Will 20th Anniversary Be the Last?

Will 20th anniversary be the last?

As I sit here, sipping tequila at the poolside bar, thinking about the end of my twenty-year marriage and watching my sixteen-year-old daughter Cindy playing in the resort pool the hurt I feel is tearing me apart. My wife Lori was supposed to be here in Cabo San Lucas celebrating our twenty-year anniversary with me but she decided to play with our neighbor Rich a week before our anniversary.

My name is Mathew Carr, everyone calls me Matt. I'm 45 years old, married to Lori. Lori is just a few months younger than I. I own my own Autobody shop and Lori works as an office manager for a real estate office. We met in high school and became a couple the summer after high school graduation and married after she finished college. We own the home we live in. We moved in when it was new a year after we were married.

For our 20th Anniversary, I had booked a week in Cabo San Lucas at an all-inclusive resort. I worked with Lori's office to arrange for her to have the time off without her knowing so the trip would be a surprise; I was planning on telling her on our anniversary dinner Friday night and we would fly out the next morning. Her sister Barbra has been taking Lori shopping and trying on clothes telling Lori that her and her husband were planning a trip. She would get Lori to tell her what she liked, then go back and buy it. She would have Lori's bags packed.

I was thinking how the end of my marriage started a week ago. During the summer, there are several BBQs and parties held in our Cul-se-sac. Our neighbors, Rich and Lenna were hosting the first of the summer events. Cindy had a swim meet the same day and Lori was helping Lenna with the party, so, our plan was Lori going over to help Lenna around noon and I would take Cindy to her swim meet and then we will join the Party after she is finished around 5.

That Saturday morning, I left with Cindy to go to the swim meet. It was an all-day event. Around 4 the meet was over, we headed home. I was tired and all I did was cheer the team and Cindy on. I don't know how Cindy still had so much energy, youth, I guess.

Cindy and I went home and changed, then headed over to the party, as we walked over to Rich and Lenna's, I text my son Andy asking what time he would he be home. He was at a ball game.

As Cindy and I took a shortcut and walked along the side of Rich and Lenna's garage heading to the back yard my phone dinged. I stopped to read the text; Cindy was a few steps behind me. I read the text from Andy and turned to tell Cindy it was Andy and as I turned, I was standing next to a window looking into Rich's garage, as I was looking through the window, I saw our host Rich standing not more than five feet from the window with his hard cock out. My wife, Lori, was on her knees smiling while looking at Rich's cock as she stoked him. I froze, looking, trying to think, what the hell was I seeing, then remembering my phone I took two pictures and just as I took the pictures, Cindy looked to see what I was looking at. Cindy sucked in a deep breath and held for a few seconds, then she screamed and took off running back towards our house. Lori and Rich looked and saw me. Lori still had a smile on her face as she looked at me. Rich turned pale. I turned and headed back home.

I went into our house and locked the door behind me, I did not want to see or talk to Lori, then went to Cindy's room. She was lying on her bed, crying. I walked over and held her.

"Why?" Cindy yelled. "Why was mom doing that to Rich, doesn't she love you anymore dad?"

"I don't know honey," I said. "I really don't know."

Five minutes later, I heard someone pounding on the door. I went down and opened the door. It was Lori.

"Let me in." She was yelling, slurring her words. "Let me explain, I'm so sorry."

"Lori, go spend the night somewhere else," I told her. "I don't want to see you or talk to you right now." I paused. "Go to your mothers, I really don't want you here now." I closed the door. Lori was crying and yelling that she didn't do anything wrong.

I text Brenda 'You need to come to our house and get your sister, she needs help' About that time my phone rang. I looked at caller ID. It was Rich. I let it go to voice mail. My phone rang again; it was Brenda.

"What's going on Matt?" Brenda asked. "Where is Lori? She was just here."

"Lori is here at our front door," I told her. "You need to come and get her, she needs a place to stay, she is not staying here tonight." I was lost for words and I hit the end button.

Lori was still crying and pounding the door when I heard Brenda asking her what was going on. I turned and went back to Cindy's room, she was sobbing. I turned my phone off as I sat on the bed and held Cindy, not saying anything. We fell asleep on Cindy's bed.

I woke up when Cindy moved and I looked at the clock, it was after 11 pm. Cindy was still sleeping, so I walked back to the living room and sat down, I turned my phone back on and it blew up with messages and texts. Brenda, Lori's other sister Megan, Rich and others all had left messages and texts. As I looked at my phone it rang, it was Rich. I blocked his number. I was pissed. I pulled up the pictures; they were clear what was going on.

Fuck this, I found Lenna's number and sent one of the photos to her, I tagged the photo 'what your husband does at your parties."

I was sitting there thinking, why did Lori do this. I really thought we had a good marriage. We had a really good sex life, at least I thought it was. Maybe, that's the problem, I am no longer enough for her. Shit, how many other guys has she fucked behind my back?

I had been sitting there about ten minutes and as I was thinking, my phone rang. It was Lenna. Shit, why did I send that photo.

"Hello Lenna," I answered. "I am sorry I sent you that photo, I am so pissed at Lori right now, I was lashing out, I wanted to hurt Rich and Lori." I was having a hard time breathing.

"Matt, I don't know what to say." She was crying. "Rich told me you saw them flirting and left, that nothing was going on. He said they had too much to drink, I don't know what to do, I had no idea." She started sobbing.

"God, I wish I had not sent you that, I am so sorry Lenna."

"It's alright Matt, I would have done the same," she said. "I'm going to my mother's, I am going to spend some time with her," she paused. "Matt, can I talk to you in a day or so? I need to talk to you."

"Sure Lenna, I really don't know what I am going to do," I told her. She ended the call.

I sat there for a few minutes, then I heard a knock at the door. I opened the door and there stood Rich, I didn't even think, I just kicked him as hard as I could in his balls, he fell to the ground, gasping for air. I kicked him again; I grabbed his hair and looked him in the face.

"I don't ever want to see you again," I yelled. "You stay the fuck away from my family, don't talk to them, stay the fuck away." I stopped, dropped his head, trying to get myself under control, when from behind me Cindy pushed past and kicked Rich in the face, then kicked him in his ribs.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled. "Stay away from my mother or I will kill you!" I grabbed her and pulled her back into the house and closed the door. I hugged her for a minute, then took her into the kitchen and sat her down. I got two cokes from the fridge and sat with her. Then I looked at my phone. Andy should be home. I texted him 'where are you? You should be home'. I looked at Cindy. We sat for a minute, then my phone dinged. 'Cindy called me and told me what mom did, I'm staying at Timmy's tonight'. I text back 'that's fine'.

"I see you called your brother," I said looking at Cindy.

"I called him when mom was at the door," she sobbed. "I told him not to come home tonight, I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about," I said. "You were hurting and thinking about your brother, not wanting for him to hurt."

"What are you going to do dad?" Cindy said, looking at me.

"I really don't know," I told her. "That was one hell of a kick you did." I tried to smile, looking at my heart broken daughter. What the hell was Lori thinking.

