Eva Pt. 17

We clung close to each other, silently crying, more in love than ever before. That's how it is with some couples. Love just keeps growing and growing and growing. That's how it is for Eva and me.

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Graduation that June of 2002 was particularly poignant. There was a slight pall that hung over the graduating class that year, with memories of the terror attacks highlighted in the yearbook. Corey wasn't mentioned at all; Eva helped me to see that while under other circumstances, a memorial page to a lost classmate would be an obvious thing to do, it wasn't appropriate under the circumstances. I still feel a touch guilty when I think of that poor kid.

Each graduate made sure they shook my hand as well as Tom Sorenson, who returned to work in March. It was a nice, simple touch from a great group of young people who went through a very hard year. Especially for Tom, who was feeling more ambivalent about teaching in our school. But for that day, he felt like he was home.

Let me catch you up on the years as they went by. Sorry, I'll be going back and forth a little. Harold died in 2004. He had another heart attack and it was devastating for all of us. He always treated me like his son, was there for me when I needed a man's shoulder to lean on, and it hurt like hell. Of course, it was even worse for Eva and Phyllis as well as Walt and Will, and for our kids. After taking a year to mourn, Phyllis sold her house and moved to a condo in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where some of her friends lived. She was happy there, and lives there still. We see her a couple of times a year when she comes to see her family. We go visit her once in a while as well.

Larry and Patty got divorced. Something just changed for her. It happens sometimes. Larry took it hard at first, and I spent as much time with him as I could. Patty met a new man, Jeff, and they eventually married. I made the best of it for Eva's sake; Patty was her best friend like Larry was mine. Jeff was a good guy, and he was good to Patty. But getting together with them always seemed to me like I was betraying Larry. I did my best and was always civil to Jeff. But Larry is still my best friend to this day.

Also in 2004, Connor graduated as an Ensign from the US Naval Academy. He graduated fifth in his class and got his choice of assignments, to the Nuclear Power School in South Carolina. We managed to get enough tickets for the three of us, Cammy and Kyle, and Eva's parents to attend. Another proud moment in our lives, watching Ensign Grossman graduate and throw his cap in the air with the other almost thousand graduates. He'd spend July and half of August with us before moving down to South Carolina for the next year at, as he described it, the "toughest academic school in the entire US Military, the Nuclear Power School in Charleston. Proud didn't begin to describe how we felt. After that, he went on the the Submarine School in Groton CT. Finally after that, he got a commission as a Second Lieutenant on board a SSN, an attack submarine. the USS Tampa Bay.

He met a young woman, Leigh, while in Groton, not Jewish, but a lovely girl, pretty, smart and she clearly loved our son. They got married in 2007 and a year later in April of 2008 they had a son named Oliver Martin, making Eva and I grandparents! We were at the hospital in New London, CT when he was born, bringing Eva's mother with us as well as Rachel, who was almost fifteen by then. Cammy and Kyle (and someone else...more on that in a few minutes) drove up also, though separately. She wouldn't miss the birth of her brother's child for anything.

We took a few days off from work (and Rachel out from school) for the big event. That night, in our hotel room adjoining Rachel's, Eva and I shared a bottle of champagne which the hotel gouged us on, and we made love like the horniest 47 year olds imaginable. Afterwards we talked like usual and we cried from happiness but also the realization we were getting older. But we were still having a great life, which was all that mattered.

2005 had been a busy, great year. First in February, besides Eva's birthday, it was our 25th wedding anniversary. We decided to celebrate by renewing our vows, declaring our love all over again in front of over 100 of our friends and relatives. It was the big wedding we had to forego back when we got married, with a band and a real catered party. It was a blast and we partied late into the night and early morning. We spent the night back at the Wayne Hotel while Rachel stayed with Cammy and Kyle. Eva came to bed in the softest, sexiest little ivory camisole. As we kissed and touched like we were still in our twenties, Eva, all aroused and wet, moaned "That's it, Bear. We're now officially together for life. Now you can't divorce me anymore."

"Never say never. I might find a reason. But I doubt it. I never want to think about it, actually. There is no other woman for me anywhere. I've even given up on Michelle Pfeiffer." We giggled as we kept playing.

