The Bitch
written by:
Pleasured

Not a whole lot of sex in this one, but I hope that it is worth the reading.

My sister and I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. My dad was a moderately successful attorney, and my mother worked in commercial real estate. We weren't wealthy, but we never lacked for anything. It was in December of my sophomore year of college that I got the call from my older sister, Susan, who was in her final year of law school. Our folks had been going somewhere, we never did figure out where they were going, when their car was taken out by a semi, killing both of them.

Christmas that year was bleak. We spent most of our Christmas break dealing with the funeral, and then trying to get the estate settled. Fortunately, dad's partners did most of the work, talking to insurance companies, and evaluating the wills and insurance policies. Both mom and dad had had good life insurance policies, and they had also been smart enough to take out a policy that paid off the mortgage so my sister and I owned the house free and clear. By the time everything was all said and done we had more than enough to finish school, and would still have a substantial sum left over to either save, or start us in our own business.

I hadn't been to focused on school up to this point, but something had changed in me, and I dove back into my school work with a vengeance, working as hard as I could to get the best grades I could. I forgot about partying, and drinking beer with my friends. I guess I was trying to prove to myself that I was as good and mature as my parents wanted me to be, and I was more critical of myself than they had ever been. I did a little dating, but not much, primarily because all the girls I met seemed to be so shallow. I just wasn't interested in them.

By the start of my senior year I was on the honor roll, and had been for over a year. I wasn't in the running for graduating first in my class by any means, primarily because of my grades in the first year and a half, but I was well up there.

I was taking a second year of Spanish, because everyone was required to take two years of a foreign language to graduate. Spanish was not one of the recommended languages, but I had felt that with the heavy Spanish influence in California, Spanish was going to be much more useful than any of the other languages.

Languages were not my forte, and I had struggled through the first year of Spanish getting a 3.0 after many nights of studying into the wee hours of the morning.

In any event, I noticed this very pretty young woman in my Spanish class. Petite, with long auburn hair and what I initially thought was a good tan, but later found out was simply her natural skin tone.

After the first couple of weeks, I was still struggling. I could read and write Spanish relatively easily, as long as I had a dictionary available, but speaking Spanish was just very hard for me.

As I was walking out of class one Friday afternoon, the pretty woman came up to me, and introduced herself, asking if I would like some help with my Spanish. It turned out that Maria was Spanish, and had been speaking Spanish since she was old enough to talk. The only reason she was taking the class was to fulfill the graduation requirements.

We went out and sat under a tree in one of the commons areas, and I explained what my problem was with Spanish. When I finished, she laughed a little and told me that all I needed was to converse in the language as much as possible. She volunteered to coach me, and I was hooked.

For the next month or so, we met every day for at least an hour, more if we had the time, and by the middle of October my Spanish was vastly improved, and I asked her out on a date. She cocked her head a bit looking at me with a small smile, then told me that she had been wondering how long it was going to take before I would ask her out.

From that point on we spent as much time together as we possibly could. Neither of us let our studies suffer, but we spent a whole lot of time in my apartment studying, and we made a practice of speaking Spanish as much as possible.

Maria's dad was big in the import/export field, and he and her mother spent a lot of time in Spain, or other European countries. Although Maria didn't say anything much about it, I got the impression that her parents were very wealthy.

Thanksgiving rolled around and I found out that her parents were in Europe, and that she wasn't going to see them, she just didn't want to do the traveling. So instead we spent the Thanksgiving holidays moving her into my apartment.

Christmas came, and she went home to Atherton, California. For those of you who are not familiar with the Bay Area, Atherton is very definitely not a town that you can buy a shack in. I don't know, but I would be willing to bet that there isn't a single home in that town that is valued at less than $5,000,000, and those are for the fixer uppers.

Maria came back to school, and was a little subdued for the first day or two, but finally came out and told me that her mother was extremely upset with her, first because she was living with me, and second because I wasn't Hispanic. Actually, as things later turned out, I suspect that the fact that I wasn't Hispanic was really her primary problem.

I graduated, and like I thought I was going to be, I was in the top five percent of my class. Maria finished her junior year, and went back to the Bay Area for the summer, although we kept in contact through e-mail and daily phone calls.

I was admitted to the MBA program, and was planning on finishing it about the time that Maria graduated, so I spent the summer taking a couple of courses that would insure that I was able to finish in time.

When Maria got back to school, she was overjoyed to see me, and we planned on spending the entire weekend in bed. On that Sunday morning, I got up early, sneaking out of bed so as not awaken her, and fixed a big breakfast, put it on a tray, then put my mother's engagement ring at the top of the tray and brought it in.

Maria was awake, kind of, and when she saw me come in with the tray, she smiled and asked me to hold on as she scampered off to the bathroom, coming back in a few moments. I set the tray down in her lap, and kissed her, then went back to the kitchen to get my tray.

When I got back, Maria was sitting there with tears just pouring down her cheeks.

"Tom, are you sure? My parents, and particularly my mother, will have a complete come apart about this."

"I have never been more sure of anything in my life. I will just have to work extra hard with your folks to make sure that they know I love you, and would never do anything to hurt you."

Maria's folks were in Spain, having caught a flight out the same day that Maria came back to school.

We called, and Maria spoke with her father first, a lengthy conversation, and then an even longer one with her mother. Although I could now understand conversational Spanish, the one sided conversation, and the speed with which they were talking, left a few gaps for me. The upshot of it all was that her father was upset that I hadn't asked him first, but he would get over it - he did really understand that different cultures were involved. Her mother was absolutely against her marrying anyone who was not Hispanic, and high class Hispanic at that.

There were a few more phone calls over the next week or so, and finally Maria told her mother that either she got on board with our plans, or we would just have a very quiet wedding here in town, and she could kiss off any thoughts of a wedding like she had always talked about.

To cut a long, somewhat uninteresting story short, we got married that December during the Christmas break. It was a big affair, with lots of her father's business acquaintances invited, and a few of our friends, including, of course, my sister.

I was able to bring her dad, Pedro, around. I made a point of speaking Spanish to him, and asked him to correct me if I said anything incorrectly. I also apologized for not asking his permission earlier, but told him the thought had just not crossed my mind. I was so concerned about Maria's response that I just hadn't considered asking his permission. I am sure that I made points when I told him that we had every intention of having our children grow up bi-lingual, which brought a large smile to his face.

Maria's mother, Estella, was an entirely different proposition. She simply was against the whole thing to start with, but she wasn't going to be denied having her only child's wedding in the manner that she wanted it. Anything I suggested was almost automatically rejected, and Maria finally had to put her foot down. Actually she had to put her foot down a number of times, but we finally got the wedding to be something we wanted, not what her mother wanted.

We graduated in June, and moved back to the Bay Area, where I had landed a job as a junior project manager with a construction company. The first year or so, I was really in training, but by the time the twins, Robert and Stella were two, I had learned enough that I was promoted to senior project manager. (Robert was named after my dad, and Stella was an attempt at placating Maria's mother.)

During all this time, there simply was no pleasing my mother-in-law. If I didn't get a raise or promotion as fast as she thought I should, I wasn't working hard enough to provide for my family. If I got a good raise or a promotion, it was because I was just kissing ass, and not because I deserved it. If I was working extra hours, I wasn't paying enough attention to my family. Estella absolutely refused to call Robert either Robert or Robby, but instead always called him Roberto. Stella was likewise referred to mostly as Estella, as Maria's mother thought that Stella was an undignified shortening of her name.

Maria was working in real estate. Because of the extensive Hispanic community in the Bay Area, she was a real whiz, and was making almost as much as I was, and sometimes she was making significantly more. We had a nanny - Spanish speaking of course, but we both spent as much time with the kids as we possibly could. By the time they were six, they spoke both English and Spanish equally fluently, well as fluently as any six year old does, and had been to Mexico and Spain. Every year Pedro and Estella would take Maria and the twins to Spain for a month or so to their villa outside Madrid.

Which brings me to the latest in my tale.

