Eva Pt. 20

"Yeah, now that you mention it..." I said in jest.

"Mom's right, you can be an ass, Dad" she said giggling. I didn't take it as anything other than light teasing from her. "Seriously, I've been...well, I've been exploring who I am. You know. Sexually."

It was the kind of discussion that could make most parents uneasy, especially fathers in terms of their daughters. But I just listened with Eva as Maria got this burden off her chest. We'd always encouraged our children to be open with us, as much as was reasonable. Eva asked "Are you unsure about something, sweetheart? You know we'll always talk as openly as we can."

"No, I know what I'm interested in. I'm what you used to call bi-sexual. I like men and women and I've had relationships with both since I've gotten to Duke. Nothing serious. I'm learning about myself. But the thing is, something has gotten serious, and I don't know how you're both going to feel about it." She actually looked uncomfortable.

I leaned forward and held her hand in my own. "Maria, if you're saying you think you love another woman, you know your mother and I will support you all the way, just like we have done with Vince. Your happiness is all that matters to us." Eva held her other hand.

"That's not it, Dad. Not quite. The thing is...I've been invited to live with a couple next year. Me with another woman and a man. A thruple as we say nowadays." She scanned our faces, and I admit, Eva and I were both taken by surprise. We were even shocked.

Eva spoke first. "Maria, are you sure you want to do this? That you're comfortable in this kind of relationship?"

"I think so, Mom. I love both Carrie and Al...that's short for Alejandro... and we have great chemistry together. I won't go into details, and I doubt you'd want me to, but we click together, all three of us."

I got my wits about me and my brain caught up with my hearing. "Sweetie, I have to admit, I don't think neither your mother nor I was expecting something like this. You've never even mentioned such a relationship possibility before. Were Carrie and...Al?... a couple already when you met them?" She indicated that they were, they were both 21 while Maria was 18, and the two of them had been together over a year before she met them. "I guess I worry then in any sort of argument or other conflict of opinion, you'll always be the odd man out. They'll almost always automatically side with each other opposed to you."

Eva then added "I also am concerned they might be taking advantage of someone less experienced and more naive. That they'll have their fun with you for a while and then move on, leaving you very hurt. They're both juniors now, right? What would happen to you when they graduate next year, assuming you're all still together?"

"They're both planning to stay here. Al wants to go for his Master's degree at least in Chemistry and Carrie plans to go to medical school. Both are excellent students. We all care for each other. We're happy in this relationship."

I sighed, a big sound from my chest. "We can't stop you; you're over 18 now. And we would never hold back from paying for you to go to school, any more than we'd hold back our love for you."

Eva agreed, then added "We just want you to be very sure before you do this. We know it's a different world than the one we grew up in. We want you to make the choices in your life that will make you happy. But this is just something so different to us. And you know, if somehow this all worked out long term, you couldn't all get married. Someone would be left out legally. It's your father and my job to look after your interests and safety. We always want to protect you."

"Mom, I don't know what the future will be. You couldn't have known how the future would turn out when you and Dad got engaged. You didn't even know that you'd end up getting married just a couple of months after. And you're still happy and sickeningly in love 44 years later." She smiled and she was right; Eva and I were still madly in love all these years later. After talking it over with her some more, and with some natural reservations, we gave Maria our conditional blessing, but we wanted to meet them before we made it official. Cassie was from Ashville and Al was from Florida, and they were both going home to their respective families the following week for Spring Break, and assumedly to explain to their parents about their future living situation. Maria said she'd bring them over the weekend after everyone got back to school.

That night when we were getting ready for bed, alone in the house (Maria went back to campus that evening after getting a homemade dinner, of course), Eva and I were atypically quiet. Usually, we talked about all manner of things at that point in our day, little, trivial things and big events, and Maria's bombshell certainly qualified as the latter. But it was so big it had us stunned almost silent.

