Synchronicity for Six Pt. 11

"Us as well," Brendan agreed through loosely clenched teeth, and Michelle nodded in agreement.

"Excellent! Thank you all for being so reasonable about this. Now, if you will please excuse us, I need to calm my racing heart and prepare to lead us in worship of our Lord." Pastor John smiled and nodded to others as he and Ruth made their way out of the Fellowship Hall.

Despite the efforts of Maggie and Julie to distract Katie, she noticed what was going on around both sets of her 'parents'. Seeing what she realized was a golden opportunity, Katie took a deep breath, squared up her shoulders, and walked over to the group. She gently shook off Maggie's hand from her arm as Maggie tried to restrain her.

Katie stunned everyone as she walked up and gave her aunt and uncle a big hug and kiss on the cheek. Nobody was more surprised than Brendan and Michelle.

"Mom, Dad, thank you" she said, emotionlessly addressing them one at a time. "Thank you for giving me a place to grow up. Just so you know, I won't be back. Oh, I'll still be around, but I'm never again living under your roof. I have a new home and a family where I am loved and wanted."

Michelle blurted out, "Katie, you have always been loved."

"Perhaps, but now I'm both loved and wanted."

Katie turned to look at Rose and Alan, so she missed the small tear trickling from Michelle's eye.

"Momma, Poppa, I think it's time we went up and took our seats for worship. We still have a lot of family things to look forward to today."

Katie took Alan's hand in hers and Rose's in the other and she led them from the Fellowship Hall. A small parade of the rest of her family and the other three couples who were closely tied to all of them, followed.

Brendan just stood there, trying to absorb what had happened. Michelle watched the procession with sadness, knowing that she'd forever lost the child she had raised and loved. Allowing some space between themselves and the others, they hugged each other closely and made their way to the front of the building for worship.

= = =

On her way out of the worship center, Rose was gently pulled aside by a middle‑aged woman. At her side was Ruth, Pastor John's wife, and the two women led Rose off to a bench to talk.

"Rose, dear," Ruth began, "Marlene here is our adult choir director. She, along with many others here, remembers quite vividly your solo from the Christmas Eve service." Marlene's head was rapidly bobbing, and she had a very eager look on her face.

"Rose, I'd love for you to join our choir for our Easter cantata. It wouldn't be a permanent commitment (yet, she thought); just until we perform the piece on Palm Sunday."

Reassured by Rose's lack of flight or outright rejection, Marlene pressed on.

"We rehearse on Wednesday evenings from 7 until 9 down there," and she pointed down the hall at some double doors. "We'll use the praise band as much as we can in addition to our own wonderful accompanist." Rose was nodding now, recalling how easy it was to sync up with the piano player for her solo.

"I don't have a book for you, yet, but I will on Wednesday. Would you please let your voice join with ours for this celebration?" Marlene pleaded.

Rose bit her bottom lip in thought. She saw Susan, Mary, and Maeve standing a short distance away, looking at her, and nodding as though they knew what was being asked of her. Perhaps they did.

"Marlene, did my friends," and Rose gestured at the trio, "put you up to this?"

"Heavens, no, dear. Everyone has been pestering me for the last three weeks to get you on board with the choir. Your gift of 'O Holy Night' was truly memorable. No, your friends have not said a word to me about asking you to sing with us."

Rose bit her lip again. She needed to stop doing that or she would soon draw blood. Deciding, she answered, "Marlene, I am intrigued by the request and the opportunity. I need to talk this over with Alan. If I decide to do this, I will join you on Wednesday evening."

"I understand completely, dear. Thank you for hearing us out and considering our request. I will hope and pray you will grace us with your presence and your voice on Wednesday evening." With that, Ruth and Marlene stood and quickly walked away, chattering to each other.

"Momma, what was that all about?" Katie asked. Brendan and Michelle were just coming out, and Michelle shed another tear as she heard Katie again call Rose 'momma'. They quickly hurried out the doors, bypassing Pastor John as he stood, like he always did, to thank everyone for coming to the service.

"They were just asking me to join the choir for the Easter cantata. Rehearsals begin on Wednesday. I have to talk with Alan before making a commitment."

