The next few days were hectic. She got a hospital bed for Carl and she set him up in Marie's old room. He came back to the hotel in five days and she had the room filled with flowers. The nurses that Alex had hired were first class and the meals were delivered to Carl hot and tasty. His doctor spent and hour in the morning with him and an hour in the late afternoon. He started to gain some weight back and looked like his old self. If you didn't know he had a stroke, you wouldn't have been able to tell from looking at him.
Her days were busy with the companies and she occasionally had to fly to the States or some other part of Europe to conduct business. She called often to check on him when she was away and each evening when she was home she would talk over everything that she had done that day. She made many mistakes but she had many more successes. She was becoming well respected in the companies and she successfully hid Carl's illness from most of the people. She was pleasantly surprised when the auditors gave her the report and she found that his net worth had increased by almost twenty-five percent.
About three months after his stroke she took off work a little early. She was concerned that he was not able to talk yet and she wanted to discuss it with the therapist. She was perturbed when she found the therapist had gone for the day and the nurse got up and went into the living room as she did every evening when Becca would talk to Carl.
"How are you doing today?" she asked as she stood by the bed.
"Fine," he said
Tears came to her eyes and she grabbed him around the neck and almost choked him.
He pushed her away and started to talk slowly as if he had to think of each word, "I didn't want to talk to you until I could be understood. I have been able to talk a little for about a month. Every day is just little better. I know if sounds foolish but I am embarrassed to talk like a baby."
She hugged him again and climbed up and sat on the bed next to him.
"I'm so pleased with your progress. I was worried because you weren't talking yet. It's hard to tell by looking at you that you ever had a stroke."
Carl swung his legs over the side of the bed; "I walked a couple of steps today. I think that it won't be too long until I can take a walk with you."
She started to cry and she reached out and took his hand.
"I'm just so happy that you're getting better. I'll be looking forward to taking that walk with you. Now that you can talk, maybe you can have more input into how I do things."
Tears came to his eyes, "There's something we should discuss. Every now and then you tell me what you did in the office and I have no idea what you are talking about. I seem to have forgotten a few things. I am going to have to rely on you until I can relearn the things I have forgotten. I guess you never thought that you would have the power to destroy me. I am at your mercy. If you want to get back at me for the things that I've done to you, there's nothing I can do to stop you."
She lifted his legs back on the bed and lay next to him and held him. She had never seen such a vulnerable person and she did not like the feeling of power that his vulnerability gave her.
"You have nothing to worry about from me. Just get well so that you can take over the companies again and fire me. This is too much like work."
She leaned over him and kissed him. She felt the stirrings of his manhood against her and she looked into his eyes and smiled.
"It appears that you are feeling better. It seems that the stroke didn't affect everything."
She reached for him and felt him grow in her grasp. A moan escaped for his throat and she started to move her hand, exciting him more.
"Do you feel that you can handle a little excitement?" she asked.
"I asked the doctor a couple of weeks ago and he gave me his Ok."
She got off the bed and slowly undressed for him. She stood away from the bed so that he couldn't reach her but he could watch her. She climbed on the bed and took him in her hand and moved her hand up and down his shaft. He lifted his hips to meet her movement. He put his hand on her cheek and gently caressed her. She kissed his hand and then moved down and took him in her mouth. He moaned as her tongue moved over the head of his cock. She bobbed her head up and down feel him grow larger in her mouth. When felt him tense and she pulled off of him and put her leg over him, straddled him, and took his shaft inside of her.
"You're not going to leave me out of this," she said, "Now just lie back and let me do the work."
She closed her eyes and started the dance of love. He held on to her hips and guided her as she took him into her and then rose so that he pulled part of the way out of her. He tensed again and he shot his seed into her and it triggered her orgasm. She fell on top of him and held him even after he softened and fell out of her.
He took her chin in his hand and looked into her eyes, "That was like no sex I've ever had before."
She turned and put her head on his chest again, "That wasn't fucking, that was making love."
She asked the nurse to take him into the other bedroom and they slept in the same bed first the first time since his stroke.
His progress continued and his therapist said that he worked so hard at recovery that sometimes he was afraid that Carl would hurt himself. By the end of the fifth month, he was walking with the aid of a walker and he soon threw away the walker for a cane. By the end off the eighth month, he was walking on his own and they would take walks in the parks around the hotel. The walks were short at first, followed by the chauffeur pushing the empty wheelchair for when Carl got tired.
Carl had started to go back to the office a few hours each week, but he often deferred to Becca for any decisions that had to be made. She was just happy that he could be with her and she started to resent the work that interfered with their time together.
On the one-year anniversary of his stroke he asked her if she would like to spend a week in his chalet in Switzerland. He told her that he needed to get away and spend some time away from work and the pressures that it put on her.
They made the arraignments and made sure that all of the companies could do without them for a week and left for Switzerland. They had left an emergency number with the managers. They made it clear that if they were called without there being an emergency, heads would roll.
