Death of a Daughter

Kevin was grateful for the awning that the funeral director had set up even though he had to share it with his former wife. The awning protected him from the pouring rain which only accentuated his feelings of grief and devastation.

Fortunately; Kevin didn't have to sit close to Karen because the area under the awning was far from crowded. There were no surviving siblings of the deceased to say good bye to their sister. All of the cousins, aunts and uncles had become estranged so they would not have wanted to honor their youngest daughter even if her death had not been so shameful. There were no friends.

Fortunately; there was no second husband or the boyfriend who had replaced the replacement for the second husband to glower menacingly at the first husband as if he had oppressed them for being black. There was no black, bastard son by the second husband that had replaced the boyfriend who had stolen Karen from Kevin. Only the grieving parents and grandparents were attending to honor the young woman who had been so shattered by the loss of her newborn baby that she had jumped off the Vista bridge.

The first funeral had not been quite so lonely. Their son had enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on his eighteenth birthday to get away from his abusive step father. As if in homage to Rudyard Kipling, their son had fallen in battle, wounded rather than killed, on Afghanistan's plains. When a relief force finally arrived to rescue any survivors, they had found that their son had rolled on his rifle to blow out his brains before the local women could cut up what remains. The other wounded had not been so lucky. There had been a full honor guard complete with a seven gun salute. The American flag that had draped the coffin had been carefully folded as ceremony demanded than given to Karen along with their son's medals.

Kevin had been overwhelmed with guilt as well as grief at that first funeral. He had understood that his son would not have died such a gruesome death if Kevin had not been so determined to burn the bitch. Unfortunately; a father's refusal to pay for college had left their son with few choices.

The grief and guilt had been even more intense at the second funeral. Their oldest daughter had fled her mother's abusive, live in boyfriend who had replaced her second husband. Kevin and Karen had finally understood why she had ran away when her pregnant, teenaged corpse was finally found in a dumpster. There had been trials that had compelled Kevin and Karen to be together after that second funeral. One trial had been for the murderer who had killed their daughter. The other trial had been for Karen's former boyfriend who had raped their daughter.

In spite of his antipathy and smoldering resentment, Kevin found himself appraising the woman who had been his wife for a dozen years. She looked like she had been ridden hard and put away wet during the decade since their divorce. However; Kevin was honest enough with himself to admit that Karen looked better than he did. While her face looked haggard and her hair was graying, she still had the waist to hip ratio and the all important boob to butt ratio to provoke a man's interest. In contrast, Kevin had gained fifty pounds and lost most of his hair. His obesity only hinted at the health problems that included the pacemaker that kept his heart beating. While Karen would no doubt still have no difficulty attracting a new suitor, Kevin had resigned himself to being alone since his second wife divorced him a few years ago.

When the brief eulogy and the brief prayers were over, and the coffin had been lowered into the grave, the two pairs of grandparents went their separate ways. There was too much anger and resentment for them to comfort their in laws. There was too much grief and disappointment for them to comfort even their own children. Kevin was left alone under the awning with Karen.

As he watched his former wife watch the rain so forlornly, Kevin realized that she didn't have an umbrella. For some reason, he finally felt compassion for the woman who had ruined their lives and ultimately ended their children's lives by cheating on him. He was amazed to find himself offering, "would you like to share my umbrella as I walk you to her car?"

Karen seemed to be dazed and confused as she looked around frantically. "I rode with my parents. They left without me!"

"I guess that I should give you a ride," Kevin offered reluctantly.

"Thank you," Karen accepted with a combination of obvious gratitude and reluctance.

The couple walked slowly in spite of the rain to reach Kevin's pickup. Kevin gallantly held the door for his once wife while sheltering her with the umbrella before walking around to the driver's side. He was almost dry by the time he settled into the driver's seat.

As Kevin started the pickup, he noticed Karen typing an address into the navigation system. He wondered how she knew how to operate the navigation system until he remembered that his pickup had been nearly brand new when he finally discovered that his wife was unfaithful. His pickup had been a bitter bone of contention in their property settlement. In retrospect, they had both been stupid to fight over the pickup. He had bought the pickup on credit with no money down. There had been no equity in the pickup and making the payments along with his child support payments had been brutal. Kevin's second wife had been to smart to argue over his pickup when she divorced him. He was no longer having to make payments on the pickup, but paying for repairs would have been almost as expensive as buying a new pickup would be if he hadn't been able to do the repairs himself. Unfortunately; he no longer had the credit rating to get a car loan with reasonable terms. Fortunately; the Cummins diesel would probably outlive him.

