Eva Pt. 07

Phyllis had taken a few days off to help with the last minute wedding things, and she cried a little when I gave her her roses. "I'm so glad to have a third son, Jon. One who is so good to and for my daughter. And you know, if you need anything, you and Camilla, you can come to me and Harold. We're all one big Jewish family."

We hugged and I told her I knew, and it was greatly appreciated. Then Eva came downstairs and I gave her her roses, red, the color of love.

"They're beautiful! My sweet Bear!" She hugged me tight and kissed me with a warm and loving kiss. "Happy Valentine's Day. Our first one! You're so sweet. And I didn't get you anything!" She was tearing up.

"Yes you did. You gave me your love. You're helping my family through the worst thing we could go through, and you're doing it without hesitation. You don't even see how special you are because you think everyone would do this, but it's not true. Your heart is so loving. I can't believe how lucky I am to be marrying you." I kissed her and said "I love you Angel. With all my heart."

"You're amazing, Bear. And getting flowers for my mom....that was really wonderful." We held each other quietly for a few minutes. "There's no chance we could get out for at least a few hours tonight, is there?"

"Not tonight, honey. You can stay here with your family but I want to be with my mom tonight. I know, hell of a Valentine's date. It's just time is short. How about tomorrow night, right before your birthday? We'll go someplace nice for dinner and then get a nice room and make up for the last few weeks. We won't have to be quiet at all. The night will be all about you."

"I understand. And we don't have to stay in a hotel tomorrow. We'll have our mini honeymoon in a few days. Right now, you have other priorities. And yours are mine."

"Eva, honey, you'll always be my priority. It's just..."

"Shhhh. I know, Bear. You don't have to explain. And if you change your mind and want me to spend the night, just call me. Whatever you want and need. I love you."

"I love you too. Happy Valentine's Day, honey."

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After talking to my mom when I got home, she told me to call Eva and, I quote, "take that sweet woman out for a nice dinner tonight and tomorrow for her early birthday. Or I'm throwing you out of this house until Sunday!" I kissed her cheek, which was now sunken from loss of weight, and I called Eva and that night I took her to our favorite place, Marco's, where we went on our first date. It was busy with a long wait for a table, but it would have been like that anywhere we went that night. So over a late dinner and glasses of wine, we talked as if the last month hadn't happened. For that night, we tried to make things as normal as possible. We talked about our future, but didn't make any final decisions. For the time, we'd be living in my parents house. After that, whether we'd go back to Binghamton or stay and find an apartment and go to Queens College, was left up in the air.

We held hands across the table after we were done with our meal, sharing a quiet and peaceful moment. "Are you having any doubts or second guesses about marrying me this way, honey?" I asked her. "Any at all? Now's your last chance."

Eva smiled at me and her fingers lightly touched the back of my hand, caressing my skin and sending flashes of fire all up and down my arm and into my body. "Bear, I'm the one who suggested this, remember? I want to be your wife, I want you to be my husband, and I'm thrilled to do it now, while your mother can be with us. I wouldn't care if it was just our families with us. I want this. I promise, no second thoughts at all. What about you? Getting cold feet?" She smiled broader, teasing me.

"If my feet get cold, I'll have you to warm them at night. No, Angel, no cold feet at all. I'm so excited for this. A year ago we didn't even give each other a second thought. And now, if I ran into Elizabeth Chen, I would give her a huge hug and kiss."

"Oh? And why would you do that?"

"For beating you out for valedictorian, of course. If she hadn't, we wouldn't be here tonight, and we wouldn't be getting ready to be married. So I owe her a real debt of gratitude. Maybe we both do."

"Maybe we should take a road trip to Dartmouth and thank her in person. Some day." The check came and I paid it, then we left and got into my car. For mid-February, it was a fairly comfortable night, not too cold. "Jon, do you think we can go to our old parking spot? We probably won't be going back again. I want you, and I want to fuck you without worrying about keeping the noise down." Eva looked at me with great desire in her eyes, the same desire I was feeling for her"

"I'd love to, Angel. More than almost anything." We kissed and then I drove to our place, where we started exploring each other sexually almost a year before. She was right, there wouldn't be a reason to go back; there wasn't really a reason to go that night. We were making love in my room- our room now- regularly, but we didn't have the privacy to let ourselves really go at home. We needed this, a last time as an unmarried couple.

