Storiesonline.net ------- Stranger in My House by Barneyr Copyright© 2012 by Barneyr ------- Description: Have you ever really listened to some of the country songs from the years gone by? Stuff by Garth Brooks or Ronnie Milsap or even George Jones? They have some of the saddest lyrics you will ever see or hear. This story is about a man for whom those songs really hit home. Codes: het tears cheat slow ------- Have you ever really listened to some of the country songs from the years gone by? Stuff by Garth Brooks, Ronnie Milsap, or even George Jones? They have some of the saddest lyrics you will ever see or hear. One that I have always liked, because of the haunting melody and the words that tell of a man that knows something isn't right at home is 'A Stranger in My House' by Ronny Milsap. He can't really place his finger on what, but something is very different. There's a silence here between us I've never heard before And I can't find the love In her eyes anymore There's some changes going on I'm beginning to understand When I'm holding her I swear I feel the presence of another man Those words were never truer when Anthony S. Crawford & Shae Jones wrote that song, than they are right now in my house, or is it still 'our' house? I just don't know anymore. There really seems to be a stranger in my house. I guess I need to give you some background as to the who, what, and where, of this tale of woe. I'm Bob Starr; I'm 34, 5'-11 and 180 lbs. I have sandy blond hair and blue eyes. I'm not ugly, but not classically movie star handsome either. I'm maybe a little better than average in looks, but I'm fit, as I run and do the home gym daily. I work for an engineering consulting firm. I do travel, but it is rare now since I became a division manager. I may only travel for a couple of days every other month or so. I've been married to the beautiful Alice Louise Gardner-Starr for just over ten years now. Alice is 32, 5'-4 and 120 lbs, with a figure that is sure to give rise to certain appendages when she is around. She is a beautiful woman in anything she wears; she can be in dirty jeans and a sweatshirt and look fantastic, and she breaks hearts and almost causes panic in every male, and a few females, who see her when she dresses up in a gown. We have two children, a boy, Keith, 9, and a girl, Melinda, age 8, who is the spitting image of Alice at that age. We live in a small bedroom community in Austin, Texas. We have a large four bedroom, single-story home on ten acres, just outside of the Hutto city limits. Alice is a local claims adjuster for a large national insurance company. She doesn't travel at all, as she works out of a major claim center in Austin. She sees or talks to probably fifty people a day, but only travels between body shops and the claims center in a company car. I think we're kind of a normal couple who has been married for ten years; we love each other a lot, we have sex at least three to four times a week, usually when we can get away from the kids, or at night, long after they have gone to sleep. Both of us like oral and straight sex, even some kinky stuff sometimes. We also role play; I have a cop's uniform and TV repairman coveralls that I can change the insignia on to make myself the pool boy, garage mechanic, or just about any other guy. Alice has a schoolgirl outfit (think St. Trinian's or Catholic school girl from thirty years ago), she has a slut uniform, with 6 inch spike heels, a micro skirt with fishnet stockings, and see-thru blouse, a nurse's uniform, and a few others. We have even gotten a sitter or sent the kids to their grandparents, and I have picked her up in the bar of a hotel and gone upstairs and fucked ourselves silly. So I would say that our sex live is great. That is what I can't understand. If our home life is so great, then why do I have this feeling that she is being unfaithful? I have looked for all the normal signs of cheating; the lack of sex, the snide remarks, the lack of affection, or a cold shoulder. But I see none of those things; Alice doesn't even go out with the 'girls'. I had let her know early on that she could go out and let off steam with her co-workers if she wanted to, but she didn't want to do that. She said that she would much rather stay home with her loving husband and growing children. So I blew it off as she was a homebody and she didn't need any of that stuff. I didn't need any of that type of thing either, as I was able to bond with my friends at work or have friends from both of our workplaces come to our home, or we went to theirs about once a month. We had other friends besides work friends that we saw at these parties too. But the feeling that something wasn't right kept invading my mind. I started to really pay attention to us more. Alice would suddenly start to say something, stop in mid-thought, then go back to what she was doing. It didn't happen often, and when it did, I would ask, "Baby, is anything wrong, did you need to say something?" She would come back and say, "It's nothing," or "Never mind, it was just a random thought," and that would be it. It would be three or four days later before something triggered my acute awareness that something was wrong again. Then one morning, I knew for sure that she was cheating on me. I had come out of the