I had been given the company's latest project to run, which was in the coastal hills not too far from Atherton. It wasn't that large a project, but expected to last over a year. It essentially was building a conference center with hotel rooms out in the middle of nowhere. The problem for me was that there was no cell phone coverage out there. Now I live and die by my cell phone, having to be in almost constant contact with suppliers, trucking companies and so on. So what I wound up doing was going to the site very early in the morning, leaving about 11:00 or 11:30am, driving into town where I could get a cell connection, having lunch and talking to suppliers etc, until I had everything done I could, then going back out to the site to see what Murphy had screwed up this time. Evenings I was spending more and more time with my boss going over what had happened during the day, but I always made sure that I was home at least 30 minutes before the kids had to go to bed. We would have a late dinner, which didn't bother Maria particularly because that was what she was raised with. In fact she had had to adjust to American dinner hours, when we first got together. She was used to eating dinner at 9 or 10pm, then catching a nap during the afternoon. College had started changing that, but when we started living together I made an effort to adjust myself to her idea of a normal life.

Things were going along fairly reasonably, but it was a real pain not being able to talk to Maria during the day.

Then Pablo and Estella took Maria and the kids off for the annual trip to the villa. I kissed Maria and the kids goodbye that morning, reminding Maria to make sure she took her cell phone with her so we could keep in contact.

I got home that night about 8:00pm - no need to rush home as nobody was there, and the first thing I saw, other than the flashing light on the answering machine was Maria's cell phone sitting on the counter by the phone.

I listened to the messages, most of which were just nothing calls, and then Maria was talking, telling me she had apparently left her cell phone somewhere, and giving me her mother's cell phone number so I could call her. I thought that was strange because I had made somewhat of an issue of it, and Maria had made a big production out of putting her cell phone in her purse before I left, but I finally decided that she had gotten a call, and just put her phone down on the counter and never gotten it back in her purse.

I didn't try to call that night, given the time difference, and decided that calling when I went into town for my midday calls would be the perfect time to reach her.

So for the next few days I tried calling when I got into town. Either I got no answer, it just would roll over to voice mail, or I would get Estella. When I did get Estella, she would tell me that Maria and the kids were out and she would give her the message that I called. I also left messages every single time I called that Estella didn't answer. By Friday I was getting a bit frustrated and concerned, but nothing really changed.

We were working seven days a week at this point, because the Coastal Commission had held up approval of the project until the last possible minute, and we were in a real bind trying to get the project completed on time, or earlier if possible, as there were significant bonuses for an early completion, and significant penalties for being late.

By Friday, I was getting really bummed out, not having talked to Maria for a little over a week. I was walking into the hotel restaurant we used for the meetings with my boss and anyone else he thought appropriate, and was just leaving the parking lot, when I heard my name called. I turned around and this young woman came running up to me, threw her arms around my neck and kissed me, saying: "Oh God Tom, I am so looking forward to this afternoon."

I uncurled her arms and looked at her.

"Uh, I don't think that I am the Tom you are looking for. I'm happily married, and I am sure I would have remembered you if we had met before."

She looked a bit nonplussed, and might have turned a bit red, and immediately apologized, saying that from the back I looked just like her boyfriend. I told her no problem, and we walked into the hotel together, with me opening the door for her like I would have for any woman.

I didn't think anything more about it, although my boss had seen the entire thing and teased me about my apparent attraction for lovely young women. I told him that I was only interested in petite Spanish women about this high with a pair of twins that were called Robby and Stella. He laughed and we went on about our business.

When I got home on Monday, I found a message from Maria that was a bit disturbing. She sounded madder than hell, and wanted to know why I hadn't been calling her. I should mention that I had also gotten one or two messages on my cell phone from Maria, but she was just hoping that I was where I could get her calls.

I immediately decided to change to greeting on the home phone to include a portion that if Maria was calling to give me a number I could reach her, and that I had been trying to call her for days.

I should have said that I had left messages with her mother, but I just assumed that was understood.

I never heard another word from Maria, despite having left numerous messages, either on her mother's cell phone or actually talking to Estella.

I got to the airport to pick up Maria and the kids an hour early, having taken a couple of days of vacation time so we would have a chance to unwind, and I could figure out what the hell was going on with the phone calls.

Nothing. Maria and the kids were not on the flight. Neither were her folks. After spending a good two hours talking to the airline agents with absolutely no help, I finally gave up and went home. No messages, no nothing. By 10:00pm that night I was actively concerned, and called an old friend on the local police department.

Ed was sympathetic, but told me that their policy was that they really wouldn't do much about a missing person report until after they had been gone for three days. He did say that he would contact the airline, and see if he could get anything more.

The next day was pure hell. Estella wasn't answering her cell phone, and I didn't have anywhere else to call. I did spend several hours on the phone with the airline, but didn't get anything more than I already had. They simply had not had a seat on the flight from Boston.

About 7:30 that night, there was a knock on the door, and when I answered it, it was a sheriff's deputy. He asked if I was Tom Sullivan, and of course I told him I was. He then handed me a sheaf of papers and told me I had been served. When I asked him what the hell this was all about, he said he had no idea; he was just doing what he had been told to do.

I got back in the house, looked at the papers, and realized that it was divorce papers from Maria, giving irreconcilable differences as the basis for the divorce. I was staring at the papers trying to figure out what the hell was going on, when the phone rang.

It was Ed. He had at least been able to get more information that we had before. Apparently Pablo had changed the reservations from Spain, booking a flight from Madrid to Paris, then a direct flight from Paris that landed in San Francisco four hours before Maria's original flight was supposed to. As far as he could tell, they took the flight, landed in San Francisco, and went wherever they were headed. He had not tried to contact anyone at Pablo and Estella's home, as he didn't think that was really where he needed to go.

I immediately tried to call Pablo and Estella, but was told by whoever answered the phone that they would accept no calls from me.

Okay - let's try for Susan. She had specialized in family law; maybe she could do something.

Susan came over immediately, bringing her husband Ralph, who also brought a bottle of very good, aged scotch.

After a whole lot of talking, and a fair amount of scotch on my part, Susan told me that there wasn't a whole hell of a lot that she could do to get me in contact with Maria, or the kids, at least immediately. There was a hearing scheduled for ten days down the road, and at that point she thought she could do something, but until then we were pretty much stuck. She would try the attorney, but doubted that it would do much good.

The next ten days were pure misery. When we finally got to court, Maria was there, but wouldn't even look at me. When there was finally a recess before our case was heard, I went up to Maria and asked what the hell was going on.

Maria's response was astounding, at least to me. "You don't call me for a month, and within a week of my leaving on vacation, you are with that damn blond puta, and you want to know what is going on? I'll tell you. I am getting rid of you, and I will see that you cannot infect my children with your slimy ‘principles' as I best I can. I don't want to talk to you, and I want you to have as little contact with them as possible."

With that, she spun around and walked away, burying her head in her mother's shoulder.

Did I mention that Maria has one hell of a temper - if I didn't, you should be aware that she does.

Temporary custody was given to Maria, and I was given visitation rights every other weekend. Additionally, I was not to contact Maria in any way - phone, e-mail, in person, not at all. The twins were to be delivered to my door at 6:00pm on Friday, and picked up at 6:00pm on Sunday.

Susan tried everything she could to get Maria to talk to me, but she simply refused. We requested a meeting with family court services - I felt, and Susan agreed, that if I could just get Maria to talk to me, whatever the hell she was thinking could be cleared up. Maria flatly refused.

As I knew that Maria thought that I hadn't tried to call her, I got a package together with a copy of our phone bills, both home and my cell phone, which showed all the calls I had made to her mother's cell phone, and sent it to her. Susan was madder than hell that I had violated the court order, but it didn't matter. The envelope came back marked delivery refused.

Susan was able to get the no contact order dropped a little after my letter to Maria came back, so I immediately sent her another letter, with more copies of the phone bills, this one requiring her signature. Delivery refused.

Susan and I had, of course, figured out that Estella was behind Maria thinking that I hadn't called her, but we still had no idea what the hell the reason was that she thought I had been cheating on her.

We fought the divorce in every way we could, but it didn't matter. Under California law, if one spouse wanted a divorce and the other didn't, the divorce happened.

Maria finally got her divorce, and custody of the children. My visitation rights were improved considerably, and I made damn sure I took advantage of every single hour. The twins were now seven, and I thought they were old enough to try to go camping a bit, at least in a motor home. I rented one, and took off work for two weeks.

When I went to pick the Robby and Stella up from Maria's condo, Maria came to the door with them. We had always talked about taking them camping, because that was something we had both enjoyed, but hadn't done since they were born. They were jumping around, helping me load their things into the RV, and I noticed that Maria's eyes were moist, like she was trying to hold back tears.