There was another car there, which wasn't surprising considering it was Valentine's Day. We were lucky it was only one other car. We got in the back after I got our blanket (something else we'd be saying goodbye to) and immediately we were kissing and disrobing, getting naked and very, very excited. We didn't need much in the way of foreplay; we were so hot for each other from the first kiss. I was sitting on the seat and Eva straddled me, her knees on either side of my hips as she eased down on my hungry dick. I was like a warm knife through butter, filling her all the way as my hands held her round ass.

We were kissing wildly and we were fucking hard, with tears falling down our cheeks. As hot as we were, this was about more than sex. We needed to get this release. The previous weeks had been so emotionally draining that our lovemaking had been almost rote because we were afraid of making noise and feeling disrespectful.

Eva moved up and down on my cock with a force that had us both gasping and our bodies taut with lust. She arched backwards and I sought out her tits with my lips, sucking hard as her pussy spasmed around my cock, releasing a small flood of wetness. "Suck it, Jon, suck my nipples! Bite me, I don't care, just make me feel your love...." Her ass was slamming down on my thighs over and over and I felt every thrust from my glans to the rest of my body. She came hard and I twisted us around so she was on her back and I was fucking her. I kept burying my cock in her pussy as her nails scraped my chest, rougher than she had touched me in many weeks.

"God, you feel amazing!" I blurted. "I need you so much!"

"Yes, fuck me, dammit! Don't stop.....I'm almost there!" Then, moments later, Eva came again, locking her legs around my hips, holding me inside her, and my cock twitched wildly as I came too, with an intensity we hadn't shared in a long time. I rested on top of her and then I broke out in tears as I came back to reality.

Eva stroked my hair and my back and held me with her other arm. "I know, Bear. I know you're hurting. I'll take care of you." She kissed my neck and cheek and just loved me. I really needed it, more than I care to admit. But it felt at least as great as our sex to let go like that, like I hadn't done in weeks.

After a while we got up and managed to get dressed again before going back up front to go home. I started the car but before I put it in reverse to back out, I let the interior warm up for a while. I turned to Eva and, once my hands were warm, I held her face with a loving touch and stared into those lovely blue gemstones. There was so much tenderness in her gaze. "Angel, I know you'll tell me not to, but I want to thank you. For being the most loving woman imaginable. For helping my family and not running away from us; I think a lot of people, especially at our age, would have had second thoughts. And for being my best friend, the very best friend I'll ever have. I hope I can live up to your standard if the need ever comes to pass."

Eva touched the backs of my hands with love that I felt all over and through me. She kissed my forefinger only, yet that tiny kiss made my heart throb with my own love. "I've told you you never have to thank me for any of this. We're mispucha, right? (A Hebrew word for family, but with a deeper connection than just 'family') We laughed a little before I held her hands in mine and kissed them. No more needed to be said for the moment. I backed us out and drove us home. It was kind of late, after 1AM, and thankfully everyone was asleep, meaning my mother was able to get some rest, not to mention my father and sister.

Eva and I washed up and slipped into my full sized bed, a tight fit for two, even with Eva being so petite, but it encouraged intimacy. In bed we always had to be touching in some way, and it was a great way to learn things about each other in a way I can't quite describe. We felt as close to each other as a couple that had been together for ten years instead of ten months.

We cuddled and after saying our 'I love you's' and goodnights, we fell to a fitful sleep. Two days to Eva's birthday and another after until we were to be married. It seemed so close and so far away at the same time.

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The next day, Friday the 15th, was spent running last minute errands, picking up small gifts for our wedding party members, then dad and I went to pick up our tuxedos. It also gave us a chance to have a father-son talk. We stopped at a kosher deli and we talked over pastrami sandwiches. He gave me advice about how to make a marriage last and how deeply he regretted when he cheated on mom and how I got dragged into it. He was misty eyed. "Don't ever do to Eva what I did to your mother" he warned. "Don't risk breaking her heart. Part of me wants to tell your mother what I did, to make that confession to her, but I can't do that to her, not while she's......dying." He broke down and I held his hand. He was right; she didn't need to know about that. She was in enough pain.