"I'm sorry dad, I hate Rich so much." She started crying again "I hate both of them," she sobbed. We finally went to bed after 2 am.

I woke Sunday morning to my phone ringing and dinging. I should have turned it back off. I ignored it and left it on the nightstand and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. I had just sat down when someone knocked on the door. I opened the door and Lori and Megan were standing there.

"Lori, leave, I don't want to talk or see you," I said in a much louder voice then intended. "Megan, you can come in and pack some things for her." I looked at Lori, "Leave now," I said, Lori started to say something.

"Shut up and Leave," I yelled. Turning to Megan, "Come in Megan." Megan stepped inside and I slammed the door.

"What the hell Matt?" Megan was pissed off, "She wants to apologize, she was just flirting with Rich, nothing was going on." Megan stood, hands on her hips.

"Flirting, is that what your lying sister told you?" I was in her face, "Stay here a minute." I went back to our bedroom and got my phone. Walked back to Megan, pulled up the photo.

"Is this what she calls 'flirting?" I said as I held up my phone. Megan looked at the picture for a full minute, turned red, went to the couch and sat down. Looking at the photo, I realized Lori had her shirt and bra pushed up and Rich had his hands on her tits. Shit.

"I'm sorry Matt." she was looking down at the floor, "I didn't know"

"You can go to our bedroom and pack a bag for her," I said. "I will get you a suitcase," I went to the garage and got our biggest suitcase, walked back and told Megan to follow me and went to the bedroom.

"Pack enough for at least a week," I said. "Tell her not to call or come to the house until I say otherwise." I sat on the bed, I was exhausted.

"A week?" Megan asked. "She wants to come home."

"I don't want her here and I sure as hell don't want to talk to her," I paused.

"Did you know she was cheating on me? How many others?"

I looked at Megan; she had a shocked look on her face.

"NO, no, she is not cheating on you," she said. "She made a mistake last night, she loves you, she would not cheat on you."

I held up the phone with the photo still showing.

"She did cheat, you did not answer my question, did you know?"

"No, I did not know." She looked down and then back up.

"She would never...," she sat there with her mouth open.

"Where did Lori stay last night?" I asked. "Did she stay with Rich? I know Lenna stayed at her mom's."

"How do you know Lenna stayed at her moms, does she know?" Megan asked.

"Yes, Lenna knows, I sent her a photo," I answered. "She called me, seems Rich gave her the same 'flirting' story." Megan sat there with her mouth open.

"Pack her things, I'm going to the kitchen," I said as I left the bedroom.

When I got to the kitchen, Cindy was there, she handed me a cup of coffee and sat at the table with a cup in her hand.

"I guess it's times like this you learn to drink real coffee." She had a small smile, "We should go to Starbucks, this tastes like crap."

"Ok, let's go get breakfast," I told her. "But no Starbucks for me," I smiled at her.

As we walked out the door, Ron, Megans husband, was walking back from Rich and Lenna's house. He saw us and walked over.

"Did you do that to Rich?" he asked. "His nose is broken and both eyes are swollen and black, he can barely walk, he's all hutched over."

"I did not hit him," I said with a smile, Cindy chuckled. "We are going to breakfast, see you later." Cindy and I left.

As we sat in the diner eating, I looked through some of the text on my phone. They all said about the same thing 'she had too much to drink' 'she was sorry' 'nothing happened, it was just a little flirting'. I did not listen to any of the voicemails, just deleted them all.

I had enough, I sent the photo to all of them, tagged it 'flirting?' That stopped the texts and calls.

I called Andy and talked for a few minutes. He asked if he could spend a few days with Timmy. I said that would probably be a good idea. He reminded me that in a week he would be at a baseball camp at the UC. He was hoping to earn a scholarship after his graduation from high school. I told him I remembered. Cindy and Andy both knew about the trip I had planned for our 20th.

"What are you going to do about your trip?" Cindy asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I'm going to call the travel agent tomorrow and see what my options are."

"You don't think you will take mom?" Cindy asked.

"Honey, right now I hate your mom," I said. "I still love her, but she has hurt me, us, all of us, I really can't be around or talk to her." I sat, tears on my cheeks, "I really thought she loved me as much as I did her, but I could never cheat on her, she must have lost what love she had for me." I was sobbing, I sat, wiped my eyes and tried to get my feelings under control. We went for a drive in the country, not talking, but not wanting to go home.

Monday morning, I was up early and ready for work. School was out for the summer. Cindy came into the kitchen, I asked if she wanted breakfast.

"Eggs and toast," she said. "I'm going to Kimberly's today." She looked at me, "Are you going to be alright dad?"

"I will be ok at work," I told her. "Work will keep my mind busy." There was a knock on the door. It was Brenda.

"Just wanted to let you know Lori is staying at Marg's," she said. "She stayed at my house Saturday night. She wants to come home and talk to you, explain to you what happened. I saw the photo." She was looking at me.

Marg was my sister.

"Did you know she was cheating on me?" I asked, "How many others?"

"She has not cheated on you!" she said loudly.

"She is lying to you," Cindy said. She had walked into the living room, "I saw it with my own eyes, what she was doing with that asshole, she was cheating on dad, on us."

"No, I did not know," Brenda said with a sigh. "If I had thought she was doing something, I would have slapped the crap out of her, if any of us would have seen them flirting, we would have stopped it." Brenda sat down on the couch. "She told me that she has never done anything like that in her life, she loves you, she hates herself right now, she's a basket case."

"Well, thanks for telling me where she is," I said. "Tell her I'm still hurting too much to see or talk to her."

"What happened to Rich?" She asked, a slight smile on her face, "He won't tell anyone what happened."

"All I know is I did not hit him," I said with a smirk. Cindy chuckled. "I have to go to work; I still have bills to pay"

I worked long days Monday and Tuesday and got home around seven. Cindy and Andy were both there.

"Let's go out to dinner guys," I said. "Where to?"

"Outback!" Both answered, that was our family favorite.

We chatted as we ate dinner, not mentioning their mother. As we finished and the waitress had taken our dishes away Andy and Cindy looked at me.

"Dad what are you going to do about your trip?" Andy asked. "Are you going to take mom? Are you going to cancel it?"

"I talked to the travel agent," I said. "I'm thinking of canceling it and just take the loss, at this date it's fifty percent, I'm sorry, but I could not take your mom. I'm still upset," I sighed

"Why don't you go?" Andy said. "Take Cindy, I will be gone to baseball camp next week, you and Cindy need to get away." I looked at Andy, when did he become a man.

"Dad let's go," Cindy said. "I need, no, we need to get away from family and everyone else. I need a break from everyone telling me I need to get you to talk to mom," she paused. "I don't want to talk to mom, so, I know how you feel, Andy feels the same. We are all upset with her." She looked at me, tears running down her cheeks. "Maybe we can sit down with her after we get back."

The next morning, I called and changed the airline ticket to Cindy's name. Then I called Brenda and told her Lori could come home Saturday afternoon. The flight left at 9am Saturday morning.

