The Help He Did Not Expect

This is my first ever submission. I have always like to create stories with a naughty twist. Right up front I need to tell you that the naughtiness starts slowly. I tend to want the reader get a feel for the main characters so when the sex happens there is a meaning to it. I've rarely enjoyed the wham bam thank you mamma type stories.

I would like to thank kenjisato for all of his grammar and spelling help. He has made my story more readable.

The Help He Did Not Expect

Matt Cooper and his wife were married for a little more than forty years, when her known heart-valve issue escalated unexpectedly, and she died. His world no longer made sense. He became a curmudgeon. He was angry at the world and everyone in it. No one wanted to be around him. Since he had retired at sixty-two, he had nowhere to go and no one to talk to. That was until his sixty-sixth birthday.

It was a cold, snowy day on his birthday. One of the local gas stations gave out a free cup of coffee and a donut to anyone on their birthday. So Matt slipped on his boots and winter jacket and headed out. As he pulled into the gas station parking lot, he noticed that people were baby-stepping in the parking lot, trying not to slip on the ice. He was lucky enough to get out of the car and into the gas station with no problem. After receiving his birthday coffee and donut, he tiptoed his way back to the car. Unfortunately, he misjudged where the ice was under the snow as he stepped off the curb, and went flying under his car.

He did not remember much of what happened after he fell. He came around in an emergency room bed, with his left arm in a sling and a nasty bump on the back of his head. He tried to look around the room, but every muscle in his body ached and his head was spinning. Matt was told that his left arm was broken and that he had a mild concussion.

The next day, he had a water-proof cast put on his left arm. After many concussion tests that showed everything was fine, he was released from the hospital. His oldest son, Joe, drove him home.

As they were driving, Joe explained, "I'm going to spend the day with you Dad, but I will have to go to work tonight. He continued, "The gas station's lawyer called me earlier today. They have completely admitted fault for not maintaining their parking lot. You were offered fifty thousand dollars, and they would cover all medical bills and a visiting nurse with an additional home healthcare aid aide."

"What is a home healthcare aide?" Matt asked.

"The person assigned to you is both a home healthcare aide and a housekeeper. They will cook and clean for you, as well as help you with bathroom and shower needs."

"I don't need any help!" barked Matt.

"Dad," Joe snapped back, "who is going to help you around the house? Who is going to cook and clean for you? AND... who is going to help you bathe and clean yourself?"

Matt's blood started boiling. In his mind, he didn't need anyone's help. "The nurse can come, but I don't need any home healthcare aid. I can take care of myself, thank you!" he grumbled.

"Fine," Joe said. "Take care of yourself."

They were both silent in the car.

Once they got to Matt's house, they did not talk to each other; they just sat in the living room and watched TV.

As the day went on, Matt was able to get out of the chair and go to the bathroom to urinate fine, but when he went back in later to sit on the toilet, he struggled to get up off of it. Eventually, he called out to his son to help him.

Neither one wanted to have the other one in there, but after his son figured it out by lifting him by one arm, Matt was able to get up off the toilet and headed back into the living room.

Joe announced that he needed to leave soon.

"Help me get into the shower," Matt grumbled.

"Here," Joe offered, as he handed his dad some adult body wipes the hospital had given him. "Use these. I'm not going to help you in and out of the shower when there is a perfectly good and paid-for service that you are too stubborn to accept."

"I'm not having a stranger see me naked or cleaning me," said Matt.

"None of the family is able to be here for 24-seven support for the next two-plus months to help you with all your needs. Please consider the services that have been offered to you," Joe said.

They did not say another word to each other until Joe was walking out the door.

"Um... Thank you," Matt said.

"No problem," his son replied, "I'll stop by after work. Please think about the free help that is offered to you."

That night, Matt needed to bathe really badly, but did not want to try to step over the tub wall to take a shower, so he used the adult wipes as best he could. It was impossible to reach everywhere with his broken arm. He could smell himself. It was not pleasant. He fell asleep in the recliner.

In the middle of the night, he urgently needed to sit on the toilet again. He was able to get out of the recliner and made it to the bathroom and plopped himself down onto the toilet. Once he was done, he realized that he could not stand up off of the toilet. His legs were too weak. He then tried to pull himself up and off with his right hand on the sink counter. Halfway up, his hand slipped and he fell to the ground. He cursed the sky as he tried to get up. It was no use. He needed both hands and arms to get up.

Lying on the floor, he realized that his flannel pants and underwear were still around his ankles. He tried to roll on his left side so he could use his right hand to pull them up. It hurt like crazy from the fall and his arm in the cast, but he eventually got his pants up enough to cover himself. Rolling back onto his back, and panting heavily, he wanted to curse the sky again. He was so angry at everyone and everything.

Lying on the floor was uncomfortable, but he had no choice. He could not get up and he could not crawl. Staring at the ceiling, he started thinking about his wife. He missed her. But it was the first time that he did not feel like he was in a bad dream, and that all he had to do was wake up. For the first time, he accepted that she was gone. But he was still mad about everything and everybody. As all of the things played in his mind, he drifted off to sleep.

Hours later, he thought he heard a voice in the distance. Matt was groggy when he looked around and remembered that he was on the bathroom floor.

At that point, Joe looked into the bathroom from the hallway and saw his dad on the floor. "Oh my god, Dad... What happened?? Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Matt, "I had to sit on the toilet in the middle of the night and could not stand back up afterwards."

Joe shook his head and grabbed at Matt's good arm, and eventually got him up off the floor. Matt's legs were numb and he could barely walk. His son helped him to the recliner where Matt plopped down.

"This is ridiculous," his son said, "the visiting nurse will be here in thirty minutes. If you do not accept the home healthcare aide person, I'll inform the nurse and she will contact the county. They will force you into a rehab facility. You might be forced to stay there until you die."

"Damn it!" yelled Matt. "Why can't everyone just leave me alone?"

"It's up to you," Joe said, as he sat down on the couch.

Right on time, the visiting nurse knocked on the door. Joe got up and let her in. Becca was her name. To Matt, she didn't look to be more than thirty-five or thirty-six years old. Matt was grumpy at first, but she was pretty and talking nicely to him. As she took his blood pressure and other vitals, Matt could smell her perfume. He liked the scent. Then he realized it was similar to one of the perfumes his wife would wear. It was the first little ray of sunshine in a long time. He stopped being as grumpy as he was.

When she was done with what she needed to do, she asked him if he had talked to his home healthcare aide. Joe was about to tell the nurse that his dad was refusing, when Matt spoke up.

"I... um... I have not yet. I was waiting for the painkillers to wear off, so I... um... was able to talk to them, myself."

Joe was stunned by his dad's one-eighty decision.

"Great," said Becca. "I see Esmeralda is assigned to you. I think she will be a good fit for you."

That put a small smile on Matt's face.

"I'll call her now to see when she can come over," said Becca.

As Becca stepped away from the two of them to make the call, Joe spoke up, "What made you change your mind, Dad?"

Matt smugly snapped at his son and said, "None of you are going to help and I am not going into a rehab facility."

"Well, good," said Joe, "it's what you need."

Just then, the nurse returned to the room, saying, "Esmeralda only lives a few miles from here. She will be here in a few minutes."

Sure enough, five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Joe opened it to let Esmeralda in.

Esmeralda looked like she was in her late forties. Obviously Hispanic, maybe five-foot-two or five-three with brown hair. She was curvy.

Joe introduced himself, and then led her to where Matt was sitting. "Dad," Joe said, "this is Esmeralda."

"Hello," said Esmeralda, as she extended her hand.

Matt just sat there and stared at her. Esmeralda withdrew her hand back with a questioned look on her face.

"Dad!" said Joe, out loud. "What is wrong with you?"

Matt replied, "Could everyone excuse me while I talk to my son in private,"

Becca and Esmeralda stepped over into the kitchen.

Once it was just the two of them, Matt spoke to his son in a low voice, "She is NOT going to work out."

"Why?" asked Joe.

It took Matt a few seconds to gather his thoughts, then said, "She doesn't look strong enough to help me up and down. She may cook something that I... I don't like... and... and... I don't get along with Mexicans."

"I can't believe it," said Joe. "You're going to play the race card on her? That is ridiculous."

"It's how I feel," said Matt. "You're not going to change me."

Joe started pacing back and forth in the living room, with his hands on his sides. After pacing around, Joe sputtered out, "That is IT! I quit. I'll have Becca call the county and that will be that!"

Apparently, both Becca and Esmeralda heard some or all of the conversation and the outburst from Joe. Together, they walked into the living room. Both looked mad, but it was Esmeralda who spoke up first.

"Mr. Cooper. You don't know me. You are trying to typecast me with everyone else of my ethnicity. I can cook just about any common American food. And for my abilities to assist you in getting up..." she grabbed his good arm and, as well as Joe had done, lifted Matt up and out of his chair.

Matt stood there, stunned, staring at her. He saw determination in her eyes. After a few seconds, Matt pulled his arm away from hers slowly, and sat back down in his chair. A bit shaken, he looked at Becca, then Esmeralda, and then his son.

"Well!" said Esmeralda.

"Umm," started Matt, "I... I don't know. Uh... um... well, I guess we can... um, try it for a day or two."

"I have to sign up for at least thirty days to get paid my full salary," said Esmeralda.

Matt looked at his son for sympathy, but didn't see it in his eyes. So he turned to Esmeralda, and asked, "How often can you come here? How long will you stay when you get here? Will you be willing to try some of my favorite recipes?"

"First of all," Esmeralda said, "I'm a damn good cook and can make anything. Second, I am contracted for up to three visits a day, but since you would be my only client and I live less than five minutes away, I can come or go a little more often. I am an empty-nester as well as a widow, so I can be here a little more than some others can, but I don't want to be taken advantage of."

Stuttering a little, Matt replied, "That, uh... that works for me. When can you start?"

"I can return this afternoon. Is that good enough?" asked Esmeralda.

"Uh, yes," said Matt.

"I'll make you dinner when I return," she said.

Becca and Esmeralda walked out of the door together, and Joe was gathering his jacket.

"This better work out, Dad, or you know what will happen to you," said Joe.

"I know; I know... I'll give her a chance," Matt said.

___________________________________________

Matt asked Joe to leave the door unlocked for when Esmeralda would return. He didn't want to have to get up out of the chair to open it. Around five o'clock, there was a tap on the door.

"Come in," said Matt.

Esmeralda let herself in and approached Matt sitting in his chair. In a snarky tone, Esmeralda asked, "Have I arrived at a good time?"

Matt replied, "Yes, thank you."

"Since I'm new here, and don't know the layout, may I check out the rest of your house for now?" asked Esmeralda.

"Of course," said Matt.

He watched her enter the kitchen, and then a minute later, she exited it and headed down the hallway. Matt did not like the fact that with him sitting in his chair, he could not see where she was, or what she was doing. Matt struggled to get up and out of the chair. Walking to the hallway, he saw her exit his bedroom.

"Your room and bathroom could use a good tidying up," Esmeralda said.

With a furrow in his brow, Matt said, "There is nothing there you need to touch."

"Fine," she said, "I won't ever go in there again."

Not sure if she was trying to be honest or just being snarky, Matt shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the living room.

Esmeralda turned into the kitchen, and before Matt was able to sit down, she asked, "Is there anything in particular you are wanting me to make for dinner tonight?"

"Well," said Matt, "you can just open a can of chili for me."

"Now wait," she answered back, "part of my job is to provide a better variety of healthy food for you."

"Hold on," he thundered back, "I'm not eating any foo-foo healthy food from Mexico,"

On hearing him say that, Esmeralda stormed into the living room, and said, "Listen here, buster! I am not taking any of your racist bullshit! If you genuinely do not like Mexican food because you do not care for the taste, that is one thing."

Matt was not used to anyone talking back to him. As she stood there, with her arms folded on her chest staring at him, Matt decided to play it cool... for now.

"Uh... I'm, uh, sorry. No one has been to the grocery store for over a week. Take a look at what is in the kitchen," he said.

She stared at him for a few seconds, then she slowly turned and entered the kitchen. Matt turned and sat down in his chair. As he reached for the TV remote, he heard her say from the kitchen, "There is small canned ham in here, I can cook that with some vegetables. Is that satisfactory?"

"Um... yes... um... thank you."

About an hour later, Esmeralda called from the kitchen, "Everything is ready. Do you want to eat at the table or at your chair?"

"The chair for now... if you don't mind," he replied. Matt moved the TV tray from the side of his chair to in front of him.

She entered with a plate of food and a glass of ice tea. "I hope you don't mind," Esmeralda said, "I made some sweet tea with lemon."