We got in bed and kissed goodnight, including our shared I love you's. But otherwise, there was no pillowtalk. I reached for Eva's hand under the blanket and we gripped each other lightly. Normally we fell asleep fairly quickly, but that night we were staring at the ceiling for a long time.

Finally. I said "Angel, I think we have to talk about this. About Maria."

"I know what you were referring to, Jon. I guess we do, if we want to get some sleep tonight." She leaned over her side and turned on her lamp, then turned back to me and into my arms. "Jon, why are we so sad about this? I mean, this isn't a lifestyle I would choose for any of our children, but it's not an occasion for grieving either."

"I don't really know either, Honey. We're definitely living in a different world than the one we grew up in, even the one Connor grew up in. I think I'm mostly worried about her being the third wheel in that relationship. I just think the two of them are going to gang up on her in any conflict."

"I agree it's a possibility, though I don't think it's as serious an issue as you do. I know Maria can take care of herself. She's a tough girl, despite her slight appearance. It's why I'm not concerned about her working in a garage, or owning one for that matter. I guess with me, and this is going to sound so damn stupid...how did that sweet girl turn out to be such a sexual wild thing?" There was a smile, cute and a little sad, on Eva's face.

"As I said, it's a different world out there. Things that were once condemned are looked on as normal now. Thankfully for Vince's sake. There's less harassment for Gays these days than not all that long ago. When we were his age the abuse could be terrible. And I want Maria to be who she is like I want all of our kids to be themselves. If this is what she wants in her life, then I want to be supportive. But it's damn strange to me."

"Bear, when we were younger...did you ever fantasize about a threesome? With another woman or another man. Was that ever something you wanted?" She leaned on her elbow so she could look me in the eye.

"I guess when we saw it in some of the movies we used to watch, the thought crossed my mind. What it must be like to have sex with two women, whether they were into each other or not. But I never seriously considered it. I never would have asked you about it. You're my wife, the love of my life. There was zero chance I ever would have suggested something like that." I kissed her with a loving press of our lips. "What about you?"

"Well, I did wonder about having two men touching me and even sucking one while the other fucked me. Of course, you would have had to be one of those men. But I also never would have suggested it. You're too important to me to have even chanced it. However, I did also consider another woman. I mean, it was a long time ago, more than thirty years. I was kind of curious. And I know you wouldn't have been quite so offended about another woman" she chuckled. "I don't know if I could have gone down on another woman. And I honestly don't know how I would have reacted if she went down on you, or when you fucked her. I was curious. But I'm also very possessive about my very handsome Bear. 44 years later and I still find you incredibly sexy."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you. You're still the sexiest woman I've ever known in my life. Like you, I would have been curious about another woman with us. But not nearly to the point I would have risked our love and happiness. Besides, you've always turned me on more than any other woman or women could do. You still do. Sex with you has always been amazing. From the first time I touched your ass to the last time we had sex last week." I kissed her, longer and deeper than before.

"Last week? It's been that long, has it? We should do something about that, Bear. Big, sexy, handsome Bear." She crawled back into my arm's and we kept kissing, pecks and hot kisses, all over each other's faces.

"We should do something right now, my hot as hell Angel. Devil. Whatever you are tonight. I love sex with you. Especially impromptu, like now."

Our bedclothes came off quickly and our bodies responded just as fast. One of the best things about not needing Viagra is it makes spur of the moment sex possible. No waiting for 20-30 minutes for the blue pill to take effect. I'm very glad the pill exists for those who need it, and I would have gladly gotten a prescription if that became an issue for me. But at 64, I was still able to get my own erections. Maybe that would change sometime soon. But still, that night, I was good to go and so was Eva.

She rubbed the head of my cock along the lips of her pussy, giving us both a nice charge. She needed a little lube still like she usually did, but she still got incredibly turned on. We were kissing and moaning as our desire for each other kept rising. My Angel rolled on her back, bringing me with her and I entered her smooth as silk. We fit together like we were custom made for each other. Her hips rose as the base of my cock pressed against her clit, sending a pleasant jolt through her body. I kissed her neck and chest, including the now very faint scar from when she needed the stent put in more than ten years before.