"What about your trip?" Brenda asked. "Did you cancel?"

"Just tell Lori she can come home Saturday afternoon," I told her and hit end call.

Thursday as I sat at my office desk, my office manager walked into my office and told me a lady was in her office asking to speak to me. It was Lenna.

"Can we go get a coffee and talk?" Lenna asked.

"Sure, let's walk to the coffee shop down the block," I answered. We walked down and ordered our coffee and sat at a table in the back.

"Matt, I am so sorry to have caused you so much hurt." Lenna had her head down, not wanting to look at me.

"Lenna, you did nothing wrong," I said. "This is all on Rich and Lori. They caused this, not you or me."

"I think, maybe I could have stopped this." Lenna's face was pale. "Let me explain. Before we moved into your neighborhood, we lived over in the Creekside area on a street just like yours," She paused. "About four months before we moved, Rich came home one day with his face bloody. He said he had been mugged and he had called the police, he said he didn't lose anything. I believed him. I had no reason not to."

She sipped her coffee; I waited for her to continue. "For the next month Rich only left the house to go to work or shopping. He stopped visiting with the neighbors and I noticed that the women I had been friends with stopped coming by, and when I called them, they were always busy. Then Rich said he found a house he wanted us to buy and move, so we did."

She looked at me with sad eyes. "I think Rich had an affair with one of our neighbors and I think he was beaten by the husband." Lenna now had tears in her eyes. "I have reached out to our former neighbors; I told them I wanted the truth. When I talk to them, I will let you know. If I had paid more attention back then I would have confronted him. I could have stopped him from going after Lori."

"Maybe he would have stopped, maybe not," I said. "But Lori is in control of her body, not Rich, certainly not you. She cheated on me. You had no control in this. You are as much a victim as I am. You did nothing wrong, none of the blame goes to you."

"I'm filing for divorce," Lenna said. "I can't trust him and I won't be married to someone I can't trust. I love him, I hope someday I won't, but love is not enough for me."

We walked back to the shop. I told her that Cindy and I were going on the trip, and I would call when I get back.

Cindy and I arrived at the resort early afternoon and it was very warm. I had called the resort and had the room changed from a suite with king bed to a room with two double beds. I am glad they had the air on. I told Cindy let's change and hit the pool. She came out of the bathroom in a tiny bikini. I looked at her.

"Really?" I asked. "That's a little skimpy, don't you think?" She started laughing and went back into the bathroom. When she came out, she had on a modest two piece.

"My friends all dared me to wear that," she laughed. "You should have seen your face." She giggled. "But I am going to wear it at least once on this trip, so get ready," she was smiling. We went to the pool and I was glad to see several girls Cindy's age. I jumped in the pool and made a few laps and then pulled up to the edge and looked around. Cindy was with a couple of girls, laughing and talking.

I wonder what Lori thought when she got home and found my note.

'Lori,

As you see, Cindy and I are not here. We are on a vacation that I had booked for our 20 th anniversary, but since you seemed to have lost any interest in our marriage, we decided to go without you. As a reminder, Andy is at the UC baseball camp. You can take this week and think about what you did and why you did it. Maybe you already know. I do have a few questions that I will need the honest truth. If you lie, we will be done. I will file for divorce. One, why, was I no longer satisfying you? Why would you want to hurt the ones who love you? Two, when did you stop loving me? Three, how long have you been cheating on me with Rich? Four, how many others? Five, did your sisters know you were cheating on me? Remember, one lie and we are done. I am not sure if we will stay married after you tell me the answers to the 5 questions. You have hurt me; you have hurt Cindy and Andy. I am going to have them talk with a professional when we get back. Andy is doing better, but Cindy saw you, saw what you were doing. She is hurting, that's why we are using the vacation. I am trying to keep her mind off of what you did. We will be back Sunday afternoon. I want you to move your things into the spare bedroom. Don't expect me to come home with open arms.

Matt

Sunday morning Cindy and I both slept in. We got up around ten, went down and found some fruit and pastries. Then took a walk around the resort and went to the beach. Neither of us had swimwear on so we just walked the beach. We ran into the girls Cindy had met at the pool. They were from Canada and we made introductions and met their parents. We decided to get our swimsuits and go to the pool. There was a pretty good crowd at the pool but we found two lounge chairs away from the pool but in the shade. There was a group of six women next to us. We made introductions, chatted, they were all college friends meeting for a reunion. Three were married, one divorced and two single. All were around thirty. We chatted for several hours, enjoying the company.

"Ok dad, maybe payback time for mom," Cindy said laughing, looking at the six ladies. "Just kidding, I know you are a married man and you still believe in it."

"I would never cheat on your mother," I said a little too hard. "I love your mother, I would never cheat on someone I love, no matter what she has done."

"I'm sorry dad." Cindy was now crying. "I was just making a joke; I'm so sorry what mom has done to you." I got up and hugged her tightly as I looked at the six ladies next to us, they all had tears in their eyes.

"I'm really sorry ladies," I apologized. "My daughter and I are here alone; we have a little family problem at home. Again, I am sorry for interrupting your fun." I asked Cindy if she wanted to go back to the room.

"No, I am going to the pool," she said as she wiped her eyes. "I see the Canadians, I'm sorry dad, I love you." She hugged me and went to talk with her new friends.

"You have a lovely daughter," One of the ladies said. "She seems very mature for someone so young."

"Thank you," I said. "She is, and I am so proud of her," I paused. "Ladies, it has been a pleasure meeting you all, but I think I will go sit at the swim-up bar and grab a drink." I walked to the end of the pool and found a seat at the bar. Ordered a tequila shot.

This is where I started this story. I sat there deep in my thoughts thinking about Lori and what had happened, the ending of my marriage, someone sat next to me. I looked over and it was Maria, one of the married ladies from the group of six.

"I hope you don't mind if I sit here," she said. "I think you need someone to talk to before you have to many of those," she said, pointing to my shot. "Those don't help; they just dull the pain. So, what's your story?"

I thought what the hell, I will never see her again after this week.

"Last Friday was our 20th wedding anniversary," I told her. "This was a vacation I planned as a surprise for her, my wife," I paused. "Lori, my wife and Cindy's mother, was supposed to be here with me. But a week ago I caught her with our neighbor," I sighed

"Wow!" Maria said. "that's a rough thing to happen after so many years".

I sipped my drink and was lost in thought when Maria asked me a question.

"Do you still love her?" She asked.

"I know I still love her," I answered. "I have no idea if she loves me. She tells everyone she does, but how could she cheat if she did."

"Was this an ongoing affair or a onetime thing?" Maria asked.

"I don't know," I said. "I have not talked to her since. Right now, I hate her for what she did. I do not want to see her or talk to her."

She looked at me, then ordered two shots.

"I'm going to need this," Maria said as she held up her shot. "Let me tell you a little story. I'm 35 years old and I have been married 15 of those years. My husband Ed and I were each other's first and only love. About eight years ago, we went to His Company Christmas party and I had too much to drink."

