 My baby grew but so did this one awkward characteristic Exposing the secret I kept for 26 years And it destroyed everyone This brutal story has a plot twist that not even Jerry Springer could predict a Decades old affair comes to light where the only thing more tangled than the family tree is the web of lies holding it together Sit back and relax. You don't want to miss this one Be sure to gift the like button a puppy, but make sure it's actually a fox Warning the following story is quite brutal for cheaters I'm not here looking for pity or to justify my actions, but I would like any positive advice you might offer To sum things up I had a brief affair and became pregnant with a neighbor right after my husband Joe and I Betty were married This resulted in the birth of our beloved son Joe jr. A little over 24 years ago My husband Joe knew nothing of the affair and always believed Joe jr. Was his I too believed Joe jr. Was my husband's child until around age five When it became clear to me based on his features that my husband was not his father Let me give you some background on how this all happened and why I did what I did those many years ago My husband and I grew up in the same town, but in very different environments Joe was raised in a typical middle-class neighborhood in a traditional household with his mom dad and sisters I on the other hand was raised by my mother and grandmother And we all lived together in section eight housing during my teenage years My father lived in a town 11 miles away My mom had me at 17 married my dad at 18 and divorced seven months later My mother and father both had alcohol and a drug problems prescription and recreational My grandma was an alcoholic and a chronic smoker Again, I'm not disclosing this information for pity I just want to give background on what led me to making awful mistakes early in my marriage After my mom and dad divorced I saw my dad two to three times a year normally on my birthday and at Christmas and maybe one or two times in between I know he loved me, but just didn't have the mental capacity or money to care for me due to his drug use After the divorce my mom and I moved in with my maternal grandma and I lived with them until I married Joe For the next 15 years we moved a total of 11 times as a result of either non-payment of rent and or eviction Several times we moved in the middle of the night sticking the landlord with months of back rent As soon as I started getting comfortable with our home and established friendships We'd be off to another location and I'd have to start all over again It was stressful Mom and grandma also changed jobs on a yearly basis sometimes multiple times a year They'd work various minimum wage jobs until they either got tired of the work or were fired They both pilfered from the companies they worked for and were career shoplifters with each being charged multiple times for petty theft over the years Grams had mama at 16 and never married Over the years both my mom and grams had many boyfriends including numerous one-night stands The longest relationship either of them had never lasted more than a few months Let me say I was never left alone always made sure I was fed had clean clothes and a nice bed It's just that My upbringing was non-traditional The environment just was not a healthy one from a development standpoint And consequently I fell into the same pattern During high school I had seven boyfriends one of which resulted in a pregnancy Though I wanted to keep the baby mom and grams convinced me haven't you know what as they both had done in their teens I still regret it today Now enter into my life my angel joe He was truly my prince charming I met joe when I was working at an ice cream stand in our town He came to the walk-up window one day and asked me what I suggested And we talked for a few minutes and right there within five minutes of knowing each other He asked me out on a date At the time I was 17 and he was 21 We hit it off right away Even though we were as different as night and day Joe was in his final month of college and was about to graduate and I was in my final month of high school He was an a student and even though my environment might indicate otherwise I was a good student with an a to b average We dated as just friends for three months and never kissed until my 18th birthday I'll never forget the night. It was so sweet He took me out to dinner on one of these old paddle wheel boats that cruise the river After dinner we were standing out on deck looking at the pretty scenery and he just hugged and kissed me And told me he loved me and I told him I loved him Things moved fast after that and we fell madly in love Joe graduated and got a job in the biggest city in our state He didn't want to leave me and be alone in a strange place So he asked me to move with him We lived together for four months and then on a whim decided to get married at the justice of peace office You're probably asking if Joe knew about my past Yes, he knew everything Our parents didn't know and when we told them my mom dad and grandma were happy for us But joe's parents were very upset While they didn't mind joe dating me They didn't want him to marry me based on my high school reputation and my family's history with narcotics Thankfully to joe none of those things mattered and we started our married life Joe immediately bought a small house for us in an up-and-coming yuppie neighborhood in the city He got the down payment from his parents and got a high interest rate loan to finance it We struggled to make ends meet and only had sparse furnishings for the longest time Joe was working long hours starting his career and I was left all alone at home in this strange new city I decided to get a job at a local frozen yogurt stand that was walkable from our house It was great as it got me out of the house and introduced me to a lot of nice people in the neighborhood Here is where I met our