Jon After Eva: An Epilogue

"Well, maybe the new 55. In any case, I think you're a very sexy man. And thank you for also being such a kind man. I love you, Querido. Very much."

"I love you too, Bella. Very much."

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Over the next few weeks, Olivia and I became as close as could be. We spent almost every night together, she put her condo up for sale, and we started moving her into my place, which, with a change in some paperwork. I did take down a few of my pictures of Eva to make room for pictures of and with Olivia. She never wanted me to forget Eva and I never would want her to forget Tomas. We eventually made room for pics of both our families.

About two weeks later, Olivia came with me to 'visit' Eva, and I was able to see my late wife's grave without hurting too much inside. After we stood there and talked for a while, Olivia gave me a few minutes alone and I was finally at peace with my late wife. I could love her and miss her without the terrible pain I had been feeling. And the following week, we did the same with Tomas. Olivia was able to move on as well.

I threw her a 69th birthday party in the club on June 3rd, the day before her birthday, since the 4th was a Monday. My kids all came in, with all the grandchildren of course, and my kids met her kids for the first time. Cousins, friends, my sister...43 people altogether, and most importantly, Olivia had a wonderful time. And that night, when we were alone, we had a wonderful time together.

The next night, her birthday, we had dinner at home, sushi we had delivered. I gave her a dozen pink roses, her favorite color. By that point she was all but moved in, with just a few of her things still at her place. We had a few disagreements about furniture, but we were both making concessions. We liked where we lived and both of us were happy not to have all the work that came with owning a house.

After dinner, we were listening to music and just enjoying the evening. I was pretty sure Olivia wasn't expecting a gift, since I threw the party the night before, but I had to give her something, even if it was a token gift. So I excused myself to go to the hall closet and came back with a medium sized box, garishly gift wrapped. Olivia broke out into one of her huge, brilliant smiles when she saw the package.

"I really didn't expect anything, Querido, after that lovely party last night. But I won't object. You sweet, sweet man."

I sat next to her and handed her the box. "Happy Birthday, Bella! I hope you like this. It wasn't easy to find." She carefully removed the ribbon and paper (a major difference between men and women; men usually just tear it to shreds), then opened the top of the plain white cardboard. Inside was...tissue paper. Olivia dug through it, a ton of crumpled tissue paper. She didn't find anything.

"Jon, I don't get it. Did the store make a mistake? Do you have a receipt?"

I had a confused look of my own as I pushed around the paper for the 'gift'. Just tissue paper. "That's really odd. I wonder what could have happened to it?"

"Would you tell me what it was, Jon? I'm very curious." She looked a little bit sad as well as curious.

"It was a...oh you know..." I moved my hands like I was trying to describe something whose name I couldn't remember. Then it was time to end my tease. I picked up the top of the box and turned it over. "Oh, look! There it is!" Taped to the inside of the lid of the box was a small, square jewelry box. "Happy Birthday, my darling Bella."

"You tease! I thought...Oh, never mind! Jon, what did you do?" Her hands shook a little as she gently pulled off the box, dark green, and opened it. "Oh my...Jon..." She started crying as she saw the pear-shaped diamond, two carats, in a platinum setting ring. "It's so beautiful, Querido. So beautiful."

I got down on one knee, traditional style. Thankfully I could still bend, though not for a long time. "Olivia, my Bella. I've been an incredibly lucky man. I had a great wife and partner, and now I've found my next wife and partner. I hope you'll say yes when I ask you to marry me. Let's share the rest of our lives together as lovers and partners and tender companions. Nothing could make me happier, my love. Please be my wife. I'll love you with all my heart, Bella."

"Jon, my Querido. I love you and I would be honored to be your wife and take you for my husband. We will have however many wonderful years together, filled with love and joy. Yes, my love. Always." We kissed to seal the engagement, then we laughed as she helped me struggle off the floor. Then more kisses. Then we did what came very naturally, including a great blowjob. Olivia had really come along in the last couple of months.

