. 07

Author's note:

This is, in all its seven parts and their many chapters, one very,

very

long story. If long stories bother you, I suggest you read something else.

No part of this story is written so as to stand on its own. I strongly suggest that you start with

the beginning of Part 1

and read sequentially—giving up at any point you choose, of course.

All sexual activity portrayed anywhere in this story involves only people at least eighteen years old.

This entire story is posted only on literotica.com. Any other public posting without my permission in writing is a violation of my copyright.

Monday morning the alarm went off with enough time for an enjoyable, unhurried encounter. It seemed as though that was the last unhurried bit in the entire week.

I hadn't done any studying from Wednesday afternoon on. I was sure that was OK, in this case. Not one of my professors had assigned anything due after Thanksgiving, and of course I'd been caught up before the long weekend had arrived. This proved to be a good thing.

We shaved and dressed, kind of hurrying off to run. We'd taken our time making love, so we were a little behind. The story of my week, in a nutshell.

Kelly and I talked a little about the weekend as we ran, but she actually asked more about Ellen and me. Things that had been said over the weekend were the occasion for her questions, but she was asking more generally. I told her a little about Ellen's family, that her brother was a commercial artist who actually knew of my grandfather's work and admired it, that her parents had apparently been dead set on her marrying a Chinese man but, it seemed, were bowing to the inevitable after she had called them to say we were living together. I said the little I knew about her grandparents, except that I did not allow prophecy to come into it at all. Well, that would have taken more time than we really had.

Ellen and I did manage a quickie in the shower, and I made scrambled eggs for breakfast, with a little of the turkey among other things. Ellen made the bed and did other tidying in the bedroom and bathroom while I got breakfast ready.

As I always tried to be, I was a few minutes early for my first class. Somewhat to my surprise, Pete and Tammy were waiting when I got there. Pete said, "Phil, I didn't want to call you, and I hope it's OK that I didn't. I knew some about this ahead of time, but it still has snuck up on me, and more stuff is popping up.

"Can you and Ellen come for dinner a couple of nights this week? Tomorrow, and then probably Thursday? I hope it doesn't have to be Friday, I know you're committed then. And, well, if you can contribute some food, we'd really appreciate it."

"I'd better check with Ellen right now." I texted her, saying to call me that minute if she could. And she did.

"Hon, Pete's just asked whether we could come to dinner tomorrow night and one other, hopefully Thursday. He'd like us to bring some food if we can. I'm sure there's a good reason, but I wanted to ask you first."

"Phil, use your judgment, but for now I'll assume we're doing that. I love you. Tell them I said hi."

"I love you too. Thank you!"

I said, "Yes for coming, probably for food. Later today tell me what food you want, if you can. And she says hi to you two. So what's up?"

"You remember that this month, because of Thanksgiving, the regular fourth Saturday contra is going to be this week instead, first Saturday in December?" I nodded. This had been in the announcements the previous month. I gathered that it was usual. "Well, my Uncle Jim plays bass with a contradance band, in the Midwest, and they're coming out here this week, for that. They're playing with a guy who occasionally plays with them—he doesn't live all that close, and maybe he doesn't like being tied down, I don't know. And I've heard them a lot, and they're really good, but some videos got posted on youtube of them with this mandolin player, and he's amazing, and with him on board they play way better than usual, too. It's kind of a brief vacation for them all, and we're covering some of their travel costs. And we've got to get some real publicity out! This is going to be crazy. It came up way too fast.

"But anyway, Tammy and I are going to have the mandolin player and his wife and little girl staying with us. They're coming in today, earlier than the rest of the band, and staying longer. He's bringing wife and daughter on his own. I gather his day job, whatever it is, lets him afford something like this. But I'd really like to have you and Ellen come tomorrow for dinner, and if you can bring some side dish it would help. And I ask that partly because you cook better than anyone I know. Thursday won't be at our apartment, but I don't know where it will be. That will be the whole band and a bunch of the folks who help with the contradances, other people who are hosting the band, and it's a potluck. I've already said I'd be bringing you and Ellen along, so I hope you can come then. And I hope that's not rushing too much.