I lifted up on my hands so we could look into each other's eyes. Love, desire, lust were what I saw, and I hoped my own eyes were showing her the same. "Angel, I never needed another woman. I've got the most incredible lover right here. Another woman would have just been superfluous."

She laughed through her moans. "Superfluous? You wouldn't have loved to have another woman licking your balls while you fucked me? Or me sitting on her face while you fucked her? Be honest, my sexy Bear."

"There's no other woman out there who could make sex with you better. Except maybe Michelle Pfeiffer." We both laughed at that old joke between us, my supposed 'dream girl'.

"As long as I get Sly Stallone. Hey, maybe we should call them both and see if they're available for a foursome!" We both laughed harder, hard enough that I almost lost my rhythm and my erection. Not quite though. We got a little more serious after that and fucked each other to delightful orgasms, hers hitting her maybe a half minute before mine came. Eva milked me, draining every single drop of my cum as we kissed over and over. I rolled over and pulled her on top of me and we rested just like that for a while.

"I love listening to your heartbeat, Bear. Any time at all, but especially after we love each other. It's so soothing."

"That's because it's beating with all my love for you. Which is an infinite amount."

"My heart beats the same way for you, sweetheart. It's just incredible. I love you so much, Jon."

"I love you too, Eva. And I don't think we should worry so much about Maria. She's very smart and level-headed. And like you said, she's tough. We're here if she needs us."

We kissed a couple more times before shutting the light and going to sleep. We were right; Maria could take care of herself.

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A couple of weeks later we had Carrie and Alejandro over for dinner on a Sunday night. They were a very nice couple, soon to be a part of a thrupple with our daughter. We felt better from that brief meeting. Time would tell, of course. Maria was capable of making her own decisions for her life. The only thing Eva and I suggested was to not tell them about the money she would come into when she turned 21, the almost 80K from the trusts we set up for her and Vince from the state money sent each month for their care, and, much more importantly, the almost $2.5 million she and Vince were also due from the settlement from their parents' death. We didn't want her, or Vince, to be used for their money. Vince would get his that coming August, his 21st birthday.

The next month went by incredibly quickly. The trustees had hired Mrs. Washington, the debate/English teacher, and Ken Dawes, one of our assistant principals, to take over as co-principals, and most of that last month was spent getting them ready. We cleared out our offices of over 30 years of accumulated personal knick-knacks and awards, framed pictures of our family and friends, and other memorabilia. In addition, we had to do evaluations and get ready to graduate our last class of seniors. We were being torn in different directions by our emotions.

The night before that last graduation, Eva and I were lying in bed, unable to sleep, even after we made love. We were just too on edge. Our offices were emptied, and we just had to do the graduation and a final meeting with our teachers as well as a meeting with the trustees. By 4PM the next day, we'd be retirees.

May 19, 2024. Our last day as principals anywhere. It was a beautiful, if humid, North Carolina day. We dragged our tired bodies to our last day at Durham Academy, travel mugs of coffee in hand. We got to the field where the stage and chairs were all set up at 9:30, a half hour before the ceremony was to begin. Already half the seats were taken in the guest area, and students were assembling at the back of the audience. We worked with teachers to organize the students- graduates- into their assigned groups, 110 young men and women, like Eva and me, getting ready to start the next stage of their lives. For almost all of them it would be college. For us it would be retirement.

When we got to the front, ready to climb onstage, we noticed to our right some extra seats, and then Maria, Vince and Jamaal, and Connor and Oliver came from a somewhat hidden area to take those seats. They came for our last day, for moral support. Rachel and Tony couldn't travel; she was weeks from her due date and air travel was out of the question. However, a laptop was set on a chair with a live stream so they could join us that way. We hugged our family that was there with us, and we told Rachel we'd be in Chicago by June 1st to help out and be there when our grandchild was born. Just having them there with us made us both feel a lot better.

