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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

What would you make of this?! It is even a red flag?

160 replies

User13794 · 25/06/2020 10:07

Could do with some outside perspectives as I fear my heart is ruling my head and I’m not seeing clearly!

I was in a relationship for 3 years that ended just over a year ago. I ended it because I was moving temporarily for work and it was too far to sustain it and it was something I felt was right at the time and I am glad I did it. He was devastated when it ended and it was very difficult and sad but ultimately for the best in the circumstances. I was VERY happy with him though so it was hard to do and we stayed in touch now and then. Fast forward to this April and he invites me over for a catch up now I am back from working abroad. We have an amazing afternoon, he tells me he was seeing someone on and off from Ireland but is currently single. I tell him I’m single too, we talk about random things, meet up again a few more times, kiss, have phone calls, text etc. It feels like we are slipping into a relationship again. He’s saying all sorts of lovely things, it’s great seeing him and we are as close as we were before and I felt I was falling back in love with him.

Then he suddenly disappears off the radar. I left it a couple of weeks then felt genuine concern and called/text. He eventually replied like he was a different person...saying lots of cryptic stuff like he wasn’t sure about us, he was still angry about the fact I left him and it hurt him badly, he was confused, I was messing with his head, things had changed for him a lot in the last year etc etc. I was confused by all of this and told him so and he started to get cross saying we could have been amazing and I ruined it, now I want to click my fingers and be back in a relationship... he put his heart on the line and I trampled on it and didn’t care about things by just ending it. Etc etc. So we stop talking.

I have since found out that in May, a month after we started seeing each other again, his ‘on off girlfriend’ from Ireland is having a baby in July. When I found out I asked him why he hadn’t told me. He said he only found out a month ago - but on my calculations there was an overlap and he certainly knew at least half the time we were seeing each other and didn’t tell me. When he disappeared it turned out he had actually gone to Ireland but even since that date he had been messaging me while he was there, I just didn’t know he wasn’t in England as he hadn’t told me.

When I asked why he didn’t tell me immediately when he found out, he says it was none of my business and why should he tell me about his life when I’m not part of it. He seemed to almost blame me for now wanting to be with him when he’s in this situation that he wouldn’t have been in had we stayed together!!!

I guess maybe he has a right to be angry but also he shouldn’t have been meeting me and being intimate etc without telling me this information surely? Or am I being unfair?

When the angry messages stopped, he sort of broke down and just said the last few weeks had been terrible and he was very worried about everything. This has made me feel so protective of him...he always wanted the marriage, family, house, in a very prescriptive way and so I know how much this will be affecting him and causing him panic. It is the worst scenario for him. He met her in September last year so hasn’t even known her a year and I can’t see her moving here after she apparently didn’t tell him about the pregnancy until a few weeks ago.

He’s said he would like to chat soon and that he has found things really hard and that he is sorry he snapped at me and that he would never want to fall out, he still cares. Am I being a pushover for entertaining even this? I still care for him a lot and part of me wonders if I could even move past this and still be with him in the future...we haven’t talked about us at all since he has admitted to what has gone on but it is clear he is not in a relationship with this person so I do know that for sure.

Am I being an idiot for even considering this? I’m known to be very forgiving in relationships and letting things slide that people would see as red flags, but maybe this isn’t a red flag it’s just real life and stuff happens?

OP posts:
User13794 · 25/06/2020 11:33

I did feel he was very angry at the time of the breakup which was uncalled for. I initially said let’s have a break for a few months because I knew he wouldn’t cope well with us being apart, he’s quite clingy. But he just made it so hard in the end that I had to draw a line.

I’m pretty sure he only recently found out about the pregnancy simply because I don’t think he would have been casually chatting with me in his home had he known that was going on. It’s odd though that a woman wouldn’t tell someone that until the last minute.

OP posts:
User13794 · 25/06/2020 11:34

She’s about 6 years older than him so I did wonder if for her it was planned. Obviously haven’t said that as I am staying well out of that part of things .

OP posts:
Normalmumandwife · 25/06/2020 11:37

I would stay very well out of it...he has loads of grief I suspect to deal with unless he abandons the child

RLEOM · 25/06/2020 11:38

He's angry at you. You know this. But he now has a child on the way and needs to be given space so he can decide if he wants to make a go of things with the child's mother, because that child will need him more than you ever will. Please respect that and give his unborn child a chance at having a real family.