The couple remained silent as Kevin drove to Karen's apartment. The apartment complex was in a decent, suburban neighborhood, but it didn't look prosperous. However; it looked more inviting than Kevin's own apartment over his machine shop.

As he pulled in Karen finally spoke, "thank you for the ride. Can I invite you in for a cup of tea?"

For a moment, Kevin was to startled to respond. They had not shared any food or drink together since that day her confession had provoked him to walk out on her and their children. "Thank you," he mumbled.

Karen's apartment was small even for a single bedroom apartment. A flat screen television might have dominated the space if not for the photos of their deceased children. The display case with the carefully folded flag and medals beneath the photo of a once promising young man in uniform was the most obviously poignant memorial. However; Kevin's gaze lingered on the most recent photo of their youngest daughter. The full body image revealed that she had been gravidly pregnant. There was no boyfriend in the photo much less a husband. The loss of her daughter had left their daughter to alone in the world to go on.

Kevin watched as Karen put water on to boil then rummaged around in the dishwasher for two, clean mugs. He was reminded that his own apartment didn't have a dishwasher. However; his attention was on his former wife. Her hips were wider, her waist was thicker, and her breasts sagged lower than he remembered, but she remained desirable.

When the kettle whistled for her attention, Karen put tea bags in the mugs and poured water. As they waited for their tea to steep she finally sobbed, "I'm so sorry. Our children would still be alive if I hadn't given into temptation."

"Our children would still be alive if I had been willing to forgive you," Kevin confessed.

"Look at what has become of the two of us. Our children are dead. They died without leaving us any grandchildren. Our own parents and families have practically disowned us," Karen wailed. "We have no future. What will we do?"

Kevin's gaze was drawn to the neckline of Karen's dress. The dress was not really risqué, but it was not really the appropriate attire for a funeral either. Karen probably could not afford a less revealing dress just for mourning although she had done plenty of morning in recent years. Bent forward as she was, the bodice of the dress clung to her breasts while the neckline flaunted a tantalizing expanse of her deep cleavage.

Kevin was suddenly overwhelmed by the realization that he still lusted after his former wife. Even more amazing was the realization that he still loved her. Most amazing of all, she did not resist his sudden embrace. Only moments passed before Kevin had her moved to the couch where he hoisted the hem of her dress. She was wearing a garter belt and stockings rather than pantyhose. He was reminded of how angry he had become when he realized that her sudden preference for sexier lingerie had been inspired by her infidelity. Her pubic hair was trimmed but unshaven, just the way he had always liked it. It took only a moment to remove her shear, micromesh panty.

As Kevin knelt before Karen's sex, he briefly wondered if traces of another man's semen might remain inside her. The realization that his wife had not only been cheating on him but had frequently seduced him into making love to her while her black, boyfriend's sperm were swimming around in her womb had outraged Kevin. However; he was to much in lust to care now. He had not forgotten how to pleasure his wife. His wife had not forgotten how to take pleasure from his lips and tongue.

When Karen's climax subsided, he moved to mount her. She responded by unbuckling his belt and unzipping his trousers. His penis eagerly sought her sex. As he penetrated her with a single, effortless stroke she warned, I'm still to early in my cycle to be safe."

"My second wife divorced me because the surgery to reverse my vasectomy failed," Kevin assured her.

Karen had often lamented that Kevin was a Minuteman. He had resented the accusation because he usually lasted somewhat longer than a minute. However; this time he didn't last fifteen seconds. Rather than complain, Karen just giggled as he ejaculated inside her.

Kevin pulled his pants up and fastened them while Karen used her panties to wipe as much of his semen from her pubic hair as she could. Stunned by their sudden lust, the divorced couple returned to their tea. The mugs were still steaming.

As they began to sip their tea Kevin suggested, "may be there is a future for us, as a couple again. We have no children and will have no grandchildren and probably will never have our families, but we can have each other. If we started living together and working together again, we could live in reasonable comfort again."

Karen sipped her tea as she contemplated the idea. "We would have to forgive each other to make it work, but reconciliation might be the best that either of us could hope for. Perhaps you should stay for dinner and may be spend the night so we can talk about it?"