this family is. Do you remember how you went out of your way when your Aunt Iwona was hospitalized? Over five years ago I saw you verbally take down and refuse any compromise for help from an older charge nurse that was not doing her job. Your Aunt needed serious help then and there, and you stepped up to the plate. You are just like your father, and this is paying it forward for who you are."

Bill broke in. "Besides, most of the hardware and software is old technology that was retired and I got for just hauling it away. There are little out-of-pocket costs beside time and mileage. This may be able to save your marriage, and it will all be worth it. For us, think that you have given us a new hobby that will keep us occupied and out of your Aunts hair." I saw my Aunt nod yes. "If things really become costly in time or money, we can talk about it later."

My uncle said "There is a family gathering next Sunday at Uncle Zugmunt's house. This creates a 4 hour window of opportunity for us to clean, install and test the equipment. Mike, make two sets of auto and home keys for us. Get us the admin password and anything else you can. If you get her phone password, figure out a way to get the phone left at home."

Bill added, "By the way, buy this model of alarm clock. They sell it at Target. Figure out how to break the old one first. It will give you a good reason to replace it."

We were home Sunday night after being at Uncle Ziggys. While Cathy was watching Downton Abby, I looked around for the equipment. They did a great job. The laptop was fully concealed under my dresser, totally unseen except for the wire to the outlet, also hidden by the dresser. The webcam was hidden in the 'new' alarm clock. Before we had left for the family gathering, I was able to knock her purse over and her phone 'accidentally' fell out. She never realized it was gone until she found it when we came back. 

Now was the hard part. I needed to give her time for a tryst in our bedroom. Just thinking that froze the blood in my veins. I could not believe it, but I had to know. I was still taking classes on Tuesday and was able to get my boss to send me out of town to Boston to do some training from Wednesday morning to return on Friday afternoon. She was going to have an evening and two whole days to herself. I was beside myself, but I knew that this had to be done. 

On Wednesday evening, I gave her a call at home from Boston, hoping against hope that she was there alone. We talked for a few minutes and then she came up with a reason to get off the phone. I thought I heard something moving in the background before the final click. 

As planned, I took her out to dinner on Friday night to give Uncle Stan and Bill an opening to remove the data from the computer and her phone. On Monday, Uncle Stan left a message on my work phone for meeting with him, Aunt Iwona and Bill on Tuesday. Instead of school, I went to Bill's house and the three of them were waiting.

Since finding that piece of a wrapper, I was more observant. I've noticed fewer beers than I should have had and the empties in the trash. Cathy drinks wine. Don't fully know why, but I saved them for fingerprints - just in case. The bed linen has been changed ahead of schedule and the number of condoms decreased. 

I knew that the marriage, my marriage, was really over. It's all over, but for the shouting. My heart was breaking and my world was collapsing. And I've now seen this outwardly calm person in the mirror at home, that I have begun to begun to despise him, because he cannot be his honest self anymore.

Uncle Stan sat me down and told me that it was bad news. Before anything else happened, I spoke to the three of them of what I started to see in just the past week, just because I started looking. Then I asked who was it? My 'friend' Corey. 

Uncle Stan summarized what was on the video files from the web cam, but did not show any of it to me. He said that there would be time for that later. Bill summarized what was in the computer monitoring files, what was in her regular email accounts and then her secret email account. The earliest email in her secret account from Corey was from three years ago, after we were engaged and before my father died. Her phone calls and texts also left a trail too. Bill said that he heard me talk to Cathy while she was in bed with her lover on one of the video sessions.

There was silence until I spoke. "It is all about trust, the rest is dust. They appear to have been having an affair for a while, and no plans to stop. "Uncle Stan grabbed my shoulder and said "Where are you are? What do you feel? Talk about it. We are family, we support one another."

"I've been thinking about it all week, realized that without trust, it does not matter. I am in my mid 20s, and even if there was reconciliation, I do not think that it would be worth it, the trust is gone. I've been married to her for 2 years, not an easy 2 years. I was more than willing to do what it took to make my marriage work and be whole, but now, I do not think so." 

"Let me sleep on it, but keep the monitoring running. I need to see her electronic paper trail and see what she has been sending, and receiving. I am not rash. I will keep up appearances until I really know what to do. Let me see what the next week brings. I need to find out who else knew about this. I will not do anything to alert her or anyone else to what I know. I need to know who I can trust."

Bill gave me a list of her e-mail and face book accounts and their passwords. Over the next week, I looked into those accounts to find out who was involved. I needed to know who else knew about this. Who could I trust? Cathy and I are part of a community that all know one another.

After several days of closely reading her all her emails, I had an initial sigh of relief. My search did not find anyone of our group involved. No record, no implication in any way of anyone else who knows about this, no one but her lover. Those poisoned e-mails in her secret account were a different matter. I could not look at more than a few of those e-mails, the betrayal was still too much to bear.

I took Cathy out for long dinner a week later. This allowed Uncle Stan and Bill time to retrieve the data from the computer and phone. I've been able to keep a lid on my feelings, to bottle up my emotions and present a calm and warm and welcoming persona to Cathy. It was taking its toll on me. I was dying inside. It was still difficult, but somehow, it was getting slightly easier with each new item of betrayal uncovered. Later in the week I met with Uncle Stan, Aunt Iwona and Bill for the latest discoveries.

I started off asking a question. "Has there been any change at all in her attitude or actions? Is she any different?" There was no forth-coming answer, the three of them just shook their heads no. "OK, I know that I have to end this marriage. It was a decision I never really wanted to make. What else have you uncovered these two weeks?"

Conversations and emails confirmed they have been going at it strong at least for 3 years. It looked like she stopped the trysts when Cathy and I were first married, but started again when I went back to night classes to finish my masters. Like me, according to Corey, his wife Mary appeared to be clueless about it.

All of this finally hit me and I started to tear up. Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona just hugged me till I stopped sobbing. Aunt Iwona said, "People make their own choices, they live the way that they know how. That is not how we live in our family. I know that you will not be the kind of person to throw out revenge fuck on someone else just to get back at her. You are better than that. You will live after this pain. You will also show the world who you are during it." 

I was actually starting to feel better about it now. There was no second guessing that this marriage could or should be saved. As much as they hated to say it, Uncle Stan, Bill and Aunt Iwona agreed. Now the question, what to do?

I started. "Walking away quietly was not something I want to do. I want her to face the results of her actions. Cathy goes through life with the attitude that things just do not apply to her. I want to have the world see who she is and what she had done. Her pattern has always been to say she is sorry and say that she really loves me, and cry a river full of tears. I am not going to accept it or allow it."

"What if Cathy got pregnant by Corey? Isn't that what happens when people fuck? Since Cathy and I use my condoms to not get pregnant, I could do anything to my condoms that I wanted to. I could use a needle and compromise every condom in my apartment that I bought, except any ones that I would use. She wants to have fun, and then she can pay the consequences. If a child is born, a DNA test for parentage cannot be argued with. Can it?" Aunt Iwona was not thrilled with that idea, but only urged caution and thinking it through.

A big part of a divorce concerns money. As a couple, we had about $10k in CDs as an emergency fund. I am also carrying $15K of student loans. Her father was paying off her $20K in her student loans. I was thinking that I could drain the CD and payoff my loans. The only other resources are her three year old car and my 8 year old beater. 

Bill brought up something I did not know. Cathy keeps $20,000 in a bank account. Then he provided me with the account number and the simple password. He added that she tends to use this password everywhere. This was really something to think about. The apartment lease is up next month and Iwona suggested that I be very busy with work, and have her sign it. That way, when I leave, she is responsible for those costs.

We talked for another hour. I wanted this to be very public, to the point that Cathy and Corey would not be able to show their faces around here ever again. 

Uncle Stan then brought up about who else would be harmed by this. To start off, Corey's wife Mary and Cathy's parents Fred and Rita. Both Mary and Fred are wonderful, long suffering people, all because of their spouses. To be brutally honest, Rita was a card-carrying bitch that commanded the world to revolve around her. We all have seen Mary and Fred grit their teeth while their spouses treated others poorly or acted poorly. Unfortunately, sometimes Cathy acted the same way with me. 'Collateral Damage' was going to be on my mind while I thought about what I should do.

At this point I asked Bill for the web cam footage. All of them said that it was going to be rough for me, but said that I needed to see what tore my marriage apart. Bill gave me the laptop and said that it was mine now. I stored it in my car and away from home I was able to watch it.

There was so much more work to be done, but the decision was made and I was going forward. Funny, by ending my marriage, it gave me hope for the future. Within two days, Cathy was going off to see her parents for the afternoon, and I was going to have the apartment alone to myself. 

It was D-Day. I pulled out the condoms and began working. I purchased another dozen and experimented on several until I was convinced that my technique worked. I compromised all 10 of the condoms and returned them back to where they were stored. I collected the trash and put into a neighbors dumpster. That is when I realized that her period had just ended. She was going to be fertile soon. Then I started watching the web cam files.


Family is Not Blood Ch. 01



There was my soon to be ex-wife undressing my ex-friend then taking the next 30 minutes fucking and sucking. One of the things that I immediately noticed was that they were loud. I had never been able to get Cathy to vocalize during our love-making. It was always hard for me to get her to go beyond anything plain vanilla. Talking, dressing up, toys, fantasies, nothing like that in our love-making. No, not love making, I now realize now that it was it was just sex. There really was no love involved. Corey and Cathy really got into talking and fantasizing. He called her his whore, and she called herself his whore. She never liked to taste herself on me, but here she was sucking on his condom coated dick, licking off her own juices because he was not hard enough for her. There was lust in their eyes; there was sorrow in mine.

But I kept watching, I knew that I had to. I needed to see and remember what they have done. I started with the day I was at school, then the two days at Boston. They wasted no time that Tuesday. He arrived 20 minutes after I left and they were both naked by the time they hit the bedroom. He brought her to her knees and shoved his cock in her mouth, all the while telling her she was a slut and a whore. She eagerly sucked him and then told him she was his whore when he pulled her hair and demanded her to say it. 

They were really getting off on the wrongness of what they were doing. I think that was more important than the sex. Once, he slapped her ass hard, and she jumped up and almost punched him. Everything stopped cold. He apologized and said that he will not leave any marks on her. Guess he crossed the line. It took 10 minutes for them to get back to being worked up. He held her hands together over her head and started mauling her tits. These were the 'sensitive' tits that she had a hard time letting me fondle. I guess that his mauling took away part of my marriage from me.

I kept looking at the next day and the day after that and the day after that. There was really no difference. I was seeing my wife being fucked by this jerk, the same way, each time. The script did not change. I wondered why? There was a bit of humiliation but mainly 'naughtiness' that got them both off. I started wondering how long this could last.

I have several friends and relatives that are either in the police, ex-military, public health, working in crime labs or regular blue collar stiffs. People that could help me out if I asked. I realized that it pays to have low friends in high places. 

My first call went to Greg, a cousin now living out of state. He runs a crime lab in a medium sized east coast town. He was going through an awful divorce during the time of my fathers passing. I explained the situation to him and asked for his help. I told him that I knew it would be rough for him. He immediately said that he would be glad to listen. I told him that I did not know exactly what I was going to need from him, but I felt that his experience might help me. You see, he caught his wife fucking her boyfriend in the house while his kids were home.

We talked about two hours. It was heart rendering for me. I guess that I was lucky we did not have any kids yet. Then he referred me to another cousin, Shelly, who works for a divorce attorney in Chicago. He said that she was invaluable. I remember Shelly, a wonderful human being. We had seen each other last at my father's funeral three years ago.

I decided to not take evening classes this semester, but told Cathy that I was. This gave me one night a week to collect, plan and organize the divorce. I met Shelly the next week on my 'Wednesday classes'. She is married to a wonderful Polish immigrant Marek, Mark in English. He adores her and their two children. Family, work and church are their bonds. 

I told Shelly that I had some trouble in my life now, and I needed her help, legal and moral. She asked if Marek could be part of this. She said that Marek is fully part of her life and does not want anything to break that. With our history of growing up around one another, I said sure, but I asked that this all be kept quiet. Looking back at it, I think that she may have thought that this was going to involve drugs, guns or worse. 

At their kitchen table, I explained what I initially found at home, and some of the later discoveries. I asked for legal information so I would not make a bad mistake. There was a look of relief on their faces. They went on to explain that a nameless (but well known in our family) cousin of ours was connected. (For non-Chicago folks, this means CONNECTED DIRECTLY WITH THE MOB), and was in deep trouble. For some unknown reason, he was not on my list to contact for help.

I told them where I was, how I felt. This was not what I wanted in a marriage. I wanted a real marriage, working together, working things out, looking out for one another, children..." and I began to tear up. "I want out, but I also want Cathy to experience the cost of her actions. Cathy has always been a demanding and controlling individual. Thin skinned and always on the attack, just like her mother."

For our divorce, we had little money and few assets, so that would not be a problem. Half of little is little. But I did not want things to hang over my head in the future. We were born in a working class community; our parents were the children of immigrants. We inherited their depression DNA in all we said and did. Little money meant that all that was spent was well spent.

I had a rough plan of what I wanted to do, but was unsure of many of the legal issues involved. I outlined what I had thought about. She and Marek asked questions, made comments, and we all took notes. 

I have forgotten to add, Marek is a very competent Social Worker that is very experienced in divorce issues. This is where he met Shelly. She was impressed by his competency, his ethics, his warm blue eyes and his Polish accent. That got him the first date. He was impressed by her intellect and honesty in the inhospitable environment of divorce. The rest was history.

Shelly, Marek and I spoke for two hours, with one or the other taking a child to bath, bed and story. I learned much about the law, and people. When I was leaving, I hugged both Shelly and Marek. That is when I broke down and bawled. I had been holding so much in that these people just opened me up. I told them that I was so jealous of who they are and what they have. 

Shelly then said something that stopped me and gave me hope. "Mike, our grand parents were devoted to their spouses and children, above themselves. That is your future after this divorce. That is who you are. It may be rough for a while, but we will help you step around the land mines. Remember, family sticks together. We are the grandchildren of Sophia and Kazimierz from Zbaszyn and Kadzidlo in Poland, who came here as teens in 1932 and 1934. They survived against greater odds because they had the support of people who knew and loved them."

I was able to get my boss to send me out of town first for some training then back to Boston to train others. That left Cathy alone during each weekday for nearly four weeks. Stan told me that they tended to be 'occupied' from 6 to 8 in the evening, so I made it a point of calling her during that time.

When I came home on weekends during these four weeks, I made sure that I was working at home until very late at night and then was always up and out early in the morning. During this time, an Aunt had a life threatening medical crisis that also 'sapped my energy'. I also pretended to drink more than I should and 'passed out' before anything sexual could happen. 

The one time during these four weeks we did make love... No, that is wrong, I should have said have sex, I made it a point of coming shortly after I put on my condom while she was running her hand up and down my tool. There was going to be no chance I could get her pregnant.

I had in my mind that I was only going to wait this all out for two months. If she was not pregnant up by her lover, I would go ahead with plan B. It happened faster than I thought it would. 

It was five weeks since I compromised the condoms. Cathy came into the bedroom with a very worried look on her face. She said that she missed her period. I told her not to worry, that she was just a little late and it has happened before. 

That is when she handed me a strip with some colors on it. I immediately jumped up and hugged her and said how happy I was and began calling around telling everyone. I never let her have a chance to say a word. After this, there was going to be no way she would get an abortion with out everyone knowing. I had her trapped with my very public support.

The second part of my plan was starting. I was going to need some trustworthy help. I called my cousin Joan's husband Ed and asked him to meet me for a drink at the local tavern. This was nothing unusual; we just had not done it in a while. I gave him the excuse of me going to be a new father. Ed and Joan have two wonderful kids. 

I had arranged to have a back room at the tavern and we sat down to talk. I pulled out a laptop, had it plugged it and loaded before he arrived. I also had his favorite beer, Zywiec, waiting for him. After some small talk, I told him that Cathy was having a long term affair with Corey. He was not stunned, or shocked; only questioning. Are you sure? Then I turned the laptop for him to see. It showed our bedroom with the date and time stamped on the screen and the two fucking up a storm. It was last week. 

Ed stood up and started to go -- to do Corey some very serious damage. Ed is an ex-marine and works as an in-town truck driver, 220 lbs and not an ounce of fat. I stopped him and said that I have a plan and asked if he could help me. It would be better then pounding the shit out of him. He was all ears, asked a few questions and kept laughing. He said that he had a couple of favors out there and this would just be a bit of initial fun for the bastard.

With in a week, Corey's car was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver. He called his insurance company and it took a week to get it fixed. The next week he must have rolled over some acid because his 4 tires needed to be replaced. After the new tires were replaced, some kid must have put a potato into his tailpipe, and it destroyed the exhaust system, and you know how expensive the catalytic converters cost. A week later, his headlights were busted, followed next week by the taillights. Different windows started to chip at first, then crack. 

Funny thing, it was happening in different parts of Chicago and the 'burbs, not anywhere near my apartment. When it first started happening, Corey started talking about how much was costing him, then he quit talking about the cost. I was monitoring Cathy's hidden account. It was starting to get smaller and smaller. The $20K was now down to $16K, and we had so much more to go.

By this time, Cathy was 6 Months pregnant and there was going to be a baby shower. That was the starting point of the third part of my plan.

I called Ed and told him that it was time to call that tow truck driver he knew. Corey's car was towed to a repair shop where the oil filter was replaced with a very defective one. Then valve grinding compound was put in his crankcase. The car was then returned to the original space, with no one the wiser. Corey was fucking Cathy that evening. He never knew it was gone and was returned. His engine would wear out in a matter of weeks, and he had just rebuilt it last year. Maybe the car would die just in time for the shower.

I was never able to find any more condom evidence in the bedroom. I kept collecting consistent video of them, but no other evidence in the room. However, except for the fact that the condom supply would get smaller, it would then be replenished by magic with new ones. I kept using the unaltered condoms. She never said anything. Any STDs were going to be their problem.

But I continued to notice that my beers kept were decreasing. That is when I got a new idea. In college I learned how to open a beer bottle with a house key. By gently prying the edges, I could pop it off. I was also to pop it back on for a tight fit. Then something from a chemistry class came to mind. There are non-toxic chemicals that turn blue in acid. I laced three beer bottles with that chemical, marked them so I would know, and waited. The uric acid in his piss would be blue. Through the grapevine I heard that Corey was going to the doctors and had to take off of work. This bummed Cathy out because she lost her fuck buddy that week.

I called Ed and gave him a special request. Get some garlic oil from the supermarket and pour it into the fresh air intakes of Corey's car. He reeked of garlic where ever he went. I smelled it once on Cathy's clothes, and then I started smelling it outside the back door. He must have been changing outside to not bring the smell in.

I learned to retrieve the data and would give a copy to Bill. He would look at it for kicks and package it up for me later. One day he gave me a call at work and said that I needed to meet with him, Stan and Iwona at his house. I was worried because I did not know what was going on.

My Uncle Stan spoke first. He told me that they found out something, and it was not pretty. This was now larger than just Cathy and mr. He turned on the laptop to show Cathy and her mother Rita in our bedroom talking. Rita was telling her daughter that no one was going to find out. Look how long it has been with her and Paul, all these years and no one has found out. I was shocked into silence.

My heart immediately went out to my soon to be ex-father Fred. There was always an undercurrent of sadness with Fred. This was beyond what I wanted to do, but it was so wrong to ignore. Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona knew Fred and Rita from family gatherings. It was obvious that this was affecting them too. The more we talked, the more we realized that we needed to do something.

One of the things that we needed to have proof that Rita and Paul were having an affair. Fred offered his services if they were needed. The second thing was about Cathy. Aunt Iwona, Uncle Stan and I always had an unstated suspicion that Cathy's biological dad was not Fred. Was Paul Cathy's biological father?

Remembering Greg and his offer, I made a call to him and found out exactly what I needed to do, and not do, to collect DNA samples. It actually turned out to be simple. A welcome home party was being thrown for Cathy's cousin George. He had done a third tour in Iraq. Everyone we needed would be there.

I stationed my self at the bar and started getting drinks for everyone. Since I 'accidentally' cut my hand that morning, I was wearing latex gloves to keep it dry and keep germs out. By paying attention to who was drinking, and what, I was always able to get a replacement drink, in another clean plastic glass, before they were finished. 

Selected used glasses went into marked plastic bags. I got multiple samples from (A) Fred, (B) Rita, (C) Cathy, (D) me, (E) Paul and (F) Corey. They were marked A to F and I Fed-exed it the next morning to Greg with a note. I told him that I did not want him to know right now who was who, but I wanted to know what the relationships were between all these people.

He called me two days after he received it. Samples A (Fred) and D (me) were not related to anyone else. Sample C (Cathy) was the product of B (Rita) and E (Paul). Sample F (Corey) was a product of E (Paul) and someone else. Cathy and Corey were half brothers and sisters!

Cathy was not Fred's daughter and Cathy was banging her half brother. Could we now prove Rita was still banging her lover over 25 years later?