She paused and took a sip from her drink.

"The party was held at a local hotel banquet place; we had a room as most of the people did. We were dancing and having a good time. One guy I kept dancing with, one of Ed's co-workers, he got me to walk away from the party. We were flirting, I was anyway, he was seducing me. He started sex talk, about some of the things he liked to do with a woman. I was feeling no pain from all the drinks I had. He kept up with the sex talk, then started the touching. I was getting really turned on," she paused. I could see a tear in her eyes.

"Soon he was touching my breast, lifting my top and pushing my bra out of the way. I had no control over my emotions. He took me to his room and he undressed me. Ed was the only man that had ever seen me nude. He took his clothes off and he was erect, only the second one I had ever seen." She stopped talking, ordered another shot and downed it. "He laid me on the bed, took my hand and made me stroke him. I was stroking another man. He got on top of me and I felt him at my opening. At that moment, I came to my senses, I was cheating on Ed. I started pushing him off, he was trying to push into me, I hit him on the side of his head and pushed, finally getting free. I grabbed my clothes, only putting on my dress and ran out of the room. I was a mess."

She looked down at her drink.

"As I stood in the hall, crying, a work friend of Ed's saw me. She took me to her room and helped me clean myself up, then sat and listened as I told her what had happened. She told me I needed to first, tell Ed, then inform Ed's company HR department about the guy. I was so scared of telling Ed. But I knew I could never keep this a secret. The next day I told Ed what I had done. It was the hardest thing I had ever done. He was hurt; he moved out of the house and left me with our son. I thought I had lost him." She took a sip of her drink.

"I met with a counselor, he helped me understand why I cheated on Ed, that I was being selfish. I begged Ed to see the counselor with me. He finally agreed. It took a year for us to get near where we were before I screwed everything up. I went to a lawyer and had a post-nuptial drawn up. If I cheated, I would walk away with nothing, I gave up all rights to any children. I gave it to Ed, signed by me. He sat me down, and said if he could not trust me, he did not want to be married to me. He asked me if I would cheat again. I knew in my heart there was no way that would happen, I told him that. He tore up the post-nuptial. He said he forgave me."

"I will never cheat on Ed again," she said. "I came so close to losing the best thing in my life. When the girls brought up this trip, I was afraid to ask him. He found out and asked me why I was not going. He told me he trusted me." she smiled as she looked at me.

"I hope you can think about what you want to do," Marie said. "But do it on a clear head, not one that is clouded by tequila." She laughed.

Monday, Cindy and I went Jet skiing, then went on a Whale watching tour. We had fun. That night when we went to dinner, the sexy six, as Cindy called them invited us to dine with them. We talked about our day and learned a little more about each of them.

Maria, married, two boys, lived in Reno Nevada. Rene, married, three kids, lived in Cody, Wyoming on a large ranch. Sally, married, one daughter, lived in Brentwood, California. Betty, divorced, no kids, ex-husband was married to his work, not her, lived in Orlando Florida. Erica, single, had a long-term boyfriend until about a year ago, he cheated, she kicked him out, she lived in Los Angeles. Alyssa, single, had a few boyfriends, but none worth marring, lived in San Diago. They invited us to join them on Wednesday on a snorkeling tour. They had a private tour booked. We accepted

Tuesday, Cindy and I joined a tour of the town Los Cabos, a glass blowing business and Todos Santos, a small town that is popular with artist with several galleries. That night we had dinner again with the sexy six. After dinner, Cindy and the six dragged my butt to the dance floor. I danced with all of them, but Alyssa the most. Alyssa was almost as tall as me at 5-10, long legs and breasts like cantaloupes.

"They are real, no silicone in these puppies," Alyssa whispered in my ear as we danced. She pushed her tits into my chest. I had a hard on as we danced. She pushed her groin into me and rubbed. "I love getting men worked up, if you weren't so married, I would drag you to my room." She pulled back and smiled, looking at me. Cold shower for me tonight I thought.

Wednesday, we met the sexy six and found the boat for the snorkeling tour. Cindy and all the ladies had coverups on. The boat captain took us to a cove, no other boats around. All the ladies pulled off their coverups. I stood in shock; they all had the tiniest bikinis I had ever seen. I looked at Cindy; she was smiling as she stood there in her skippy little bikini. Cindy asked the boat captain if he would take some pictures. He agreed. Cindy put me between Erica and Alyssa. As we stood for pictures, both Erica and Alyssa started rubbing my chest and ass. I got an instant erection. All the ladies kept changing positions, as we moved about, Alyssa pushed her hand down my trucks and grabbed my cock, I yanked her hand out, looking to see if anyone had seen, then jumped into the ocean. I looked back at the boat and all six and Cindy were laughing.

The rest of the week we spent around the pool with the sexy six. Cindy often joined the Canadians. I refused when the six all asked me to put lotion on their bodies. They tortured me with their swimwear, what little there was. I had fun, but had to make a few afternoon trips to take a shower when Cindy was with the Canadians.

"You truly are a married man with morals," Maria said as we laid in the shade Saturday afternoon. "You do love your wife very much, if you didn't, you would have spent every night in Alyssa's bed." She looked at me with a smile. "Ask yourself a few questions. Are you better off with her or without her? Can you forgive her if it was a onetime thing? How will a divorce affect your kids?"

I thought about what she was saying. I knew I loved Lori, but could I forgive her? And, what about Cindy and Andy, how would they feel?

"You will find the answers, it may take you a little time," Maria said. "But when you really think and ask yourself those questions, the answers will be clear, go home and talk to your wife, ask her the hard questions you want answers to. Then ask yourself the questions I asked, the answers will be clear."

Our flight home arrived on time. We picked up our luggage and took the shuttle to our car.

"Let's stop and eat before we go home," I told Cindy. "How about that new burger joint on main?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Cindy answered. "Let me text Andy and see if he can meet us."

A few minutes later her phoned dinged. "Andy will meet us," Cindy said.

When we got to the burger joint, we found a table, Andy showed up five minutes later, we ordered. I pulled my phone out, I had turned it to airplane mode when we flew to Cabo, just using it as a camera, and turned it on. It blew up, texts, voice mails, missed calls. Andy and Cindy looked at me.

"Someone misses you," Andy laughed. I looked at my phone. Almost all of the texts and messages were from the Saturday we left, most from Lori. I listened to her last voicemail, she was crying so hard, I could only pick up on a small bit of her message, basically, she was sorry.

"How did it go when you got back Saturday?" I asked Andy.

"I told mom I did not want to hear her excuses," Andy said. "I told her I was still upset and very disappointed in what she did. Mom stayed in her room the rest of the day. We did have dinner together; we just did not talk."

Andy looked at me. "Ok dad, what's your plan?"

"Let me ask you both a few questions," I said. "One, can you forgive her? Two, are we better off with her or without her? Three, how will you feel if I divorce her?" I sat and looked at my kid's, they had done nothing wrong, I could almost understand their mother not loving me, but for her to hurt her kids?

"Don't answer now, just think on those for a bit," I said. "Let's hear what she has to say."

