Husband Retreats to Inherited Doomsday Bunker for “Breaks” – Pregnant Wife Finally Snaps and Calls Him Out

Some families inherit money. Some inherit property.
This guy?
He inherited a hidden, fully buried doomsday bunker built by a paranoid grandfather who believed both the CIA and the KGB were spying on him.

Welcome to one of the wildest AITA stories Reddit has seen in a while – a mix of Fallout, family drama, and one stressed wife who is very pregnant.

Here’s The Original Post:

The Legacy of the Underground Lair

OP explains that his grandfather was brilliant but suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Convinced nuclear war was coming, Grandpa built a bunker and then buried the entrance so no one could find it.

Fast-forward years later:

OP gets married (2019), has his first baby (2018), and buys Grandpa’s house from his dad. The bunker has become a legend, but one day OP goes exploring and… finds it.

“THE OLD MAN REALLY DID IT!”

So during the lockdown years of 2020–2021, he rebuilt it into the ultimate man cave: gaming setup, home server, office, all the bells and whistles. Kids love it. Friends love it. Even OP’s nephews think it’s a real-life superhero lair.

Upstairs, the house is decorated to his wife’s taste.
Underground, the bunker is 100% his world.

A Happy Bunker Life… Until It Isn’t

But now, with baby #2 on the way, OP’s wife says he’s becoming too distant. She says she feels like he’s “parenting alone,” and he’s spending less time with her and their child.

OP argues that he:

• Works 6 hours a day in the bunker (WFH setup)

• Spends around 4 hours there on weekends

• Uses an intercom so his wife can call him anytime

• Helps with chores, picks up their kid from kindergarten sometimes

But his wife’s patience has worn thin. She says she might seal the bunker entrance so he doesn’t “miss the baby being born.”

OP wonders:
Is he actually neglectful, or is it just pregnancy hormones?

Spoiler: Reddit had thoughts. Lots of thoughts.

The Talk That Changed Everything

OP eventually sits down with his wife for a serious, hours-long conversation and what she says is heartbreaking, raw, and honest.

Here are the key things she revealed:

1. She feels she lost herself after motherhood.

“I haven’t been my own person since my first pregnancy. Every day is the same. I feel like a doll.”

2. She feels OP has an escape and she doesn’t.

“You have a big hole underground where you can play and not care about the world. I haven’t read a book in years.”

She used to be a bookworm. The kind who loved bookshelves, libraries, the smell of real paper. OP got her a Kindle and Audible, thinking they were good substitutes — but they weren’t.

“Stop thinking a screen can solve everything. I married a human, not a sim. Download some emotions.”

That line hit Reddit like a meteor.

3. She wants creative space too.

She wants to write again. She wants time alone. She wants room for books. She wants OP to read her drafts and actually discuss them.

4. She needs help, not excuses.

She wants OP to take their son to the bunker for a few hours. She wants to breathe. She wants to feel like a partner, not a single parent.

This conversation broke OP wide open.
He finally understood what “mental load” means – something he says no one ever taught him.

“I thought helping with chores and being loyal was already being a good husband. Now I realize it was the bare minimum.”

He admits he became a “Reddit villain by being clueless,” not malicious.

OP’s New Plan

He’s making big changes:

• Moving gaming consoles upstairs

• Setting up SteamLink so the TV becomes his new gaming spot

• Going on dates OUTSIDE the house

• Taking on more responsibility with childcare

• Creating a dedicated space in the house for his wife’s books and writing

• Letting her have breaks equal to his breaks

• Bringing their son to the bunker for daddy–son time

• Learning what “mental load” actually means and how to share it

OP is trying. And that’s important.

Check out how the community responded:

Oh, Reddit did not hold back.

She needs a space too. She needs breaks too. She needs a partner, not a roommate who lives underground.

Reddit ruled YTA but not a monster, just a man who needed a wake-up call.

What started as one kid yelling “la machine!” while wrecking a perfectly good hairstyle has evolved into a decades-long tradition powered by friendship, dedication, and just the right amount of chaotic pettiness.

And honestly? The world needs more of this kind of harmless mischief. If you ever needed proof that growing older doesn’t mean growing boring, here it is: two 52-year-old men still pulling off the most wholesome, light-hearted “hair-hitman” ritual every Friday the 13th. That’s legendary energy.