The Sinful Affair

Anne smiled as she sat at the park with her pregnant sister-in-law Nikki. Nikki was married to her husband's brother and in a matter of weeks Nikki would be giving birth to her and Isaac's first child a little girl. "Are you excited about having the baby?" she asked as she eyed Nikki who was now resting a hand on her swollen belly. Nikki laughed slightly as she nodded, "Of course I am," she nodded. "Weren't you excited when you had John?" she asked referring to Anne and Tristan's oldest son who was five. At Nikki's question Anne sighed. She knew her answer should have been yes that she had been excited when she was pregnant with John but she hadn't been. Finding out your pregnant at seventeen by the twenty-five year old you had been dating behind your parents back for three months hadn't been the most exciting thing nor was the whispers once their small town had found out. Some people even going as far as accusing her now husband of rape even though it hadn't been rape. Anne had consented to their s*x. She had loved him. "Maybe under different circumstances I would have been," she finally spoke being honest about her feelings. "You try being seventeen and telling your parents your twenty-five year old boyfriend knocked you up," she laughed to lighten her mood. "My daddy was literally holding a gun to Tristan's back when he married me on the day of my eighteenth birthday. Hell I think he was still holding that gun on Tristan when I was giving birth to John on Christmas morning." Nikki grimaced at Anne's words. Of course she hadn't thought of Anne's circumstances when she asked her question but then again she hadn't been here when Anne married Tristan. She had still been in Florida completely unaware of the family she would one day marry into. "Well then what about with Carl?" she asked referring to her sister-in-law's youngest child who was now three. "It was different then with him." Anne smiled some as she remembered Carl's pregnancy. It had been different experience wise. Her parents had came around to Tristan and by then accepted the fact that he was their son-in-law as well as Anne's husband. They also liked that he had stepped up to the plate and supported his family by getting a job even if his first job had been at the local supermarket bagging groceries. "With Carl I was happy," Anne agreed as she nodded her head before turning to look at both of her boys who were playing in the sand. Both of them clearly took after their father look wise. They even got his blue eyes that she loved. "I was so much happier." Smiling at Anne's words now Nikki rubbed her belly some as the baby kicked. "So is Tristan going to be working late tonight?" she asked wanting to change the subject off of babies and the past. "I mean Isaac said he has been busy since he finally opened his own photography studio." "Busy is an understatement," Anne muttered as she ran a hand through her hair. "Even after he closes for the night he usually doesn't come home until one in the morning," she shrugged. "He's just that dedicated to what he does which I guess is a good thing." After Anne spoke Nikki chewed on her lip feeling like changing the subject to this had been a bad thing. "I feel a but coming with your words," she smiled or well forced one. Nodding to confirm Nikki's words Anne frowned slightly, "But I kind of miss the days when he didn't have his own studio. When he hadn't accomplished his dreams. At least then he was home at a decent hour," she sighed feeling like she was sounding horrible to Nikki. What kind of wife wasn't happy for their husband? "I guess I just feel like we are slowly drifting apart right now because of this," she continued as she looked down at her wedding band. "We rarely get time alone. He comes home and I am in bed. I wake up and he's gone to work. We just keep missing each other even on the weekends mainly because he brings his work home with him." Nikki frowned as well hearing Anne confess all of this to her, "Have you told him how you felt?" she asked though she doubted she had. Anne shook her head no, "I don't see the point. I'll just sound horrible and like I don't want him to have what he's always dreamed of having. Anyway maybe it'll fix itself," she nodded trying to feel hopeful. "Maybe," Nikki replied trying to show her encouragement even if she didn't believe her words. How could things get better if Anne didn't tell Tristan? How could Tristan know what to fix if his wife kept him in the dark? Going silent for awhile Anne just watched her boys playing for a bit longer, "I really should go," she sighed knowing that soon it would be getting dark. "I need to get the boys home and start on dinner," she said as she stood from the bench. Bidding goodbye to Nikki she walked over to her sons and bent down to their level. "You boys ready to go home?" John looked at his mom and shook his head, "No, I wanna stay and keep building my castle," he pouted as he looked at Carl his younger brother. "So does Carl." Laughing