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"Alan, I don't think you realize what you're getting into ..."
"Maybe I don't, but there's only one way to find out for sure. What's the worst they can do? They have so much more to gain by being civil and somewhat accommodating."
"Yes, Alan. I will be by your side when we call them later today."
"Thank you for that, Rose." He gently squeezed her hand. "I love you. 'Imagine me and you,'" and she chimed in with, "'I do.'" And they held hands for the rest of the trip back to Alan's house.
= = =
The three arrived at Alan's home just after 9:00 am and took their bags inside. The first order of business was another pot of coffee. Alan had had the foresight to keep a large bottle of creamer on hand, just in case. As has been noted previously, that Justin Case guy sure gets around. While waiting for the coffee to brew, Alan made some cinnamon sugar toast for them all.
Additional discussions began to cover an initial inventory of the two households, with an eye for what should be saved and repurposed in Tom and Julie's apartment in January. With the king-size and queen-size beds being delivered that day, there would be four full-size beds (Alan's, David's, Julie's, and Maggie's), two queen-size beds (Rose's and the one being delivered for David's room), and two king-size (Tom's and the one being delivered for Alan and Rose). Rose's bed could be allocated to the apartment, as would one of the full-size beds. A new bed would be needed for the basement room once said room was ready. That left three full-size beds as extra.
At 9:30 Alan received a call from the dispatcher informing him that his purchases would be delivered between noon and 2 pm. Given that, they had a couple of hours to get things prepared. With Rose's and Maggie's help, all three beds were stripped of sheets and mattress pads to be run through the wash. Maggie volunteered to handle the washing, drying, and folding duties in exchange for being excused from the other tasks.
Rose and Alan dismantled the full-size beds in Alan's and David's rooms, noting that new headboards would be needed for the new beds. Alan's would also require a new footboard, as Rose liked the concept of a four-poster bed. The frames, mattresses, and box springs were all staged for easy removal by the delivery team.
"Alan," Rose began, "how many sets of sheets do you have for the one king-size bed?"
"I believe I have three with one additional mattress pad. Two of the sets are traditional linens and one is of cotton flannel for the very cold months ahead. Why do you ask?"
"And how many sets do you have for a queen-size bed?" she continued, not answering his question.
"Only one, for the hide-a-bed in the living room, and it's on that bed right now. Again, why do you ask?"
"Just think for a moment, please. When you remove the sheets from both king-size beds next time, what will you replace the used sheets with? You have only three sets, two of which were just used."
And the lightbulb went on over Alan's head. That there was a problem was acknowledged and the problem-solving hat just got jammed on his head.
"I'm going to need more sets of bed linens including mattress pads, blankets, and comforters."
"Ding, ding, ding, ding! You are correct, sir! What do we have for our winner, Johnny? Yes, Alan, we need to go do some shopping once the beds are delivered and set up."
"Well, there goes my afternoon," Alan said, smiling ruefully.
= = =
The new beds were delivered just after noon. The king-size bed went in Alan's room and the queen-size bed went in David's. Both came with basic frames and no headboards. Maggie had all the bedding clean and ready, and she wanted to try the flannel sheets on Tom's bed. The delivery guys also removed the two full-size beds, as agreed on when Alan purchased the new beds. So, the beds needed that night were ready, and the trio was getting hungry for lunch.
"Do either of you have a food preference?" Alan asked.
"Mexican?" suggested Maggie, to which Rose seconded.
"Los Tres Amigos, then?" Alan responded, and both ladies eagerly agreed.
While enjoying the authentic Mexican cuisine, they worked on a list of bedding to acquire. Each bed needed three sets of sheets plus a blanket and a duvet or comforter. After lunch, they made their way to a department store for the necessary coverings. Two sets of new sheets for Maggie's bed, three sets for David's, and two more sets including new flannel sheets for Alan's bed were all needed. All in all, the haul was quite sizeable and not cheap. But the quality of the linens promised years of service and function. By now it was getting late, so they headed back to Alan's to fix supper.
Alan didn't have much in the way of salad ingredients, and that's what the ladies said they wanted to counteract the cheese from lunch. They stopped at the nearby supermarket and picked up a couple of heads of lettuce, some carrots, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and the all-important bacon bits. Toss in a couple of bottles of lite salad dressing and some garlic croutons and voila! Supper. They took the food back to Alan's and Rose kicked him out of his own kitchen while dragooning Maggie to help her slice, dice, and chop the fixings into suitable pieces.