"You know that you would be more than welcome to come with us."

Maria just shook her head and started to close the door.

"I really wish that you had been willing to talk to me. I'm still not sure what information you thought you had, but whatever it was, it was wrong."

"I saw the damn pictures of you with that blond puta. Now leave me alone."

I still had no idea what in the hell she was talking about, but wound up chalking it up to something that I figured I would never really know.

We had been divorced for over a year now. I made every effort to be at all of the kids functions and milestones in their lives. I was never invited to their birthday parties, so I would have a small birthday party with them, together with Susan and Ralph and their kids.

I had heard from the twins that Maria was dating some guy from the Spanish consulate in San Francisco, at least that was what I got out of the few comments they made. Whenever I asked them about their mother, they would get pretty quiet, and not really respond. Finally one day Stella told me that she thought that her mother might marry this guy, and Robby immediately shushed her, reminding her that their mother had told them not to tell me anything about her at all. That really tore at me, but I didn't let on to the kids.

I did find out from some of the things that the kids said, and didn't say, that this Ramon would spend the night at Maria's every once in a while, but not on a constant basis.

I guess it must have been four or five months later, when I was having dinner with my boss, Bob, and his wife, Julie, along with representatives from the latest investor group that wanted us to build another office building. One of which was a striking blond woman, who was an absolute whiz at financing. It was strictly a business dinner, but my boss had wanted it to be a little less formal, which was why his wife was along.

In any event, we were just having drinks and waiting to order, when I saw Maria come in with someone I assumed had to be Ramon. I took a big gulp of my drink, and Julie looked at me with a bit of pity in her eyes.

"Isn't that Maria?"

"Yes, damn it."

"You're still carrying the torch aren't you?"

"I probably always will."

All of this had been said extremely quietly, and I don't believe that any of the other people at the table had heard us.

I saw that Maria had noticed me, and she deliberately turned her head away, putting her hand up to hold Ramon's arm as they were escorted to their table.

I did overhear one of the investors saying that she was an extremely pretty woman, and then Bob, shushed him, explaining that it was my ex-wife.

**************************** Maria:

I saw Tom at the table with Bob and Julie, along with the blond witch, and wondered what I had ever done to make him choose her over me.

Ramon had gone off to the bathroom, and I was left here to watch my husband, actually ex-husband, making nice with someone that I would like to kill.

I remembered the first time we made love. Neither one of us had been a virgin; but that first time with Tom, as far as I was concerned, was the first time I had ever made love. Tom had been so gentle, so loving, so caring, so - I didn't even know how to describe it.

He played with my breasts, which was nothing that hadn't happened before. But with Tom it was different, he made love to my breasts. When my nipples were fully aroused, he suckled, he nibbled, he made them the focus of my entire world.

Then he begin playing with my clit while his mouth nuzzled my breasts. When he finally moved on top of me, and as I reached down to spread my vagina lips I felt as though I couldn't wait another moment. I guided him into me, and felt a fullness that I had never really experienced before. Obviously I had had a penis inside me before, but this was different, I don't know why it was so different, or really how to describe it.

I was a glove to his penis; I almost couldn't stand it, and climaxed almost immediately. Tom, however, moved slowly, thrusting slowly into me, and before I could believe it, I came again. The fullness, the warmth, the throbbing, it was almost more than I could stand.

Sex with us was like that more often than not. Of course we couldn't always have those feelings, but Tom sure made sure that I felt them as often as possible.

After we bought the sex manuals, there wasn't much that Tom wouldn't try, or do. The first time his tongue touched my clit I almost went through the roof. The first time I gave him oral sex (he absolutely refused to call it a blow job), and he came in my mouth, he apologized. I simply told him that I loved it, and wanted more.

Our sex life was absolutely wonderful; I couldn't imagine having sex with another person. I wanted Tom with all my soul.

Then the report from my mother, and I was damned sure that I didn't want sex with Tom again. I didn't want to see him again. I didn't want him to dirty our children with his so-called values.

Sex with Ramon was just that - sex. Ramon thought he was the world's best lover, but he wasn't. He wasn't even close. He would spend himself, lie back and go to sleep. Tom had always wanted to cuddle, kiss my breasts, make sure I had achieved climax, and would assure me that he loved me. I could still remember his hands roaming over my body after making love, and giving me chills and very, very warm feelings.

Ramon came back to interrupt my memories, and moments later my cell phone rang. It was my babysitter telling me that Robby had been hit by a car, and was being taken to the hospital.

I jumped out of the chair, told Ramon that Robby was hurt, and started running. I don't know where I was running, but when I saw Tom I told him what had happened, and he immediately said that he would drive us to the hospital.

**************************** Tom

I don't think that Maria had been seated for more than about twenty minutes, when she suddenly jumped up from the table and started running out of the room. She paused for a minute, then ran over to our table.

"Robby's been hurt and they are taking him to the hospital."

"Come on. I'll drive."

Nothing was said in the car, both of us were too upset, but I will admit that I was secretly pleased, very pleased, that instead of asking Ramon to take her, she had come directly to me.

We got to the hospital, apparently not too long after the ambulance arrived, and found out that Robby had been riding his bike, and been hit by a car. He had been taken directly into surgery, but nobody could tell us what his condition was, other than that it had to be pretty bad if they took him into surgery immediately, without waiting for a parent.

Maria's parents arrived with Ramon after about 45 minutes, and Estella sneered at me: "So you can at least be there when your son is in surgery. Too bad he can't have you there for him every day."

I lost it, I really lost it - this woman had been after me ever since I married Maria, and there was really no reason for me to hold back any more.

"You bitch, I know God-damned well you convinced Maria that I had never called to talk to her, but I talked to you and left messages on your phone every single day that she was gone. But oh no, instead you deliberately tried to destroy my marriage, and take my kids away from me."

With that, I turned to Maria, telling her that I would be back in a little bit, as soon as I cooled down.

Maria did ask me what I was talking about, but I just told her to hang on and I would show her.

I went home, changed into more comfortable clothes, then rummaged through my desk, pulling out all the envelopes that I had sent Maria during the divorce. I don't quite know why I saved them, but I had, every single one. I stuffed them into my jacket and headed back to the hospital.

When I got back, Maria, Ramon and her parents were still sitting in the waiting room.

I walked over to Maria, took the envelopes out of my jacket and told her that these should answer her questions. For some stupid reason, Ramon seemed to take offense and told me to quit annoying his fiancé, then took the envelopes I had given Maria out of her hands, and threw them at my feet.

I could have told him that was not the way to get along with Maria, but I didn't need to. Maria blew up.

"I am not your fiancé, and I am not going to be. You and my mother seem to think that is just such a wonderful idea, but I sure as hell don't."

I picked up the envelopes, handed them back to Maria, and I sat down across the aisle from Maria, and didn't say a word. Maria kept looking at the envelopes, finally opening the first one I had sent, looking at what I had mailed her.

About this time, a doctor came out of the elevator, came over and asked if we were Robby's parents. I stood up and told him that Maria and I were his parents. The doctor told us that Robby was out of immediate danger, and in the recovery room, but asked us to come up to his office with him. Pablo, Estella and Ramon stood up to come also, and I told the doctor that I didn't want them with us. He looked a bit confused, until I told him that they had nothing to say about his treatment, that it was completely up to Maria and I.

Robby had had major injuries, several broken bones, and internal bleeding. The doctor thought that he was going to recover with no permanent damage except for a couple of scars, which would go away with time, at least to some extent, but he would be in intensive care for the next several days, and would probably spend the next week or ten days in the hospital. Robby had been taken to recovery, and would probably be there for the next several hours before he could be moved, and we could see him.

We went out to wait again, and this time neither Ramon nor Maria's parents were there. We sat for a few minutes, then I told Maria that she might as well go home, check on Stella, and get changed. I also called Susan and asked her to go get Stella and keep her at her house until we could get things straightened out. Maria said that she would take Stella to Susan's house, so that was resolved.

Maria was quiet for a moment or two, then asked: "Tom, what was that about my mother not telling me that you had called?"

"I assume that the phone bills in that envelope were explanation enough."

Maria looked at them again for several minutes, then looked up with tears in her eyes.

"I have never seen these before, ever."

"Just go read them. I'll be here when you get back."