Katie smiled as she reflected on her momma's words. It was obvious even to her that Rose deeply loved Alan, just as she knew Alan loved Rose. This was such a marked difference from how she had seen her other 'parents' relate.

"Well, come on, then. Everybody's waiting to have some lunch we probably won't even be able to taste, let alone remember." Katie squealed softly, "I can't wait to see this house and property you are considering buying!"

= = =

Katie's words were eerily prophetic. When the three cars pulled into the driveway at the McKinley house, nobody could even recall where they had stopped for lunch. If it weren't for the sandwich wrappers and drink cups, the only way Alan would have recalled they had stopped at Subway would be the charge to his debit card. And it wasn't just him. Everyone was distracted with their thoughts and questions about the property they were there to investigate.

Katie and Maggie were the first ones out of David's Jeep, unbuckling their seatbelts before the vehicle had even stopped. They stood there in the cold, just taking in the sights before them. The much larger house with the wide porch on two sides and the three‑car garage with stairs going up the side. After a minute, David herded them to follow the rest of the family up the steps to the porch before the front door.

Susan paused at the front door to address the anxious family.

"I sincerely hope this house has everything you would want for your blended and evolving family. In the spirit of full disclosure, I came out late yesterday afternoon to see if there was anything I needed to prepare you for, but there wasn't. This place looks like it was recently updated and I could not find anything that merited repair or replacement. Look around, explore the place. If you need me for anything, I'll be in the kitchen, to the left, with Gil."

She opened the door and stood aside, making a grand gesture for the family to enter.

The nine of them entered, stepping into a large foyer. Rose noted the coat hooks on both sides behind where the double doors would open. Before them was a wide, straight staircase leading to the upper floor. A hallway leading to the back of the house was to the left of the staircase. Immediately off the foyer to the right and the left were doorways to other rooms. A door was also at the right of the base of the stairs.

"That door is to the master suite," Susan provided, helpfully as she closed the door to keep out the winter cold. Even so, it was quite chilly in the house, further proof that the utilities were not connected.

Rose tugged on Alan's hand, pulling him along as she made her way to the master bedroom. There was a fireplace in the right‑hand corner and another door in the corner opposite to where they stood. A couple of closets filled the interior wall leading to that door. The room was decently sized; a little smaller than Alan's master suite, but it had a fireplace that his did not. Windows faced to the West so there was plenty of daylight.

Rose opened the other door which led to the master bath. There was a decently sized shower and Rose gave a small squeal of delight at the sight of a large soaker tub. The toilet was partially enclosed by a half‑wall, and there was a nice, long countertop with two sinks. A door at the opposite corner led back to the hallway.

Maggie and Katie wasted little time and swiftly ascended the stairs before them. There were more steps here than in their current house, and Maggie realized it was due to the rooms on the main floor being taller than normal. At the top of the stairs was a landing with a large window looking out over the property to the South. Maggie could easily see the pond and the small grove of neatly arrayed trees, although she could not tell how much the ground sloped away from the house. Sunshine was coming through the window, and it warmed her face nicely.

About half‑way up the stairs, the space opened up to the ceiling, giving a sense of space. Along each side of the stairs was a hallway leading back toward the front of the house.

"You go left and I'll go right," Maggie said to Katie, who nodded, and they both entered the door immediately before them. The bathrooms with toilet, sink, and a combination shower/bathtub each had a small window looking to the South and were well illuminated.

Tom and Julie had entered the first room to the right. There were windows on the two exterior walls and a fireplace in the far‑left corner. This was smaller than their current living room, but the mantel above the fireplace looked to be a very old and solid piece of wood. They soon returned to the foyer, encountering David.

David had entered the room on the left of the foyer and realized it had two pocket doors to the foyer and a large opening to the kitchen, also with two pocket doors. The room had windows on the two exterior walls, and with the relationship to the kitchen, he realized this would probably be the dining room. There was little of interest to him here, and he retraced his steps back to the foyer, where he met up with Tom and Julie.