This immediately brought out the same feelings of betrayal and despair that I had when I first found out about Cathy. Fred was a good man, he was warm and supportive, never quick to condemn. He was long suffering under Rita who tended to treat him and most others very poorly. Fred was very close to his brother, Larry, and Larry's wife, Angelka. I've had seen them all together supporting one another during the times when each of their wives were in the hospital. 

Larry was just like Fred, a good man. He is also a physically imposing Vietnam era ex-Ranger, 230 lbs and about 4 ounces of fat on a bad day. Not bad for a 63 year old. I called Larry with the excuse that I wanted to do something special for Fred with the grandchild, and that I needed his help. Uncle Stan, a laptop and I went to see him at a quiet bar after his work. Larry is in charge of building maintenance at a high rise along the lake. 

Larry greeted us warmly and I asked for the back room to stay in. After a little bit of small talk, he asked what I had in mind. Uncle Stan broke in. "We found out something very terrible about Fred. As his brother, we needed to speak with you first in confidence and then, and only then, either do something or drop it completely. If you decide to drop it, this conversation never happened. We never found anything. Nothing exists. Agreed?" 

Larry was worried, but he agreed. He knew who and what kind of a person I was and the same for my Uncle Stan. I started my story of finding that my wife, his niece, was having a long lasting affair. I told him we were able to place a hidden webcam in my bedroom that has recorded months of their fuckings. This included last week's session on this computer in case he would like to see for himself. She was now pregnant by her lover and the divorce papers have been drawn up.

Then I looked at Larry and said, "This is not the problem." His worried look became even more intense. "The hidden webcam also picked up a conversation between Cathy and Rita. Cathy was worried that I would find out that she was cheating. Rita told her no one would know, you've been careful. Just look how long I've been with Paul."

Larry went from white to fire engine red. He started talking and I broke in. "Wait, we have done some homework, there is more." I told him about the DNA tests, and the all the results. Larry blurted out "What a fucking bitch." 

For the next 15 minutes, he vented about the things that Fred had shared with him in the past 25 years about Rita. Fred was never sure that she was not fucking someone else, and he was not sure that Cathy was his. He said that Larry was devoted to his family, biological or otherwise. Fred could never bring him self to dig to find out if it was true or not, he just hoped for the best, and be the best person that he could be.

From the conversation between Cathy and Rita, we did not know where they were having their trysts. Rita does not drive and Fred is very careful about the little money he has. There would have been no additional cash for hotel rooms. This limits things. And everyone knew that Paul was cheaper than cheap. He would drive 5 miles out of the way to not pay a .80 toll. He makes Lincoln cry in his spending. (Think pennies, not a $5 bill.) 

Our first guess is that they are using Fred's own bed when Fred has an overnight delivery to Tulsa each month. We would like to get a hidden webcam into his bedroom and living room, but he would have to be aware of it first or at least for us to have access to his house. We also do not have the resources to tail those two.

Then Larry laughed, loud and long. We froze, it was scary. Larry is imposing, and I easily imagine be lethal. He never described in detail what he did in Viet Nam, but little bits would come out when he was not being overly careful. It turns out that Fred does not own the house he lives in, Larry does. During the last recession when Rita was in the hospital, Fred got laid off and he sold it to Larry. 

Larry looked me in the eye and asked how soon could I install something? I had asked Bill about installations without the internet and he said it was no problem. He would replace the two strand power cord to the radio with his custom one that included the additional wiring and connector in the grounding prong area. The outlet is replaced, and the power cord to the laptop is also retrofitted. Just looks like two power cords plugged into the wall. The data wire looks like the ground.'




Family is Not Blood Ch. 01



Bill told me that he had a unit like this ready to go and he was working evenings all week except for Thursday, his day off. He was available in the mornings. I told Larry the make and model of clock to buy for them. 

Turns out, Fred and Rita needed a new bedroom alarm clock. Rita was just too cheap to buy one. Larry said "I can take them out to dinner on Thursday to celebrate the grandchild. There is a restaurant that we all like in the city along the lakefront, and that will take several hours between the driving and eating. Since I get calls all the time from work, a call saying you are in and then out and finished will work out well. Fred's next trip to Tulsa is a week from tomorrow. Can we get it in place before then?"

"I also have a few close friends that neither Paul nor Rita know of, including co-workers at both of their jobs. These were trusted friends that I've helped out over the years. Two were Rangers I served with, and others were the victims of cheaters that tore their families apart. I will handle that surveillance very quietly. I've done it before. Paul is mine."

Larry looked at us with a tear in his eye. "I have watched my good brother be abused by that woman and she has taught her daughter to be the same way. It will hurt Fred when we tell him and show him what has and is happening. And we will show him, but I really think that this will be a relief for him."

We were all quiet for a couple of minutes. Then Larry said with a smile. "Mike, you seen to have come to terms with your own cheater. If you don't mind, and seriously, only if you do not mind, I would like to see that little bitch do some mattress dancing on your computer. Since my wife had breast cancer, our love life is much more limited. I would not leave her or be unfaithful to her for the world, but I'm not dead yet. It will also make all of this easier to nail those cheaters. And by the way, what is the rest of your plan?" He listened and laughed, and offered some resources that would be very useful.

Things were getting together, but there was one thing that really bothered me, it was Corey's wife Mary. From what everyone has said, she had done nothing wrong, except trust Corey. I did not want her to be blindsided on the day of the shower. She did not have family in the area. She came from out of state, met Corey at school and married him. She was close to a couple of people, but I needed to figure out who I could talk with, someone who did not trust Corey. 

Then it hit me, Cathy's secret e-mail account. Those bastards rarely opened up a new email, but just kept replying, adding more to the email. Looking at those emails again, I remembered reading about him bitching about Mary's friends, the ones he could not stand, and why. Going back and rereading them, I came up three possibilities and tried to figure out which one. I chose Maria. She was a Social Worker that was in the same class as Marek, Shelly's husband.

I called Marek up and explained what I was thinking and asked him what he thought. He was friends with Maria when they were in the Master's Program together. Marek said that he and Shelly would set this up and would call me when I was needed. It was a long week but I got a call to go to Shelly and Marek's home.

Maria is a first generation Mexican-American who grew up on the near west side of Chicago. Her parents immigrated, well, not legally, but applied and were accepted for the amnesty program the 1980's. Some of my extended family from Poland did the same thing. They were just a different type of 'wet back', they flew on jets in coach, instead of hiding in the back of trucks. Everyone got a better life for their children and got a chance at the American Dream.

Maria was born here, is all American, and all Mexican, at the same time. She lives in both worlds because of her calling. She helps young people so that they can stop being victimized. She works directly with underage prostitutes and drug addicts. She might be 5' 2", but do not fuck with this woman or those she loves, do not ever think of it. She was my kind of person.

Shelly, Marek and Maria were sitting down at the table when I arrived. I left my laptop on the floor next to me. Maria is a pretty woman, and was sitting there with a look that would have a Chicago Cop want to call for back up. Marek introduced us and then told me that they had briefed her on the affair. She wanted to ask some questions.

Maria's social work interviewing skills were outstanding. Not that this felt like a grilling, not like the sky is dark on a cloudy night. She explored just about everything. What happened, why, what did I do, what were my motivations, did they match my actions, what have I been doing got companionship since and what were my plans once this was all over.

After a while, I realized that I needed to get the lead on this. "Maria, I realized a while ago that I needed to be who I was. I knew that I am not a nasty or a mean person. These are intelligent questions and probing on why I wanted to humiliate Cathy. Let me tell you my story and I'll answer any more questions you have after."

"When I first found out that my wife was fucking someone else regularly, I was angry and hurt. I knew that I wanted to lash out at her make her pay. Retribution. I had made a good faith effort to be as good a husband I could. I tried to take care of her emotionally, financially and more. If this cheating was something new, I would have seriously tried to work it out with her. I actually had a list of marriage counselors that I was investigating." 

"Then more information started pouring in. This was not a limited instance, this was before and during our marriage, and it was not going to stop. Cathy and I were wrong for each other. I loved her. The problem was that she loved herself more than anyone else. There were many times along the way that I was going to pull the plug, and end it quietly, but something more would be found out." 

"There were other people that were being hurt and lied to. These were people in my extended family, like my Father. And family is very important. I knew the pain that I felt, and I have seen questions in his eyes and the eyes of Mary, the other betrayed, over the years. Now I know why. A big part of me doing this has been to help them answer their own questions, and give each of them a choice in what they want to do." 

"That is why I approached by fathers brother, and why I approached you. In both cases the offer is for you to accept or reject. If you accept, I meet with Mary, if your judgment says to reject, I don't. We can hide what we discovered on my mother-in-laws cheating. Unfortunately, I cannot do that with Mary. Her husband has been fucking my wife for at least three years. I cannot hide that. I cannot protect Mary from that. That is why I need your help with Mary. I chose to contact you because you were mentioned, not in a positive manner, by Corey in their emails." 

"When Marek mentioned that he was a friend of yours, I asked him to set up a meeting. I am asking you, as her friend, what should we do?" I waited. Funny how two minutes can seem like hours.

Staring at me, her eyes softened, and she smiled. "Marek told me about you and what happened. I trust him and Shelly, but I needed to see for myself. You are who they said you are. I've been a close friend of Mary's for years. For years she has talked privately about her doubts and the evidences of his cheating. This year she has had three rounds of STDs supplied by him. If there has been any unprotected sex, then Cathy may be infected too. Now you understand my questions on your physical relationship with your wife. Still using condoms while she is pregnant? You have tried to be a careful man. Both with your body and with the people in your life."

"Now back to Cathy. I do not think that this will devastate her in any way. I think that this will bring relief to her. I think that this will be the way out that she has always wanted, but could not do on her own. That I am sure of. Shelly and Marek have offered their knowledge on how to prepare for the divorce financially and emotionally. You have offered the way out and the logistics to do it. Both things she had struggled with for a long time."

"You did not have to do any of this, but you did. And for that I want to thank you. I plan to set up a meeting with Mary later this week. When would you be available? I am going to guess that that laptop at your feet contains some video. I'd like to see a little bit of it before we show it to Mary." All we heard in the next 20 minutes was Maria saying "That bastard" time and time again.

Contrary to custom, Rita set up the shower. They were going all out. It was kind of like a little wedding. Rita rented a local dining hall for a Sunday at noon time brunch. We would have to be out by 3 PM so they could set up for a wedding at 6 PM. 

One of the things that the venue had was a large screen TV. I offered to put together a video of Cathy for everyone to see. They loved the idea, and so did I. I started coordinating with all my helpers that agreed to be part of this. The day was two weeks away.

Maria called me during the week to let me know what was happening with Mary. "It was rough for her, but she was also relieved. She does not need to meet with you right now, but she will after it happens. She is planning her life after the divorce. The financial and living arrangements have to come first." 

"Mike, I have never seen her so hopeful in years. Mary says thank you, and I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. She is becoming alive again. She will be taking your offer of help to move. And she also says that she will also do what you offered to her. She is strong enough for that. She is empowered by doing it."

On the shower day, Rita's plan was for Cathy, Fred and I to be at the hall at 10 AM to help set up. The caterer was to be there at 11AM. We were all going to have breakfast together at 8 that morning at a neighborhood diner. For some reason, Cathy 'misplaced' her comfortable shoes. Her feet have been swelling and she needed them to be comfortable. I dropped off Cathy at the diner at 8 AM and went back to the apartment to get them.

The moving crew were already there working. Everyone had a written assignment and Bill was directing them as well as taking his equipment back. I touched base with him and stopped by mys house. I could hear the power tools going as I was leaving. The second crew was also busy. I was back in enough time to finish breakfast with the three of them. After Fred's house, that crew had another move to make. They had to wait until it was closer to noon and a phone call was received so they could begin. People were moving, or being moved.

The four of us arrived at the hall at 10 AM and Fred and I unloaded the supplies. We were working for about 30 minutes when Rita started ranting about a box being missing. We looked around for it and figured out that it was still on the kitchen counter. Fred volunteered to go back and get it. 

He came back about 25 minutes later with the box and three cups of coffee and one of herbal tea. When no one else was looking at him, he winked and smiled at me. Before Rita could rail at him for being late, the caterers came in. We were all finished and took a rest at 11:30 when the first guests started to trickle in. The bar was open and the mood was light.

People were mixing and talking freely with one another. Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona came and greeted Cathy and me, saying hello and congratulations. I said that it was all Cathy, I did not have anything to do with it. We all laughed. 

The mingling went on until 1:30 PM when I made an announcement. "I would like to thank all of you who help us all to be today. With out all of you, we would not be here. I want to start this off with a little video that I made for my wife. So if you would just find a seat, we will start in a few minutes." 

Several women quietly started ushering out all the children and teenagers to another room. Larry's two ranger friends positioned themselves by Paul while Ed's friends surrounded Corey. Mary was at his side at first, but excused herself saying she had to use the facilities. Angelka's friends surround Rita and Fred. Maria and her friends surrounded Cathy and me.

The video started with love themed music and pictures of spring flowers. It went on to pictures of Cathy as a child and family life. There are pictures of her and Rita, and her and Rita and Paul with Fred in the far background, then just Rita and Paul. Paul was beginning to look a little uncomfortable. 

The pictures then shifted to Cathy's and Mike's wedding day. There were many pictures of the bride and groom, and Corey in the background. Gradually the pictures were of Cathy and Corey with Mike in the background. Corey started to pay attention, and even with his third straight bourbon, grew nervous. 

He attempted to get up, but there are several hands on his shoulders and one on his neck. Ed leaned down and told him that we would all rather you stayed. He agreed with a yelp that I heard across the room. There was a little bit of murmuring. 

Cathy's being pregnant was next. On the video, I narrated about our life together. "The pictures are of our wedding over two years ago. Marriage is not all wine and roses, but working together and building a future. We even had names for each other. I called her honey. She had a name for herself." 

With a picture of us on our wedding, the audio was Cathy saying "I'm your whore". There was a loud gasp in the room. The screen changed to a close up picture of her, naked and her on her knees with a cock at her face. "I'm Corey's whore" and the shot panned out to see Corey slapping his cock against her face. Dead Silence.

Cathy was in shock and did not move. Rita got up to start cussing me out when Fred stood in front of her and with a cold glint in his eye said, "Sit down Bitch." She was shocked, he never spoke to her like that before. 

That is when she saw that there were several strong Polish women standing, surrounding her. They had contempt in their eyes, strong muscles in their arms and have blocked any path to leave. She sat down, dumbfounded, and increasingly scared and angry and powerless to stop it.

The video continued. "I thought that the love of my life may have just made a mistake, she is human after all. But this has been going on since we were engaged." 

Next a calendar shows up on the screen. On it I am shown pointing to many colored highlighted dates. "This is from when I discovered that my wife was more in love with herself, then anyone else. On these orange highlighted dates these two were fucking in our bedroom, destroying our marriage. I have the sessions on video files. The green dates were when Cathy and I had sexual relations. You'll notice that Cathy and I were not intimate when she became pregnant. DVDs of their sessions is available on the table in the back of the room." 

I paused. "I did not marry for this. I just thank god that this is not my child that Cathy is carrying. And by the way, my condoms, the ones you and Corey were using, had a slight defect in them. A DNA test after your child is born will confirm it. There is more that I can say, but I have other things to show you."

Cathy was totally in shock, she opened her mouth, but could not even scream.

The next clip showed Cathy and Rita talking. The audience hears Rita say, "Look how long I've been with Paul." Paul made an attempt to leave, but the two ex-rangers held him effortlessly down. There are several hands on his shoulders and another one on his neck. The next scène is Fred and Rita's bedroom, showing Rita riding Paul's cock while they plan for their next time.

"Well, I guess I have to say that Cathy comes by it honestly. Oh, by the way Cathy, who is your real father?" The screen goes blank and the lights come on.

Cathy said nothing. Fred stood in front of Cathy and asked her who her father was. Cathy is recovering from shock, but has started to get it together and replies that it is you, and points to Fred. Fred goes over to Rita and asks her the same question. She started attacking him, but he silenced her with a "Bitch, who is her father?" Rita clams up. Fred then looks at them both and throws some papers at them. "Here are the DNA tests. It's Paul. Then he looks at Rita and spits at her feet. 

Then he looks at Cathy, then Corey and says, "Most children have two grandfathers, yours will only have one." Another set of papers are thrown. "You've been fucking your half brother." There was silence except for Rita and Cathy sobbing. Corey was stunned.

Then Mary stood up. She walked directly over to Corey and looked him in the eye. "I've been tired of your cheating for years. I never had the strength to deal with it. You kept belittling me, keeping me down in so many little ways. You kept destroying my soul. All so you could do what you want." 

Then she walked over to Cathy. "You can keep him, but by the way, I've been treated for STDs three times this year. You were riding him bareback and sucking on his cock. I hope your child is OK. You both have fucked up another life. But now, mine is free." And she walked out the door, head held high the first time in years.

Fred stood up and walked over to Rita and stared. She averted his gaze. Then he walked over to Paul. Paul was trembling. "Don't worry, I will not touch you. By the way, how did your wife die?" He waited 15 seconds, a long 15 seconds. "Not answering are you. Well, we've done a little bit of work on that. You told everyone it was a heart attack. That is not what the coroner said. It was a self-induced drug overdose. Who were you screwing at the time? Was it Rita or was it Corey's mother or was it somebody else?"

Angelka stepped up, and this was not planned. "I was close to your wife, we all came from the same part of town, and we all grew up together. She was sad for so many years. Now I know why." And she turned away.

I needed to end this party, so I made an announcement. "Thank you all for being here today. This has been a very traumatic time for us, but the lies, the hurt and the destruction for all of us had been more that we should bear." 

Looking directly at Cathy I said, "I will no longer support my wife in the life she has chosen." Looking at the crowd, "For those of you who assisted us in the planning and execution, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your warmth and support gave me so much while I was uncovering these self-centered people that destroyed the lives of so many others. Thank you and Good bye." 

And I walked out, crying. Mary caught up with me outside and gave me the biggest hug she could. She said that things are already so much better. I went to my new temporary home, Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona's house. They offered me a couple of months to grieve and move on.

Rita was still in a daze and did not understand until most people left that Fred was also gone. Finally, Angelka told her she would take her home. After 5 minutes of driving, Rita looked up and realized that she was not going home. "Where are you taking me?" she asked in confusion and fright. Angelka told her she was going to be living with Cathy. Fred signed a lease that specifically excluded you from the house Larry owned. All your things have already been moved to Cathy's apartment."

Back at the hall, the crowd started to all leave at once. Cathy was able to get a ride back to the apartment. I was later told that no words were spoken. She found her car still there, but not mine. There was a note on her steering wheel telling her that there have been some changes at home and that she needs to see them immediately. 

She found the next note taped to her front apartment door. It told her everything I wanted was out of the apartment and the rest was hers. It also reminded her that the apt is in her name. But that I left her the bedroom set, to me it was tainted. It told her that there were several other notes in the apartment for her.




Family is Not Blood Ch. 01



She did not know what to expect when she opened the door. Walking in, she saw an unorganized pile of stuff with a note on it. Your mother will be staying with you. She is not on the Fred's lease and needed somewhere to stay. In the corner was her parent's bed, or what was left her parent's bed. It was in a pile. There is no piece of wood or steel was longer than 2 feet. The mattresses have been quartered, along with all the linens and blankets.

She went to the bedroom and found the same for her. A destroyed bed and a third note. Before she opened it, she saw that the cable, internet and telephone were gone.

There was a bill for the car insurance on the dresser, with her name on it. There is also an overdue student loan payment next to it with her current address on it. Account Cancelled was written on her phone bill, and last months rent receipt with a post it saying the rent is due by Tuesday.

She opened that third letter by the bills. It says that the account that you had that you thought you had $20K in, has been depleted to $10K and that I did not do it. That was done by Corey using the cash station card you apparently lost a year ago. It appears he needed money to repair his car. Here is the number to the bank. They have pictures of the person who made every withdrawal from each ATM.

Her mother then staggered in, right on time. She was also in a state of shock. For the first time in their lives, no one was taking care of them. They had no one. There was a knock on the door, and a process server provided them both with their divorce papers. Corey was served when he went to his car after the shower.

In the boxes that were moved for Rita, I put in my personal touch. There were 8x10 photos of her and Paul fucking each other that were strategically placed to either be found now, or at a future time.

I did the same for Cathy. When she starts wearing her fall clothing, she will find her and Corey there. When she opens the bathroom mirror, she will see her and Corey screwing. I also had some bigger ones placed on the walls above the destroyed bed. But the one I liked the most was the one on the cereal box, the first thing seen tomorrow morning. 



Family is Not Blood Ch. 02



After I had completely humiliated my cheating wife and her cheating mother in front of our families and friends, I needed to move on with life. The next two months were hectic for me. I had already updated my driver's license, new bank accounts, changed passwords on so many accounts and changed so many things that a divorced man would do. 