Maria returned in a little over an hour. Instead of the cocktail dress, she was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, but she still looked awfully good in them. Actually she looked like a goddess to me.

Maria didn't say much, just handed me a manila envelope, and asked me how did I explain that.

I opened it and found two photographs and what appeared to be a private investigator's report. The report wasn't very long, but it essentially said that I had been followed for a week, and starting the day after Maria had left for Spain, I had met with a blond woman every evening. It wasn't until several days after she had left that they were able to get photographs, and while they couldn't confirm that we were having sex with videos or pictures, they were able to get the attached pictures. I looked at the pictures, and at first I couldn't figure out who in the hell the blond woman was. There were only two pictures, one of her kissing me, and the second was her entering a hotel, with me holding the door open for her. Then it hit me - this was the dingbat that mistook me for her boyfriend.

Even though it was now close to midnight, I pulled out my cell phone and called Bob. Bob wanted to know how Robby was, and I gave him a brief summary of his condition, and then asked him if he would come down to the hospital for a few minutes, that it was very important to me. Bob seemed puzzled, which he should have been, but agreed, saying that he any Julie would be there as soon as they could.

I hung up, told Maria that she would get her explanation in a few minutes, and didn't say another word until Bob got there, Julie in tow.

I thanked him for coming down, then handed him the pictures.

"Bob, what can you tell Maria about these pictures?"

I crossed my fingers, hoping that Bob would remember the incident, even though it was a long time ago.

"Tom, I don't think I have ever seen this woman before."

He thought for a few more minutes.

"Oh that's who she is - the bimbo in the parking lot. Christ, that must have been a year and a half ago, maybe two years ago. She thought you were her boyfriend when you were coming in for that meeting."

"Have you ever seen her before or since?"

"No, I don't think so, certainly not that I remember."

Then I handed him the P.I. report.

He read it, laughed and handed it to Julie.

"This is utter bullshit. You weren't out running around on Maria. Hell most of those nights you were either having dinner with me, or at my house with Julie and me."

I looked at Maria, and told her that she now had her answer, and walked away.

Bob caught me before I went more than a couple of steps.

"Hold on here, you drag us down to the hospital in the middle of the night, then walk out? What the hell is going on here?"

"Apparently Maria's mother convinced her that I wasn't calling her, and that I was out running around with that dingbat blond. I have tried everything I could to get Maria to listen to me and she flatly refused to even talk to me. I sent her copies of the phone bills, and she returned them to me unopened. So now she knows she destroyed a good marriage because she couldn't trust me enough to even listen to me. I am going down to the cafeteria and get some coffee. If Robby comes out of recovery before I get back, I would appreciate it if one of you would come get me."

With that I left.

I found out later that Bob and Julie took Maria aside and spent a fair amount of time telling her that I had been with either Bob or both of them virtually every single night that Maria was gone, and had complained bitterly that I wasn't able to get ahold of Maria, despite daily messages left with Estella. Bob indicated that Maria was completely taken aback, and kept saying that she hadn't known any of this.

I got down to the cafeteria to find Ramon and Maria's parents there. I got a cup of vile coffee from one of the machines, and sat down as far from them as I possibly could. I was drinking my coffee, and ignoring the looks that Estella was shooting at me. If looks could have killed, I would have already been in the morgue.

Eventually, Ramon got up and swaggered - I swear, he really did - over to where I was sitting.

"You will apologize to the Senora for your crude remarks."

"Go away Ramon."

"You will apologize, and you will do so now."

"I wouldn't apologize to that bitch if my life depended on it. Now go away."

I don't know quite where this would have gone, but Maria suddenly appeared at the table, and sat down.

"Ramon, go away, I want to talk to Tom."

Ramon sputtered, then announced that he was not leaving his fiancé with anyone as crude as I was.

"For the last time Ramon, I am not your fiancé, I am not going to marry you whatever my mother says, and I will do as I damn well please. Now go away."

At this point, a very large man came up to Ramon, and told him that he was asking him to leave quietly.

"Do you know who I am?"

"I really don't care who you are. You have been trying to start something with this gentleman, and both he and the lady have asked you to leave. Now leave them alone."

"You can't tell me what to do, I have diplomatic immunity."

"Well, that may be, but I can sure as hell arrest you for causing a public disturbance, and have you taken downtown. You might get out by morning, once we are able to get someone from your embassy down to verify just who you are, but you sure will spend the night in jail. Now, lets just do this the easy way rather than the hard way."

I guess Ramon figured that a night in jail wasn't worth it all, and walked back to the table with Pablo and Estella. I thanked the officer, and he just smiled and nodded his head before he went back to his table.

Maria looked at me, her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Tom, I never knew any of this. Mother swore that you had never called, or left any messages. She said that she had her suspicions about what you were doing, so she hired a detective agency to follow you while we were gone, and had the report sent by fed-ex as soon as they had anything. I was madder than hell about not getting any phone calls, but when mother came up with the photographs and the report, I was convinced. Mother spent the rest of the vacation telling me what a complete shit you were, and how she had been certain for years that you were playing around on me, and now she finally had the proof she had been looking for."

"You know, if you had just even tried to find out for yourself none of this would have happened. Whatever happened to the love and honor part of our wedding vows? And what about the trust that is supposed to be part of the marriage, whatever happened to that?"

"Tom."

"Your mother set this up deliberately to destroy our marriage. Then she went the next step in trying to keep my kids away from me. How many birthdays and Christmas mornings have I missed because your mother decided that I was unfit for you and our children. How many evenings have I missed being able to play with the twins, or read them books? They are old enough now to read themselves. They will never be able to remember Daddy reading to them. How many weekends have I missed? How about the mornings that they wake up, and find Ramon in Mommy's bed, but not Daddy? Since you walked out without even trying to talk to me to see if there was some other explanation, I haven't had a Father's Day. I made sure that they had something for you for Mother's Day, but I never got a damned thing, not even a card. My sister had to take them shopping for my Christmas and birthday, because it sure as hell wasn't ever remembered by you and your family."

I paused for a moment, if nothing else to take a breath. Maria was crying openly now, but to be honest I just didn't give a damn. All the pent up frustration, and anger were finally coming out, and I just let it spew.

"Tom, wait a minute."

"And how about the twins birthday? You always had the birthday parties at your parent's house, but every time I tried to call them to say happy birthday, I was told that calls from me were not being accepted and then I would be hung up on. How many of the little things have I missed out on? Robby or Stella coming home with a story about how their day went, but I wasn't able to be there to hear about it. By the time I was able to see them they had forgotten about it. How about just cuddling with the twins on a Sunday morning, or just taking them to the park. Maybe I could have been there for them when they had a problem at school, or with a friend. But they will never remember that, because I wasn't there. Oh, and let's not forget that they were told not to tell me anything about you or what was going on in your life. So now my kids are having to keep secrets from me. I took them shopping for your Christmas and birthday, and never got a single thank you - or maybe you just didn't want to acknowledge that I existed. Teaching Robby and Stella to throw a ball, or how to bat. I try to do what I can, on alternate weekends, but there isn't the closeness that develops from coming home and playing catch in the evening while dinner is being cooked. You get to teach Stella how to cook, and I hear about it all the time, but I don't get to do any of those things. I didn't get to taste the first cake she made, no matter how bad it might have been it still would have been pronounced wonderful. When I went to their school functions, it was only because the twins told me that something was coming up. I was never told that they had something special happening. I was never a part of the teacher's conferences. I never got to make approving noises when they brought home a good grade on their schoolwork. All of this because of that bitch of a mother of yours, and because you refused to talk to me."

I paused again, because I was spent. The venom from two years of frustration and anger had finally come out, although I had one final thing to say.

"And last, but certainly not least, I have never even kissed a woman since you and I first dated in college, and I certainly have never gone to bed with one, even to this day."

"Tom, I didn't know, I really didn't."

"Yeah, but you didn't try to find out either."

We were saved by Julie walking in and announcing that Robby was being moved out of recovery into ICU, and that we could see him as soon as we got up there.

We both headed for the elevator, although I did stop by at Estella and Pablo's table.

"Robby is out of recovery, but you will not be allowed to see him, and as far as I am concerned, you will never see either of the twins again."

Estella sputtered something, but I ignored her, and headed for the elevator.

