John and Kate Dawson were having sex on their marital bed. It was satisfying sex. It was two am, and the party at their big house was over. The party celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. It was loving sex, and they both got off.
They were both seventy, born four days apart. Their birthdays had just passed. She was the eldest. John always called her his 'older woman.' They had a son and two daughters. And six grandchildren. All of them had been at the party, along with friends, neighbors and remaining parents - her mom, his dad. Her two brothers and their wives and kids came. Just a lot of people. It had been a bash, and they'd both had a fine time, dancing and making merry.
John was quite fit at seventy - 5'10" and slim. He had all his hair, and it was mostly brown. He ran, lifted, and did aerobic boxing (aka shadow boxing). Kate was also fit, slim, some gray in her light brown hair, but very, very attractive. Her smile always lit up the room for John. She had long, toned legs and showed them off in how she dressed.
Both of them were attorneys. John was a trial lawyer with his own firm, now medium sized. He had been gradually withdrawing from trial work for ten years. But when he had done trials, he had been quite good at them, and made good bucks. He had a talent. Now he supervised younger lawyers at the firm, often from home. He worked at the office one day a week. He had another interest, which had become more than a hobby. He wrote bodice ripping fiction for women. (Go figure.) His books began to be published on-line, progressed to paperback, and now to hardback. He'd written eleven books and had made an increasing amount of money from his writing. And....he loved doing it. His pen name was Bella Cardinal. No author pictures on the books.
Kate made fun of the hobby. That annoyed John, but he kept at it. He simply liked telling stories. And he was very good at telling stories. That was why he was good at trials, which were simply storytelling over a period of time, and within certain rules. John was always amazed that many lawyers didn't see this.
As his books began to sell more, and make more money, Kate's attitude changed a little. Kate worked at a big law firm that did mostly lobbying in D.C. They had a trial section, but Kate had long since moved on from that. She was a partner at the firm and earned big bucks. In fact, Kate had always outearned John. At least until the writing. When they started, John was trying criminal cases, paid by the government. Very serious cases, eventually. Then he moved from that, using the skills he'd developed to win a lot of money in civil trials of various sorts. But still, Kate was making more. Because of this, they kept their finances separate. Neither of them wanted to argue about money. Their one co-owned asset was the big house outside D.C. where they raised their children. They split family expenses. Now, neither one had to worry about money, or argue.
Kate also had a hobby. In her early years she'd been a dancer. In fact, she was so good at it in her teens and twenties that she almost passed up law school to try to go pro. But she was married to John and got pregnant. She could go to law school while pregnant, but not dance much. Now, she went to a dance studio and practiced various types of dancing. She was quite a good at it, even now. She'd been going to the studio for twelve years, one or two times a week.
John really appreciated the way her dancing kept her lithe and limber. It helped their sex life a good bit. Kate was so.....entrancing to him. Their sex life had had its ups and downs throughout the marriage. Sometimes one or the other would be so involved with work that home life suffered. Overall, however, the two meshed in bed. And when John slacked off the lawyering, he amped up the bedroom activities. Kate appreciated that a lot. So, for the last ten years or so they regularly had very good sex. Better in their sixties than before, maybe.
Now they were entering a new decade - their seventies. John wondered a bit but hoped for the best. There had been no signs of either slacking off. And, since his workload eased, they got along so very well, outside the bedroom.
Life was good for John, and, after the fiftieth anniversary sex, he relaxed, in a great mood. Things were fantastic......so naturally.....
Kate snuggled up to him when they finished. She said, "Thanks, John. That was great. I cannot believe it's been fifty years."
"But it has, though, babe."
"Yes. And we've been faithful to each other all that time."
John stiffened up a bit when she said that. He had been faithful, and he was virtually certain that she had as well. He knew that both had had temptations. But he had never crossed the line, and he was sure she had not either. So why say that?
He said, "Yes. Yes we have."
Kate said. "You know that I love you so much."
Now John was very uneasy. The way she said it had a 'but' at the end.
He said, "What's the but?"
She scootched around to look at him. She was so lovely. She said, "I believe we need to branch out some. Fifty years with just us is.....enough. Don't you agree?"
Now John was struck with a very deep sadness. Right out of the blue, she was...what?
He was out of her arms and standing at the side of the bed. The movement was so quick and decisive that it frightened Kate. He stared at her.
She said, "I don't mean to cause you any....pain, John."
He stared at her, still, his face impassive. Finally, he said, "Just spit it out, eh?"
She said, softly, "I want to have other men, John. Not often. We'd still be married and have our good times."
John answered her in a flat voice. "You have some plan, Kate. What is it?"
"Next weekend I'm going to spend with Ted Sorenson. Leave Friday, back Sunday afternoon."
Ted Sorenson was another partner at her firm. He was tall and good looking, fifty-eight years old. John had never liked him. He was her firm's main litigator. John had gone up against him three times. Each time John had cleaned up. Ted never could get by that, even though it was a few years ago. Recently Ted had lost his wife, Helen, to lung cancer. That was eighteen months ago. John had always liked her and wondered how she put up with Ted.
When John heard Kate's plan, he knew that fifty years was all that there was. He was truly hurt by what she'd said. But he had many years practice hiding his emotions. He looked at his wife with a stony face. He turned without another word and went into the bathroom. He took a shower, brushed his teeth. He packed his shaving kit and toothbrush into a small case. He emerged from the bathroom, went to the dresser and started getting dressed.
Kate watched this. She was wondering what he was doing. But when he started dressing, she said, "Where do you think you're going, Johnny? You're not just walking out."
He said absolutely nothing to her. He was almost dressed. He took the kit and put it and some clothes into a small duffel. Kate got up, still naked, when he did that. She was unnerved by his reaction. She expected him to argue, maybe to plead with her. She had steeled herself for that. She was far from certain that she would really go through with the plan. She wanted to stay married, and still have her fun now and then. John could do the same. It wasn't only Ted that she was interested in bedding. There were young guys at the dance studio who came on to her all the time. She'd put them off long enough. That was what she thought when she decided to use the anniversary as a time to make her move. When John would be in a really good mood.
So, Kate stepped to him. She tried to hug him, but he pushed her away. He said, "No more hugs, Kate. Call Teddy bear."
