Comforter

Alan Pell was twenty-five when he met fifty-three-year-old Maria. She was the most wonderful woman he had ever dreamed of. He loved her instantly, forever, even from all eternity past. She was exiting a bad marriage, hurt and disillusioned with men. Alan gave her hope and his adoration. Together they created a life of love that transcended the universes and disbanded the very existence of time.
Alan's mother was devastated he would marry and older woman. How would she get grandchildren, now? Maria's children saw Alan in their own various lights. Thomas, her son, saw Alan as an interloper and a sorry replacement for his father, who he idolized for all the wrong reasons, exhibiting more than a few of his father's own bad traits. Jessica, Maria's daughter, saw Alan as a man she could have loved, if she had met him before her own failing marriage. The playful competition between the two women made them both love Alan more and each other supremely.
When Maria grows old and passes away, Alan is devastated. HIs grief is like a melting down of the universes and all time stops to observe him in his pain. Jessica feels a similar sense of loss and between them they mourn the loss of the great woman as a tribute to her lasting effect on them. IN their grief, they find they have always loved one another even as Maria loved them and transferring her love is a way of making sure her love never dies.
If Thomas was upset about his mother marrying Alan, he goes around the bend when he discovers that now his sister will marry the man. But love is eternal and not to be denied. No one can stop the love they feel and experience with one another. Alan discovers that love never dies. It is too much a part of the eternity of the ages and will always find new lovers to experience it. People may be different, but love is always.