Synchronicity for Six Pt. 04

David paused long enough to envelop Rose in a hug and kiss goodnight, then allowed Maggie to pull him by his hand down the hall and up the stairs. Alan plastered himself against the wall just outside the kitchen so he did not get run over by their youthful enthusiasm.

When Rose came around the corner, Alan grabbed her, pushed her against the wall, and kissed the hell out of her. At first, she was startled but soon their passion for each other overcame everything else. Breaking away from his lips, she walked backwards down the hall, gesturing with her pointer finger for him to follow. Then she held up her hand in a "stop" indication, saying, "Be sure to turn off all the lights and lock the doors. You're not going to hear anyone coming in." Then she dashed up the stairs, giggling.

= = =

At John's request, Tom got out the Monopoly game after supper. There was a great debate over who would have the doggie token which ultimately was resolved by a round of rock‑scissors‑paper‑lizard‑Spock and won by Dawn. They played for almost two hours before John's luck overcame Tom's early monopolies of the orange and red properties. Graciously, Tom bowed his head in acquiescence to John's prowess (and good fortune), and the four headed off to bed. Tom made a last-minute invitation to attend worship with Julie and him the next morning.

Once in their bedroom with the door shut, Julie began to run her hands over Tom. Tugging on the hem of his t‑shirt, she indicated she desired it removed. He took her hands in his and led her over to their bed. Laying them both down, Tom began to stroke her raven tresses and to speak, quietly.

"Jules, I'm really worried about this one thing between us."

Julie's bottom lip began to quaver a bit, and her eyes started to mist. "Us, Tom?"

"Yeah, us. In nearly everything between us, I think we're doing really well, but there have been a number of times, recently, where we have not been an 'us'. I was unilaterally deciding about which employment offer to accept, but that affects our future. It took some similar choices on your part to make me realize what I was doing wrong. I'm truly very sorry for not including you in this decision making." Tom hoped Julie would step up and realize and admit her erring ways. He had observed his mother do a similar thing to extract something from his father. He pressed on with his thoughts about what he had done wrong, leaving the larger discussion for a later time.

"I need to share the results of my deliberations with you and get your buy‑in. I have about a week to finalize my decision as to which of the three employment offers I wish to accept. They are the nationwide bank with offices in Chicago and Los Angeles; the national consultancy based out of Atlanta; and the smaller, regional consultancy based here in this state. The compensation from the larger employers is about $7,500 per year more than the smaller one. But I would have to move to either Chicago or Atlanta to accept those offers. I think the cost of living in those larger cities would eat up the increased salary very quickly, not to mention the transportation costs to return to visit you, our families, and our friends."

Julie was quiet for a couple of minutes as she ran the conversation back through her memory. 'Choices on my part?' she wondered. She had completely put the discussion Tom had promised that morning out of her mind. It took her some time to come back to her choices which had led them to that moment. She really did not want to face those facts just yet, and Tom did not seem to be pressing for anything specific. She took the easy way out.

"Tom, you said that I could be a teacher anywhere; that good teachers are always in demand. I love you so much. I will follow you to the ends of the earth. Would I prefer that you remain nearby? Absolutely! But how long would it take you to make up that salary difference if you chose the regional consultancy?"

"Jules, I don't think you heard me clearly. The cost of living in Chicago or Atlanta would eat up that $7,500 in a heartbeat, regardless of the travel costs. I'd effectively be earning less if I chose either of those offers. But money's not the only consideration. Yes, proximity to you is important to me, at least while you're still living here. But there are other intangibles I... we should consider."

"Like?"

"Like personalities. Like mentorship. Like working with people you respect. Like supporting those who have supported you. Like the probability of success."

"Tommy, are you really worried about not succeeding?"

"It's just that those firms in the major cities are much larger. Recent college graduates are tasked with so much 'grunt work'. You've seen the movies. Regardless if it's an accounting firm or a law firm, the junior‑most workers bear the heaviest load. In the smaller firm, I feel like I would be able to make more positive impact as well as learn useful practices. Besides, I feel as though I should accept the offer from regional consultancy because they did not hesitate to extend an offer after the Career Fair. The other two larger firms have their policies and practices to observe, and that probably slowed down the offer process. But consider this: what if I accepted the regional firm's offer, worked and learned from them for two or three years, then considered applying to larger firms?"