Still, I was not going to allow myself to stay home and cry. I decided to get out when ever I could. I forced myself to get out. I visited my sister Carol on a weekend when she had some down time between semesters. She understood what I felt and was supportive of what I had done. I joined a bowling league, just to get out. It was nice to do something mindless with people who did not know what I gone through.

I realized that I was starting out all over again. I wanted to get my own place within 6 months, so I started hitting garage sales to restock. I left all kitchenware and furniture and those things needed to be replaced. All I really took were some things I valued and my clothes. I left her the things she bought for me.

I was able to spend some great time meeting people. While at garage sales, I found a couple of empty nesters that were downsizing. I offered them a hand and they gave me better pots and pans than I had before.

Several weeks after the shower, or the event as I started calling it, I met with Larry and his wife Angelka, and Fred. It took us that amount of time to begin to settle. No one was healed, but everyone was looking much better. 

I found out that Larry did some real homework on Paul. He and his friends got into Paul's home and found a long history. I guess that living alone and not inviting people over, you don't feel that you have a need to hide many things. Larry did chuckle at some of the 'hiding' places he discovered things. "A two-bit thief would have easily have had a field day." Larry did find a stash of great information. 

Found out Paul was occasionally banging two married women at a time when he could. He kept it on a calendar. Also had another kid with another woman in the far south suburbs, and dumped her immediately. He got $200K in insurance when his wife committed suicide and invested, it is now at $500K. This is the guy who always cried poor mouth and sponged off of others when ever he could. 

Larry had contacted the other child's mother. She was also divorced because of Paul. He kept crying poor, but she has been living hand-to-mouth for the past 10 years. She was not blameless, but he was responsible.

"So I sat down with him and talked quietly to Paul. Didn't lay a hand on him, didn't have to. He will be sending a $14K gift each to her and his son for the next 10 years to make up for that. That will be tax free to them and that should help them out quite a bit."

"There will be no problem keeping him in line. I and somebody else have all of Paul's personal and private information, and tax records and his under the table business dealings. I saw that there appeared to be a couple of good ones in there, ones that would require time in our state's hotel for ex-governors that our Federal Prosecutors keep referring our politicians to. I figure had his undying attention and cooperation. This should last at least a couple of years. Restitution, not revenge. There is a difference."

"When I told him about a place he owns in Colorado, he was visibly shaken. There was no paperwork at the house on it. It was hidden pretty well, but I tell you, it pays to have low friends in high places. All of us at this table do not live with money, or for money. But that bastard is going to have to pay. 

I was also able to obtain a payment for Cathy's years growing up with Fred. Well, we rounded it off to $250K. Paul paid it in cash to me for Fred before the meeting was over. You know, I've never handled that much physical cash in my life at one time. I figured that he lost about half his visible net worth and maybe a fourth of all he owned that day. Payback is a bitch, and if the gods like you, they let you watch." 

"Mike, could you talk with Fred on how to invest this so as there will be no questions. Oh, by the way, I approached Rita with an offer that she took. If she signed the divorce papers right away, they only split what they have in the bank. She keeps her $50K retirement funds. Fred had emptied his when he was laid off and she had cancer. She signs tomorrow at the lawyer's office. It appears we gave a whole lot of business to Shelly's boss. This is what Fred wanted, to close this chapter of his life and start a new one."

"You know, Rita still does not get that she did anything wrong. She just bemoans getting caught, and being broke. Imagine, actually having to live on what you and your daughter make."

"I know what kind of person you are Mike, and I hope that this next bit is OK for you, but I also asked that he pay off all of Cathy's student loans."

I just smiled at him and said, "No, I do not mind at all. It is all beyond me now on one level, and still in my face on another. And she has a child to raise. I do not want that child to suffer. Cathy will take care of herself, but I did the numbers before I left and knew it was going to be real tough for her, even with her mother there. This will really help her. Thank you, I appreciate your caring. Fred, how do you feel about it?"

Fred had been quietly sitting there the whole time. I had noticed the occasional smile, and a tear or two. He looked at me, took a deep breath. 

"Do you know she named her child Franciszka? Franciszka Sophia, after my mother. She did not tell me. I ended up hearing it through the grapevine. I've seen her couple of times and the change in living and the child has really done something to her. She has started to grow up. Her mother thinks that Cathy's cheating all these years and having a kid by somebody else was not that bad. And that her own cheating was something minor."

"It is not that way with Cathy. When you went away, I also pulled my support away from her. All she had was her mother to rely on. Her friends were gone, her lover distant and dealing with his own fallout. Some of that $10K that Corey did not steal from her has lasted her these months since the birth. It lasted only because of her will and restraint. She still has some left over, if she can keep it away from her mother. Corey's child support tends to be shaky."

"She has devoted herself to her child. All of her being to that child. Even with all the betrayal and hurt, I am glad that you feel that way toward them. When you married her, I knew you were the better person. I am still proud of you."

A year after the shower, Corey was the victim of a hit-and-run driver. He died instantly. The only suspect was the husband of another married woman that he was having an affair with. No charges were filed. His and Mary's divorce had not yet been finalized, so she inherited what ever he had left. He was always spending money to stroke his ego. He had more uncollectable debts than assets.

A month after Corey died, I got a call from Shelly and Marek to come on over for dinner. Mary was there and wanted to talk with me. She updated me on what has happened. She said that she is doing well. It was rough getting away from Corey, but once that happened, her friends rallied around her, and life kept getting better and better. She thought that my 'movers' taking her from her married apartment to Maria's place solved so many logistical and psychological issues. 

"Having Maria around, I knew no one was going to mess with me. It really made the difference. I was even able to put up with the delaying tactics that Corey was using to forestall the divorce just to screw with my head." I just busted out laughing and told her of my first meeting with Maria at this table. We all laughed.

After Corey died and she cleaned out his tiny apartment, she found a couple of her things that were valuable to her, but not to anyone else. They were from her parents when they married. She also found out there was a term life policy that she was the beneficiary. That kept it out of his estate. She received $200K from that. His work traced her down with another policy, $80K, twice his salary.

Mary looked at me. "I know that Corey was the father of that child, but I know that something is not right. I was not expecting any of these funds. I got the $200K because he just forgot to cancel the policy out of spite and get a refund. The work policy was unknown, and I was only entitled to it because the divorce was not finalized. I want to help his child, the child did not do anything wrong and these were funds that I never expected. What do you think Mike?"

I was shocked, and humbled. Here was the wife of a philander, wanting to do something good for the child her shit-of-a-husband had fathered. And SHE was asking what I thought?

"Mary, you are most wonderful upright, honest and whatever other good thing I could come up with, cheated upon spouse that I ever heard of. You would put Mother Teresa to shame. I don't wish ill of Cathy, and definitely not of little Freddie. There is no way I would ever want to do anything to cause them harm, or prevent them from growing. I have been moving my life past her, but I will never block her. If you want to do this, please count me as one of your supporters."

"Mike, you protect others, and I have seen it in who you are and what you do. You were able to use my friends to warn me in advance. You even braved Maria." There was snicker from the other two at the table. "You provided the catalyst that got me off my depressed ass to finally take charge of my life. I began to live again, and have a future. I can never repay you for that, but I have another favor to ask."

"You protect others, but unfortunately, you know Cathy the best, I don't. Also because of what you know in accounting, could you be the administrater of the Trust for Freddie? From what I have heard, you do not even have to show up, just provide the admin oversight on the disbursement of funds. I know if you see or hear of something wrong, you could marshal the resources needed." She looked directly at Shelly and Marek while they nodded.

Talk about a deer in the headlights. Stammering, then slowly I said, "I really do not want to be near Cathy, or even Franciszka, but YOU ARE CORRECT, I don't have to. For you, I will set up the trust and administor it for you and little Freddie." 

Mary than shocked us all again. It was going to be an $80K trust and she wanted it dissolved by 22 years. It was to provide enough to help Cathy get by now, and some left over for college if it is possible.

It was over a year after the shower when I got a call from Fred. He sounded very anxious and asked for me to come right on over. He was insistent. I was heading to bed, but I thought that this sounded very important. When I asked what it was about, he said he would explain when I arrived. 

Fred met me at the door and said that he was sorry that I have to be here, but he was sure I would understand later. Cathy was sitting at the table looking very distraught with little Freddie in a bassinet on the couch. Fred told me she was in real trouble and feared for her and Freddie's life.

I had not put my eyes on Cathy since the divorce papers were signed nearly a year ago. And I had not seen little Freddie either. I stayed out of her way, and she away from me. People understood my feelings and generally respected them. I needed to heal, grieve, to start my life over again. 

That did not mean that I had no knowledge about her at all. I did not ask, but I over heard. I knew that it had been rough for her, but she was really being the best mother she could. A baby, even with both parents, saps all of your energy. She had the additional problems of limited income and more limited support. Her mother was helpful to a point, but that was draining on her too. Cathy look tired and worn, but it was the scared look that worried me. Life in danger?

Fred asked me to please stay and listen to everything, from Cathy and him. That I could make up my mind about what was said after they both were finished. I nodded and sat down. I started listening to Cathy.

"It's been over a year since you moved out and I've done everything that I can for my daughter. You may or not be aware that it has been rough. Before you think anything else, I am not complaining, I'm just telling you about my life." I nodded and changed my posture from defensive to listening. There was a look of relief on her face.

"Thank you." She took a deep breath. "I know I did bad things, but this little girl has been all of my life. She has been where I am when I am not at work. Finding sitters when my mother or I had to work, taking time off for the Doctor visits, walking the halls at night. Everything." Fred nodded in agreement.

"I've met new girlfriends at work and after a few months, was able to share some of my current life with them. There are several new mothers, some married, some not. And there are a couple of young single women. Both groups kept telling me that I needed to get out, for my own and my child's mental health. Even my mother agreed."

"I went out a few times with them for drinks after work and got home by 7 PM." Fred nodded in agreement. Both of them were looking me in the eye as she continued. "I have not been with anyone, not intimate, not on a date, not even talking, nothing. The only time I saw Corey was in a lawyer's office where we negotiated child support."

"With my girl friends from work, I just met this guy at a bar we went to. He chatted me up. Mike, it felt so good to be noticed. I've been a hermit. I got his name, Martin Fredricks, from one of my girl friends that knew him from the bar. We were at O'Flannagans by 6 Corners. I googled his name to find out anything I could. There was nothing that said there would be a problem. I quizzed my girlfriend again and she said that he always appeared to be nice and sincere."

"So I accepted a movie night out. I met him at the multiplex on Harlem. He did not get my address, just a phone number, and I his. I googled that too, but I did not call it. Mike, it was just a movie, two hours, in public. He knew up front that I needed to back home by 9 PM so the baby sitter could be home in time."

"Mike, I really don't trust people with little Freddie. When I started having sitters, I did not trust them and I talked about it with Dad". 

When she said Dad, I was shocked. He was not her real father, but something that Uncle Stan said rushed back to me. Family is not about blood, it is about supporting each other. Just the three of us sitting down here was showing that healing had happened with these two, and it did not happen with me. 

She went on, "Dad made a suggestion for a nanny cam and called your Uncle Stan and he called Bill. The two of them with Dad here, showed up at the apartment when Mom was not at home. When he and Bill brought over the set up, I saw it and cried."

"It was just another reminder of how I had screwed up a couple of other lives besides my own. Dad and your uncle shed a tear too, but they were working hard to not let me see. I just wailed as Bill set up the webcams in the living room, kitchen and Little Freddie's room."

"He showed me how to access it from an old laptop that he gave me. He also warned me to review each baby sitting session in its entirety to be sure that little Freddie was safe. The three of them said that they were around if I needed help. All I had to do was call. I did not tell mom about it, she still does not know. I was not going to share anything recorded. I also did not want her to be freaked out."

She paused a second and continued, "I always thought that I was so smart. I was careful and didn't give a shit about anyone else. I had my fun, I was able to be a naughty girl and thought that I was in control of my life. I never realized that the support you unconditionally gave me, the support Dad and all the others gave, was why I felt on top of the world."

"Instead, I took from you both everything I wanted, what I felt entitled to, and gave you back so little but grief and heartache. And now, dad is called you back to help this broken pony get her ass out of deep trouble."

I never expected her to really be honest with me, I never expected her to apologize, and she did. I am sure it showed in my face. I had to change the subject real quick.

"Let's do business first. What is the problem? I guessing that I need to see what was recorded. I need to see who you are talking about."

She brought up the old laptop and selected out the nanny cam file. She jumped to the part where the baby sitter answered the door when she arrived home. No more than 2 minutes went by after the sitter left at 9 PM and the doorbell rang. We all would have guessed that the baby sitter left something. Cathy unlocked the door without looking. 

The guy she went to the movies with, now known as Roger Tackery busted right in. Cathy looked visibly shocked on the screen. "Mike, I did not give out my address, I met him at the Cineplex. Look at him barging in." 

He was being verbally aggressive about why she did not stay with him after the movie. She was doing her best to fend him off and get him out. Then he slapped her. She looked scared and in deep trouble. He was yelling at her that she was a bitch and leading him on. His smile got bigger the more scared she looked. 

Finally, the neighbor's husband pounded on her door. Rodger shut up and held his hand over her mouth. The neighbor's husband was yelling loudly at the closed door "You'd better knock it off. If you and that fucking rugby team make any more noise on Tuesday nights like you always do, I'm gonna call the cops." Then he said, "Fuck it, I'm going to do that anyway. I've had enough of your shit." 

Rodger dropped her and ran to the back door telling her that this was not going to be the end of this. The next scene was the neighbor and her husband were knocking like mad to get in, asking if she was ok in most worried and soothing voices. In the talking that happened after that, the neighbor's wife said that she saw a man leave the back door alone. 

She and her husband had been on their cells with one another the entire time. He said that no one came out the front, but was just about to body block the front door when Cathy answered. The neighbor was holding a stun gun, her husband had a 2 by 4. The police had been called at the start, but arrived 10 minutes after the call went out.

Fred said, "I talked with the neighbors. They have been looking after Cathy, and when they heard that man, they knew something was really bad. Cathy called me immediately. That is when I took her and Freddie here and called you. Can you help us? What can we do? I would have asked Larry, but he is out of town on a cruise."

"Fred, can you get Larry's target pistol and his stun gun. I know he has them at his house, but I don't know where he hides them. Carry them at all times, even the bathroom. Cathy, I remember that Larry showed you how to shoot the stun gun. Can you do it again?" Cathy nodded yes. "Cathy and Fred, call work and ask for a few days off. If they give you grief, call me. Get a hold of your mother right away and tell her to stay away from the apartment. Are there any valuables there? Do you need anything for Franciszka? I will get the valuables and hold them."

Fred answered for Cathy. "No valuables there, and we have enough supplies for Freddie." Then I said that I need pictures of that guy, I have to find out who he is. That is when Cathy told me to take the laptop. "I have to make some calls tonight and tomorrow morning. I'll call you when get some information."

"I am going to be around your house for a couple of hours. Fred, I'll text you so you will know and not be worried. Do not answer the door unless you get a cell call from someone you know well. Cathy, I will drive your car away, better yet, I'll get it 'repossessed' by a friend of mine for 'non-payment' of the note tomorrow. It will be safe. That will put him off the track."




Family is Not Blood Ch. 02



"I would rather overreact now then make a mistake. I am half thinking that he had been stalking you already. I have to plan that he is monitoring your apartment. This might be something that will blow over from a hothead, but it makes no sense to take a chance."

I got home after riding around their house several times, sometimes in a car, sometimes on foot. I kept Fred aware of where I was. By 2 am, I was back home and trying to get some sleep. Cathy had little protection in this world, and the child even less. Why am I getting myself into this, with her, again? Am I stupid, or what? I came to the realization that I am stupid and I am 'or what'. 

I made a few phone calls and sent out a couple of e-mails during the day asking for volunteers. I included pictures of this guy and the bar he hangs at. A friend of mine that lives in that neighborhood got back to me right away. He dropped in to talk with the bar keep, an old friend of his, and got the lowdown. The jerk's real name is Rodger Tackery, a two bit self proclaimed bad-ass that likes to impress women. Has only been at this bar for a couple of weeks. Can be charming, but all the women drop him like a hot potato after one date.

I start looking him up. He has a history as a woman abuser, drug dealing, and general violence. He has no job, has done some time and is on probation again. I figure that this guy goes through life, doesn't give a fuck about anyone and has nothing to loose. My first phone call was to Fred to alert both of them. Cathy told me her mother found a friend's place to spend the next couple of days. 

I made a couple more phone calls. The one to Shelly and Marek hit the lottery. The abuse on the nanny cam would be a slap on the wrist and an order of protection, pretty damn useless, even with the probation issue. Shelly called up Duane, a friend of hers who is a Chicago cop. He works undercover sometimes and he's been on the force for 15 years.

Duane called back and said he could meet that evening after 1 AM and told them to call his wife Wendy and tell her. Shelly agreed to meet and called his wife. Then she called me back to see if I could make it. Damn funny Shelly, damn funny, can I make it? 

I made my way over to their house by Midnight and waited for him to arrive. I asked her how she met Duane. Shelly answered, "His wife was a client that she referred to Marek. Marek cannot say a thing, but I guess that he helped them work things out. That is why I needed to call her."

Duane served in Iraq, and liked the excitement. He even does not mind it that much then he goes out on drug buys or stakeouts. He has been able to put a couple of really bad people away. After seeing the video of her physical abuse, he looked at me while playing the devil's advocate. "Why are you helping her? She was getting what she deserved, so why help her?"

I answered, and a little bit of it surprised me. "I've realized that family is not just about bloodlines, but about standing up for another. Little Freddie has done nothing wrong, and his mother, my ex-wife who cheated on me and had this child with another man, has been doing all she can to raise and protect her daughter. She has been acting honorably. She has been rebuilding bridges with those she has hurt."

"Everybody needs a second chance. She may get my cooperation, but maybe not more. But she has been getting my respect, which I never expected to happen. Her child deserves better in life. She has put someone else first in her life, someone who cannot protect themselves from anyone. It's not blood, but it is still family. Family transcends blood, even though I really do not want to be with her, but I will not see harm come to her."

Duane said he would see what he could do. Two sleepless days later I got a call from him. "You no longer need to sleep in your car around Fred's house. My crew did a drug buy the next day, and got an ounce of meth on his person, and pound of meth at his apartment."

"One more thing, he was collecting selfies of him, with infants, sexual pictures of him and infants. Looks like he concentrated on single mothers. When they were out and he baby sat, he took them. There is no bail for this guy. He will not be looking for you guys. Take care."

I called Cathy right away and she put me on speaker with her father. I told them the news, and I heard the voices of two people that just missed being in a car wreck by inches.

Fred thanked me and then excused himself. He wanted to put the guns away, take a shower and get some sleep, in that order. I was about to say my goodbyes when Cathy quietly asked me if we could talk. I knew that it was not the right time and said no. Her voice was crestfallen, but I suggested on Sunday afternoon when Franciszka would be down for a nap. I said that I would be by at 12:30, as Cathy had mentioned that she went down like clockwork at 1 PM.

I needed time to recover from the past several days, as well as look at the video on the laptop. I needed to think about what I was feeling about Cathy. Everything was telling me she was not the same person I knew before. I got some sleep and started viewing the files.



Family is Not Blood Ch. 03



On Sunday morning, Cathy texted me. Her mother would take care of Franciszka until about 5 PM when Rita had a date with her girlfriends. I texted back that she could meet me at my apartment whenever she became free. We could stay there or go to a near by neutral coffee shop, where either of us could leave if we needed to go quickly, for what ever reason. After a bit of back and forth, we decided to stay at my apartment. I had coffee, bagels and other things to snack on. It would also be quiet and private for us.

When she showed up and sat down, our tension was high and there was a bit of silence. I broke the ice and said I have the first question. She looked apprehensive but nodded yes. But I smiled. "Why Franciszka? When you told every one it was Sophia?" There was relief in her face. 

"Sophia is her middle name, and I've always liked it. Besides, by that time, Dad and I were starting to talk. We started talking a couple of days after the shower and really have not stopped. Little Freddie was actually 2 weeks late when she was born. That extra time helped us both. They were going to take her by c-section, but the next day my bag broke. In fact, dad drove me to the hospital while mom was at work."

"When we started talking, I got real shit from him for weeks, and I deserved it. But he kept coming back when mom was not around. I did believe then that their relationship was over and dead. It really had been over and dead for a while. I have realized that, except for the loss of a steady home, it really has not bothered her much at all."

"I am so sorry about the official death of their marriage, but I believed her when she said her cheating was ok. I knew about her cheating since I was 12, and thought that it was just a normal thing, well, kind of, but not really. I got used to it like it was normal. How can you tell your mother she is wrong?"

"Well anyway, during his visits, before and later after the birth, we talked about a lot of things. He started sharing what it was like on his side, and I saw the damage that was done. I cannot blame him for leaving her high and dry, or you leaving me."

"When he spoke, feelings that he and I had buried started to come out. I don't think that he ever saw me cry so much in my life, or me see him cry so much. I was crying for him, what I had not done, what I had done to you and then for the damage I needed to not do for little Freddie. Then the last crying was for how fucked up I was, what a hole I put my self into. It was the first time I really talked about things."