"My favorite," Matt exclaimed.

"I will be at the kitchen table if you want anything," Esmeralda stated.

"You don't have to eat in there," Matt said, "there is an extra TV tray that you can use."

She looked him up and down for a second, and then said, "Hmm... okay... I'll be right back." She went back into the kitchen, then returned in a few minutes with her food, setting it on the TV tray.

The TV commercial ended and the program started back up. It was one of those crime drama shows based on real events. Matt grabbed the TV remote, and said, "I don't have to watch this if you don't want to."

"Um... no... I like those kinds of shows," said Esmeralda.

After they both ate, Esmeralda took all the dishes into the kitchen and loaded up the dishwasher. Returning to the living room, Esmeralda said, in a bit of a snarky tone, "I HOPE the food was satisfactory."

"It..." Matt stuttered, "It was, um... good. You made the green beans like my wife used to make them."

"Well," she started, "when I opened up the cabinets with the canned goods in them, I saw several recipes that were marked with an 'M' and a check mark next to it. I assumed they were recipes that you liked so... I followed that one for the green beans."

At first, Matt's quick temper was about to jump her for spying, when a little voice in the back of his head told him not to. The food was delicious and the tea was welcoming. So... instead of snapping at her, he said, "Um. Wow. I forgot about the inside-the-cabinet-door recipe list. That green bean dish was one of my wife's favorite sides."

"That is good," she said.

At that point, Matt had the urge to urinate. He rocked himself in the chair a few times, and eventually stood up. "Um... excuse me," Matt said, "I need to use the... bathroom."

"Okay," said Esmeralda, "do you need any help?"

"No... uh, no," he said, "I'm only going... uh..." pausing a bit embarrassed, "number one."

Looking like she was trying to not laugh at a toddler, she said, "Oookay, Mr. Cooper."

"Please, just call me Matt."

"I will try to remember," Esmeralda said.

Matt then walked down the hallway, and then entered the bathroom, closing the door. It actually was a bit of a struggle to use just the one hand to fish out his penis from his pants. After struggling, he finally was able to free it. He leaned down to lift the seat, and then fell forward, only barely catching himself with his good hand before smacking his forehead into the wall above the toilet. With a sigh of relief, he pushed himself back onto his feet. He was then struggling to urinate after the near fall.

At that point, there was a knock on the door.

"What?" Matt barked.

"Are you okay, Mr. Matt? I heard a loud thud in the bathroom."

"Uh... nope... all is good,"

"Are you sure?" she asked, again. "I am here if you need help."

"No... uh... don't come in. I'm, ah, trying to use the bathroom," Matt replied.

"Please, Mr. Matt," Esmeralda said through the door. "I don't want you to get hurt. This is what I am here for."

"I'm fine. I'm fine, just... leave me alone so I can pee," he said, without thinking.

"Okay," was all she said. Esmeralda thought it was a bit funny that he was some mean, brute man who couldn't even say pee.

Seeing that she had walked away, Matt turned his attention to trying to pee. All this talk and almost falling was distracting him. Try and try and try, he could not pee; it was almost as if someone was watching him. After a few minutes, he gave up. Pulling up his jogging pants as best he could with one hand, he opened the door and walked back to his chair.

As he sat back down into his chair, Esmeralda said, "Did you pee? I did not hear the toilet flush."

Matt was a little embarrassed, but replied, "Actually, I did not." He continued, "Too many distractions."

"Well maybe, you can try a little bit later," Esmeralda said.

Matt felt flustered. He was not used to needing anyone to help him with anything, and here he was struggling with the most minor tasks.

Esmeralda went into the kitchen to finish cleaning up. At that time, Matt turned on the TV. Once again, a true crime drama show was on. After finishing in the kitchen, Esmeralda came back into the living room and sat down where she had sat before. The episode ended at eight o'clock.

During the commercial, Esmeralda said, "I am officially off the clock now, so if you need anything else before I Ieave, please let me know now."

"No... uh, I'm good. You can go," said Matt.

"I don't want to be rude Mr. Matt," said Esmeralda, "but you have not bathed in a while and I can help you with that."

"Look, I really appreciate the dinner and you cleaning up, but I can't have you in the bathroom with me... uh... helping me in the shower, and... all. It's... it's just too embarrassing."

Esmeralda stood up and walked up to Matt's chair. She placed her hands on her hips, and said, "Look, I am a highly trained professional for just those things. I've helped women AND men with toilet duties and bathing. If you do not want my professional skills, then maybe I should notify my boss and they could probably get a guy in here to help you."

'A guy?' he thought to himself, there was no way he was letting a man see him struggling, see him... naked.

"Wait." Matt explained, "I am sorry. I am embarrassed, and struggling, and to have someone seeing me... naked."

With her hands still on her hips, Esmeralda asked, "But...?"

"But." Matt stuttered, "If you assure me... that this is part of your job, and you will not be judging me... I am willing to give it a try."

"Thank you," Esmeralda replied, "because you're pretty-ripe smelly, Mr. Matt."

"I know; I know... Sorry," he said.

"Here," Esmeralda offered, "please, let me help you up."

"Okay..." he said.

_______________

Esmeralda had to figure out the best way to assist Matt getting out of the chair. He was barely able to do it himself without nearly crashing to the ground. Lifting under his good arm, she was able to assist him in standing.

As they walked down the hallway to the bathroom, Matt said, "I'm going to grab something to put on after I bathe."

"I can get you something," Esmeralda said.

"Well..." Matt stammered, "the top drawer has my... um... uh..."

"Your... underthings?", Esmeralda said, trying to be a bit more sympathetic.

"Uh... yeah," Matt said, "and my robe is on the back of the door, as well."

"Okay," she said.

Matt entered the bathroom. Pulling the shower curtain aside, he took a deep breath. He was embarrassed in both having to have anyone helping him, but especially, a strange woman. He carefully reached down and turned on the water. Once the temperature was set, he pulled the lever to start the shower.

At that moment, Esmeralda entered the bathroom. Seeing that he was nervous, she suggested that she would turn around and let him undress. Matt was a bit relieved to hear that. As she faced away Matt struggled with getting the shirt off of himself.

"Umm... Esmeralda," Matt spoke in a bit of a timid voice, "I am unable to remove the shirt."

"I will help, if you want," Esmeralda said.

"Yes, please," he said.

She turned to him and started removing the shirt. Once it was off, Esmeralda said, "Perhaps, you should just drape the robe over your shoulders after the shower. Here, let me put the waterproof wrap on your arm."

"Yes, thank you," Matt said.

Matt looked down at his flannel bottoms he had on, and realized that there was no way he was going to get them off without himself falling down.

"I'm a bit afraid of falling while taking the pants off," said Matt. "Could you, um... help me with them?"

"Yes, Mr. Cooper," Esmeralda said.

Matt held onto a towel bar with his good hand, while she undid his flannel pants. Again, sensing his embarrassment, she turned her head while pulling them down.

The room was starting to steam up. Esmeralda tossed his old clothes into a pile in the corner of the room.

Not really wanting her to see him like this, but knowing his unsteadiness, Matt asked, "Um... can you help me into the shower?"

Keeping her head turned a bit, she maneuvered to his good-arm side and held onto his arm as he lifted one leg over the tub wall. Steadying himself on that leg, he pivoted a little and lifted his other leg to put into the tub. He wobbled a bit before he placed that leg down. As he wobbled, Esmeralda turned to him to steady him.

At that moment, Matt could smell her perfume. He liked it. It, too, reminded him of one of his wife's perfumes.

Esmeralda's one arm and part of her t-shirt got wet from the spray of the shower as she helped him in. She stepped back, pulled the shower curtain closed and used his bath towel to dry herself.

"Thank you," Matt said, from inside the shower.

"No problem, Mr... um... Matt," Esmeralda said.

Matt was able then to lather up his head with the shampoo and rinse. Grabbing the bar soap, he rubbed it on his face and everywhere else he could, but realized he was not doing it well. He also realized that, due to his arm being wrapped up, he was not going to be able to lather up everywhere.

He called out to her, "Um... I... um... am not able to reach everywhere... um, with the soap."

"I will help you... Please don't be embarrassed," Esmeralda said.

"Okay... uh... okay," Matt said. He turned his back to her as she pulled the shower curtain back. He handed her back the soap.

With the soap in her hands, she started lathering up his back. "If it is okay with you... Matt, I'll wash your back and your legs while you stand there," Esmeralda said.

"All right," he said.

She grabbed the washcloth off of the edge of the tub, and lathered that up. She scrubbed his back and then bent over to wash all around his legs. "I know it is embarrassing," Esmeralda said, "but I really should wash... all of your back... side here. If you know what I mean."

"I just... Uh..." Matt stuttered knowing she was right. "I understand."

Esmeralda lathered up the washcloth again, and proceeded to wash the outside of his ass cheeks. Trying to be both professional and sympathetic to his discomfort, she knew what needed to be done. With that, she ran her one hand with the washcloth between his ass checks as gently as she could.

That caught Matt off guard a bit. At this point, he just wanted this to be over.

Esmeralda proceeded to rinse off the washcloth. "I need you to turn sideways to wash your arm," Esmeralda told him.

He turned a bit. Esmeralda lathered up the washcloth and started washing his good arm. Without thinking, she lifted his arm up so she could wash his armpit. Again, this caught Matt off guard, but he did not protest.

Not intending to think about it, Esmeralda washing him like this reminded him of the times he and his wife would shower together. He had great memories of them lathering each other all over their bodies. He would finger her pussy, while she wrapped her hand around his cock, stroking it. She would have one of the most intense orgasms like that. It would eventually end up with her bent over in the shower, as he would fuck her from behind until he came in her pussy.

His cock started to stir.

He did not notice it at first, but while Esmeralda was washing his armpit, she also brushed against his nipple. The combination of the washing, the washcloth brushing up against his nipple, and the memories-- his cock started to rise. Matt panicked a little. He started to turn away from her again.

"I'm not done," Esmeralda said.

"That's good, that's good," Matt said. "You don't need to do any more."

"Fine," she said. "Let me rinse off the washcloth and my hands."

Matt was mortified. Here he was with a complete stranger, and he was getting a hard-on. As Esmeralda rinsed off her hands, she realized that the front of her t-shirt was soaked. When she pulled away from the shower and pulled the curtain back, she grabbed the towel and patted her shirt as dry as she could. Matt proceeded to rinse off. Afterwards, he turned off the shower and asked for the towel.

Esmeralda pushed the towel through the curtains, and said, "Let me know when you are done, and I'll help you out of the shower."

Matt grabbed it. He placed the towel on his head and face. As he rubbed the towel round he could smell Esmeralda perfume. There was that familiar smell Matt thought to himself. He held the towel to his face and inhaled slowly. 'Yep,' he thought to himself, that was his wife's favorite perfume. Especially if she was in the mood for sex. He inhaled slowly again. God, he had missed that smell.

Instinctively, his good hand made its way to his cock. He stroked the nearly rigid cock a few times. His head was swirling with the thought of sex with his wife.

"Any problems?" Esmeralda asked, through the shower curtain.

That snapped Matt out of his memory fog. "Nope... uhh... I mean No. I am all most done," he said. He dried off as best he could, but his cock stayed hard. He started panicking. He did not want to have that sticking out in the air like that in front of Esmeralda. He tried wrapping the towel around himself, but with just one hand, he could not completely do it.

In a quick thinking moment, he said, "If you would hand me my underwear and pants through the curtain I'll slip them on."

"Mr. Matt," she said. "I know you are embarrassed and all, but your tub has no anti-slip surface or a bath mat. I'm very concerned that you will slip. Please let me help you."

Matt signed... She was right. So what he did was hold the towel in front of him and told her she could open the curtain. As she did she noticed water was still dripping off of parts of his body.

"Please hand me the towel, Mr. Matt," said Esmeralda. "You are still too wet to get out of the tub."

"Ah... no... um... That's all right." Matt said. "I'll drip dry."

"Don't be ridiculous," Esmeralda said. "Give me the towel."

Matt looked at her, first with anger, and then something clicked in his head. He turned his face away from Esmeralda, and said, "I... um... cannot. I-I need the towel to... cover... me."

At first, Esmeralda did not understand why he was acting that way, until she noticed the tent in the towel that he was holding in front of himself. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Matt," said Esmeralda. "Hold onto your towel as I help you out."

He was glad to hear her say that. With her holding onto his good arm, Matt took one step over the tub edge. He steadied that foot, and then as he lifted the foot that was still in the tub, the first leg wobbled as if he was going to fall. Instinctively, he tried grabbing the wall. In doing so, he let go of the towel. His cock was then pointing straight out.