Forcibly ejected from his own kitchen, he took a can of Diet Dew and adjourned to the media room. Quietly he closed the pocket doors, but he did not start up a movie. He extracted his phone and placed a call to a number in his phonebook. Confirming time and method, he smiled and put his phone away. Alan set up his laptop to use the large plasma display. They could and would use the built-in camera on the laptop for the Zoom call. Emerging from the man cave, he called down the hall to Rose, "How much longer until supper?" to which she responded, "Fifteen minutes. Go wash up, please."
He opted to go to his bathroom where he washed up. Grabbing his laptop, he headed back downstairs to the dining room. Maggie and Rose were on his heels with the supper. They gathered hands at the table and asked for God's blessing.
After the supper had been eaten and the dishes entrusted into the care of the mechanical dishwasher, Alan suggested that the ladies make use of the plumbing facilities and then please join him by the front door. While Rose and Maggie were handling their output needs, Alan got the Zoom call started, then stepped out to wait by the front door.
"Rose, you haven't seen our 'man cave' yet, have you?" Alan inquired.
"No, I haven't yet, Alan."
"But I have," Maggie chirped. "It's a great place to watch a movie, Mom."
"Maggie, you lead and choose your place to sit, and we'll be right behind you," Alan directed, locking down on Rose's hand. Not using his strength, but firmly enough that Rose was not going anywhere. Leading Rose, he tugged the doors closed behind him while she just looked around in astonishment.
"Hello, Margaret!" came a familiar voice, and then Rose looked at the display to see her mother and father waving at Maggie. Rose's heart leaped into her throat and she could barely croak anything to Alan. He tugged her hand and her body followed and he obliged her to sit between himself and Maggie on the sofa, facing the laptop camera. "Hello, Rosie. It's good to see you. It has been quite a while, hasn't it?" her mother asked.
Swallowing with difficulty, Rose nodded her head and said, "Yes, Mother, it has been quite some time. You are looking well, as is Daddy."
"Thank you, Rosie," Elliott answered.
Rose's hand tightened on Alan's and he squeezed her hand back in support and sympathy. She cleared her throat and addressed her parents.
"Mother, Father, I would appreciate it very much if you would no longer call me by 'Rosie'. You gave me the name Rosalie, and most people call me Rose. I would very much like for you to stop calling me by that juvenile name. I will respond to Rose or Rosalie, but never again Rosie."
Martha and Elliott both had a surprised look on their faces at their daughter's stance on the matter. Martha was holding Elliott's hand and she squeezed it to prevent him from saying anything.
"We are so sorry that name is unpleasant for you, daughter. Has this been an issue with you for a long time?" Martha inquired.
"It is one of the reasons I have limited our contact, Mother. There are other reasons which are best not discussed in front of Maggie or shared with Alan."
"Alan Harrison, it is good to put a face with your name and voice," Elliott interjected. Alan just raised his eyebrows at that, as Elliott had seen his face during his exit interview video call the day before.
"Yes, Alan, it is good to be able to put your face with your voice," Martha concurred, not knowing that this was not her husband's first viewing of Alan. Following his own rule, Alan did not say anything about Friday's Zoom meeting.
"And it is good to put your faces with your voices as well, Martha, Elliott," Alan replied. He gave Rose's hand a gentle squeeze hoping she would get the message to stay still.
"Grandma, Grandpa, you are looking very good," Maggie stated. "I wish that David was here so you could see how good we go together."
"Rose, I must say that you look very happy in Alan's company, dear," Martha complimented them.
"He makes me want to be a better person, Mother."
"And she completes me, Martha. She fills part of the void left by Laura, and she makes the nights bearable for me. For that, I thank you both, Martha, Elliott."
Rose's parents flushed a little at that, not knowing how to react.
Rose leaned over and whispered in Alan's ear, asking him for a chance to speak with her parents without other ears.
Alan piped up again. "Maggie, do you suppose you could come with me and leave your mother to talk with her parents in privacy for a bit? I'm very glad you are talking to each other," he said, directed at Rose and Martha, "and I think you both could benefit from a little more time without our ears. Come along, Magpie."