neighbors. Let's call them Cheryl and Charles They were in their early 40s. Charles was a truck driver and Cheryl was a housewife They had five kids and visited the yogurt shop once a week as a treat They were the only non yuppie people in the neighborhood and more like the people I was used to After we got to know each other, I would often sit on their porch and talk with them for hours They both were so nice to me and were my go-to family since Joe was working so much Well, let me just get to the point here One week when Cheryl was in the hospital for an operation and my husband Joe was out of town at a work convention Charles saw me after I finished my shift and asked if I wanted to grab some food with him at a local fast food restaurant I was exhausted after working 10 hours and decided to take him up on his offer After eating we returned to our street and I told him about a leaking shower faucet we had that I couldn't turn off He offered to come in and fix it which he did and after that we sat on the couch and talked We ended up being intimate that night He left at 2 a.m. So not to be seen by neighbors the following night He snuck over again after midnight and stayed till morning After our second time guilt overwhelmed me and we both agreed to end the affair and say nothing more of it It's so weird when I think back on those days now. I don't know why I did it I wasn't attracted to Charles in the least. He wasn't handsome or built He was short wore old clothes and didn't have money I think we connected because he reminded me of my dad After this I fully dedicated myself to my Joe and asked God to forgive me for what I'd done I promised God that I would do everything I could for the rest of my life to make it up to my husband Which I have Joe came back from his trip and we resumed married life just as before Except now I was even more attentive and loving than ever before Six weeks later. I found out I was pregnant Yes, I knew there was a slight chance the child might not be Joe's but thought there was no way Since Joe and I had been together every day sometimes multiple times per day except for the three days He was out of town while I was only with Charles those two nights and both times he pulled out I never spoke to Charles or Cheryl again and actually never saw them again As a week later, they moved out of their house in the middle of night Without saying goodbye to anyone in the neighborhood Turns out their home was in foreclosure and they never told anyone and instead just decided to move prior to being evicted All the neighbors were surprised My pregnancy was very complicated and I was bedridden for the final two months My husband took great care of me and this made me love him even more if that was even possible At the age of 19, I gave birth to our son and we named him Joe Jr Joe was so happy and proud to be a father For the first few years, I really thought Joe Jr was Joe's child But at around five years, I could tell he wasn't While his hair and eye color were like Joe's his facial features his build and the odd shape of his head Were a mirror image of Charles and his sons My husband never really knew Charles or Cheryl that well So I thought my terrible secret would never be discovered Thankfully back then there were none of these home DNA testing kits like we have today But then it happened To make matters worse after the birth of Joe Jr My doctor told me that I would not be able to have more children as a result of the complicated pregnancy Which was a result of the excessive scarring tissue I formed because of it Learning this I begged Joe to adopt a child But he said he had his wife and son now and couldn't be happier I kept pressuring him as I thought having another child would further cement our relationship If by chance the true paternity of Joe Jr was ever revealed Eventually after five years Joe and I adopted our second son call him Stevie We were now a beautiful happy family of four My sons idolized their father and he idolized them They were inseparable and the bond between Joe and Joe Jr was especially a tight one Joe is a little over six foot two and in great shape while Joe Jr Is barely five foot eight and is stocky like his biological father This always bothered Joe Jr as he wanted to look like and be like his dad But he was never able to achieve Joe's physical academic or athletic ability No matter how hard he tried This didn't matter to Joe as he always reassured Joe Jr that he was wonderful and wanted him to be his own man He would always tell him Joe don't try to be like me be your own man and find something you love He always told him how special he was and it really built up his confidence Joe Jr. Eventually found himself in trade school when he took up plumbing He's got a good job now making really good money He's married and has an infant son My husband Joe was his best man and he named his son Joe the third I swear he loves his father more than he loves his wife or me This makes what happened next all the more difficult Joe Jr and his family live about one hour away But one day he showed up at my door in the middle of the day I could tell something was wrong He came in and we talked he calmly explained that he was contacted by a man claiming to be his brother My god The man and his siblings had done one of those at home tests and it showed they had a half brother They were able to track him down searching online He met them and they gave him a copy of the results To make sure this was accurate Joe Jr. Took an ancestor test himself and it confirmed the same After telling me this and showing me the test results He just started crying asking me how I could do such a thing to him and his father I just told him I was sorry and said I kept it secret as I didn't want to hurt them At this point. I wasn't crying as I was in shock actual shock My focus was on consoling my son After a few minutes of crying and staring down. He looked up He looked