A Love That Never Dies

"So much for sneaking around and keeping secrets," Connie said quietly. "I don't know whether to feel embarrassed or relieved."

"Well, I don't know if that little bit of information changes how you want to handle things with Sally, but she's your daughter, so you call the shots and I'll follow along with whatever you say."

* * *

We went out for pizza that night and Sally and Connie were talking about their plans for the weekend.

"Tom's coming over tomorrow morning and we're going out on his boat," Connie said. "Unless you've got something else planned, you can come with us. It'll be fun!"

"Sure, but . . . wouldn't it just be easier if Tom spent the night?" Sally asked. "He wouldn't have to get up so early tomorrow morning."

Connie looked stunned. I probably looked like I had just won the lottery.

"Hey, that's a great idea. I wish I had thought of that!" I said.

Sally gave me a look that said 'don't try to play that dumb routine on me.'

"What do you think, Connie?" I asked.

"Well, Sally, if it doesn't bother you, it sounds like a great plan," Connie answered.

After that conversation, I started spending every Friday and Saturday night at Connie's house. We started doing more things together like a family, and Sally got even more relaxed around me.

Once, she slipped up and called me "Daddy" without even realizing that she had done so. Connie heard it and looked at me with a twinkle in her eye. I was happy - very happy.

Monday, December 24, 2007

Sally was with us until Christmas Eve. At 1:30 that afternoon, we put her on a plane to go to her dad in Birmingham. That gave Connie and me the next week alone. We went to a midnight church service on Christmas Eve and then returned to Connie's home. We made love and then fell asleep, as always, spooned together with my arms around her. I felt very contented and I was at peace with the world. It was one of the best Christmas Eves of my life.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

I was not in bed when Connie awoke the next morning. Since it was just the two of us at home, she pulled on a very sheer gown which did little to hide her naked beauty and she came and found me by the Christmas tree downstairs.

I was sitting on the sofa and I motioned for Connie to sit beside me. "There's something I need to tell you," I said.

"Is it good or bad, 'cause this is lousy timing for bad stuff," she warned me.

"I'm the happiest man on the planet," I explained, "and there's nothing bad between me and you."

"Good. I was worried for a minute."

"While Sally isn't here, I wanted to talk to you about our relationship and where it's headed. First, you need to know and really trust me when I say I have never been happier in my entire life. I love you in a way that I never knew existed and I look forward to every minute that we spend together."

"We've been dating for seven months now and it's been the best seven months of my life. If you had already been divorced for a few years, I probably would have proposed to you already. There isn't anything wrong between us at all . . . but I'm still concerned about being your first relationship after your divorce. Who knows? Maybe, later on, you'll regret that you didn't get out there and date more guys, and . . .."

Connie tried to interrupt me. "I know what I . . .."

The tip of my index finger came to her lips as I used my kind and gentle voice to say, "Let me finish and then you can say whatever you want but, please, let me finish. Now . . . I'm also concerned about Sally and how this affects her. I'm very fond of her and I can see that she's very fond of me. She's probably feeling like her dad abandoned her by leaving you and her and then by moving to Birmingham and she doesn't need to have another guy do something that feels like abandonment, but . . . we've gone way too far to back away from things, now."

"I've got some general rules for how to handle different situations and my general rule is that no one should get remarried for at least two years after a divorce, and there aren't many exceptions to that rule."

"Yeah, I know, but . . .," again she attempted to interject and, again, my index finger moved to silence her lips.

I paused for a minute with a quizzical look on my face, as if I had lost my focus. "Oh, yes, but every rule does have some exceptions. Connie, dear, I love you dearly and I can't think of having a future that doesn't include you." I got off of the sofa and knelt on one knee in front of her.

As I looked up at her angelic face, I could see tears starting to form. "Connie, you are my sunrise and my sunset. You are the light that brightens every minute of my day. You know all of my crazy habits and idiosyncrasies and you still love me. I don't know why you love me but I know that you do. I want you by my side for the rest of our lives. Will you be my wife?"

As I asked the question, I reached into my pocket and retrieved the engagement ring I had purchased a week earlier, with the advice and consent of Doreen.