Esmeralda caught a glimpse of it and turned her head away.

Once Matt was steady on both feet, Esmeralda reached down to grab the towel for him. As she lifted her body up, she was eye level to his cock. She turned her head again, hoping he did not see her looking at it.

Matt grabbed the towel and covered himself again.

Trying to break the tension in the room, Esmeralda said, "That was close. Please lean on me more the next time..."

Matt was red in the face, but instead of lashing out, he simply said, "I will."

As Esmeralda was helping Matt get dressed, he could not help but see that her shirt was still a bit damp, and you could see her dark nipples through her shirt and bra.

Esmeralda noticed that he was staring at her chest, so she cleared her throat.

Snapping back to reality, Matt realized that he had his boxers and flannel pants on. "Ummm... sorry," Matt said.

"No problem," Esmeralda said with a bit of a smile, as she draped the robe over his shoulders.

They walked back to the chair together..

_________________________________

Esmeralda had Matt sit on the couch temporarily, so she could remove the blanket and pillow off of the recliner that Matt was sleeping on. After putting on a different blanket and replacing the pillow case, Esmeralda helped Matt back onto the recliner.

"When I return tomorrow," Esmeralda said, "I'll wash the blanket, pillow case and any of your other dirty laundry."

"You're leaving?" Matt said.

"It is getting late and I need to do my own laundry," Esmeralda said. "Don't worry... I'll be back tomorrow."

"Oh... okay," Matt said. "Take the spare key and let yourself in."

"Thank you. I will," Esmeralda said, as she patted his hand with hers. "Goodnight, Mr. Matt."

"Goodnight," said Matt, "and please, just call me Matt."

"I will remember," said Esmeralda, as she walked away.

He watched her walk to the door, pick up the spare key, and exit the door. Matt did not realize it, but he had watched her ass the whole time. He liked the way it wiggled and swayed as she walked away. It was the first time he thought of her as a woman and not just a nuisance.

Around midnight, Matt was finally feeling sleepy, but needed to pee before falling asleep. After the usual couple of rocks in the chair he was up. Once in the bathroom, he fished his cock out of the fly of the pants and proceeded to pee. It was a long, satisfying piss for him. He smiled for the first time in a long time. He had a little feeling of normal.

He thought to himself that having Esmeralda help was not as bad as he thought it was going to be. After pissing, he did his traditional three shakes of his cock to prevent any dribbles. For some reason, his cock felt good in his hand. It quickly reminded him of the thoughts he had in the shower and the unconscious stroking of his cock. He reached down and flushed the toilet. He then moved over to the sink and washed his hand.

Looking in the mirror, he saw himself for the first time in days. He felt old. He had unkempt hair and wrinkles everywhere. Matt sighed to himself. After turning off the water, he grabbed the bath towel hanging there.

As he dried his hands, he realized that it was the towel that Esmeralda had dried herself with. It still had her perfume smell on it. He raised the towel to his nose and inhaled again. This time, he pictured Esmeralda walking away from him. His cock stirred in his pants. With a smile on his face, he flipped the towel over his shoulder and walked back to the recliner.

After sitting down, he turned off the TV and the light next to him. Matt fully reclined back and settled his body into a comfortable sleeping position. It didn't take him long to drift off to sleep. He first dreamt of his fall and the hospital stay. The memory of the pain made him shift in his chair.

He then dreamt of the argument with his son. Again, he shifted in the chair. After settling down, he slept for a few hours before he started dreaming again.

This time, he was dreaming of his wife. It was their last trip together. In typical dream fashion, the dream bounced around the memory a bit. The dream became clearer when he remembered her coming out of the hotel bathroom, wearing her most see-through nightgown she owned. Her large breasts swayed as she walked towards him. Her silver-dollar-sized areolas were very visible.

He dreamed that even in the dimly lit room he could see her naturally brown pubic hair clearly. He rose to embrace her. They kissed passionately. He could still feel her heavy tits crushing against his bare chest. He grabbed her ass cheeks through the nightgown. When he nuzzled his nose and mouth into her neck to kiss her there, he could smell her perfume. His pulse was racing. His breath was getting ragged. He wanted to rip that gown off of her and fuck her right there.

At that moment, there was a loud boom that shook the house. It woke up Matt. In a daze, he looked around. There was another boom. It was the rare winter thunder outside that had woken him up. After a few seconds of getting his bearings, Matt realized that he was breathing hard and his mouth was dry. And more so, his cock was fully hard.

Shaking his head, he remembered a bit of the dream he was having. He was angry at the storm for waking him up. He laid his head back on the recliner. His breathing slowed a bit, but he could not get over the fact that his cock was still hard. It felt a little wet inside his boxers. Lifting up the elastic waistband, he could see that a good bit of pre-cum had leaked out of him.

He then noticed the perspiration on his forehead. Remembering the towel he had brought with him from the bathroom, he reached for it and placed it on his face. With one wipe, the perspiration was gone, but he caught the smell of Esmeralda's perfume. His hand froze over his face with the towel in it. He allowed himself to take in a large breath of the perfume. As he did, his cock twitched. He was trying to think about his wife while inhaling the perfume, but all he could think about was the image of Esmeralda walking away from him. The way her hips moved. The way her ass jiggled.

He was perplexed. 'Why?' he thought to himself, why was he thinking of Esmeralda at that moment, and not of the memory of his wife. He couldn't shake the picture of Esmeralda in his head. Without thinking about it, Matt pushed his good hand down into his boxers.

He found his cock hot and heavy. He started stroking it. His cock responded by getting harder and more pre-cum began leaking. It felt so damn good to him. He had not felt this sexually aroused in years. But he couldn't get Esmeralda off his mind as he did this. It was like the visual of Esmeralda had pushed aside the dream of his wife.

His mind's eye played her walking away, her little smile she showed, and his memory of seeing her shirt and bra being wet. Matt sped up the stroking of his cock. It did not take long for that old feeling of ready to cum to draw close. He stopped stroking his cock long enough to pull down the front of his flannel pants and boxers. He could see a lot of pre-cum on the tip of his cock. His heart was racing. His mind was swirling. His hand gripped his cock. He knew what he wanted to do.

The strokes were long and purposeful. In his mind, he allowed thoughts of Esmeralda. He started imagining what she looked like naked. And then... he felt it. Cum was working up his cock. It was going to happen. As he threw his head back, the towel fell from his face and he cried out, as the cum started spurting out of him. It did not fly in the air but for Matt, this was the most cum he had produced in a very, very long time.

As his orgasm subsided, he found himself with ragged breath and cum all over his hand and stomach. He finally slowed his breathing down, and opened his eyes. Looking down, he could see the parts of him that were covered in cum. Seeing this, he panicked a little. He needed something fast to clean himself off.

At that moment, he remembered the towel that fell from his face. Carefully, he reached over and picked it up. He then draped it over his then shrinking cock. He wiped his hand on it, then proceeded to use the towel to catch all the cum that was on him. After a minute or so, his cock had shrunk down to a relaxed state, and he had finished cleaning up the mess. He tossed the towel to the side of the chair, and tucked himself back into his pants. Matt could not believe what he had just done-- jacked off to the vision of another woman? As his mind pondered this, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

_______________

Matt was still asleep in the chair when Esmeralda let herself in. Seeing him sleeping, she figured she would gather up the dirty clothes and do a load or two of laundry. She emptied the hamper into a laundry basket she found in his room. She picked up the few clothes scattered across the floor. Heading down the hallway towards the laundry room, she saw the towel on the floor next to his chair.

She thought to herself, "I don't remember either one of us bringing that towel out of the bathroom." She reached down, grabbed the corner of the towel and tossed it into the basket.

Once in the laundry room, she started filling up the washing machine with water. At that point, she dumped the basket on the floor so she could separate the dark clothes from the whites. The last piece in the pile of clothes was that towel. Esmeralda grabbed it and felt something funny on it. She opened it and was stunned to find Matt's cum in the towel.

"Gross," she thought to herself.

Still, she was amazed at the amount of cum that was in it. Pulling one hand away from the towel, she realized she had some cum on it. Curious, she rubbed her thumb and index finger together. It was still very slippery. Something came over her and she raised those fingers to her nose. She had not smelled anything male-wise in a long time. It was musky. Surprisingly, she liked the smell. Her body responded.

Esmeralda shook her head, and thought, "This does not make sense. I can barely put up with that man." And yet, she still was smelling his cum on her fingers.

Without thinking, her tongue reached out and licked her fingers. Doing so made her body shake even more. "Damn," she thought, "I've got to stop doing this."

She tossed the towel into the washing machine and then tossed the rest of the whites in, as well. Esmeralda measured out a portion of laundry soap and poured it in. Closing the lid, she leaned onto the machine for a few seconds with her eyes closed. She could not understand why she was picturing Matt's cock in her head. She had seen hundreds of old men naked, as she assisted them in the bathroom. Matt was no different-- mid-sixties; a bit of a gut on him. Nothing special. And yet... She could not shake the visual she had in her head.

She stood up. As she moved some of her hair over her one ear, she once again smelled Matt's cum on her fingers. Sighing a bit, she placed the fingers under her nose again, inhaling slowly and deeply. She stopped fighting the thoughts she had.

It was at that moment that Esmeralda realized her nipples were getting hard, and that she could feel some dampness in her panties. With the one hand still near her nose, she pushed the other underneath her scrub-like pants. She felt on the outside of her panties that she was definitely wet. Her panties were actually soaked.

Without thinking, Esmeralda ran her index finger over her panty-covered clit-- it was swollen and wet. She took a deep breath, as she shivered. Esmeralda had not had an orgasm in a long time. Her mind screamed for her to play with herself until she came. With her head rolling back, she lifted her hand up a bit, and then down into her panties. She pushed her finger through the outer lips. It squished. A long, soft moan escaped from her lips.

Esmeralda turned around and leaned against the washer, as she moved her finger up and down her slit. She could feel herself getting wetter. Her middle finger joined her index finger in her pussy. The hand that was under her nose reached down and pushed her scrubs and panties down. Her pussy felt like it was on fire. Esmeralda's knees buckled a little, as she plunged the two fingers deeply inside herself. A faint cry escaped from her lips. With the two fingers inside her, she used her thumb to rub her clit. Esmeralda's legs started shaking. She could feel the buildup.

She fingerfucked herself as fast as she could. Within a few seconds, her pussy started pulsing. She cried out with pleasure. Esmeralda's whole body was shaking. She held onto the washer, trying not to fall down. Wave after wave of that feeling washed over her. After what seemed like minutes, the pulsing slowed, then stopped. Her breath was ragged. Her eyes were closed. Her crotch was soaked and she had little beads of sweat on her forehead. Her back and armpits felt like they were drenched.

As she was able to stand straight up she raised her hand that was fingering herself. She always enjoyed the smell and taste of herself. Her smile was ear to ear. As she took a long breath and let it out, she realized that she was standing in the laundry room with her pants and panties around her knees. Looking around, she saw a stack of what looked like clean towels. She grabbed one and wiped it across her forehead. Esmeralda then used the towel to clean up her crotch. Once she did this, she tossed the towel in the washing machine since it was still in the washing part of the cycle. She pulled up her panties and then her scrubs. The coolness of the damp panties startled her a little. Making sure she had all her clothes back in place, Esmeralda headed back to the living room.

____________

Matt was stirring, when Esmeralda entered the living room. "Good morning," Matt said, as he stretched.

Esmeralda walked past him, staring at him, and entered the kitchen. Matt did not know what was going on.

As Matt was rubbing the sleepy out of his eyes, Esmeralda said from the kitchen, "I've started your laundry. I will cook your breakfast now."

"Laundry?" Matt thought. In a split second, he remembered the towel he had dropped on the floor next to the chair. When he looked over the side of the chair, the towel was gone. "Oh shit!" Matt thought.

"Is eggs and sausage okay?" Esmeralda asked from the kitchen.

"Yes, thank you," Matt stammered. "She didn't say anything," he thought to himself, "maybe she did not notice."

At that same time, Esmeralda was getting things ready to cook. On the wall was an old family photo; it looked like at least ten or more years ago. She looked closely at the picture. The one son and Matt she recognized. She assumed the tall brunette on Matt's arm was his wife. She was pretty. Esmeralda had a brief flash of jealousy.

Shaking her head, Esmeralda turned back to the task at hand, cooking breakfast. She put the sausage in the skillet and turned the burner on low. She decided to make scrambled eggs, so she started cracking a few eggs into a bowl. Midway of cracking the third egg she paused. Esmeralda looked over her shoulder at the picture again. After a few seconds of looking at it, she went back to making breakfast. She grabbed the whisk and started whipping them up.