"He really helped me to see that there was a future out there for me, and now little Freddie too. I needed to step up to the plate."

"That is what I have done these past months. He also said that I needed to reach out and make amends. It was very hard for me to face people, but after a while, Dad and I would go to events with little Freddie. People started to see that I was not the same. Still, I got a lot of well deserved shit. I also learned to agree with what they were saying if it was the truth."

"Your ex-wife has learned that not only is she not right all the time, but now she actually really listens to others. And sometimes, she even follows what the have to say and later thanks them. Some people were shocked when they began to realize it was real. Little bit of a change?"

"So when it came time to name my daughter, I wanted something that was going to touch him. Something that would tell him that he really mattered to me. Even at this early time, right before her birth, I knew he was doing right by me and for me. His mother's name was Franciszka, and I spelled it in the Polish style. I did not want him to know right away. I did not want to appear that I was buying him off. You know what I mean, I have no creditability. So I called her by her middle name, Sofia."

"He was a bit pissed when he found out three months later. That was when I told him that this name was going to be hers forever. That is when I said, Dad, it was for your mother raising such a great son who really is my dad."

"Not since before the shower, did I ever call him Dad. But he and I acknowledged that he really was my father. Mike, all three of us cried and hugged. Well, little Freddie had a hard time hugging, but the rest of us, it felt more like coming home after being away. Being away for both of us. She picked up the nickname little Freddie because she has been spending so much time in his arms. He showed me that family is not about blood."

"He made it a point of not talking about you. We both steered away from it. I thought that he needed to let me work on myself, and his job was not to push me, but to give me the freedom to work things out. I kept exploring things, I did not waste that time. I don't think that he would have let me anyway." 

"He let me bring you up when I felt I needed to, and then listened. I also brought up Corey and I really was able to explore it, all of it, with out censure. That was real important. The only thing I want to share right now is that I know now that our generation did not invent non-missionary sex." She chuckled while I play groaned. 

"By listening, he allowed me to see what I had done to you. Occasionally, I would ask a direct question and he would answer, but mainly he let me talk."

"As you can guess, Mom started spending less and less time at the apartment. Somehow, she got a bit of money and was taking full advantage of it. I think that she will move out by the end of next month if her latest paramour holds up. I've been expecting it for a couple of months now."

"To be honest, I really was not ready to see you or talk with you so soon. But my one experience in going out to a movie frightened the hell out of me. Rape would have been one thing, murder another, but leaving behind Freddie was much worse. He called you was over my objections, but Dad changed my mind. He brought up little Freddie and did Guilt Trip 101 on me. It worked, and it worked within 2 seconds."

"I do not think that I ever really thanked you for what you did last week. You had two scared people here, all trying to protect the third. You put yourself off to the side and helped us. After leaving me and the divorce, that cheating bitch of a wife, and I do mean self-centered bitch level 9 out of 10, and cheating level 15 out of 10, you stayed and helped. You helped so much."

She paused for a minute while she, and I, caught our breaths. I was watching tears roll down her cheeks. I felt something wet on mine.

"Does that answer your question?" 

I waited a few second then said "I had a question?" with a straight face, for about 2 seconds, then tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh, then came out with one of the biggest belly laughs that I have had in years. Cathy followed right behind me. We laughed and more tears came, but these were tears of relief. There was a weight taken off our shoulders. Things were not solved, but we were talking. Actually she had talked, and it was real. I knew that it was going to be my turn. 

"So, I see that you still have a way to monopolize the conversation don't you?" Then we both went on laughing for another round until our sides ached. I felt that such a load was taken off my being. I finally had some sense of why for many things. I was also able to see that she grew.

"Well, it is your turn to ask a question Cathy. What is it?" It was now my turn to be concerned. There were many things that I did not want to talk about. I was hoping that I did not have to say that a question that was off limits. But this time she smiled. 

"I actually have two questions. It is not a two-parter, but if you could give me this, you can go for two if there is a next turn." Her face grew worried when she said the last thing. After clearing her throat, she asked "1, How is it that money that you have signing control over keeps getting into what used to be our checking account and that my student loans were paid off. And now 2, really, why did you stay and help us so much this week."

"Cathy, it is not a two-parter, it is all about the same thing, just different sides. I am going to tell you about what I did to prepare for your shower, actually, a reveal, the public humiliation to end our marriage. I am not going to talk about this with malice in my heart, but am going to be honest and open." 

"Those months before and during your pregnancy, I could not be honest, could not be who I am. I hated doing that and have vowed to never do it again. That tore my being apart slightly less than you tore my being apart. Some of these things that I will say, I have already asked and received permission to share with you if you were ever to ask and I was ever to see you. Other parts, I am going on my own. Hang on."

I took a deep breath while looking into her sorrowful eyes, and began. "I had nothing to do with providing any money into your checking account or to you in any way. None of it is mine. It was nothing that I suggested, asked people for, nothing. It was from people, directly or indirectly, people who care about little Freddie here and feel that they can help. I have only been the conduit. I was trustworthy."

"The person responsible for getting your student loans paid off was your Uncle Larry. Don't worry, it was not his money. Larry strongly 'suggested' it to Paul as a way to make amends for his behavior of not supporting you, not being responsible for you all these years. There were some other suggestions to him to help him be financially responsible for his other transgressions."

"I guess you just figured out that your mother was probably a recipient of his newly found generosity. I did not know about that, but it makes sense. By the way, you have another half brother that is 10 years old. That is all I know about it. I do not want to say more on this, or who else Paul was generous to. Don't worry, Paul is not really hurting from all his new found generosity. The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. Payback is a bitch."

"The money being direct deposited into the checking account came from a trust. Mary was still married to Corey when he was hit by that hit and run driver. Their term life policies were still in good standing. There was another insurance policy from his work that tracked Mary down and paid her."

"I had contacted Maria though Shelly and Marek, to try to approach Mary before the shower. I did not want her to be blindsided, to be collateral damage at your shower. Maria provided emotional support that Mary needed to finally leave Corey. I was responsible for organizing and scheduling the moving crew that moved her out of their apartment into Maria's place on the day of the shower. Shelly and Marek were able to provide information to help her prepare for the before and after the divorce, legally and emotionally. Mary and I did not have time to meet before the shower, but had made plans to meet sometimes afterward. After Corey died, Mary called Shelly and Marek and the four of us had dinner together." 

"Maria is a woman that I would never mess with. When we first met, Maria interviewed me. Rather I should say that she grilled, prodded, poked, dissected and there was no intellectual or emotional part of me left untouched about why I was doing what I was going to do. She needed to find out who I was and why I was doing this. Why give a warning to the wife of the man that was f.. errr...' Cathy broke in and said, "Just say it Mike, it was true." I paused. "OK. Fucking his own wife. When she was finished with me at what felt like hours later, she looked at Marek and Shelly and said that they were right. He is what you said he was." 

"You see, I did not want collateral damage. Mary really did not do anything wrong. I never got to meet with her privately until after Corey died. She was not the same person I remember from before. By then she finally had her own voice, her own being, her own sense of entitlement to life. Corey was very damaging to many people. I think that her belittlement was one of the worst things he did. He sucked out her soul and played with it for his own entertainment." Cathy was shaking her head in sorrow, but I smiled at her and continued.

"At this dinner, Mary tells me that she did not expect a dime from Corey. She was going to be happy if she did not walk away with crushing debts and lawyer fees. He had squandered every penny he had and even stole from you before the birth of little Freddie here. She said that this work insurance payout, as well as their term life policy, was unexpected money, free and clear."

"But she felt some way responsible for her husband's errors. He was gone and she was sitting pretty. She had more than she ever thought she would have. His child, on the other hand, was going to go without child support. The child support payments stopped with his death, and she knew that you were really hurting financially. She looked at me and asked if it would be ok if she gave you some money?"

"I told her something about her being the most wonderful and caring cheated upon spouse I had ever known. To be honest, I felt ashamed in her presence. Then she asked that I be the trustee because I knew you well and because I had gone out of my way to warn her about Corey and you, she trusted me. She wanted the money for the child, and she wanted you to have more when you needed more and less when you needed less. The $80K is supposed to last 20 years."

Cathy's eyes had been tearing up all along, and then she but out into tears. She wondered out loud "How can she do this, after all the bad things I have done to her marriage? How could she do this?" I got up and got her a glass of water, then waited. She looked at me and repeated, "Why?"

"Cathy, you were not the first plaything of Corey, and from his mysterious death, not his last. She knows about being left behind, and to be honest, it is really about the child. Remember, much of the reconnecting is happening because of little Freddie, and how you are taking care of her. Your priorities have changed, and people see that." 

I waited a minute. I started to say something when she asked if I could set up a meeting with Mary for her. She did not want to break into Mary's life so if she did not want to meet, she would understand if it was no. I said that I would look into it for her.

"Now for the next part of your question, why did I stay and help you and Fred out. Well, I came because Fred asked me to, at least initially. Our marriage was over, but I have realized that the other relationships can remain. Family is not just blood, it is these relationships, these bonds."

"When we found out about your mother's cheating, Uncle Stan and I first went to Larry. We did not want to open a box of worms that he may have known that Fred wanted to keep closed. Instead, Larry gave us permission to webcam their bedroom. When all four of us met, Fred was just resigned, he always somehow knew it was probably true, just did not want to prove it."

"Fred and I were in the same boat, the same stinking boat. He gave the go ahead to include your mother and him in the shower. We both knew that it needed to be over, and have it be very publicly over." I paused and took a deep breath, then looked at her eyes. "I never expected you to change."

"I didn't ask people about you, but I'm very good at overhearing others. I'll be honest. You also never changed the passwords to the checking account, so I always had a view on how you were doing financially. Believe it or not, I was not doing this to spy on you. I needed to make sure that little Freddie here was not in great want."

"It is amazing how someone could be out of the loop and still understand just about everything that is going on in it. On the other hand, I did not know anything about your social life, and I wanted to keep it that way."

"Something strange started happening. I was realizing that I had a high level of respect for what you were doing now. I saw your challenges and I saw your actions. Yes, I had been overhearing about you actually being kind and thoughtful, not just putting it on for show. I was realizing that little Freddie really had a great mother. I did not know what your mother or father were doing, but I perhaps started to see someone I may have seen, or wanted to see, years ago."

"It really floored me when, instead of telling me what happened with that jerk who assaulted you, it was more important to tell me that you had fucked up, and took ownership of it. That kind of freaked me out, and I broke the focus back to the problem of that asshole. At the time, dealing with a possible homicide was safer than getting into over two years of painful memories and unresolved issues. Besides, I felt that I did not want to go to another funeral, and that really focused my mind immediately."

"I also had never seen little Frankie before. She is young and helpless and there is no way I was ever going to allow anything to happen to her, her mother or grandfather. Family is not about blood." It was my turn to sob quietly.

Cathy touched my shoulder, and I jumped. We had not touched each other in any way for over a year. She jumped back, realizing that a barrier had been crossed. Neither of us knew if it was a good or a bad crossing. I needed to continue talking quickly.

"Another thing that I am going to admit to, I surfed the hard drive of that laptop. Yes, I was snooping, but there is still an element of trust that continues to whack me upside my head from time to time. Sometimes it is a nerf bat, other times, a 4 by 4. I reviewed all your nanny-cam files. Because you never turned it off. When ever you were home in Freddie's room, the kitchen or the living room, you were on it."

"I was a voyeur. I got to see everyone that was in that house and that they did in those three rooms for the past four months. It was not pretty." And I gave unpleasant look on my face. She had been intent, now was very worried. 

"Baby spit up everywhere." I then busted out laughing. With a look of bemused shock, she hit me in the shoulder. "I am sorry for the snooping, but I really could not help myself. I have spent so many months angry and hurt and just feeling like a piece of shit."

"And here, in front of me, was an unedited view of your world. What I did was untrustworthy, but I had to know. I am sorry I have broken your confidence, to have taken advantage of a person who was in need that I helped. I feel like I helped a person into an ambulance that had a broken leg, then flinched their wallet. I do not want to be dishonest in my life."

She looked at me long and slowly, thinking of what to say. "I also have to confess. It was a split second decision, but I wanted you to have and see that laptop. I knew where the files were and could have taken them off in a matter of minutes, but I did not. We have not spoken for a year. And I have changed. The core of me is still the same, but I think that I finally matured. What else did you see on that machine?"

"Now it was time to me be honest about my feelings. "I saw some video files dated from when we were married, so I took a look. I realized that they were from the hidden webcam in our bedroom. Every one of them were of you and me, none of you and Corey."

"That is when I remembered that when I made the CD's for the shower, by mistake I included all the files, including us. I have gotten a couple of good natured cat calls from some of the wives about it. Yes, I was very embarrassed about it."

"When I was reviewing each one this week, most of them I saw for the first time. I saw how I used to make love to you. I remember during that time that I was an actor. I had to keep up appearances and do things the same way I had before. Like I said before, I will not be dishonest again. It destroys my being, it's just not worth it."




Family is Not Blood Ch. 03



"I was watching me make love to you like I always did, tenderly and with feeling, then when it was all over and I turned away from you, my face would change to the pain I was feeling. I remember those times, I would get lost in the feeling while making love that I used to have for you. It was such a reprieve and I could enjoy it for a moment. Then it was over and Corey came back into my empty marriage."

It was Cathy's turn to cry. "Do you know why I kept those files and destroyed the rest? It reminded me of what I lost and who I hurt. When I watch those video files, it shows me what a stupid idiot I was to you. I could not undo it. When we were married, I remember those times that you would suggest some unordinary, something different, risqué even outright kinky, and I would shoot you down. Big time I would shoot you down. No one was going to take that away the special treat from my fuck buddy that made me do naughty things that I loved to do. It was naughty twice over. I was going to get the best of both worlds, and those worlds were never going to cross over. You married an idiot, a stupid self centered jerk that..."

"STOP IT RIGHT THERE CATHY, DON'T GO ANY FARTHER". She was shocked, and so was I. "When all of this started, my Uncle and Aunt told me that people make mistakes, sometimes they do bad things, but are good people. You were making mistakes for years. I had no hope for you. If the affair was a one off, we would have worked it out I hope. But when I saw it go back years, I lost all hope and needed to end the marriage." 

"But I've now seen you with Freddie here, split-up and leaking diapers, walking the halls at night, tired and worn and doing it day after day. Don't you think you paid your dues? Or at least a down payment on it? Have you not turned your life around? Have you not reached out to others? Have others seen that? Give you self a god damn break, you have a future to get to. We are finally dealing with our past, and it will never be totally put to rest, but it will become less and less important to US." I was shocked at what I just said, US. I became silent. Then softly said, "I meant what I said, I just don't believe I said it."

The look of shock and love and hope and fear all ran across her face at the same time. "Mike, you are serious about this. So am I. But I am now scarred shitless." "Me too Cathy, me too." She looked at me "Mike, we have to OH MY GOD. IT IS 6 PM. I WAS DUE HOME AN HOUR AGO AND..." "Cathy, call her up and tell her you are on your way. I'll get my coat. We have more to talk about."

We each drove to her apartment. She opened the front door and began walking in. Without looking at who was behind her, Rita started bitching to Cathy about being late and then just about jumped out of her skin when I walked in the door behind her. Rita looked at me, shut up, said good bye, and left. Cathy chuckled while walking to the crying in the back bedroom. She picked up Franciszka, little Freddie. Hugging and cuddling, the crying stops. A diaper change, a feeding, a bath and a short story, and little Freddie zonks out. Contentment in her life. 

Cathy and I returned to the living room. While passing by the bedroom, I realize that something was different, and I slowed my step. There were two twin beds in that room. I had made sure that both of their 'cheating' beds were destroyed. Twin beds, and their linens were a lot cheaper replacements.

Before she sat down, Cathy offered me a glass of wine. She said that she really needed it and had stopped breastfeeding about 2 months ago when she started to dry up. She slowly made the switch. Little Freddie took a week, but has adjusted to it. The little girl has even gained more healthy weight than was expected.

"Cathy, how did your mother handle you calling your daughter Franciszka?"

"At first, she thought it was a pretty name but was confused about why I kept calling her Sofia. After Dad found out, and who Franciszka named after was known, she blew a cork." Cathy laughed. "It was especially hard for her when the Little Freddie nickname became common. Grandma was being replaced by her ex-husband Grandpa. To be honest, she actually is of very little help. I realized quickly before the baby came, she remained here for a roof over her head and food on the table. I looked at her during those months and wondered if that was what I was going to become. It scared me."

Cathy brought over a '2 Buck Chuck' from Trader Joes. The Charles Shaw brand actually costs about $3, and this was their Cabernet Sauvignon. She uncorked it and was about to serve it in some red wine glasses we had received from our wedding.

I said, "Would you like to improve that wine?" She nodded yes, but there was a questioning across her face. "First, pour the wine into the glasses slowly over an inverted spoon, very slowly. Recork the bottle and we can wait. I'll get the wine when it is time. And yes, get another empty wine glass for me." I was letting the red wine breath. Being a cheap Pollock, and doing some reading. I learned that letting red wine breath actually improves it flavor. It takes a $3 bottle into an $8 bottle or better. Later this evening, we were going to do a blind side by side taste test.

We both sat down on the couch, we were both very pensive, waiting. After a minute of painful waiting, I remembered something. I chuckled and waved to the clock. We both started laughing about the nanny cam. She said, "You know, I can turn that off if you want." I said, "You know, I could have thrown my coat over it when we came in."

"When we were rudely interrupted by the time clock at my apartment, I said that we had talked about you and what you have done. But we did not talk about me. It's my turn. I have not been static."

"Mike, can I ask a question first?" I nodded. "How did you discover that I was unfaithful?"

What people say and how they say things matter. Here was Cathy, my ex-wife, using the word unfaithful to describe herself. Words have meaning. They tell others where we are at. This was not put on, this was not acting. This was showing me where she was.

"It was a ripped off top of a single condom. I never ripped them off because that would mean I would need to pick up two pieces of trash that might get lost on the floor. The rug was the same color as the package. When I saw it, I immediately knew what happened. I never looked at things before. I did not have to, I trusted you. The count in the condom box was two short. After that I saw signs of it everywhere."

I looked at her and with tears in her eyes she started to say something. "Cathy, it's my turn now. We are now moving beyond what happened before, although I am sure that we will revisit it in the future. Let me talk about me and where I have gone."

"I moved to my Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona's house. They had insisted. They had empty bedrooms as their kids were on the East and West coasts. They knew that I really should not be alone. Starting out life again was going to take energy, and I was still studying for the CPA exams. Being an accountant does make me exact, and I know, sometimes to the point of driving everyone around me crazy." That is when Cathy rolled her eyes in a most theatrical way and mouthed 'I know' without saying a sound. "Yes, I know, obnoxiously true."

"So I got some home cooked Polish meals every Sunday and company when ever I needed to talk. And talk and cry I did. I was finally able to grieve, to let it out. I was holding it in from the time I found the top of that wrapper until I walked out of your shower." Then I stopped looking at my hands and looked her straight in the eye. "It is still a work in progress."

"You know that I am partially responsible for little Freddie here, I threw it in your face at the shower. By sabotaging those condoms, my condoms, I made you feel the result of your, your..." I was stammering now. What the hell do I call it? "For over two years it was you fucking somebody else. It was slut, whore, it was that god damn bitch. Those words don't fit now. They don't fit who you are now."

"Infidelity. Mike, does infidelity fit?"

"Thank you. Yes, that fits. That really does fit." Then I waited a minute to recollect my thoughts. "I made you have a permanent result of your infidelity. Cathy, you lived most of your life to not be responsible for what you did. You were bossy, controlling, it was always somebody else's fault. Every one just got in your way. Anything that went wrong, it was a personal affront to you. The world owed you a living." 

"When we got married, I was waiting you out, waiting for you to grow up and be that other person I saw inside. When I found out your lying, your infidelities, I knew that it was a lost cause. Yet, I have not heard you even mention what I did, and you justifiability could have thrown it back in my face. My side question before I continue is 'Why not?'"

Cathy smiled at me. "On some deep level that I never really acknowledged at the time that I knew that you were aware, aware that you were not the father. Those falling asleep drunk on the couch nights after we started to have sex on those evenings when you returned from being out of town, were a little hollow. You were never a heavy drinker. And then I became pregnant, those 6 months, you were there and supported me. I was going to have an abortion before I told you, but I realized that this was changing something inside of my head. I was not strong, or smart enough to end my wild ways, my infidelity, but I was being more aware that this behavior was an infidelity. I began to realize that I did not want my child to grow up in a house, like I had, seeing the infidelity destroy and warp my child hood and my parents marriage." 

"How could I blame you for making me stop my whoring life? And this new life really turned me around. There is no blaming you on my part. There really have been no recriminations in me about it. Does that answer your question?"

