What Maria said then really shook me to my core. This perfect woman who I had believed would never have time for anything but friendship for me, really opened my eyes. "Don, you are a wonderful guy. There doesn't seem to be anything you won't try to fix. You are a fabulous cook, you can do anything with your hands, you have a great brain and you treat your daughters with nothing but love. The trouble is, you are so busy "doing for others" that you don't sit back, relax and see what is going on around you. You look on me as a friend, not as a woman who loves you and adores your daughters, and looks upon you as her family. That is why I help, not because I feel as a friend that I am obliged to. Yes, you heard right, I said I love you!"
I could see the tears starting to run down her cheeks as she continued. "Why do you think that we were teaching you to dance, to date, relax and have a good time? You need to become involved with others as well as the girls. Break out of the mould your father set you in and enjoy yourself. You aren't Dudley Doright and you aren't responsible for helping the world every time something goes wrong."
I was stunned, "Am I that bad?" Maria continued, "Don, you are a great guy, but you are so complete and capable within yourself that, without even knowing it, you make other people think that they are less than you, that they are not needed, that all you need is yourself. Your father may have been a great guy, but what he did to you by making you responsible for your family when you were a boy was the worst thing he could have done. You didn't have the opportunity to be a child or to grow up gradually. You were forced to mature really quickly and be a young father figure and provider. "
That's what Barbara saw in you when she grabbed on to you so quickly. If you had been able to relax and show your true self, someone who needed others, like everyone else, you would probably still be married to Barbara, raising those two beautiful girls and maybe a boy or two. The worst thing is that you sometimes can't see and accept the reality of what is right in front of you." With that Maria burst into tears and continued, "I have to go home before I am a total mess. Please tell the girls that I will see them tomorrow night, hopefully with better news about Barbara!"
I replied, "Maria, please don't go yet, I am absolutely floored by what you have said. Ever since that night I pulled you out of the car, I have valued your friendship. I've wanted so much for it to become more, but I was afraid that you with your smart and cultured friends would not feel anything for us but friendship. I was scared that, some time down the road, we would lose you to some smart man who might take you away from us. That night was the night I fell in love for the second time in my life. Yes, I love you too, and ever since we met I have been terrified that dull old Don was not enough for you, just as he wasn't for Barbara. Please don't go, the girls and I need you in our lives so much!"
Maria let out a sob of relief and smiled through the tears as she said the words I had really wanted to hear since we met. "Don, we really are a bright pair, aren't we? You are the most loving, capable and knowledgeable guy I have ever met but, just like me, you have been reluctant to say what you feel. The truth is that I have loved you and the girls since you pulled me out of that car, and I have been so afraid to say anything in case you didn't feel the same way. When I was driving out to the house that night you saved me, I was feeling devastated. I had just been put down by the family of the man I had pinned so many hopes on, which is why I was in the ditch - I wasn't concentrating on the road. Suddenly there was a knight errant who appeared out of the storm and saved my life by risking his own. Then, on top of that, he saves my house from destruction, not thinking of the danger to himself or what could have happened if he failed to do everything just right. That was when I realized that the jerk's family had done me a favor, and that for once in my life I was in the company of a real man who was content in being what he was. Something started growing inside me that has developed into a warm glow when I am with you, and an empty feeling inside when I am not. I just haven't been able to show that for fear that you didn't want me once you knew about my past."
I went to her, put my arms around her and kissed her lightly. Her arms went up around my neck pulling me into her, her mouth opening slightly and her tongue poking at my lips. That light kiss became a sensation like sinking into a pool of warmth as she returned my kiss with interest. We stood there in the center of the floor and held each other tightly, leaving me very conscious of Maria's breasts pushing into my chest with their hard nipples poking holes into me. Our tongues touched together, pushing against each other, when there was a click of the latch as the door opened and the air was split by two whoops and we were almost knocked off our feet by two teen tornados who apparently had been listening in. They took the opportunity to race across the room and joined in a group hug that lasted quite a while. "Maria" I said. "Please stay with us, we need you, I need you, you have become a big part of "Us"
Megan poked her teen nose in, "Maria, we would love you to stay, forever if you want, but tell him that it's only one room from now on. We'll tie him down for you if that's what's needed."
Maria looked at them, looked at me, smiled and said, "Out of the mouths of babes. Don, you heard them, that's condition number one, one room with a big bed. Condition number two is that you start to relax. Get your counselor, if you must, to teach you to let others do things for you, especially when they are done out of love. They don't commit you to making any return other than accepting that love."
I grinned as I replied, "Maria, condition number one is easy, but I will need help with number two. Mainly your help though. I think we can leave out Freddie, Kathy and Vanessa of the Polishing Don Association, though they are a great bunch."
Maria agreed, "Okay, we know how everybody feels, but first I have something to get off my chest; I think it is something that you all have the right to know. It is something I haven't been able to tell you before, not because I wanted to hide something, but because it may make you think less of me, and because, after you hear it, you may not want to even have me as a friend, let alone a member of the family."
"You all know that I was married to Richard. After 3 years it had become more like sister and brother than a marriage, so we decided to end it while we were still friends and didn't get into any other problems. We did that and you know that we are still friends and that we do business together. Well, as soon as the ink was dry on the divorce decree, I got kind of carried away and became a real party girl. I got into some wild relationships and did some things that I should, on second thought, not have. In a way, you could say that, for around four months, the only difference between Barbara and me was that I wasn't married."
"A lot of people I know say that it was my own business, that I didn't harm anyone but myself, but there are a few of my former rivals in the modeling business, namely Joanne and Anna and by virtue of association Gwen, who delight in repeating the tales and keeping them going, especially if it seems to them that I am going to achieve any kind of happiness. You've all met them. I call them the three witches. That life was over pretty quickly, but it still is spoken of sometimes especially if it appears that I am going to get any happiness and could reflect badly on you and the girls. I would hate it to make the newspaper sometime and hurt us all."
I carefully thought about what we had just been told before responding. "Maria, our life with you began the night we pulled you out of the car. What you did before that night has nothing to do with what we feel about you. Certainly, to the best of my belief, ever since that night you have helped and supported our family far beyond the normal bounds of friendship. For the first time since the divorce I feel a sense of direction and have a confidence back that I thought had been smashed to pieces. But, I do think that maybe we can do something about Hagatha and her cronies. Let me think about it."
Well, of course, as the result of all the ado, there was very little sleep the rest of the night. First, the girls figured it was a Pizza night, my PIZZA didn't qualify, so I wasn't allowed in the kitchen. Maria and the girls made a great late night meal. I wasn't needed except to eat, and I sat back thinking
I could get to like this.
The girls sat Maria and me together on the couch. Maria curled into me and the girls claimed the recliners while we ate the pizza drank milk and watched a movie on the Disney channel. At least the girls did.
I was deep in thought for a while as we cuddled together. Maria had given me a lot to think about. Thrilled as I was with what she had said about us, I had lots to think about with Barbara, Diana and Melanie and how, usually without consulting them, I had pretty well always done what I thought was best for them. What I had been doing was controlling them, not caring for them. I guess I finally realized that. No wonder my sisters hated me.