We were breathing hard in bed, completely sated and feeling our love for each other in abundance. I was tickling her tummy, something I learned she adored as she played with my chest hair, which I adored. We were loving and playful, but there was one thing to talk about.

"Querido`, I love you so much. But we have to discuss when will be the wedding. I don't think either of us would prefer a long engagement."

"No, I doubt that would be a good idea. I don't expect either of us to go anywhere for some time to come, but we should marry as soon as is feasible. I actually had an idea. Since we met officially on December 23rd, why don't we get married on the 23rd? It will be a Sunday this year, we can spend Christmas day with our family, and then we can go on our honeymoon the next day and be away on New Years."

She thought a minute or so. "I like that idea, Querido. Very much. Our anniversary every year. It's perfect, my love. Like you."

"Ugh, don't call me 'perfect'. I'm far from that."

"But you are perfect for me, Jon. That's all that matters. How we feel for each other. I don't feel envy towards Eva. I'm actually happy for her. She must have had a great life with a wonderful man, and then she helped make you the man you are now. A man I love with all my heart." A very soft kiss on my chest.

I moved a little so we were face to face. I loved staring into Olivia's deep, dark eyes, the gateway to her soul. I also loved kissing her, and I did, a long, soulful kiss. "You know, Bella, that works both ways. Tomas is also partly responsible for making you the woman you are. Your heart is warm, and you're filled with kindness. I love and adore you, my darling. We're all who we are from all the events and people in our lives. And as we're finding out, we're still learning new things. I don't feel like a teenager, but I sure as hell don't feel old by any means. You make me feel younger than I have in the past 3 years. I mean a lot younger. I'm looking forward to the next however many years we'll have together. I hope at least 20 years to love you."

Olivia sighed, a sound of deep contentment. "December 23rd. I marry my Querido.'

"And I marry my Bella." We shared a bunch of kisses, small and big, before we cuddled into a peaceful sleep.

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We sold Olivia's condo over the summer and she put the money aside in trust for her grandchildren. We didn't need it; we were both very comfortable financially and, like a lot of couples that marry later in life, we kept most of our finances separate, just putting an agreed amount monthly into a joint checking account for expenses. Things are different in your 60s and 70s than they are when you're first starting out in life.

As Olivia and I started our relationship, I had been volunteering less at the middle school I helped out at. But in September, I got back to it. It was important work and I believed deeply in it. Olivia understood and even encouraged me to work there, and she got into her own volunteer work at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, one of the finest children's hospitals in the world. We both found our work deeply fulfilling and sometimes heartbreaking. We were there for each other on those occasions when our souls hurt. Olivia and I were excellent companions.

At the beginning of July Pillar had her baby, a cute boy she and Gary named Justin. My fiance was even happier than the night I proposed to her. I could hardly blame her. There's nothing like being surrounded by grandchildren.

We both also kept in good health. We exercised and we started eating healthier, cutting out all processed foods, cooking most of our meals and eating only at restaurants that were known for freshly prepared foods without much salt and sugar. Bye-bye Chinese food and pizza. Olivia and I both wanted to be around for as long as possible. Soon we were feeling more energetic and it put a little more oomph in our love life.

Through everything, we planned a 'small' wedding, small being a relative term. Between immediate family, extended family and friends both new and old, we had a list of over 60 people we couldn't pare down any further. Olivia knew an excellent Argentinian restaurant with a good sized party room which was available for our date, Sunday December 23rd, for an afternoon wedding. In October we sent out invitations, and we let our guests know we didn't want gifts. We just wanted the people near and dear to us to share the day.

Thanksgiving was at Pillars, with help from Anita and Olivia and since my kids were all invited as well (a getting to know you occasion for everyone), there were even more hands to help out. After a little initial wariness on both sides, everyone got along very well together. Even Anita was warming to me as she and Maria especially clicked together.

