Synchronicity for Six Pt. 07

Author's Note: This is a story of the romantic love of three couples. There is a little explicit sex in it, so if that is what you're seeking, look elsewhere on Literotica. "Synchronicity for Six" is the most recent part of a series of romantic stories about the blending into one family of three Harrison men and three Lawson women (the 'Six' principal characters). It is focused on their developing love and relationships, and the friendships in their lives. "Synchronicity for Six" can be read on its own, but your enjoyment and understanding of the characters will be enhanced by reading the two preceding ones first. "Every Thing She Does is Magic" introduces the first couple, Tom and Julie, during September and October. "Spirits in the Material World" then spans the period from just before Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve and introduces their parents, Alan and Rose, and their siblings, David and Maggie. "Synchronicity for Six" begins on Christmas day.

The voted ratings are nice, I'll never deny that. But it's the comments that feed the writer's soul and ego. If this epic saga has made you laugh or cry or even made you think, I would love to know about it. I laugh and cry as I'm writing it; I hope you do the same while reading it.

= = =

Monday, February 1, continued

After a dramatic weekend and a moderately eventful Monday, everybody's schedules seemed to calm down and return to a more normal rhythm. The return to calmness was welcomed by everyone. Nobody really wants to live in 'interesting times'.

Maggie and Katie agreed on a schedule for their tutoring time together. Sunday late afternoons and evenings and Wednesday evenings would be tutoring sessions for both Joy and Katie. Monday late afternoons would be for driving practice and evenings would be reserved for tutoring Katie alone. Tuesday evenings would be reserved for tutoring Joy alone. If necessary, a Thursday evening session could be for either or both girls. Maggie found a couple of good resources on the Internet for pre-quiz questions to have them solve, and Maggie then tutored to those questions. The first couple of sessions were rough as the girls were learning how the other taught and learned. But the additional Thursday evening session just for Katie before her test on Friday went very well in Maggie's estimation. Katie gave Maggie a big hug of thanks as she was about to leave the house and whispered, "I wish I didn't have to go home."

Maggie replied just as softly, "I understand, Katie. But there's nothing to be done for it for now. Stay focused on your grades and getting into State, okay? We'll have some fun there." Katie nodded and then headed for her sad home. She had made it this far. She just needed to finish things out here, get away, and start living her life. She was grateful for Maggie's openness and friendship, as well as Rose's open invitation to be welcomed into their home.

Rose was particularly buoyed by Maggie's efforts on behalf of her friends. It was a very good thing, she thought, for Maggie to keep her hand in something educational while she was waiting to go off to college in the fall.

= = =

Rose and Alan just cuddled and snuggled together that Monday night. Both anticipated a vigorous romp on Tuesday morning and were saving their energies. Rose was completely happy with how her life now was turning around. Looking back, she had just been keeping her head above water, addressing the essentials of day‑to‑day life. But now, in Alan, she had someone to walk by her side, hand in hand. Rose still got a zing of excitement when she remembered first meeting Alan Harrison. She didn't necessarily buy into all the spiritual mumbo-jumbo that Alan, Tom, and David seemed to be holding onto. Sometimes good things come to those who wait patiently. She could easily see that it was Julie's association with Tom that was the turning point.

For his part, Alan firmly believed that it was Laura who had brought Rose and her daughters into their lives. Tom's confession on the way home from the hospital back in December cinched that idea for Alan. In some ways, Alan knew he was partly responsible because he had not been keeping his promise to Laura to continue living his life and be happy. Now he just had to reconcile himself with the possibility of selling this house and finding a new one. 'Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine,' he thought.

He was looking forward to their new 6 AM coitus routine. That got the day off to such a good start!

= = =

Tuesday, February 2

Much of Rose's Tuesday had been spent preparing for and attending an afternoon meeting of the Board of Directors. It was Wednesday when she had time to pull up Alan's address in Zillow. She was taken aback at the estimated value of his home. Yes, that was the house where she lay her head at night, snuggled up against the house's owner. Licking her lips and sucking on her teeth, she saved the figure in the notepad app on her phone, then zoomed out to see the estimated value of the neighboring homes.