As she whipped the eggs, her thoughts went back to the cum-filled towel. Then she pictured the photo in her mind. She stopped whisking and looked at the picture. She furled her brow and blurted out, "Fuck!"

"What is wrong?" Matt asked, from the living room.

"Nothing," Esmeralda replied, in anger.

All Matt could think was that she had figured out what was on the towel.

Esmeralda entered the living room about five minutes later with a plate of food for him. "Your coffee will be ready in five more minutes," Esmeralda said.

"Thanks," Matt said, still not sure what had upset her. He then asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah... I'm... I'm just... never mind," said Esmeralda.

Hoping to smooth things out, Matt said, "The eggs are excellent. Just the way I like them. Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Esmeralda, as she headed back into the kitchen.

Matt really did like the way she made the eggs.

In the kitchen, Esmeralda opened up the cupboard that held the glasses and coffee mugs. Assuming the mug that was labeled 'World's Greatest Dad' was his, once the coffee was ready, she poured some in it. "Do you take anything in your coffee?" asked Esmeralda.

"My usual is just a splash of half and half, and one of those yellow packets would be good," he said.

She finished preparing his coffee and brought it into the living room, and set it on the table next to him.

"Thank you," said Matt, "but I have to go to the bathroom." He started doing his three rocks before trying to push himself out of the chair.

"Wait," said Esmeralda. "Let me show you a better way of getting out of the chair without rocking back and forth. You're crossing your legs when you're trying to get up; that is making things very unstable for you. Here, let me show you."

At that point, she squatted down in front of him, and grabbed his feet to place them where they needed to be. As she was telling him the benefits of placing his feet this way, Matt was able to see down her shirt. There was a fair amount of cleavage showing; the gentle curve from breast to breast was mesmerizing. Esmeralda looked up from his shoes, catching him looking down her shirt. Not saying anything, Esmeralda just looked back down, and continued to explain the reasons.

Following Esmeralda's instructions, Matt was able to get up a little bit easier out of the chair.

"Thanks." he said, "now, I better go pee."

Something about the way Matt said pee had struck Esmeralda. She assumed that it was because it was a more casual way of saying going to urinate, but she did not expect that from Matt. She followed him to the bathroom. Once he was at the toilet, Matt started fumbling with the drawstring in his flannel pants.

"Damn it," Matt said, "I pulled the drawstring in my parts wrong and now it is in a knot."

"Here," said Esmeralda, "let me help you."

He turned to her, as she started working on undoing the knot in the drawstring. The second tug on the knot made Matt wobble a little.

"Sorry,"said Esmeralda. "Hold onto something."

Not really thinking about it, Matt placed his good hand on her shoulder. That made Esmeralda pause a second, and look up at him. Normally, she would have corrected a patient about placing their hand on her.

After a slightly uneasy look between them, Esmeralda said, "Good," then looked back down at the knot.

Matt did not know if it was the exhilarating feeling of placing his hand on her shoulder, or the fact that he really needed to pee that caused him to shake a bit inside. Struggling with the knot herself, Esmeralda leaned down to get a closer look at it. Matt's eyes opened wide, knowing her hands and her face were then near to his cock. Trying not to be obvious, he slowly took in a long inhale of breath. That got his cock's attention; he was so afraid that he would pitch a tent in front of her.

The stirring in Matt pants did not go unnoticed by Esmeralda. The visual of Matt's cock in the shower, popped up in her head. She, too, took a deep breath in. Luckily, the knot came undone.

Esmeralda said, "There you go," and stood back up.

"Thank you," said Matt, as his hand came off her shoulder. He turned back to the toilet and then paused. He was in the motion of lowering the front of his pants to fish out his cock, but then realized Esmeralda was still standing there.

At that moment, Esmeralda said, "Oh... sorry... I'll give you your privacy." as she walked away. Esmeralda stepped into the hallway, but Matt realized that she did not close the door. Finally, Matt fished out his cock. It was swollen. Not hard, but heavy enough to hang down. It felt good in his hand.

He always enjoyed that feeling, whether it was pissing, showering, or sex. Pointing it towards the toilet, Matt gave out a small sigh, as the urine started flowing. It was a hefty stream; it reminded him of his younger days. To him, it sounded powerful when it hit the water. As the piss came out of him, he looked to the left slightly where the sink and mirror was. Without turning his head much, he could see that Esmeralda was, in fact, standing partially in the doorway looking at him. He had a little naughty smirk on his face.

As the stream of pee slowed to a dribble, Esmeralda moved back out of the doorway. After his normal three shakes of his cock to get the final drips off, he stood there a few seconds. Looking at his cock, the visual image of Esmeralda running her hand up and down it came to his mind. His cock swelled a bit more.

From the hallway, Esmeralda asked, "Is everything okay? Do you need any help?"

A very small chuckle escaped his lips, as he DID have a bit of an idea on how she could help. But instead, he said, "Nope... Just... tucking it in." He could not believe he said that.

Neither could she.

Matt reached over and flushed the toilet. He exited the bathroom and headed towards the living room. "You know," he said, as he was walking, "you don't have to shadow me all the time."

"For my job," Esmeralda said, "whenever I am here, I need to be close... for any assistance you need."

Matt turned towards her for a rebuttal, but seeing her in a different light, he said, "I am glad you are here... I mean, to help. I'm sorry that--"

Esmeralda cut him off by saying, "You are fine. No worries. Besides you have..." Esmeralda paused.

"Have what?," asked Matt.

"Oh, nothing," said Esmeralda.

"No, no..." Matt said, jokingly, "around here, you must finish your sentences."

Esmeralda scrunched her face a little, trying to find the words. "Well..." said Esmeralda, "I was told that you were going to be very difficult to work for. At first, I thought they were right. But I can see why, at first, you were... the way you were."

"Meaning?" Matt inquired.

"Meaning..." Esmeralda said, trying to find the right words, "I know it has been hard since your wife passed away. I, too, was not pleasant to be around when I first lost my husband. Now, sit down and I'm going to do the dishes."

_______________

The rest of the morning was pretty benign. Esmeralda finished the morning dishes and laundry as Matt got online with his laptop, to pay some bills and check emails. It was getting close to lunchtime, but Esmeralda wanted to do the vacuuming before then.

As she was pulling the vacuum out of the closet, she noticed Matt rocking his head side to side and rubbing his neck. "Are you in pain," Esmeralda asked.

"Kind of," said Matt. "It is hard on my neck and shoulders when I spend time on the laptop sitting in the recliner." I think the doctor said I could aggravate a nerve in my shoulder, or something like that."

"Ah yes," said Esmeralda, "it will. I could... massage it for you."

"Really?" said Matt.

"It would be best," said Esmeralda, "if you sit on a kitchen chair."

As Matt got up, Esmeralda brought a kitchen chair into the living room. "You need to sit in the chair, facing the backrest." She asked, "Can you do that?"

"Yes. I think so," said Matt.

Standing in front of the chair, facing towards the rear of it, Matt squatted a little as he moved over the chair. Esmeralda grabbed his arm as he started straddling the chair. With her assistance, Matt sat down.

"Lean forward a bit," said Esmeralda.

Once Matt had steadied himself, Esmeralda pulled his shirt off of him and started applying pressure to his shoulders, near his neck, with her fingers. Rolling his shoulders with her fingers and thumbs felt good to Matt. She worked from the base of his neck to the outer ends of his shoulders several times.

She stopped, and asked, "How is that so far?"

"Wow," said Matt, "I can feel the difference."

"Good." Esmeralda started working the area of the neck that Matt had told her.

All the while she was working her hands into his sore muscles, Matt's mind was racing. His wife had not been into massages or anything like that. He was glad it was relieving the pain but he was washed over with how good her hands felt on him. "Mmmmm," escaped from Matt's lips.

Esmeralda, too, was enjoying it. For some reason or another, this felt different from all of the other clients she has done this to.

"Your hands," said Matt, "they're strong, but the touch feels... soft."

"Any properly trained home healthcare worker worth their salt would do the same," said Esmeralda.

"I suppose," said Matt, "but... this feels..." He paused, choosing not to finish his sentence.

Esmeralda said, "No, no... in this house, you must finish your sentence."

Matt, trying to turn his head to look at her, said, "It feels... personal."

Esmeralda took her left hand and raised it to his left ear, caressing it a bit, saying in a bit of a mock response, "Fooled you, didn't I."

Matt's ears were one of those areas that, if touched, gave him great pleasure.

After a few more minutes of massaging his shoulders, Esmeralda placed a hand on his back just below his neck, and said, "That should hold you for now. I've got to let my hands rest."

Matt said, "Thanks. That helped."

Esmeralda draped his shirt over his shoulders and helped him up.

As she was about to assist him in sitting down in the recliner, Matt asked, "Ummm, would you mind if I... if I gave you a hug? I mean for all the work you have done for me."

"Well, Mr. Matt..." said Esmeralda, "that's not standard protocol... but I guess one hug wouldn't hurt."

Esmeralda wrapped her arms underneath Matt's, his good arm wrapped around her. Their hug went from casual to a little more tighter and a lot longer. Matt closed his eyes and inhaled her smell. It felt good to her as well.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

Just then his cell phone rang. They both jerked away from each other as if they had gotten caught doing something they were not supposed to be doing. Matt reached down and picked up his phone. I was his son, Joe.

As Matt was talking to his son, Esmeralda wandered back into the kitchen. She could hear Matt's end of the conversation. It sounded like he was telling his son that things were okay, that he was adjusting to the situation. Then Matt's voice got lower to almost whisper level. She could not make out what he was saying.

She hoped that he was not complaining about her. She was... enjoying being here with him. Pacing the floor in the kitchen, she once again faced the family photo on the wall. She wanted to take it down. Then she heard Matt's phone conversation wrap up. Before she exited the kitchen, she looked at his wife in the picture. Something made her give the picture the middle finger. Then, she went back into the living room.

"That was Joe," said Matt. "He wanted to make sure I was on my best behavior with you."

"And you said?" asked Esmeralda.

"I told him I had put you in your place," said Matt.

Reaching for one of the small, decorative pillows on the couch, Esmeralda grabbed it, as if she was going to throw it at him, saying, "You better not have, mister!"

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" Matt blurted out.

With the pillow still above her head, Esmeralda asked, "So what DID you tell him?"

"I told him," Matt started, "that you were very professional and helpful."

"That's all you said?" asked Esmeralda.

"No," said Matt, "I also told him I am darn lucky to have someone like you here to take care of me."

"I see," said Esmeralda. She tossed the pillow back onto the couch.

It was at that moment that she realized that she had more than a healthcare worker's feelings for him. She was a bit disappointed that he didn't say to his son that he had any feelings for her.

Being oblivious to her feelings, Matt said, "I'm worn out. I'm going to sit back down and take a nap."

"Sounds like a plan," Esmeralda said, reverting back to her normal worker voice.

Matt did not catch it.

"I'll make lunch in an hour," said Esmeralda.

"Great," said Matt.

Matt slept for just about an hour, then had lunch. For the rest of the day, he watched TV. Esmeralda cleaned the bathroom, putting fresh towels out and did the vacuuming. She had asked if it was okay to clean his room, and he had told her yes.

Being that it was the middle of winter, the sun had set just before five o'clock.

After the six PM news, Matt said, "I'm thinking of showering and getting into some clean clothes."

"Fine," said Esmeralda.

That response did get Matt's attention. "Anything wrong?" Matt asked.

"Nope," said Esmeralda, "just doing my job."

To him, it sounded like she was upset. "Umm... okay," he said, "would you please grab me a fresh set of clothes to wear, and I'll start the water for a shower?"

"Will do," said Esmeralda.

Down the hall they walked. Matt turned to the right to enter the bathroom, and Esmeralda turned left into the bedroom. As he turned on the shower and set the temperature, Esmeralda gathered his clothes and went into the bathroom. She placed the clothes on the stand next to the sink, turned and walked to the door entrance.

Standing, facing out of the doorway, Esmeralda said, "Let me know if you need help."

"She is acting strange," thought Matt. He was able to shed all his clothes on his own, but still felt unsteady to enter the tub.

"Would you help me into the tub?" asked Matt.

"Yes," said Esmeralda. She grabbed his good arm and helped him in.

"I'll let you know when I need that extra hand," he said.

"Okay," said Esmeralda, as she closed the shower curtain.

Matt proceeded to wash everything and everywhere he could, then asked, "I need your help for the places I cannot reach."