"Tom, I love you, I respect you, and I really, really like you. You're a wonderful companion for me and I know you'll be a wonderful step-father to Sally. If we have any children, I know you'll be a great father to them. I want you with all of my heart, now and forever, so . . . yes, I'll marry you!"

She held her left hand out and I slid the engagement ring onto her fourth finger. She stared at the ring for a few seconds and then she started crying. "I don't think I deserve you but I'll do anything I can to make you happy."

I took her into my arms and comforted her. "Actually, I don't think I deserve you but if you're crazy enough to say 'yes,' then I'm not going to try to talk you out of it."

She looked up at me and said, "You're perfect!"

"That's nice of you to say but, no, neither one of us is perfect," I suggested and paused, then added, "but I do think that we're perfect for each other."

I'm sure we would have stayed in bed most of the day but we had already promised my parents that we would drive over to Panama City and have Christmas dinner with them. Mom, Dad, and Connie had not yet met, so of course Connie was nervous about the dinner, but she had nothing to be nervous about. My parents loved her and they were excited about our engagement.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

We didn't tell anyone else about the engagement until Sally came back after the holidays; we didn't want her to feel left out of the news and celebrations. When she did return, Connie told Sally and "our" little girl was happy.

"Good, because now I'll have two daddies," she explained. "And the first one isn't working out so well, so it's good to have a backup."

"Honey, why do you say that?" Connie asked. John had been a lousy husband to her but, considering the circumstances, he had always tried to be a good father to Sally.

"Daddy has a new girlfriend who looks a whole lot like you, Mom, but she's not you and she's a jerk. I don't think she likes me. That's okay, because I don't like her, either."

"You like Tom, don't you?" Connie asked to hear some reassurance.

"We just studied this in school Mom, and Tom is what you old folks call 'the bee's knees.'"

Connie laughed. "I'm not that old, honey. That's what people said a hundred years ago . . . but I am glad that you like Tom."

We all went out to dinner that night to celebrate and we let Sally pick out the restaurant. Of course, she wanted pizza, so we went to the best pizza place in town.

At dinner, Sally started asking questions. When are you getting married? Where? Where are you going for your honeymoon? Are you going to move in with us before the wedding? We let her know that we had not started making any plans and that she would be included in all of the major decisions. At least - as Connie and I had decided - we would include Sally in the discussions.

Monday, December 31, 2007

The next day, I went in to the office for a few hours but I had already told Doreen that we would close at noontime. That morning, Doreen asked me if we had told Sally, and I told her all about the conversation and Sally's one hundred questions.

"So I guess it's official, huh? You know how some people say that one person comes into this world when another one leaves? Maybe it's that way with marriages, too," Doreen said, obviously inviting me to inquire.

"If you've got news to tell me, go ahead and tell me."

"Well, before Christmas, Jim was acting like he wasn't very happy and then, Christmas Day, he left the house and he told me he was going to the drug store and he'd be back in a few minutes. I didn't see him for three days and when he showed up Tuesday, he was obviously drunk. I asked him how he expected me to put up with his behavior and he said that I didn't have to put up with it at all because he wanted a divorce. He packed a suitcase - actually, he was too drunk, so I packed it for him - and I haven't seen him since then."

"Holy shit, Doreen!" I exclaimed. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I didn't want to rain on your parade. You looked as happy as a pig in slop and I didn't want to do anything to break the mood for you . . . besides, there's nothing to say or do that'll make it any better, other than just going ahead and filing for divorce."

"Well, if you want to file, you know I'll take care of it for you, no charge, absolutely. I'm so sorry! You deserve much better than what you've had so far."

"Thanks, Tom," Doreen uttered in a lifeless voice.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

We had selected Saturday, May 24 for the wedding. This was one week before Sally would go to Birmingham for the summer and we would spend the week after the wedding at home before we went on our honeymoon. That isn't the usual order of things but, once again, we wanted Sally to feel included in everything. In particular, we didn't want to get married and then have Sally gone almost three months before she came back and rejoined our family.