Just before I went into Robby's room and went to the nurse's station and told them in no uncertain terms that Ramon, Estella and Pablo were not to be allowed in to see Robby under any circumstances. Maria winced when I told her that, but didn't say a word.

Maria and I made nice while we were with Robby, and finally the doctor came in about 6:00am, and told us that we had to leave, that Robby needed to sleep more than anything else.

I took Maria home, although we didn't talk much. Maria was still trying to say she hadn't known, and I was still pissed enough to just not respond much at all. I did tell her when I dropped her off that I would pick her up that afternoon so we could go see Robby, if that was all right with her. She told me that she would appreciate it, got out of the car, and just before she closed the door, she told me she was very, very sorry.

We got back to the hospital about 6:00pm, and when we walked into Robby's room it was piled high with flowers, DVDs, toys, almost anything you could imagine. After hugging and talking to Robby for a minute, I left Maria with him, and went out to ask the nurse where all this stuff had come from. Before I could however, Julie showed up and told me that when Bob had told the construction crew what had happened, they had all, as soon as they got off work, gone down and bought this stuff and brought it to Robby. They had to stop one man from bringing in a new bicycle. They apparently had wives, kids, and entire families trying to make my little boy's life a bit more pleasant. The nurse piped up at that, and told me that every single one of the adults had given blood, not because Robby needed it, but so that any other kids that needed it could have a chance. The last of them were still waiting to give blood at the blood at the blood center. It was enough to make you want to cry. I did cry.

The next few days were pretty bad, although Robby was improving every single day. Maria and I talked, and a few things were gotten out that would have been no big deal if it weren't for her mother. But it was obvious that we weren't just going to jump into bed with each other, fuck for a night or two, and then resume our marriage as if nothing had happened.

Robby went home from the hospital, and Maria made sure that I knew that I was welcome at any time. Not only to see Robby, but to see Stella.

Ramon did show up once, shortly after Robby got out of the hospital. I happened to be there at the time, and when the doorbell rang, Stella jumped up and said she would answer it.

I was in Robby's bedroom at the time, just spending time with him, something I hadn't been able to do for so long.

I heard Stella answer the door, just like she had been taught, then Ramon apparently barged in. Maria asked Ramon what he was doing there, and after a few moments of conversation, which I couldn't hear, Maria told him to just leave.

"But Maria, we have made such beautiful love together. You can't just throw that away."

"As a lover, you are a selfish pig. I had what most women would give their eye-teeth for, and because of my mother, and my own stupidity, I lost that. Now get the hell out of my life."

I started to get up and go out, but Robby grabbed my hand, and said: "Dad, let Mom take care of it."

I sat down, and Robby told me; "Mom cried every night when she thought we were asleep after we got back from Spain. It finally stopped awhile after you and Mom were divorced, but she started again when I got out of the hospital, and I don't know how to stop it. Ramon wanted us to call him ‘Daddy Ramon', but Mom wouldn't allow it."

Christ, out of the mouths of baby's. Although neither of the twins was a baby anymore.

Ramon left and nothing more was said by either Maria or me.

The next several months were hard. Robby took awhile to get better, even with a child broken bones take weeks to heal. Broken hearts take longer.

I was making extra sure that Stella wasn't feeling left out, and so every day that I came over to see Robby; I took her out to walk in the park, or to go do something special, something to make sure she knew she was loved by her daddy.

Maria seemed sad sometimes when I came over, but I didn't say much to her. I still hurt too much. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her how much I loved her, but every time I had that feeling, I would remember how hard I had tried to talk to her, and I would just turn off emotionally.

One day when I was taking the kids for a walk, Robby still walking with a bit of a limp, Stella told me that she wanted me to be her daddy again.

"Stella, I will always be your daddy."

"I know, but I want you to be home with us. I want to be able to talk to you at night, I want you to kiss me good night and tuck me into my bed. When I have a bad dream I want you to be there so I can snuggle up to you and make it all better."

"Me too Dad. I want to have you not just come to my games, but to take me home and show me what I can do to be a better ball player. I know I can't play very well right now, but when I can, I want you to show me what to do."

There wasn't much I could say, I didn't want to say that their mother was the cause of this, blaming their mother wasn't my idea of a good idea, but I really didn't know what to say other than that their mother and I had decided to part for reasons that they really didn't need to know about.

I was coming over to Maria's condo almost every night, supposedly to see Robby and Stella, but really I was coming over to see Maria as well. It had been almost four months since Robby's accident, but I still wasn't comfortable with Maria. The kids loved it, we went out, walked in the park; walked along the beach, whatever it was that tickled their fancy. I had bought a very nice digital camera and we took pictures along the way on our walks. Stella was great at composing photos, but Robby didn't seem to care very much about picture taking, he just liked being out with his dad. In any event, it was great fun for the three of us, and I was feeling like I was a part of my children's lives again. The twins had asked Maria to come along with us in the evening, but Maria told them no, that this was my special time with them, and she didn't want to interfere with that.

Thanksgiving was coming around, and Maria asked me if I would like to have Thanksgiving dinner with her and the children. Of course I wanted to, and I told her so.

I really wanted to try to start up with Maria again, but somehow I just couldn't. Ramon was long out of her life, and as far as I knew, Pablo and Estella had not seen the twins since my blowup in the hospital. Neither of the twins ever mentioned Estella at all, and I didn't know what Maria had told them. I had mentioned it to Maria, but she just said that she had told her mother that she wasn't welcome in her home, and left it at that. I didn't think that Pablo had much, if anything, to do with Estella's attempts to completely derail my marriage, but I wasn't going to dig into the morass of Maria's family dynamics.

I was a little surprised to hear that Maria had invited Susan, Ralph and their kids for Thanksgiving also, but Susan didn't seem to think that anything was out of line, and in fact was thankful that she didn't have to put the whole dinner on for her family.

I had more or less thought I would ride over to Maria's with Susan and Ralph, but Susan told me that there really wasn't enough room in the SUV with all the food they were bringing, so I agreed to meet them there. I got there about noon, or a little before, and Maria was running around the kitchen like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to get every thing done. When I asked what I could do to help, she just smiled a bit, then told me to take the kids to the park for a couple of hours, and let her get everything else done.

The kids told me while we were at the park that Maria had spent most of the night before, and all of the morning cleaning the house, and cooking. I hadn't paid a lot of attention, but when I thought back on it, I did think the condo had that extra special shine that a home gets when it has been cleaned top to bottom. Stella told me that Maria had seemed happier the last few days, and had even gone shopping for new clothes and things. Stella proudly announced that Mommy's new bed had been delivered yesterday, and that she even got to help put the new sheets on it this morning.

That puzzled me a little, why had Maria bought a new bed? Although I really hadn't seen it for more than a moment or two when passing by the open door to her bedroom, I didn't think the bed was that old or worn out. The damn thing couldn't have been much more than a couple of years old at most, because she had bought it right after we were divorced, when she moved into the condo. I knew, because I still had our old bed, and Maria hadn't moved out of her parents' home until after the divorce was final.

The kids seemed to be particularly happy, and finally told me that they had a special secret that they couldn't tell me until after dinner. There was much teasing, and giggling, but they steadfastly refused to give me any hints about the "secret".

The kids and I got back to the condo about 2:30pm or so. The house was filled with good smells, and Maria gave the kids a kiss, then dashed off to her bedroom to take a shower and get dressed. Susan and her clan arrived almost immediately, and Robby and Estella took them off to play in their rooms, leaving Susan, Ralph and I to fend for ourselves.

Susan started in on me almost immediately. "So when are you going to try to patch things up with Maria?"

"I would love to, but every time I think about it, I remember that she simply didn't trust me enough to even try to talk things out. Then I wind up shutting down emotionally, and it doesn't get anywhere. I guess that I am still in love with her, but it hurt me so damn much when she wouldn't talk to me, and then made my access to the kids so difficult, that it was like she was deliberately trying to destroy any relationship I might have with the kids."

"And Ramon? How do you feel about that?"

I thought for a minute, then said: "Ramon isn't an issue. We were divorced before he ever showed up on the scene, at least I think so, and it wouldn't be fair to throw that at Maria. As far as I know, Ramon hasn't been around at all since shortly after Robby got out of the hospital, and that one time she just threw him out."

