Ivy

Sounds like a fun chapter. Can't wait. Have fun on your visits!

I agree about the Wade / JP scene, I immediately thought of 'where does he start?, how long will they talk?, etc' Then I thought, damn I wish I could listen in. Then I realized that I could start reading CAP all over again any time I want. As for Matt's illness, I second the motion, get House here stat! Maybe it is hepatitis in a combination with the kidneys failing and it's throwing all the tests wacky. Gah! Is there a Doctor in the forum? Step forward please!!!! The narrator switch wasn't as jarring as I anticipated. great chapter, (just makes me want more.) thanks Mark.

that whole ankle smashing scene gives me nightmares we wouldn't want anything like that to happen to you Mark, so for your sake, Matt needs to live and not be in a vegitative state, according to votes in so far!

I seriously hope that Mark won't put Matt six feet under..(please please don't do that, remember you said you like happy endings!!!). Matt might just be really out of commision for a while in the hospital, so it would be hard to know what was going on in the outside world hence a little change of voice. BTW, It was kind of nice to see Jack in action.

So Mark is a fan of the sucker punch? Get us all relaxed with a great hockey game, nice dinner with the family, no problems at the party, sidetrack us with Cole & Allison, then even Carullo is decent to them..... then.... Wham! Blam!...Matt's sick! And we don't know with what! I mean we were all expecting the kidneys to go at some point, but donors have already been found, so I guess that just wasn't quite traumatic enough. Geeze Louise, Mark, how am I supposed to get any work done today. Not sure if this counts as a cliffhanger, but I'm sitting here on pins and needles wondering how I'll make it to the next chapter posting... Thanks for a really, really captivating story. Like Jenni said, Matt and Wade are a great couple and I can't wait to see how things turn out.

Ok now the Capt Kirk idea is just way out there..... however, I think Mark has set it up so that he could go on indefinitely....if JP and Steph do eventually pass (I said eventually because this just cannot happen in the near forseeable future!), there will be someone to head up the family. Brad, Matt, even little Wll could take over. Events in the near recent past would lend themselves well to the storyline (Katrina, Obama, etc.) It would be an adventure in future prediction (which is not Mark's style), rather than historical reference but it could be fun. Let's see, Robbie win's an Oscar for one of his movies, Will competes in the winter olympics (and wins), Jack wins the Nobel prize for discovering a cure for cancer (pick one, there are so many types), Wade is first governor of California then who knows, Matt becomes NHL commisioner and hockey becomes the first major sport to openly accept gay players, Brad makes millions by selling off his dot.com stock before the bubble bursts and buys islands all over the world so that he can surf anywhere anytime, the possibilities are endless... I just know that I will be reading till the very end, may it be a long, long time from now in a galaxy far, far away where no man has traveled before..lol

Brian seems to be getting to that "rock bottom" point. People are dangerous at that stage, both to themselves and in how they lash out at others. He scares me. He had everything on a platter and all he had to do was be a decent guy. I just don't know if he has it in him to be one.

Can't wait for ch 44. It's going to be so much fun to watch Sen. Dumba$$ scramble to do damage contol. I'll just be over in the corner rubbing my hands together anxiously waiting.

It cracks me up that "Mummy" would expect Matt to play by "polite society" rules, while she and Daddy do everything they can to screw Matt over. I can just see her stamping her foot and screaming , "How dare he not be miserable because we rejected him!" Go Matt! It just sucks that not everyone has a JP, Steph, Brad, and Robbie in their lives to back them up. Personally I think Mummy and Daddy went on a Christmas cruise so they didn't have to explain to their friends why Matt wasn't home for the holidays. Then he shows up and now everyone knows anyway. Too funny. I am glad Wade is going to the counselor. I don't think that is something you can just "get over" without some help. I get the feeling we're not done with the Danfield family just yet, so he's going to need all the support he can get.

I picked Brad and Robbie, because I want Matt to introduce Robbie as his father and Brad as his husband and watch all the snooty society peeps try to figure out what to say in response. Brad and Robbie are strong enough to handle anything that's dished out and to turn it around on anyone being really rude. I want Wade to be there to see how they handled it and learn from the situation.