"I haven't met these folks myself yet, but Uncle Jim says they're really nice. And to be stuck for a week or two in our spare bedroom with three people, one around five I think, when Uncle Jim says they could afford a motel or hotel, they're either really nice or else insane. Insanely miserly. I have to say, it's a pity Aunt Darla isn't coming with Uncle Jim."

I had never heard Pete try to talk fast before. He obviously wanted to get all this in before classes made it hard to find time to talk. And of course, he usually let Tammy do the talking. I wondered a little about that.

I did ask, "What's the band's name? And the mandolin player's name? I'd like to look them up."

"The band is called 3 Bits a Dollar. I've never really understood why, except that it's a trio. The mandolin player is named Scott, and I've forgotten his last name. He plays guitar, too, and may do that if the band's piano player switches off to harmonica on some sets. If you watch all the videos, you'll see he's really good on guitar, too. Really, really good."

We got into class at the last minute, the bell ringing as we went in, hurrying to find seats.

This was a day when Ellen and I couldn't meet for lunch, and for that matter Pete and Tammy also had a class when I was free to eat. I touched base again with them later, before heading home to get dinner ready, and also to do some menu planning.

I decided that the potato salad I'd made for the picnic had been enough of a hit that I would make it for Tuesday, and then for Thursday the same sweet potato casserole I had taken for Thanksgiving. All this meant I'd have to do some shopping that evening, which would cut into study time even more. For dinner that night I just fixed pasta in a commercial sauce, with some additions of course.

While we ate, I told Ellen about what was happening to our week. She was agreeable. I located some of the videos that Pete had mentioned, and we listened to them. Well, we looked at them, too, some, but mostly we just listened to the band. And yes, they were really, really good. Really, really, really good. That mandolin player held them together and led, it seemed—and he wasn't really part of the band? Anyway the dancers were having a very good time. That much could be seen.

As we were finishing up, my phone rang. It was Barbara Wilson, so I put her on speaker so Ellen could be in on it. We just talked for a few minutes. She had gone home for Thanksgiving, and she'd taken Bert with her. So yes, she and Bert had talked things over, and agreed to try going to bed. She said he wasn't quite as patient about things as I had been, that first time—but still, because of her experience with me, it had been at least OK. And they'd discussed it, and then tried again a couple of days later, and it had been a lot better. By the time Thanksgiving came around, that was going very well, but there were some issues to settle, and they were still unsettled.

"I'd like to come and see you, both of you, and talk things over. If I came this weekend, would you have a couch or something I could sleep on? I wouldn't be looking to share your bed or anything."

We looked at each other for a few moments. Finally I said, "Barbara, we'd love to see you. You're welcome to our couch. This weekend is looking kind of full, or Saturday is, anyway, and Saturday night probably will run very late.

"At the end of October we went contradancing with some folks. I've told you about them, Pete and Tammy. Because of Thanksgiving, November's fourth Saturday dance has gotten shoved to this Saturday, the first Saturday in December."

My thoughts wandered a moment to Churchy LaFemme: "Friday the 13th come on a Tuesday this month!" Ignore that!

"And they're having a high-powered band come in, and we've been asked to help with some things through the week. I'm guessing part of Saturday will be taken too, and then there's the dance. And we have a regular date to get together with a friend for talk on Friday evening, every week.

"We're going to be short on study time and probably sleep, and pretty busy. We'll welcome you, for sure, if you decide to come, though. I just mean that quality time with you may be a little hard to come by."

"Ellen, is it OK with you, too? I really am feeling a little urgent about it."

"Barbara, if it's urgent, come on. Let us know when you'll be arriving. If we can't be here, we'll tell you where to go to find us."

"Thank you both so much! I'll hope to get there Friday afternoon. If I can be with you while you discuss things with your friend, I'll do that, and if not we'll figure something out. If that's OK with you."