"Dad, what's past is past. Mom is in enough pain emotionally to go with the physical pain. So if you're even thinking of telling her, please don't. You won't get any relief and she'll die hurt and angry with you. Then it will hurt Cammy, who's suffering enough as well, if you two end up bitter towards each other."

"Cammy? What about you, Jon? Wouldn't you get hurt too?"

"Sure, but I have Eva to lift me up. Cammy doesn't have someone like that. Well, she has me and Eva. But she'll be crushed. And I don't want mom to suffer any more than she is already."

Dad wiped his eyes with some napkins he got out of the old fashioned aluminum dispenser on the table. He squeezed my fingers and said "When did you get to be so smart?" he asked with a smile, not a big one, but big enough.

"Eva rubbed off on me. She's brilliant, you know."

"I know. She's going to make you very happy, son. Don't let her slip away, ever. Thanks Jon, for keeping me from doing something else stupid. Come on, lets go home." We got up and he kissed me on the cheek, a loving father to his loving son. Even with his fuck up that previous year, I still loved him dearly.

The next day, the day before the wedding, was Eva's birthday She and I spent the early part of the day, when the nurses were in my house, with her family. They took us out to lunch (Cammy was invited too which made her very happy) at a nice Irish style pub. No alcohol, but delicious food. Eva and I were feeling natural jitters but we ignored that and had a nice afternoon together. That evening we weren't going to be together; the groom can't see the bride before the wedding, so she was sleeping at her house, apart for the last time.

So that night I spent with my family, all of us watching a movie, including mom, in her wheelchair. She couldn't walk for more than a few minutes by then and very soon we knew she wouldn't be able to get up and down the stairs, even with assistance. A hospital bed would be set up in the living room for her last weeks so she could be as comfortable as possible at home.

Mom asked for a few minutes alone with me, so dad and Camilla went upstairs to give us some privacy. "Come sit next to me, Jon." She held out her hand, a very bony limb by then. She'd lost so much weight and her cheeks were sallow. But her green eyes still sparked with intelligence and humor. The part of her that made her my mother was still alive and strong. I held her hand and for about two minutes we didn't say anything. We just looked at each other with sad smiles.

"Mom, in case I forget later, I want to thank you for everything. Everything you've done for me over the years. You're the best, and I'm not just saying that. I'm going to miss you more than I can ever tell you."

"Thank you, sweetie. But I'm not dead yet. And I am looking forward to tomorrow with such pride. You're young but you're such a good man, a real Mensch (a Yiddish word for Man, with a capital M). I'm so happy for you and Eva. I just wish I could dance with you tomorrow. That I'm going to regret."

"You're going to dance with me tomorrow. It's all worked out. It's a surprise for you. One dance."

She smiled and I could see the woman I knew so well in that smile. "Ok, I won't ask what you have planned. Thank you, son. And I want to thank you...." she lowered her voice..."for not telling me about your father and his affair."

I was stunned. She knew. How the hell did she know? "Mom, I don't know what..."

"I know, Jon. Don't ask me how; I'll just tell you your father never said a word. And I know you know, and I want to thank you for protecting my feelings. I was hurt when I found out, but I've made peace with it. I won't die angry at him. I've got enough to be angry about. Not seeing your sister grow into a beautiful woman and starting her own life. Not being there when she falls in love for the first time. Not seeing my grandchildren. So many things. I'm not angry at your father, but don't you tell him that I knew. It will just hurt him and I need him to keep his act together to raise your sister and you. Even though you're getting married tomorrow, you still need a parent. And, Phyllis and Harold will also make good parents for you and Eva. As for her, I'll talk to her a little tomorrow. I love her like a daughter. I'm just thrilled for both of you." Mom was crying and so was I, holding her as carefully as I could but a lot of love was passing between us. Lot's and lot's.

"I'm going to miss you, mom. A lot."

"Not yet you won't. I'll be here a while yet. And we're going to have a great time tomorrow. The best time ever."