RLEOM · 25/06/2020 11:39

And if he completely abandons the child, as in never sees it, refuses to acknowledge its existence, run.

hellsbellsmelons · 25/06/2020 11:48

Am I being a pushover for entertaining even this?
Yes you are!!!
I don't believe he didn't know about the pregnancy.
And another woman is having his baby!!!
Please step away.

User13794 · 25/06/2020 11:52

I don’t think he knew the whole time we were meeting, I think it was part way through when his whole attitude shifted and he became defensive.

OP posts:
feelingsomewhatlost · 25/06/2020 11:52

He's allowed to be hurt and angry, especially if he wasn't expecting the breakup. Stop obsessing over the logistics of when/why/how, this baby is none of your business unless you decide to stay. You chose to leave, so let him live his life.

Aerial2020 · 25/06/2020 11:56

He's having a baby with another woman.
The rest is irrelevant really and over analysing things.
Which is fair enough as a lot of emotions are involved. But you are investing far too much over why and how he feels.
It doesn't matter. Not now.
He is not the guy for you.

stealm · 25/06/2020 12:04

When the angry messages stopped, he sort of broke down and just said the last few weeks had been terrible and he was very worried about everything. This has made me feel so protective of him...he always wanted the marriage, family, house, in a very prescriptive way and so I know how much this will be affecting him and causing him panic.

When you start to feel "protective" of someone and all the rest of it and start trying to "help" him because he "breaks down" this is heading into territory that isn't a good place to be. Believe me, I know.
This ultimately leads to you trying to make him happy all the time and solve whatever problems he has. When you don't manage to solve them you feel shit and he blames you.
I'd stay away for that reason alone.

And then there's the fact that he is having a baby with another woman.
The whole on-off girlfriend thing is a red flag anyway. I'm immediately wary of men saying they have an on-off girlfriend.

Just stay away from him. You decided to end the relationship a year ago because you were going to be working away. What were the reasons behind this? I mean, the deeper reasons, not the fact you were going to be working away. Plenty of people in relationships work away from home and manage to keep the relationship going and yours was a temporary situation. If he had really been the one for you, you would have tried to keep it going.

Helpmemoveon76844 · 25/06/2020 12:06

I'm sorry . I don't know if I am placed to give advice about relationships but ... But this is the timeline as I read it (correct me if I'm wrong)

First half of 2019 , you break up ( no shame in that, you were honest with him. Please don't feel bad about that.)

September 2019 - he meets Irish lady

October 2019 - Irish lady gets pregnant

September 2019 - April 2020(?) - on/off relationship with Irish lady . She would probably have known she was pregnant and they still continued an on/off relationship where he claims he didn't know about the pregnancy. (Maybe he didn't)

April 2020 - he contacts you and makes efforts to re start your relationship.

May 2020 - he finds out about pregnancy and then ghosts you , when you do speak he is angry at you for breaking up the relationship over a year ago. He isn't really being very kind to you . You later find out this is when he discovers the pregnancy and you feel bad for him and know he feels trapped, and basically you want to take care of him.

Please , I think you and I are a lot alike. This man isn't for you. For me , the red flag is when he ghosted you and then blamed you . But regardless of that , another woman is having his child . If you are anything like me , this will break your heart.

Someone gave me some advice on here . Please start thinking of yourself and taking care of yourself. You can't fix this for him and you shouldn't try to .

User13794 · 25/06/2020 12:07

I guess the reasons were he was quite intense about the relationship and I knew given the time zones etc that I wouldn’t be able to be there for him in the way he was used to and expected. That quickly became apparent after the first week of being there.

I was genuinely very happy when we rekindled things recently though. That’s what is making me second guess whether I am missing something about his behaviour or just seeing it through romantic eyes

OP posts:
category12 · 25/06/2020 12:09

Christ, he's about to have a child with another woman.

Step away.

Helpmemoveon76844 · 25/06/2020 12:17

Honestly, his instinctive reaction after he found out about the pregnancy while restarting things with you was to lash out at you and blame you. It sounds to me like he did just find out about the pregnancy but ... And listen to this ... He never thought

" oh, I had unprotected sex with someone and now I'm going to be a dad, fuck, how am I going to cope with this?. What an idiot I am"

He thought

"Oh , if user13 hadn't split up with me I would never have got Irish lady pregnant, it's all her fault really and I will make sure I let her know how disappointed I am with her when I do actually get round to speaking to her"

People who don't take responsibility aren't good partners in life. I learned this too.

