Oops! I Married Someone Else's Husband

By Dena Staten Sampson

He who finds a wife finds a good thing is a popular proverb that indicates when a man seeks a wife, he will be blessed; however, what happens when the tables are turned and a woman searches for a husband? Does she find a good thing as well or does she marry a man who was actually intended for someone else? Oops, I Married Someone Elses Husband is a novel that highlights the life of a young woman who embarks on a journey to discover if the man she married belongs to her or was actually reserved for someone else?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499015003

Book preview

Oops! I Married

Someone Else’s Husband

Dena Staten Sampson

Copyright © 2014 byDena Staten Sampson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 05/08/2014

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Contents

Chapter 1: Are You Really My Husband?

Chapter 2: Well, Who Does He Belong to?

Chapter 3: No More Room for Doubting

Chapter 4: Happily Ever After Is Not Just a Fairytale

Chapter 5: Living Life to the Fullest

Chapter 1

Are You Really My Husband?

As Amber looked in the mirror applying her make-up, she could hear her husband, Wilson, call out to her, Amber, we are going to be late! She closed her eyes briefly and yelled back to him, I’m just about ready! I’ll be there in a second! When she opened her eyes, she looked back at the mirror again and squawked, Boy, I’m dreading this night. It wasn’t that Amber didn’t enjoy being in the company of the ladies of the church because they were all friends. It was the fact that when it came to the church sponsored Couples’ Ministry Date Night, Wilson and Amber never truly adequately blended in with the group. Their marriage was incomparable to the marriages of the other three couples. The genuine love, respect, and happiness that the other couples displayed seemed to force her to put her marriage under a microscope and when she did, she was embarrassed by what she observed. The single word that described her marriage to Wilson was tolerance because their marriage had little love, respect, or happiness, but it had an overwhelming amount of tolerance.

After grabbing her purse from the dresser, Amber went into the den and bellowed, Wilson, I’m ready. Her husband snapped, Good, let’s get this night over with. In Wilson’s mind, this night was torturous as well. He enjoyed spending time with the men in the Couples’ Ministry; he actually played basketball with them faithfully every Sunday evening after church. However, when it was obligatory for him to devote time to the men and their wives, he was reminded of how much his marriage was actually lacking. In his heart, he knew that he did not love Amber as Spencer loved Deidra or as Rodney loved Rochelle and certainly not as Darien loved Sonya. Tonight, while being in the midst of these flawlessly matched couples, he would have to face that reality once again.

As the couple embarked upon the ten minute drive to the restaurant, they sat in silence as two strangers not as a couple experiencing their second year of marital bliss. When they arrived at the restaurant before getting out of the car, Wilson leaned over to Amber and stated, I don’t want to be here all night. I do have things to do on tomorrow. Amber countered angrily, Tomorrow is Saturday, so I’m sure you don’t have anything to do but watch sports. Just in case, you are wondering, know that I’m not thrilled about spending this night with you either. So, let us just do what we do best and pretend that we are happily married. I’m sure our fictitious act of being the young, happy couple has been pretty successful. Wilson agreed, Yes, it surely is pretending and we do it quite well. We both deserve an Oscar. With those words, the couple exited their car and entered the restaurant.

As Amber and Wilson walked toward the hostess to find out where the group would be sitting, Wilson caught a glimpse of the Couples’ Ministry Leaders, Darien and Sonya Alexander. They were smiling and waving uncontrollably in an attempt to get his and Amber’s attention. Wilson nudged Amber on the shoulder and they walked toward the table to take their seats. Within the next few minutes, their circle was complete when Rodney and Rochelle joined them followed by Deidra and Spencer. Amber quickly began to skim the table observing the mannerisms of the other couples. She noticed Spencer and Deidra holding hands, Darien whispering something in Sonya’s ear that made her blush, and finally Rodney and Rochelle looking amusingly at a text message. Amber and her husband just glared at their individual menus hoping that the waiter would soon come, so that they could order their food and try to bring this night to a speedy, painless end.

Darien stopped whispering in Sonya’s ear long enough to realize that his actions could be regarded as rude by the other couples. Since he and his wife were the group leaders, there was a greater concern for the marriages of the other couples in their group. Hence, he looked around at everyone at the table and openly apologized for his actions. He confessed, I’m sorry if I was rude, but today is special. It’s Sonya’s and my seventh wedding anniversary and I wanted to whisper something to her that I knew she needed to hear. Wilson chimed in, Well, I’m sure you and Sonya don’t want to spend your anniversary with all of us. Let’s reschedule our dinner plans, so you and your wife can celebrate by yourselves. You and Sonya probably would prefer to have some alone time to celebrate. Sonya interjected strongly, but not rudely, No way Wilson! Spending this night with you guys is far more important to us than being by ourselves. We truly enjoy spending time with each of you and getting to know everyone better. Darien quickly noticed Wilson’s look of disappointment for not being able to terminate the date night. Amber sarcastically exclaimed, That’s right! You all are supposed to mentor us and mend our marriages! Consequently, spending time with us is far more important than spending time with one another. Yes, especially since, the pastor has appointed you two as the church’s most happily married couple that exemplifies all that the other members of this little group are lacking. I guess Pastor thinks we should mimic you! Stunned by her words, neither Darien nor Sonya immediately reacted to Amber’s attack. Darien reached under the table and clutched Sonya’s hand in a way that signaled that it was best for her not to entertain Amber’s foolish comments or attitude.