Alan's house was not quite the smallest one in their neighborhood, but there were many larger ones around them with higher estimated values. Still, the figure on the screen would be a place to start from, and it was significantly more than Alan and Laura had purchased the house for over twenty years ago. Rose shook her head slowly in amazement and set a reminder to talk with Alan that night.

= = =

Wednesday, February 3

Tom and Julie became wrapped up in the demands of their courses. Usually, they would return from campus, prepare the planned supper, spend a few hours in the early evening addressing any classwork, and then head to bed together. Sometimes they would have sex and other times it was just cuddling and snuggling that one or the other wanted most. Unsurprisingly, it was often Julie who initiated their intimacy.

Tom had agreed they could host Dawn and John on Friday night once more, and Julie had happily communicated this to her ex-roommate and very good friend. It was on Wednesday over supper that Julie raised the question of what Friday's supper menu should be.

"What did we have the last time?" Tom asked.

"Um, pasta with a meat sauce, I believe," Julie replied.

"Well, we wouldn't want to have the same thing again," Tom mused. "Supper should be casual and offer choices, I think. Would you have any problem having tacos on Friday?"

"I think that would be great! Maybe have a taco bar and allow for salad if somebody wanted it? That would also leave us leftovers for an easy meal or two."

= = =

Wednesday night had become meatloaf night in the Harrison house under Rose's influence. It was just before 7:00 and Katie was due any minute for her mid-week tutoring session, with Joy participating remotely. Maggie had just gotten up and had cleared her dishes. She then hurried to be sure the media room was ready for their session.

Katie had opted to eat at home, a decision she decided was a poor one. The meal was appetizing, but the atmosphere was unpleasant with just Katie and her parents. As was often the case, it seemed like her parents held her existence against her. It was all she could do not to break down in tears. She would accept Mrs. Lawson's invitation to have supper with them on the nights she was being tutored by Maggie. Now she stood on the front step, having rung the doorbell.

Rose opened the inner door and quickly opened the storm door to allow Katie to enter. Maggie popped out of the nearby media room to observe her mother talking with Katie.

"Katie, what have I told you about entering this house?" Rose inquired. Not giving the young lady a chance to answer, Rose pressed on.

"If the front door is unlocked, you are to just come in and announce yourself. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Miz Lawson," Katie said, eyes downcast.

"Oh, my lord, what happened, Katie?" Mama Bear Rose began to emerge, and Maggie was right there with them both.

"I... I'll... I'll tell you later, please," Katie stammered, and Maggie wrapped her friend in a long and loving hug. "But I would like to accept your invitation to come for supper on Sunday before the next session if the invitation is still open."

"Absolutely, sweetie!" Rose gushed. "Now, you two go do what you must, but we're going to talk for a couple of minutes before you leave tonight, Miss Katie. And you can just forget that 'Ms. Lawson' stuff. Call me 'Miss Rose' if you must."

"Oh, okay, Miss Rose," Katie said quietly. Maggie grabbed her hand and led them into the media room where Joy was already calling.

Closing the door, Rose gave a big sigh. 'In for a penny, in for a pound,' she thought.

"Alan, sweetheart, I need to show you something I found online today," Rose declared once Maggie had closed the doors to the media room.

"You'll have to use your laptop, my love. Mine seems to be in use in there," Alan observed, pointing to the media room.

"Okay, my love. Would you please get things rinsed and ready to go while I get my information together?" Rose asked, sweetly. Alan quickly got the dishwasher loaded, then he went the extra step and added the detergent and started it up. By the time he had completed this simple chore, Rose was ready.

"Come here and look over my shoulder, would you?" she asked, and he pulled a chair around to observe over her right shoulder. She brought up a web browser and entered the URL for a property site into the address bar. "Have you ever used Zillow?" she inquired.

"I think I've heard of it, but no, I've never had cause to use it," he admitted.

"Please bear in mind that whatever you see here, it's purely an estimate. To be completely accurate, you need a formal appraisal. Okay, so here's the property that caught my attention on Monday."

She pulled up the property with the potentially troubled loan through the credit union. The website showed a rectangular plot of land with a house at the end near the road, what looked like a detached garage, and some land behind the house. 'Wait a second! Was that a pond at the far end of the property?' Alan's eyes widened in surprise and pleasure. Then he saw Zillow's estimated value and his heart sank. $400,000! That was more than triple what he and Laura had paid for their house.

