Carrie's Romance

He kept trying to lunge at her, but between his drunkenness and her years of pent up fury; she had no trouble keeping him at bay.

It was a bit of a Mexican standoff, with nobody able to get the upper hand; well except for Gabe, but in his case, it was more of a lower jaw.

As the scene unfolded inside the house, Tony pulled his car into Carrie's driveway. He sat for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts and decide how he was going to explain things to her. As he got out of his car, he heard Gabe's growling and Zack's howls of pain, as well as the yelling and screaming inside.

He charged through the open front door and quickly took in the chaos.

When Tony saw Zeke with his ape arms wrapped around Carrie, he immediately pulled one off her, allowing her to spin free and run for her gun. Tony twisted Zeke's arm behind his back and slammed him full force into the doorjamb, taking him out of commission. He turned to see Carrie approaching old man Rawlins with her gun. He was about to go over and help, but soon realized his help wasn't needed.

"Mister Rawlins," Carrie said, "If you don't want to have to use a bag to take a shit, I suggest that you back slowly away from Mrs. Rawlins."

Rawlins looked back over his shoulder to see Carrie's pistol aimed squarely at his ass.

"P... Please," he said nervously, "there's no need for that." He put his hands up and backed carefully into a corner, never taking his eyes off Carrie's pistol.

Carrie walked over to where Gabe still had a mouthful of Zack's ass.

"Gabe, release," she said.

Zack fell to the floor clutching his ass, moaning.

"Please, Miz Bi... I mean Miz Benton," he said, "I need a doctor bad."

"Don't worry," Carrie said, "you'll get one soon enough. For now, I suggest you crawl over and join your old man."

She waved the pistol for emphasis, and Zack scurried as fast as his sore ass would allow, and Tony hauled the unconscious Zeke over as he slowly regained consciousness.

After the Rawlins men were huddled in their corner, Carrie called 911 and they were all hauled away, with Zack making a stop at the hospital to have his butt stitched up. Zeke and Zack were now facing some serious time for violating their probation. Mr. Rawlins was also in serious trouble for his break-in at Carrie's, plus spousal abuse.

The sheriff loaded the Rawlinses into cruisers and took them away. The EMT's treated Elsie, loaded her into the ambulance and took her to the hospital to treat her broken ribs.

Tony and Carrie were left alone, standing on the front porch as the ambulance drove away. Neither broke the silence for a moment, and Gabe looked expectantly from one face to the other. Carrie's resolve broke.

She turned and ran the three steps to Tony, throwing herself into his arms, sobbing out her misery. He held her tiny form closely for a few moments, stroking her hair and whispering words of comfort. Gabe was becoming increasingly nervous, not understanding why Carrie was crying and uncertain what he should do.

His quandary was resolved when Tony swept her up in his arms and carried her inside like a baby. He sat on the couch, holding Carrie on his lap and she continued to shake as the pain and confusion of her heart manifested in her sobs.

"Carrie..." he began, but she gave him no chance to continue.

"No, Tony, let me tell you some things," she interrupted. "Tony, first of all, I love you. I've been falling in love with you since that day you went to the hospital with me. It's been very hard for me. I loved Eric with all my heart and I thought we'd grow old and die together. Fate decided otherwise. I didn't think I would ever love again, and then Jeff came along. I made a serious mistake there, and it made me question my own judgment.

Tony reached down and put one finger under her pointed little chin, tilting her face up so he could look into her eyes. "I believe you and I understand," he said. He brushed the tears from her cheeks. "Don't cry, Carrie, we'll work it out."

"There's more," she said. "I've been here, in this house since I was 25 years old. David was born here. Well, he was born at the hospital, but you know what I mean. Gabe and I have lived here, just the two of us, since Eric passed. I've liked my life. I have my wheat, my sheep and I have Gabe and Ralf. All my neighbors are my friends."

Tony chuckled. He nodded in the direction the sheriff's cars had gone. "With friends like those..."

That made Carrie giggle and she found it easier to continue. "I just feel like my life is here, Tony. I draw, I tend my farm, everything I love is here... except you.

"When you drove away I knew that none of it meant anything if I didn't have you in my life. I realized that you make me complete. I want to move, Tony. I want to live with you and never leave."

"No," was all that he said.

"Why... what do you mean, Tony?" Carrie asked, "I thought that was what you wanted. Don't you want me anymore?"