I nodded, this was, and definitely was not the same Cathy I knew. I took a minute to continue. "I made it a point to get out of the house. You can start laughing now." I waited two seconds. "I joined a bowling league." I saw a wonderful bemused smile on her face. "I wanted to move out of their house in 6 months, and I had left everything but my clothes. So I went to garage sales in better neighborhoods. Because I had the time, and being cheap, I was able to get some real good deals."

"One of my weekends, I helped an empty nester couple with their sale. I was there early and saw that it was a mess. So I offered to help them set up for an hour. They said that they would pay me, but I told them to worry about it later. I was there helping out till 1PM when they closed down. Do you remember that set of calphalon pots you really liked? I got a gently used set from them."

"It was difficult for me, but the things that others were telling me were helping guide me along. They were saying that this will pass, the sun will come up tomorrow, whether you are happy or not. I was just dragging through one day after another, but it became easier."

"My Aunt and Uncle kept telling me to be who I am, and that was not an embittered mean and nasty person. Hurting is temporary, hurting another is permanent. I used this time to grow. I took restock of my life and was figuring out what was important. Being braver, interpersonally, was something I needed to be. I've been working on it."

I've been looking at her then looking at the 'sky' to get my collect my thoughts all this while. "Family is not about blood, and I was realizing that ex-family and friends are family too."

"All of my extended family and friends were supporting me, and a couple would occasionally give me a good natured dope-slap when I started falling down. These god damn friends of mine, started to slowly let me overhear what you were doing and how you were. Let me guess. Were they doing that it you too?" Cathy sheepishly nodded.

"I trusted them, wanted to ream them a new ass hole, but I trusted them." Cathy broke up laughing. "But I really did trust them, and I trusted what they were doing was what was right for me. Answer me this, were you in on it? What ever answer you give is OK. I will not be hurt or offended or angry or whatever. I am sitting down in front of you now, for a reason that I and I alone chose. Were you in on it?"

"Mike, I was not in on it. I was wondering why they were doing what they were doing, especially after the way I treated you. When I started getting my life in a better order, and started to be an adult, I reached out to them, and they back to me. 'Overhearing' about you, I thought that they were helping me to try to let go, to see that you were moving on and I had to deal with it and move on. But thinking about it now, they never mentioned anyone else. Before you ask, just to be sure, Dad and I calling you when I was assaulted was real, not a set up."

With a smile on my face I continued. "No one would ever fake an assault like that. After the shower, I met with Larry, his wife and your father. Larry told me what he had done about Paul. Let me tell you, don't ever think about messing with your Uncle Larry. But he showed me a couple of things. Our bonds as family transcended the end of our marriage. He was still Uncle Larry, and your father was still my father." 

"I was also thankful that these people were taking care of you, from a distance, but taking care of you. Your father never let on to me how close you two had become, how he helped you grow. Anyway, those bonds we had remained. In fact, they deepened. The other thing that I learned from your and my uncles was that they lived the saying, as well as they could, that people sometimes deserve another chance."

"The next thing was meeting with Mary. As you know, I went out of my way to have her warned so she could be supported when it all hit the fan. I did not want collateral damage to others, and avoided it when I could. It was not part of what I wanted to do."

"At that dinner, Mary found out that I did not want to continue to hurt you or little Freddie. I was so impressed about her helping you both. So out of my, and I guess it was only my own personal 'clear blue sky', and no body else's, she asked me to be the Trustee for little Freddie. I thought it was over quickly. I had set these up for others at my job, and had someone who could review my work on the side. If I did it, I knew that it would be more money for little Freddie. I was not going to take any fees, ever. So I said yes." I took a deep breath.

"Yes, good Catholic guilt. By the way, I've found out there is good Lutheran guilt and very good Jewish guilt and probably a whole lot more."

We laughed so much that tears rolled out of our eyes. You cannot grow up in an even a semi-religious Polish household or community, and not have that level of guilt in you AT A GENETIC LEVEL."

"I have to say, I really believe that Mary's desire to help little Freddie and you was her way to move on. It allowed her to put the past to rest and feel that she could move on with her head held high. It was closure, she was healing."

"So this is where I was at with you. But I need to talk about me. I have not been static. I was able to move out of my Uncle's and Aunts house after 7 months, and into my own apartment. They were glad to help me empty the basement. I guess, I collected quite a stash of stuff."

"But I was also not static on the social front." I saw a worried look on her face. I did not smile back, but continued on. "I told you that I was always going to honest with you, and with everyone else in my life. It did not happen by my design, but things just progressed on their own and I have become involved. It has just been a couple of weeks, but I have not been alone."

"You and I are here right now, not by design but by us finally being open and ready to talk. I would like to continue this new dance in our lives. I do not know if it will work out or not, but I am more than willing to risk and to give it a try. What are you willing to do? Please think about it carefully. If you want to go forward, everything we do we both have to agree. And only then can we attempt to go forward. You can also decide that you do not want to go forward." I waited, and each second was an eternity.

In a quiet voice she started, a little bit shaken. "I have no right to ask you to break off any relationships that you have. I want to go forward with you. Earlier this evening, I said I was scared when you talked about a future between us. I am still scared. YES, YES, I want to go forward, to take that chance with you again. I cannot ask that you stop anything, and I know that it would be difficult for me to deal with. I saw what it did to you, and I don't think I could handle it for long."

Then a smile broke out over my face, and she brightened up, not really knowing what I was going to say, just hoping what it could be. "I want to go forward with you. I want for us to try again, and I do not want anyone else, except for that little one in the back bedroom, to keep us apart. No matter how much spit up there is with here, and that spit up and dirty diapers will probably be glue for us. I need a week or two to talk with them to tell them.. I 'm sure that they will underst...."

"THEM?". 

Yes, it is a her and a her. I became friends with one of them it just progressed on its own. Well, the other one ended up joining us and the three of us.. "

"THE THREE OF YOU?"

"I just let life take its course. Look, it was over a year after I left you. I worked through as much grieving as I could. I actually had more time than you did. I started before you became pregnant. I was not planning on meeting you for a long time. I was moving on with my life...."

"THE THREE OF YOU?"

"Yes, them. I will tell you all about it, but first I need to speak with them first. Then I will fill you in all the details. Including who they are, and if you really want to, some of the details. I do not want them to be blindsided. I've been with them in good faith and I want to respect our friendship. Cathy, I will not be dishonest with you, but I owe this to them."

"The three of you? You have a them?" She waited a minute and then continued. "In my wildest dreams, I thought that we could give it another try. I cried my self to sleep thinking that would never happen. But in my fantasy, I would get to the point were we would be intimate. I was always going to be afraid of doing something that I enjoyed, but you saw the video, and it would kill it for you, and us. And now I find out that you have had, wait a minute, are having, experiences that I've never had." 

"Mike, I've been so afraid. I just imagined that you would be the same, and you are not. You are so much more open and honest, and so am I. I did not think that you would change, and you have. I never thought that you would have a three-way, and you have. There are countless things that I wanted to be different, and what I am seeing is that it has already happened."

"We have been more honest and direct with each other today then we ever were in our marriage. We have put everything out on the table, without venom, with our own hurt, but not venom. To go forward I, I mean, WE have to be open and honest. Today, I feel we have been. We have taken risks with each other today, and are still here. We have opened parts of our souls. This is how I want it to be. This is how it has to be, in everything."

"Answer me this, please, this also gives you and me freedom in our fantasies with each other? Can we be free and open in our feelings for each other and our love making? And I do mean love making, and good hard fucking too. I do not want you or me to be shared with another. Not now. If we become strong with one another, we can talk about it then. And even then, I cannot even think about it. Mike can we be open and free with each other while we are attempting to work things out?"




Family is Not Blood Ch. 03



For the second time this evening, we touched. But this time, we held on. We hugged and cried and hugged and cried, and then kissed. It was our first kiss. Over ten minutes later, were still standing there. Then I remembered the wine.

"We have to celebrate, I'll get the wine." I came back with three glasses. She looked questioning, and then remembered my wine improvement tip. I handed her two glasses and told her to tell me which one she liked better in this blind taste test. The one that had been able to breath, or the corked one? After sipping each glass a couple of times, she said that the one in her right hand was better. I was holding her right hand.



Family is Not Blood Ch. 04



It had been three weeks since Cathy and I decided to try again. We had many issues to talk about, and the painful ones really took it out of both of us. These were the most difficult three weeks of my, I mean, our lives. 

We had to put everything on the table for us to reveal, touch, prod, float, poke or slay. We brought up hurt and heartache, expectations and wants, failures and successes. We were starting to rebuild trust. We both realized that we were both still angry at what the other had done. Her having a long term lover, and my publicly humiliating her. We looked at it, not really resolved it, but it had been slightly put to rest. Many things could not be resolved immediately or sometimes ever. 

We also felt that we both responsible for what happened too. My Aunt and Uncle and her father were really helpful in supporting us individually. I think that they saw many things that we could not immediately see in us and in our past partner. One thing that we both acknowledged to each other was that Franciszka was not part of that anger. We came to realize that she was bringing us together. It was going to be up to us what we were going to do from now on. We decided to go forward with a real openness with one another.

It is sometimes hard for me to explain to other people why that little girl is so important to me. After all, she was not mine. She came about from my wife whoring around. But I don't live in a vacuum. I saw how my father Fred reclaimed his non-biological daughter, gave her healthy support, not what her mother was feeding her. Cathy was abandoned by the people in her life after the shower. 

But her 'father' came back to her. He did give her serious shit about what she did, but kept her going to start seeing what she had done. He supported her to make the changes needed to be a good mother and a good person. He did not direct the changes, he just helped to build Cathy so she would be a good mother for his granddaughter. He lived 'family is not about blood'. He gave her a second chance. She had changed, and I needed to give her a second chance too.

I have felt that I was partially responsible for Franciszka. In those months between the time that Cathy became pregnant, and the shower, I started to realize that I needed to make sure that the child was going to have a chance at life. I felt responsible in an indirect way for her. She was innocent and in reality, became collateral damage. For who I am, I realized that I had made a big mistake in getting my pound of flesh, rather my 6 pounds and 8 ounces of flesh from my cheating wife. I got pulled back in, not by a great love of Cathy at that time. That love died when I saw the first video. I got pulled back in because of her daughter.

After those first three weeks of working out some of the harder issues, we both agreed that I should not be moving back in. For one thing, her mother was still there. And even if that was not the case, we were both were not emotionally ready. Neither of us had planned to even see the other. It was only because that jerk became violent that we were thrown back in together. So with all the grief in our lives in the past couple of years, we made a good decision. We were going to date. There would be no friends with benefits. Not between us, or outside of us. We were going to be exclusive for one another. Our dance began.

It was actually kind of fun to be dating again. You know more the second time around. It was all new and old at the same time. It took a couple of weeks for us to become more relaxed with one another. When things are new, everyone is on their best behavior and nothing is worth an argument. But we had been married and were able to partially get back to what it was like living with the other. 

Cathy will be bossy. Underline. Bold. Large type face. Period. End of statement. This is her core. But the thing about your core being, the rough edges get sanded down by life, and your partner. This time around, I started to give her more 'feedback' when it was needed, as it was happening. This was a new one for me. She needed to know when her attitude was damaging her, me or us. Not all the time, but just sometimes. This was my biggest failure in our marriage, my biggest fault. I just kept on hoping that she would grow out of it. I do not like confrontation and will do my best to avoid it. She also would go on the attack, and I could rarely get through. 

This time around, I felt she was listening to me. She did not address each and everything I said to her, but she would come back and mostly we would talk about it, without venom. It became more likely after she had cooled down, sometimes even when it was happening. Having her hear me and respect what I had to say was probably one of the biggest things that drew me back into this marriage, I began to really feel that this could work. She had changed, and so had I. It takes two. I knew how hard it was for her. I did not realize how hard it was for me.

The thing about dating your ex-wife, is that the normal places you would go are full of people you know. We were not ready for that. We needed to concentrate on us, not what others would say, or see. Chicago is a big city, and running 45 minutes to a quiet place that was away, was getting very tiring. Baby sitters, time from work, the weather. After a couple of weeks, we became more solid, and tired. I was the one that suggested our Wednesday date night be at the local Giordano's. It was quick to get to, the deep-dish pizza was good, and we could get the baby sitter out by 9 PM. Cathy thought about it for a millisecond before she agreed.

As we walked in the front door together, the place got quiet. When we got accustomed to the lack of light, Cathy and I were shocked to find a half dozen of our friends eating deep-dish pizzas with two pitchers of beer. They were staring at us with their mouths open. Really, their mouths were actually open. I looked at Cathy and said that I have to handle this. She told me no, WE have to handle it, and do it together. And we did. We let them know that we were dating again and although it would be great to visit with you guys, we wanted the evening to just us together, by our selves. We went to a table in the back. After we ordered from the ever-present-not-ever-going-away waitress, and she finally left us alone, we looked at each other and busted out laughing. It is different the second time around, it would not have happened like this the first time we were married. This was better.

On Friday I got a call from Mary saying that she would be pleased to meet with Cathy and me. In fact, she and Maria invited us over for dinner next Sunday afternoon and to bring Franciszka with.

When I told Cathy later that Friday, she immediately became anxious. She still said that she wanted to go, but was worried. "How do you thank the wife of the man you were cheating with, for the hugh help she gave to your child? I've faced everyone else that I've damaged, but not her. Mike, this is only slightly less hard then facing you."

"Cathy, you were not the first one Corey slept with, nor the last. But what happened has happened. She is someone who saw little Freddie as a person needing help. All I have to say is trust yourself and who you have become, and trust Mary, for the person she has become."

I picked up Cathy and Franciszka at 11 AM. We were to be there at 11:30 and dinner was to be after 1PM. Mary knew that little Freddie ate at noon and was normally down at 1 PM for her afternoon nap. Mary had the playpen set up and waiting for her. It was one of the things I had purchased when I went to garage sales. I had dropped it off on Saturday.

Cathy was really worried about the initial meeting. Worried to the point that she held my hand tight and would not let go. Before we could even get a hello out, two sets of giggling hands grabbed Franciszka and then hugged us both. Cathy was speechless, but in a good way this time. 

Coats were rustled off and there was so much talk about the little one, that Cathy forgot her fears. The first glass of wine may have helped too. When it became time to feed her daughter, both of them asked if they could. And they did. The whole experience for me was a little bit surreal, and very much like home at the same time. It seemed that we just arrived when Franciszka stated nodding off on time at 1 PM. She was placed asleep in the playpen, and we all went into the kitchen for dinner.

I kind of expected the awkwardness to start up again, but it did not. During a wonderful meal of chicken marsalla, linguini, and several bottles of Pinot Grigio, we all talked about what we all were doing at work, how the gang was, and just things that people talk about when they get together. The meal was finished and the plates were brought to the sink. The espresso pot was put on the stove and the gas turned on. Mary brought brandy and biscotti to the table while Maria was talking about her clients from the streets. As we stated to sip espresso with brandy, and dunking the biscotti in those little coffee cups, Cathy cleared her throat. 

She needed to talk. "You have wined us, dined us, and welcomed us and me specifically with open arms. Why? You have set up a trust fund for my daughter to help out this filthy whore that was bedding you husband. Why? Why have you been so good to me? "At that point, she started crying. "Why?"

I attempted to reach out to her to comfort her, but I was too late. Both Mary and Maria got there first and gave her the warmest and the most supportive hugs they could. In fact, the three of them were crying. I was the only dry-eyed one in the bunch, but I hoped that no body really looked closely at me, or they would have seen that I was lying.

After a couple of minutes, the bodies dis-entangled and everyone got back to their seats. I was pouring a small glass of brandy for everyone but me. Mine was much larger. 

Then Mary started to talk. "Cathy, both you and I have been through some horrendous things. We both lost who and what we should have been, and we both gained it back, gained it back in spades since then. My ex-husband was not just a jerk. He was an evil man who used people as he could. He nearly destroyed me. It was only my friend Maria, the mother hen of all mother hens, that kept me alive." Maria rolled her eyes, but smiled. "It was your Mike that dared get in contact with Maria to warn me. He made sure that I got the support I needed. The physical, emotional, legal and logistical support all together allowed me to leave with my head held high. It was what I needed to break out of that depression that Corey fed to control me." 

She paused, taking a big sip of brandy, then continued. "No, you are not blameless. If I would have had a voodoo doll during those times, you would have remained alive. But you would have been jumping around like mad from all the pins." I chuckled, but quickly corked it when I saw no one else was laughing. "After moving out, something happened to me. I started seeing very good people around me. The more I looked, the more of them there were. They were not great people 24 hours a day, but they were trying to do right, be upstanding, go out of their way for others. After having spent years being under some one's thumb, this was a slice of heaven. Maria kept telling me for years that people are good, now I was seeing it for myself.

"I also was hearing about you. At first I was numb, and to survive I would not allow myself to hear anything, anything good about you. But people talk, and from what they said about Cathy, it was not the not the Cathy I hated. I heard about a mother that became a hermit to fully and totally take care of her child. I heard about someone who was going back to others to ask for their forgiveness. One day I saw you and your father at church and I saw people interact with him and you. I was slowly healing, but I realized that you were too, Rebuilding bridges, being respectful, and even taking some grief from a couple of people and agreeing that you were wrong."

"Then Corey got himself killed. Officially a hit-and-run accident, but he was bedding the wrong husband's wife. That is at least what the police detective told me unofficially. I did not shed a tear, but felt a little bit of closure. That is when the money came in. He and I had a $200K term policy on each other. The $80K policy was from work. I realized that your child support payments were over, but I felt that I needed to be responsible for what Corey did. In some ways, this was his money. I had the funding to cover his support payments. That is why I had Mike set up the trust. This allowed me closure. It allowed me healing. Your example helped me move beyond anger, by helping another that was also hurt. Do you understand now? This is about healing and forgiveness. It is about taking care of each other."

Well, we went back to four people crying and hugging. The brandy helped. Mary and Cathy each started sharing more details of each of their own journeys since the shower. Then Mary and Maria started asking Cathy about how she and I had gotten back together. 

She told the story about the jerk, and her father getting me to come on over. "That night, it was more important for me to apologize to Mike and take ownership of what happened then to be safe from that drug dealer. We started talking after that man was put away. We had not spoken since the day of the shower except as legally required. We have worked out a couple of things, but we have more to go. I do not know if Mike told you that we are dating, but no friends with benefits. We are going forward slowly."

Maria looked at Cathy and smiled. "You don't have to tell me about the friends with benefits number. A couple of weeks ago he came over and told us that he was going to try to make a go of it with you, so the three of us were stopped as of that instant."

Cathy looked at Maria and said, "YOU?" then looked at Mary and said, "YOU? Then she looked at me and said, "YOU? YOU? You were going to tell me WHEN?" I held up my hand in peace and softly said, "The most important thing was for you and Mary to meet and get some level of peace. I know you both and I knew that that peace would happen. After that, I was going to sit down with you and fill you in, like I said I would." Both Mary and Maria were nodding their heads yes. Cathy looked around for a couple of seconds, then nodded her head yes.

Maria looked at Cathy and smiled. "Don't be worried girlfriend. He was unattached, Mary and I were and are still are unattached and friends. We're not into girls." I silently mouthed an 'Oh darn' and immediately got punched in the arm by Mary, then Maria, then Cathy, then by Maria again. I ducked Cathy's next attempt.

"I could not find the right guy, and Mary was still healing. And it had been a long time for us all. Mary came home early and she saw Mike and I on the couch, how shall I say it, being active. She ran to her room crying, but after a word to Mike, I walked over to her and invited her to join us. This was recreational sex with friends. It was a physical release for all of us in a very safe environment with safe people. Yes, I am fond of Mike. But his happiness will not be with me or Mary. This was a port in the storm. But boats are not built to stay their lives in ports. They are supposed to sail. You and Mike are starting to sail. I am", she looked directly at Mary, who was nodding yes, "WE are glad that you guys are working at it." 

And in the most theatrical voice and facial expression of Mae West she could come up with, "And you can throw him back here when you are finished with him." I groaned and the rest of them almost fell off their chairs laughing. So this is what a piece of meat feels like.

Little Freddie started crying, and six hands went in to take care of her. We stayed until 6 PM that night and only left when Cathy said that the little girl had to get home.



Family is Not Blood Ch. 05



November started and things were very good between us. In the past several months, we learned how to fight in a healthy way with each other and to compromise too. We had built respect and a real feeling of warmth and growth. The past was there, and it would hit us along side the head, but we would weather it. We also were drawing strength from one another. 

When her father Fred collapsed at work, we thought it was not going to be a good ending. But after three days of testing, dehydration was the most likely cause. If I was not at Cathy's side, I was looking after Franciszka, picking her up, dropping her off, putting her to bed, or waking her up. Our family and friends jumped in as they could. Everything finally settled down by the week before Thanksgiving.

That is when Franciszka came down with the flu and could not keep anything down, or in. It was a week of her being ill, and then the next week of her getting her strength back. It took another two weeks for us to get back to normal. I gladly used up most of my remaining vacation time to be there. She was fine, we were exhausted.