Anne just shook her head, "Well you got to go home whether you like it or not," she smiled before reaching out to ruffle John's hair. "We can come back this weekend if you want and you can build another castle," she told him as she stood up picking Carl up as she did so. "Can daddy come when we come again?" John asked as he grabbed his shovel and bucket. "I'll mention it to daddy," Anne forced a smile as she walked to her car. She knew though when she did what Tristan would say. He was busy and didn't have the time but maybe next weekend. That's how it always went. John just nodded at his mom's answer and followed her to the car. Making it to her car Anne put Carl in his booster seat first before helping John get in his own. She was glad for John's silence on Tristan coming back to the park with them this weekend. Getting in the car herself after both boys were in she started it up and drove home. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ After getting the boys in bed and doing the dishes from dinner Anne went outside onto her back porch where she sat down in a chair, pulling the pack of cigarettes from her pocket as well as her lighter. Pulling a cigarette out she put it between her lips and lit it up, taking a drag. Looking out at her backyard her eyes immediately went to the house next door, her eyebrows raising some as she saw a moving van outside it. It had been up for sale for a year now and she hadn't even noticed that the house finally sold. She half guessed her new neighbors would probably be like her last ones. A small family. That was all that seemed to live on their street. Taking another drag from her cigarette she turned her attention back to her own yard her mind drifting back to her talk with Nikki at the park. She wasn't sure why she had been so honest on her feelings about Tristan's new job or the state of her marriage. If she had learned anything in the years of being his wife it was that they always got through the bad stuff. "And we will get through this," she whispered to herself as she took another drag from her cigarette. They would get through this and it would make them stronger in the end. Finishing her cigarette in silence Anne flicked it out into the backyard before turning back to look at the house next door. When she did she just watched as the mover's continued to move boxes out of the van and into the house. Tomorrow if her neighbors were there she'd have to go say hi. That's how people were around here. When she and Tristan had moved in they had met all of their neighbors in two days though Anne hated having people dropping in all the time back then especially since John had been teething at the time and she had gotten little to no sleep. Standing from the porch Anne headed inside stopping in her tracks when she saw Tristan in the kitchen helping himself to the dinner she had fixed. She hadn't even heard his car pull in the driveway. "You're home early," she said feeling a smile on her face. It was a nice change having him home before one in the morning. Turning to look at his wife after he had fixed himself a plate of food Tristan chewed on his lip, "I closed early. I sort of met up with an old friend for coffee." "Oh," Anne nodded not remembering him mentioning anything about meeting a friend today. "What friend?" she asked as she walked to where he had left out the containers which held the food she had made. "Natalie," Tristan whispered as he sat down at the table. "You remember her right?" he asked his voice getting just a bit higher. He knew Anne would remember her. It was likely Anne had never forgotten the woman who used to date him before he had gotten with her. Nearly dropping the containers in her hand Anne tried her best to keep her cool. Natalie had been the woman Tristan had dated through high school and even out of high school. Everyone had thought he would marry her but she had ended up leaving for California just two months before Tristan got with her. "I thought she moved to California," Anne spoke as she reached the fridge. Opening the fridge she put the containers back in before turning to face Tristan. Tristan nodded, "She did," he said in between bites of his food. "She moved back to town last week. She's been staying at a hotel for the past week. She finally bought a house yesterday," he said as he looked down. "It's kind of funny I found out it's the one beside ours," he finished as he looked at his food. He was scared to see Anne's reaction to his last words. Hearing Tristan's last few words Anne took a breath before forcing a smile, "Well I guess I will be the nice neighbor and greet her once she gets settled," she said though she wasn't so sure she could. How could she be nice to the woman who had came before her? Natalie would be the one Tristan had married if she hadn't left. "I think I am going to go get ready for bed," she sighed before turning and leaving the kitchen. Right now she just needed a few minutes to herself again. She needed a few minutes to process things.