My Husband Cheated 3 Weeks Postpartum Because Witnessing Birth “Traumatized” Him. He Sells Surgical Equipment For A Living. How Should I Handle His Big Presentation Tomorrow

Moving On

Blake’s supervised visits continue twice a week. Linda reports that he’s improving steadily. He’s learning to change diapers without making a mess. He can prepare bottles at the right temperature. He’s getting better at soothing our daughter when she cries. Linda says Blake enrolled in parenting classes at the community center and he’s taking them seriously. He brings questions from the classes to the visits and practices the techniques Linda teaches him.

I watch this progress with mixed feelings. Part of me is glad Blake is finally stepping up as a father. Our daughter needs him to be present and capable. But another part of me is still angry that it took losing everything for him to care. He missed four months of her life because he was too disgusted by my body to be around his own child. Now that Megan is gone and his career is damaged, suddenly he wants to be dad of the year.

I don’t like admitting this, but Savannah is right. I’ve been so focused on making Blake pay that I haven’t thought about what comes after. The satisfaction of watching him squirm doesn’t fill the empty spaces in my life. I need to figure out who I am now separate from being the wronged wife who executed the perfect revenge.

Dawn calls me two weeks later with news about the settlement negotiations. Blake’s lawyer finally came back with a counter offer. They’re willing to agree to a 60/40 asset split in my favor if I drop the request for full custody. Blake wants a clear path to overnight visits once he completes the parenting classes and demonstrates basic competency.

Dawn says it’s actually a reasonable offer given the evidence we have. Blake is acknowledging his affair and his abandonment. He’s admitting he messed up instead of trying to paint himself as the victim. We go back and forth on the custody schedule. Dawn negotiates for supervised visits to continue until Blake completes three months of successful parenting without major incidents. Then he can start with one overnight per week. If that goes well for another three months, we’ll revisit increasing his time.

Blake agrees to everything through his lawyer. No pushback, no arguments. Dawn says he must really want to avoid a trial where all his disgusting comments about my body would become public record. I sign the paperwork feeling relieved but also strangely empty. This should feel like a victory. Instead, it just feels like the end of something that died months ago.

Jenny texts me a week after the divorce finalizes. She heard through the office network that Blake’s boss transferred him to a different territory. He’ll be covering the northern region instead of the metro area where he built his reputation. Jenny says the official reason is staffing needs, but everyone knows the real story. Blake’s reputation in his current territory is damaged beyond repair. Too many people witnessed the presentation disaster. Too many heard the whispers about why his wife filed for divorce right after. His boss is giving him a chance to start fresh somewhere new, away from Megan and away from the clients who watched him freeze up during that Q&A.

Jenny also mentions that Megan put in for a transfer to a different department. She doesn’t want to work on the same team as Blake anymore. I feel a small spark of satisfaction at that news.

I start applying for remote jobs that fit around the baby’s nap schedule. Most require experience I don’t have or hours I can’t commit to. But I keep searching because I need something that’s mine. The child support covers our basic needs, but I want financial independence beyond Blake’s money. I want to rebuild my professional identity instead of just being a stay-at-home mom who got cheated on.

Three weeks into my search I land a part-time position doing data entry for a medical billing company. It’s boring work but it’s flexible. I can log in during naps and after bedtime. The pay isn’t much, maybe enough to cover groceries and gas, but it gives me something to focus on besides Blake’s supervised visits and custody schedules. I’m building something for myself again.

Blake’s lawyer forwards me a letter two months after the divorce finalizes. Blake wrote it himself, not through legal language. He apologizes for his cruelty. He admits he was wrong to blame me for his attraction issues. He says his therapist helped him understand that he was looking for excuses to justify the affair instead of dealing with his own problems. The letter goes on for two pages. Blake talks about how ashamed he is of the things he said about my body. How he realizes now that watching the birth wasn’t the real issue. He was scared of being a father and used his disgust as a shield. He knows I probably won’t forgive him and he doesn’t expect me to. But he wants me to know he’s working on himself so he can be a better father to our daughter.

I read the letter three times. Part of me wants to believe he’s genuinely changing. Another part remembers him describing my body as disgusting while texting Megan in front of me. I fold the letter and put it in a drawer. I don’t respond.

The supervised visit supervisor sends her final report to both lawyers. She recommends moving Blake to unsupervised visitation. He completed all the parenting classes. He can change diapers, prepare bottles, and soothe the baby when she cries. He shows up on time and stays engaged during the full two hours. He asks appropriate questions about her development and follows the supervisor’s guidance. Dawn forwards me the report and asks what I want to do.

I stare at my daughter playing with her blocks on the living room floor. She deserves a relationship with her father. Blake is trying now even if it took losing everything to make him care. I tell Dawn to approve the move to unsupervised visits. Our daughter needs her dad even if Blake and I will never be okay.