We've all heard how important it is for long-term couples, especially married couples, to not keep secrets from one another.
Unfortunately, some dark secrets, like affairs, second families, and terrible choices, lurk in the closets of even the most loving-looking couples.
But on the flip side, for every dark tale, there's also a wholesome story to share, even if it's been kept under wraps.
Ready for the tea, Redditor TeamGrouchy8491 asked:
"Currently, what's the biggest secret you are keeping from your spouse?"
The Perfect Hotel Room
"Last year, the resort we went to didn’t have our room ready for our first night, so they put us in this spectacular upgraded room for one night only."
"We were a little mad at first because we booked the stay six months in advance, and my wife likes to unpack everything once she gets in the room (plus we have kids, so it’s a lot)."
"But we got to the room and were absolutely amazed how gorgeous it was (high floor, amazing views of the water, huge, etc)."
"We loved it and the next morning went to our reserved room, which was still great, but it’s like, you buy a Mustang and they give you a Ferrari for 24 hours. Still love your Mustang but…"
"Anyway, we’re going back this year, and she doesn’t know I booked that room for the whole stay. I’ve kept the secret for almost six months and have nearly six more to go."
- MikeyInLA
The Best Mother's Day Gift Ever
"For the last 12 years, I’ve kept a secret book and have our kids draw and write notes to my wife every Mother’s Day before she wakes up. It should be filled up in about four years, and we’ll give it to her that Mother’s Day."
"16 years of memories going back to when they were babies and could barely hold a crayon to make some scribbles."
"My wife is not sentimental and never cries. This day, we will make her weep."
- sfGuacGuy
The Phone Call That Was Needed
"She has a habit of taking phone calls from family members right when it’s inconvenient for our routine because they’ll last for hours. I come from a family that barely holds a phone call over three minutes."
"She took a call one night from her parents on the way home and stayed on the phone for so long it delayed our dinner plans."
"I was getting agitated and annoyed with how long she stayed on the call, but doing my best to compose myself because I had this strange thought, 'Stop it, this could be the last conversation she ever has with them.' No reason to think that other than my tendency to think catastrophically."
"He died of a massive heart attack four days later. I still haven’t told her what ran through my head that night, seven years later."
- WREPGB
A Parade Worth Waiting For
"For years, she’s always talked about wanting to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade."
"Even as we started spending Thanksgiving each year in the Midwest with my extended family, she will wake up at 5:00 AM every year and watch all the preparations on TV and the entire parade."
"This year, she thinks we’re going back to the family farm for the holidays, but in reality, I have flights and a hotel booked in midtown Manhattan."
"I’m usually the one who handles travel details, and so I think I can get her onto the plane before she realizes the surprise."
"I’m busting at the seams trying to keep it a secret and not tell her."
- Invite_Revoked_123
Surprise!
"The bathing suit I recently bought is water-activated and will reveal dinosaur skeletons when I go in the water."
- DrProfHazzard
"That’s more a surprise than a secret. Like an awesome surprise."
- Helmling
Bottomless Chocolate Bars
"That the chocolate bars I said would last until next week didn’t, in fact, last until next week… I ate them all and then went and bought replacements."
- koala_loves_penguin
"Been there. Keep a supply of a beloved non-perishable snack in my car to replace the supply in the house so it doesn't look like I'm plowing through them."
- azpm
A Reunion And A Birthday All In One
"I'm paying to have her parents fly in from Scotland. As a surprise birthday gift. She hasn't seen them in person since 2019."
- Cassandra_Canmore2
"You wonderful son of a b***h. Good on you. Awesome!"
- Texas-cane
" Weird way to propose, but yes, I will marry you, OP."
- Economy-Law2130
A Whole New Christmas Spirit
"I’m slowly putting together a Christmas stocking for her. She hasn’t had one since a child, and her family isn’t the most celebratory. I hope it turns out great and brings her Christmas spirit back."