The chalet was on the side of a mountain near a small town and the scenery was beautiful. They relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. The phone never ran and she was not sure if that was good or not. They made love each night as they had since the night that he let her know he could speak.
Several times Carl would take the phone out on the balcony or into the bedroom and talk to someone. Once she heard him lock the bedroom door. She wondered if he had found something that she was not doing right or if he was working on a deal that he had not told her about.
On the fourth day of their stay, they were laying in bed looking out over the valley. He had opened the doors and got back into bed and she cuddled next to him. The air was crisp but not cold and they stayed in bed until the sun reached through the door and swept the bed. Carl got up and fixed coffee. He brought her a coffee and took the phone out on the balcony and shut the door. She watched him talking on the phone for several minutes. He did not appear to be agitated nor did he seem to be arguing with whoever was on the phone. He came back to the bed and lay down next to her.
"I would like you to go somewhere with me today. I have something to show you."
He would not tell her what he had to show her and she was fearful that she had screwed up something at work. They showered together and he seemed reluctant to let her out of his arms. He told her to dress up, as they would be eating lunch and dinner out today.
Carl drove the car himself, as the chauffeur wasn't with them. He was silent on the way to wherever he was taking her. She asked him where they were going and he just smiled.
He pulled in front of a large building. The building was quite old and she could not tell what the building was used for although she heard screams like children playing far off.
An older woman met them in the lobby. She and Carl conversed in German for several minutes. Becca was very weak in the German language and she could only pick up a few words. The word "kinder" was repeated several times and she knew that meant children.
The woman left and Carl to Becca's arm and led her down a hall. There were classrooms on each side of the hall and they went into several of them at the invitation of the instructors. They went to a playground and watched the children running and playing all sorts of kid's game. She got a pain in her chest as she realized that she would never have the joy of watching her children play or go to school.
She felt a tug on her coat and she looked down. A small boy, about four years old, was holding her coat and looking up at her. He took her hand and started pulling her down the hall, talking rapidly. She pulled back until she noticed the instructor motioning with her hands for her to follow the boy. Carl stayed with the instructor. The boy led her to a dormitory and pointed at a bed and started talking in a language she couldn't understand. It suddenly dawned on her that he was showing her his bed. He dragged her out to the playground and pulled her over to a little girl. The little girl had black hair like the boy and Becca guessed that she was about three.
The instructor came over to them and said something to the boy and he ran to play with the other kids after waving goodbye to her. The little girl stood staring at her until Becca reached down and picked her up. She then put her arms around Becca's neck and held on as if she was trying to weld herself to Becca. The little boy was looking at them and was grinning and nodding his head.
The instructor pried the little girl off Becca and told her something. She ran over to the little boy and said something to him. They walked back to where Carl was standing.
"What is this place?" she asked.
"It's a home for orphans run by a UN agency. Do you like any of them? Would you like to give any of them a home, no make that a life."
"Carl, don't be cruel. You know I can't have children."
He pulled her to him, "Maybe we could adopted one or two. I hear that it's possible."
He took her hand and they started down the hall, "Although the Swiss are against letting unwed couples adopt children."
She took about three more steps before it dawned on her what he said. "Just what are you saying?"
"I was wondering if you would ever consider marrying a forgetful, old evil man. Then maybe we could adopt a child or two."
She jumped into his arms and kissed him. She said yes about twenty times until he covered her mouth with his and held her until she calmed down.
They went to the office and found that the children were mostly from war torn countries and were there result of rapes or because all of their relatives were dead. Many were multi-ethnic such as Jew/Muslim, Serb Christian/Bosnian Muslim, and Chinese/Japanese and were considered unadoptable. These children would either be murdered or left on the street to die in their own country. Carl told them that he would have his lawyer contact the school.
"I saw Mitka latch onto you. That was his sister he introduced you to. Both of them would have to go together," the woman said.
Becca looked at Carl with pleading in her eyes. He rose and shook the woman's hand and took Becca back to the car.
She talked non-stop all of the way to the restaurant. He ordered for both of them and she barely picked at her meal. He finally put his hand on her's to quiet her.
"Becca, before you really make any decision about marrying me, I have to ask you something. As you are aware, I have forgotten a lot because of my stroke. That is dangerous in this business world. As soon as the word gets out that I have lost something, the vultures will be swooping in to pick my bones. It just isn't fun anymore and I want to liquidate most of my businesses and spend more time with you and maybe a family. We could offer stock in my companies and we could keep the real estate in New York to give us something to do. I have a large farm I up state New York that I think would be great for raising children."
She looked at him, "Give everything away, I don't care. I'll still marry you. I just hope that you can put up with me if I become a mother."
He smiled, "There's one good thing about having money, you can push beaurocrats into action sometimes. I have been on the phone for a couple of weeks and if you would like to adopt Mitka and his sister all you have to do is marry me. By the way the sister's name is Tia."
She looked at him, "Let's get married then. I think that it's obvious that I love you. "
He started to eat, "We can pick up the children tomorrow. I told you
it was great having money. I knew that you would like Mitka and Tia."