husband Paul for another man, she didn't realize how much
she'd miss him.
At the same time, she couldn't imagine living without her
new lover Peter Gruman.
So when the two men struck up an extraordinary friendship,
she came up with her perfect solution and moved Peter into
their family home in Barking, East London.
Maria says: "The three of us never share a bed. Although I
have a s*xual relationship with each man, that side is kept
very private. If Paul is out, then Peter and I might make love,
and vice-versa. But both men turn a blind eye and we never
discuss it with one another."
Now Maria, 33, Paul, 37, their two children, Laura, 16, and
Amy, 12, and Peter, 36, live as one big happy family.
"People might think it's weird but I love both men and
couldn't choose between them," says Maria, a housing liaison
officer. "When I left Paul there was a huge hole in my life.
But the thought of never seeing Peter again was
heartbreaking. So living with both men is the only way."
Incredibly, the men agree. Paul, a railway assessor, says:
"Peter is a great guy. When Maria first had the affair with him
I was just heartbroken. But as I got to know him, I realised
we have so much in common. We both adore fishing, and he's
like a surrogate dad to the kids."
Peter, a construction site manager, adds: "We all get on so
well. It doesn't feel as if I'm sharing Maria. There's no
jealousy …it feels as if we are a team."
It was last year that they all moved in together after three
years of Maria's to-ing and fro-ing between her husband and
lover.
Peter sleeps on the sofa while Paul has a room upstairs. Maria
shares a bedroom with her eldest daughter.
Maria was 15 when she and Paul met at school. After dating
for two years, she unexpectedly became pregnant.
Paul proposed seven months into her term and a month later
they married. Four years after the birth of Laura, Maria had
their second daughter Amy. But in 2006 their marriage hit a
rocky patch.
Maria says: "Paul was out of work for six months and it put a
strain on our relationship.
The stress led to less s*x and we grew apart. Although we
carried on with life – cooking, cleaning, looking after the
children – we'd lost our intimacy. The relationship was more
brother and sister than a couple."
Around the same time a new manager, Peter, started at
Maria's workplace.
"Someone introduced me to Peter and when we smiled at one
another, I could feel the chemistry straight away," she says.
"Until that moment, I'd been happily married for 13 years to
my childhood sweetheart and had never thought about being
with another man."
Peter, who was also married at the time, recalls the same
instant attraction. "It was like a bolt from the blue… love at
first sight," he says.
Soon the pair were meeting secretly. "We'd meet at the local
pub for lunch," says Maria. "One day he put a hand on my leg
and my whole body began trembling with desire. I knew it
was wrong but soon we were sleeping together."
Their affair carried on for a year before Paul stumbled on
messages between them on Maria's phone. She managed to
convince him they were just friends. But a few months later
her lover left his wife and moved from Luton, Beds, to be
closer to Maria in Barking.
"I grew even closer to Peter," says Maria. "Paul had to go
away on business for a few weeks and so Peter took the
children shopping, spoiling them rotten with gifts."
But on Valentine's Day in 2010, Maria says she could no
longer cope with the secrecy. "I began to feel more and more
that my future lay with Peter," she says. "So I confessed my
affair to Paul, and moved out to stay with Peter."
Now they all live together as husbands and wife, and here is
what Maria said: "Ultimately the children benefit from three
adults able to help with school work or give them lifts.
Financially too, it makes sense as the bills are split three
ways."
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