The Legacy, Chapter 3: Echoes - Sex Stories

The Legacy, Chapter 3: Echoes

... pregnant with Robby…right after, I suppose. It wasn’t something we ever intended, Robert, and I’m so very sorry I hurt you.” He shook his head and wondered at the irony of the fact that her affair had begun at almost the same time that his own mistakes had ended. “So, all this time…” She nodded. “Yes…not often. Sometimes, still – well, I suppose that’s obvious!” He smiled as he touched the baby’s head. “Yes, it is. How…or maybe why is a better question. Why did it start?” She took a deep breath and then blew it out. “Well, there was this huge storm – you know how I hate storms. Henry stayed with me, late into the night. The power lines went down, and we talked; I think…Robert, I think I seduced him. It’s not his fault, you can’t blame Henry; this is all on me. It may have been something that had been building for a long time, but it’s entirely my fault. All of it.” “You were lonely, Beth. Lonely and frightened, and he was there. I wasn’t, and that’s my fault. For much of our life together I haven’t been there for you, because of my job. I love it, but I love you and the kids more; I should have done better by you.” He sighed and looked away, out the window toward the forest on the horizon, beyond the parking lot. “But Henry…” He paused, and then went on. “But Henry is a grown man, Beth; he knew what he was doing…if we’re going to assign blame, there’s enough here for all three of us.” In a strange way he found that he was relieved that the child’s father was Henry – that if ...

... she had needed to seek the comfort of another man’s arms, that she had chosen him. He knew that the two of them loved each other – that had been obvious from the start – but with any man other than her old friend there would have been the fear, the very real chance, that she might have grown apart from her husband, fallen in love, and left him. Henry, by filling that massive void in her life, may have in this strange way ultimately saved their marriage. She didn’t answer, didn’t know what to say, and didn’t understand how he could be taking this as well as he was. She knew she’d married a fine man, but time and again he’d surprised her, and he did again now. “You’ve loved him a long time, Beth, and I’ve always understood that – hell, I love the old bastard too, he’s a wonderful man! I suppose I understand, perhaps, how this could happen. And why. But it hurts, Beth…very much. Very deeply.” He wouldn’t tell her of his own failures; that would be self-serving, a selfish attempt to relieve his own guilt, and would only cause her needless pain. Those days were long over – had never been anything meaningful – and would remain buried in the past. “You’re too good to me, Robert; you should yell at me, call me names, hate me. We tried to be careful – we thought we were, but…” She sighed. “I didn’t mean for this to happen, but I never tried very hard to end it either, with Henry – and I do love him. Not the way I love you, but he’s such a huge part of my life. It’s difficult. Difficult ...