Man Returns Home at Night to Find Wife Kissing a Cop on His Way Out – Story of the Day

Stewart and Melissa were the perfect couple until their first child was born. Melissa tries to hold her family together as Stewart spends more time away from home, but everything changes the day a policeman comes to her rescue.

"I can't do this anymore!" Stewart threw the bedcovers back and started packing a bag. "If you can't keep the baby quiet, I'm going to sleep somewhere else."

"She has winds," Melissa replied. She was rocking her daughter and rubbing her back to soothe her. "You can't leave because she's crying."

Stewart shouldered his bag and glanced across the room at her. "I'll be home tomorrow evening."

Melissa stared after her husband in disbelief. He'd changed over the past few months. Initially, he was the perfect husband and father, who changed diapers and let her sleep while he fed their daughter. Now, he was leaving because the baby was crying.

"It's the sleep deprivation," Melissa muttered to her daughter. "Daddy just needs a good night's sleep."

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Melissa remembered those words often over the next few months as Stewart's absences became increasingly common. Most days, she and their daughter, Hannah, only saw him for dinner, then he left to sleep at a friend's house.

Melissa worried that he was having an affair, but everything improved once Hannah was older. Stewart became a part of their lives again. They weren't as happy as they'd been before, but Melissa didn't worry about it.

"People change and grow together through marriage," Melissa told her friend, Jenna, one day.

Jenna gave her an odd look. "Sure, they grow together or they end up growing apart."

Melissa ignored her friend. She and Stewart were perfect when they married. He'd carried her over the threshold into their new home, which he'd renovated himself. When he found out she was pregnant, Stewart decorated the nursery to surprise her.

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Becoming parents had been tough on both of them. Melissa knew their marriage would soon be back on track, but then she got the news that changed everything.

Hannah was asleep in her bed when Melissa sat beside Stewart on the couch.

"Honey, I've got something to tell you." Melissa rubbed Stewart's arm.

"Spit it out already, the show's about to get exciting." He gestured to the TV.

"I'm pregnant."

Stewart's head snapped around to stare at her.

He made it sound like a disaster. "You could at least pretend to be excited."

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Stewart groaned. "I'm just thinking of you, Melissa. One child is difficult enough, but two is going to make a lot of work for you."

"Well, unlike you, I see my children as a joy, not a burden."

Melissa went to bed then. She expected Stewart to join her soon and apologize, but she fell asleep alone that night. The following day, she saw that Stewart had slept on the couch. Soon, he slept there every night.

Over the next few months, Melissa watched helplessly as her marriage fell apart. She tried making Stewart his favorite foods for dinner and encouraged Hannah to show him her drawings. Stewart's only response was a grunt of thanks for the meal and an indifferent pat on Hannah's head.

"You can't keep doing this to us," Melissa said when he left to sleep at a friend's house one night. "We're your family, and we need you with us."

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"You know I can't sleep when the baby cries," he replied, shrugging her off. If he'd looked at his wife, he might've noticed the tears coursing down her cheeks.

Melissa called Jenna and poured her heart out to her friend.

"I know he'll be back once the baby starts sleeping through the night," she said, "but I wish Stewart would stay with us."

Jenna sighed. "Melissa, I know you don't want to hear this, but I don't think this will get better. Sure, he came back when Hannah was older, but it's never been the same, has it? You should think about leaving him."

"I can't do that! We're a family, Jenna. My girls need their father in their lives."

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Melissa had always thought Stewart struggled to figure out how to be a good dad, but now she realized Jenna was right. Stewart was a ghost in their lives: a face smiling in the photos decorating the hall and a collection of empty hangers in the closet where his clothes should've hung.

Even their house suffered from Stewart's absence. The lawn was too long, and one of the stairs in the basement needed fixing. The pipe beneath the kitchen sink was leaking, and one of the sitting room windows kept jamming.

"Maybe we should leave," Melissa muttered to herself, but where would she and her daughters go? Her girls needed a father, and Melissa couldn't rob them of that. It would be impossible to start dating as a single mom, so Stewart was all she had.

"I won't give up without a fight," she promised her younger daughter one night as she set her down in her crib. "Your daddy and I were happy once, and I know we can be happy again. I just need to show him how much we need him."

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Melissa had a plan. Stewart was proud of his handyman skills, and Melissa knew that would provide a perfect excuse for him to spend more time at home. She put her plan into action when they sat down for dinner the next day.

"Stewart, baby, there's a couple of things I need your help with," Melissa said.

Stewart swallowed his mouthful of meatloaf and glanced at her. "Like what?"

"One of the basement stairs needs fixing, and there's a window in the sitting room that's been jammed shut for almost a week."

Stewart pulled a face and stabbed his fork into the pasta.

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"Then call a plumber." Stewart pushed his plate away and stood. "I don't have the time to fix all these things."

"But plumbers are expensive." Melissa quickly stood too, and grabbed Stewart's arm. "Just take a look, I'm sure you can fix it in no time."

"I told you to call a plumber!" Stewart pulled his arm away. "I've got better things to do than fix some leaking pipe."