Esmeralda pulled back the shower curtain, and Matt handed her the soap. As she was lathering up her hands, she could not help that seeing Matt naked, even from behind, did something to her. She proceeded to wash the arm that Matt could not. After scrubbing his back, she scrunched down to wash the lower parts of his legs that he could not reach.

It was at that point that she realized that she could see Matt's cock hanging between his legs. Her heart jumped. Her mouth went dry. She started shaking, as she was washing his legs. Esmeralda could feel her nipples getting hard. She could feel her pussy become flush with warmth. Right or wrong, she knew she needed to react.

Esmeralda stood up, and said, "Turn around."

"Uh?" Matt responded.

She said, "I said turn around. I want to make sure you didn't miss anything."

Matt was a bit confused, but since he was more relaxed around her than before, he decided to comply. Taking a deep breath, he turned around.

Esmeralda was putting on more soapy lather in her hands, and said, "You call that clean?" She put down the bar of soap and proceeded to run her hands through his chest hair.

That threw Matt off. He was thrilled with the feeling, but did not know how to respond.

Esmeralda's eyes were focused on her hands. Over and over his chest, her hands went. Occasionally, she slipped her hands into his armpits, washing them. Matt's head was spinning, both in amazement and the great feeling he was experiencing. Slowly, Esmeralda's hands worked lower and lower. Matt's cock then was responding, going from heavy, pointing down to pointing straight out.

Esmeralda paused the washing just below his belly button, and said, "This will never do." She brought the pinky sides of her hands together in an upside-down V, and proceeded to wash his pubic hair.

Matt's cock was almost fully erect. "There is no way she is not seeing this," thought Matt. He could not tell if she was looking at just her hands or his cock.

It was at that point that Esmeralda paused her hand scrubbing. For Matt, it felt like an eternity. Without looking up, Esmeralda gripped Matt's cock with both hands, and proceeded to run them up and down the shaft.

"Oh my god!" thought Matt. "Why is she doing this?"

All Esmeralda could do was watch her hands, as they were running up and down his cock. Her breathing started getting ragged. She licked her lips. She was bound and determined to make him cum.

Matt lifted his one good hand up and, at first, placed it on the towel bar. He thought her rhythm was perfect. He was washed over with lust. Her hand movement sped up a little. Matt had the first deep feeling that he would cum soon. As that feeling got closer, Matt moved his wet hand from the towel bar to her shoulder. He could feel the heat from her, and felt her deeply breathing.

Feeling that he was about to explode, he said, "I... I'm going to cum."

Esmeralda did not stop, but looked up at him. He looked down at her. A few seconds later, he threw his head back with a breathy cry, as several spurts of cum came out of his cock and over her hands. His knees felt weak, as he held tightly onto her shoulder. After the fourth spurt, he stopped cumming.

Eventually, she pulled away her hands, and started to stand up.

Matt moved his hand back to the towel bar. He finally opened his eyes, as she was rinsing her hands off. Her shirt was wet; he could definitely see two hard nipples. He did not know what to say. He just stared at her.

Shaking the excess water off of her hands, she said, "Rinse off and I'll help you get out of the tub." And with that, she closed the shower curtain.

It took another minute before Matt was able to rinse the rest of himself off. His mind was racing. He knew that what she did was not a normal practice for a healthcare worker, but was it just a little more effort on her part, or something else? He finally finished rinsing off.

Turning off the water, Matt said, "Ready."

She pulled the shower curtain open. With the towel in her hand, she said, "Turn around."

Matt did as she said.

Esmeralda dried off his back and worked her way down, paying a little more attention to his ass cheeks.

"Wow," was all Matt could say.

Afterwards, she had him turn around. As he did, he noticed that his cock was still large and heavy, hanging down. She proceeded to dry off his chest and arms. She scrunched down to dry off his legs. Her face was level with his cock.

Both his and her minds were racing.

Matt could see a final glob of cum getting ready to drip off the end of his cock. Esmeralda saw this as well. She raised the towel as if she was going to dry it off, but pausing for a moment, Esmeralda took a finger and swiped the glob of cum off his cock. She looked at it for a second, and then wiped it off on the towel. She then used the towel to dry off his pubic hair.

When finished with that, she paused again, and then as she was rising, used the towel in her hand for one last pull on his cock. Esmeralda tossed the towel away from them onto the floor. Grabbing Matt's good arm, she assisted him out of the tub. Without either one of them saying anything, she helped him get dressed.

_______________

Matt was dumbfounded. He could not believe what had just happened. As they walked down the hallway towards the living room, Esmeralda walked in front of Matt to move some laundry she had left in a basket on the floor. Matt was not certain, but he could have sworn her hips swayed just a little more as she walked in front of him. When she bent over to pick up the basket, the rear of her scrubs-like pants slid down a couple of inches, showing a bit of her pink underwear and a tiny bit of the top of her butt crack. He was mesmerized. Standing up with the basket, she turned and walked towards the dining room table.

Matt made it to the chair. He sat down and looked Esmeralda's way.

She walked back to him, and said, "Can I get you anything else before I head home?"

Staring at her, Matt just shook his head no.

With that, Esmeralda grabbed her coat and bag, and said, "I'll be back at eight tomorrow morning. I'll fold the clothes then. Call me if you need anything." With that, she leaned over him and kissed his forehead, then walked out the door.

As the front door shut, Matt took in a large breath and let it out slowly.

"What the hell just happened?" thought Matt. "That could not have been just a little more TLC than normal." His mind replayed her hands 'cleaning' his cock-- that brought a smile to his face.

It was nine o'clock and the news was coming on. Matt was really tired, and he wanted to try to sleep in his own bed instead of the recliner. He turned off the TV, and took his cell phone off its charger. After sticking the phone in a pocket, Matt worked his way out of the chair, and headed for the bedroom.

Matt pulled the covers back on what had been his side of the bed forever. Looking at what had been his wife's side of the bed, he sighed. He missed her. But in his heart it felt different-- like he could eventually have a life after her. He placed the cell phone on his night stand. Lying on his right side was not his favorite side, but he figured he would make do. He turned on an old-time radio program to fall asleep to.

Matt was so tired that he fell asleep within minutes of turning off the lights. But, he had a terrible night of sleeping. His dreams were mostly of the night his wife's heart valve gave out.

They had been at home, watching TV, when she had felt some pain in her chest and thought it was heartburn. She got up to get some antacid. Halfway down the hallway, she stopped, held onto the wall for a second, and then collapsed onto the floor. Matt bolted out of his chair to her. Flinging himself on the ground next to his wife, he grabbed her to see if she would respond.

It had been as if she had no life in her. He shook her and shook her, crying out her name. Matt reached into his pocket to fish out his cell phone. After dialing 911, and telling them what happened, Matt kept crying out to her to wake up.

As he dreamed this, Matt kept tossing and turning. The dream jumped to when the paramedics had tried for ten minutes to resuscitate her, but could not. He was loudly crying out her name. As they were covering her body in the dream, Matt woke up from the dream, sitting up in bed, sobbing. It felt like it did that night.

He looked over at her side of the bed, and his heart hurt even more. In a flash, he decided to get up and leave the room. Unfortunately, he did not plant his feet on the ground very well. Matt stumbled, then realizing he was going to fall, he tried to turn back to the bed. He could not hold on to the bed, but it helped him break his fall, falling to the ground slower.

There he sat, crying about the dream, not knowing what to do. He could not get up, and he then felt like he needed to pee really badly. After a minute or two of trying to figure out what to do, he remembered Esmeralda said to call her if he needed anything.

It was two in the morning. He knew she would be sleeping. But what else could he do? He could just barely reach the cell phone on his night stand. Taking a few calming breaths, Matt dialed Esmeralda's number. It rang eight times before she answered.

"Hello?" answered a very groggy voice.

Matt paused for a second. He felt embarrassed.

"Hello..." repeated Esmeralda. She looked at the number on her phone, and then said, "Matt? Is that you? Are you okay?"

"Um... yes," said Matt, "I'm so sorry to call you in the middle of the night."

"What's wrong?" she said.

"I... uh..." he said, stuttering a bit. "I was trying to get up to use the bathroom and I fell onto the floor."

"Are you okay?" Esmeralda asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Uh... No," he answered. "I just cannot get back up off the floor by myself."

"Okay," she said, "I'll be there in five minutes," and hung up the phone.

It seemed like a lifetime to Matt, but within minutes, Esmeralda entered the house.

Seeing that Matt was nowhere near his chair, she cried out, "Where are you?"

"I'm in the bedroom," he said.

Esmeralda ran down the hallway into the bedroom. She stopped at the doorway, to see Matt on the floor, leaning against the bed.

"Hey," Matt said.

Esmeralda saw that his bed had been slept in. She said, "Were you sleeping in your bed?"

"Well..." Matt said, "yes. I was tired of sleeping in the chair."

Seeing that he was not majorly injured or anything like that, she said, "I see... and how comfortable is the floor?"

"Ha ha," said Matt, "you're funny like a clown."

"Well... I'm not sure I can lift you," said Esmeralda.

"Please try," said Matt.

Esmeralda looped her arm underneath the arm with a cast, as he grabbed the bed. Pulling on the bed, as Esmeralda lifted, Matt was almost fully standing when he realized that he did twist his left ankle a bit. Esmeralda used all her strength to steady Matt until he was on both feet before she sat down on the bed.

"Thanks," said Matt.

"You're welcome," said Esmeralda, sitting down next to his good arm.

Not really thinking about it, Matt put his arm around her and gave her a side hug.

Esmeralda looked up to him for a second, and said, "You are not the same person from a few days ago. What has changed?"

Looking up, Matt thought about it for a few seconds, then turned to her, and said, "You."

"Me?" said Esmeralda.

"Yes, you," he said. "I have been miserable ever since my wife died. My kids didn't want to be around me, which I cannot blame them for. And yes, I did not want a stranger bossing me around and doing paid pity work for me... Then you entered the picture. You somehow cut through all my bullshit and started making me feel like I wanted to live."

With a bit of a snarky grin, Esmeralda said, "The pay is not that great."

With a fake look of disgust, Matt withdrew his arm from around her and gave her a slight push, saying, "Oh, I see... it's the money you want."

They both laughed.

As the laughter subsided, Matt said, "I really need to pee."

This time, Esmeralda hooked his good arm around her neck, and they stood together. Matt winced when he put his left foot down. Seeing that, Esmeralda walked with him into the bathroom and up to the toilet.

"Don't let go of me," Matt said. With his good arm over her shoulder, he could not pull out his cock.

"Do you need me to..." Esmeralda started to say.

"Please," said Matt.

Esmeralda reached over and pulled his waistband down, exposing Matt's cock. It was hot and heavy. They both gasped a little, as Esmeralda fished the tip out. Due to his cock having a bit of a natural curve to the right, Esmeralda grasped it and pointed it towards the toilet. It didn't take Matt long to let the pee stream go. Esmeralda's hand felt cool on Matt's cock. Matt's cock felt hot and heavy to Esmeralda. Matt had his eyes closed, trying to not overthink what was going on because if he did, his cock would get harder.

After a good thirty seconds of a strong pee, the stream slowed to a trickle. Esmeralda was looking at Matt's cock the whole time. To her, it looked like he was done peeing, but there was a drop on the tip of his cock. The logical thing for her to have done was to shake it a little. When it didn't knock all of the pee off, Esmeralda used her thumb to wipe it off. That sent a shiver through Matt.

With Matt done peeing, Esmeralda tucked his cock back in and pulled his waistband back up. She flushed the toilet, then grabbed his arm again, as they walked out of the bathroom and towards the living room. Esmeralda helped Matt sit in the chair.

"I'm going to wash my hands," said Esmeralda, "then get the heat rub and gauze bandage to wrap your ankle."

"Thanks," said Matt, as he looked at her.

She walked back to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. Just as she was about to grab the soap, Esmeralda paused, looked at her hand that had held Matt's cock, and brought it up to her nose. As strange as her brain was thinking, Esmeralda inhaled the smell of the pee that was on her hand. For whatever reason, that smell turned her on. Just before grabbing the soap, she stuck the thumb into her mouth.

"Interesting taste," Esmeralda thought.

After washing her hands, Esmeralda grabbed the heat rub and gauze bandage and headed into the living room. She put a couple throw pillows on the floor and lifted Matt's foot onto them. She rubbed the heat rub on his ankle, followed by wrapping it with the bandage, and then stood up.

"Any better?" she asked him.

"Much... thanks," said Matt.

"There is some minor swelling," she said. "I'll let the visiting nurse know in the morning."

Matt looked up at her, and said, "Could you please stay for awhile?"