up at me with hate in his eyes and said You are an evil person I told him I wasn't and that it didn't matter who his biological father was as Joe was and will always be his father Joe Jr. Then said Yes, Joe is my father, but effective right now You are not my mother With this he got up and stormed out. I called him He answered and I begged him to come back to talk and he said no I then said we've got to tell your dad hearing this he exploded saying Don't you dare tell my dad anything you witch don't you dare? I said honey, we have to we can't keep this secret now that you know He yelled at me and demanded I not say anything and hung up I tried calling and texting him, but the only response he sent was do not say anything to my father and do not come to my home It was then that I broke down emotionally That evening Joe didn't come home. He just sent me a text at 7 o 9 p.m. Saying I will not be home I'm spending the night with my son I knew now he knew the truth I decided not to cause any more stress than I had already so I let them be and just cried all night Not sleeping a wink Joe and joe jr. Built a little casita type apartment attached to his garage on the back of joe jr's property I thought joe would be sleeping there for the night At 6 20 a.m. Joe came through the door and into the bedroom while I was laying there He sat on the bed beside me and told me to tell him everything I did in under 10 minutes as there was so little to tell as it was only two times It meant nothing and was over 25 years ago I just kept saying sorry and telling him how much I adored him He was emotionless and just said I'll be filing for divorce. I'll be living at juniors until it's final I was floored hearing this and blacked out for a moment I started crying and begging But joe just packed saying nothing I continued sobbing and begging but he just said Your tears are worthless. Our relationship is over Just like that No discussion nothing He said he had already told his parents and sisters and our son stevie I couldn't believe it Hearing this made me feel even worse Now I'm all alone in this big house with no husband or family None of them want anything to do with me now My mom grandma and father are all now deceased. So I have no immediate family at all I also have no close personal friends to confide in so that's why I've come here Based on my situation, what should I do next? I'm broken and don't want to live without my husband and my boys They are my whole world Without them. I am nothing Please help me I wanted to clear up a couple things based on the initial responses I got today First have no concern about me deleting myself I am a child of god and would never do such a thing Second, I will never turn to narcotics or alcohol Based on my family history I gave up both when I got with joe and will never again partake. Thank you Your son said it all you are an evil person How could you keep this from them for 25 years knowing how much they loved each other? You say you have a close relationship with god But I can't believe that as lying for 365 days a year for 25 years is an unforgivable sin I'd like to say I hope your husband and sons forgive you But I really hope they don't I do hope your husband and son can forgive you Something similar happened to me when our son was 16 He was tracked down by two of his half sisters My husband left me immediately and my son went to live with him My husband remarried the following year And my son never spoke to me for 25 years and even today our relationship is strained Good luck to you. I know what you're going through What you did was just terrible, but all sins no matter how big are forgivable The best thing you can do now is nothing Just let them be and give them time to process things My hope for you is that your husband and both of your sons can forgive you in time And cherish all the good years you've all had I would however understand if your husband and eldest son cannot do so First if I was your husband, it would be instant divorce And I'd try to sue you into the abyss if I could even for paternity fraud Second if I was your son, I would totally cut you out of my life You're a human parasite a selfish narcissist who only cares about herself What makes your crime even worse is you knew you couldn't have more children This means your husband could never have a biological child with you So to try to cement your relationship You kept the lie going and coerced him into adopting a child another human being Do you understand how sinister this is? I hope one day you get what's coming to you and hope your husband remarries And has as many biological kids as he wants You are pure evil Thanks for your responses everyone A lot of people rightfully called me names and I deserve it As I know what I did to my husband and son is beyond cruel And has likely damaged them psychologically I wish this information never came to light And really I wish I'd never cheated I still can't figure out why I did what I did It's not an excuse But I was young and foolish back then And was highly influenced by my years growing up with mama and grandma I know now I should have immediately disclosed my affair to my husband And for sure should have disclosed it once it was clear that Joe Jr. wasn't my husband's child That was purely selfish of me as I didn't want to lose my family I just couldn't say anything as my husband and son were so happy and loved each other so much Writing this down makes me cry so hard Okay, I had to get that out right up front Where do things stand today? My husband and I are living separately and haven't spoken since my last update He's still living in Joe Jr.'s garage apartment and has filed for divorce The only contact I've had with Joe has been a couple texts Joe Jr. absolutely hates me I talked to his wife once or twice a week to see what's going on over there She said my husband has forgiven and wants to forget about me How could he want