Looking at each other, Tom bounced his eyebrows and said, "Race you to the top!". The stairway was wide enough to accommodate two young men racing up, each with a hand on a banister. Julie just shook her head ruefully at their juvenile antics and sedately mounted the stairs. The boys reached the top at the same time and paused to catch their breath with huge smiles until Julie arrived.

"That's a bit longer than I had expected," she observed, and nodding heads indicated the boys' agreement with her statement. Katie and Maggie appeared from the bathrooms, surprised at the noise made by the racing brothers. The sounds of a herd of buffalo running up the stairs brought Rose, Alan, Susan, and Gil out into the foyer.

"I should have expected nothing less," Alan mused. Seeing as nothing was damaged and there was no dust falling from the ceiling, the four adults returned to the rear of the house. Stairs to the basement followed the same plan as the stairs upwards, but it was dark and nobody had remembered to bring in a flashlight. There was a tiled area at the rear door and the space looked like it had been used as a laundry and mud room space. The door unlocked and opened easily, and they could see off to the south, barely making out the pond they knew was there.

They closed the door and proceeded to the back entrance to the kitchen, which caused Alan and Rose to stop in amazement. It was a very large space with an island for people to gather at. It was here that Susan had laid her phone and a notepad with some notes she thought to share with Alan and Rose.

"Let me tell you a bit more about this place. It was completely rebuilt in 1983, so no lead‑based paint or asbestos to worry about. The wiring was completely replaced as well. The stove is gas with six burners and two ovens. The dishwasher over there," and she pointed to the left of the sink, "is just two years old. There is a deep farm sink which you can see," and Rose stepped over to it to see how deep it truly was.

"The countertops are DuPont Corian," and Rose ran her hands along the fancy beveled front edge. "The water line over here shows where the refrigerator should go, and there's plenty of counter space to put a microwave over there," Susan said, pointing in turn.

While Susan was extolling the benefits and virtues of the large kitchen with pantry space, the younger members were opening the doors and checking out the bedrooms upstairs. There were two bedrooms on either side of the stairwell; the one at the front of the house was longer and narrower, but each was much larger than the bedrooms in their current house.

"I know it's further from the bathrooms," Katie observed, "but I would really like one of the front bedrooms. The window looks out over the porch roof, and it faces to the north so no glaring sunlight to mess with the temperature."

"You say that like this is a done deal, Kat," Maggie observed.

"Isn't it?" Katie inquired.

"I don't know. It's not my call. But I'm liking what I'm seeing."

"Hey! We still need to see the apartment over the garage!" Julie declared. She turned and marched down the stairs. Tom just shrugged and followed her.

David was poking his head into the bedroom that had a west‑facing window. It seemed larger than his old room. Maggie came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, and turned her head and rested it against his back.

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout, Davey?" she asked.

"I was just trying to decide which I would prefer: sunrises or sunsets?"

Maggie was a little puzzled at his deliberation and said as much. "Why even choose? We'll be in one of the front rooms, together." She paused to consider his words then continued. "Were you thinking of a room just for yourself?" When he didn't reply, she set him straight. "Oh, hell, no, mister! When we're together, we're to-geth-er. None of this 'separate beds' stuff!" She took him by the hand and led him down the stairs. Katie followed them, curious.

The three younger ones went to the rear of the house while Julie and Tom had gone into the dining room. From the two different angles, all five younger members could hear the discussion in the kitchen.

"So, Alan, what do you think?" Susan inquired, fiddling with the pen in her hand, tapping it against the notepad.

"Rose?" he asked, and his fiancée walked to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I want this place, Alan," she declared. Susan smiled because she knew that Alan ascribed to the philosophy of 'Happy Wife, Happy Life'. Now it was Alan's time to take the lead.

"The house seems to have very good 'bones', Susan. There are some nice features we've already seen," and he gestured to the large, comfortable kitchen, "and I expect a few we haven't yet. This place seems quite livable."

"But..." Susan supplied.

"Due diligence is necessary when making a purchase of this size, Susan. However, I don't wish to impede progress. How much do they need for this place?" Alan cut through so many layers of BS with his words.

"Tell you what, Alan. Let's ask them." Susan called Helen and Steve and asked if she could put them on speaker, to which they agreed.

