Could there be an innocent explanation?

[girlsgirls20]

I've been with my DP for 4 years and we have 2 DDs. I was sorting the washing out earlier so I had brought the washing basket downstairs and my DD (nearly 3) ran off with it as she usually does. Anyway, I carried on sorting the washing out and then sorted her dinner, whilst she was eating I tidied up the living room and found a pair of women's knickers pushed onto my younger DDs playmat. They weren't there before so my DD must have found them somewhere (unfortunately she is speech delayed so I can't ask her where she found them). They are definitely not mine so I have no clue where they came from. Although I have no reason to suspect my DP has ever cheated, my mind automatically jumped straight to the worst. The washing basket was second hand when we got it so I really want to believe that they were hidden in the lining and were the previous owners, but I can't stop thinking the worst. So, I guess my question is, what do I do?

I was just about to say that about cats. A neighbor of ours used to string knickers and socks and bras etc out in his front fence for people to retrieve. His cat was always sneaking into peoples houses and stealing things and once I saw the cat leaping up and swatting things off our line.

In our first flat, we found a couple of pairs of the previous owner's that had dropped to the back of the airing cupboard?

Do you think they could have possibly fallen out of a pocket of his clothes while you were putting them in the basket, and she found them on the floor?

Surely if you have 2 layers of linen lining tightly fitted over the basket, and the previous owner mysteriously hid a pair of knickers in the lining for some reason, to get the knickers out someone would have had to go to the trouble of taking off the lining from the basket, finding the knickers then securing it all back down again.

Has either one of your DC, your DP or yourself been tampering a lot with your laundry basket?

TBH, I think if there is no other reason to suspect anything, this is just some weird mix up, like it was somewhere in the basket, it got caught up in someone's stuff at the gym or something. If it's not likely there's any way he could have bought at OW home and she left her knickers there, then it's highly unlikely anything's happened.

@cherryberrypie ^^ and you can find stuff that may have been in a pocket.

I wouldn’t worry. Socks and knickers seem to transcend any barrier of time and space

If there is an OW, and I am definitely NOT saying there is (because, really, there is no way to know that at this stage) I can absolutely imagine her tucking a pair of underwear in his pocket to try and have him 'caught out'

Um, no, the idea is not to get caught.

OP stay calm ..do the washing and ask Dh to put the laundry away for you tonight whilst you bath the kids.I bet you anything he pops the pants back in your drawer without a second thought...then you have your answer...you will know without saying anything whether or not he has any inkling about the pants,My guess is he will have no clue and they will be a left over from old owners of washing basket!

also to add if the pants disappear you will have some basis to investigate further! If the pants land in your drawer chuck em in the bin and forget about it ...

Do you have a cat? I had one that used to bring home knickers and socks and bras almost daily that he'd stolen...

Wash them, hang them up to dry in his sight. Await a reaction.

If it was an OW putting them in his pocket either to be kinky or turn him on they wouldn't be plain black briefs. It'd be a lacy thong or something.

I also think cat!

Have you had house guests in the last million years? I had a random odd sock turn up once - we eventually figured out it was my brother's from when he'd stayed over 18 months previously, it must have got caught up in the bedding and migrated through the laundry somehow.

Thank you so much to everyone for your replies, I wasn't expecting so many!
I decided to make him aware that I had found them so I left them on the side for him to see when he came home from work, it was on my mind a lot and he always knows when there is something wrong so I thought telling him would be for the best.
I didn't ask if he knew about them, I just waited for him to spot them. I explained how they came about when he asked and he seemed genuinely as baffled as I am and found the whole thing hilarious. So I do believe that they belonged to the previous owner.

Um, no, the idea is not to get caught

Um, no, not if you have an OW that wants to take it further than just a dirty little fling. Having the wife find out is the perfect opportunity to force the issue on a stalling husband.

Thankfully, not the case here!

I've just remembered vacuuming my kitchen once when bizarrely a giant pair of knickers fell out from behind the radiator. I lived there (single) with my gay male tenant and heterosexual extremely petite female tenant. We never figured it out.

Fedup, it seems your post was posted at 24:52, how odd ! Sorry for the derail.

It seems a huge leap from finding knickers to assuming it's your husband cheating! Just chuck them and worry no more about it.

YaY! Glad it was all cleared up OP! Funny old world isn't it?! x