At 10 promptly, we got the ceremony started, and Eva and I gave short speeches. We told the audience how this was a bittersweet day, that we were proud of our graduates, as always, and we were both happy and sad thinking how this was the last time we'd be graduating a senior class. The Salutatorian and Valedictorian both spoke well, including a thank you to Eva and myself for helping to keep the school going. Then Dr. Kellman spoke with his own thank you to us for turning things around and for leaving a much healthier school than the one we came to three years before. We were holding hands and our eyes were wet. We came back to the podium, told the grads to flip their tassels, and we congratulated our final class as they burst into cheers, throwing their mortarboards high in the air. That was it, our last acts as principals.

We hosted a luncheon for the staff, all the staff from teachers to administrative assistants to janitors and groundskeepers. Eva and I thanked them, making sure they knew that it took all of us to change the culture at Durham Academy and they were all as responsible for the improvements as we were. It took a while at the end to say goodbye to everyone, and we were a half hour late to the final meeting with the Trustees. Dr. Kellman, as usual, spoke for the group when he thanked us for the job we did. He said they regretted that they didn't offer us the five year contract we had hoped for, but the school was back on the track for success, for itself and for the students.

We told them that we were proud of the work we did there and that while we were looking forward to our retirement, to traveling and seeing our family and friends, we'd always miss being educators and helping to shape the minds of young people who would grow up to be leaders some day. We thanked the Trustees for their faith in us and for giving us those last few years to keep working. Then they presented us with the bonus's we were promised as well as matching his-and-hers stainless steel Rolex watches. That really touched us, and we went around, hugging everyone with tears in our eyes.

Dr. Kellman was particularly effusive in his praise for us. He couldn't thank us enough for "righting the ship", as he put it. Eva told him we were grateful for the opportunity, and we thoroughly enjoyed our three years in Durham. She didn't tell him that it never quite felt like home, like our many years in Wayne did; it really was an unfair comparison. But we did enjoy our short time there. Now we felt ready for retirement, which we didn't when we got there.

We drove home in near silence, but it was a good silence. We were ready for this, mostly. And our family, minus Rachel, were waiting for us at the house with a nice gift of their own, a large Baccarat crystal vase overflowing with flowers. Then they took us out to dinner (the only time we ever let them pay for us) before Connor and Oliver went to their home in Raleigh and Maria and Vince, with Jamaal, came back to the house. Our youngest were living at home for the Summer. She would be moving into her unorthodox situation come August and Vince and Jamaal would be separated for the Fall semester while Vince went to Jordan for a semester abroad. That would be a real test to see if they were built to last. We hoped it worked out; they made for a very loving couple.

Since we had the three young people in the house, Eva and I had to celebrate that night in a somewhat subdued manner. But celebrate we did. We took a long time, teasing and being playful while we were as quiet as we could manage. I guess it's possible they might have heard a few noises. We couldn't help it; we'd gotten used to being ourselves when we had sex and at 63 we were still very hot for each other. 44 years of marriage and we still had it, and we were looking forward to using it as much as we could.

Three weeks later, June 4th, Rachel had her baby, a little girl she and Tony named Samantha Christie Garza. She had wisps of red hair, like her father, but she had the blue eyes of her mother and grandmother. Another grandchild for us to love, another charm for Eva's bracelet and another heart for Cammy's necklace. And a reason to visit Chicago every chance we could.

We took to retirement like a duck to water. We continued to play tennis a few times a week, we took day trips and long weekends. We went to Pennsylvania to visit Cammy and Kyle (who were enjoying their own empty nest while Anna was in Penn and living in Philadelphia year round). While there, we also got to visit Larry and Gina as well as Patty and Jeff. We didn't see either of them much while we continued to work but now we had time to visit whenever we wanted. When we were up there in the Fall, we were tempted to stop by Wayne Day School, but we resisted the urge. There was still some deeply hurt feelings from the way we were let go.