"But I'm still holding out for Sly. Such a hunk!" I nibbled on her neck and she laughed out loud before turning her head and kissing me lustily. I slid the camisole down over her right shoulder and kissed and licked my way up her neck as Eva purred her approval. "To hell with Sly. I've got all the man I ever will need right here. I love you, Bear. Thank you for the best twenty five years imaginable."

"The pleasure's been all mine. Well, some of it has been yours. Like this." I sucked on her breast, licking around the pink nub as she closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side and scraped her nails through my ever thinning hair. "God, I love you, Angel. And I still get boiling hot for you!"

"So I can tell. You're really packing some heat tonight" Eva said with a groan of desire. She helped me get the camisole off her as well as the matching panties, then she tugged my briefs down before going down on me like we hadn't just had a big, fine meal. Her tongue was dancing all over the head of my dick before she started bobbing up and down, slipping the head into her throat every so often. Then it was my turn to moan and twist my head back and forth. I brought her hips around so her pussy was staring me right in the face. I had to be polite and say hello in the way we both loved the most. My tongue probed her in all her favorite ways. I poked where she loved and licked all around, inner and outer lips. Then when she was on the edge, I nibbled at her clit and she pushed back into my face, hard, as she came even harder. If it hadn't been so late, I would have let myself cum as well, but I wanted something else first and Eva knew it.

She moved around and quick as she could she mounted me, easing down on my throbbing cock like a woman possessed. "Bear, you are the most incredible lover I know." Her hands were on my chest as she moved up and down and I kissed her hands one at a time.

"Oh? How many lovers do you know exactly?"

"Dozens. Hundreds. And you're far and away the very best of all." I held her hips, guiding her to move at the speed I desired before I let her control the pace on her own. When we came, almost together, it was beautiful and explosive. Twenty five years later and we still had our touch.

"I love you, my darling Angel. Despite your many lovers."

"And I love you, Honey Bear. Thanks for being a good sport about my sense of humor."

"Always, my love. I know you better than that. I know you better than anyone. I hope." We laughed and cuddled, deeper in love than our first wedding, content in our lives in every aspect.

The next day, when we got home, Eva, the Devil she was, had a surprise for me. In the driveway was a car. Not just any car. A 1974 Ford Gran Torino just like my old car when we first started going out all those years ago, even the same colors, green and white, and in what looked like cherry condition. I got out of my current car and walked over to it with my jaw on the ground. "What the hell did you do?" I said, incredulous.

"Happy Anniversary, Bear! I guess it looks familiar?" She had this huge smile on her face.

"How....how did you find this? It looks just like my old car!"

"Look closer. Maybe at the VIN number?"

What the hell was she talking about? I got closer to the small metal tag on the dashboard and looked carefully. I didn't remember the whole number, but I remembered the first five digits. She got THE car! She bought my old car and had it restored. I was blown away.

"Eva, how did you do this? It's incredible! I'm just blown away!' I hugged her even tighter than I did in bed the night before. I kissed her like I was erasing her lips. She laughed as she held me in her own snug grasp before asking if I wanted to take her for a ride, waving the keys in my face. "More than almost anything. But I have to get something first." I dashed into the house for a minute. She wasn't the only one with an anniversary present.

I handed her a wrapped box, a wide rectangle. She opened it with her hands slightly shaking and gasped when she saw the locket inside, antique gold and engraved in an ornate pattern. Inside were two pictures, on the left the two of us from our wedding, and the other Connor and Rachel when we were in Japan a few years back. "Thank you for marrying me twenty five years ago, Angel. Thank you for our kids. Thank you for everything."

She was crying as I clasped the chain on the back of her neck, and we kissed and hugged for a few minutes before we hopped into my new, old ride. The engine purred to life with a perfect sound of power and a vibration you just don't feel from most modern cars. "How did you do this? Really, I'd love to know."

"I started looking a year ago online, a couple of months after I found your old registration in a box of mementos. It was still in New York, owned by a man who had let it go a bit, but not too bad considering it's thirty years old. We agreed on a price and when I went to see my mom one weekend, I bought it and arranged to ship it to a restorer in South Philly. It was obscenely expensive, but this is just such a special occasion. I love you, Jon. Every day, all day long."