"Helen and Steve Waters, I'm here in the kitchen of Helen's parents' house with my friends and prospective buyers, Alan Harrison and Rose Lawson. While they haven't seen everything yet, they seem to like what they have seen and wish to talk numbers."

"Okay-y-y," Helen drew out. "What are you offering, Alan and Rose?"

"First of all, let me state that this is a negotiation, not a battle," Alan began. "You want as much as you can get for this house and we want to pay as little as we can. Agreed?"

"Agreed," came both voices over the phone.

"Okay, I'll start with $350,000, which may be a bit low but it's just the starting point."

"We were hoping for $425,000," Helen responded. "It does have the apartment plus the pond."

"Point acknowledged. $380,000," Alan countered.

"$390,000?" Helen sounded a little timid.

Alan looked at Rose, the obvious question in his eyes. Without hesitation, she nodded and interlaced her fingers with his.

"Agreed. $390,000 subject to a professional inspection and issue resolution."

"Yes!!" came out of the mouths of the five younger people, from two different directions. They joined the four grown‑ups in the kitchen, and happy smiles abounded in every direction.

"Helen and Steve, my congratulations! Everyone is celebrating this as a done deal. I'll be in touch with many more details, including a written offer and an estimate of how much money you will receive after fees and commission very soon. From the sounds of things, you won't have to worry about this very much longer," Susan said into the phone.

Rose leaned over and added, "I'll make absolutely certain that no action is taken on this property by the credit union. Please rest easy!"

"Oh, we will, Rose and Susan, we most certainly will. Thank you for making this happen," Helen responded. "We will await your contact, Susan. Thank you again." And the call disconnected.

"Now, who would like to see the apartment over the garage?" Susan asked.

All five young adults accompanied Susan to put on their coats and traipse across the driveway. With Susan leading the way, everyone carefully held onto the handrail as they climbed the steps in a single file. After stamping the snow from her feet, Susan opened the door and stepped inside. The others followed suit and soon everyone was inside and the door was closed.

There were three dormer windows they could see along the south‑facing wall, and the sunshine streaming in felt good on their faces. The entry door was between the kitchen on the left and a dining area on the right. The visible space seemed to be divided into two equal‑length spaces by a partial wall. Beyond the space was a floor‑to‑ceiling wall with a door in the middle.

"Bathroom?" Julie asked, pointing at the door.

"Probably," Susan replied. "I didn't make it up here yesterday, so this is as much of a revelation to me as it is to you. I see an electric stove with oven, the refrigerator, two‑basin sink, and... a dishwasher?" Susan was obviously surprised at this.

Julie and Tom had pushed further into the space, and determined that the space between the kitchen and the full wall was indeed a sleeping area. Another dormer window facing the South allowed sunlight to illuminate the space. Nobody had a tape measure with them to determine the sizes, but at least a queen‑sized bed could fit in the space. Then Julie opened the door in the wall and stepped in.

Behind the door was indeed the bathroom. It was a little narrower than it was long, but everything necessary was present. Toilet to the right, sink to the left, shower straight ahead. This was a free‑standing, claw‑foot tub with a shower curtain rod in an oval about five feet above the lip of the tub. But it was a large tub, perhaps large enough to accommodate two people.

"Whoa!" Tom declared, peering over her shoulder. "That must have been a quite a chore to get up here. It looks really heavy."

There was a window of opaque glass blocks on the East outer wall as well as another dormer facing the South. A small closet, ideal for storing towels and washcloths, rounded out the bathroom's furnishings. Julie gave a happy sigh/squeak sound and turned around in Tom's arms.

"This place would be perfect for us, don't you think?" Julie asked, pulling him into a passionate kiss. "Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day, Tommy."

"Perhaps, Jules," he somehow mumbled around her mouth. "Happy Valentine's Day to you, my jewel." He caused her to step backward, clearing the space so someone else could see what was there.

Alan, Rose, and Gil eventually showed up to view the apartment while the younger ones were exploring the space and the built‑in cabinets under the dormer windows. The older adults ended up leaning against the kitchen counters and talking quietly about their observations.