I sent Lori a text 'we will be home shortly; we are not going to talk tonight. I'm going to work tomorrow and then will be home around noon. We will talk then'.

Lori was sitting at the kitchen table when we walked in. Brenda and Megan were with her. Lori started to get up; I held up my hand.

"Hi Brenda, Megan," I said. "Lori we will talk tomorrow." As I was turning to go to our bedroom, Cindy had her phone out and walked over to her mother.

"See this mom, look at this picture," Cindy demanded. "Look at these six women, look how sexy they are mom, all young, all beautiful, all would have slept with dad." Cindy was red faced and pissed off. "But you know what mom? Dad did nothing, nothing with any of them mom, he loves you so much that he turned every one of them down." Cindy had tears in her eyes. "He never did anything with any of them."

Brenda took the phone from Cindy and looked at the picture, then handed it to Megan. Their eyes were wide as they looked at the picture. I saw the picture; shit it was the one from the boat with Erica and Alyssa standing next to me. Cindy took the phone back and stuck it in her mom's face.

"That's right mom, even with all the booze available, dad could control himself." She said starring at her mother, "Unlike you." Cindy turned and went to her room.

"I'm really sorry, she should not have done that," I apologized. "She has been very emotional; I'm setting up for her to get professional help. I think we all could use it."

"Lori has seen a counselor this week," Megan said. "I agree with you Matt, all four of you could use help."

"I'm going to my bedroom and take a shower," I said. "Then I am going to relax a while. I am going to work in the morning and will be back home around noon. Lori, we will talk then." I paused, "Andy and Cindy will be here; they want to hear the answers to the five questions I asked in my note." Lori's face was in panic mode. Megan and Brenda looked at me, then to Lori. I don't know if Lori had showed them the note.

"Do you think that's a good idea Matt?" Brenda asked.

"Probably not the best idea," I answered. "Cindy saw what Lori did. She sees that every time she thinks of her mother. She wants to hear her mother explain why. Andy has his own questions." I looked at Lori; she had her head on the table sobbing.

"Lori?" I said, "Remember what I said in the note. No lies, no keeping secrets. You need to answer every question truthfully. 'I don't know' will not work for an answer."

I turned and went to the bedroom; I was suddenly exhausted. I took a shower and laid on the bed. About an hour later, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Dad, can I come in?" Cindy asked.

I got up and put on shorts and a tee.

"Come on in honey," I told Cindy.

"I'm sorry dad," Cindy said. "But I just lost it looking at mom sitting there. Sorry about the little fibs."

"That's ok honey," I said. "Yeah, you forgot to mention that three were married and only one offered," I smiled at her.

"Dad, Andy and I have talked for the last hour, but for the answers to your questions." She looked at me, took a deep breath. "We still love mom, we always will. Yes, we will forgive her, it may take some time, but in our hearts, we know we will. We are better off with her, she has been a great mom, she has always put us kids first, until a week ago, she has never done anything to hurt us." She paused, "At least what we know about, we are praying this was a onetime screw-up. It would hurt us but we would understand if you did divorce mom."

I sat there; Lori and I had done a great job with our two kids.

"Thanks honey," I said softly. "It helps a lot to hear how you and Andy feel. Do you and Andy want to be there when your mom and I talk?"

"Yes and no," she said. "We will be there at the start, but we might leave at some point."

"That's fine honey," I answered. "I love you, tell Andy how much I love him." I gave her a hug and she left.

I was up and at work before six. I stayed busy. Around nine, my phone rang. It was Lenna.

"Can we meet for coffee?" she asked. "I really need to talk to you."

"Sure, when?" I asked.

"15 minutes, same coffee shop as before," she said.

I walked down to the coffee shop, Lenna pulled in as I walked up. We got our coffee and sat down.

"Have you had your talk with Lori Yet?" Lenna had a panic look on her face. "I need to tell you things."

"No, we are meeting at noon today," I answered. "What's wrong? By the look on your face, it's bad."

"It is bad, but maybe a little bit of good can come from this," she said. "Let me get it all out." She took a breath. "I found out this information only last night, I wish I had it sooner."

"Remember I told you I thought Rich had an affair at out last home? It's much worse," She Paused. "I talked to my ex-neighbors. Two of them told me things that were hard to hear. Rich used drugs on them. I won't tell you their names, I promised them that."

"The first said she had sex with Rich while I was at work, she did not know how she ended up in bed. She said one minute they were talking, sipping wine and the next she was naked, in bed, with Rich having sex with her. She was so ashamed, and felt so guilty, she could not face me."

Lenna looked at me, then continued. "The second was at a party, she said she felt like she had lost all control of her body. Rich took her out to our car and had her naked in the backseat. One of the other women at the party saw them and pulled Rich off and made him leave." She had tears in her eyes.

"I remember the night, Rich came in and told me he was ill and wanted to leave, so we left. Two days later is when Rich came home beaten." Lenna had more tears sliding down her cheeks. "The woman who pulled Rich off was a nurse; she saw the woman Rich was assaulting had the symptoms of drugging. She and the husband took her to the nurse's doctor's office and took a blood sample and rape kit. The woman said no matter what, she was so ashamed she would not tell anyone or file a complaint. The couple almost divorced, but with counseling they managed to save their marriage." Lenna was looking down at the table. She wanted another coffee. I got one for her. "The blood test was positive for a date rape drug. But the woman was not going to admit to anything. In the end, the husband gave in and accepted his wife's decision."

I sat there thinking, could Lori have been drugged? That would answer some of the why question.

"Rich has moved out of the house," Lenna said. "It will go up for sale as soon as the divorce is finalized. I am so sorry Matt, I feel to blame for this, for her." Lenna now was sobbing. I reached over and hugged her.

"This was not your fault in anyway Lenna," I said. "This is totally on Rich."

Lenna wiped away her tears. "Did you know Rich is in the Hospital?" she asked. I shook my head no. "He would not go to the doctor until last Saturday. Seems he got an infection and they had to remove one of his testicles. He may lose the other one also." Lenna smiled. Well, that was some good news.

"Thank you, Lenna, you are a true friend," I told her. "Don't blame yourself for any of this."

Lenna left and I sat there again thinking, what if? I took my phone out. Made a call.

"Hello Brenda," I said. "Can you talk?" She answered she was driving. "Where are you?" She told me. "Do you know that coffee shop a block from my shop? You are only five minutes away; can you come by and talk to me?" I asked, she said yes. Six minutes later she sat down across from me, I got her a coffee.

"I need to ask you a few questions," I told her. "Please answer as honestly as you can, I will explain later." I looked at Brenda, she nodded ok. "First the night of the party, when you came to our door and got Lori, how did she act?"

"She was going crazy and crying," Brenda answered.

"I mean physically, was she drunk?" I asked.

"She seemed really drunk, which I don't understand," she stated. "Lori was with me, Megan and Lenna all afternoon. She wasn't drinking at all. She was busy with the food and taking care of the Party. We sat down and she had her first glass of wine; this was only 45 minutes before your text." Brenda looked at me with a curious look.

