Chapter 2

For the remainder of the month everything seemed okay. The following month Ray was back and Cara always came home later and often upset. She hardly played with our boys. Sometimes she didn't eat dinner. I had to find out what the problem was.

The next time she came home upset, I told her we needed to talk. "What is it, Cara? Is Ray making advances toward you?" I asked.

"Not exactly, John. He does kid around and tries to touch my arm or hand whenever I'm alone with him. He talks about how he used to think about me and stuff like that."

"Isn't there someone you can tell, someone you can talk to?"

"... and tell them what, John. 'Um, sir, I dated Ray one time before I was married and now he's talking to me.' John, I can't prove anything. I even put a tape recorder in my drawer but he never says anything to me when we are in my office. Maybe it's me, maybe I'm just paranoid."

"Honey, if he ever tries anything with you, would you tell me or keep it a secret?"

"Honestly, I don't know, John. I guess it depends on what he tried. An example would be, if he tried to kiss me and I told him no, and he backed off, I probably wouldn't tell you. You would go and kill him and I would be without you. I love you, John, and would never do anything that would hurt you."

"All I ask, Cara, is that if there is a problem with Ray, or any other guy, you let me know."

After our talk things seemed better. Cara still had to work late a couple of nights a week but she seemed happy when she got home. I would make simple dinners because of the kids, but at least once a week we went out for a real meal. I did feel a bit uncomfortable when we went out with other people. There was still this thing about a stay at home dad that was always there. It didn't bother either Cara or me except when others would bring it up. Especially if they joked about it.

I was still a man and it's hard to explain that I still take care of my family but in a different way. I did have a bad temper and also a jealous streak, so my friends knew where to draw the line when talking to us. Some of Cara's friends' husbands didn't and a couple of times I met them outside for a few minutes to set them straight. I never told Cara about them but she did wonder why a few of her friends didn't go out with us as often.

I remember one time while we were out with one snobbish couple. It was some old friend of Cara's. I had only met them at the wedding. Mary seemed all right, but her husband Robert, as he preferred to be called, was an arrogant prick. At our table he made some shit comments about a man being the head of the household. After I had enough of his crap, I smiled at him and asked him to show me his new Porsche. Of course he jumped right up to show off. We told the girls we would be right back. We went to the parking lot and up to his car.

I pushed him face first up against his car and grabbed his arm and held it behind his back. I hit him twice in the kidneys and told him off.

"You arrogant mother fucker, I've had enough of your shit. When we go back in there, if you say one more remark about me being a stay at home dad, I'll throw your fucking head through your fucking precious car window. Do we understand each other?"

"Yea, yes, sorry, John, sorry, please don't hurt me."

"Let's get back inside, you candy ass, and you better act normal," I said.

We went back inside and I told Cara it was one beautiful car and that she deserved one just like it. She told me how sweet I was and maybe someday she would get one, but for right now she was happy with her vehicle. She drove a decent car, a Mercury, but it was a few years old. I traded my truck in for a van because of the kids. We needed more room than my truck offered. During all this talk, Robert said hardly a word. I saw his wife look at him a few times, probably wondering why he was so quiet.

One day Cara came home from work and told me that there was a stage play she wanted to see. She asked Mary if she and Robert would like to go with us and Mary declined. After some prodding, Mary told Cara that Robert didn't like me, and didn't care to go out with us. I guess Mary told Cara about me hitting Robert in the parking lot. I wondered how he told the story, since the candy ass never even put up a fight.

Cara was pissed at me. She told me maybe she ought to just go to the play with Mary and Robert and leave the cave man at home, meaning me.

"Go the fuck with them, if that's what you want. I don't want to see the fucking play anyway. Hey! I have an idea, ask your boss Ray to go with you. I'm sure Robert would approve of him, since they both want in your pants."

I have a tendency to watch people and when we were out to dinner I remember Robert staring a lot at Cara. Maybe she dated him before we met; we never talked about our past dating habits, which was a good thing. I fucked most any woman that walked. My motto was always, 'If they could get it hard, I could use it.'

Cara was now pissed at me too. "Maybe I'll just do that," she replied as she walked in the room to see the kids.

Neither of us apologized, and on Saturday she was getting ready to go to the play. I did want to ask her who all was going but didn't want to start anything. It was only two days since our argument and we were barely speaking.

I called to the boys, "Come on, guys, let's go to McDonald's for dinner." I didn't even say goodbye to Cara.

"What about mommy, Daddy? Isn't she going with us?"

"No, she has a date with friends. Maybe you can see her tomorrow after you get up. I'm sure she will be out late tonight."

Cara looked at me. I did it; I probably asked for it, "You bastard, you have no reason to talk at me this way. It was you who didn't want to go to the play. As far as coming home late, maybe I won't come home at all."

Cara called our sons to her. "Jimmy, Jerry, mommy's going to a play with friends tonight. It's not a play for kids, which is why daddy is watching you. I'll see you tomorrow and we can go to the park, okay?"

"Can daddy come to the park with us mommy?" asked Jimmy.

"It's up to daddy whether he wants to go. We'll see you in the morning. Just remember mommy loves you. Now, go run along with daddy and have fun at McDonald's." She kissed them both and went back to getting ready.

I really felt lousy. We never argued very often but when we did, it was always like this. My damn temper and jealousy, and her not giving an inch. Not much I could do now but hope it was just an argument and that Cara would get over it.

The kids had fun playing at McDonald's. I got them each a kid's meal and they liked the toy inside more than the meal. They played in the game room and I watched the people. Some nice looking women came in here with their kids. I was watching a few of them and I could tell they were watching me. Probably thought I was a divorced dad taking his kids out to eat. Hell, who knows, it could happen. God, what was I thinking? My mind was working overtime; I didn't like my own thoughts. I do know that if she ever cheated on me, I'd kill the mother-fucker and divorce her.

After the kids played for about an hour, we rode over to the airport and watch the planes taking off and coming in. The boys loved it, "Look Daddy, here comes a big one, see it, see it, do you see it, dad?" They would keep asking me that every time there was a plane, which is a lot if you're at the airport.

It was beginning to get dark when we got home. I gave them their baths and then put them to bed. They looked like two little angels lying there. They really were pretty good boys; they minded better than I ever did as a kid. God, I loved them and really enjoyed being around them. It was just Cara that I missed being around, ever since Ray was back in town. Meeting after meeting, time away from our family - I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all.

I laid on the couch and watched whatever was on the station the TV was set on. It looked like the kids' cartoon channel. I just wanted the noise. About midnight I heard a car pull into the garage. I heard Cara get out and come in to see me. I pretended I was asleep so she wouldn't bother me. I didn't want to deal with it right now. I watched her to go check on the boys and then she went and took off her dress off. She must have decided to take a shower. She still had on her bra, panties and pantyhose. She put them in the clothes hamper in the bathroom, took her shower and retired to bed.

I waited about an hour before getting up. I had to pee, but wanted to make sure she was asleep. After pissing, I went to the clothes hamper. I have never distrusted her in my life but now I checked her panties, bra, and pantyhose. I couldn't help myself; I had to see if there was anything out of kilter. Her panties were slightly damp in the crotch but that was probably sweating because of the pantyhose. I could smell her scent but it wasn't like you smell after an orgasm. No cum stains or anything out of the ordinary. Hopefully nothing happened.