this? She said Joe Jr. doesn't forgive me and will never forget what I did Thankfully, Stevie came over yesterday and we had a good talk We're back on speaking terms, but he's still very distant I've sent multiple heartfelt emails, texts, and messages online to my husband and Joe Jr. But they've not replied As for now, my husband will be divorcing me and there's really nothing I can do to stop it I could make it difficult, but I will not In fact, if that's what he wants, I'll make it easy for him As it's the least I can do to show him how much I love and appreciate him Before I close out this update, let me answer a question that keeps coming up regarding Charles and Cheryl Unfortunately, they too are now deceased According to his kids, Charles passed away over 16 years ago while Cheryl just passed last year That's why their kids did the ancestors testing as they wanted to find out more about their mom and dad's extended families While I was truly saddened to hear about their passing, it does take the complication of a bioparent out of the equation This will make it somewhat easier for both Joe Jr. and Joe I pray that they both are resting in peace in a better place And that Cheryl can one day forgive me for the brief entanglement I had with her husband All those years ago when I was 18 years old The second question that keeps coming up is whether Charles knew about Joe Jr The answer is no As I stated in my first post, they moved away right after I found out I was pregnant and I never was in touch with them again Also remember, I thought Joe Jr. was actually Joe's son until he was around five years That's all I have for now Thank you for the many responses to my story After two plus years, I thought I'd come back on here and update my life story If anyone out there is still interested Since all the lockdowns happened, I've been spending most of my time online As I'm sure all of you have as well Let me first start off by updating you on my marriage to Joe We are divorced and have been since December 2017 I tried everything to keep him But according to him, the day he found out about my affair and the paternity of Joe Jr, he was done I know my actions were really bad, but I don't understand how someone can just turn off their emotions like he did One day he was madly in love with me enjoying life and the next the love was completely gone I just can't see how that's even possible It didn't matter to Joe that I was just 18 years old when this all happened Or that it was over 25 years ago To him, he was done with me His response to everything really destroyed me inside As he reacted like a robot and showed no outward emotion Meanwhile, I had to do everything I could to prevent myself from bursting out in tears every minute during this time While we're on the subject of Joe, I'll let you know he's now engaged to marry a woman he worked with for 13 years She's 34 and he's now 51 The ink wasn't even dry on our divorce papers when he started dating her Nice I believe he was seeing her while we were married, but my daughter-in-law insists that's not the case She said they only started dating after we were divorced According to my daughter-in-law, Joe Jr and Stevie are going to be co-best men for their dad My daughter-in-law said my ex-husband's fiance is a wonderful woman And they even plan on having multiple children Apparently once they marry, she's going to be quitting her job and become a stay-at-home mother While this is distressing to me, I wish them nothing but the best During one of my many begging sessions before we divorced I suggested to Joe we could adopt another child or even multiple children He quickly shot the idea down, but yet he's planning on having multiple children with his new wife Okay, I get it's different But it still hurts like hell Though we've been divorced over years now, I would give anything to trade places with Joe's wife I'm happy to report that Joe Jr and I are back on speaking terms We started talking about a year ago However, all of our subsequent interactions have been initiated by me and he basically only gives yes No, or I don't know answers Stevie does the same although he does occasionally ask me questions It's as if my boys see me as a monster and only want to interact with me when they have to My daughter-in-law Joe Jr's wife has been a guardian angel Helping me get through the divorce and helping me mend fences with both Joe Jr and Stevie That girl is wise beyond her years and is a great wife and mother She tells it like it is and has said some mean things to me over the years But they were all things I've needed to hear She's just wonderful. I think that's all I have to say I wish I had better news to share, but life is getting a little better with each new day Joe was very generous to me in the divorce and I'm now working a data entry job at the university So money's not a problem. I'd give everything away right now if I could get my marriage back But that's never going to happen Thanks for reading my post and for your thoughts. Stay safe and healthy Please learn from my mistakes That brings us to the end of this story For many men the infamous affair pregnancy turned into paternity fraud Feels like the ultimate betrayal In the end your whole family is ripped to pieces The longer Betty kept her secret the more destructive it became But she didn't confess before this she tripled down and deceived her husband even more What do you make of this? I can't let go of the following thought Imagine being a proud father and then hearing from your boy that you're not his actual dad For 26 years you've nurtured loved and raised a child you believed was your own flesh and blood Your wife the woman you've shared over a quarter of a century with Cheated and is now exposed for making your life a lie Well after this episode I'm going to watch a puppy compilation Be sure to give the like button a puppy but make sure it's actually a fox See you in the next one