That drew a big smile from Maggie, and she waggled her fingers at the laptop and said, "Good night, Grandma. Good night, Grandpa. I hope we'll talk again soon." Then she stood up and crossed in front of Rose to take Alan's hand and they exited, leaving Rose connected to her parents.
= = =
Alan led Maggie across the foyer into the living room. He turned to face her and held open his arms. She wasted no time, stepping into them and hugging him, tucking her head under his chin.
"Thank you, Alan, Dad, for pushing Mom to talk with her parents," Maggie said.
"Do you know what other issues she has or had with them?" Alan probed.
"Nothing specific. Just a general sense of unease on her part."
"Hmmph. I don't want to pry too much, but it eats at me, do you understand?" Alan admitted. "Would you like to dance a little?"
Rather than answer him verbally, Maggie pulled her phone from her pocket and fired up Spotify. She had been slowly building a playlist of more current songs for her and David to dance to, but this could be a good dry run. She set it on the coffee table and turned the volume up a little. Not as good as resonating in a serving bowl, but adequate to the needs of the two of them. As luck would have it, the first up was 'Nights in White Satin'. With that song in a 3/4-time signature, it was ideal for a slow waltz, and Alan led Maggie through the steps.
David was a good dancer, but Alan smoked him with his experience and familiarity with this song. It was played at nearly every school dance he attended, and the memories crowded his mind. As Graham Edge's poetry was recited at the end, they stopped waltzing and just swayed together.
"Alan, I love what you do for my Mom. She has been so much easier going since Thanksgiving, and I'm going to give you all the credit for that. How much longer are you going to hold out?" Maggie asked.
"I kind of promised her that we'd make this a very special Christmas. I won't reuse Laura's rings. That just would not be right. Maybe I'll let Tom use them if he feels so led. But we need to do this right. Your mom and I still keep finding some rough spots, though."
"But you do love her, right? Isn't that enough?"
"Ah, Mags, if only it was that simple."
"It's only difficult if you allow it to be difficult. She was a real mess that night you hung up on her."
"Yeah, I could hear it in her voice. We've since agreed not to tease over the phone, only in person, and never walk away while angry without explaining why. These could be good lessons for you and David as well. Many people live by 'never go to bed angry'. But anger is a normal human emotion. Just be sure to talk things out. It's ok to agree to disagree."
Maggie tucked her head against Alan's chest and breathed him in. Remarkably similar to David, but just different enough for her to realize that she preferred David's scent. They danced around for three more songs, then Alan had to break to use the bathroom.
= = =
"All right, Mother, Daddy. It's just us now. Are you sure you want to do this?" Rose asked with a decided edge to her voice. Alan had pushed her into this and had sat beside her to give her strength. But she had to do the rest of this on her own.
"Do what, Rose?" Elliott asked.
"This is the last time I call you 'Daddy', Father. Our agreement is now ended."
"What agreement, dear?" Martha asked, puzzled.
"Father, will you tell her, or shall I?" Rose asked.
Martha looked at Elliott who sat there with a slight frown on his face, glaring at the image of Rose on their monitor. He said nothing, glaring, daring Rose to say it.
"Ok, that's how it's going to be. Mother, your loving husband was my first. He did not break my hymen. That happened while horseback riding at summer camp when I was 16. But the night of my 18th birthday, he came to my room and seduced me, and became the first man inside me. It wasn't rape. It was quasi-consensual. It was only that one time. But he insisted that I call him 'Daddy' ever since. That ends tonight along with the secret."
Rose had expected histrionics from her mother, or at least a slap across Elliott's face. What she got was even more surprising.
"Yes, dear, I know. I suggested it to him. He said he just needed one time to get it out of his system, so I gave him a one-time pass," Martha explained. "I did not know about the 'Daddy' thing, though. I did think it rather odd that it stemmed from that time, but I had never examined it closely to put it together. I'm glad this is now in the open between the three of us. Thank you for not sharing it with anyone else."
"You knew all along? And said nothing? How could you, Mother?!" Rose's volume was starting to rise.
"How do you bring this sort of thing up, Rosalie?" Martha asked, quite calmly. "I understand this is one of the biggest reasons for your keeping your distance from us. I'm sorry for that. Maybe now we can put this behind us and move on."