Taking in a slow breath and letting it out, Esmeralda said, "I will stretch out on the couch for now. Try to get some sleep."

_______________

Esmeralda had laid on the couch and pulled the blanket that was on the back of it onto herself. Matt had found his comfy spot in the recliner and fell asleep. Several hours later, they awoke to the sound of someone knocking on the front door. As they stirred, it was Esmeralda that realized it was after eight o'clock. Through the fog in her head, she figured it was Becca, the visiting nurse. Esmeralda pulled the blanket off and made her way to the door. Matt could hear her and Becca talking, as they headed towards him.

"He twisted his ankle while standing up last night," said Esmeralda. "I put the Icy Hot on it and wrapped it with the gauze bandage."

"I see," said Becca, as they walked into the room. "How are you feeling Matt?"

"Better, thank you," said Matt.

"You look much better... almost... well, better. Let's take a look at that ankle." Becca squatted down in front of him, and started unwrapping the bandage.

Esmeralda stood near Matt. Becca was wearing a large, open-top shirt that Matt could easily see down. Esmeralda caught him doing that, and gave him a nudge.

Matt looked up at her, and mouthed, "Sorry."

She wagged her index finger just barely.

"You did a good job Esmeralda," said Becca. "Very minimal swelling. I'll wrap it back up with a fresh bandage. If it swells any more, put some ice on it."

As Becca cleaned Matt's foot to re-wrap it, Esmeralda placed her hand on Matt's shoulder near his neck. He looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back at him. Becca finished wrapping his foot. As she stood, Esmeralda moved away from Matt so Becca could proceed with all of her normal tasks as a visiting nurse.

After the normal questions for Matt, Becca turned to Esmeralda. "How are you doing?" asked Becca to Esmeralda. "Do you need any assistance, or a break?"

"No," said Esmeralda, "the schedule is working out for me."

"Good," said Becca, as she turned to Matt. "And you, mister... Any complaints?"

Matt knew that she was referring to her first encounter with him. Looking first at Esmeralda then back at Becca, he said, "No, I don't. And I want to apologize to you for being overly grumpy on your first visit. Thank you for your patience with me."

What Matt said surprised her a little, but she responded by saying, "You are welcome. Just so you know, you are not the toughest bird I've had to handle, but I am glad that you have settled down."

Becca took all his vitals and checked his arm. "Everything looks good. I'll return on my next scheduled visit." She tapped Matt on his good foot, and headed towards the door.

Esmeralda followed her, asking a few more questions about Matt's foot. When Esmeralda returned, she said, "Will you be okay on your own for an hour or two? I need to head home and brush my teeth and take a shower. I usually do that before coming here."

"I am fine," said Matt, "but... I have a couple of new toothbrushes here, and... well... if you had spare clothes, you could shower here."

Esmeralda took a long look at Matt, with a perplexed look on her face. She finally said, "Well... I do carry a spare set of clothes with me, in case of dealing with a mess. But taking a shower? Hmmm... that might be crossing the line. Work-wise, that is."

"I will never tell anyone if that eases your mind," said Matt.

Thinking about it for a few seconds, Esmeralda then said, "I... guess I could. But... but... you would have to be on your best behavior."

With a bit of a mock-shocked look on his face, Matt said, "Moi?"

"Yes, YOU," said Esmeralda, "I can't have you sneaking around looking at me... naked, or like you were staring down Becca's shirt."

"Oh," said Matt, "sorry about that. I may be old and a bit disabled, but I am a man who can still have... well... ideas."

"Well keep your ideas to yourself while Becca is around," said Esmeralda. "I don't want her reporting anything suspicious."

Matt noticed she only mentioned Becca when it came to her warning about ideas.

"I'll make a quick breakfast then hit the shower," said Esmeralda.

"Just toast and coffee for me," said Matt.

Ten minutes later, Esmeralda brought out the toast and coffee, placing them on the end table. "Be right back," she said.

Esmeralda went out to her car and retrieved the emergency bag. The only thing that she had in it to wear was a pair of scrub pants, a top and a pair of panties. As she re-entered the house, she asked, "Can I get you anything else before I shower?"

"If you could top off my coffee," said Matt, "I would appreciate it."

Esmeralda went into the kitchen and grabbed the pot. She topped off his cup and returned the pot to the warmer. Returning to where he was sitting, she said, "It shouldn't take me more than ten minutes."

She reached down and squeezed his arm. His hand reached out and patted her on the side of her leg near her butt. She smiled.

After entering the bathroom, Esmeralda contemplated closing the door, but remembered that there was no exhaust fan in the bathroom so she left it open. Finding a new toothbrush in the closet, as well as a fresh washcloth and towel, Esmeralda proceeded to turn on the shower. Once the temperature of the water was just right, she started undressing. After removing her bra and panties, Esmeralda looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't have a crushing negative image of herself, but she had always been on the chubby side. She sometimes wished her tits were a little bigger. She pulled back the curtain and entered the shower. The warmth of the water felt good on her skin.

Sitting in his chair, Matt could hear all that was going on in the bathroom. His curiosity was on alert. He was very aware that Esmeralda was probably then naked in the bathroom. As if he was a curious ten-year-old boy, he fought with the idea of taking a sneak peek. Losing the battle, Matt decided that he would chance it.

Lowering the foot of the recliner, Matt started working his way up and out of the chair. As he stood up, he forgot that his left foot was a little painful. But it did not take him long to figure out a good way to hobble down the hallway. As he neared the bathroom doorway, he paused to see if she heard anything. All he heard was the water splashing.

Peeking with one eye around the corner, he could barely make out Esmeralda's silhouette in the shower curtain. Even though it was just the silhouette, Matt liked what he saw. Looking down a bit, he could see her bra and panties on top of the pile of clothes. He stared at them for a few seconds, wanting to step in and pick them up.

All the while, Esmeralda was finishing washing her hair and face. Her thoughts were then of how she had washed Matt's cock. That made her nipples hard. She lathered her tits up, and then proceeded to pinch and pull on them. She let out a soft, low moan through her nose.

That made Matt freeze in place. He thought he knew what that sound was. He leaned in a little to see if he could hear any more.

Esmeralda's head shook slowly, as she played the image of Matt's cock and her hands, running over it in her head. Her left hand slid down to her pussy. She ran a finger between the outer lips. Her clit and lips were engorged with blood. Sensitive to touch. And she was very wet. Esmeralda plunged a finger into her pussy. It made a loud squishy sound.

Matt definitely heard that.

Her pussy was hot and wet. It felt so good to her to have her finger inside. Then the thought crossed her mind, "I wonder what Matt's cock would feel like inside me?" Then, with her eyes closed, "Mmmmmmm," escaped her lips.

Hearing her moan made Matt's cock twitch.

She was working herself up to an orgasm. She pinched her right nipple hard, as she rubbed her clit vigorously.

Matt could hear her speeding up and breathing hard. His cock started rising up; he stuck his hand in his pants and rubbed it. His cock was hard, sticking straight up. Stroking it slowly, Matt listened for the sounds that Esmeralda was making.

That slow build-up of an orgasm for Esmeralda was getting ready to crescendo. Just a few more flicks of her clit, and Esmeralda let out a loud sound as the orgasm shook her body.

Just as that happened, Matt, busy with his hand on his cock, started losing his balance and quickly pulled his hand out of his pants to grabbed the doorway to prevent him from falling.

Esmeralda heard that and froze.

"Matt," she called out, "are you there?"

Matt didn't want her to know he had been spying on her, so he quietly hobbled down the hallway and sat down in his chair.

Not hearing a reply, Esmeralda rinsed herself off, and then turned off the water. She peeked out the shower curtain and did not see anyone. She grabbed her towel and closed the curtain again. While drying off, Esmerelda's thoughts turned to Matt. She could not figure out what made her so attracted to him. A smile came across her face. She didn't know if it was love, but she really liked Matt.

After drying off, Esmeralda pulled back the curtain. Opening up the bag with her clothes inside, she realized she had no spare bra. Thinking for a second, she shrugged her shoulders, and proceeded to get dressed.

_________________________________

Matt had barely made it back to his chair before Esmeralda came out of the bathroom.

Walking up to him, Esmeralda asked, "Didn't you hear me calling out to you?"

"No," said Matt, "but if I did, I would have come running."

Putting her hands on her hips, Esmeralda said, "Uh-huh... sure..."

Standing like that, Matt could easily see that Esmeralda had no bra on. He could not help it, as a big grin came across his face.

Not understanding the funny look on his face, Esmeralda grabbed his plate and mug, asking, "Do you want any more coffee?"

"Yes, please," said Matt.

She went back into the kitchen and poured more coffee into the mug. As she returned to the living, she said, "I'm going to clean the bathroom. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do," said Matt, with a cheesy grin on his face.

For the rest of the morning, Esmeralda cleaned the bathroom, kitchen, vacuumed the house and did some dusting. Matt went through the legal documents the gas station had sent for his signature. All the while, an unexpected snow storm started hitting the area.

Esmeralda took out the garbage, and came back in, and said to Matt, "Did you know that it was supposed to snow today?"

"Oh..." said Matt, "I thought the TV weatherman said something about it. Why?"

"Because it looks like we already have six or more inches on the ground, and it is starting to drift," said Esmeralda.

Matt struggled to get up and walked to the window. Opening the curtains, they both stood there, watching snow come down.

Looking back at Matt, Esmeralda said, "If you don't mind, I'm going to head home early."

"I understand," said Matt, "but you could... stay here with me... you know... in case I get up in the middle of the night and fall again."

"Hmmmm," said Esmeralda. "Do you want me to stay because of a chance of you falling, or something else?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Matt.

Esmeralda was trying to read his face. She had, on a few rare occasions, spent the night at a client's home for observations. Her gut said it was something else.

Finally, Matt said, "Look, I'll be honest with you. I know I have been a pain in the ass when you first got here, and I've apologized for that. But I've grown to like you, enjoy your company. I know it may not be allowed or against the rules, but I wish you would stay with me."

"There, he said it," thought Esmeralda. Her mind raced with how she wanted to respond. She definitely had feelings for him-- she found him, in his own way, attractive. Almost... sexy. But she decided to play it cool, and not show her hand. "I will stay until the snow stops," she said, "but, I must go home as soon as I can."

"I understand," said Matt.

Esmeralda made lunch for the both of them, and they sat in the living room watching TV. They would occasionally look out the window. The snow was coming down harder and harder. Matt turned on the local news at five. The top story was the winter storm. The area was to get a foot or more overnight with blowing or drifting.

Esmeralda got up, and looked at her car parked in the driveway. There was already a drift behind the car as tall as the bumper. "I don't think I am going anywhere for a while," she said.

"I'm sorry if this has screwed up your plans," said Matt, "but, we have plenty of food and a warm house and... well, we have each other to keep company."

"Thank you, Matt," said Esmeralda. "Actually, I had no plans tonight, except to watch a romantic movie and go to bed."

"You like romantic movies?" asked Matt. "I've always been a sap for romantic movies."

That brought a smile to her face. "Well then," she said, "I will make some dinner and we can watch the new one on Hallmark Channel."

"Awesome," said Matt.

Esmeralda made dinner and brought out a plate for Matt.

"I need to get out of this chair," said Matt, as he got up and sat on the couch.

Esmeralda handed him the plate and got herself one, and sat down on the opposite side of the couch. They ate dinner, then Esmeralda gathered their plates and took them into the kitchen.

When she returned, she was rubbing her hands on her arms, saying, "Brrr, it's a bit chilly in here."

Matt pulled the blanket off the back of the couch, and said, "Yeah, this room is always the coldest during the winter. You can use this," handing her the blanket.

Esmeralda draped the blanket over her shoulders, and sat down next to Matt. Soon, the movie came to a very touching point of the story. That made Matt choke up a little. Trying to suppress the emotion, a tear appeared in his eye. Seeing this touched Esmeralda. She snaked a hand from underneath the blanket and patted Matt on the leg. He turned to her and smiled. She smiled back.

It was at that moment that the house lost power. This plunged the two of them into almost total darkness.

"Shit!" said Matt, "I wonder how long this is going to be?"

"I'll bring up the utilities app and report this," said Esmeralda.

"Okay," said Matt, "I'll get the flashlight." Matt turned on the light on his cell phone as he got up to get the flashlight light from the kitchen.

He retrieved the flashlight from the drawer. It was one of those headlight flashlights that had a headband on it. The shelf above it had a couple of three-wick decorative candles that had never been used. He put the headband flashlight on his head and turned it on. After turning off the cell phone light, he grabbed the butane lighter and the candles, and headed for the living room.