Viviennemary · 25/06/2020 12:20

He was rightly very upset when you ended a three year relationship with what apparently looks like no good reason. Sounds like he was on the rebound and took up with this other woman. Depends whether he is intending to make the relationship with his girlfriend a permanent one. If not would you want to get back together with him.

EvenMoreFuriousVexation · 25/06/2020 12:22

He doesn’t know this woman and so it must be a shock for him

He knew her enough to put his unprotected penis inside her and ejaculate.

User13794 · 25/06/2020 12:26

I agree that he clearly had only just found out which is why he suddenly went cold and angry with me. Before that we’d had various chats about all sorts and there’s no way he would have been able to have done that knowing about an imminent child.

I will step away and already have him fact, it is just a lot to process when you’re in the middle of it and it’s so out of the blue. It is good to be able to talk about it with people from an outside point of view.

OP posts:
DressingGownofDoom · 25/06/2020 12:26

The whole on-off girlfriend thing is a red flag anyway. I'm immediately wary of men saying they have an on-off girlfriend.

^
I agree so much with this. If he's the kind of guy who keeps a pregnant woman hanging on a thread while he decides if she's good enough for him, he's not a good guy to be getting involved with.

In a years time it could be a pregnant you in the on/off relationship. What would you warn any potential girlfriends then?

User13794 · 25/06/2020 12:27

If I am honest I would have still wanted to get back with him IF he had been honest straight away and if he had been clear about things rather than getting angry out of the blue. It was almost like he was cross with me for not saying something sooner, like this was now all too late because I ended it... he even said I made my bed so I should lie in it.

OP posts:
stealm · 25/06/2020 12:32

guess the reasons were he was quite intense about the relationship and I knew given the time zones etc that I wouldn’t be able to be there for him in the way he was used to and expected.

He sounds too needy and clingy
And this

he was still angry about the fact I left him and it hurt him badly, he was confused, I was messing with his head, things had changed for him a lot in the last year etc etc. I was confused by all of this and told him so and he started to get cross saying we could have been amazing and I ruined it, now I want to click my fingers and be back in a relationship... he put his heart on the line and I trampled on it and didn’t care about things by just ending it. Etc etc. So we stop talking.

All this drama and all about what you have done wrong and how you have ruined everything and all the rest of it. You trampled on his heart etcetc. For Fuck's Sake! Nothing about him getting someone pregnant pretty soon after your break up. That'll be your fault too presumably because you so callously dumped him, he had to turn to the Irish lady for comfort and he wasn't thinking straight - that's why she's now having a baby.

Do you want this blame game going on for the rest of your life? No? Then get rid.

Helpmemoveon76844 · 25/06/2020 12:32

I know , I'm sorry. It's hard when you have confused feelings about a relationship. And when you really, really wish things could be different.

The child will introduce many, many complications to his life and you sound like you are young. I think that is something that you would really need to consider if you did ever get back together. I would never choose to be a stepmum.... with the distance factored in it will mean sacrifices.

Can I ask you a question? You said earlier that she was 6 years older and maybe she planned it somehow? Where did that thought come from? You or him?

User13794 · 25/06/2020 12:46

I’m not that young, I’m 31 next week. He’s 35. I said maybe it was intentional for her because it is strange to not tell him for months isn’t it? And I do believe that he only recently found out, he’s clearly in masses of shock.

I agree that there is now huge complication either way and maybe I am not being realistic about how nasty he was to me when he suddenly dropped off the radar.

OP posts:
2bazookas · 25/06/2020 12:57

That's a sad story, but I think your instinct was right the first time. He was not The One for you. and this second go-round has proved that all over again.

  Let him go, and  keep the best memories intact.
Flyg · 25/06/2020 13:03

I ended it with someone and got back with them years later and got drunk and nasty one night, admitted he had felt resentful towards me for the entire second relationship. He has already told you how he feels about your ending things, so be careful because he might hold that grudge for a long time. That, plus a baby on the way elsewhere, would probably make me think a clean break is best if it were me.

Are you in love with him?

Helpmemoveon76844 · 25/06/2020 13:03

I think you sound hugely empathetic. I think the fact you have been able to put yourself in this man's shoes and realise how he is feeling about everything shows that you have a great capacity for empathy.

Please don't mistake your ability to do this as a reason to stay with him. Please find someone who is capable of feeling this way about you.

I might be projecting a little bit, but I really did feel that from your posts.

Xxx