This weekend, Connie was deep in the midst of wedding planning and she was being careful to include Sally in all of the plans. Of course, Sally didn't get to make any decisions by herself and if she suggested something childish or inappropriate - which rarely happened - Connie would spend time convincing her to change her mind rather than simply castigating her for her choices.

We spent the day with Connie and Sally dragging me from one store to another; I knew that I was only along to pay for things. My ears did perk up when I heard Connie and Sally talking about Sally spending the night with one of her friends.

As soon as we were alone, I asked, "Do I understand correctly that Sally won't be at home tonight to chaperone us?"

"That's right," Connie replied. "You know what that means, don't you? Skinny dipping in the hot tub and making love in front of the fireplace!"

"Just thinking about it is making my pants fit tight. When's she shipping out?"

"She's going over to Karen's house about 4 o'clock. Can you wait that long?" Connie teased me.

"No! Pull your pants down right now," I pretended to insist. I looked around and saw that no one was looking at us, so I reached down and grabbed Connie's ass and gave it a little squeeze.

"Oh, you bad boy!" Connie mockingly scolded me.

"You love it when I act like a bad boy," I responded, "and I hope that you'll be bad tonight, too!"

"You just wait and see," she laughed.

At 8 pm, it was dark out and Connie and I were in her hot tub with a couple of rum and cokes already in our bellies and a few more waiting their turn on the edge of the hot tub. We were both naked and I suspected that we'd start making out before long.

"You said something this afternoon that I want to ask you about," Connie said.

"I hope I'm not in trouble," I meekly responded. "I had great plans for the rest of the evening."

"Oh, no, you're not in trouble. Well, first, I've been reading some things about how to have a good marriage and . . .."

"And you're worried that the same thing will happen this time because something's wrong with you. Am I close?" I asked.

"Tom, you're always right, to some extent, but I need you to listen to me. Honey, I want to make sure that we both do everything that we can to make our marriage as successful as possible. Now, earlier today, you said you wanted me to be a bad girl tonight, and I started wondering whether I'm doing everything I can to keep you happy in bed. You know, I was raised to be a kind of prim and proper Southern girl but I've tried to cut loose and be uninhibited in bed. But . . . maybe I'm not doing enough so I need to ask: Is there anything that we haven't done sexually that you want to do, or is there anything we're doing that you don't want to do?"

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that question. First, the easier part is the second question. We haven't done anything that didn't feel good to me and I don't want to stop doing anything that we've already done. As far as other things I might like to do, well . . . there are a few things that we haven't done that I'd like to try, but I don't want to do anything that you don't also want to do," I said and then hesitated, giving her a chance to respond. I didn't need to wait very long.

"Like what?" she asked.

"You know, the hard part about telling you these things is not knowing whether you'll say 'sure, let's try that' or 'are you fucking crazy?'"

"Okay, I have an idea. Let's take turns telling each other about the fantasies that we would actually like to try, and I'll go first. Tom, I'd like to watch you make yourself cum, you know, masturbate, jerk off, whatever you want to call it. I have always wanted to see a guy do that," Connie confessed.

"Wow, I was going to say the same thing!" I said.

"You mean you fantasized about me watching you beat your meat?" Connie teased me.

"No, I want to watch you make yourself cum . . . with just your fingers . . . and another time, with a vibrator. Okay, your turn."

"Okay. Uh . . . I know that you kind of enjoy anal play and, sometimes, it sounds really kinky to say some of that stuff out loud, but . . . I want you to use a small vibrator in my ass while you have your dick in my pussy, you know, that double penetration thing, except that I don't want any guy except you. . . . Next!"

I would have never guessed that Connie wanted a double penetration experience so maybe this conversation was going to take us in a good direction. "Well, we've had anal sex a few times, and I guess you like it or you wouldn't cum when we do it, so I guess you might understand that it might feel good for you to play with my ass sometimes."

"Okay, like how? I mean, what exactly would you like me to try?"

"Well, when you're doing oral sex on me, it might feel good to have you put your finger inside me, you know, with some lube on it. Like, sometimes . . . guys jokingly call it 'prostate massage.'"

"Okay . . . I never would have guessed that but . . . I can give it a try," Connie responded.