"Did she go anywhere, talk to anyone?" I asked.

Brenda sat thinking. "Not at that time but Rich brought over a drink for her to try, it was a mixed drink."

"Did she leave then?" I asked.

"No, she did drink the drink Rich gave her, said she liked it." Brenda sat looking away thinking. "Rich came and got her and said he would make her another and she left with him, that was only twenty minutes before your text." Brenda face changed "Shit, he drugged her!" she shouted.

I told Brenda the story that Lenna had told me.

"What are you going to do Matt?" Brenda asked. "This information changes everything."

"Yes, it does," I said. "I hope she will forgive me, Andy and Cindy for the way we have treated her."

"That picture Cindy had?" Brenda was smiling. "You really hung around them all week and never? Oh, hell I know you didn't." She laughed, "Looking at those six, you are a saint."

"Lots of cold showers," I laughed.

"Thank you, Brenda, you and Megan are the best sisters Lori could ever have. Please don't talk to Lori yet, I am going to talk to the kids and then go beg Lori for forgiveness. I will call you as soon as I get home." I hugged Brenda and she left.

I sat at my office desk thinking about what I had learned in the last hour. I called Andy and told him I needed to talk to him and Cindy immediately. Andy said he would get Cindy and come to my office. Twenty minutes later we were all in my office.

"Guys. In the last hour I have received information that your mom was drugged by Rich at the party," I said looking at two very shocked faces. "She had no control over her actions. Rich had done this at least twice before that I now know off." I stopped and looked at my kids. Cindy had tears flowing down her face, Andy was still in shock. "We need to go home and talk to your mom. I pray that she will forgive me, us. I know she will forgive you, but I'm not so sure she will forgive me for the way I have treated her."

"Hello Lori, just listen please," I said when she answered the phone. "Cindy, Andy and I will be at the house in twenty minutes. Please relax, honey I love you, we all love you." I took a deep breath, "We have a lot of things to tell you, to explain to you. Remember, we love you, I love you, we are going to be alright." I was praying that we would.

"Ok, I will see you," Lori answered quietly.

As the kids and I walked into the kitchen, Lori was sitting stone faced.

"Matt, Andy, Cindy!" Lori said with a determined look. "Don't interrupt me as I say what I have to say." She looked at us all three of us. I started to stop her.

"NO, LISTEN TO ME!" She yelled, "JUST LISTEN, don't say anything." Her face was red, lips tightly together. She pointed at us. "Just listen. I'm going to answer your questions, but not in the order you asked." She paused, took a deep breath.

"My sisters did not know, nobody knew, not even me. Megan and Brenda would never accept cheating by anyone, not me, not anyone." She took another deep breath.

"NONE! NONE! I have never cheated on you, there was never others." She looked at me; her face was firm. "There never was anyone but you Matt."

"Twenty minutes," she said. "Twenty minutes is all the time I have been alone with Rich ever. That afternoon was the only time I have ever been alone with him." She looked at us all.

"NEVER, never did I stop loving you Matt, I have never stopped loving any of you. Matt, I love you more today than I ever have, I never stopped."

"Why?" She looked down at the table. "You said 'I don't know' is not an answer you will accept," she paused. "I honestly don't know why." She looked at the photo on her phone. "I look at that photo of me with Rich and I don't remember, it's like looking at someone else in that photo with my face, it can't be me." She started sobbing uncontrollably.

"Cindy, call your aunts and get them here now," I said as I grabbed Lori as she fainted. I picked her up and laid her on the couch. Andy had already got a wet towel and was handing it to me. I put it on her forehead and wiped her face. Her eyes opened.

"Hush, you will be alright," I said looking at her. "It was not you; it was not your fault. I love you Lori, I am ashamed of the way I treated you, we all are." I had tears running down my face. I hugged her close, we were both crying.

Brenda and Megan burst through the door and ran into the house. I looked up, Lori was looking very confused.

"Lori, you were drugged," I told her. "Rich drugged you. You had no control over your emotions or body. It was not you, nothing you did was you, it was the drugs." I looked at Lori, her eyes were wide, darting from me to her sisters.

"He drugged me?" she asked. "Rich drugged me?" She broke down, sobbing, shaking, and then passed out.

"I called 911," Brenda said. "She is going to need help; she might be going into shock."

I held Lori tight, hugging her, Megan was using the wet towel on her face. The EMT's arrived about ten minutes later. As they were checking Lori, and started an IV, her eyes opened, she started to panic.

"Honey, you passed out, they are here to help you, please try to stay calm," I said holding her hand. "You are going to be ok; we all love you." Lori stopped fighting, looking at me.

"I was drugged?" she asked looking at me. "Rich? How?" She was pleading for answers.

"Lori, they are going to take you to the hospital," I said. "We will all be there; we will talk then." Lori nodded, and the EMT's took her and left for the hospital. I looked for Cindy; I was really worried about her. She had gone to her room; Andy was there holding her.

"Dad, mom will never forgive me." She was crying. "She will never forgive me for what I did and said."

"Honey," I said as I sat and hugged her. "Your mother will forgive you. She loves you too much, she will understand." I hugged her tight. "You ok Andy?" I asked looking at my son. He reached and hugged us both with tears in his eyes. It was the first time since this mess started that he had shown any emotion. I realized he was hurting and had no one to talk to.

"I'm so sorry Andy," I said. "I should have been there for you too." We all hugged tight.

"Let's get cleaned up and go to the hospital, your mom needs us more than ever right now." I told them.

When we arrived at the hospital, the waiting room was full. My parents, Lori's parents, Lori's sisters, my sister Marg and a few neighbors. I went to the front desk and asked about Lori. A nurse came out and told me that they had sedated her and she would be out for a few hours. The nurse said all her vitals were fine and she seemed to be having a panic attack. She asked if I knew what brought this on. I told her yes. She told me to wait a minute; she wanted the doctor to hear what I said. I waited a few minutes; the doctor came out and asked me to step into a private room.

"I'm Matt Carr, Lori's husband," I said as I held my hand out, she took it and we shook.

"I'm doctor Vivian Larson. Can you tell me what led up to this moment Mr. Carr?" The doctor asked.

"You want a short version or the whole thing?" I asked. "She has been under a lot of stress, mostly caused by me. This whole mess, let me tell you the highlights and then you can ask me any questions you want." Then I told her, starting off with the party, ending with this afternoon.

"Doctor, I had no idea she had been drugged until around ten this morning," I said looking down, ashamed. "I would never have left her alone if I had known. She didn't even know what happened herself."

"MR Carr, we are going to keep her for at least a day, maybe two," Doctor Larson said. "You and your children come back in two hours, tell the rest to go home, you will keep them informed. She could be in a bad mental state when she wakes. When you see her, keep her calm, reassure her of your love. Answer questions she has but do so, she understands it was not her doing those things. If she starts getting agitated, tell the nurse immediately, we will sedate her to keep her calm." I thanked Doctor Larson and went back to the waiting room. I explained what the doctor had told me and told everyone I would keep them updated. I hugged our parents and told them I would call after we saw Lori. As I turned to talk to Cindy and Andy, Lenna came in.