Her blue eyes were holding my gaze and I fell a little deeper in love with her. It was such a wonderful gift, something I never would have expected. Nicer than any jewelry, though the way she was looking at her ring, Eva might have disagreed. I got us out on the road and drove a little faster than I should but I had to. I even got pulled over by a local cop but Eva explained the circumstances and, him being a car afficionado, he let me off with a warning and advice on where the police weren't patrolling that day. My wife. I think I'll keep her.

Also in 2005 Rachel was Bat Mitzvah and like her brother before her, we threw a big party for her. Two big affairs in one year. It was a good thing we had been doing so well financially over the years. She was turning into a very pretty young woman, looking remarkably like her mother, even inheriting her petite stature. The family, our friends, her friends, all celebrated with us and after the party, Eva and I were kind of wistful as our youngest started her passage into adulthood. There were years ahead of defiance and some bad behavior (Rachel was rebellious for a few years in a way Connor never was), We caught her with cigarettes which turned into a huge fight, and she went boy crazy at 14. That we put our feet down about; she was too young to date. Another huge row.

"I might have to kill her, Jon!" Eva said with frustration that night. "She's really testing our every nerve lately."

"And we thought a girl would be easier. I thought Connor was a challenge when he was a teenager, but she's much worse. We're going to have to watch her like a couple of hawks. Maybe it's so much rougher because we were both relatively good kids ourselves. I mean, I fought with my parents but nothing like this."

"Me either. I expected her to push back on things. It's normal and healthy for a teen to do so as they start to find their way in life. But she's too damn smart for cigarettes. No one in the family smokes. Boys I understand to a degree. Having them call her...sure. But she's too young to date."

"She would have been if this was thirty years ago, when we were her age. But these kids know so much more than we did, Eva. Which is what worries me. The curiosity factor...god, she's just too young. Thank god she still loves music. The only problem is we can't exactly ground her by refusing to pay for her lessons. I don't want to do that, no matter what."

"I agree. I couldn't do that. And it's our best way to keep close to her." Eva turned to hug me and be hugged. "I might have to color my hair twice as often if this keeps up" she said wryly.

"Men don't have to do that. Of course, I have no desire for my hair to make me look like I'm in my sixties either. Which is what's going to happen."

Thankfully, after a few tough years, Rachel got past that stage. We let her start seeing a couple of boys about the time Oliver was born and a couple of months later was her Sweet Sixteen. Another great party, smaller than her Bat Mitzvah, but fun. And later that night, she sat with us and told us she wanted to try out for Julliard in New York instead of a traditional college education. It wasn't exactly a surprise for us, but we had hoped she would want a traditional experience. We told her if she could get in, then we'd pay for it like we would for any school she chose to go to. She just had to apply to a couple of colleges as well in case Julliard didn't work out. Rachel was so confident, she resisted at first, but our appeal to reason got through to her so she applied to Berklee and Curtis (in Philly) as well as USC. She continued to get her lessons in classical, play rock and jazz on the side, and when the time came, we took her to New York and she aced her audition at Julliard. So that's where she went, Class of 2014.

Cammy next. She and Kyle had a daughter in August of 2004, a precious girl they named Anna Denise. She looked just like her mother, born with the same black hair and green eyes. They were a one-and-done couple, and while Kyle secretly hoped for a boy, he loved and loves that girl as only a smitten father could. They were a very happy family, with Kyle taking over as full time father while Cammy worked. She made a very nice living, so it made sense for them, and Kyle, unlike a lot of men was not in any way threatened by his wife's career.

The only 'bad' thing as far as we were concerned was when Cammy was made a senior partner in her firm. The problem was they wanted her to run their office in Los Angeles. She and Kyle talked it over for a week and decided they had to take the plunge. The offer was just too good to pass up. So, in June of 2011, they packed up their lovely home (after selling it for a fortune) and moved to the other side of the country. Needless to say, I didn't take it well. Not at all. My sister had been such a vital part of my life for a long, long time. I was her surrogate father for years. She still looked to me as her father figure. We had been a team for as long as I could remember

They stayed with us for almost two weeks before they moved since their home was sold before they were scheduled to leave. Rachel was living in New York by then, in her second year at Julliard, and Eva and I loved having a child in the house, even if it was just for a short time. Anna was precious, adorable and mischievous. She was a joy to have around, but it was only for a few weeks. We were going to miss them terribly. Our son was out at sea sixty days at a time as much as three times a year, rising through the ranks, our daughter was in New York and spoke to us maybe twice a week, and now my sister and her family were leaving.