"Like drinking with your friends?" Melissa shouted. "Or maybe you're having an affair."

"Like I really need another whining, clingy woman in my life." Stewart shook his head.

Melissa stared at him in disbelief. "Is that how you see me, Stewart?"

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"You're always complaining about how little time I spend at home, but how do you expect me to relax when all I hear from the moment I enter is you whining and the kids crying? This place is a nightmare."

"How dare you!" Melissa stormed after Stewart as he walked toward the front door.

Stewart shook his head. "See? There you go again."

"Actually, it looks like you're the one who's going, Stewart. Just like usual. All because you can't be bothered to fix a pipe."

Stewart pulled on his coat and opened the door. Before he could step outside, Hannah came running in from the sitting room.

"Daddy, where are you going? When will you be back?" Hannah folded her arms around Stewart's knee.

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"In the morning." Stewart pried his daughter off him and left.

However, Stewart returned home far sooner. He'd been unable to pay for a round of drinks at the bar because he'd forgotten his wallet, so he went home to retrieve it.

As Stewart parked outside his house, he saw Melissa escort a policeman to the door. She looked up at him with a look Stewart remembered from the early days of their marriage and kissed the policeman.

Stewart bounded from the car. He shoved Melissa out of the way and screamed at the cop: "What are you doing with my wife?"

An hour earlier

Dave was walking home after the end of his shift when a loud bang stopped him in his tracks. He looked at the house he was walking past just as a child started crying.

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It was probably nothing, but Dave was concerned enough by the child's continued crying to jog up to the house and knock on the door.

A woman opened the door. Dave thought she was crying because she looked so sad and her face was wet, but then he realized she was soaked in water.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but I heard a commotion and wanted to check everything is okay."

"Yeah... my daughter fell."

"No, I didn't." A little girl appeared at the door then. She looked up at Dave with wide eyes.

Dave looked from the cute little girl back to her mother, who now had her arms wrapped around her middle. There was an air of desperation about her.

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"May I come in, ma'am?"

"Sure, officer." The woman stepped aside to let him enter. "But there's nothing to see here except what an enormous failure I am."

Dave's confusion lasted until he reached the kitchen. Water was spurting out from beneath the sink and flooding the floor.

"Could you switch off the water mains, ma'am?" Dave shrugged off his coat and grabbed the toolbox on the counter. "Let me see if I can fix this for you."

"Really?"

He looked back and found the woman staring at him as though he'd sprouted wings and a halo. "Of course, it's no trouble... what's your name, if I may ask?"

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"It's Melissa, and thank you, officer." She wiped at her cheek. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Please, call me Dave."

Once Dave had fixed the pipe, he asked Melissa to bring towels so he could help her clean up.

"Is your husband going to be home soon?" he asked as they wiped up together.

Melissa turned away with a dark look.

Dave saw the pain in her expression and felt terrible for the woman. He'd been raised by a single mother and knew it wasn't easy.

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"Well, I have some time if there's anything else around here that needs a man's touch," he said.

Melissa smiled then. Dave's heart skipped a beat as he realized how beautiful she was. He smiled back at her when she led him to the basement to fix a stair. He accepted without a second thought when she offered him dinner in exchange for his help.

Dave was beginning to think this might be the start of something special. He realized Melissa must feel the same way when she leaned in to kiss his cheek. Then a strange man was in his face, and Melissa was falling.

"Your wife?" Dave looked at Melissa. "You said you didn't have a husband."

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"What!" The man was at his elbow now, trying to reach Melissa. "You floozy!"

Melissa flinched away from the man.

Dave understood now why Melissa had lied to him. He turned to her, but the sadness had returned to her eyes, and she was slipping away inside.

"Thanks again for your help, Dave," she muttered.

"I'm not done with you!" The man shouted.

"I think you are." Dave grabbed his arm. "I don't know exactly what's going on here, sir, but it's clear your wife feels abandoned and that you need to keep your temper in check. So, I'm going to be stopping by here every day to make sure she's safe."

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The man sneered at Dave and pulled away. He glared at the door for a few minutes, then stormed back to his car.

Dave didn't see him again, even though he kept to his word and checked in on Melissa daily. He fixed all the little things Stewart had neglected, including Melissa's heart, as he discovered one day.

He was walking up to the front door when it flew open, and Melissa ran out to greet him.

"Dave, I've got important news." She stopped in front of him and put her hands on his arms. "It's official, Stewart and I are divorced. I was hoping that now... well, I've felt something between us since the day we met." Melissa shyly looked away.

"And the girls adore you," she continued. "Hannah keeps asking why you and I aren't dating and, now the divorce has gone through, I really can't think of a reason why we shouldn't. What do you think?"

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Dave felt as though his dreams had come true. He answered Melissa by sweeping her into his arms.

What can we learn from this story?

• Don't neglect the people in your life. Stewart was selfish and neglected his family, eventually driving Melissa and the children away.
• Always be ready to help others. Even a small act of kindness can mean the world to someone in desperate need of assistance.

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If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a man who returns home after a long absence and finds something surprising in his closet.

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