"I am so sorry Matt, how is Lori?" she asked. "What happened, I saw the EMT's take her. I didn't know where."

"We told her about the drugs," I said. "She passed out twice, Brenda called for help, they are going to keep her for a day or two," I paused. "I'm taking the kids to dinner; I will keep you updated." Lenna and I hugged and she left.

"Cindy, Andy, let's go get something to eat and then we will come back to see your mom." I turned to Megan. "Megan, Brenda, I will call you after we see Lori. If it's not too late, I may ask you to come over and talk, would that be ok?" They both nodded and hugged me.

Cindy, Andy and I went to a diner a few blocks from the hospital. Cindy was still very emotional, Andy was back to no emotion, that worried me. As we sat and ate, I told both that we were all going to counseling. I reassured them that their mother loved them, that I loved them.

"Cindy, let me see the photos you took in Cabo?" Andy asked his sister. Cindy opened her phone and handed it to Andy. Andy was looking at the photos; a smile appeared on his face.

"Damn, I wish I had gone with you," he said. "Those ladies are all hotties. Who is the tall one next to you dad, she is gorgeous?"

"That's Alyssa, she is gorgeous," Cindy pointed out. "She really had the hots for dad." She said as a smile crossed her face. I ate in silence as Cindy told Andy about things we did in Cabo, the fish we saw snorkeling, the Canadians and the sexy six. I finally asked Andy how the baseball camp had gone.

"One of the coaches told me I have a real good shot at a full scholarship if my senior year is as good as I have been playing." Andy had a happy look on his face. "It really helped me improve my batting; I put four over the centerfield fence. Coaches said nobody had done that in the last ten years." It was good to see his passion come back.

As we entered Lori's room she was sleeping. A nurse came in and told us she had been awake for a few minutes. She told us to sit and talk softly to her. I sat and picked up her hand and put it to my cheek.

"I love you, honey," I spoke softly. "We all love you, Lori. Cindy and Andy are here." Cindy walked to the other side of the bed and held her other hand.

"I love you mom, come back to us." Cindy was crying. Andy walked up and held Cindy's shoulder. "I love you mom," he said. We stayed that way, each talking softly to Lori. After about ten minutes, her eyes opened and immediately filled with tears.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I hurt all of you." She was sobbing. "Please forgive me, don't leave me Matt, I love you."

"I'm not going anywhere Lori, I love you," I said. "We all love you; no one is leaving. As soon as you are better, we are all going home." Lori started sobbing and shaking, we buzzed the nurse. The nurse came in and gave her a sedative. She told us we should go home, come back in the morning. We went home. I called our parents and told them that we had talked to Lori and would be there in the morning.

When I got home, it was a little after 8, I called Megan, she was with Brenda, they would be right over. They walked through the door five minutes later. I was talking to Lenna on the phone when they walked in.

"Thanks for calling Matt," Lenna said. I had told her about our visit. "I am praying for her. Oh yeah, update on Rich, while at the hospital, I stopped by his room. He gets to keep the other one but there is so much damage to the blood vessels doctors don't think he will be able to get an erection." She chuckled softly. "I guess his days of raping women are over. I asked him if he had read the divorce papers and had he got a lawyer yet. He said yes to both." She said goodbye and hung up.

"Lori woke up," I told them. "She didn't remember about being drugged. She was begging us to forgive her, not to leave her. We told her we loved her and were not leaving. She started crying and the nurse sedated her."

I looked at the sisters. "Would you two come with us in the morning?" I asked. "You were both with her at the party and maybe help answer her questions. And I need your help, I'm going to need all the help I can get when she hears the truth and realizes how I treated her, leaving her alone when she needed me more than ever." I was pleading with them, hoping they were somewhat on my side. I told them what Lenna said about Rich, they both smiled.

"Matt, we will do everything possible to help you and Lori," Megan said. "We know you both love each other. You did make some mistakes, but so did we." Megan looked at me. "Brenda and I should have realized something was wrong right away. Lori didn't drink but one glass of wine and the drink Rich gave her. No way she was intoxicated. We should have saw that. So, we are partly to blame for some of this mess."

We decided to go to the hospital around 8:30 in the morning. Brenda and Megan went home.

"Dad, Cindy and I will go to the hospital in the morning, but we are only going to see mom, see how she is doing and make sure she knows we love her." Andy said looking at me. "Then we are going to leave. Cindy is going to the high school pool to do laps, her coach and a few others from the team will be there," He paused. "One of the coaches from the baseball camp plays in the minors and has a game in Fresno. He invited Timmy and I to come down and do warm-ups with the team and stay and watch the game." Andy looked at me. "Would that be ok? Dad, do you think it will be ok with mom?" I looked at Andy, then Cindy and pulled them in a big hug.

"That is more than ok," I said. "That's a great idea, you both need time away from this mess I have caused, yes, you both go. I am so proud of the type of adults you are growing into. I know your mom is as proud as I am."

"Dad, you didn't cause this mess, Rich did," Andy said. "This is all on him, we are all victims."

Not much sleep for me. Dozed off around one, woke up at five and dressed and went to the shop. I left messages to the kids, Megan and Brenda. Telling them I would meet them in the waiting room.

As I walked into the waiting room I saw Doctor Larson at the front desk. "Doctor, could I have a moment of your time, I know you are very busy?" I asked

"Sure MR Carr, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"Last night when we saw Lori, she did not remember that she was drugged," I told her. "We are getting ready to go in to see her now. Any thoughts on what to say, how to act?"

"MR Carr, she may have memory laps from time to time, it will come back to her at some point. She also could go into depression, deep depression." DR Larson paused, looked at me. "Here are a few things to help pull her back today. Don't lie to her, tell her the truth. If you can, take her back in time to a point she was really happy, say to her 'let's go back and do that again' that type of talk. Help her feel happy again. Also is there something she has been wanting to do or something she wants?" She asked me.

"Well, two come to mind," I said. "She wants a BMW convertible." I smiled at the doctor "And she wants us to do a couples massage."

"Well, tell her as soon as she is ready you will buy her the Beamer," she laughed looking at my face. "OK, maybe tell her as soon as she is out of here you will get a couples massage." Again, she laughed. "Do anything you can to keep her in a happy state. When she starts to go dark, do whatever you can to bring her back. She will need counseling." Picking up some papers, she started to walk away, but paused.

"MR Carr, I am going to continue on my rounds now, it will be a couple of hours before I get to her room," she told me. "We have on staff counselors; I will have one stop by and chat with Lori just to get a feel for where her mind is right now. Also, I gave the nurse instructions to give Lori a very mild sedative this morning. Her mind will be clear, but the sedative will help keep her calm. Just you and your children should go in first and see how she reacts, then others can join you. I have told the nurse that there will be more visitors in the room than normal. She is ok with that. I will see you later MR Carr."