"Any idea about power outages from the app?" asked Matt.

"Only that it's more than just your neighborhood," said Esmeralda.

Matt shook his head in disgust. He set one of the tri-wick candles on the coffee table, and lit it.

"Nice." said Esmeralda.

"And..." said Matt, as he went over to the fireplace. He flipped a switch above the mantel and the gas-fired fireplace lit.

"Oooooo," said Esmeralda, with a grin on her face.

He lit the last candle and put it on the end table in the dark corner. As Matt turned back to Esmeralda, she flipped back the blanket and said, "Come, get warm."

Matt made quick work of joining her underneath the blanket. "Brrrrrr," said Matt, "it must be in the lower sixties here by now."

"The fire will warm us up," said Esmeralda.

Matt looked at her and said, "Well... you're making it warm for me."

Esmeralda replied, "Really? Is it because we are under the blanket together, or... something else?"

Clearing his throat, he said, "Both."

Just then his phone rang. He answered it in speaker mode. Matt's son was on the other end.

"I see the power is out in your neighborhood. Are you okay, Dad?" said Joe.

"I'm fine. We are fine," said Matt.

"We are?" asked Joe.

"Yes," said Matt, "there is a snowdrift behind Esmeralda's car."

"Do you want me to come over and take Esmeralda home?" asked Joe.

Matt looked at her for her answer.

She smiled a little smile, reached over with her hand, and took Matt's hand into hers. She mouthed, "No."

"Uh-uhh," stuttered Matt, "she says she wants to make sure I'm taken care of, so she will stay tonight."

"Well," said Joe, "work has already planned to be closed for tomorrow, so I'll stop by sometime tomorrow to dig her car out."

"Thanks," said Matt, as he hung up.

They both sat quietly for a while staring at the fire.

Matt broke the silence by starting to say, "Are you--"

"Shush," Esmeralda said, "just enjoy."

So he turned his attention back to the fire. All they could hear was the wind outside and the roar of the fire.

After what seemed like a long time, Matt broke that silence again by turning his head towards her, and said, "I've got to know... is there something between us?"

She turned her head towards his. She stared into his eyes for a second, then leaned in towards him and pressed her lips into his. They kissed for a few seconds, then she broke it off and turned back to the fire.

Matt's head was spinning. "What did that kiss mean?" he thought.

Just as he had these questions in his mind, Esmeralda tilted her head so it was on his shoulder. He looked down at her head. His heart filled with happiness. He leaned over a little, and kissed her forehead. As Esmeralda looked up to him, at the same time, she moved her hand from his hand into his robe up to his chest. She ran her fingers through his chest hair. That caused Matt's cock to twitch.

After a minute or so of her running her fingers through his chest hair, she lifted her head off his shoulder and kissed him. Her lips melted into his. She sucked his bottom lip into her mouth and sucked on it. That was new to Matt. It was exciting. To his surprise, Esmeralda then pushed her tongue into his mouth. He used his tongue to wrap around hers. Esmeralda loved that. Matt then pushed his tongue into her mouth. A little 'mmmm' came from her throat. She then sucked on his tongue. Matt's cock was responding to everything she was doing to him.

Esmeralda pulled away from their kissing. She had this look of unbridled lust on her face, as she stared at him. She pulled the blanket off of them and flung it to the floor. Being careful to not aggravate Matt's arm, she crawled up into his lap and pushed his robe off his shoulders. With their faces just inches away from each other, Esmeralda ran her hand over Matt's face.

"I want you," whispered Matt, with this long stare at her.

Esmeralda grinned, as she nodded her head slowly up and down. She leaned in as if she was going to kiss him, but pulled back. A wicked grin came over her face as she reached down the bottom of her shirt, and with one motion, she pulled it over and off her head.

Matt's eyes turned to her breasts. "So beautiful," he thought.

Her dark nipples were hard and sticking out. As he looked at her breasts, Esmeralda reached down and grabbed his good hand and brought it up to them.

"Oh my god," thought Matt, and he let one and then the other breast fill his hand. They felt wonderful. He then ran a thumb over each hard nipple.

Esmeralda held onto his shoulder as her head tipped back in the feeling he was giving her. He gently pulled on each nipple. They got even harder. The hand that Esmeralda had on his shoulder, raised up to his head and pulled it towards her breasts. Matt inhaled her right nipple. His tongue circled it several times. Matt then moved to the other nipple and did the same thing. Esmeralda was then slowly shaking her head, left and right, as it felt good. To her surprise, Matt then extended his teeth, biting gently on her right nipple. Esmeralda took in a sharp breath.

Matt thought he had gone too far, until he heard her breathy voice say, "Harder." So Matt bit down a little harder.

"Yesss," said Esmeralda.

Matt moved over to the other nipple, and bit it just as hard.

She lifted her head up to where her mouth was close to his ear, and said, "I'm FUCKING wet!"

Matt knew. He could smell her raw sexual scent.

She straightened up her head and started getting off of his lap. Matt was a little confused.

As she grabbed her shirt, she said, "Pick up one of the candles, and follow me."

As Matt got up, the robe fell from him. He grabbed the candle and followed her to his bedroom. Once they were in there, Matt placed the candle on the nightstand. At that point, Esmeralda turned to Matt, as if he was going to sit down on the bed. She got on her knees sitting on her heels in front of him, and undid the tie in his pants. The pants hit the floor. Matt stepped out of them. Esmeralda could then easily see the large bulge in his underwear. She caressed his cock on the outside of the underwear. That pushed the tip of his cock just barely above the waistband.

It had pre-cum leaking out of the tip. She swiped the glob of pre-cum with her finger and put it in her mouth. "Mmmmm," escaped her lips.

She reached back up, and pulled his underwear down. His cock sprang out and pointed upwards. Esmeralda rubbed her hands together, as if she was getting ready to eat her favorite food. Raising herself up to her knees, she ran her hand up and down the shaft. That sent shock waves through Matt. She then wrapped a hand around his cock and slowly slid it up and down its shaft.

A slow "Ohhhhhhh," came from Matts lips.

She pulled his cock slightly away from his body. Her tongue snaked out of her lips and licked the tip. That made Matts body twitch. After two or three licks of the tip, she took it into her mouth. She loved the taste. Her head bobbed up and down, pushing more and more of it near her throat. With an inch or so to go, she plunged his cock into the back of her throat.

"I can't believe how big his cock is," she thought to herself.

It was at this point that Matt's knees started buckling a bit. Sensing this, Esmeralda guided him to sit on the bed.

Matt loved the feeling of her tongue swirling around his cock. He loved watching her head bob up and down. His hands reached out and grabbed her hair on each side of her head. He started taking control of the rhythm of her head on his cock. Esmeralda loved this. He was in control, but nowhere taking advantage of her. She relaxed her neck muscles and allowed him to control her. He had never received oral this way or this intense. It was like he could feel every curve of her mouth.

"Fuck that feels so good," he said.

Esmeralda pulled her mouth off of his cock and said, "I am glad you like it. You taste amazing." She went back down on him. She started twisting her grip at the base of his cock.

That started that oh-so-wonderful feeling of him about to cum. His hips started moving up and down. He picked up the pace. "Baby... You may want to stop. I'm close to cumming."

She pulled her mouth off of him again, and said, "No. I want you to cum in my mouth. I want to taste it." She placed her mouth back on his cock, then she picked up the speed.

With just a few more strokes, he let out a cry as he came in her mouth. One, two, three, four full spurts of cum came shooting out of his cock down her throat. She gagged a little, then adjusted herself to take it all. The fifth spurt came a few seconds afterwards, and then he collapsed onto the bed. Esmeralda kept sucking. The texture was not what she expected, but was thrilled to do that for him.

Eventually, she released his cock. She crawled up onto the bed next to him. He turned his head to look at her. She moved her head close to his and kissed him. He could instantly taste himself on her lips. He kissed her back hard, swirling his tongue in her mouth.

After a few minutes, they broke off their kissing. She sat up, wiping her lips. She helped Matt sit up. She stood and took his arm, saying, "Stand up."

"I don't think I can," Matt said.

"Stand up, grab the candle, and follow me," Esmeralda said. "I need to go to the bathroom, and I want you to watch."

______________

Matt was dumbfounded by what Esmeralda had just said. As he got up, he thought to himself, "Why would anyone want to watch another person go to the bathroom?"

Esmeralda led Matt by the hand into the bathroom. Matt placed the candle on the laundry bin. He was still naked and she was still topless, when she turned around and kissed him.

She saw the funny look on his face. Realizing there might be some confusion. "I'm sorry," said Esmeralda, "I assumed all guys got a kick out of watching a woman pee."

"Ohh," said Matt, "I thought... Never mind. Why yes, it can be part of a couple's intimate lovemaking."

"A couple?" said Esmeralda. "Like married?"

Matt thought about what she just questioned, and said, "I wasn't suggesting anything like that... Not that I would be against it. I just don't--"

Esmeralda interrupted him, as she stepped forward towards him, and wrapped her arms around him. "I understand what you are trying to say. No worries. I'm glad I am here. I am glad we have made this... connection. Now... I've gotta pee. Are you staying?"

He leaned down, kissed her, and said, "Definitely."

Esmeralda stepped back from Matt. She flashed him her most naughtiest grin, then turned around and slowly started pushing her scrubs down. Then, it was Matt's turn to have the naughty grin on his face. As she was pushing the scrubs down, she was wiggling her ass a bit-- like a sexy dance. Matt could see more and more of her somewhat bubble ass. It looked so perfect in his mind. With her scrub pants puddled on top of her feet, she kicked them off. She turned around. This was the first time Matt had seen another woman naked in a long time. She had thick pubic hair. Her tits were just a little more than a handful with silver-dollar-sized areolas. He was giddy.

She grabbed his hand and pulled him along as she took a few steps backwards towards the toilet. She sat down and spread her legs apart a bit. While still holding his hand, she closed her eyes as her pee started flowing. Esmeralda let out a long breath through her "O" mouth, as her pee flow became stronger.

Matt could smell her pee, though it did not have a very strong smell, and was not very pungent. He could look between her legs and see it splashing in the toilet water. The sight and the smell of her pee caused his cock to start stirring again. As she opened her eyes, she saw that Matt's cock was rising. "Mmmm," escaped from her lips.

As her pee stream was slowing to a trickle, she let go of his hand, reaching for the toilet paper. After a few drips, Esmeralda proceeded to wipe her pussy. After dropping the paper in the toilet bowl, she withdrew her hand from between her legs.

Watching all that she was doing, Matt saw what he thought was some pee on her hand. He reached down and grabbed her hand and lifted up to her eye level. They both were looking at her hand. He then leaned over a bit and smelled her hand. That sent shivers down her spine. After a couple of whiffs, he extended his tongue and licked the pee on her hand.

"You naughty boy," said Esmeralda.

"I'm no boy," said Matt. "I'm a man that wants to give you pleasure."

Esmeralda's shoulders shook, hoping he was going to do what she wanted him to do. He let go of her hand and stood back. She stood and flushed the toilet. Turning back to him, Esmeralda waited for his next move.

Matt looked towards his bedroom and rubbed his chin with his hand saying, "I would have you lie down on the edge of the bed, but I fear that I won't be able to get down or up off the floor."

After a second or two, Esmeralda smiled, and grabbed his hand, saying, "Come with me." She guided him down the hallway to the living room.

Matt thought, "This is not going to work either."

She grabbed the blanket off the couch and one of the couch pillows. She then led Matt to the dining room. It was aglow from the candle and the fireplace. Esmeralda placed the blanket and pillow onto the dining room table.

She turned to Matt, and said, "I'm tired of beating around the bush. I love giving and receiving oral. If I was to say... lie on the table-- what would you do?" Matt grinned, then wrapped his good arm around her. He drew her tightly against himself and kissed her hard.

When he broke off the kiss he said, "I want to taste you. I want to make you wet. I want you to have the best orgasm you have ever had. Yes, I will eat your pussy!"

It was Esmeralda's turn to have a big grin on her face.

She stepped onto a chair and up to the table. Esmeralda arranged herself with her ass at the edge of it, and drew her legs back. Matt pulled up the chair and sat in front of her. He gazed at her creamy legs. Her pussy hair was dark and thick. He could tell she was already excited because her clit was already popping out of its hood, and her pussy lips were swollen. There was a fair amount of her own juices leaking out of her pussy that was running down to her ass.

Matt leaned forward and kissed, several places on each inner thigh. He kissed closer and closer to her pussy. The heady scent filled his nostrils. It was like a siren song calling him closer. Finally, Matt took a long lap of his tongue from the base of her pussy to her clit.