"Tom, it sounds to me like you've already made your decision and now you're just trying to get my buy-in, after the fact." Julie smiled in understanding. "I think you present a very strong case for the smaller firm. I'm good with that. Now, I would like some of your very personal attention, Mr. Harrison," and she began to nibble on his earlobe.

= = =

"Rose, do you honestly think it's a good idea for David and Maggie to give 'promise rings'?" Alan asked.

They were up in their bedroom, getting ready for bed. Rose was seated on her side of the bed, brushing her hair, her lovely body on display for Alan. He was just stepping into the bathroom for a quick flush‑and‑brush.

She turned to look at his retreating form and held her tongue. He would not hear her over any of the running water, and that gave her time to build up a small head of steam. Her eyes were flashing with her ire as he returned. The expression on her face stopped him two feet away from the bed.

"You do that every time, Alan! You ask me a question and then walk away! What are you trying to communicate with that? Perhaps you think you are giving me time to think about my response. My takeaway is that your mind is already made up, and you don't wish to be distracted by my position." Rose's volume increased with every sentence of her reply.

"Yes, I honestly think it's a good idea for Maggie and David to give 'promise rings' to each other. Were you not listening to your son earlier? He admitted, to us both, that being away from Maggie just this shortened week was difficult for him. She's why he's back home this weekend! It wasn't for our sakes that he drove the two hours back on Friday. It wasn't to give Robert and Amanda some time and space. That is a happy by-product of his coming home. Can you not see how much each one stabilizes the other?" Rose was on a roll now. It was now Alan's turn to hold his tongue. Rose was like no one he had ever experienced. Like her youngest, the auburn hair did not lie. Her accumulating affection for David was beginning to show as well.

Rose continued, "Did you not hear the absolute delight in Maggie's voice when he came through the door on Friday? Do I think it's a good idea? Not only yes, but hell yes! It's a great idea!" She was up off the bed now, hairbrush in hand, and he was slowly retreating. Her wielding the hairbrush took his mind off her nakedness. His mother had beaten his behind with a hairbrush once. Once. He knew well the damage a hairbrush could do, and he wanted no part of that again. Holding up his hands, he tried to sue for peace.

"Rose! Rose my love! Please put the hairbrush down. My hands are empty; could you please empty yours and we can try to discuss this with less drama?"

"Drama! DRAMA!" Her volume and pitch increased with each word. "I'll give you drama, buster!"

'Oh, shit, what have I gotten into and how do I get out of it?' Alan wondered. Aloud, "I misspoke, Rose, my love. Can we please try to scale down the emotions? I'd rather not be sharing our disagreement with David and Maggie."

That quieted her down, but her eyes were still aflame. She pointed at the bed with the hairbrush still in her hand and slowly backed around the bed to her side. When she lay the hairbrush on her nightstand, Alan slowly reapproached the bed. She sat with her back to her pillow while he sat at the foot of the bed on his side. They looked at each other, warily. After a minute of absolute silence, Alan succumbed.

"Rosalie, my betrothed, my love. I am so sorry I offended you by walking off after asking a question. Yes, I was trying to give you time to formulate your response. I truly wished to know your opinion on the matter. Please forgive me. I'm so accustomed to dealing with not‑so‑bright people who need time to come up with an answer. I've known almost since we met that you are not one of those people." He extended his left hand, palm up, toward her. "I am so sorry if I have triggered one of your land mines."

Somewhat mollified, Rose swallowed her harsh response, and extended her left hand, the one with the engagement ring, palm down to cover his. She made sure that he saw it, and he gulped at its significance still on her hand. But her hand felt so very good in his. He stroked her palm with his thumb. She allowed that gentle touch to persist for a minute, then cleared her throat.

"Alan, we come from different marital experiences, yet our recent history is very similar. When Ron left, I had to step up and make every decision, big and little, for myself and for my girls. I've been doing this for nearly 18 years now. I'm going to need some time, some tolerance from you and the rest of the family, to try to adapt to a shared leadership model." Seeing where she was going with this, Alan smoothly continued.