December 23rd. Olivia and I had a lot to get done. By one of those odd coincidences every so often, Chanukah started on Christmas Day that year. We were staying home through Christmas Day and leaving on our honeymoon on the 27th, for ten days in Hawaii. We'd both been there before, but many years ago. We were staying in a romantic resort in Maui.

I wore my best dark suit and Olivia wore a light pink silk suit with a skirt. It was a little old-fashioned but she was a size 6 and it fit her perfectly, with matching hosiery on her slender legs and pink pumps. I gave her emerald earrings to go with the pendant I bought her months before and she wore them that day. She was elegant and lovely, like always.

We were married by a Magistrate (I'm Jewish and Olivia Catholic) in a simple ceremony and, when we kissed, I was married for the second time to another incredible lady.

We chose as 'our song' You Send Me, by the great Sam Cooke, a real oldie from 1958, before either of us were born. But it's a beautiful love song and it fit us well. As we danced, I asked her, as I asked Eva almost 56 years before, "Tell me, Bella. Are you happy?"

"Very much, Querido. As happy as I could be. What about you? Are you happy?"

"More than I could ever tell you. As I've told you, I never thought this could happen for me again. This is just a great day." We pecked a couple of times before finishing our first dance as husband and wife.

I danced with Cammy, with Rachel and Maria, Nancy, and I danced with Anita and Pillar; they were both my daughters now. Connor and Vince took turns with Olivia, as did Jamaal. We were now one much bigger family of various cultures. We're a true American family story and we're all proud of it.

We'd all be together again at Pillar and Gary's house for Christmas and Chanukah (all the gifts we bought were already there, under the tree and by a Menorah they set up out of respect for my family), but Olivia and I spent the first few nights of our wedded life at a boutique hotel right off Rittenhouse Square, an area of the city that had been around since Colonial times. The hotel was a quaint converted brownstone, maybe ten rooms altogether. The rooms were very well done, very luxurious. Perfect for anyone's first few nights of married life.

"I hope you don't expect me to carry you across the threshold" I joked with my bride. "I doubt my back could hack that these days."

"I didn't expect you to, Querido" Olivia said with a kiss before the bellman let us into our room. Then she said in a whisper "You'll need your strength for other things, my love." We chuckled as we kissed lightly before the bellman left us alone. Then we kissed much more lovingly. "Do you have to use the bathroom, Jon? If you do, please do so. I need to get ready for you." She gave me a naughty little smile that also was very cute.

"Just a couple of minutes, sweetheart. I'll be right out." I kissed her quickly and used the bathroom, then it was Olivia's turn.

"Get comfortable, Querido!" she called from behind the door. "VERY comfortable!"

I wasn't about to argue with her. I hung up my suit and got out of the shirt and tie etc. I just kept my black and red silk boxers on, something a little luxurious and sexy (I hoped) for our night together. I had a feeling Olivia was going to be wearing something very sexy for me when she came back to the bedroom.

I was very right. She still had on the pink shoes and stockings, which were attached to a matching garter belt, with a pink low thong. Her breasts lightly jiggled as she walked with a deliberately sensual stride. "Do I please you, Querido? I feel very naughty like this." Her smile lit up the semi-dark room.

"Bella, you've pleased me since we met exactly one year ago. When you arranged for me to sit with you at the party." She sat next to me at the edge of the bed and we exchanged loving kisses. Exciting kisses. "That took more courage than I'd have had. I don't know if I could have done that. Although since that first day I saw you at the pool, I hoped to meet you somehow or other."

"I was very attracted to you that day as well. Not only because you were so handsome, but I also noticed you and your friends and, while they were talking about me...yes, I could hear them...you were very quiet. I could tell you weren't comfortable talking about a woman that way. Though you were certainly looking enough" Olivia giggled.

She reached for my lap and found my cock, already stiff and ready to consumate our marriage. "You must have excellent hearing, Bella. I might have to be careful in the future" I teased as I kissed her neck and ear. Then her cheek and lips. "What if I find a younger woman?"