For an early Christmas present, my Aunt Iwona gave us tickets to see Holiday Magic, the lights at Brookfield Zoo. After dark on the weekends, a big part of the zoo is opened and loads of lights and decorated Christmas trees from scouts to church groups are on display. It is not like the 4th of July fireworks at Navy Pier each summer in downtown Chicago. Even as a kid, I liked the time outside with the animals, and just walking around shoveled walkways in the night air, with many happy people around. 

I picked up Cathy and the little one after dinner on the Sunday before Christmas, and we went. What a joy to see her smile and wave and shake hands with the costumed characters. Oh yes, her daughter liked it too. In the Children's zoo, Franciszka was able to actually pet several of the animals, including a real live reindeer. Traffic was a mess getting out, but all of us really had a good time.

Christmas Eve was two days away and we were scheduled to the max. On Tuesday evening, there was an early Christmas get together and presents for little Freddie by Mary and Maria. They were flying out to see some of Maria's family in California the next morning. Maria told me on the side that there was somebody she was going to introduce Mary to, but not to say anything.

Wednesday was Christmas Eve, and it was going to be a traditional Polish Wigilia, a Christmas vigil dinner at Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona's house. Cathy's father Fred and his 'friend' Kaja were hosting the extended family party on Christmas day at his house.

I woke up on Christmas Eve morning, made a pot of coffee and pulled down my normal breakfast, Wheaties. I've always had a real hard time waking up. Without a strong cup of coffee and a good 45 minutes, I just am just not into being 'with it'. When I sleep, I am normally dead to the world. I was almost finished with breakfast, when I realized that the box was different. 

Staring me in the face was a picture of the three of us at Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo. I'm carrying Franciszka in one arm, and her eyes are wide open and a most wonderful smile on her face. My other arm is around Cathy, holding her tight while she is holding me tight. We are all beaming and enjoying life.

"What the? Who? How did she do this?" I dialed her number. With the little one, I knew that she had to be awake. The first thing out of my mouth was "OK, how did you do it?" I really love it, but how did you do it?" With a real tone in her voice she says "First off mister." Whenever she says 'Mister', I know I am in deep trouble. "Who are you? Second off mister, get off of it. Third, How did I set it up? How did YOU set it up? I woke up this morning to seeing us on my cereal box. Who did you use to take the picture? Who did you use to sneak in here to paste it on my cereal box? Fess up NOW buddy."

"Cathy, I will not tell you anything untrue. Somebody did the same thing to me." I paused. "'They' are conspiring against us again. Wait a minute, there is a little writing on the front of the box. Let me read it. 'Merry Christmas From Aunt Iwona'." There was a minute of silence. Then very softly Cathy said, "No Mike, they are not conspiring against us, they all just gave us a great gift, they showed us us, all of us."

"You're right Cathy, she and everyone else really went out of their way to do this. The tickets, finding us there, THE BREAKING INTO OUR APARTMENTS. But I'm not bitter about that. Let me think, Uncle Stan and Fred still have your keys. You never changed them. No one has the keys to my apt. But I did keep a third set in my...no they are not there."

"Mike, have you looked at that picture closely? It is beautiful. My hair is a mess. I am wearing enough clothes to outfit a family in Siberia in the winter. You have a big blob of smeared chocolate on your face from some of Freddie's kisses, and we are all as happy as can be. It is beautiful. And it is beautiful that they did it for us. That picture is really of us."

The dinner later that night was glorious. Aunt Iwona made a mushroom soup that was to die for. Traditionally, it is a meatless dinner, and the fish and everything else always makes it wonderful. We could not thank my Aunt and Uncle enough. She introduced her co-conspirators, Stan and Bill. Shelly and Marek and their two little ones were the photographic team. Mary and Maria, while in California now, had kept us busy last night. Cathy and I thanked them all. The cognac and a bottle of krupknic, a polish honey liquor, were in demand. 

Franciszka was sleeping in the portable playpen that we brought, and Cathy went to get her. That is when my Aunt asked both Cathy and I to see something in back of the kitchen first. "Here is the last part of my present to you two. It is a bottle of Champagne, and we will take care of your daughter this night. You two need some time alone. And don't even think of arguing with me. If you do, I'll get Maria on you and then you'll both be sorry." She laughed and smiled sweetly and said, "You two can pick her up in the morning. Merry Christmas and good night. Now get out of here."

I was shocked, and I looked over at Cathy, and she smiled, and then kissed me. She pulled me off to the side and asked if I was ready for this. I kissed her back, and held her. I told her I was ready in October, but life got in the way. Then she grabbed my ass and squeezed. We were not going to be friends with benefits, were going to be lovers, real lovers, totally and for real. I was nervous.

When I started driving to my apartment, she asked why we were not going to hers. "You have single bed while I have a queen. We can get back to your apartment in the morning for you to change clothes. Right now, I do not think that you will need any."

With the bottle of champagne in one hand, and my love in the other, we walked into my apartment. I barely got the front door closed when she threw herself at me and squeezed me with her arms and legs for all I was worth. I pulled her mouth into mine and let my hands roam over her back, grabbing her ass and squeezing it playfully. Her hands were on my shirt buttons and my shirt was half off before I remembered the champagne. Then I immediately forgot about it while her hands roamed over my head and hair, caressing my face. 

She broke free from me and said that she would get the glasses and that I needed to open the bottle, and be damn quick about it. Grabbing a towel from the kitchen, I was rocking the cork when I saw her disappear into the bedroom. She turned to me and her blouse was open. Looking into my eyes, she slowly and seductively let it slide down off her shoulders while I watched. The look of love and lust, permission and anxiousness, and hope and happiness, it was all there. 

She held the two flutes in front of her. I put the bottle down, and reached for the glasses, but somehow I missed and massaged both of her orbs until she moaned.

"What does a girl have to do to get a drink around here" she cooed. I smiled and reclaimed the bottle, then poured us both a glass of champagne. "Cathy, a toast to us, over heated, over-sexed, overdue and head over heels in love and lust." 

After the third sip between kisses, I pulled her glass away, and grabbed her face and kissed it like there was no tomorrow. There wasn't, there was only now, and forever. My hands caressed her hips and slowly tugged her skirt down to the floor. I was rubbing my hands over her silky slip when I realized that she had loosened my belt and was lowering my zipper. Rubbing her hands over my manhood through my shorts felt so good. She slid my pants to the floor, and gripped my ass cheeks and pulled me to her. She rubbed her body against mine in such a wonderful way. She then pushed me down till I was sitting on the bed. We pulled off the rest of my shirt, shoes, socks and pants from my ankles. I was there in my drawers. That is when I protested and finished removing her slip and stockings, one at a time, slowly and carefully. We were standing there in our underwear licking our lips at each other.

I unclipped her bra and was rewarded once again with the most beautiful sight of her breasts, with her nipples standing at full attention. I bent down and started to lick and gently nibble at them, while my hands had pulled her panties slowly, ever so slowly off her ass and down her legs. At that point, I knelt down and sucked and licked her right tit for all it was worth while my hand spread her legs and I rubbed her clit. 

With some loud moaning, she stopped me and pushed me back on the bed. Leaning over me, she kissed my mouth, then moved to my neck, my chest, and stomach and pulled off my underwear and fully grabbed my cock. Maintaining eye contact with me, she proceeded to slowly lick and suck my cock. "Cathy, you better stop because it had been a while, and I going to come soon." 

She smiled, "Right now I'm going to be bossy. I'm going to tell you what to do. Because after you come, you are going to eat me till you are hard again. But when you come now, come over my tits. That is what I want. This is the start of totally being with each other. I want to wear your cum." Looking in my eyes, she started moaning while she sucked me royally while she played with herself. We had a lot of catching up to do. 

"This bitch is expecting a full three rounds out of you tonight mister. And every one is going to be different. Tonight is about your dreams, and mine and a couple of ours" and she put me back in her mouth. I could not hold out any longer and I started to immediately shoot right then and there. She pulled me out of her mouth and she aimed me to her tits. I've never come on her before. I could not believe how much I came. When I finally settled down, she came up to me and kissed me. We shared the faint taste of my cum that was in her mouth. She rubbed in what was on her, and me. We smelled like glorious sex.

That is when she looked at me and smiled. "We are supposed to live our fantasies with each other. I've never done this before." Then she got a wicked smile on her face. "And now you get to eat me until you get hard again, and then you get to try something you want to do. NOW EAT. This Bitch says EAT." And she spread her legs and grabbed the back of my head. 

I did not have to be asked twice, but I was going to do it my way. I started by kissing her mouth, then moved to her neck, all the while caressing around her slit. She tried to move my hand into her pussy, but I refused. Then I had to pull her hand out. When I moved my mouth to her tits, I started licking a little bit of my cum off of her. She immediately came like gangbusters. This was not the first time I tasted my self on a woman, but I knew that I would have a lot more of it with this wonderful hot bitch of mine. 

I moved below her and put her legs over my shoulders, and my mouth just inches away from her pussy. "Such a pretty pussy, I could look at it for hours." I was licking all around it, driving her crazy. She was starting to get desperate, she kept moving her ass back and forward, and left and right in the hope that my tongue would connect. She kept moaning and started to plead with me. "Mike, lick that pussy of mine, now, I need you and your tongue to satisfy me so bad. Damn it Mike, you really are a bastard, a filthy bastard, MAKE ME COME NOW." 

Then I looked at her lust filled eyes, "I'm your filthy bastard, and you are my one hot bitch" then sucked her clit till she exploded. All I heard when my ears were not being squeezed by her thighs was, "oh yes, you wonderful filthy bastard, you wonderful filthy bastard." I let her collapse, while I went back for the champagne. She was still breathing hard when I got back. 

Sitting up, she accepted the refilled glass, and gave me the biggest hug and kiss I ever had. "You just gave me the biggest, best, most exciting time I've ever had. Even my dreams and fantasies were pale compared to this." She stopped to take another sip, but I broke in. "I have never had a woman who came from me sucking on her tits." She giggled and a little sheepishly said, "It was more than that. I've sucked guys off and swallowed. No one really wanted to kiss me after that. I admit it is not the most pleasant thing in the world, but it is about your partner. It was a turn on for them, that turned me on. You licked your spunk off of me! You blew my mind."

"Cathy, there was a part of me that thought that you would like it. We need to try new things as they come into our heads. That was not the first time I've done it for a woman, but as you said, it is about your partner." We talked about being open to each other for a lot of things. We did not talk about what we wanted to do, but I think that each of us would try different things tonight. The other always had an option to say no. "Cathy, I say, we go for it tonight." 

Then I drained the last of my glass. "If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be my turn on what we were going to do?" Cathy giggled seeing that I was quite hard. She gave it a little caress and drained her glass. I got up and went to the nightstand, and pulled out some condoms.

"Mike, unless you are going to do my back door, you won't need those. Things were going so well for us. I went on the pill last October, before everyone got sick. We don't have to worry about that, I've wanted to feel you in me for months."

"Cathy, I've wanted to come inside of you for months, and now is the time. We have all night, and I want to make it last."

I grabbed a piece of chocolate and broke off a chunk. I slowly brought it up to her mouth and let her nibble on it. Then I took her glass and emptied the rest of the bottle in it. I brought it up to her lips and let her sip some more. Then I replaced her glass with my mouth and softly kissed her lips, while caressing her tits. I heard her moan softly. I pushed her down on the bed and traced my finger over her chest, slowly doing circles around her breasts. My other hand started heading south and I brushed against her triangle of hair. She shuddered in delight. 

I was going to slowly tease her until I was ready, and from what I felt of the quickening of her breath, she was almost there. That is when I whispered into her ear "I going to fuck you good and long. Are you going to like that?" "Oh fuck Mike, don't tease me a second longer, put the wonderful cock in my pussy, MAKE ME CUM, please make me cum. FUCK ME NOW." I slipped my cock into her and she smiled while I slowly pushed it all the way in, then slowly pulled nearly out. She was panting and using her muscles to grab my cock. I was in heaven. 

There is something about a leisurely fucking with somebody you love, everything seems so right. This went on for 10 minutes when she said to switch places. She got on top of me, and lowered herself, with a little bit of help, on to my cock. She began rocking on me. She dangled her tits in front of my face for me to suck and caress. She really starting getting excited and that got me excited too. Suddenly, she scrunched up her face and started panting that she was coming. That caused me to go over the edge too. I hoped that the neighbors were not home that night. We would have woken them. We became a mass of twitching sweaty mass of arms and legs and bodies that only slowly relaxed. She stayed on me, lying down on my chest. 

Then she got a mischievous smile on her face and said it was her turn. She started moving up, inching up to my face, her knees on either side of my body. I knew what I was going to be getting, a cream pie, my first cream pie. She wanted me to eat my cum and her juices straight from her pussy. Excitement covered her face, and a trail of my cum across my chest. When I could start breathing on her clit, I looked at her eyes. "It's my turn next, and I'm going to fuck your ass." Her eyes kit up and she quickly shoved her pussy on my mouth. "YES you filthy bastard." I began licking and sucking it immediately. She came like the fourth of July, then I stuck a finger up her ass and she almost exploded from the pleasure. I licked her pussy and ate out what was left of my cum, my first cream pie. That was when she collapsed. I have never seen her more satiated. 

I got up and poured myself a strong gin and lime, wanted to cleanse the palate. It may not be the best drink in the world, but a gin and lime does make your mouth taste better. I walked to her face and put my flaccid cock in front of her. I slowly traced its tip over her cheeks, and then onto her lips. Then she smiled again and said, "What have we here? Not yet hard? Not ready to go? I should be helping you along." She giggled and began to lick my cock. She cleaned off both our juices till my soldier was standing up straight again. "That's better, he has some work to do now, doesn't me?"

With the mischievous smile, she turned around and got on her hands and knees, spreading her ass checks for me. "Do you like what you see?" And in her best star trek voice "You are going where no man has ever gone before." and laughed. "You are going to take my virgin ass now, and I couldn't be happier." She paused and then said, "If you want to go bareback, you can. I only wanted three tonight, and we can shower tomorrow before we start again. Now get me some of that gin and lime you were having. Then you can have this hot bitch's ass till you come."

We did not sip the drinks, but drank them like shots and started kissing again. I was reaching around her back and found her little rosebud. She began to moan when I slipped a lubed finger into her. She cooed and started backing into it. I got behind her and spread her legs. Getting more lube, I lubed my cock and her ass. In fact, I was putting two fingers into her pussy and one then two into her ass, filling both her holes, she was in heaven. She was pushing back and rocking into my hand and moaning. 

Then I said "I'm your filthy bastard, aren't I?" She moaned yes. Again I said, "I'm your filthy bastard, and you are my hot bitch." She moaned again and said, "You are my filthy bastard, my own filthy bastard, and no body else's, and I am your one and only bitch. You make me so hot, YES, I'M YOUR HOT BITCH, now fuck my ass with your beautiful hard cock. Please fuck my ass." 

I had put two fingers into her ass by that time, stretching her out. It was still wonderfully tight but she was loosening up nicely. Then I put my cock at her entrance, teasing her with its tip. She moaned while I was rubbing it back and forth across her rosebud. When I started to put it in, she tensed up, but I said that I was going to go slowly. 

"Slowly back into my cock. Back into it at your own pace." She grabbed my hand and squeezed a couple of times. Slowly pumping her ass against me, she slowly opened up and then my head popped in. I waited. 




Family is Not Blood Ch. 05



After a time she relaxed. During this, I was flicking her clit and her moaning started up again. Then she started slowly rocking back and forth on my cock. Her strokes just kept getting longer and longer, and finally she told me to start fucking her. There is nothing like fucking an ass, a tight ass. If you reach around, you get to fondle their tits, or dive your hand into their cunt. 

Cathy was starting to really enjoy my pumping my cock in her ass, and she was telling me so. The build up started and we both were breathing hard. All the while I was telling her how wonderful her ass was, how tight she was and great she made me feel. Then she started telling me "It feels so good to be fucked in the ass, don't let this end. AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH." She started coming. Again that put me over the edge as I unloaded into her. We collapsed into each other's arms while I pulled a sheet and blanket over us. I whispered into her ear that it was her turn now. She whispered back that we had the same fantasy. Then we fell asleep in each other's arms, spooning in our nakedness. The first time together in bed, in love, in such a long time.

I woke up to smelling coffee brewing and somebody telling me that I had to get going. Blinking, I could not focus on anything. There was something covering my eyes, I could not see. Then I realized, I could not move my hands, or my legs. All I heard was some giggling and something soft being brushed across my face. "What the? HUH?" Then I could not talk. 

There was a nipple in my mouth and a quiet moan coming from above me. All I heard was "ohhhh yesssss, keep doing that, that feeeeellllsss ssssooooo gooooood. You're a filthy bastard for teasing me so much last night. I just felt that I needed to repay you, and I will repay you good. This hot little bitch has been dreaming of doing this to you for a long time, and now its payback mister." 

She started moving down my body with her mouth. Then she started caressing my inner thighs, and I jumped to attention. "By the way, your safe word is Canada, but I don't expect you to ever use it, because I'm going to make worth your while to never have to." Then she took a soapy towel and washed me from last night, and another damp one to remove the rest of the soap. Teasing my cock with fingers, stroking me lightly, she swallowed my head with her mouth and I was in heaven. 

At least one time in all of our lives, we all should be in this situation with somebody we love and trust. I was getting mine. Oh yes was I ever getting mine. I started feeling her mouth on my belly, then moving to my nipples. There was a playful bite, and I jumped. She laughed and sucked down hard on one of them, and I yelped. Moving along, I felt her mouth cover mine, and suck my tongue out of me. I've never been helpless like this before, and it added to my excitement. 

She kept rotating from between my knees to my mouth, and back again. I was starting to get frustrated and tried to pump her mouth when she was sucking me. That's when I heard "Payback's a bitch mister, payback's a hot bitch for you" and she laughed. I guess I deserved it, but I knew that when I was going to cum, it was going to be explosive. 

She pulled away from me, and then came back, nesting between my legs. She started to play with my rosebud. A little lubrication and a gently sucking on my cock. Then she reached up and took off my blind fold. Kneeling between my legs, she was holding the vibrator that I had bought. We never had one, or used one before. Since we never talked about being lovers, this was going to be brand new for us. I did not get to surprise her with it, but she did with me. 

I immediately knew that there were a couple of things she could do with it. Remembering that I took her virgin ass last night, I was worried that this big hulking thing was going into me. "What do you think I should do with this LITTLE thing I found in your nightstand? Have you used this before? Was it a girl, or was it you? You know, you are in no position to lie to me, are you? Well lover, tell me quick."

"I I I've never used it, except to turn it on and to find out how it would make my cock feel. I got it because I wanted to try new things with you. I thought that it may come in handy whenever we became lovers again."

She looked in my eyes and brought it up to my face, then turned it on. I did not know what was going to happen, but this was more exciting than I ever imagined it could be. She saw my excitement, and my discomfort, and smiled. Then she traced the point around my cheeks, then across my lips. That is when she said, "This is not for you lover, this is for me." She moved it to her lips, to her neck, then each tit. She spent lots of time on each one, moaning, and showing me and moaning. She was really enjoying it, giving me a show and my watching my helplessness. Damn was she good.

Finally, she traced it across her belly, around her hips, then plunged it to her clit. She rocketed into an organism in an instant. If she would have touched me, I would have cum immediately. When she started recovering, she sighed. "So this is what you wanted to happen with your toy? Did you want to get me off with it? It is a nice toy for us, isn't it? I like you, I think I'll keep you around like this for a while. Tird up with no lace to go." And she laughed.

Then she leaned over and took my cock in her right hand, and took the vibrator with her left. Then she touched my rosebud with it. I immediately erupted over her face, hand, chest and me. She kissed me while she untied me. That is when I realized that my older silk ties were repurposed. This was a permanent repurpose, a great repurpose. "Let's get cleaned up before breakfast. I want to wash you all over. And there are some special spots I need to have some someone special clean for me. Then we need to go pick up Franciszka and get back to my apartment to get ready for Christmas dinner at Dad's place." The rest of Christmas was warm and wonderful.



Family is Not Blood Ch. 06



For Valentines Day, I wanted to do something special. I called my father Fred for a favor. Would he and Kaja keep little Freddie over night? One of the things that I found out is that a granddaughter with a single doting grandfather draws in the women. Kaja was part of the group of widowed and single friends that were part of Fred and Rita's life. Kaja's own husband had a fatal heart attack a couple of years before, she knew about grief and loss. She listened to Fred after the breakup, and their friendship grew naturally. Might even be 'Friends with Benefits', but I don't ask those kind of questions. Cathy would only smile, and not ask either. What ever their relationship was, Cathy was happy for her father to have some company that did not include the term 'high maintenance'. The other thing was that Kaja loved infants and children. Her own life was busy with her three grandchildren in town, and two out of state. She always had room for more.

We dropped off Franciszka at 7 PM with her grandfather. The squeal of that little girl with her grandfather and Kaja was wonderful. She was loved, and she knew it. Cathy and I left them laughing and tickling each other playfully. Somehow the grandfather always got tickled more then the granddaughter did. Cathy and I then left for dinner.