- PhatDiplomat
"I think it will. I grew up really hating Christmas and finding it stressful. My husband, back when he was my boyfriend, and it felt a little presumptuous at the time, found out where his mom got all their family stockings from and got me one with my name embroidered on it to match."
"It makes me so happy to put my stocking out every year, and I've slowly started to get more into Christmas."
- KaraAuden
"This is so thoughtful!! I come from a family that doesn’t do much for Christmas, so I never cared for the holiday. The first time I got a stocking was when I went to Christmas at my in-laws, and it made me SO happy."
- omgcroissantss
...Oops.
"I accidentally threw away a wooden board that he was gonna use later..........."
- Capable-Bumblebee-88
"20 years from now, he is going to need it. He'll be confused as to why he can't find it."
"I hope you can sleep tonight, you monster."
- nixielover
Enabling, In A Kind Way
"My wife has multiple handicaps and often feels inferior to me because it's just way easier for me to do things like cooking."
"So I lie that I'm really bad at certain things, and that I'd like her to do them instead because she's better at it. Like cleaning mushrooms, or wiping the windows."
- Dances_With_Cheese
"That's so f**king cute. I say this as someone who is actively okay with being humoured a lot of the time, if it comes from a place of respect and sympathy. It's wonderful giving someone the opportunity to share the load."
- decisiontoohard
Extra Special Wedding Day
"We’re not married yet; we're getting married in 13 days. I bought her a necklace to wear on the wedding day, and the pendant on it is made with her brother’s ashes, who passed when she was 10; that way, she can have her brother there with her on the wedding day."
"I'm going to give it to her earlier in the week so she can process, cry, whatever she needs to do without worrying about feeling good on our special day."
- Quirky-Two-3253
Sharing The Burden
"That I'm depressed. I'm really, really depressed. He is usually the depressed one. I often give him support."
"I'm afraid of letting him know that I get sad and need an arm to cry on, too. I don't want to seem weak when he needs a strong person who loves him regardless."
- laureninsanity
"Being married is all about showing your soft side; just crying once doesn't mean you're weak. It just means that you're saying, 'hey, I need you today,' and tomorrow he's the one who'll say, 'Now I need you.' You must both rely on the other so that you don't get too tired."
- everything-ok
Perpetual Dairy Queen Revenge
"Guys, I f**ked up, we have location sharing on Google Maps, and I saw that she was at Dairy Queen, and she didn't tell me. So then, I went to Dairy Queen without her as revenge. She still doesn't know."
- KnuteViking
"That's what you think."
- unwaveringwish
"I'm just imagining you both keep getting back at each other by going to Dairy Queen alone, and at some point, you're going to go there together and keep waiting each other out for somebody to crack."
- heedrixes
Extra Mindful Of Compliments
"He doesn't know that I accidentally overheard part of his telehealth therapist appointment when I was changing one day. The office is next to our bedroom, and he was talking unusually loudly (usually, I can't hear him beyond muffled words I can't understand)."
'Nothing bad was said about me, but I did not know the depths of his self-hatred until that moment."
"I have been going way out of my way to tell him every tiny little good thing he does now. I was pretty complimentary before (so hopefully he doesn't have suspicions), but now I have a laser focus on anything that I heard him say he hated about himself or was insecure about. My husband is f**king amazing, and he deserves to feel that way about himself, too."
- Ilunibi
Legendary Embarrassment
"Farts. We don't discuss them, don't do it in front of each other, and if it accidentally happens, then no, it didn't."
"But oh my GOD, he let out the most cartoonishly long fart in his sleep, and it ended on a whistle?! Insane."
"I had to leave the room to laugh, and can never tell him bc he will die of embarrassment."
- hailkelemvor
It's refreshing to see so many kind, compassionate, and wholesome responses when it was so easy to anticipate and brace for stories of cheating and other dark betrayals.
Since the Original Poster specified "currently" in their question, maybe these wholesome stories could fade away someday, but now, it's perfectly lovely to revel in them.