"My mother must either be on drugs or she's psychotic," Rose thought. Aloud, "Very well, mother. I need you to stay out of my relationship with Alan. He's not at all like Ron and he won't tolerate your meddling or interfering. And when he proposes to me, I will say 'YES!' without any reservations."
"Yes, Rosalie, I know he's nothing at all like Ron. Your father is somewhat afraid of him. Alan has so much character and backbone. Elliott told me he was glad Alan left the company."
"You told him to pack up and leave the office yesterday, Father!"
"Yes, Rose, I did. I was following company policy. Immediately upon completion of the exit interview, the departing employee is to be escorted from the site and may be permitted to return on a weekend day for one hour for their personal effects. Carl informed me that Alan had already had everything packed up. Not that I was surprised, but Carl was. Did you hear what happened after?" Elliott asked.
"Alan has had no contact with anyone. He drove up to spend the night with us. Surprised us both with flowers. What happened after he was escorted out?"
"An email went out about 30 minutes later informing of Alan's departure, and his entire project team went home 'sick' from something they ate at lunch. A corporate version of 'blue flu', I suppose. Most unexpected, especially by management down there. I don't know if this illness will persist beyond Sunday or not. The company really screwed the pooch with Alan. And his policy of never considering a counteroffer prevented any sort of remediation efforts."
Rose snorted at the project team walking out in sympathy. "Serves them right," she muttered. "What else do you know about this situation, Father?"
"I know that Maria fomented discord among the females in that office, although I don't know why. I also suspect that there will be other revelations in the next two weeks. But it will all be far too little and far too late to do anything for Alan."
"That's ok, Father. His new position will give him a 40% increase in pay from what he was getting. You could not afford to bring him back," Rose said smugly.
The shocked expression on Elliott's face was payback enough for her. They were all silent for a good minute.
"Mother, Father, this has been 'enlightening' and not as bad as I had feared. Perhaps we could do this again?"
"We would welcome the opportunity, dear," Martha said, once again playing the peacemaker. "Are we now all better?"
"I will need some time to absorb and accept this, but I think things are going to be a little better between us with no more secrets. Good night, Mother, Father."
"Good night, Rosalie. Give our love to Margaret, and to Julia when you see her next." And the call disconnected.
= = =
Rose left the 'man cave' and followed the sound of the music. Maggie was dancing with Alan as was becoming the regular Saturday night thing to do. Smiling, she crept up behind her daughter and tapped her on the shoulder.
"May I cut in, please?" Rose asked.
With a blush, Maggie stepped back and placed Rose's hand in Alan's.
"I was just keeping him warmed up for you, Mom," she tried to explain.
"There's no need to apologize, dear. Thank you for the time to talk with Grandma and Grandpa."
Maggie stepped away and sat on the sofa and just watched. Rose and Alan flowed so well together. Their delight in each other was obvious to any casual observer. Maggie's eyes began to well up with tears at how happy Rose seemed to be. Maggie's heart was sorely missing David.
At 8 pm, Maggie needed to reclaim her phone so she could call David. Alan thanked Maggie for the music to dance to. He then returned to the media room to reclaim his laptop and to disconnect it from the main display. Rose quietly followed Alan while Maggie trooped up the stairs for her call with her boyfriend.
"Hi, honey," Alan said, turning to face Rose. "Is there something you'd like to do now? Maybe watch a movie? Hang out together? Suck face? Screw each other senseless?"
"I want you to take me up to our room and christen our new, bigger bed most thoroughly," Rose declared.
"I like where your mind is at, my love. Allow me to finish up shutting the electronics down and I will be right up to help you make the bed, seeing as how it has neither mattress pad nor sheets. Tell you what: you may even select the inaugural set of linens."
"Gee, whiz, that's swell! You're all heart, Mr. Harrison. Now, don't be too long though. I'd hate to have to start without you." And Rose quickly mounted the stairs to their room.
Alan quickly shut down things, then proceeded to take the steps two at a time in his desire to be with Rose.
= = =
Maggie climbed the stairs and headed for the front bedroom. She was initially surprised at the bed not having sheets, then she recalled having washed them that morning. She got out a fresh set of sheets and pillowcases along with a mattress pad. Then she struggled a bit in making up the king-size bed on her own. She did, eventually, succeed in getting the bed made. Then she flopped on it, wearied. And then her phone rang with David's assigned ringtone.