The night before they left, a Saturday night, we went out for the best dinner we could think of: Chinese food. Still Cammy's favorite. We ordered way too much to eat and left stuffed to the gills. At home we sat together, the four adults in particular feeling depressed, until Kyle, Anna and Eva all went upstairs to give Cammy and me a little while alone.

We looked at each other for a few minutes, not saying anything, both of us trying our damnedest not to cry but that wasn't happening. We ended up hugging tightly for a long while. Finally we let go and I handed my sister some tissues. "Sis, I really never thought this day would come. I always thought we'd live at most a couple of hours apart. I feel like my whole family are wanderers. Thank goodness Eva and I love each other so much and we share interests. I know a few couples that fell apart after everyone leaves home."

"You are the happiest couple I've ever met, Jon. And the best people in the world. It's almost thirty years since you and Eva became my guardian. I can't tell you how many times I thanked whatever god or other is out there you two took me in." She then lowered her voice. "I love you maybe even more than Kyle. And I love him to pieces. No one knows me like you do. You're the only person I never felt like I had to hide something of myself from. Wow, that's bad English" she said laughing lightly.

"Cammy, I know you can take care of yourself, and Kyle will look after you and Anna. I also know you're going to make a lot more money than Eva and I will. But you know you'll always have a home with us if you need it. You and your family."

She held my hand and smiled. "You know what I remember? My first roses, before you got married, before mom died. Those white roses. From my brother. No other roses ever smelled quite so nice to me. I love you, Jon. Thank you for everything."

"You never have to thank me, Cammy. I've told you that many times. What we did, we did gladly because we love you too." We sat talking until almost 2AM and then we had to go to sleep. We were all getting up at 7 and they had to get on the road by 8. They were driving to Chicago to see a friend of Kyle's for a couple of days, then another couple to California.

I got into bed with Eva, who was tossing and turning. "Bear, what time is it?"

"Almost 2, Angel. Do you mind if we talk for a few minutes?"

"Of course not. Talk to me, sweetheart. Tell me what's on your mind."

"You know, I've thought about how nice it's been the last days having Anna running around. Connor has his family and he'll get transferred somewhere or other some day and we'll see them even less than now. Rachel...she may travel the world performing. We may see her less than we do Connor. Now Cammy's going and we'll see her maybe once a year, maybe twice. I love you honey. I love the life we have, the careers we have, our other family. And I love you more than anything in the world." Her hands were massaging the back of my neck as I sat on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. "So I was thinking....what would you think about taking in a foster child? Maybe not a baby, but a child of five or eight, who needs a loving home? We're fifty now and I don't know if we can adopt. But we could still love another child. We both have a lot of love to give."

Eva kissed my neck and then my cheek. "My sweet, loving Bear. I love your big heart. I was thinking something similar. Or just tossing it around. I think I'd love to. But we really should talk about this when we're more awake and ready to face the realities of this. And we have to tell Rachel and Conner if we do. They're our children and they have a right to have some input in this." She kissed me again and as I turned out the light, I turned into bed and Eva was waiting for me. We embraced as we shared the most loving kisses and, despite the hour, we made love in a slow and gentle way that always made us incredibly happy. It was beautiful in every way.

After Cammy and Kyle and Anna left the next morning (lots and lots of tears all around), Eva and I sat down with our coffee and we had a long talk. The first thing was to make sure that fostering a child was something we wanted to do. It was even possible that it could lead to adoption. We could also be matched with a minority child. That we didn't care about at all; we liked and loved all people and children. But others could object, though no one in our immediate circle. If they were bigoted in any way, they wouldn't have been our friends. But some of the people at the school could be stuffy, shall we say. I'm being kind. We decided we'd worry about that if the time came. So a couple of hours later we decided to do it, to offer ourselves to be foster parents to the Delaware County social services system.