All of the couples sat in silence for about fifteen seconds then Spencer broke the silence by saying, I’m ready to order. Is anyone else ready? All of the couples responded in unison, Yes. Rochelle looked toward Sonya and realized that Amber’s behavior had disrupted Sonya’s jubilant disposition. Because Rochelle knew in reality that Sonya and Darien had always shown love, compassion, and concern to everyone in the Couples’ Ministry and the entire church, she was inwardly shaken by Amber’s harsh and sarcastic words. She discerned that Amber’s words were out of envy and jealousy, not derived from any of the actions of Sonya or Darien. Sonya determined not to allow Amber’s unpleasant demeanor or cruel words defeat the purpose of the dinner broadcasted, Well, since it’s our anniversary, I think Darien and I should cover the cost of everyone’s meal; therefore, order whatever you desire to eat tonight. The cost is all on my husband! Darien looked at Sonya and chuckled, Well, the cost of tonight will be coming out of the money I sat aside for your anniversary gift. Sonya jokingly proclaimed, Well, that’s not possible because I’m sure you have already purchased my gift and if you have not, then you are in big trouble, Mr. Alexander! All of the couples laughed as the waitress walked over and began taking their orders.

In actuality, Darien had Sonya’s gift in his pocket and intended to present it to her in front of the other couples. However, he changed his mind because he could detect that Amber and Wilson’s marriage was in real trouble. Hence, he did not want to give Amber more of a motive to try to ruin Sonya’s night or make the other couples feel uncomfortable. Darien exercised wisdom and instead of presenting the gift as planned, Darien leaned forward, looked at the other men at the table and said, Well, guys I don’t know about you all, but I’m going to ask my lovely wife if I may go watch the last ten minutes of the game in the Sports’ Room of this fine establishment. Sonya smirked, Ladies, this is what happens when you allow your husband to select a restaurant. I guarantee you that he was aware of the Sport’s Room when he made the reservations. Everyone laughed as Sonya declared jokingly, I don’t know about the other men, but Darien, you have exactly ten minutes! Darien leaned over, kissed his wife on the forehead, and said, Thanks. In reality, Darien didn’t care about the game. He was secretly hoping that after the men left that Amber would open up to the women and let them know what was actually troubling her.

As the women waited on the men to return and dinner to be served, they engaged in small talk. Amber, feeling a morsel of remorse for her comments, inquired about Sonya’s children, Serenity and Darien, Jr. Sonya informed the women that her twins were doing great in first grade as well as in their gymnastics class. Rochelle commented, Time is really fast moving. Can you all believe that our son, Jonas, will be entering Pre-Kindergarten when school starts next year? Deidra said, Are you serious? It seems like only last year that I was hosting you a baby shower! Rochelle remarked, Yes, Deidra, time is really flying. By the way, have you set a date for your baby shower? We can’t plan the shower until you give us a date, Deidra. Deidra responded, I’m thinking about having it next month because that will mark my ninth month of pregnancy and I will be comfortable enough to have a baby shower because I know that we would have overcome the majority of the risk factors. I don’t know if I have ever shared this with all of you, but about a year and a half ago, Spencer and I suffered a miscarriage. Honestly, the experience has made me really nervous as well as apprehensive about doing too much too fast. I just want everything to be perfect with this baby. Sonya remarked, Deidra, I’m sure everything will be fine. We have been praying for you and I know you have been taking excellent care of yourself. Next month is fine with us. It’s all about you, Spencer, and the baby anyway.

Then, Rochelle directed her attention towards Amber to probe, Do you and Wilson plan to have children? Amber, shrugging her shoulders, answered, I’m not sure. Although we have been married almost two years, we really haven’t discussed it. Sonya, not wanting Amber to feel uncomfortable, responded, Well, you and your husband have many years to make that decision. Amber smiled outwardly; however, inwardly she was thinking—if they only knew how unhappy Wilson and I really were, they would inquire about a divorce instead of a baby. Just as Amber completed her thoughts, the men returned to the table followed by the waitress with their food.

As the waitress approached their table, Wilson commented, We timed that just right. Amber whispered defiantly to Wilson, That’s about all you timed just right. Not yearning to create a scene, Wilson just smiled as if his wife had whispered a sweet melody into his ear. As the couples ate, they continued to engage in pleasantries. Darien and Sonya were mindful not to display as much affection as they normally did toward each other in an effort to spare the feelings of Amber and Wilson.

As the night wined down, the couples were exhausted from trying to be extremely selective of every word they said as not to offend each other. Darien decided to release everyone from the awkwardness by saying, I know everyone is tired from having a long week. Let’s call this an early night and try this again when everyone is more energetic. Sonya chimed in, I agree. Maybe next month, we should try a Saturday instead of a Friday. Rochelle added, Hopefully, we can do something fun. Instead of just eating together, let’s try bowling or couples’ tennis. Spencer opposed humorously, Hold up a minute! Let’s do something we all can enjoy. We can’t play couples’ tennis because my wife is in her final trimester and her belly might look like a bowling ball, but she surely can’t pick one up! Everyone hooted hysterically as Rochelle sneered, Good looking out for your wife! Sometimes, I forget that she’s about to give birth. We definitely don’t want to exclude you guys, so we will have to come up with something different. Amber was thinking to herself,—I wish Wilson and I could be excluded.

Sonya took a deep breath and announced, I have a perfect idea for our next outing! There’s this place downtown where you can paint pictures. You don’t have to be an artist or anything. It’s all about having fun. I think everyone would enjoy it. Spencer, it will be perfect for Deidra because she will be able to sit and it won’t be anything strenuous. What do you all think? Deidra responded first, I can handle that. Her husband, Spencer,