Enric, While there might be a lot of gay characters in the story and many of them are related in some way, there are many brothers and sisters that were strait as well. They just weren't important as characters to the story, so Mark didn't include them unless he needed to. As this is a story that began with JP as the main character and tells his life from a gay man's perspective, naturally there would be gay men in his life because Mark has said that he likes happy endings and wouldn't leave JP or any of the main characters to live a solitary life with no companionship. The fact that we see gay men popping up in the same families is (IMHO) the way Mark wants to relate the story. I mean the title of this section is "Bloodlines". It's fiction. Mark is so good at including real life historical elements, but its not fair to expect any author to relate a story that exactly mirrors real life. So there are probably too many gay men in the Hayes, Crampton, and Shluter family trees. Who cares? It a great story about interesting people. Read it for that and let yourself enjoy it for what it is. Fiction by defintion is not reality. There are plenty of depressing documentaries out there if we want factual entertainment. No disrespect meant, I have enjoyed reading your post's and comments.

good theory, but I don't think "anonymous" is Steph's style and JP wouldn't just send it and hope for the best. No there would definately be a list of demands attached along with strong assurances that someone would always be watching over the good senator's shoulder.....

One question...when will Matt watch the tape? after he gets back to California or while he is still in DC? As of right now he doesn't think there is anything on it, if he even remembers it's recording. It amazes me the hypocrisy of some people (Sen Danfield). I realize he is just a character and Mark can make him as hypocritical as he wants to, but to sit there and talk about "nailing" the president for what he did, and then go into your sons bedroom and do what we all assume he did. Un-f-ing-believable! Self rightous politicians make me sick. Ok, stopping the rant now.... On another note, I have a scary feeling that something really really bad is about to happen.

this is awesome Mark! thanks. I love tidbits. I can't wait to see why Matt was sleeping with Brad and Robbie. It sounds like something they would do to comfort him and make sure he knows he's a true member of their family. At least I think Matt is the cheeky one.

sounds like a case of "you didn't invite me to your party so I'm gonna tell everyone your party sucks and I didn't want to go anyway" bleh, is this guy still emotionally in high school or what? it sucks that he tried to shoot you down in front of your coworkers, but most likely your peers will see the diatribe for what it is. much of the time people like this are only really successful at making themselves look like total asses.

I'm willing to give Matt's parents the benefit of doubt for now. He is their only child and heir after all and they do love him in their way. They will probably react like many, disbelief, anger, accuse others of corrupting him, try to get him to return home back to a "safe/sane" environment, suggest/force counseling...... then either perhaps see the light after a drawn out separation or disown him, who knows? (Mark does...hehehe) But remember they are adoptive parents and are already afraid of losing him to Robbie. They might do many things to keep him, or they might throw up their hands and walk away. I think Matt's dad will ultimately see the light before Mummy, but I could be wrong about that. I will anxiously await the unfolding drama....

Loved Ch 35! So many hot men in the house it's a wonder Steph can keep from hyperventilating. get him a brown paper bag to carry around.. lol I love Cody and Max together. I was sad when he left to go back to Marcel after spending quality time with Cody in Summer Love. He and Cody were not ready at the time to be a couple but they've both been through the ringer lately and now the time is perfect for them. Like your favorite pair of sneakers and your fave jeans just out of the dryer..they just go together. And the fact that Matt has a small part of them both.."he hadn't lost Cody. He'd gained Max" loved that!! hmmm..maybe Cody's soul reading skills will emerge again now that he's happy and he will be able to help Wade open up at some point down the road....... as others have said before me...you're a great story teller Mark.

I was going to start out with something else but that pic popped up and I totally lost my train of thought. wow! <digs mind out of gutter> I'm not sure I'm going to survive till we figure some of this out. There are so many theories popping into my head. I agree that there is probably abuse somewhere in Wade's past. So what if it wasn't Daddy Dearest? <totally guessing here> Could it have happened with an uncle or family friend and instead of going to the authorities, Daddy hushed it up and ordered Wade to keep quiet with threats like "no more hockey?" hence the resentment? speaking of hockey, as good as Wade is, you know there were lots of hockey tournements (overnight trips), maybe a hockey coach? does Wade have an older brother? Also, and I have no practical experience here, but would Wade just come out and mention an abusive situation like that in not so many words? What if he is talking about someone that knows he is gay and is bribing him with outing him if he doesn't continue "putting out"? Maybe something totally separate from the early abuse? Maybe he dated this person and really cared about him, but they turned on him to get money or political influence? Mark, see what you've done to my brain! I'm getting no work done! <back's slowly away from the keyboard>

As a long time lurker, I know how much you appreciate a good cherry! LOL

Ahhh Mark, thank you for returning to your sailors!! Love a man in uniform (and out of one)! Ch 1 great setting of the stage, and ch 2, well, methinks Mr. Carmody might be done for.... Can't wait for the next chapter, although with the speed you write, it shouldn't be long. Great start, looking forward to many, many more chapters.