"More than ever, Carrie," he said, "but I came to a deeper realization when I got back to my house, that's why I came back."

"What? What did you realize, Tony?"

"This is where you belong. I love you too much to take you away from the things that you love. I'll just have to make my peace with Eric."

She took his face in her little hands, staring into his eyes, looking for hesitation, locked doors or windows. She saw nothing but love and honesty. "Oh, Tony, I love you so much!" she said, pulling him down and kissing him so that he thought his head would explode.

Tony swept her up in his arms, carried her to her bed and made sweet love to her.

Tony gradually moved into Carrie's house as he put his house on the market. When it sold, he bought the Rawlins' place, as Mrs. Rawlins couldn't afford it with her husband in jail.

Tony allowed her to stay in the house in exchange for looking after the farm when he and Carrie were away.

One morning, Tony woke up to find Carrie's side of the bed empty. He shook out the cobwebs and remembered that she had planned an early morning trek to her west forty and said she would let him sleep in.

He leaned over and opened the nightstand drawer, opening the blue velvet box within, turning the ring over in his hand.

"Well, big guy," he said to Gabe, who was drooling at the bedside. "How do you think we should do this?"

Gabe just gave him a puzzled look while Tony grabbed a drool rag to wipe Gabe's face. He had long since grown accustomed to the routine.

Looking at Gabe gave Tony an idea. After doing his morning routine, he scoured the house until he found what he was looking for: a short length of bright red ribbon.

He tied one end securely to the ring, the other just as securely to Gabe's collar, then sat in a chair facing the door with Gabe sitting by his side.

Hearing Carrie's truck, Tony tried to hold Gabe back, but when she started to open the door there was no restraining him. He bolted for the door, his little stub of a tail wagging like crazy.

Carrie opened the door and came in.

"What kind of trouble have you guys gotten into?" she said as she crouched down to give Gabe a big hug and a kiss.

Noticing the ribbon, she ran her fingers down until she reached the ring. Its meaning obvious she stood up, ran over and plopped herself sideways in his lap.

She gave Tony a big kiss. "Yes," she said, "I'll marry you!" kissing him between each word.

Tony stood up, taking Carrie with him, and headed to the bedroom. As he was about to toss her on the bed, Carrie stopped him.

"Wait," she said, "I'm all sweaty!"

"So," Tony said, "maybe that's the way I like you." He sniffed the air.

"Then again..." he said, as she slapped him playfully and he carried her into the bathroom.

They quickly shed their clothes and got in the shower, but cleaning up was far from their minds. They soaped each other up, paying special attention to certain areas, then rinsed off.

Carrie started to kneel down, but Tony pulled her back up.

"No, Carrie," he said, "I want to save that."

Tony turned Carrie around, had her bend over, bracing herself against the shower wall.

He gently caressed her ass cheeks, gave them a soft squeeze and a kiss, before he reached between her legs, stroking her pussy and easing a finger inside. He moved up and reached around her to massage her breasts and tweak her nipples. As she moaned in pleasure, he eased his cock into her heat and she gave a soft groan. She had long ago grown accustomed to his size, and hadn't needed her lube since they started making love. 'I guess age is just a state of mind,' thought Carrie.

After they both came he carried her out to the bedroom with his cum dripping down her legs, both of them still damp from the shower, and placed her on the bed with her legs hanging over the side. When he got down on his knees Carrie realized what he was about to do.

"Tony, wait," she said, "I'm full of cum."

"Yes, but it's mine," he said, as he licked a stream up her thigh to her pussy.

He looked up at her, gave her a big smile and a wink, and dove into her pussy for his most pleasant task.

Carrie was beyond arguing at this point, and just lay back and gave herself over to the exquisite pleasure. She soon came with a shudder, nearly crushing his ears as she squeezed her thighs together.

She pulled herself fully onto the bed and Tony lay on his side facing her. Carrie petted his hair and smiled.

"This was the third time I've been proposed to," she said, "and I must say that the others were nothing like this."

Tony had a panicky thought.

"Wait right there," he said, then ran naked to the kitchen, while Carrie enjoyed the view of his ass flexing.

Tony grabbed a pair of scissors and found Gabe dozing on his blanket in the corner. Gabe just lifted his head a bit when Tony cut the ribbon, then plopped his head back down on his blanket.