"Oh, I don't think so, Querido. If there is one thing I can tell about you, my love, is you would never do that. You are too decent a man. And besides, we love each other." She bent over and took the head of my cock, now red going to purple, into her mouth with a confidence we had been working on over the previous months. I had the easy part of the job.

"Bella..." I moaned as my fingers moved through her thick, short hair. Her lips were going up and down with her body. I reached for her breast and cupped and teased her thick nipples, encouraging Olivia to keep sucking. She was so much better than she had been a few months before.

"Querido, let's take those shorts off." She took my shorts down as I stood there and before I had a chance to sit down again, Olivia got to her knees and started sucking me again, using her tongue to tease the crown of my dick, I stood there with my eyes just slit open so I could both concentrate on the sensations on the bottom of the head and also look down at what she was doing to me. Both were incredibly arousing.

Then she stopped, pushed me back on the bed and quick as a bunny she mounted me by pulling her panties aside and straddling me. Her knees were on the bed on either side of me, and her lower body flexed like a machine built to give us both pleasure. I was aggressively sucking her tits, and my hands were full with her ass cheeks. Both of us moaning, both of us feeling lust and love.

I was nice and deep in her moist, hot pussy, and despite the chill of the night outside, we were warm bordering on HOT. Every time Olivia bottomed on my cock, I lifted up to push pressure on her clit. As a result, she was cumming every few strokes, pleasant, trembling orgasms while bulding up to the BIG O. I was pretty excited myself, starting to feel that old familiar warning sign of impending eruption. We were thrusting together, kissing and nibbling each other, moaning in deep lust. Olivia came first, squirming down on my lap as she let out loud gasps. Grinding down on me like that put the final pressure on the base of my cock, causing my cock to swell and then fill her up with warm semen that became a sticky, viscous cream. I fell back on the bed and Olivia fell on top of me, both of us basking in the warmth of each other.

That was it for making love that night; it was getting late and we weren't in our 30s anymore. But we were both very satisfied, and we touched and kissed and just loved each other in wonderful ways. We cleaned up and changed for bed into simple, comfortable sleepwear, then climbed into bed to spend our first night as husband and wife.

"I love you, Bella. I want to love you for a long time, share great experiences, travel, and watch our combined family grow up. Together, my love."

"Querido, my love. I still can't believe we found each other. I hope we have so much time to enjoy life together. My handsome man."

"My beautiful lady. My Bella."

We kissed a little more, then Olivia fell asleep first. I was not quite there yet, so I watched her. She looked so peaceful, so lovely, so happy even while she slept. Eventually I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling while I thought. I thought about how overall lucky my life had been. Yes, I had bad times with my parents, my mothers' health and then my fathers collapse as a man and father. But I had an amazing wife in Eva, a wonderful sister. Eva and I had children we adored, careers we found challenging and fulfilling. A terrible scare when I got shot, and a worse one when Connor was also shot. Our children were all successful and happily married with children. Then, after the worst thing that happened, the loss of my beloved Eva, when I was sure I was destined to be alone, I met the second great love of my life, my Olivia. And happiness filled my heart again.

I still am not a believer in God, but yet somehow I still hope there's some sort of afterlife. I have no idea how that would work (we're not meant to, if it exists), but I hope I'll see my parents again, my grandmother, who died when I was 14. Maybe meet the grandparents I lost before I was born. Most of all, I hope I'll see Eva again. And when the time comes, Olivia as well. I doubt there would be any jealousy and conflict in a wonderful afterlife. That somehow things all work out and we all love each other. It's nice to dream about.

That's my story, my love with Eva, and the beginning of my love with Olivia. I may write you again someday and tell you what happened over my (hopefully) many years with Olivia, our travels and our families. And a little of our love life. I hope we both can continue that for years to come.

I've said many times I've been a very lucky man in life. I truly believe it's mostly due to the amazing women I've spent my life with. I never could have been so happy on my own, without my family, my children. Without love. Love is what makes you happiest, more than anything else.

And a good helping of lust. Peace to all. Jon.