Andy, Cindy and I walked into Lori's room. Lori was sitting up with a food tray in front of her. It looked like a bowl of oatmeal and some Jello, neither were on Lori's list of edible food. She looked better than last night but she was not smiling. I looked at the nurse and showed her a small bag. She grinned and removed the oatmeal and Jello from the tray. I sat the bag on the tray. I had stopped by Lori's favorite breakfast place and picked up some take out.

"Is that what I think it is Matt?" Lori asked, a hint of a smile. "Is that a number 3 from Gabe's?"

"Yes, honey," I answered. "I knew you would not like the food here. There is juice in there also. Enjoy your breakfast." We sat down as Lori opened the bag, still only a half smile. We sat and watched her eat.

When she was finished, Cindy removed the tray. I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips. "I love you so much," I whispered in her ear. She pulled me in for another longer kiss. Her eyes were tearing up.

"Matt," she paused. "Was I drugged? Did Rich really drug me?"

"Yes, honey, he did," I answered. "But we didn't know until yesterday," I paused for a moment and looked at Andy and Cindy. "Honey, the kids want to talk for a few minutes and then they need to leave. Would that be ok? Megan and Brenda are waiting outside and will come in after the kids leave." She nodded ok. Andy and Cindy went to the sides of her bed and hugged her. I went out to get Megan and Brenda.

"Hi ladies, she seems in a lot better mood today," I told her sisters. "She also remembered about the drugs. The kids are with her; we will go in when they leave."

I started to worry as it had been over 30 minutes and the kids had not come out. I thought about going to check on them when they came out. I told Megan and Brenda to go in I would be in after I talked to the kids. They both had tears on their cheeks.

"How did it go?" I asked looking at both of them.

"She forgave me dad, she forgave me." Cindy was smiling and crying. "She loves us dad, she really loves us." Andy looked at me. "We are good dad, mom and I are good," he said. "She wants to talk to you, you had better go in, we will see you tonight." I hugged them both and went into Lori's room.

I walked into the room. Brenda and Megan were talking to Lori. As soon as Lori saw me, she pushed them aside and held her hands out to me.

"Matt, I'm so sorry, will you forgive me?" she asked. "I love you so much and I hurt you."

"No Lori, I'm asking for you to forgive me," I said. "I should not have left you alone; I should have talked to you." I kissed her. I looked at Megan and Brenda with a question look. They shook their heads no.

"Lori, listen while we tell you of the events starting with the party," I said looking at Lori. "Let us tell you the complete story, then we can answer all your questions."

I let Megan and Brenda tell her about the events leading up to the photo moment. Then I told her how Cindy and I saw her.

"Oh god no, god no." Lori was crying. We all hugged her I kept telling her we loved her. It took about ten minutes before she could continue.

"Lori, that was not you we saw, that was the drugs," I told her. "Cindy and I understand now what we saw. You did not do those things." The next part was the one I was worried about.

"Honey, I'm going to tell you what I did. I am so sorry for what I did. I hope you can someday forgive me." Then I went into detail of the things I did, the note, the trip and not letting her talk. She was crying quietly.

"Honey, I am going to take a walk and let you think about the things I did. Talk to your sisters. I will be back in a while." I kissed her and left the room. I ran into DR Larson.

"How is she doing?" she asked.

"Well, better, but I just told her all the things I did," I said with a sigh. "I'm letting her think on them awhile. Her sisters are with her. She has not gone into a panic mode today, so, that's a good thing."

"I'm going in now and the counselor is on her way," DR Larson said. "Why don't you take her sisters for a cup of coffee, come back in an hour." I nodded. DR Larson went into the room and I waited for Megan and Brenda. I took them to a coffee shop a few blocks away.

"How was she taking the news about me?" I asked the sisters.

"She didn't say a word after you left," Megan said. "She just looked down, like she was thinking. We asked if she was alright and she just nodded yes." Not the reaction I was hoping for. We talked a while longer. I called my parents, Brenda called theirs.

When we got back to the hospital DR Larson called me over.

"MR Carr, we are going to let her go home today," she said. "The counselor and I agree she is past the danger point and will do better at home. She asked to see you alone, so why don't you go see her now."

When I opened the door, she smiled at me. I walked over and leaned down to kiss her and she slapped me hard. I jumped back.

"Don't you ever leave me and not talk to me again," she said loudly, then lowered her voice. "I know what you saw hurt you terribly. I understand why you felt that way, but it still hurt me." She was starting to cry. "I love you so much, the hurt I felt for hurting you was the worst feeling I have ever had. I could not understand any of it. I looked at the photo for hours, trying to understand what I was looking at, how could I have done that. In my heart I knew I could not do those things, but there was the photo." She laid her head in her lap. I sat and pulled her close and let her cry. It was twenty minutes later; she wiped her face off.

"Matt, please take me home?" She asked.

"They are doing the paper work now," I told her. "Your sisters will be here in a few minutes to get your things. Then we go home."

We all went to counseling, individually, Lori and I, and all four of us together. Even though I knew Lori had been drugged, it took me months to get past the vision of her with Rich. It was almost a month before we had sex, or I tried. I lost my erection as I tried to enter her when the vision of her and Rich popped into my mind. Lori cried, blaming herself. The counselor worked with us and I am now at a place I can keep it hidden away.

About eight months after the party, Lori and I were sitting on our couch, the kids were out for the night. Lori suddenly burst into tears and started crying.

"I am so sorry Matt, I love you so much. I am so ashamed of what I did." I held her and let her cry. We went back to the counselor; it took another two months before our sex life returned to somewhat normal.

Our family was now closer than we had ever been. The connection between Andy, Cindy and their mom was good before, but now it was great.

About a year later my office manager told me I had a call from a lady named Maria.

"Is that you Matt? This is Maria from Cabo."

"Yes, it is, what a surprise Maria," I answered. "How are you doing? how are the kids and Ed?"

"Ed and the kids are fine. Matt, I just could not stop thinking about you," she said. "I really hope things worked out for you and your wife. How is Cindy?"

"Cindy is fine, and my marriage will be ok." Then I told her the whole story.

Lori and I were approaching our 25th anniversary. I told Lori I would take her anywhere she wanted.

"Really, you will take me anywhere I want?" she asked. "Anywhere?"

"Yes, except outer space, I can't afford that," I told her.

"Ok." She smiled with a very big smile, "Cabo San Lucas."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes, that's where I want to go," she said. "I want to replace your memories with memories with me in them. And the place looks fantastic, that's where I want to go." She kissed me, then looked at me.

"What happened to Rich?" she asked. "I know he moved away, but what happened to him?"

I told her about him showing up at our house and what I and Cindy had done, then told her what Lenna had told me. "Thank you, my hero." She kissed me. "I have to thank my daughter. I miss Lenna, she was a good friend." I told her I had her phone number if she wanted, she did.

We went to Cabo San Lucas and we made some fantastic memories including couples' massages. Our love for each other became stronger.

Life was good.

Oh yeah, Lori got her BMW convertible, it was used, but she loves it.