bathroom while Alice was getting dressed for work. She already had on a panty and bra set as she looked in the mirror, shook her head, then she took them off and changed into another set. I backed up and stood just inside the bathroom and watched as she again took that set off and tried a third set. This set was one I had bought her at Frederick's and was pretty sheer and see-thru. She then put a new black skirt on that I had not seen before. It was short, coming to about mid-thigh. She normally wore ones that came about two inches above the knee except for our costume ones. She pulled this one down so that it came lower on her legs and added a cream blouse that was satiny. I could see now that she was dressing for sex, she had a lover and he was going to get so lucky. I retreated back into the bathroom and sat on the toilet seat. I was stunned, to say the least. I thought that I had somehow been missing something I should have seen. When did this start? Who was she going to see dressed like this? I needed to know what was going on. Should I confront her now or after I had someone follow her and learned the truth. I sat there, stunned, until Alice came in to do her makeup. I just got up and walked out, never saying anything to her. I got dressed, woke the kids, and started breakfast. The first one downstairs normally made breakfast. Usually, she was the first to go downstairs, but today it seemed to be my turn. I was just going through the motions. When Keith came downstairs, I was pouring milk for his cereal when he said, "Gee thanks, Dad, chocolate milk on my cereal today, is it my birthday and I didn't realize it?" That woke me up from this morning's stupor, and I said, "I just wanted to surprise you." About then, Melinda came in and saw her brother's bowl and asked if she could have some too. I said sure and poured her bowl full too. The funny thing is that Alice didn't even notice until Mel said something to her about getting a treat this morning. Alice looked at me; I frowned, shook my head, and mouthed 'later'. Alice left right before the kids did, saying she had an early meeting, so 'later' really would be later. Actually it was even later than I thought. I had a buddy from college who was a cop until he got shot in the line of duty. He decided to be a PI and an investigator for the DA. I called Brian as soon as I got to work and asked if he would work for me and find out what Alice was up to. He had been a PI for about five years now, and had two young investigators, and one older ex-cop whose wife left him and took him to the cleaners, as employees. Brian said he would use all of his resources, if necessary, to find out what was going on. I gave him the gist of what I knew and what I suspected, and he went from there. I told him a check would be forthcoming. He said, "Bob, for you this part is free, if we find evidence, then I want to be paid, but until we know what's going on, I don't want her suspecting that you know." I heard back from Brian before the day was over. Yes, she was having an affair and it was not with just one guy. He had videos of her and three different guys today, so far. Each one was at a motel in San Marcos. They came in about a half hour apart, and he was trying to track down who each guy was, but it didn't look good for me. I thanked him and said I would check with the bank, then go see my lawyer. He recommended Sylvia Burnett. She loved going after cheating spouses, and she didn't care if they were male or female, only that children were involved. Brian said, "She's a real ballbuster on men, and God, I swear she hates women cheaters more than the men. She's expecting your call." I sat at my desk and cried, I had my head in my hands and just let it all out, I sobbed, I did almost everything except yell and scream. Brian had called at 2:00 PM and at 2:40 PM, Betty Monroe; my PA came in after knocking, took one look at me, and said, "That BITCH!!! Some lawyer is on line one and she is hot to talk to you. She said the sooner the better. Now stop being a wimp and pick up the phone." Once I picked up the phone, Betty left and quietly shut the door. I answered the phone with, "Hello?" "Mr. Robert Starr, I presume. I need you to come to my office today as soon as you can and we can get things started. I understand that you have two children, one 8 and one 9, right? Do you know if they are yours? Don't worry, I'll get them tested, besides some hospitals do DNA and type crossmatch when a child is born; it's for tracking the child if they are kidnapped or killed. What hospital were they born at? I need a DNA sample from you too. Now, Brian told me what he found, so we are going for adultery for her and alienation of affections for the men, so not to worry. I'm pretty sure that with the evidence we have, we can get you as permanent guardian and we may have to accept some visitation, but supervised, if at all. Do you have separate accounts or all in one?" She waited a bit, then said, "Well, can you talk or am I just flapping my lips to make sounds?" Her brisk manner and nonstop talking surprised me. "I'm sorry, Ms Burnett. Yes, we have two children, I'm almost positive they are mine. I think this didn't start until recently. They were born in Seton Northwest, and I think DNA samples were taken. We