As a special dinner, we went to a Tappas bar. Small plates of very high quality and flavorful Spanish food. What ever is ordered is shared with your meal partners. Along with a bottle of wine, and time, we had a wonderful relaxing evening. The weather was warm for February in Chicago, and we were dressed for it. We were near the lake front, so without any plans, we decided to go for a short walk along the lake front. With the sounds of the city behind us and the dark sky over Lake Michigan, we held each other close. When we had cooled down, from dinner and the wine, we headed back to the car and my apartment. There was another bottle of merlot awaiting us there, along with dark chocolate. Those two things go well together.

For some reason, our drive back was quiet. I was busy with the traffic, but Cathy was silent. We had made love a few a times since Christmas, and things were still good. We did try to occasionally try new things, but there was plenty of tender lovemaking too. When we talked about it, we thought that it was a good balance.

Getting into the apartment, I helped her take her coat off and directed her to the living room. I went to grab the wine and chocolate and we sat on the couch together. After having such a warm evening with one another, I felt that something was not right. It was kind of strange to not have Franciszka around. As an infant, she needs people to watch over her constantly. I asked Cathy about that, she said that that must be what it was. We just sat there in silence, cuddling together, drinking the wine slowly and nibbling on the chocolate. I was not able to see her face from how we were sitting, but her body language was still not right. I started to softly stroke her hair, and I felt her tense up. Getting alarmed, I quietly asked her what was wrong. This is not how I wanted Valentine's Day to go, but I really did not have a choice. 

She began to pull away from me and started talking. "I don't know, I've just been out of it lately. I've has so much to do and Franciszka has been more than a handful." She waited a few seconds and started again "The other thing is that my mother is leaving for Florida at the end of the month, permanently. She has been looking for a loaded wallet, even if she has to be his nurse in a couple of years. If she can be married to somebody else for 10 years, she'll be able to double her Social Security when she takes it. I think she found someone. We may not have always been the best of company for each other, but she is my mother and I am going to miss her." She sat looking blankly at the wall. "Sorry Mike, but I just don't think that I am going to give you a good Valentine's Day. Please forgive me."

Life is what happens when you have other plans, and this was our life today. I realized that there were also going to be a couple of financial issues involved for her too. But, to be separated from someone you love, by 1,100 miles is real rough. I still miss my mother, even though she passed away over 10 years ago. I just reached out to Cathy and held her closely. She leaned into me and softly sobbed. We sat there for about a half hour when she said that she needed to go home tonight. She would stop in the morning to pick up the little one. It would have been real disruptive to take her home now. I drove her home and we parted for the evening.

We weathered that Valentines Day, and for the next several weeks, things were been going well. Going well was important. Even with how well things were going, I was always waiting for the other shoe to drop. I realized that I remained insecure. It was diminishing, but it was still there. I was spending more time at her apartment before and after her mother left. She was able to work through her mother leaving. Two weeks before her mother left, I asked both Cathy and Rita into their living room for a little something, a surprise for them both. From Bill, I was able to get her mother a used laptop with a built in webcam. I demonstrated to them all how Grandmother, mother and grand daughter would be able to Google video conference together. They did their first conference and were overjoyed. It was easier than they ever imagined. The physical distance between them all grew immediately smaller, and their sorrow lessened. I would never be close to Rita, but she gave me a big hug. Cathy was beaming. I knew that a mother is important to her daughter.

After a couple of weeks, I was feeling that the next step was to move back in together. My apartment lease was up in two months, so I felt that this may be a good time. Without telling her, I looked at a couple of apartments and found a good sized three bedroom that would fit our needs. I asked Cathy to help me look at it, telling her my lease was running out.

We were walking around it and it looked great. There was plenty of storage and the kitchen was good, not just livable. Then I said that there would be an entire spare room for Franciszka's toys. Cathy answered that it would be nice for when she visits. "Cathy, what are you talking about, visiting? Don't you think that it is time now?"

Cathy looked upset, then quickly fearful and then angry. "Yes we are going well, how long is this going to last? What if something goes wrong?" I was shocked and blurted out "I'm willing to take that chance. Will you take that chance with me? Will you and Franciszka take that chance with me?"

Cathy freaked out, there was a look of terror and fear in her eyes. "This has been so quick, I can't do it." She rushed out of the apartment, taking Freddie and crying. I started to race after her, but stopped. How could this go so wrong? 

About three hours later, I got a call from Maria. She asked if she could stop on by. We sat down and she started to tell me about Cathy. "You know, she called me, sobbing. After understanding that it was about you, I went to her apartment and we talked. By the way, I asked, and she said that I could speak with you. I am breaking no confidences."

"Mike, what have you done with this woman?" I started to blurt out something when she stopped me. "That was rhetorical. Ease up and hear me out. She feels that you moved too fast. It is not that she does not love you, but you went forward with out her. She still has a lot of insecurities about what happened. I would be that way too."

"You need to find out, from her, what she is afraid of. Look at where she has come from. You always want to surprise her in a positive way, but ALWAYS would terrify me on some level. I would feel as if I was being dragged along. That's scary."

"Mike, you are a romantic, through and through. You wear your heart on your sleeve. What you are is what everybody sees. Nothing is hidden. And let's be honest, that can be daunting. Even for me that can be daunting. Yes, you sometimes rush forward when you should ask and talk first. I don't think that you will ever really change. But you can slow it down and get her needs met too. Tone it down buddy. Do you understand? This is a question of your intensity and her fears. She needs you to respect that of her. I know that you have it in you." She and I spoke for another couple of minutes. She gave me a hug, and left. 

I did not feel as much as a failure as I did three hours ago, just a little bit less of a failure. Cathy had not answered my call, but I needed to contact her. She would have to get back to me at her own time. So, I sent a simple text message, in Latin, the working language of the Catholic Church when my parents were children. 'Mea culpa, Mea culpa, Mea maxima culpa' and I let it be, and prayed. Have not done that in a long time. I was asking for forgiveness.

Later that evening, a pair of girls showed up unannounced at my door. One was in diapers. We hugged like there was no tomorrow. I kept repeating "I'm sorry" time and time again, till the little one let out a giddy scream. She saw her toys waiting for her. Actually, I just had not put them away. Cathy took their coats off, I got something to drink for everyone. Then she and I sat down. 

"Mike, I am scared. I was scared when you blurted out that we had a future together after the assault, I was scared when we started to work things out, I was scared when Dad and Franciszka were sick, I was even more than scared before we made passionate love and lust the first time again. We kept our separate apartments, but you have spent many nights at mine, and us at yours. Now I'm scared when you wanted us to move in with you."

"This is not about logic. This is not about love. It is not that I don't trust you, I'm afraid of failure. Failing Franciszka, failing you, failing my father, and failing me. I did it once, I can do it again. What if I don't measure up again? What if I get bored and want more spice? What if? What if?" and she started crying. I held her close and said not a word. This was not about logic, this was about history and commitment.

I had no idea that what I was going to say was going to make a difference. But I learned to speak from my heart. Sometimes it got me in trouble, but I went for it. "Cathy, I was scared when I blurted out that we could have a future together, I was terrified when we started to work things out, I could have approached you much sooner to make love again, but I did not. Guess why? Our lives together in our marriage were an emotional disaster that should have both of us never having a close relationship again. But we are here, sometimes in spite of who we are, other times because of who we are."

"But remember, we are human, and we are weak and have failures. Do I ever wake up in a cold sweat thinking that you will be gone? But I have to talk with my self. How realistic do I think that that is? You are afraid of disappointing all those people. I think that the biggest one is yourself, then comes Franciszka and your father. After that, everyone else can go to hell." I chuckled at my expense, Cathy did not, but she did get the attempt and smiled. "The most important person in your life is your daughter. That I most fully understand. That daughter has not ever been something that divided us. She actually was what brought us together." I paused and held her with my eyes. "You will never do anything to disappoint your daughter. You know that." She nodded slowly, as if remembering something she had forgotten. A knowing smile crossed her face. I took a deep breath. "And in the future, if things do not work out between us, you will be honorable in what you do. Because being honorable, you will not disappoint your daughter. That may mean that we have to part once again. But we will both be honorable. All this is the same for me. We did it the other way and I do not think that we could ever do that way again."

"When we were young, making mistakes did not mater that much, we could always move on. I see people of our parent's generation ending long term marriages. There are no guarantees for them, or us. There never were. There never will be. We just found it out much sooner. But with our history, and a real love for each other, and added maturity, we can decide to what works for us. Me rushing you was not good. Moving both of you in without your consent? Just springing it on you as a complete surprise? That was not a 'together' thing. I wanted it to be romantic, but I forgot that romance is only part of a marriage." 

"Working together and listening to each others concerns is another part, a bigger part. I now know I scared you. I wanted to sweep you off your feet, and instead, I had you walk off a cliff. I will tone down my romantic streak. Flowers and dinners as a surprise are nice. Moving your ex-wife move in with you as a surprise? That should have been worked out together." I exhaled and looked into her eyes. "What do you think?"

We sat and hugged and kissed and cried, then changed a diaper. I got dinner ready. The local Thai place is great, and they deliver. This day was a real emotional roller coaster for us both. We took the rest of the evening just bonding. No one left the apartment till morning. We both learned something important that day. 

It took a while, but we finally got around to talking about moving in together. Cathy was the one that brought it up. Her lease was up four months after mine, so I got a larger place. She stayed put. We did start bringing things over, a little bit at a time. When it came time for the big move, we scheduled a whole weekend. She kept a weeks worth of clothes at my place ready for her and Franciszka. Just in case things got screwed up. She did not want to have to scramble on a Monday morning.

I was helping to pack her things from her dresser during the week before the move. I would go over after work and packed while she was taking care of little Freddie. Filling boxes one day, I started taking things from her top dresser drawer and found something. Covered only by a single sweater, it was a reminder of our break up. It was our wedding picture, frame and picture cracked in half, as I had directed, with my wedding ring still taped to the broken glass. I don't think that she wanted me to see that. I quickly returned everything to that dresser drawer and worked feverishly on a different dresser. Making some reasonable progress, I had just completed a box just in time when the two of them came into the room.

Franciszka was a bit figetity and Cathy was a little tired. So I offered to take the little girl, and make a quick dinner at the same time. Soup out of a can, sandwiches, a pot of herbal tea for us. For the baby, fresh mac and cheese. My normal bachelor level cooking for a quick dinner. I had just finished the last of the preparations, when Cathy joined us in the kitchen. She had finished the two dressers in her bedroom, emptied and packed in boxes.

Later, after Franciszka was put to bed, I saw that Cathy was exhausted, so I kissed her goodnight and took the packed boxes to my new place. She wanted to do her own unpacking, so I let the boxes sit. I was really torn and wanted to look at that picture again, but I did not. I needed to respect her. If she wants to tell me in the future, that will be her choice. I have to respect where she is at, and respect her choices. It is hard being good when you are insecure.

The move ended up being uneventful. Nothing broken and all it cost was the truck for 3 hours, and KFC with beer for a crew of 10 friends and relatives. Her father watched Franciszka that morning, and brought her back over at 6 PM, along with take out from the Red Apple, a Polish restaurant that he likes. He left by 7 and there was only about an hour of things that needed to be finished. Cathy gave the little one a bath while I finished. After she was put into her crib, we collapsed on the couch with two glasses of wine each. We fell fast asleep for half an hour.

I woke up first, and had an idea. I had the opportunity to do something I desired to do for a while. Heavy on the word desired. I quietly went into the bedroom and got some things. I had closed Franciszka's door before, so I knew that we would not disturb her. Then I went to the couch and carefully looped a tie over each of her ankles and fastened each to a different couch leg. She had jeans on, so she did not feel a thing. Then I gently tied Cathy's hands together and pulled them over her head, fastening that tie to the final leg. She started to stir and then I slowly started to unbutton her blouse. Just like me when we made love the first time again, she realized, but only quicker, that she was restrained. She smiled. That is when I whispered into her ear that her safe word was Canada, and she giggled.

I continued to slowly unbutton her blouse, but did not open it up. I went back to the kitchen and brought out the merlot and the chocolate. Heating the chocolate in my hands, I got it good and soft, then slowly traced her lips with it several times before I let her taste it after dunking it in the wine. While I was doing this, I had started to caress her bra covered tits. She was quietly moaning when I quickly stuck the rest of the chocolate into her mouth.

Licking my fingers clean, I stated to open her front clasped bra. I would have had a heck of a time if it was a rear clasp one. When she was open to me, I bent down and started to slowly caress her tits, one at a time, sometimes far from her nipple, other times rolling it harshly. She was getting more and more worked up, and loving it. Then she got a mischievous glint in her eye. Looking directly at me she said, "Canadian" and giggled. I was toying with her, but she was toying right back.

I drove my head onto her right tit and sucked it for all it was worth. She squealed. I continued to pleasure her with my mouth while my hands started south to her legs. Caressing her through her jeans was getting to her. That was when she said, "You can take longer later, but not right now mister." Smiling, I untied only one of her legs, and then my hands went to her jean button and zipper. She lifted up her bottom for me to pull her jeans down. I only took one leg out, and then retied that leg. That left her in her panties and a smile on her face that only matched mine.

I pulled out the vibrator and she said with a smile, "Is that what you are going to attack me with you filthy bastard?" I brought it to her lips. She opened her mouth and licked it. "Tastes just like me, and you." Then I moved it to her neck, then tits. She play struggled with her bonds. I heard an "Oh yes that feels so good" while I sucked on her right one and the vibrator on her other. All the while her legs were trying to rub together. My other hand was between her legs, pulling her panties on the side and caressing her slit. I slowly moved all my attention to her cunt and brought the dildo to her pussy. She was moaning softly at first, but started getting louder and louder. I was getting her close. 

I stopped short of allowing her to cum. The look of disappointment on her face was replaced with a smile when I started taking off my clothes. Then I brought out something new, a life-like dildo. Her mouth opened when she saw it. "Please mister, please don't put that in me." I smiled, we were into a new game for us. We never played this type of game before, and it was going to be a fun new experience. I was going to enjoy it. 

"Little princess, what is it that you don't want me to do with this?" Holding up the dildo in front of her face. "You are in no position to say no, are you?" Her arms and legs struggled with the bonds. "No my little one, I will do what I want. And if you are not good for me, I have more places to put it, don't I?"




Family is Not Blood Ch. 06



"Please sir, don't put that in me, please no. I'll do what ever you want." Then I laughed "My pretty one, you will do what ever I want anyway." She play struggled with her bonds when I passed it along her lips. The look of lust on her face was amazing. She clenched her lips shut for me. "If you don't open your mouth and take this, my little one, it is going up your ass IMMEDIATLY." She was breathing heavier when she opened her mouth and I put just the tip in. "Lick it my little princess, or it is going to go up your ass. NOW" She stuck out her tongue she licked it gingerly. "Is that what you wanted me to do kind sir. Please sir, untie me and let me go kind sir." 

Then I moved that cock to her neck, then circled each tit. She was trying to rub her legs together, while I held them apart. As she struggled, I slowly moved it down to just outside her pussy. All this time she kept saying "Please sir, no, Please don't do that sir, no, don't put that in me, kind sir. Please sir"

Looking into her eyes, I slowly slipped it into her wetness. "Is this what you don't want me to do little princess?" I started to fuck her with it. I could hear her moaning slightly. "Do you really want me to take this cock back out of you little princess?" I kept slowly pumping it in and out of her. She was starting to pant "No sir, please sir stop it sir. Please don't do this to me sir." Her face showed that she was fully enjoying the fucking I was giving her. "ohhhhhhhhhh" was all I hear from her. Slowly at first, then quicker, then slower I was pumping that dildo in and out of her. 

That is when I put my cock to her face. "Now my little princess, I have something else for you to do." She was so getting off on this, her breathing was heavy and her cunt was meeting my thrusts.

'No sir, please don't make me suck your cock. I don't want to do it sir, Please don't make me, please sir." I brought it closer to her lips, she was on the verge of coming. "Please sir don't make me suck you off. I don't want that long hard beautiful cock in my mouth. Don't make me su..." when I rammed my cock into her mouth before she could finish. I held her hair so her head would not move, while I kept pumping her cunt with that dildo and my cock fucking her mouth. 

"My little princess, you seem to be enjoying your self, aren't you? Tied down, clothes ripped away, a cock fucking your cunt, and now a cock in your mouth. You are enjoying this little princess. I think that you need to tell me that." Then I pulled my cock from her mouth, and stopped fucking her cunt with the dildo. "Sir, please sir don't make me say it sir. Please don't make me say it sir." 

"You are evil sir, you make me want to be fucked that those cocks, sir. Don't make me say it sir, just don't stop it sir.. Please sir, just don't stop it sir."

I put my cock back into her mouth and started pumping her cunt again. "Nod for me, my little princess, nod for me that you want this, that you don't want me to stop. NOD FOR ME." She started to nod, and started coming, hard. My words, my cock, the dildo and being tied and helpless put her over the edge. She bucked like a bronco and I pulled out of her mouth so she could enjoy her own climax, but only for a minute.

Before she could completely recover I went on. "Now I going to fuck you like there is no tomorrow, my little princess. You love it and you can't do anything about it. You cum bucket of mine." She play struggled when I mounted her." "Oh sir. please fuck me, make me cum again and again, please sir, you make me so bad sir, you make me so bad." I fucked her for all we were worth. She got two more organisms, and a third right before I came. 

I recovered as quickly as I could and untied her. That is when she grabbed me and kissed and hugged me and would not let go. After some minutes, we finally both had come down and relaxed in each others arms. She said, "You really know how to make a girl feel welcome here." A great way to start off our first night living together again.

The next couple of months were good over all. We had our fights and our quiet times. Being the second time around, we knew more of the places that we should not go, or rather, how we needed to do it if we needed to go there. There were other areas that we really needed to work on. We both worked on it. Marriage and a family are not for the weak. 

After a while, we were strong enough with each other to broach subjects that would have been very painful before. One night after we went to bed, and started to be a little frisky, she asked me if she could ask a question, about Maria and Mary. "What was it like with the two of them? What did you do? What did you not do? Will you tell me about it?"

This could be a very exciting addition to our love making, or a bomb that was going to blow up sometime. "Well, I want to start off by saying that it was not something I planned. And even when Maria asked me if she could go talk with Mary when she caught us on the couch, I did not know Mary was going to be invited back. I was actually starting to collect my clothes when the both of them returned, naked. I was shocked. This has never happened to me like this before."

"When they came back, both naked, Maria gave Mary a hug, then motioned to Mary to sit next to me on the couch. I must have looked pretty normal, my 'deer in the headlights' look. But you've never seen that before, have you?" We laughed at that one. 

"So Maria brought my hand to Mary's face. That broke the ice, and we started to kiss. There was some hesitation at first, but a hunger started to come out of her after a few seconds. I found out later that it had been over a year since she was with anyone, and it was starting to show. I slowly started to caress her ample breasts, and she reached over and started to stroke my thighs, each stroke closer and closer to my cock. When she finally touched it, she jumped a little, then carefully stroked it softly. 

All this time, Maria was looking at us. I was so much into the experience with Mary, that I had no clue that there was anyone else in the world until Maria not so quietly sat down on the recliner, spreading her legs for her fingers. I've never fucked in front of anyone before, this was an exciting and unsettling first."

"I bent my head down and started licking her right tit, while my hand gently massaged her left one. This brought an "oh yes" to my ears. She carefully continued to stroke my cock and my hair, but stroked my cock with more intensity. I whispered into her ear that I did not have any condoms with me, Maria did not need any. She looked a bit disappointed. Then I said that I would make sure that she would be satisfied. She whispered back that I was famous for that. Talk about an ego boost. What else does everyone know about me?"

Cathy broke in with a "You are a very attentive lover, I am lucky. You put your partner's needs above your own. I'm not surprised Maria would have told her that." Telling this story was getting more surreal as I went on. I've never been a kiss and tell kind of guy. It appears that everybody else was.

I continued. "She spread her legs for me and my mouth started heading to her navel, taking my cock away from her hand. I got on my knees and parted her legs with my body. Kneeling there I was just looking at her pussy, that beautiful pussy. That is when she forcefully pulled my head into her while she pushed her pussy into my face, humping it. She was mad with desire, she wanted my mouth. I ate her out like there as no tomorrow. She did not want it any other way. My head was locked between her thighs, but I heard her yell out a loud yes while she clamped her thighs around my head. Then I heard a farther away "Ohhhhhhhhhhh". They both came."

"She slumped like a rag doll while I pulled my self to her face and kissed her. That was when she smiled then leaned over and took me in her mouth. I was enjoying her giving me head, when she suddenly got up. She pushed me down on my back and straddled my face with her cunt. Then I felt another mouth on my cock. During sex with a person, what ever you do to them, you get a reaction some way. Here I was eating out Mary again, but what ever I did to her, it had no connection to the sucking that was happening on my cock. Pardon the pun, but it blew my mind."