"And since Laura passed, I've had to operate under the benevolent despotism paradigm, also making nearly every decision for my family. So, while I have years of experience in a shared leadership model, my recent patterns have not been along those lines. It should not take me too long to reacclimate, but it will take some time and patience, from both of us. Do you suppose we can do this without having to resort to the hairbrush method of convincing?" He cracked a quick smile, and Rose answered with one of her own and the clasping of his hand in hers. He gently tugged on her hand, and she leaned forward. He met her halfway, and soon they were in a caring embrace.

= = =

David and Maggie had retired to the bedroom with the larger of the two beds. They had skimmed down to t-shirts and underwear and were settling horizontally on the bed. They had just laid down and started kissing when they each made a face at the other.

"Dragonbreath?" David inquired.

"Decidedly so. Let's go brush and flush."

They were side by side in the bathroom, brushing and gargling and giggling like the very young adults they were. There was just something about David that liberated Maggie, and she loved it. Completing their hygiene, they were hand in hand in the hall when they both heard, "Drama! DRAMA! I'll give you drama, buster!" They looked at each other, fear exploding in Maggie's eyes, concern in David's. He wanted to cross the landing to listen at the door, but Maggie was shaking her head vehemently and tugging on his hand.

"No, David! That tone of voice means 'run for the hills'. Let's just give them some space. Come back to bed, sweetie. They'll figure things out."

"But Mags," he began and she placed her index finger on his lips. "Let's just leave them alone, Davey,"

"Okay, Magpie. But I want to show you what your mom and I found out today."

He pulled up the Wikipedia page for 'Pre-engagement ring', also known as a 'promise ring or a friendship ring', and Maggie's eyes grew wide as the photograph showed a ring with diamonds, well beyond either of their means. Then David followed the link for Claddagh rings, and Maggie's smile would have outshone the sun.

"Oh, Davey! That would be perfect! But... we don't have anything like that in stock in my store," and her smile faded slowly. He did not like to see disappointment on her face, so he stroked her lips with his, and soon everything else faded to insignificance for the rest of the night.

= = =

Sunday, January 24

The sun on his face was one factor leading to David's awakening. The scent of brewing coffee was another. But it was a hot, wet constriction upon his member that truly brought him into the realm of the conscious. That, plus her hands upon his chest as she raised up and down. He must have been a little slow to waken because it wasn't much longer before both achieved their ecstatic crescendos.

Greatly pleased with herself and temporarily sated, Maggie flopped to the bed beside her boyfriend, a huge smile on her face. Gently kissing his lips, she urged him to elevate himself and get a shower. He saw it was 7:15 and was a little puzzled at the fragrance of the morning brew. He pulled his shorts on and straightened his t-shirt then dutifully headed to the kitchen.

Alan was sitting at the kitchen table slowly drinking a mug of coffee. With a grin, David passed him to get the creamer from the refrigerator. Turning about to look at his father, David's expression became serious as Alan looked miserable. If Alan had been a smoker, David was sure the ashtray would have been full of cigarette butts. Eschewing a mug for himself, David sat and clasped Alan's hands in his. Alan looked up with his acute sorrow plainly visible.

"Dad, it's gonna be all right. You two had a fight, right?"

"You heard?"

"Some of it before Maggie dragged me away."

"Do you love her?"

"Who, Maggie? Absolutely. Rose? Yes, she's now 'momma'. Julie? Yeah, but not quite as much as I love Maggie." David flashed a quick smile. "I believe we are all much better off with them in our lives than without them. Wanna talk about what happened?"

"Yes, I need to, but not with either you or Maggie. This is between Rose and I." Alan took a deep drink of his cooled coffee. "We need to reach a middle ground and for some reason neither of us has wanted to make the first concession." David pursed his lips very tightly at that.

"Dad, you know how the freezing point of water is the melting point of ice? Either way, it's 32 degrees; it just depends on your perspective. Do you love her?"

"Without any doubt in my heart, son. But she's so different from your mother. She doesn't need me the way Laura did."