Tony carefully cut the ribbon off the ring as he made his way back to the bedroom, and placed the scissors on the dresser.

"All right," he said, "let's do this properly."

He dropped to one knee and held out the ring.

"Carrie Benton," he said, "will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

She bopped him on the head with her pillow.

"What do you think, you big goof?" she said, "Of course I'll marry you!"

Tony and Carrie planned an informal wedding service and reception.

One of Tony's finance people who was a Notary Public and also a Justice of the Peace, agreed to perform the service.

The wedding was being held on the Saturday of the Fourth of July weekend, and David and his family were flying in Friday afternoon.

As Tony drove to the airport, Carrie looked out her window wistfully; a little tearful, realizing that she hadn't seen David and his family for two years.

Rather than park in the garage and having to walk a long way with two small children and luggage, Tony dropped Carrie off and looped around the access road a couple of times until he saw Carrie and her family on the sidewalk outside the terminal.

One of the advantages of owning a car dealership was that Tony could borrow a large van, and with Carrie's help, had it fitted out with the right sized child seats.

While the ladies got the children situated, Tony and David loaded the luggage and they were on the way back to Carrie's house. While the kids were gazing with fascination at the new sights around them, Carrie introduced Tony to David's family. There was David, of course, his wife, Wendy, their son, Eric II, age six, and Julia, age four. Carrie choked up just a bit while introducing them, remembering her Eric.

The children chattered the whole way home about the airplane flight, the first time either had been on a plane.

Though Carrie normally didn't eat anything other than home-cooked meals unless she was dining out, with all the wedding planning going on, she grudgingly agreed to have pizza delivered.

As soon as the children hit the ground, they heard Gabe woofing and started jumping up and down, shouting "Doggie, doggie," over and over again.

"Settle down, kids," Wendy said, "You'll have plenty of time to play with the doggie."

Carrie went in first to make sure that Gabe was under control; he could get very exuberant when excited, and while he would never deliberately hurt anyone, with his bulk she was always careful when introducing him to children.

Eric and Julia showed no such concern as they charged into the house, climbing all over Gabe in their excitement. Gabe took their pummeling with good grace, only occasionally looking up at Carrie for some relief.

Carrie let them release their initial excitement, then pulled them off and sat them down in front of Gabe.

"Eric, Julia," she said, "this is Gabe. He is a very friendly dog, but he isn't a toy. Please treat him kindly, and he will love you. Gabe, this is Eric, and this is Julia, family."

Gabe seemed to nod in understanding, then gave Eric and Julia big slobbering kisses. They both giggled as their mother and grandmother wiped their faces.

There was a knock on the door as the pizzas arrived, and everyone sat down to eat, though it seemed that the kids got as much on themselves as in their mouths, while Gabe had a field day munching on dropped crusts.

The four adults made a good team, making short work of the mess while the kids sat in the living room watching their favorite videos.

While relaxing over coffee, Carrie and Tony told David and Wendy about how they met and their courtship. David was very supportive. He knew that his mother was very devoted to his father's memory, and that was all well and good, but he had been encouraging her for some time to get out and meet some new people; he was very impressed with Tony.

They heard the video end, and Eric came running in, with Julia trailing close behind. They went over to Tony, and Eric asked, "Are you gonna be our new Grampa?"

Tony got a little choked up, and wasn't able to answer right away, so Carrie bailed him out.

"Yes, Eric," Carrie said. "After tomorrow you'll have a new Grandfather."

"Good," said Eric, "I like him. He's nice." Eric then hugged Tony's leg, followed soon after by Julia, then both kids went in search of Gabe.

"Pl...please excuse me," Tony said before leaving the room.

When he didn't return after a few moments, Carrie went looking for him, finding him sitting in the dark in the den. His head was in his hands, quietly sobbing.

"Tony, what is it? What's wrong?" Carrie asked, kneeling beside him, grasping his hand.

"N...nothing's wrong, Carrie," he said with a sad smile, his eyes still brimming with tears.

"Then why are you sitting here crying? I don't understand."

Tony inhaled deeply, trying to pull himself together.

"It...it's just that before Lila and I broke up, I was looking forward to the day when we would have children. When we divorced, that dream had some big cracks in it, then, as time went by and I hadn't found anyone else, the dream was shattered. I gave up all hope of having a real family.