Rose had turned her head and saw Alan's excitement then tragic dismay. She smiled to herself, knowing that he did not have all of the facts at hand. She scrolled down to show the other information which could be gleaned about the property, such as the last 20 years of property taxes.

"Alan, this is their 'zestimate', what Zillow labels their estimated value. It's probably high, so don't let that number frighten you. Let's think of this another way. When you and Laura bought this house over 20 years ago, how much were you earning relative to the total purchase price of the house?"

"I would have to look it up to be exact, but I was earning about $55,000 per year back then. Laura decided to be a homemaker, not a housewife. She was not married to the house, but to me, and she wanted to make this into a home for our one son at the time. David came along about 9 months after we closed..." Alan's voice trailed off as he put the pieces together. Rose gave him a restrained smile as she ducked her head in amusement.

"So, even if you had a 20% down payment," she began.

"It was barely 10%. We only had $12,900," he murmured.

"Okay, so you had a mortgage of just over $112,000 on a $55,000 per year salary."

"This is all true, but things were so tight for us back then."

"Let me finish please, Alan. In very simple terms, you took on a mortgage of double your annual income. You got a hefty increase with your new job, as did I. When you combine our incomes, together we earn more than half of that 'zestimate' for that property. So right away, without even considering a down payment, we're in better financial shape than when you bought this house.

"Now, let's look at what Zillow shows for this place." She entered the address and dramatically hovered her finger over the Enter key. Alan's body language showed his interest; he was sitting forward and watching the screen intently. With a grin, she pressed the key. Alan's jaw dropped open in his shock. The 'zestimate' for his house was $275,000! She let him sit there for a couple of minutes, letting the reality of that sink in.

= = =

Their first joint tutoring session went extremely well, Maggie thought. They did not get as much accomplished in the joint sessions as they had in their individual sessions, but the questions raised by one of them usually caused the other to consider the problem from a different perspective. All too soon, it was 8:45 and Katie needed to be getting on the road back to her home soon.

"Hey, Mags. I've got a Trig test on Friday. Could we go over some things tomorrow night?" Joy asked with a hopeful note.

"Yeah, sure thing, Joy. David won't be home until Friday evening. Will 7:00 work for you tomorrow?"

"That would be perfecto. This is just now starting to make some sense, Mags. I'm so glad you got back in contact with us! I miss you, a lot, sometimes. Abbie and Donna are okay, don't get me wrong. But you were the glue that held us together. You probably never realized that, did you?" Joy asked as she noted Maggie's surprised look.

"I've got to get rolling for my cold home, Maggie," Katie explained, standing and gathering up her notes and notebooks.

"One sec there, Joy. Katie, I know my mom wanted to talk with you before you left, and I'd like to know what she says. Would you please call me when you get home?" Maggie quickly grabbed Katie in yet another warm hug. Katie nodded, wordlessly, then made for the door.

"I'll be right back, Joy. I'd like to talk for a couple more minutes if you have the time."

"Sure, Mags. I'll be here, just sitting 'like birds in the wilderness'." If that was meant to be humorous, it was lost on Maggie.

Maggie followed Katie to the front door and then called up the stairs for Rose.

"I'm right here, Magpie," Rose said, stepping out of the living room where she had been waiting.

"Oh! Okay. I've got to get back to Joy. She seems to think she's 'a bird in the wilderness', or something like that." Maggie looked a bit puzzled, then shrugged and let it go. "Tell me when my mom's done with you before you leave, Kat." She turned to return to her call with Joy.

"Come in here, Katie, and sit with me for a minute, will you?" Rose directed.

Compliantly, Katie stepped into the living room and allowed herself to be guided to the sofa where Rose took her seat once more.

"Are you a bit more composed now than you were when you arrived?" Rose asked. Katie just nodded. "All right, then. Please tell me what had you so upset earlier this evening." Rose just sat there, her hands folded in her lap, paying attention to everything Katie was saying and not saying.

"It's just that you're so welcoming to me. Whatever have I done to deserve that from you?"

Rose's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed with suspicion.

