After a year of bizarre and disturbing revelations that tore the Duggar family apart, Josh Duggar eventually checked himself into a long-term treatment center following his confession to cheating on his wife, Anna Duggar, using the adultery website Ashley Madison in August, as HNGN previously reported. At the time, the family announced that it would be a "long journey towards wholeness and recovery" for Josh, and now, several months later, it looks like he won't even be able to spend the holiday season with the ones he cares about the most.
"I don't think he's going to be back for Christmas," a source close to the family told People. "I would be surprised. There would be a huge elephant in the room."
Even though some of his family may still be bitter towards seeing Josh, especially his sisters Jessa and Jill - since they ended up being two of the victims of his underage molestation scandal that came out to the public earlier in the year - his four children, Marcus, Mackenzie, Michael and Meredith Grace are still eagerly awaiting his return.
"It's so hard when it comes to the kids," the source continued to say. "They miss their dad. They're like, 'Where's daddy?' They've said it before."
In the first part of TLC's three-part Duggar family special "Jill and Jessa: Counting On," Anna opened up about life for the first time ever since Josh's cheating scandal broke. "I think it is such a betrayal for a spouse to go through what we're walking through," she said.
She then explained in the second part of the TLC special that Josh was "at a place where he felt he needed a lot of help," and that's why he admitted himself into a faith-based rehab center for his sex addiction. Since he's been away receiving treatment, she was forced to move in with his parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in Arkansas with their four children, and even though her world has been "shattered," she's still standing by her husband.
"I have every right to walk away from this marriage," she said. "And I respect other people's views but in my heart, when I got married I vowed to God first and then to Josh: for better or worse, 'til death do us part. My prayers and heart's desire is for our marriage to be restored."