David saw a flutter of cloth at the doorway and knew someone was listening. He did not think it was Maggie, either. So, he pressed on.

"Dad, she couldn't need you the way Mom did. She's not Mom. She never will be. It's not fair to either of you to compare one to the other. Rose has accepted your proposal to become your wife, not Mom's replacement. Mom will always be Mom. Rose is now 'Momma'. They are two completely different women. We all will likely have to change a little for this wonderful family to work. I believe all three Lawson women are worth the effort. You say, 'Change is inevitable...'."

"'Except from a vending machine.' I know, son. But she's so sharp and quick. And strong. I don't think she needs me. Not really."

"Oh, but I do, Alan!" Rose rushed around the corner and fell to her knees at his feet, her head in his lap. "I realize now that I was just surviving before we met, Alan." She lifted her head to speak clearly.

"You have changed my life, infinitely for the better. I'm now living again. I told you before that I never want to let you go. That holds truer today than ever before!" She started to sing Spiral Staircase's hit 'More Today Than Yesterday', bringing a smile to Alan's face.

David had stealthily arisen and was pouring the coffee into a mug for Maggie when she appeared at the doorway. Initially puzzled to see her mother on her knees before Alan, she saw the mug in David's hands and held out her own hands to accept it from him. Taking his own mug, they quietly slipped back up the stairs so he could take his delayed shower. He just never expected Maggie to climb into the shower with him.

= = =

Tom woke at 7:30 to his phone's alarm. He fumbled for the phone with his right hand because his left arm was wrapped up by Julie. As usual, she was snuggled up against his left side and wrapped around him. He really didn't object to this; it was far better than waking up in bed alone. He lay there for a few minutes, ruminating on that fact.

He concluded that his life was significantly better with Julie in it than it was without her. Despite some of their recent communication issues, he would do anything and everything he could to keep them together. Sometimes you can be of two minds about an issue. This was true with Tom as well. And with Julie being a major piece of his soul and very being, in so many ways truly his soul‑mate, he would be unbearably miserable without her. So, he decided that he would work with her through all the problems they would encounter henceforth.

At this moment, the problem seemed to be how Julie had been making decisions by herself. He would have to be gentle with her, yet persistent in working through their problems. The first item, though, was getting her awake. Holding his breath, he turned his face to hers and fluttered his eyelashes against her cheek, 'butterfly kisses'. Still somnolent, she wrinkled her nose and tried to brush her cheek with her left hand. He repeated his subtle tormenting act of love. Julie rolled to her left, mostly onto her back, and rubbed her face, waking slightly. Tom proceeded with 'eskimo kisses': rubbing noses with his girlfriend. That caused an eye to open slightly and her rubbing noses with him, ultimately ending up in lip and tongue kisses.

"If I bring you your coffee, will you please get up and get dressed for church?" Tom asked. He wasn't above a little bribery to get his way, and he was going to get her the coffee anyway, but he thought he might be able to negotiate something for himself in the process.

"Of course, Tom. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to wear?" she asked.

"A nice dress or blouse and skirt combination, please," he replied. "But I'd like to head out by 8:40 to make the 9:00 service, please."

"You've got yourself a deal, kind sir." Julie had intended all along to go to church with him, but if he was offering to bring her coffee, then she wouldn't turn that down.

Not hearing any movement from their guest room, Julie stuck a Post-It note on the bathroom mirror, advising Dawn and John that she and Tom had gone to church and would be back no later than 10:30. Coffee was still warming and there were bagels and cream cheese left from the previous day. They tried to be quiet as they departed, but some noise was inevitable.

It was those noises that Dawn and John had been waiting for. Neither of them cared to darken the doorstep of a church for fear lightning might strike. Besides, they had each other to enjoy and a wider and more comfortable bed to do so upon. Left alone in the basement apartment, they proceeded to have their way with each other.

= = =

David and Maggie rode with Alan and Rose to church. The four were warmly greeted as they entered the Fellowship Hall. Maggie stayed with David as he went to prepare the drinks, while Alan and Rose were gathered in by their circles of friends. While David was fixing the cups, a dark-haired, dark-eyed girl was watching Maggie closely. Maggie felt the eyes on her and turned to address the girl.