"Why on earth, dear child, would you think you have to do anything to receive some common courtesy in my home? Are things that bad for you in your life?"

Tears were beginning to pool in Katie's eyes as she sniffled and nodded. And with that, Rose made a command decision that she would need to get Alan to sanctify.

"Katie, if there's ever any time when you don't feel safe where you are, if you ever feel endangered or even unloved, I want you to come to our house. Even if everyone's home, you will always have a place to rest and stay here. Do you hear me, young lady?" Katie just nodded, tears overflowing her eyes. She grabbed Rose and pulled her face into Rose's shoulder, sobbing.

"I wish you were my mother, Miss Rose." And then the Johnstown Flood happened. "Why don't my mom and dad love me? What did I do? Sharon and Larry got all of their love. Why isn't there any for me?"

Rose was unprepared for this level of sharing. 'In for a penny, in for a pound.' She gently stroked Katie's ebony locks, so similar to Julie's. Rose had nothing to say, no answers to offer. She just sat there, holding Katie, rocking her, reassuring her that she was loved. It took about ten minutes before the waterworks dried up, aided by some tissues conveniently at hand.

When Katie finally composed herself again and Rose had wiped away the tears, Rose sat back. "Kathleen Margaret, I'd like for you to come and stay with us on Saturday night and go to church with us on Sunday. David will be home this weekend, but you may have his room as he will be sleeping... elsewhere. Please come for supper on Saturday and stay the night. I will see what can be done to help you. Nobody should feel unwanted or unloved. You've done nothing wrong. It's not your fault. Do I need to clear this with your mother?"

"I wouldn't know why, but it's probably only courteous."

"Please give me her number. I'll call her tomorrow to clear it. Okay? Better?"

"Yes. Better. Thank you, Miss Rose."

Rose pulled Katie in one more time for a quick kiss on the forehead as Maggie emerged from the media room. Maggie hurried over to give Katie one final hug and requested that Katie call when she got home. Both Lawson women watched as Katie carefully backed her Civic into the street and headed for home.

"Mom, is there anything I should know about Katie?" Maggie asked.

"As you know, her home life is difficult. I suspect she needs your friendship and chosen sisterhood far more than you need hers. You are being so wonderful by tutoring her. You make me proud to call you my daughter every day. Keep it up and stay alert. I've invited her to stay overnight on Saturday and accompany us to church on Sunday morning. I suspect that she will be coming over for supper a lot more frequently. I've told her that she is welcome here at any time and if the front door is unlocked, she is to walk in and announce herself. I need to tell Alan about this and suggest that he get a key made for her in case she needs to escape her home when we're not here."

"Thank you for that, Mom. She'll stay in David's room on Saturday night, then?"

"Probably, but only because we'd have to use dynamite to get David out of your bed." Rose snorted mildly at the idea of using dynamite to keep David and Maggie apart.

"You're still okay with us sleeping together?" Maggie asked.

"You're taking your birth control pill daily, right?" Maggie nodded. "And he rubbers up when you're approaching peak fertility?" Maggie nodded again, vigorously. "Then I have no issue with your chosen bed mate. Do you have any concerns about mine?"

Maggie's eyes widened in surprise at Rose's question.

"No, Mom, I love Alan! The ease with which I now call him 'Dad', and his acceptance of that, should be obvious. I think you're both so good for each other. You've become much more easygoing since he came into our lives."

Rose snorted again, mildly, and then surprised Maggie once more. "Yeah, it's amazing what getting laid regularly can do for your attitude and perspective. Not to mention what having a loving partner to share things with. Speaking of which, I need to go have some 'intercourse' with him." Rose kissed Maggie on the forehead and advised her to shut things down, lock up, and consider going to bed. With a little spring in her step, Rose mounted the stairs to where Alan awaited.

= = =

Katie did call Maggie once she arrived home, cutting Maggie's call with David short.

"I informed my mother that I would be having supper with your family on Saturday and staying overnight as well," Katie related to Maggie. "She acted like she really didn't care where I would be or with whom I would be associating. Nothing at all like your mom would react, I'm sure. I suppose I should be glad they don't seem to care. Isn't that what every teenager wants? To be unrestricted?" Katie's voice had taken on a much sharper tone.