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Sunday. Wedding day. The party was set to start at 1PM, with a cocktail hour and appetizers, the ceremony at 2, then the party itself going until 7.

The day started much earlier than that. Mom and Cammy were picked up at 9:30 and met Eva, her mom and others in the wedding party at a salon for them all to get their hair and makeup done, while dad and I were able to take things slow. We got dressed at 11 and Harold and the twins picked us up at 11:30. Let's face it, men take a lot less time to get ready for a formal party than women do. But the women look so much better.

We got to the restaurant at 12 so the photographer could take pictures of the wedding party before our guests arrived. The women pulled up in two white limos a few minutes later and they all looked great, even mom, as sick as she was. Cammy in her first real gown. Phyllis in a great red gown. All were beautiful.

But when I got to see Eva enter the restaurant and take off her warm coat, I thought my heart would stop. She didn't have her veil on yet, but she was breathtaking. Maybe you think I am biased. Maybe I am. But there was no more beautiful bride anywhere as far as I was concerned.

"Hi, Bear. So, what do you think?" Eva asked standing in front of me, her makeup professionally applied and a new hairstyle, with gentle waves curving around her neck. She was bare armed and bare shouldered, and the gown was simple, straight down her body, hugging her all the way until it flared out at her hips and flowed around her feet. It was a simple, elegant look.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. It's the only way I can say it, Angel." She smiled, clearly pleased with my response.

"You're very handsome yourself. You always look great in a tux." I kissed her cheek, not wanting to smear her lipstick. Eva said in a very low voice "Are you nervous, sweetheart?"

"A little. Nothing I can't handle. Are you all right?"

"Oh, just shaking in my shoes! Nothing I can't handle" she replied with a nervous giggle. I took her hand down at our sides and I felt the tremble disappear in a minute. "Thank you, Bear. I'm much better now." We brushed lips and were called to the private room to take pictures.

At one point, mom, wheeled next to me by Phyllis, took one of my hands and Phyllis took the other as we watched the photographer take pictures of Eva from various angles. We didn't say much; we were all taken with her loveliness and her grace. When I joined her and we took pictures, smiling, holding hands, I knew we were going to be married for as long as we both lived. I just knew it.

We circulated during the cocktail hour, then everyone gathered for the ceremony. Aside from when Eva walked down the aisle with her father, I don't remember almost any of the ceremony until I stepped on the glass and we kissed as man and wife. I guess I was more nervous than I admitted to. We trotted back up the aisle as our friends and family applauded. Looking at each other, laughing together, we were as happy as we had ever been up to that point in our lives.

Ten minutes later, we were introduced to everyone as Jon and Eva Grossman and we danced together to Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey, our song. We had been dancing together since the night of our first date, and we danced together as if it was second nature. "Are you happy?" I asked as we swayed easily.

"Ecstatic. I'm so happy we did this. We're going to have a wonderful life together. I know it in my bones."

"I know, Angel. I feel the same way" I whispered in her ear as we finished the dance with couples all around us. It was our best time dancing.

During the afternoon we shared more dances and between meal courses we danced together and with others. I twirled Cammy around (she was growing into a real heartbreaker) and Eva danced with her brothers. Then it was time for her to dance with her father to that terrible song Daddy's Little Girl, but they looked so happy it didn't matter. Then it was my turn to dance with my mom.

When I went to meet her she said "Jon, I don't know how we're going to do this. I want to..."

"Don't worry, mom. We've got this covered." I wheeled her onto the dance floor and as I locked the wheels, Eva, Phyllis, my aunt Annette and Cammy all came out and stood around her.

Eva said to her "Carol, we're all going to help you. We'll get you up and we're going to hold you while you dance with your son." Mom didn't say anything because she was too choked up to say a word. We all helped her stand up and the other women all stood behind her and to her sides while I held her in front. We didn't dance around in the traditional way; that wasn't possible. But we moved a little, side to side, surrounded by the women who loved her so much.

"Who's idea was this? Could you tell me?" mom asked tearfully.

"It was your son's idea" Phyllis told her and mom gave me the biggest hug she could manage. "He came up with this all by himself."

"Thank you, Jon. For this special gift."