~~~ Part 1 ~~~
She'd thought about it in her office after Daisy told her, and then the entire ride home. She'd gone from incredulity to hope to anger to disappointment to jealousy to grief to acceptance to determination in about an hour. (A jet-lagged hour, following an exhausting workday.)
She knew the statistics. Why should her marriage be any different?
Maybe she should hate him, but she didn't. Whatever had happened didn't change their 25 years of marriage nor the years they'd dated before then. It didn't change what she felt in her heart. She loved Henry, and she wanted happiness for him. She'd thought he was happy, that they made each other happy, that even though she had less time now, it was enough. But perhaps she'd been too wrapped up in her job to even notice the signs; if only she'd prioritized Henry more, maybe none of this would have happened.
But the past was the past. What to do next? Even as her gut was telling her to calm down and not jump to any conclusions before talking to Henry, her analytical mind was rapidly playing out the scenarios. She could ignore it, pretend she hadn't heard that he had been seen around town with another woman. Say nothing, look the other way and keep up the facade of a happy marriage. She'd hardly be the first woman to do so.
She could confront Henry and demand an explanation, and maybe (she hoped) it would turn out to be nothing (after all, just because Daisy had seen him with another woman didn't mean he was with another woman). But a confrontation would run the risk of Henry admitting that he was cheating on her, setting into a motion a sequence of events that could not be undone. Or even worse, it would run the risk of him lying straight to her face. No, she might be able to forgive Henry for being with another woman, or at least she could be willing to put it behind them and give him a second chance, but she wasn't sure she could stay in a marriage where she didn't trust her partner.
Divorce was on the table, then, she supposed with a sigh. But she didn't want to put the kids through that; she didn't want to put herself through that. She hoped Henry didn't want a divorce, because she couldn't imagine not being with Henry, and if she was honest with herself, she didn't want to imagine not being with Henry. But what if that was what Henry wanted? Confronting him definitely ran the risk of divorce, either immediately or further down the road.
If confronted, Henry might promise to never be with anyone else again, but then not be able to keep that promise. Or Henry might keep his vow this time around, but be unfulfilled if she couldn't provide whatever he was missing in their relationship. Either way could lead to unhappiness and resentment.
So she was rapidly narrowing in on just one thing in her control to save their relationship (and she had to believe that there was still enough good there to be worth saving): She would tell Henry she wanted an open marriage, ideally before he had a chance to tell her anything. Then there would be no reason for secrets. He could tell her what had happened, and he could tell her in the future if (when?) he was/wanted to be with someone else (she didn't think she wanted to know much more than that). She wouldn't have to question whether he was lying or hiding something from her because she'd make sure he had no reason not to be forthcoming. He'd have to be discrete because of her job, of course, but she wouldn't be curtailing the pursuit of anything Henry might feel he wasn't getting out of their relationship, nor would Henry have to be consumed by guilt about not providing her the kind of relationship that she wanted. And, unless Henry actively wanted a divorce (which she couldn't imagine he would, at least not until the kids were all out of the house), they would still be together.
Maybe it wouldn't be the same together as before, but she would take whatever Henry could put into the relationship. If she could share him with the Marines for years, she could learn to share him with someone else. Or at least she would try. And give him a chance to try. They'd figure it out eventually. Because there was one thing she was certain of: She was about to just give up on them. Nope, he was not getting rid of her that easily.
Besides, she knew plenty of people who were happily in open relationships. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing at all...