"When Eric said that he was glad that I was going to be his grandfather, that dream came rushing back. My dream was coming true. I wasn't crying because I was sad. Those were tears of joy."

As Tony was telling his story, Carrie's eyes filled with tears, also, and she was soon sobbing into his arm.

David and Wendy quietly looked in on them. David was concerned, but Wendy understood and gently tugged David away, leaving Carrie and Tony in their moment.

Carrie wasn't sure how long they sat there in the dark, but when they left the den, everyone else had gone to bed. David had apparently taken Gabe out for his late-night bathroom break because he was sound asleep on his blanket, snoring gently.

Carrie and Tony went to bed, too emotionally spent to do anything but sleep, finding sweet comfort in each other's arms.

Morning came all too soon, with a myriad of details still to be taken care of.

Elsie Rawlins had been warmly welcomed into the circle of friends and nominated herself for chief wedding planner. Carrie gratefully accepted her help, and she immediately began coordinating all the food.

Sam and Gloria had brought their smoker to cook up a pig, starting it off at the crack of dawn at 5:00 AM, and her other friends wouldn't let her even think of hiring a caterer. Everyone contributed their best dishes to the party. Although everyone said that she should relax on her big day, Carrie desperately wanted to provide her potato salad, but couldn't figure out where she would find the time. Elsie saved the day with a great suggestion; Carrie would do the initial prep before leaving for the airport, leaving the ingredients and instructions for Elsie to finish. Elsie was an amazing cook who brought three different varieties of chicken wings, as well as a huge garden salad, and Tony made a wedding cake out of tiers of his cupcakes.

When Tony asked David to be his best man, Carrie kissed his cheek and whispered, "Thank you, honey, that's so sweet!" Carrie then asked Wendy to be her Matron of Honor and Eric and Julie to be the Ring Bearer and Flower Girl.

She also asked Samantha to stand by her, but she initially refused.

"My hair's still growing back," she said, "I look awful."

"No, Sam," Carrie said, "you're beautiful, and nobody cares about some silly hair. Everyone here is my friend and they are all good people. Oh, some who don't know you may be a little startled at first, but once they get to know the beautiful person you really are, they won't give it a second thought."

Samantha was still a little unsure, but nodded her acceptance. Her parents looked on with glistening eyes, and Carrie gave Sam a big hug,

All their friends were hustling and bustling all morning, setting up buffet tables along with tables and chairs for the reception. The smoker was doing its job and the pig would be ready for the reception.

Carrie was getting ready, with the assistance of Wendy and Samantha. She chose a pale lavender strapless dress that hugged her curves just right, with her hair in a simple messy bun.

She wore a pendant that was her last anniversary gift from Eric. Carrie had asked Tony if he minded, but he just hugged her close. "I would be honored to share this moment with Eric," he said, as she sobbed softly into his shoulder, ever more grateful for meeting this wonderful man.

Another friend set up a sound system to provide music for the ceremony and reception.

They got married under an arbor covered with flowers from Carrie's garden, and Carrie chose "Bridge Over Trouble Water" for her and Tony to walk up to the arbor for their vows.

Tony and Carrie wrote their own vows. Tony went first:

"Carrie, in you I have found my best friend, my confidant, my lover, my inspiration, my better half, my soul mate.

"You have already taught me so much about the kind of person I want to be. You love with your whole heart and soul and give all that you have whether it is deserved or not, whether it is appreciated or not, whether it is returned or not.

"You are the strongest person I know. No matter what life has thrown at you, you have been able to thrive and prosper. You have an amazingly positive attitude and your good humor is infectious, even to an old grump like me.

"I am far from perfect, this you know, of course, but you accept me for who I am and love me for my flaws, not in spite of them. I know that you will always support me no matter what this life throws at us, even if you don't agree with me.

"I promise to always cherish you, honor you, respect you, be true to you and love you with every fiber of my being.

"I promise to protect and take care of you and our family for all the days of my life."

All eyes turned to Carrie and she spoke firmly in her quiet little voice.

"I give myself to you this day to share my life with you. You can trust my love; it's as real as life. I will remain faithful to you for better or worse, in times of sickness and health. You have become my best friend and I will love and respect you always. I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement. I will help you when you need it, and step aside when you don't. I promise to unfailingly share and support your hopes, dreams, and goals. I vow to be there for you always.