My husband and I have an open marriage. Recently he overslept for work. Just another Tuesday.

My husband and I have an open marriage. He works for a large company that sells hardware and building supplies. He’s a manager at one of the locations and the other managers are cross trained to work at the other locations. So sometimes he’ll get called to work mornings at a specific store then get sent to another for afternoons. I don’t know if it’s specific to this company or if other big box retailers do it too. I don’t really care. <br><br>His alarm is set for 3:30 in the morning. He takes a quick shower and then heads out the door. I don’t hear him most mornings because I’m a heavy sleeper, but if I do I always try to say good morning. I know he’s tired and not always in the best mood, but I want him to know I appreciate it and that I love him. <br><br>On days I’m awake I make sure to have coffee waiting for him and something light to eat before his 10 hour shift. He calls me from his car and we chat about our days, what his first task of the day is and how he can handle the monumentally boring meetings he has to sit through.<br><br>I was just drifting off to sleep after a chat one morning when I realized he hadn’t called. I called him but it went straight to voicemail. Maybe he was busy. I fell asleep again and figured he’d call me when he could.<br><br>I woke up with him standing in our bedroom. He was in his work clothes, but he looked half dead. He had his hands over his face and he looked like he was going to cry. I asked what was wrong and he collapsed onto the bed.<br><br>“I had the worst dream,” he said, tears welling up in his eyes.<br><br>“What happened?” I asked.<br><br>He took a deep breath.<br><br>“I woke up for work and you weren’t here. You were gone and there was a note. You said you were leaving me because I wasn’t paying enough attention to you. You missed me. I felt so guilty because the last few weeks I’ve been really distracted and distant. It’s not true, I just was so focused on work but you wouldn’t listen. You were so angry and you told me I needed to get my own life together because you already moved on to someone who cared for you. You said you asked for a transfer a few weeks ago. I was so upset. I called you but the number I had for you went straight to someone else’s voicemail. I drove around looking for you but every where I went I couldn’t find you. Then it got darker. It was like the whole world had gone dark. It was cold and everything was dead. I felt someone grab me and saw a woman say ‘you don’t deserve her.’ Then I woke up.”<br><br>I held him and we both cried. He looked in my eyes and said, “I don’t ever want to lose you. You make my life better just by being in it. I don’t even want to imagine a world where you aren’t with me.” I agreed. It hurt me to see him so sad. He fell asleep, exhausted, like he’d actually gone through what he said happened. I stayed next to him. <br><br>He didn’t wake until nightfall.