"By the time all of that registered, Maria's mouth was off my cock. I was a little disappointed, but then I felt her straddling me and started riding me, cowgirl style. I know that I am tall, but I figured out that these two women had to be leaning against each other, naked, riding this piece of meat. It was exhilarating. It was so wrong, but it was just so exciting. I know that they said that they were not into girls, and I do believe them, but there was no way they were not rubbing up against each other. I was being used as a fuck boy toy, by friends of mine, but I was a fuck toy nevertheless. It was fun and different and exciting."

I needed to take a chance now, I wanted to go where I never went with Cathy before. This is when I looked at Cathy and asked. "Was that what it was like for you with Corey?" During my talking about Maria and Mary, Cathy was stroking my cock and occasionally licking my nipples. This stopped her cold. I quickly added, "You don't have to answer, and I'm sorry for killing the mood. We've been back together for a while. I've always felt that the topic was off limits before, and it may be now. But I would like to know about your past from you, like I'm telling you about mine."

She looked at me, and then looked inward. "I was always afraid to talk about it with you. I thought that the reminder of my infidelity with you would just kill everything. What happened before we got back together was in the past, but we are part of the past.' Then she looked at me directly, and grabbed my cock, stroking it and smiled. I took a chance, and we won. She continued. 

"There were exciting things that I did sexually that I really enjoyed, and some I did not. It was always the same with him. He called the shots, he had a script. Part of me not saying anything thing is that you saw everything on the web cam files. It was kind of all there for you to see. Until now, I did not think that you really wanted to know anything more. "

"There were exciting things. First off, doing something naughty was a big draw. I had been seeing my mother smile more after her fucks with Paul. The 'cat that ate the canary' look. I also liked sometimes feeling like the piece of meat, just like you just told me that you felt with Maria and Mary. Not all the time, but part of the time. A big part was to just feel desirable and wanton." She stopped talking, and took my cock into her mouth for a big suck. "Just like you have been making me feel since we got back together." 

With that, she pulled my head to her mouth for a big kiss, then pushed my face down to her pussy spreading her legs. She slowly started to hump my face. "Yea, you liked those women using you like a piece of meat, didn't you? You like to be used. You filthy bastard you. Keep eating this hot pussy. You get me so hot. Yes, I liked to be used sometimes, I liked to be forced to suck his cock. But you filthy bastard, you did that too. But you did more, so much more. You tied me up, forced your big cock into my mouth, or into my ass, and you made me come. Making me cum is important to you. You make me feel like a queen, like a lover, a slutty little lover, but LOVED. You never degraded me." 

"But you also let me play with you. You ate my cream pie, allowed me to tie you up, you played games with me, you laughed with me, you were more interested in me than anyone else. You let me be free with you. I can do anything with you. Keep eating my cunt you filthy bastard, you wonderful filthy bastard. Ohhhhh yessss. You have made me whole, you've made me free. I can do everything with you. And you can do anything with me." That is when I stuck two fingers in her cunt, and my thumb up her ass. She came all over my face.

With that, I moved to her face and shoved my tongue into her mouth, sharing her taste with her. Then it was my turn. I straddled her chest and started to tit fuck her. She kept reaching down with her tongue and licked my cock head when it was near her mouth. I kept fucking higher and higher till I just shoved it into her mouth, and kept it there. My legs along side her head. 

"So you like to be used like a piece of meat, do you? Well, my hot little bitch, you are going to have to suck this cock, and swallow this load. You are going to be my little cum bucket while I tell you some more of Mary and Maria. You'll like that, won't you? " She nodded yes with my cock in her mouth. I'm going to keep you good and hot while you suck me good."  

"Another time I got there when Mary was home alone. Maria was running late. Mary brought out some drinks, I was sipping a straight bourbon and she had a glass of merlot. Mary asked me to her room to change a light bulb. It was really broken and the ceiling fixture was higher than she could reach. I was tall enough that standing on her bed, I could do it. As I finished reinstalling the glass shade, her hand was pulling down my zipper on my jeans. Just the right height for her mouth."

"She reached in and pulled me out, and gave my cock a big kiss, then a suck. Looking into my eyes, she started getting me hard saying that we needed to be ready for Maria, and that it looked as I could also use her help. My cock got hard in her hand and mouth. While she was stroking me and looking into my eyes, she started to unbutton her blouse, then skirt. She left on her sexy black bra and matching panties. My hands were on her shoulders to balance on the bed, and she undid my belt and dropped my jeans and underwear in one pull. Laughing, she pushed me down on the bed, tripping me by my jeans around my ankles."

"I pulled her down on top of me laughing. She was able to get my shoes and pants the rest of the way off while I unbuttoned my shirt. She started kissing me and whispered into my ear that she had a couple of condoms ready for use. She was hot and wet and brought her cunt to my face. I took off her panties and bra while she was telling me that I ate her divinely and I needed to so it again. As I started, she flipped into 69 with me. That is how Maria found us. I only knew that Maria was there, was because she slipped a finger into my rosebud. That shock broke our 69 up. Mary had seen her but I jumped out of my skin."

I looked down at Cathy, she was listening to me intently, and had stopped sucking on me. I wiggled my cock in he mouth and smiled. She started sucking it again. "Maria said to Mary 'Glad that you got him warmed up for us. You are over due for a real good fucking, so you go first'. With that Maria got the condom and put it on me. Mary got on her hands and knees with her ass facing me, swaying it back and forth. She wanted me doggie style. Maria playfully swatted my ass cheek as I got between Mary's legs."

"Maria rubbed my cock over Mary's slit, then I pushed in her, both of us now groaning. That was the closest I saw them touch, my cock and her cunt. Mary started rocking back and forth, taking my thrusts and adding her own. I was able to reach around and at first, just played with her tits. I was telling her how her cunt was so good to fuck. She kept saying that she just loved my cock fucking her. I moved my hand from her tits to her mouth. She tasted herself from my fingers and sucked greedily. Then I went to her clit, and she went wild. She stated coming and saying 'oh oh oh oh yessssssssssssssss' and collapsed on the bed."

"I pulled out and rolled on my back on the bed. Maria was right there, not skipping a beat, and started riding me cow girl style. She came in seconds, and I right was behind her. I really can't hold out long when I'm doubled teamed."

Then I grabbed Cathy's hair and pulled her face to see mine, pulling her off my cock. "Did you like that, did you like to hear me fucking two women. Have I kept you hot my hot little bitch?" Cathy's right hand was in her cunt and her left one on my cock. "You filthy bastard, you know oh so well what it takes to make me hot." I pushed her face back on my cock. "I getting close my hot little bitch, do you want to swallow it, or do you want to wear it? Where do you want this filthy bastard to come? Be quick." 

She looked up at me, taking my cock out of her mouth and smiled. She started to stall. "I'm just a cum bucket for you. So do you want me to swallow your cum?" She licked and stroked me for a minute. "Or do you want me to wear it?" She stroked herself for me while she sexily smiled then kissed my cock. She started to pant slightly. "Do you want to fill my pussy with your cum?" She sucked and stroked me, quicker this time. "Or should you fill my ass?" She put her lips around my cock and moaned. Her moaning was just heaven. "Do you want me to share it with you?" And she then stroked me with both hands and sucked hard. After her mouth left my cock. "Or share it with someone else?" At that, I immediately erupted all over her face and chest and me. She came at the same time. After we recovered a little, she said, "So you've been thinking of a threesome? Haven't you?"



Cathy, Franciszka and I settled down together. It took a couple of weeks to get our routines down. Before they moved in, Cathy and I spoke about the Financial Trust that Mary had funded for her that I was the administer. I told her that I felt uncomfortable to be part of the household where I would stand to benefit. For the time being, I asked that she not receive anything from the trust, I would provide instead. We also spoke about dividing other costs and responsibilities. That's the thing about 'kind of' starting over. Real life had taught us about things that do matter. We figured out our finances, the cooking and cleaning (EVERYBODY), laundry, grocery shopping and the rest of real life of living together with a child. In the end, we were actually becoming a real family.

At the end of each day, we both were dead tired. Many times, so tired to not even consider making love. We talked about it together, but we were not happy about it. Cathy shared it with her dad, and I shared it with Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona. When we spoke about it again, we both had learned from the older generation, that this was real life for our parents too. They found a way to make it work, and we would too.

To be honest, I was also bit worried after our little 'three some' fantasy. That was something that both frightened me, and excited the hell out of me. On a quiet evening when we were sharing a pinot noir at the end of a long day, I brought it up to Cathy. I told her what I felt. I wanted to find out where she was at. 

She looked at me and smiled. "Mike, one of the biggest things that I learned from you is that you and I are safe with one another. We both had experiences outside of us before now. Those experiences were exciting at the time. They are even fun and exciting to relive with each other. Hearing about you having two women, one on your cock and the other humping your mouth, Oh wow. I get wet just thinking about it."

"But one of the biggest things I learned from you is sharing and talking and our fantasies with each other are exciting, and safe. We can talk about anybody and anything we want to in our bed, but it should only be the two of us in bed together. I'm serious you big lunk. We played around before, but now we play around together, with each other. It's you and me Mike, just you and me. We worked hard to get here again, or isn't this really the first time? Nothing is going to be valuable enough to risk that. Nothing. Are you with me on this one?" I nodded yes, appreciating the openness of our lives, and the tightness of our relationship. 

After another sip if the red wine, she looked directly at me. "One of the many of my biggest fears, and there were many of them, I had in getting back together, was there would be no excitement in the bedroom. I did not want to stray. But I did not trust my self not to stray. Remember, I was brought up that way. When I went off the wall when we looked at that first apartment, that was the biggest thing."




Family is Not Blood Ch. 06



"Later that day when we reconnected, you reminded me who I was, rather, who I blossomed into. You help remind me of who was important in my life, Little Freddie, you and my dad. You showed me that I had grown and became an adult. I took a chance, and you did too. But on the excitement number, you have not just made the grade." 

The blood quickly drained from my face. "No Mike, you blew the top end of the bell curve off the wall." I immediately became beet red. "You keep things interesting beyond belief. It is rarely the same twice, unless one of us wants it that way. You read my moods and play along with me when I try something new, and I do that with you too. Our lovemaking is not forced. We get tired from real life and little Freddie, but we get rejuvenated with each other. The only thing that you can do to make this better, is to keep going and grow and explore with other."

"By the way, why is it that we don't have any porn around here? I know that guys like it. You're a guy. And occasionally, I like it too. We have lots of ways to keep it alive between us. We just have to take the time, and our noses away from the grindstones to keep it interesting between us. We have started with a couple of toys, maybe some clothing would be nice? Hint Hint." She chuckled while I smiled, envisioning her in something I saw last week passing by a Victoria's Secret. 

"We actually have people in our lives that will gladly take little Freddie for an over night. People that she completely is spoiled by." She smiled and held my hand. I smiled and kissed her. "Cathy, as I said before, we both have to agree on things, and we agree. And I guess that we have things that we both need to do to make it all work out."

Life was getting on for us. It was time for Franciszka's second birthday. We were going to have a family and friend's party at the apartment. It was fun getting everything together. Food was going to be easy, Chicago Style roast beef from Johnny's with French bread and sweet peppers and giardiniera, some trays from a Polish deli, a cake from Costco, lots of polish beer and cognac, wine, soda, black olives, sweet pickles, polish dills, and a table for the nickel and dime friendly poker game in the living room. Because of the number of diabetics, we had food they could eat, and remain healthy. The spare bedroom was set with toys and games for the kids. Everybody always stands in the kitchen and talks, so we didn't really bother to make any more changes there.

We had a good time, talking with these family and friends, wonderful people. A couple of my cousins popped in and out with their children. They all had more than one, the most was three. In my parent's generation, it was 4-6 children or more, before that 8-10. The old joke about Polish family planning, plan on a large Polish family.

After the birthday party, I start thinking about another child. I grew up with a sister, who had always been there for me. Cathy was an only child. But we both had large extended families. What struck me at the party were the cousins with their children all running around. That was how I was brought up. I was also brought up that every parent had a right to correct me or tell my parents if I was doing something that was not right. Maybe that was why I never really got into trouble. Seeing the families of my cousins and Cathy's cousins, well, it was like home again, just looking at it from a generation later. There was always more than one child in a family. And the children seemed happy to have the siblings. They were never alone, that was good and bad, but basically good. But being alone is not always a good thing. 

I looked at Cathy and back at our little one. Yes, she was OUR little one. She had started to call me Daddy on her own since we all moved in together. When Cathy started to correct her, I told her to just let it ride, she needs a daddy, everyone needs a dad. Now I was seeing what I wanted for all of us. It was time to talk it over with Cathy to see if this is what she wanted too. There was more that I wanted beyond that, but I learned to do one thing at a time.

A couple of days after the party and Franciscka was put to bed, Cathy and I were enjoying a glass of wine watching a sit-com. When it broke to a commercial, I asked if we could talk about the birthday party. Because I am a guy, and she knows me well, she turned off the TV. It's nice to have that level of focus without the distraction of the boob tube.

On Sunday, we had not spoken about the party. It took the rest of that day to clean up the apartment and settle Franciszka. The little one had been wired for sound and I never realized what 'to much sugar' can do really to a toddler. Now, while we were sitting there on the couch, Cathy and I could talk about it. Who came? What went on? What did they bring? What did they give? Did the thank you notes go out? That was yes, on her batch and yes on mine except for Uncle Stan and Aunt Iwona's note. For that I needed to pick up the waiting photo from Costco of them and Franciszka. 

Cathy said that all the children of the cousins were a terror of sorts, but a nice terror of sorts. None of the kids got into things that they should not have. The 'old people's table' of our Aunts and Uncles were there to keep them in check. It was just a big excitement, but a good excitement.

I agreed with her about the excitement and spoke about my growing up with these cousins. "Cathy, you were an only child, but didn't your cousins fill in for a sibling?" That is when she looked in the distance and smiled. "I remember spending some time away during summers with one set grand parents or the other, then after it was beyond their ability, to be with one or another set of cousins. Those were great times for me. I had someone to play with, and tease, and be teased and just do kid stuff with."

I held my breath and asked "How would you feel about having another child to add to our family?" I know that I cannot hide a damn thing. My face becomes a billboard of what I think. I cannot imagine my look when I said that to her. Her face became questioning then angry and I immediately started to drop like a rock, telling my self once again, to far, to fast.

"So listen up her mister, you want me to get barefoot and pregnant so Franciszka can have a little sibling to fight with. So I may have two in diapers at the same time? That I am going to be bloated like a cow for months on end? Is that what you want??

"No way mister, not like I am now. You just wait here and I'll tell you what you can do." She stormed off to the bedroom and returned in 10 seconds with something in her hands. She got down on her knees in front of me and with a soft but strangely worried face and voice. 

She looked me in the eye, "Michael, would you marry me? Again?" She held out our set of wedding rings from before. "We both are the same, but different people from before. We both have matured and figured out what we want out of life. You have accepted my daughter as your own. As important, you have accepted me as your own, and you as my own. We have gone through hell and back and we have stuck with each other."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want our daughter with us too. It is my turn to ask, will you take a chance with Franciszka and me and who ever comes on by next?"

I was speechless, smiling and beaming like a complete idiot. Cathy's worried look disappeared. So many things were running through my mind, but here were my hopes and dreams. Everything I could ever want. I just wanted one more thing. 

"I want this to happen, more than anything else in the world. You and I are here for real. We have been honest and open with each other, more than we ever were before. Sometimes it was painful and sometimes it was joyous. We both have brought out things to the other that we would have kept inside before. The trust is there. We have corrected problems, and have figured out how to go forward."

"I want to be married to you again, but there is one more thing that I want to happen. I want to formally adopt Franciszka into our family. As far as I am concerned, she is my daughter. Family is not about blood, but bonds."



Family is Not Blood Ch. 07



I would like to enter into a bit of a dialogue with the readers of this story series. This is for those of you who took the time to enter a comment, positive or negative, as well as those of you who only look at (but not write) comments. (me 98% of the time)

First off, thank you for sharing what your thoughts. This is a story, like every other story in this website that will have people who like it, and others that do not. Great thing about America, I don't have to like what you like, or you like what I care about.

Many people read these stories for pure escapism. This one was a part of a sub-category that was more reality and people based, less fantasy in a way. I wanted it to be more realistic for how people think and feel. Why people do things is sometimes more important than what they do. I understand that not everyone feels that way.

I wrote this story, all chapters, and submitted it at once. Roll of the dice. What you saw was my original vision. It was great to be 'taken to task' about what the male lead or another character did in a earlier chapter, knowing that the character admitted to it later. I felt great to see people feeling the same way that I did. I tend to have a serious morality in my life. Not everyone does.

I blurred the line in the genre of Romance with a BTB story. I did state that upfront. It was interesting to see people who liked one and disliked the other. I can understand that. The liking and disliking of the story series was very interesting to see. There are other genres that I do not go near. Those genres have no appeal to me, but do appeal to others. 

The next major point of contention was the 'Once a cheater, always a cheater' issue. This was very interesting to me on a couple of levels. I may be in my very early 60's, but I remember the late 60's. Part of me is still 22, and 62 at the same time. When I was in my 20's, I was not exclusive in dating my current ( and first and only ) wife of 35 years. We did not talk about it then, but everybody ended up knowing. When I began to realize what I was doing, (something about a confrontation?) I stopped. Never looked back and have not ever been unfaithful in 38 years, nor plan to be. I have found out that this is not usual, but also not unusual.

The bonds that were forming at those premarriage years and early years of our marriage survived and grew. I got a second chance. Never was going to need a third one. Wouldn't matter, never would have gotten it anyway. By then, I realized what I had to loose and gain. The female lead in my story actually lost everything, and with support, rebuilt it and became an adult. The addition of having a child does that to many, but not all people. The immaturity of the author as well as the female lead was 'cured' by a dose of reality.

When I was outlining this story, I looked at the female lead 'falling off the wagon' again. From who the characters were, it would have ended the story or just transferred it to Loving Wives. If we are lucky in life, we get a second chance. There are very few thirds. Second chances need to be earned. The female lead did that. I also wanted people in the story to have success in their striving. Romance and growth and a future was where I really wanted to go, not the utter destruction of Loving Wives. The world needs more hope, less heartache. The support of family and friends is an important point for me. (Hence, the title of the series.) 

Another point I've read was on raising a child that was not your own. It really depends on who you are or have become. I have relatives and friends that were divorced and remarried other divorced individuals. Then divorced. Life was not kind to those people. In several cases, the step kids stayed with the ex-step-parent, not the biological parent. An ex-step-father walked his ex-step-daughter down the aisle at her wedding and gave her away. (traditional marriage ceremony) 

I had a co-worker who divorced and took the child with him. He and his wife were both white, the child was mixed. Why would he do it? The child was more important than his ego, and the mother was rapidly descending into an emotional self-centered destructive unstable hell of her own choosing. Last I heard, the daughter graduated from college. The father still drives a bus. The mother has gone off the face of the earth. Will everyone do this? No, but there are people like this. The reader may be at a point in their life that they may see this, or not. If you ever get to a point in life where you become a grandparent or the last hope for a child, you will understand.

My point in all of this is that this story was based on parts of people that I had actually known. I tried to stay true to their inner core values. The story will not fit everyone, and that is OK.

My father, Uncles and Aunt lost their mother when my father was 10. I saw how it shaped who they were inside. The male lead lost his mother at 14. It changes your life and how you see and value people. Different experiences do not negate others experiences. I hope to hell that anyone reading this story will never suddenly be in a situation like this. I cannot imagine anything worse, except for adding aids to the mix.

My point in all of this is to think outside of the box. Stories can bring a different view to our lives. Views that we ordinarily would not have seen. The point of including the amnesty for illegals was a prod to the children of relatives that were born here because of it, after these same children were complaining about the current set of illegal immigrants. Remember where you came from.

In the end, this was just a story that I had fun writing. Years of collecting nasty things to do to somebody's car was a hoot. These things were actually done by others from ranging from New York to California. The valve grinding compound in the oil number caused a neighbor bully to wear out 3 engines in the late 60's somewhere on the East Coast. Some self-important New Yorker kept blocking fire a lane at a ski lodge in the northeast got the garlic. There is a god, and sometimes he lets you watch, or in the last case, smell.

On the romance side, I wanted to write a believable rebuilding of a marriage. I have seen it happen with others in real life. It takes months of very dedicated hard work. Rebuilding bonds and in many cases, building bonds the first time. I know of two couples who got remarried to each other. Damn tough to do. The support of others around them was critical. 

Writing on the sexual encounters were also interesting. I had the male lead relate his 3-way experiences to his ex-wife in an occasional stilted manner, to fit who he is and what he was comfortable with. He really was not. It was not poor writing on my side. Yes, you can debate that, and I'll probably agree with you. I don't feel I was as successful as I would have liked to be.

There is joy in being sexual, and keeping the spark alive in a marriage. It takes real work to stay romantic and keep a marriage alive. I hope I captured a part of it.

The cheapness and the availability of the tech tools hopefully give food for thought for anyone. The world is different. 

And finally, there was a bit of humor in this story. What is life except for laughing at ourselves sometimes.

Thanks to you all for listening to the serious underpinnings of this story.