had a single account until about a year ago, when Alice got a separate one and contributes half of her check for a household account. I already had an account, but it was converted for savings only when we got married, and we opened a separate joint household account. As far as I know, they are all at the same bank, but I wouldn't know for sure about Alice's. I have seen her checks I think and they are on the same bank as mine." "Okay, first it's Sylvia, or Syl, to you. Do you know how much is in your savings account and how much in the household account?" "About ten thousand in savings and about the same in the household account, but it's just after the first of the month, and we still have about five thousand left to pay in bills for this month." "How much do you contribute to the household account, and how much does Alice?" "I have my whole check direct deposited into that account. It's almost eight thousand, and Alice has about thirty-eight hundred deposited from her account each month. Is there a problem?" "Mr. Starr, I won't know for sure until I do some digging, but I think that about a year ago, your wife either got a big raise that she didn't want to share with you, or she started cheating about then and needed a way to get at money that you didn't know about. That is why she wanted her own account." We talked a few more minutes, and she said, "Mr. Starr, I need you to withdraw two thousand from your savings account, bring me one half, and give Brian the other half, so that we can get all the paperwork started for your divorce. That makes us legal to represent you in this case. For what it's worth, I am really sorry that you have to go through all this pain and agony, but the alternative is not pretty either. I hope to see you soon." I had Ms Burnett's office address, and armed with that, I told Betty I had to take the afternoon off and would be back tomorrow. She hugged me and said, "Take all the time you need, we can muddle through without you for a few days. Go get this straightened out and come back to us single. If I was about fifteen years younger and not married, you would be just about right for me. Now go take care of your family." Betty Monroe was just over fifty, and very attractive for someone who only looked forty-five, let alone fifty-one. She had been my PA for almost seven years now, and I really loved her dearly in a brother-sister kind of way. She and her husband, Rick, had been to our house many times and we to theirs. I had thought that my marriage with Alice would be like theirs, comfortable and long lasting, with spouses that loved each other beyond question. They would touch or sometimes even just look at the other one and smile or giggle, then that sudden intimacy would fade back and they would almost be embarrassed by their public display of love for each other. Alice and I had that same intimacy for a long time, that same spark, but something was different lately. I'm reminded of John Anderson's song 'Your Lying Blue Eyes'. Your lying blue eyes used to charm me, Hypnotize me, through and through. Like a fool, Lord, I've been dreamin', Your lying blue eyes just told on you. All those stories I've been hearin', I wouldn't believe that they were true. But just this morning over coffee, Your lying blue eyes just told on you. For a long time I have loved you, And I thought that you loved me too. Now all my questions have been answered, Your lying blue eyes just told on you. That was us, except Alice's eyes were greenish brown; I guess they call that hazel. But this morning at breakfast, I could see the lies in her eyes. I wondered how long this had been going on, and I realized that I really didn't care. She had made her bed and now she had to lie in it. I made it to Brian's place first and left his retainer, then went to see my new lawyer. Sylvia was a surprise. I had somehow envisioned an older shrew of a woman who had been taken to the cleaners in a divorce. What greeted me was a beautiful woman of about thirty, very well put together, and charming, if a little brash. She talked a mile a minute, and hardly paused for my answers. I signed some paperwork for her retainer, and then we got down to the dirty work of raking my wife over the coals of infidelity. About a week later, I met with Brian and Sylvia for more information and to clarify our approach. Brian had found that there were several of her co-workers from other offices who were her lovers. She didn't limit her dalliances only to her company. Every major insurance company in Austin had been represented. This came from his investigators' searches and pictures. Alice didn't just go to one motel; she used about seven of them over the next ten working days of surveillance they had on her. Nights and weekends were mine, but I told her I had strained a groin muscle, and I couldn't have sex with her. She even begged for me to satisfy her orally, but I just couldn't do it. I asked that she not try to blow me either, as I thought that I would harm myself further if we did. So we had no sex for two weeks. Then I had her served at the next meeting of her lovers. She blew up and started screaming about this all being a mistake. The papers were signed by me with the charge of adultery and alienation of our children and me. There was also a