"Okay, so you got your feelings hurt, and Maria didn't use perhaps the best judgment in dealing with your so-called affair. Do you really think that Maria hasn't been hurt by all this as well? Her mother lied to her, and in fact, as you well know, that damned report from her investigator, was nothing more than a complete setup. I told you that within days of you showing it to me. When I took it to the ethics committee, he finally confessed that it was a complete setup from the word go. The blond was his secretary, and the report had been written before Maria even left for Spain. The only thing they had to do was e-mail the photographs to Estella, and they were done. Do you really think that Maria hasn't been almost destroyed by her mother? Do you really think that Maria hasn't been punished enough? She has done everything she can to bring you back into the children's lives, but you can't get past the point of her stupidity, which she has repeatedly blamed herself for, to look at the future. You're still in love with her, or at least from my viewpoint you are, and I have told her so. You haven't dated, even when I have tried to set you up. You work incredibly long hours just so you don't have to go home to an empty house, the only bright spot has been since Robby was hurt, and you go over to Maria's to be with the kids. Except you aren't really there to be with the kids - you are there to be with Maria. You just can't or won't recognize that. Grow the hell up little brother. You are completely blowing a second chance at a good woman."

I really didn't know quite what to say, but before I could come up with an answer, Maria came out from the bedroom, dressed in a simple skirt and blouse, which showed her off wonderfully. I wasn't sure, because Maria's breasts were such that she had never really needed a bra, but I was almost sure that she didn't have a bra on. Even at 33, and after nursing two children, she still had the firm, high breasts of a 17 year old. I'm not quite sure what that was due to, other than very good genes.

Susan and Maria disappeared into the kitchen, and a few minutes later Ralph and I were called in to do our duty with carving knives on the turkey and ham.

When we were finally seated, the wine was poured (at least for the adults), and Maria stopped everything when she asked the twins if they knew what their Mom and Dad had been doing on this day 11 years ago. Of course they had no idea, so Maria told them that was the very first Thanksgiving that their parents had spent together, and that we had spent the majority of the day moving her into my apartment.

Stella immediately noted that our wedding anniversary was after Christmas, and Maria just smiled and told her that was true, but that our real anniversary was Thanksgiving Day.

Things got a bit quiet for a moment, then Maria told everyone to start passing the food so we all could eat. There was the traditional turkey and ham, yams, and from Maria's heritage, tapas of various types, all in all a wonderful meal, and far too much to eat.

Dinner was over, and we all started cleaning up, although once Ralph and I had carried in the dishes from the table we were immediately banished from the kitchen being told that we were just in the way, and that we should go watch the football game.

The kids were off playing games, and along about 6 or 6:30, Ralph was called into the kitchen by Susan to load some of the leftovers into the car. There was a whispered conversation that I couldn't hear, but really didn't pay any attention to.

I offered to help Ralph, but he told me in no uncertain terms that he was just fine, the kids were helping, and I was to stay put.

Ralph got the kids into the car, and Susan came out and gave me a kiss.

"Remember what I told you."

I was completely blank on whatever it was that I was supposed to remember, until I got outside with Susan. Ralph was already in the car, Susan's two kids were strapped in, but so were the twins. Susan hugged Maria, whispered something in her ear, and got into the car before I could say much of anything, and the twins hollered "Surprise."

Ralph simply grinned at me, and called out that they would bring them back on Sunday afternoon. With that they were gone, and I was left standing there with Maria.

"Tom, I would really like you to come in and talk with me for a few minutes. The twins are gone, and I think we really need to have a talk we should have had almost two years ago."

I agreed, although I was having thoughts about doing very unpleasant things to my sister.

We got into the living room, and without asking Maria went and poured two glasses of wine, bringing one to me, and then settling in her chair.

"Before we really start Tom, I need to apologize to you one more time. I was absolutely wrong in not giving you a chance to talk things out with me. I was being as much of a bitch as my mother was, and there is really no valid excuse for the way I behaved."

I nodded, not really seeing where Maria was going, but I nodded.

"When mother came over to the house to pick us up to go to Spain, she asked to borrow my cell phone. She made a short call, then hustled us out to the car. I didn't realize that she had not put the phone back in my purse, and didn't until we got to New York. When I did, I called you and asked you to call my mother because I didn't have my cell. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but now I think that it was deliberate, she didn't want you to be able to contact me.

The first few days in Spain were fine, but I was very frustrated and upset that you weren't calling me, but I assumed that you were so busy with work that you just couldn't call given the time difference.

The days passed with still no word from you, although I had tried to call your cell several times, sometimes I left a message, and sometimes I didn't. Again, it wasn't a major big deal, but I was certainly unhappy with you.

Then when I called and asked why you hadn't been calling, I got nothing. With hindsight I know I should have tried to give you another number, but I really didn't have one. I suppose I could have given you my father's number, but that didn't seem to be something that was needed. After all, you had my mother's number.

Then mother came up with the investigator's report and photographs. I can't tell you how devastated I was. Here I was sheepherding two six-year-old kids around Madrid, and you couldn't even be bothered to call me, and were apparently having the time of your life with some blond bitch.

Mother kept on me every single day about how she had always thought that you were running around on me, and how much the kids needed someone like my father, not a whore monger like you were. I would sit beside the pool for hours, just waiting for your call to tell me that this was all a bad dream.

Then mother got my father to change the reservations coming back home. I'm not sure what she used as an excuse, but change them he did, and I figured it would serve you right if I wasn't a good little wife and wasn't there when you had decided that I was fit to come back in your life. If in fact that was what you had decided.

By the time we got home, mother had set up an appointment with one of my father's attorneys, and the divorce was under way.

My head was so full of the crap that my mother had been telling me, over and over, that I simply would not, or could not, even see that there was any possible explanation for your actions.

I signed the divorce papers and cried myself to sleep for days afterward. The night before the first hearing at the court, my mother told me over and over that I simply had to be strong, and get through this. The most important thing was that I not let you simply whitewash the whole thing. When I went to that hearing, I was prepared to just shut you out and never let you in my life again.

Mother had asked me to think about our first time together, then imagine that you were doing those things to another woman. It was awful, it was more than awful, it was as though you were deliberately doing things to hurt me. I had nightmares where I was having to watch you have sex, no, making love, to that horrible woman. I didn't sleep well for days because every night I watched you in bed with that woman. I didn't even know what I had done to push you away from me.

Why didn't you love me any more? Why was I being pushed out so you could be with your blond bitch?

Those were the thoughts that were in my mind at the hearing.

Then there was nothing more. No notes, no calls, nothing. I really didn't understand until long after the divorce, the night that Robby was hurt, that you had tried, but mother had cut all contact off. I know you tried to talk to me even after the kids and I had moved in here, but by that point, I was convinced that you didn't care, and I saw no reason to start opening up old wounds. It had taken me a long time to be able to bury my hurt at your unfaithfulness.

Ramon was someone that my mother tried to push me into a relationship with. Yes, I had sex with him, but it wasn't like it was with you. I really think that the only reason I had sex with him was to somehow get back at you.

He wanted to marry me, and wanted the kids to call him ‘Daddy Ramon', or some such silly nonsense. I flatly refused. First I wasn't going to marry the idiot just because my mother thought he was someone special, and second because I really hadn't gotten over you. I may have those reversed, but there is a whole lot of truth there.

When Robby was hurt, I didn't turn to Ramon, I ran to you. You were the most important person in my life at that moment. You were Robby's father, and you could help me, you could be my mainstay right then.

When I realized what my mother had done, I cut off all contact with her. I don't talk to her, I don't allow her to see the kids, I don't want anything more to do with her. My father wants to see the grandchildren, and I allow him to, but not when my mother is present. It hurts him, and me, but I don't want our children to be affected by my mother's selfish, racist, opinions. She said many hurtful things about you to the twins, and I am not going to allow that any longer. I haven't allowed that for months now.

Tom, I want to be your wife, I want to have you here with me for the rest of my life. I want you to be here when the kids come home, and I want you to be a part of their lives, a major part of their lives. I want to be part of your life. I want you to be part of my life. I completely screwed up by not trusting you, but I am asking you to forgive me, give me another chance, I promise you I will never make the stupid mistakes I have, and I will never, ever not trust you again."

Maria was crying now, and her hands were shaking so badly that she had to use both hands to put down her wine glass. She got out of her chair, came over and knelt at my feet.

"Please Tom, just a chance, that is all I am asking."

