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Busted chapter 56


TheZot

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[Ah... I got nothin']

 

"Yes," Joe said. It was a reflex, the word coming out before his brain was at all engaged.

 

"Don't I get a say in that?" Chris said from behind them. His voice was almost a growl. This was how things had gone with Megan. She'd always done what she'd wanted, and made sure he'd done it too. Whether he wanted to or not. He'd hated that, how insignificant it made him feel. How insignificant he'd let it make him feel.

 

Joe turned and gave Chris a smoldering look. "Always," he said. "You always have a say, Chris." He meant it, and Chris knew it.

 

Chris was up and around the table in a second, pulling Joe into a crushing kiss. Joe's head started to spin. When Chris let him go he had to grab onto Toby's chair to keep from falling.

 

"Are we going over Aunt Mary's now?" Toby sounded impatient. His Papa and Joe were doing boring kissing things, and he was ready to go.

 

"Sure, sport," Joe said. He took the boy's hand. "I can always kiss your Papa later."

 

Toby rolled his eyes and pulled Joe towards the kitchen door.

 

"See you tonight?" Joe called as he was dragged away.

 

"About six," Chris called after. He was smiling, amused at how quick Toby had taken to Joe.

 

When they were outside, Joe grabbed Toby under his arms and swung the boy around. He was rewarded by a squeal of laughter. He pulled Toby in close and he wrapped himself around Joe.

 

He was still like that when Joe knocked on Steve's door. Joe was surprised it was Steve answering. He'd expected Mary.

 

"Good morning," Steve said. He hadn't expected to see Joe, and he was shocked at the change. Monday afternoon he'd looked like his world had ended. Now, two days later, he looked happy. Ecstatic, really. Rumpled, too. His hair was messy, his shirt was rumpled, and his lips were a little swollen.

 

Steve grinned. He knew exactly what had gone on. He was tempted to hassle Joe about it, but Toby being there would've made it tough. He'd get Chris instead when they got to the station.

 

"I came to drop Toby off for the day. I've got to go run some errands and get a few things from my apartment."

 

Toby started to bounce. "C'n I come with you? Can I, can I? Pleeeeeeeease?"

 

"Uh, I dunno? Help?" he asked Steve.

 

"I think this is your call," Steve said. He was grinning like a maniac, watching Toby try to get Joe to do what he wanted.

 

Joe took a breath. He didn't know what was the right thing to do here. If he was going to be with Chris, though, that meant he was going to be one of Toby's parents. He had no idea what that meant, but he figured there was at least some responsibility involved. He certainly didn't mind Toby coming with him, and he was pretty sure that his apartment was at least mostly safe for a kid to be in.

 

"Okay," he said. "if it's okay with your Aunt Mary, you can come with me."

 

"You'll need a car seat too," Steve said.

 

"Oh. Um, I don't have one. Sorry, sport."

 

"Aunt Mary does, Aunt Mary does!" Toby said. "You c'n burrow it. Please, Daddy?"

 

Steve cocked an eyebrow at that, but it hit Joe like a punch in the head.

 

"You can borrow one of ours, Daddy," Steve said, snickering. Joe was obviously in shock, and he thought it was hilarious.

 

"Chris is going to have a fit," Joe muttered.

 

"Nah, I don't think so," Steve said. "Or is that going to get you confused in bed?"

 

Joe blushed. "You could shut up, you know."

 

"Oh, I know. I'm just not going to."

 

"Bastard," Joe grumbled. It didn't matter, though. He was pretty sure this was the best day of his life.

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Pieces: 58

Words: 62,812

Pages: 151 (8.5x11 with 1" margins and no page breaks between sections. Should I be afraid yet?)

 

 

 

The way that I compare manuscript to print is to estimate 350 words per page -- this varies a lot, from 325 to 400, but 350 is pretty safe. This gives about 180 pages. If you look at romance and mystery books (in the gay section of the bookstore! -- or not), it looks like 200-300 is a popular length, with nothing much below 175 and nothing much above 400 except for generation sagas and high fantasy.

 

In other words, if you're done with the draft and you're at 63K, you're in the ballpark of ordinary novels (I think that 80-90K is what science fiction editors usually expect, though if you ask them they will say "how long should i be? long enough to tell the story"

 

I love that Steve's response to seeing Joe like that is that he's figuring out who he can tease and when. Also that Toby has made a decision.

 

Now, the family downstairs from my stepmother (who we call cousins because that's how our family is) calls one mother Eema and the other Ooma. Toby (and Stephanie! Don't forget Stephanie!)could end up with a Daddy and a Papa.

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In other words, if you're done with the draft and you're at 63K, you're in the ballpark of ordinary novels (I think that 80-90K is what science fiction editors usually expect, though if you ask them they will say "how long should i be? long enough to tell the story"

I think I'm going to end up around 80K words by the time the draft is done, probably around 110K by the time the second is finished, probably down to ~95K or so after the edits. I hope. We'll see -- this is turning out to be longer than Yankee. (And going faster, so I'm certainly not complaining.

 

I love that Steve's response to seeing Joe like that is that he's figuring out who he can tease and when. Also that Toby has made a decision.

Well, y'know, Chris and Steve have a long hstory of cheerful mutual abuse, and I think between the two of them they could come up with at least a dozen obnoxius things to say with that first phrase...

 

Toby's made his decision, that's for sure. It'll probably even stick, too, though kids can sometimes be fickle about things. (But as Joe's not a stuffed animal or character from Spongebob, probably not. :) )

 

Toby (and Stephanie! Don't forget Stephanie!)could end up with a Daddy and a Papa.

Yep. We'll see how Chris feels about that. I've always figured he had issues with anyone calling him "Daddy" (since that's what he called his own fater, and we know how well that turned out) but I haven't made any mention of it that I can think of. I may well just let it go as not worth the effort.

 

You really want them to adopt Stephanie, don't you? :)

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You really want them to adopt Stephanie, don't you?

 

Yes. Yes I do.

 

1. Toby and Stephanie would have siblings, and siblings are good.

2. Toby and Stephanie have both faced monsters, so they understand each other.

3. Joe and Chris will pull another child out of the miasma they both have been struggling out of.

4. Joe's a take-charge sort of guy, and if he didn't do this he'd have missed an opportunity to take charge.

5. Since Joe would need Chris as the more experienced parent to help him figure out what to do for Stephanie, it would even some things out between them and help Chris feel like he's not just Joe's rescue.

6. Story symmetry would be enhanced.

 

If you need more reasons, let me know.

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I'm just not sure I have the time in the story to get Stephanie in with Joe and Chris. (And I'll admit to some ambivalence to it)

 

I dunno. I think the best I'm going to be able to manage is to set things up and leave it at that -- if she does come home with the guys, it'll have to be in another story. (Which I don't have at the moment, but I have no doubt they can come up with some trouble to get into)

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I'm just not sure I have the time in the story to get Stephanie in with Joe and Chris. (And I'll admit to some ambivalence to it)

 

I dunno. I think the best I'm going to be able to manage is to set things up and leave it at that -- if she does come home with the guys, it'll have to be in another story. (Which I don't have at the moment, but I have no doubt they can come up with some trouble to get into)

 

 

All you need(or ought) to do in the scope of this story is mention that Joe's decided to go for it. Because we know that once Joe sets his mind on doing something, he does it.

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That I can do. I was going to add a scene earlier in the story where Steve and Chris try talking to Stephanie for the first time, before they dragged Joe into it. That'd get me some coverage with Chris and Stephanie -- I'd hate to leave Joe torn choosing between the two.

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