Esmeralda shook. She let out a long breath.

He repeated it, only this time, he received a lot of her juices on his tongue. He swallowed it. Matt then extended his tongue and pushed it between her pussy lips. In doing so, his nose was then up against her clit. He swirled his tongue up and down and as deep as he could. All the while, his nose rubbed up and down on her clit.

Esmeralda was very vocal about her pleasure. "Oh my god baby... That feels so good. Fuck! You got me so HOT! Eat my pussy!"

That made Matt want to make her feel even more. Each lick made her juices leak out more. Trying to scoop up as much of her pussy juices as possible, Matt inadvertently brushed his tongue against her asshole.

Esmeralda jumped a little.

"Sorry", said Matt.

"No, no..." said Esmeralda, "I love that. I would like you to do that again, if you're not squeamish about my asshole."

He did not answer her. Instead, he took a full lick of her ass.

"OHHHH, baby!" said Esmeralda.

Matt did not find it disgusting; in fact, it excited him. So, he licked her ass again.

"Fuck baby!" said Esmeralda.

So he licked it and licked it. In doing so, his nose was buried in her pussy.

"Like that, like that!" Esmeralda said.

So Matt continued. Her hips started bucking a little with each lick. He then curled his tongue and started trying to push it into her asshole.

"Baby! BABY!' said Esmeralda, "you're going to make me cum!"

On hearing this, Matt twisted his head left and right a bit, making his tongue corkscrew more into her asshole.

"Oh shit!" said Esmeralda. "Ohhh shit!! I'm so CLOSE! Don't stop."

He could hardly keep his tongue inside her with Esmeralda's hips starting to buck.

She barely said, "I'm... I'm... I'MMMMMM CUMMING!"

Matt could feel on his nose and his tongue the orgasm pulses rippling through her body.

As Esmerelda's orgasm subsided, her legs slowly came down to where they were on his shoulders. Matt finally backed off a little from her ass. He was amazed at how wet her entire crotch was. Then he realized that his face was just as wet. He picked up part of the blanket and wiped off his face.

"I'm going to slide the chair back a little," said Matt. "Are you okay?"

"Yes", said Esmeralda.

He slid back. She lowered her legs to where she was sitting on the edge of the table.

Esmeralda had this most satisfied look on her face, when she said, "Come here."

Matt stood up and approached her. They kissed. They embraced.

____________________________

Esmeralda and Matt held each other for a long time. Pulling back his head, he looked into her eyes. Matt saw a totally different person than the woman who had entered his house a few days ago. To him, she was no longer just a healthcare worker. Esmeralda was a warm, loving woman who made him feel so much better about life.

As he looked into her eyes, he said, "I... uh... I--"

It was just then that the power came back on. The entire house lit up with light. It startled them. In an instant, they realized that they were standing there naked just a few feet from the picture window. Esmeralda quickly grabbed the pillow and covered herself and in the same instant, pulled the blanket off the table and wrapped it around Matt.

"I guess we should get dressed," said Esmeralda.

"Yes," said Matt, "It's ah... getting cold in here."

Esmeralda went to the living room, and grabbed his robe and her shirt, then headed down the hallway. Matt followed. Once in the hallway, she tossed the pillow aside and helped Matt get his robe over his shoulders. They then went into the bedroom, and as she bent over to pick up Matt's underwear and flannel pants, Matt once again had a great view of her ass. He reached over and ran his hand through her ass crack.

She was still wet. She jumped a little and turned around with a funny grin on her face, saying, "No time to play. Let me help you get dressed."

He stepped into his underwear, and then his flannel pants. Esmeralda then walked past him into the bathroom. He stood there, loving the view of watching her get dressed.

It was near midnight, and both of them were tired.

"It's been a long day," said Matt. "I'm going to recline in the chair and see if I can get some sleep."

"And I'll be here on the couch," said Esmeralda.

Matt pulled her towards him, and embraced her with his one good arm. She hugged him back. They then kissed a long kiss before they separated. Matt settled into his chair and Esmeralda got comfortable on the couch.

It was near seven o'clock in the morning, when Esmeralda woke up. It took her a few seconds to remember why she was there. She got up and stretched. As she walked towards the picture window, she realized the snow had stopped and it was sunny outside. That was the good news. The bad news was there were snowdrifts everywhere, including the car-high one behind her car.

Taking in a deep breath, she turned to see Matt sleeping in the chair. She quietly went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. As she left the kitchen, she could see that Matt had kicked off part of his blanket; she stepped up and re-covered him.

Matt stirred a little.

Esmeralda leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. Matt smiled.

"Coffee is brewing," said Esmeralda.

"Mmmmm," hummed Matt.

She reached over and turned on the news. Of course, the big news story was still the weather. It sounded like most of the county had been hit hard. Esmeralda could hear the coffee finishing brewing, so she went back into the kitchen and poured two cups. As she entered the living room, Matt was starting to sit up. She placed one mug by him and then sat down with hers.

For the next couple of hours, they watched the news, as it had all the different angles about the storm. As a commercial came on, Matt's cell phone rang.

It was his son Joe. "Dad, it's going to be four or more hours before I can get to you guys."

Looking at Esmeralda as Joe said that, Matt said, "I understand. Get here when you can."

Esmeralda shook her head yes.

After cleaning up the dishes, Esmeralda came back into the living room.

Matt said, "Sorry that you're stuck here."

Smiling, Esmeralda said, "I'm glad it's you." She leaned over and kissed him.

He smiled back.

Esmeralda cocked her head slightly, and said to Matt, "Because of our... uh... our..." she stuttered.

"Lovemaking," said Matt.

"Yes..." she said, "lovemaking, I need to... well... let's say clean up."

"Oh," said Matt, "you know where the fresh towels are. Be my guest."

"Thanks," said Esmeralda, as she turned to the hallway. After two steps, she stopped and turned around, saying, "Would you... care to join me?"

"Me?" asked Matt.

"No," said Esmeralda, "the coffee mug on the end table. Of course, I want you to join me."

Matt joyfully stood up, and followed her into the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, Matt started shedding his clothes. Esmeralda turned on the water and set the temperature. As she turned around, there stood Matt fully naked. His cock hung heavy between his legs. There was a look of lust on his face. Esmeralda shook her head as she started to pull off her clothes. Matt had started enjoying Esmeralda's naked beauty. She offered him her arm, so he could get into the tub. Once he was in, Esmeralda stepped in. They stared at each other.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she responded.

Matt stepped forward and drew her into his chest. She wrapped her arms around him. Matt could feel her tits crushed against him. He lowered his head as she raised hers, and they kissed. Their tongues entwined in each other's mouths. She gently nudged him backwards, until they were both under the shower spray.

As she broke off the kiss, she grabbed his favorite soap. "Turn around," she said.

Matt turned around. Esmeralda soaped up his back and then worked her way to his ass. He was giddy. Every time she would swirl her hands on his ass, one of her hands would slide between his ass cheeks and rub against his sphincter. Matt was loving that.

"Turn around," she said.

He turned around.

She was instantly greeted by his cock sticking straight up. Esmeralda rinsed her hands and then used the soap to lather up his chest and stomach. This felt familiar to Matt, as he remembered her doing this before. Lathering up her hands, Esmeralda put the soap down and started scrubbing his pubic hair. Matt's cock bobbed around, bumping into her wrists as she scrubbed. She could see Matt's pre-cum leaking out of his cock. With both hands, Esmeralda grasped Matt's cock. A low 'oh' came out of his mouth. Her hand went up and down slowly on his cock.

Within the next thirty seconds, Matt said, "You better stop. I'm close to coming."

"Okay," she said. With a giddy grin, she handed Matt the soap and said, "I'm next."

Matt used his one good hand to lather up her tits. He could tell she liked it because her nipples were as big as pencil erasers. He then used the soap on her pubic mound. After a couple of swipes of the soap, he put it down, then he ran his finger though her pubic hair. Esmeralda rolled her head back in enjoyment. Matt allowed his index finger to swipe through her pussy lips. They were swollen and hot; her clit was sticking out. His finger was making a squishing noise.

Taking a deep breath, Esmeralda took a step back and with a wicked grin, said, "Don't forget the back." She turned around.

Matt rubbed the bar of soap on her back and then her ass, just as Esmeralda had done to him. He slipped a hand in between her ass cheeks, rubbing against her sphincter. Every time his hand did this, she would push her ass out a little. After a few more swipes, Esmeralda reached around and grabbed his hand. He froze for a second thinking he did something wrong.

"In," she said. "Put your finger in my ass."

Without saying a word, Matt worked a finger past her sphincter and up to the second knuckle.

"YES!!!!" hissed Esmeralda. "Fuck my ass with your finger."

With a little twist of his finger, he pushed and pulled his finger in her ass. After about ten seconds of this, Matt felt something funny in Esmeralda. He realized that she was rubbing her clit as he did this. Her breathing was ragged, her body quivered. She was moving to the rhythm of his finger.

All of a sudden, she said, "Wait... pull out your finger."

Again, Matt was not sure what was going on.

She turned around, put her arms on his shoulders and kissed him passionately. Pulling her face back, she looked into his eyes, and said, "I would like you to fuck me in my ass. If you don't want to, I'll understand."

He leaned forward and kissed her, then pulled his head back, and said, "Soap my cock up... I'm going in."

Her shoulders shook with giddiness. She grabbed the soap and lathered up his cock. After putting the soap down, Esmeralda turned around, put one hand on the wall, and used her other hand to pull an ass cheek away from the other.

Matt slid his good hand up and down his cock, as he stepped up behind her. For him, this was the hardest it has ever been. Placing the head against her sphincter, he pressed forward. Her sphincter was not yielding; he pulled back a little. Matt grabbed his cock close to its head, and guided it to her sphincter. The head of his cock mushroomed out a bit as it made contact. Using more of his weight and the firmness of his grip, the head of his cock popped through the yielding opening.

Esmeralda took in a sharp breath.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"Yes," said Esmeralda, "just give me a second to adjust." In a few seconds, she said, "Go ahead. Push in more."

Matt pushed in an inch more, then pulled out a bit. He then pushed in more than before. He repeated this several times, until nearly all of his cock was inside her.

"Fuck my ass slowly," said Esmeralda, "I want to cum with your cock in me."

Slowly, Matt pushed and pulled his cock. He thought to himself, "No hand, no mouth, no pussy has ever felt this way."

Esmeralda rubbed her clit a little faster and a little faster. "Getting close," she said.

"Me too," said Matt.

"Don't cum yet," she said.

Matt started thinking about the snow and shoveling, trying to hold off.

"Almost there," Esmeralda said, as Matt could feel her body shaking to the rubbing she was doing.

Matt took a couple of breaths slowly. He felt like he was not going to make it. He wanted to fuck her faster.

"I'm sooo close... so close," Esmeralda said, in a breathy voice.

Matt knew it would only be a few strokes more, and he would not be able to stop it.

Esmeralda was moaning a low 'oh' as her legs started to shake. Matt was sooo close. Esmeralda's whole body started shaking and the low 'oh' became a higher pitch 'ah' sound. She started bucking as her pussy convulsed with an orgasm. Matt could feel this and with one final thrust, he started cumming in her ass. The two of them almost fell to the bottom of the tub as both of their legs were starting to buckle.

Finally, both of them were finished, panting like dogs-- Matt could barely hold himself up. With his final bit of energy, he took a small step back, and his semi-flaccid cock made a small popping noise as it came out of her. Esmeralda slowly rose and turned around. She could tell that Matt was unstable; she hooked an arm underneath his good arm.

They stood there, under the spray of the shower for a few minutes. With her free hand, Esmeralda used the water spray to rinse herself. She then splashed water onto Matt to rinse him off. She turned off the shower and pulled back the curtain.

"Can you stand on your own?" asked Esmeralda.

"Yes," said Matt.

Letting go of him, Esmeralda reached out and grabbed a towel. She proceeded to dry Matt off. Making sure he was still stable, she dried herself off, then stepped out of the tub. Grabbing Matt's good arm, she helped him out of the tub. Throwing a clean, dry towel onto Matt, she led him across the hall to his bedroom. As soon as he got close to the bed, he sat down.

"You okay?" asked Esmeralda.

"I am more than fine." He smiled.

"Good," she said. "I'm going to get dressed, then I'll help you."

They were dried, dressed, and in the living room, drinking hot chocolate when Matt's son showed up.

As Joe walked in, he said, "Sorry it took me so long to get here. I hope you were not too bored."

Esmeralda and Matt shook their heads no, both with the tiniest grins on their faces.