"Okay, the bathroom sink and the toilet are both in good working order again," Jonas Collins smiled at his sisters. "When Mom and Dad arrive on Christmas morning, everything should be in perfect working order." The girls, who were watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on television looked up and smiled up at him.
"It's really good to have a man around the house," auburn-haired Jayden smiled at her 2-minutes younger sister. "Don't you agree, baby sister?"
"He does come in handy, that's for sure," blonde Janet grinned. "Thanks, big brother," she got up and hugged her 5-minutes older sibling.
"You don't have to make such a fuss every time I fix something," Jonas laughed. "We've all been living here for the past year; it's as much my house as it is yours. This is how I contribute, being Mr. Fixit. You're also very well aware that if our mother found a single speck of dust or something that wasn't in good working order in this house, we'd never hear the end of it," he laughed.
His sisters both stood up and gave him a huge hug. Since childhood, the triplets had been there for each other. All had been supportive and continued to be unwavering in that support. In the events of the previous year, that support had been very necessary for all of them.
The first crisis was Jayden's. The middle child of the trio had been working at a local restaurant part-time while pursuing her chef's papers. She had always loved good food and cooking. Janet teased her sister that she should weigh 300 pounds with the way she ate. "I have my own ways of working it off," Jayden winked at her sister. Janet rolled her eyes. They had been roommates for about a year after leaving high school and Janet knew all-too well her sister's "ways". Quiet, she was
not
.
It looked as if all was going to go swimmingly for Jayden when a massive fire gutted the restaurant and took Jayden's dreams with it. The fire was discovered to be arson. As Jayden was dating the owner, she was implicated in the crime. To make matters worse, boyfriend-scumbag Warren didn't speak in her defense. Only her smart and successful lawyer-brother got Jayden off the hook. He got his investigators on the case and found damning evidence against Warren that also cleared Jayden. Still, for a while, she couldn't find work and wasn't able to complete her chef's apprenticeship. She settled for work as a line cook until something better came up. Worse yet, she had been saving for a down-payment on a nice home and now that would have to wait. Adding to her woes, the holidays were approaching and she wanted to be able to celebrate with the siblings she adored and buy them something nice. She didn't want to be gloomy at Christmas, but Jayden had lost her job, her boyfriend and her home all in one fell swoop. Her sister proved to be her salvation. Janet was happy to have her sister back as a roommate, even though the circumstances were less than ideal.
Janet had worked for the past 3 years with a successful interior design firm. She had been on the fast track to a partnership and that hope was dashed. She didn't understand why she had been passed over and the job had gone to Linda Johannsen until she caught the blonde giving their boss a blowjob under the mistletoe in the lady's room at the company Christmas party. Janet stormed out, resigning on the spot. She knew she was good at what she did. She was fully believed that she could build her own clientele, given time. It just meant she would have to delay some of her plans. To make matters worse, after Jayden moved back in with her, her apartment building announced they were going condo within a few months. Even pooling their resources, the girls didn't have quite enough money. The sisters were in their late 20's and tired of apartment living, tired of moving but there seemed to be few other options available to them. Even Jonas was unable to find a legal loophole to allow his sisters to stay more than a little while longer. It looked like it would be a bleak holiday for his two sisters and Jonas hoped their shared celebration would at least buoy their spirits.
It was right about then that the final crisis was experienced. Jonas was told by the firm he worked for to represent a client he found totally unethical. He knew the man was guilty of the crimes he was accused of, crimes that were utterly repugnant to the idealistic young attorney. He refused and was summarily dismissed. At first it seemed as if he was blacklisted, but that didn't last. He was just too good an attorney for someone not to hire him but it would take a while to make the kind of money he had been making before. Jonas decided that he would keep it a secret from the girls until after the holidays so not to spoil theirs with his own troubles. Sadly, someone else dashed that all to hell.
His fiancΓ© was not going to sit around waiting for Jonas' good fortunes to return. She wanted out and unfortunately, Pepper owned the condominium in which they had been living. She was also quite vocal to all of their friends about what had happened to Jonas and what an idiot he had been to not obey the chain of command. His sisters called him and suggested they all go out, have a great meal and get a bit blitzed. Jonas let out a deep sigh and told them both it sounded like a great idea.
"I never liked that snotty little bitch," Jayden said as she had dinner with her twins. "You're too good for her. I always guessed she must have been a terrific fuck to keep you interested." Jonas' guffaw was so loud that people's heads turned.
"Just like you were too good for Warren," Jonas smiled back.
"Well, duhh," Jayden laughed along. It appeared as if Warren would be going to jail for a long, long time thanks to her brother's hard work, but the betrayal still stung.
"Our top priority should be new housing. We all need a new place to live," Jonas smiled and nodded at their waitress to bring him another drink. She was a pretty young thing about 19 with a nice figure. Had he not still be smarting over his recent breakup with Pepper, he would have asked for the girl's number. "Do the two of you have any leads?"
"Nothing we like and what we like, we can't afford," Janet sighed. She had noticed her brother eying the girl and agreed with him. The sunny little redhead was quite attractive.
"I have a solution, if you two are interested," Jonas smiled at his twins. The girls leaned forward and for the first time in days, pretty smiles crossed their faces. "I'm still making pretty good money and you two are slowly getting back on your feet. We won't have to dip into our savings to survive. Why don't we pool our resources and buy a house together? If we do that, I just bet that not only can we afford the down payment, we can actually afford a lot more than that."
Janet and Jayden looked at each other and then back at their brother. "That would hardly be fair to you," Jayden spoke for the pair. "You make a lot more money than we do."
"Like I give a damn about that," Jonas smiled. "I just want the three of us to be happy. We can find a nice place and the two of you can contribute whatever you can, plus you can cook and decorate the place -- two things at which I suck. I'm handy with tools and can handle all the legal work, so that will save us more money. With the two of you cooking and cleaning, it won't look like a bachelor pad and I'll eat decently. Come on girls, you know this is the best solution you're likely going to find."
The sisters both smiled and threw their arms around their brother. Handsome Jonas to the rescue again. It'd been like that since they were kids and probably always would be. He was their big brother and protector and he actually relished that role.
With Janet's resources and contacts from her interior design work, it didn't take them long to find a nice place. It was quite spacious, although it needed some work. They bought it on the spot because they were able to buy it for a very good price and pay off more than half of the mortgage. Janet and Jayden did a lot of the painting and interior work while Jonas, who was handy with tools and in gardening, tended to all of those details. In three months, the results became very noticeable. The triplets had a beautiful home in which they could quite easily live. Even their hard-to-please parents gave their grudging approval, which would have been raves from anyone else.
They had been living for about a month when things changed for the triplets. Jonas was in his bedroom reading when Janet knocked on his door. She entered and sat on the edge of the bed. She was wearing a robe to keep away the chilly night air. "I have a small problem," his sister said to Jonas as she reached out and touched his face gently. "With you living here, I keep remembering
that