"OK, we'll expect you Friday. If it looks like it's going to be dinnertime or after, we'll either let you know where we are, or else ask Kelly to come over here this time. I admit, I'm hoping not to have to fix dinner that night, what with everything else.

"And I'll also ask Kelly if it's OK for you to sit in while we talk, if you're sure it would be OK with you. It's a Bible study and discussion dealing with practical questions from that."

"I think I can sit through that, and I guess I might even find it interesting. But—I'm sorry, Phil, now you've got me really curious. Is she trying to convert you or something?"

"No. It was almost the opposite, originally, in fact. And no, at this point neither Ellen nor I is a Christian, though we both may well be headed that way. But, um, my grandparents were, and they raised me about half the time, and Granddad especially taught me the Bible, through and through. Kelly was kind of a weak and ignorant Christian when we met. I mean the 'ignorant' part, too. You had to learn the Bible a lot better than she knew it, in that survey class, trying to give you background for American history. And European, too, of course. I had a more advanced class, instead, because I already knew more than you had to learn for that class, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, Kelly had questions and was too ignorant to know how to find the answers, and I said I'd help her. We'd help her, I mean. And it's gone on from there."

Barbara didn't say anything for half a minute or more. Then she said, "Phil, in one way all that really surprises me. I never would have thought of you that way. But now that I think about it, that really explains a lot about you. If this Kelly is willing, I'd really like to be in on it, Friday, even if I don't like everything that gets said. So please do ask her.

"And I'll look forward to the dance, too. I'm assuming that it's open. And you said you're short on time for studying, and here I am making you keep talking to me. Thank you for being willing to take me in! I'll call you Friday when I'm not too far away. Thanks to both of you, for your time tonight and your willingness to take me in on the weekend. It means a lot to me."

I told her when we would be out of our last classes, and said that she could text either or both of us while we were in classes. I told her that we usually had our phones silenced during class—we always meant to but sometimes forgot.

We disentangled ourselves enough to say goodbye, and got off the phone. Ellen and I kind of looked at each other for a few moments.

"Phil, it's really you she wants to talk to, not me, and I can see you're worried that I'll resent having her here. I can't imagine I will. I was going to ask whether a week or two later wouldn't do, but she said she's feeling urgent about whatever it is—and December will be busy enough anyway. I'll only resent it if it really seems she could have waited, OK? And we both know her. Whatever it is, she wouldn't be making mountains out of molehills."

"Thank you. And you're right, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing urgent except her feelings. She needs to figure out whether she can trust herself, not to mention this Bert. It's not like Tammy with Pete, where they'd been in love for years and she just hadn't figured it out for herself. I'm sure those two have more chance than most relationships, and I expect them to be getting married sometime. Barbara got to where she could enjoy sex with me—and probably even a little with other guys in the game, after that—but she wasn't looking for anything permanent then. She's worried that her feelings will change—or maybe his, but I'd bet on hers. We'll have to dig some, I think. But I love you for being willing to open your home to her. Our home."

I started to get things cleaned up, and Ellen told me in no uncertain terms to go grocery shopping instead. She had a few things for me to look for while I was there, and she told me to think about what we'd be feeding Barbara and maybe Kelly, as well as for the Tuesday and Thursday dinners.

She said, "I think I'd better do laundry tonight, too. I'll probably study down there while it runs, if the machines are available, so if I'm not here check in with me down there."

I left her getting ready to wash dishes. I looked in on Art before I went downstairs, to tell him there was no likelihood of our having him over that week, and maybe the next week too. I also told him about the dance, and suggested looking at the videos, telling him what to search for.

I shopped as quickly as I could, then came back and put the groceries away. I took study materials downstairs, finding Ellen transferring clothes between machines. I gave her a hand, and we both studied as the dryers ran. As things came out of the dryer, we sorted and folded them into the bags we used. We studied some more, then took out the rest of the clothes. A few things were still damp, but we took them along and hung them on the rack to dry, putting the rest away.