restraining order issued that she was not allowed within 500 feet of me, the house, or the children, and that even included the school. We set it up for her to be served at work right before quitting time at the end of the month. After she left for work that morning, I packed all her clothes, makeup, toiletries, and any other items of hers, and left them in a storage locker I rented for one month. She was handed the key and the notice that it was only good for one month, and she would have to pay for it if she wanted it for longer. I also had her company sued for alienation and promoting an atmosphere for cheating. I also had fifteen names of men who were also served at their homes when their wives were present. There were also five other single men who were served as well. I was fine overall, but the kids were devastated that their mother would just leave them like that. I tried to explain that their mommy didn't love us anymore, and she had to leave us alone. That was the hardest part. Melinda was hit the worst. She cried for days before she finally decided that if her mother hated me and her so much that she had to go find someone new, she would be my comfort. Everywhere I went, she was right by my side, holding on to my hand. Keith was more pragmatic about it, he said, "If she can't be a mother to us and a wife to you, then fuck her. We don't need her or want her either." I did admonish him for his language, and he sheepishly said, "I'm sorry, Dad, but she really pissed me off doing all that behind our backs." I looked at him and frowned, and he came back with, "Well, she did!" How could I argue with him? When you're right, you're right. We had to go to court six months later. All of us would be in the same room to hear the outcome of our marriage. Alice sat at the table on the left. She looked drawn and pale. She had bags under her eyes and had lost weight. She had not only lost weight, but also her job, and I think her will to live. She was a broken woman, but I somehow had the strength to ignore all that and I sat with my children and Sylvia at the table to the right. The judge, the Honorable James Steven Childress, came in and we all rose. He banged his gavel and Mel jumped into my lap and clung to me. He read the divorce papers, then said, "Mr. Starr is this truly what you want to have happen?" I nodded my head, unable to speak. "You will have full custody of the minor children, and with the overwhelming evidence shown, there will be no alimony. I order child support set at $1200 per child per month from the defendant to the plaintiff; I will extend the restraining order for one year, and all visits with the children will be supervised by child protective services for the period of one year. The plaintiff and the defendant will not meet during these visits. At the end of one year, I will see both of you in this court to determine if the restraining order will be renewed. "Now, Mrs. Starr, I see that you are petitioning for obtaining your original name back and removing the hyphen Starr from your name. Is that correct?" "Yes, Your Honor," Alice solemnly said, then she hung her head again like she had so far in this hearing. "Then, I therefore grant this divorce and the changing of Miss Gardner's name. Court adjourned." That was it; he didn't even ask the children who they wanted to be with. I believe their expressions of disgust were pretty plain to the judge. Melinda clung to me like a drowning person would cling to anything that floated. Keith's openly hostile looks to his mother told a story that no one could miss. Now the only stranger in our house is the emptiness we all feel with the loss of Alice. She made her first supervised visit with the children; it didn't last long, however. They both clung to the social worker and refused to say anything to their mother. She did sit for a while, then got up and in leaving, said, "I'm truly sorry that I hurt you children so much, I never meant for it to happen like that." Keith, ever the diplomat said, "Well, how did you think it would end? Did you think that you could just keep on living like that and not loving us or Dad? You got your freedom and we got free of you, I guess that was an even trade; goodbye, Alice." I found out 15 minutes later from the social worker who called me immediately after Alice had left, that the ice in Keith's voice left no doubt as to how he felt. That was then; Keith is now fifteen, and Mel is fourteen. We now have another person who will share our love and happy home. I have no idea what happened to Alice. She left the social services meeting room and completely disappeared. We have not heard from her in the six years since she left. I hope that she is as happy with her new life as I am now. I started asking Sylvia out last year. She didn't even hesitate to say yes. I will be walking down the aisle tomorrow to say I do for the second and last time in my life. Sylvia loves my children, and they love her too. There will be a new stranger living in this house, but this one is welcomed and we hope she never leaves. ------- Edited by Pepere & proofread by prissy_35503. My many thanks to both for making this story readable. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2012-07-13 ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------