I looked at her for a moment, then reached down and ran my fingers through her hair, then cupped her cheek and chin, tilting her head up, so she had to look at me. The careful makeup was gone, just little streaks from her tears shining in the light.

"I suppose that I could have handled things a bit better myself."

Despite what I said, I wasn't sure that there was much else that I could have done, but if you are going to start a reconciliation, then I guess that you have to leave an opening so that it doesn't become something that is resented down the road. And thinking about it, I do suppose that I could have tried a little harder after the divorce was over to at least get Maria to talk to me. Perhaps handing her the mail I had tried to send her, or e-mailing it to her.

I leaned over and picked up Maria's hand, using that to pull her up off her knees and settle her in my lap. She flung her arms around my neck and buried her face against my neck and shoulder. The tears were really coming now, and she was crying so hard she was shuddering. I tried to pull her away a bit so I could kiss her, but she wouldn't loosen her arms enough to let me do that.

We stayed like that for what seemed like forever, until she finally seemed to calm down, and she sat up a bit. Her eyes were completely bloodshot, and she was hiccupping from all the crying.

"Oh, God, I am such a mess. Please, stay right there, don't move, don't go away, I'll be right back."

She kissed me, just a quick kiss on the lips, then dashed off into her bedroom.

It was probably ten or fifteen minutes later that she came back, having worked the magic that women do. Her eyes were still red, but the makeup was repaired, or at least the little she wore was repaired.

I stood up when she came in, and started to say something. Maria smiled, put her fingers to my lips and whispered, "Don't say anything." With that she put her arms around my neck and kissed me.

My arms went around her like she had never been gone, and it was like a huge hole in my life was suddenly filled completely.

To this day, I don't know quite how we ended up in Maria's bedroom, but we did, both shedding our clothes as fast as possible, then we were on the bed, and I was entering her. I would like to say that we had this absolutely fantastic session, but that really wasn't to be. I hadn't had sex in damn near two years, and it was like I was trying to make up for it by coming after just a couple of moments in Maria.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't hold back."

"Hush, I understand, and we've got the rest of our lives to work on this."

We just cuddled for quite some time, then Maria got up to use the bathroom, and climbed back into bed. She moved over to me, pressing her breasts against my chest, then reaching down to stroke me. I started to respond, at least a bit, and Maria kissed me, then moved down my body, kissing me all the way, until she could take my semi-hard cock in her mouth. Maria had done this before, but I knew that she really didn't like taking me in her mouth after we had made love. She didn't mind my coming in her mouth, but she just didn't care for the taste of herself on me.

I tried to pull her up to me, but she lifted her head and told me that she wanted to do this, and I was to just lie back and enjoy.

It didn't take long, and I was fully erect again. Maria moved, and I could tell that she was about to swing herself over me and slide me into her. I stopped her this time, and told her that it was now her turn, not mine.

I made love to her. I kissed her breasts, I played with her clit, and I licked her clit while I had a finger inside her. She climaxed and I wouldn't stop, even though she was begging me to come inside her. I made her wait through three climaxes, before I entered her again. She gasped when I did, and her hips were thrusting up, actually, I don't think she ever let them go down, she was absolutely trying to make sure that I was in her as deeply as possible. When I finally came, it was as though something had released inside her, her head whipped back and forth and I could see her teeth clenching as she grimaced, trying to make it last as long as possible.

The rest of the long weekend was pleasurable in some ways, and in others not so. The sex was good - no the sex was more than I could have ever asked for. It was the personal relationship that wasn't quite right. I still had major problems with Maria's lack of trust in me, and Maria had problems with my not trying harder to get her to listen to me. Maria's issues didn't make a lot of sense to me. Even though I had told her that I supposed that I could have done more, I really didn't see what it was that I could have done other than tying her up and forcing her to listen - something I simply wasn't capable of doing. Additionally, although I had told Susan that throwing Ramon up at Maria wasn't an issue, it really was. I had real problems with seeing Maria and Ramon in bed together. Maria had thought this might be an issue, and had explained that was why she had bought a new bed - she wanted to minimize as best as possible, whatever hurt I might feel about Ramon.

By Sunday afternoon, we had at least agreed to go see a marriage counselor, and further agreed that I would come by every day to see Maria and the twins. And there was to be no more of Daddy taking the twins off while Mommy stayed home.

The twins were disappointed that Daddy wasn't just going to start living with them. Susan and Ralph weren't surprised I don't think, but a bit disappointed that it hadn't all magically gotten better between the two of us.

Maria was able to find a counselor that could take us in the evening, and Susan agreed to take care of the kids while we were gone, although it was really Ralph that took care of the kids most of the time. Susan was quite often working those horrible hours an attorney does, but at least she did it as little as possible.

The first meeting with the counselor, Marjorie Butler, was interesting to say the least. We explained what had happened, and I swear I thought I saw her mouth start to drop open. She recovered nicely, but at another point, I did see her wince, not much, but enough that I was able to pick up on it. Then she was the professional again, but I could bet that there was going to be a paper written on this one.

Over the next several weeks, actually over the next couple of months, we were given various assignments to think about until the next session. Then the following session we would go into what our thoughts were about them. One of the first was for me to assume that Susan had acted as Estella had, and that I had acted reacted as Maria had. Maria's assignment was to put herself in my shoes, with no contact, no explanations, just divorce papers, and then on top of that I was sleeping with some other woman.

We had both tried to do this ourselves, but Dr. Butler had us going down into the real nitty-gritty issues, such as:

"Well, if Tom wouldn't talk to you what would you have done?"

"I would have made it happen somehow."

"Exactly how? What specifically would you have done?"

"Well, I would have had someone, a mutual friend perhaps, contact him, and explain to him that I hadn't done anything."

"If Tom had done that, would you have believed this friend."

A long silence followed.

"No, probably not."

I didn't get off the hook either.

"So you've gotten nothing from Maria, no calls, no letters, no nothing. All you are hearing is Susan telling you that your wife is a bitch, and running around on you while you are busting your ass earning money for the family. Don't you think you would feel just a little bit abandoned?"

"Yes, but I trusted Maria, I still do, but I tried to contact her."

"That's not what I am asking, would you still trust Maria under those circumstances."

"Perhaps not."

"So you get a divorce. Susan sets you up with this woman that is drop dead gorgeous, and you wind up sleeping with her, with your kids in the house. Maria, how would that make you feel?

"Horrible. Like a slap on the face piled on top of everything else."

Things went on in this vein for weeks. Finally, by the end, Dr. Butler had stripped everything down to the bare essentials, fundamentally making us see that we were both somewhat at fault, although clearly Estella was the true guilty party. I contributed to the problem initially by not standing up to Estella from the start, and later by not working harder to contact Maria. After she had moved into the condo there was absolutely nothing to prevent me from sending those letters again. Maria was at fault for not talking to me, and for not trusting me enough to at least see if there was some other explanation.

At our last meeting with Dr. Butler, she told us that she thought she had done as much as she could to help us put things back together, but that now it was up to us to decide if that is what we wanted to do.

On the way over to pick up the kids from Susan's, I pulled the car over by a park and asked Maria to come for a walk with me. We walked quietly in the gloom for quite a few minutes, then I guided Maria over to a park bench and sat down. Still without saying anything, I reached into my jacket pocket, and pulled out the engagement ring that I had given Maria so many years ago.

"Maria, I love you, I have always loved you, and I don't think the past has changed that. Will you marry me again?"

Maria looked at me, the darkness hiding much of her face, then her smile lit up her face, and she told me that she couldn't imagine anything she would like more.

Her hands were shaking so badly that I wound up having to put the ring on her finger, then her arms were around my neck. We held each other like that then she whispered that we really needed to go get the kids.

We picked up the kids, and Susan was teasing us a little when she noticed the ring on Maria's finger.

"Well it is about damn time. I'll let you tell the kids in your own way. I was going to invite you to partake in some of our leftovers that Ralph and I are having, but I think that the kids would like to have you to themselves tonight."

I teased the kids all the way back to Maria's condo, telling them that I had a secret, but I couldn't tell them until later. Maria normally didn't like it when I teased the kids, but tonight she just smiled and didn't say a thing other than to tell the kids, that yes, she knew what the secret was, but she wasn't telling either. By the time we got to the condo, the kids were just about bouncing off the roof of the car.