What with everything, it was past our usual bedtime before we were done. We had decided early on that we really had learned a lesson the year before, that treating sex as more important than getting enough sleep—at least, on a regular basis—would end in disaster. We hurried to get ready for bed. It wasn't too late to take five minutes for cuddling, but then we resolutely worked to get to sleep. We had also agreed that we would do what we could to schedule time for sex in somehow, if short nights got to be a regular thing. I was a little worried about the upcoming week, though.

When the alarm went off Tuesday morning I was glad we hadn't taken longer at bedtime, for sure. I really wanted at least a quickie, but getting up was really hard. I thought we had gotten enough sleep over the weekend, so I was puzzled as to why I was so sleepy.

At any rate, the alarm had been set to allow for a quickie, so when we'd both been to the bathroom that's what we did. Ellen said she was OK with no more, but I would have liked to have more time.

We got to the gym on time, anyway. Kelly came in as I was about to start, so I just waited until she was ready. Ellen and Elise had already started.

Kelly again thanked me for inviting her. She said, "I'll get something written to John and Sally, and I really should come up with some kind of little gift. And it's not that you don't rate thanks and a gift at least as much as they do, but all you get is me telling you again what a wonderful time I had and how grateful I am that you arranged it all." She mentioned a number of highlights of the weekend, from her point of view.

Then she really surprised me. "I got a call from Pete last night," she said. "I think he's kind of worried about having a good crowd for the dance Saturday, and he was hoping I would come. I told him I was planning on it, and he said a little about the band they're bringing in. But then he said that the guy leading them, though he's really not part of the band, will be staying with them, Pete and Tammy." She kind of nudged my elbow with hers, and when I looked at her she was grinning at me. "Is that like Abishai and David's three mighty men, their leader but not one of them? I had to look that up to find the name. Anyway, he said you were coming to dinner tonight, and asked if I would come too, since I'd come to the October dance. I'm not sure why they want me there, but I said I'd plan to come. I'm bringing something, and I told him it's likely to be chicken from KFC or something like that, and he said that's fine."

I told her, "His wife and young daughter are supposed to be there, too. Did Pete say that? And I had meant to tell you this morning that this dance is supposed to be special because of this band and to urge you to go to it. I hope you will. We looked at some videos of the band, with this mandolin player leading, and they really are outstanding, by the way. It looked like the hall was really packed, too."

I added, "By the way, if I remember right, some scholars and commentators think Abishai was leader of the thirty mighty men, not the three. It says a bit earlier that someone else was leader of the three. I think almost all of the Hebrew manuscripts do say three, but a couple say thirty, and there are issues about parallel passages as well as the Septuagint. Probably a copying error very early on, if so.

"Anyway, I'm pleased and impressed that you remembered that at all, and that you took the trouble to look it up and check, just as an allusion." Kelly looked pleased herself at my saying that.

She went on, "I also told Pete that everyone could see that something had changed between him and Tammy, and I said I'd asked you—because of the timing—and what you'd said to me. He said they were getting questions from lots of people, and they really needed to come up with something to say, to everyone who asks. And he did say that he really appreciated your answer to me. You were right, he didn't want to tell me anything, but he wasn't offended that I asked."

When Ellen and Elise stopped running and we caught up with them to walk the last bit, I asked Ellen whether she had remembered to say something about the dance. She laughed. "I didn't get a chance. Tammy called Elise last night to urge her to come."

Elise said, "She said the leader is staying in their spare bedroom, with his wife and daughter, and asked if I'd like to come and meet them at dinner tonight. I told her I have an evening class tonight. It's not a university class or anything, but I don't want to miss it. It's a beginner's martial arts class, sponsored by the student martial arts club, and I'm just starting to get the hang of it. But I expect to be at the dance, and that's not just in hope of dancing with Phil."

I saw Ellen kind of straighten up and look surprised when Elise said that about her class.

I said, "I wonder how many people they invited for tonight? From what Pete said, I thought it was just Ellen and me. But Pete asked Kelly, too. I guess maybe I'd better make a bigger batch. But I'll see them today, so I'll ask."