"Does that sound like a gross thing to do," I asked. "I don't want to weird you out and, you know, I don't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"Well, it's certainly not anything my mother ever explained to me but, you know, it's all a matter of how you were raised. It sounds kind of kinky and I never would have guessed it but, if you like it, I want to be the one to do it for you. Who knows, I might like doing it to you."

"There's another thing like that but, instead of telling you, I want to show you," I said. Actually, I wanted to do it to her as much as I wanted to have her do it to me. I moved over so that I was on my knees directly in front of her. "I'm going to start out like this," I said as I placed my right hand between her legs and started playing with Ms. Clitty while I teased her nipples with my other hand.

"I like this so far," she said. "Ummm, yeah, that feels nice, right there."

"Now, lift up a little," I requested. She pushed her torso up a few inches and I lowered my right hand until my middle finger could reach her butt hole. I started stroking on either side of her little pucker without making any motion towards ground zero.

Since she had lifted up, her nipples were now above water and I lowered my mouth and started sucking on one of her beautiful breasts. "I can't get enough of these beautiful boobs," I said. Her nipples were hard and I could tell that she was starting to get aroused. That's when I went for ground zero. I moved the tip of my finger to the middle of her little anus and applied just enough pressure for her to feel it without actually penetrating her.

She started moving up and down as if she wanted to impale her cute little behind on my finger. It was so hot that I started moaning and she wasn't even touching me . . . yet.

"Now, stand up and bend over and hold on to the side of the hot tub," I instructed her.

"This feels too good, I don't want to stop," she complained.

"Trust me. Now, stand up," I repeated.

She stood and turned around, then bent over. The sight of her cute little ass always got me going. I'm sure I would have had fun putting my dick in her heiney hole but I had other plans for tonight.

"Spread your legs a little," I asked.

As soon as she did that, I knelt behind her and started licking her clit and up her slit. When I got to the bottom of her pussy, I kept going and drug my tongue over her little pink star.

She flinched. "Wasn't expecting that," she said, and then she relaxed, "but . . . do that again!" she insisted.

I again started licking on her clit and then slowly moved my tongue down her lips and continued on to her tiny little rosebud. This time, I started licking in circles around her back door and I reached up and inserted my index and middle finger in her dripping wet love tunnel. As I finger fucked her pussy, I started trying to thrust my tongue into her ass and the sensations drove her wild.

"Oh, fuck me, oh shit! Don't stop!" she begged.

I had no intention of stopping. She was thrusting her ass into my face and her pussy on my fingers and it didn't take much for her to go over the edge.

I felt the spasms in her pussy clamping down on my fingers while she clenched her butt cheeks.

"Oh fuckety fuck!" she exclaimed as she tried to catch her breath.

As her orgasm subsided, I pulled my fingers from her snatch and I stood up, placing the tip of my dick against her pucker, again without any intentions of penetrating her and, of course, we didn't have any K-Y in the hot tub.

"Stand up," I said, and she straightened and stood up, bringing her back against my chest. I reached around her and fondled her breasts. "You are so beautiful . . . and I love making you cum so hard."

"That was at least a 10," she said. "So . . . that's what you want me to do to you?"

"Yeah, except that you can give me a hand job instead of finger fucking my pussy."

"Holy shit, I never even thought about somebody doing that to me . . ."

"Well, it's not something I'd do every day, but . . . you know, the idea of licking on your partner's butt hole might sound gross if, you know, they weren't clean, but I don't know anybody who's more careful about her hygiene than you and, we're in the hot tub and I was playing with your behind earlier, so I knew you were clean, and . . . well, you're always like, impeccably clean anyway, but . . . you don't know how something will make you feel until you try it but . . . I thought you might get off on that, and . . . it's not gross if it brings you that much pleasure."

"Okay, so it's your turn to tell me what you want us to do that we haven't already done," I reminded her.

"If we do what we've already talked about, my happy cup will be overflowing," she responded, "but, the question is: will you be happy?"

"Connie, I am infinitely happy with you. You are the best person I've ever known, you're a terrific friend and companion, and when we get between the sheets - or in the hot tub - you send me to the moon." I knew she had her insecurities and I kept looking for the right words to try to make her feel more secure in our relationship.