When we got there, Maria, with a perfectly straight face, asked me if I would like to come in for dinner. Of course I agreed, and we spent most of our time in the kitchen putting together a quick dinner. At one point, Maria went over to the bar (it really wasn't much of a bar), and got out a bottle of wine, and raised her eyebrows at me. I nodded, then got four wine glasses out, and Maria nodded just like I had.

Maria and I had wine with dinner, saving part of the bottle for after dinner, and I told the kids they were going to have to wait until everyone was through with dinner before I would tell them the secret. They both stopped eating, and announced with almost one voice that they were done. Maria laughed and told them they had to clean their plates first.

When everybody was all done with dinner, I cleared my throat, then said: "Maria, I think I would like just a little more for dinner."

Maria almost choked on her wine, then told me in no uncertain terms that I had carried this on long enough.

I put a little wine in each of the glasses we had set aside for the kids, split the remainder with Maria, then raised my glass.

"I would like to toast a very special event tonight. Now before I start kids, when you toast, you don't just gulp the wine, you take a very small sip after the toast is made."

"Now, I would like to propose a toast to your mother, and to the woman I love very, very much. The woman I am going to marry as soon as we possibly can."

Both the twins looked a little uncertain at that, then they caught on and very solemnly sipped their wine. Then it was bedlam for a few minutes.

I moved over to Maria, leaned down and kissed her, a long, loving kiss, then I hugged her as tightly as I could, and whispered very softly: "My place tonight for all of us?"

Maria nodded, and I could see tears in her eyes.

"Okay kids, now it is almost bedtime, so now you have to go get ready for bed."

There were the expected complaints, but they scampered off chattering wildly, returning in a few minutes with their pajamas on, and teeth brushed.

"Well, you are not quite ready for bed yet."

I could see some confusion in their eyes, and Maria just shook her head at me, although she was smiling.

"You have to get your clothes for school tomorrow, and bring them down here, we are all going over to the old house tonight, and we will move there permanently as soon as we can."

Wild whoops echoed and they dashed off. Maria told me she had a couple of things she needed, and headed off to her bedroom.

We got to the house, got the kids settled in to bed, we finally were able to get to bed ourselves.

**************************** Maria

We had the kids down, and I started to unbutton my blouse to get in bed with Tom, really the first time that we were going to make love since Thanksgiving. We had had sex, but it wasn't like it was when we were first married, or even the night before I had gone to Spain with the twins. Tom had other ideas however. He came up behind me, putting his arms around me, then cupping my breasts, squeezing gently while he kissed my neck, and let his tongue and teeth play with my ear.

His hands left my breasts after a few moments, to complete the job of unbuttoning my blouse, and I whispered to him that the bra opened in the front. Seconds later my blouse and bra dropped to the floor and his hands returned to my breasts. His fingertips circled my nipples and traced my areolas, going back and forth between the two until my nipples were as erect as they ever got, even when I was nursing.

I could feel him fumbling with the zipper and button on my skirt with one hand, while my hands pressed his other hand to my breast. The skirt seemed to float to the floor as Tom turned me, kissed me, with his tongue invading my mouth. Then Tom knelt a bit, his hands sliding my panties down my legs to my feet. I started to step out of them, but Tom was faster, picking me up so fast that I'm afraid I squealed a little bit as he did so.

Tom laid me on the bed, then stood back and slowly undressed himself, before coming to lie beside me. We simply laid there kissing, with my arms around his neck, while his hands roamed freely across my body, touching not only my breast, but caressing my most intimate places.

Then he started making love to my breasts, his mouth doing the wonderful things to my nipples that his fingers had a few minutes earlier.

Tom's mouth moved lower, kissing its way down my stomach, through my pubic hair, until I could feel his breath between my legs. I spread my legs to offer him easier access, and then his fingers were gently separating my lips and his breath warmed my clit for just a second or so before his warm, moist tongue licked its way between my lips and down across my vagina.

Tom licked and sucked, taking my clit in his mouth to gently suck on it, then releasing it, penetrating my vagina with his tongue, then back up again. I could feel my hips moving of their own volition and eased my legs a bit further apart.

"Please use two fingers also," I whispered

I felt his fingers playing for an instant at my entrance, then slowly and gently inserting themselves into me until they were as far inside me as they could go. All this time Tom was still licking and sucking on me; and the feelings that the combination of Tom's fingers and his mouth generated were beyond belief, at least for me. Then Tom started using his fingers inside me, curling up along the roof of my vagina, stroking the inside of my vagina.

My hips were actively moving now, and I could feel the start of a wave sweeping over me, then the wave crashed down, and I could hear someone making guttural noises, not words, just noises. Wave after wave crashed down until I feebly pushed Tom head with my hands, letting him know that I wanted him inside me.

Tom turned and I guided him into me, the full feeling almost overwhelming me. I don't know how long Tom lasted, but I could feel him pulsing in me as I whipped my head back and forth when the tsunami crashed over me.

Tom rested himself on his elbows until his penis softened, and he slipped out of me. Then just like in my dreams, he cuddled me, kissed me, his hands cupping my breasts and told me that he loved me.

**************************** Tom

After one of the most intense sessions of making love I had had in a long time, I just curled up with Maria, told her that I loved her, and tried my very best to let her know not just with words but with my hands.

We were just starting to drift off to sleep, when Maria murmured: "We need to put some pajamas on, the kids will be in the first thing in the morning."

Maria went to the bathroom, and I stumbled around finding my pajama bottoms, and when Maria came back to bed in a soft nightgown, I put my arm around her, cupped her breasts, kissed her neck and fell asleep.

Just as Maria had predicted, the kids were in the bedroom at the crack of dawn - well not exactly the crack of dawn, but awfully early, jumping into bed with us and snuggling down, Stella with me and Robby with Maria. We stayed that way for probably fifteen or twenty minutes before Maria announced that we all needed to get up and get our morning started because the kids needed to go to school, and we needed to go to work.

By the time I got home that night, Maria had already arraigned for movers to pack all her stuff up, some of it to come to the house, and much of the new furniture that she had bought to be taken to a used furniture store. By Saturday afternoon, everything was in place, and the kids were ecstatic. They were with their parents, and were home again.

We were married in a small civil ceremony two weeks later at Susan's house. The only persons present were, of course, Susan and Ralph and their kids, the twins, Bob and Julie, and Pablo. Maria had called her father and told him that we were getting married again, and he was invited, but that Estella was not. Pablo told her that he understood, and that he would be there.

Pablo was the last of the guests to arrive, and we were all having a glass of wine before the ceremony, when the doorbell rang. Ralph answered it, and Estella was on the porch. Ralph simply told her that she was not invited, nor was she welcome in his home, and shut the door, locking it as he did so. Estella yelled and banged on the door until Maria went to the door and told her in no uncertain terms that she did not want her there, and did not want to see her again. It was the only sad moment of the wedding.

Pablo did give us a rather magnificent wedding gift, his villa in Spain. When both Maria and I protested, he told us that he knew that he would never be able to take Maria and the twins to Spain again as long as he stayed with Estella, and while he hated what Estella had done, he still loved her, and besides the church would not recognize a divorce anyway. He wanted the twins to not forget their heritage, so the villa was ours, although he did ask that he be permitted to use it when we were not there.

Epilog:

It has now been two years since we remarried. Maria and the twins still use the villa every year, but now instead of Pablo and Estella going with them, I come along also. Maria refuses to go unless I can come for at least part of the trip.

I have seen Estella once or twice around town, but we basically ignore each other. Pablo comes over to the house at least once a month to see the kids, usually more often than that. We invite Pablo over for a BBQ or a trip to the park, whatever we are doing on a particular day, and he often comes, but never says a word about Estella.

I suspect that Maria talks to her mother by telephone every once in a while, if nothing else to tell her what her grandchildren are doing. The twins never speak of either her or Ramon, and I think that they have mostly forgotten about Ramon. It is sad that the twins will never have any kind of a relationship with their only grandmother, but the poison that bitch put out precluded anything like that. If they want to see her after they are grown, then that is their decision

Our anniversary is always celebrated on Thanksgiving Day, completely ignoring any actual wedding dates.

This story was inspired by GaryAPB's wonderful story entitled "Return to Bristol", and my thanks and a tip of the hat to a wonderful writer for his generous permission to use any parts of his story that I wanted to. I don't think it is very close to his story, but that may be in the eye of the beholder.