PrivateTim

I think staying at Escorial would be the safest route. I don't know if JP ever had safe rooms built into Escorial, you'd think so after some of the attempts on the family, but if they did, Travis could hide in one of anyone came snooping for him. If Travis went to Europe, he could fly into a Milan and then catch a train to France, deeper in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, etc. An American teen in a big city (Berlin, London, Paris, etc wouldn't draw a lot of attention. If his law firm is worth anything, they should have European affiliations they can have help hide him in safe apartments. I would change my hair, maybe even go with good wig to make it longer. But, he could probably hide in Dallas, Chicago or New York with the help of Will's family. I would let Curtis Buck know that Stef and Brad are watching him. Yes, and it would be a shame if they didn't live in their assigned "yard". One of the best experiences you can have in college is that freshman experience of living in a dorm with a bunch of strangers and learning how to make it work.

While this book isn't as painful as some, I'm having some trepidations about rereading again.

Oooooo, I really like this idea....

I'm Henry the 8th I am....

Looks like 12 years since I last read Paternity. I still like The Politician's Son better 😝 I guess we are seeing the start of Jeanine's unraveling. It made a nice storyline, but still sad. Mental disorders are something we ignore until the problem really escalates.

Such a great book, Thanks Mark and team for such a great effort. Darius may be the only guy ever who wished he got his 16 year old girlfriend pregnant. Usually it is the girl who deludes herself that a baby with her man will cement them together. The only people who think having a baby makes things better and easier are people who've never had a baby. Life never gets simpler or easier, it just gets harder and more complicated.

I am not disturbed at all, nor do I think Brad is ruthless. He is merely doing what needed to be done. I do think dummy Dino leaving some swimmers behind was stupid and will have consequences, but that is to be dealt with later. Someone who messed with my son, a bullet in their head would be the least of their worries.

The sprint to the finish and karma is about to rear its ugly head.

If you can't defeat the Evil Queen, it is at least good to have her on your side with a common opponent.

It is fun to see people excited for these final chapters. This being my second time through I know how things go, even if the exact details are fuzzy, I do remember the big ticket items.

It is too bad that Elliot Pfinster made the choices he did. It is one thing to make bad decisions in running a company, but it is an entirely different thing to conspire against your son and the company you built. I wonder what it is that Alexandra has on him?

Even though Brad kind of acknowledged it, I can't believe he'd allow a sex tape to be made in the same month he used a sex tape to neutralize Alexandra and a sex tape was used to get Senator Danfield in line.

I don't get how Brad can be so volatile, so unable to control his emotions and be so successful. People like him flame out and burn bridges that hamper success. Both his fathers were U.S. Navy Captains, which means they had to be pretty cool customers, stress heads don't make Captain. You get held at O5 until you figure out you ain't getting to O6. Then there is JP, who is a cool as they get usually. Maybe Brad gets his instability and lack of emotional control from Janice.

Why is it no one in CAP knows how to lock a door or keep their mouth shut when discussing important stuff?

I am surprised Brian was able to get away from the Carmichaels. I also get where JP is coming from. It is one thing to agree to not send Brian anymore money. It is another thing to have a human being in front of you, someone you once cared for, literally pleading for their life and turning them away. I would have a hard time doing that.

I know there is more drama with Elizabeth down the road, but it was nice to see her in human moments and bare part of her soul to Brad. I get that you can only focus on so many characters at once and some drop off, but I'd like to see what becomes of Wade's brothers as time progresses. Maybe Beau could go to Stanford... or Harvard.

Brad should have no compunctions about laying the blame on Brian, and if the worst happens, I am sure John Paul will agree with it in the end. People who threaten the Schulter - Crampton clan wind up having tragic accidents and JP gets that and approves. I still don't like Lark. He should have given the DVD to Brad.

It isn't because she slept with a black man, it is because of HOW she slept with him. The role play of him as a slave and her as Master's daughter would have been toxic in the extreme. I do think Millennium could be my favorite book in the CAP series because of the intrigue around the business dealings more than just interpersonal ones. So much was at stake in this book.

I think The Lion King really was one of Elton John and Tim Rice's finest work. I wish the party had been real because I'd love to see the kids at the real shelters in Hollywood and West Hollywood get that money and attention that our fictional Mission has. All of the shelters are chronically underfunded and there are more kids on the streets than the shelters can accommodate. I'd like to focus on the happy event for Brad and Robbie but the children of the night are never far from my thoughts.

Although it has been awhile since we've seen Alexandra, I've felt her in the last several chapters. It is the contrast between Alexandra, Isidore, Janice, Gail and the other women of CAP. You can deal with tragedy and hurt by being hateful, or you can push aside the dark thoughts and move forward, resolved to be a better person. Each of these women have had an influence on Brad.

It is funny how you can get lost in your own world and forget how different life is for others. I grew up flying on vacations, going on ski trips, trips to Europe, etc. It just seemed all so normal to me. Then I was helping in a youth athletic program in Berkeley and we had kids from all kinds of circumstances, including this great Mexican American kid, Christian. He was the oldest of 5 or 6 kids and his parents weren't that fluent in English so when I would interact with them, he'd translate. We took the team to a tournament in Fresno that required us to spend two nights in that lovely metropolis and things I took for granted, like staying in hotels, eating in restaurants that had servers, etc were brand new to several of the teens. The one comment that struck me the funniest and has struck with me for more than 20 years was when we came back to the hotel after our first day of competition. Christian came to me with a look of utter wonder and amazement on his face, "Coach, while we were gone, someone made my bed and cleaned the bathroom!" It never occurred to me that there were people who'd never stayed in hotels before. Later I was able to take Christian and several other boys on their first airline trip when we went to the regionals. It opened a whole new world to him and the other boys. It inspired Christian to go to college, which hadn't been on his radar before. He actually wound up going to Fresno State and became a high school teacher and coach. Now he is the one introducing new worlds to kids. Gathan may have applied to Stanford, Cal and Princeton, but I bet he never actually visited them before he applied. Flying on a private plane, seeing the schools and areas in person, San Francisco, Malibu, etc will rock Gathan and the kids and create new dreams and visions for them.

Claremont is making the right moves with a government/private business partnership; giving motivation for industry to come in, which will have a multiplier effect on everything. Heck, they may even get an Applebee's.

Lots of irons in the fire.... Omega, Lark, new babies, new Hayes, stuff with the Danfields.... It is going to be a wild ride to the finish line.

I like Gathan's reasoning on Cal vs Stanford and it is reasonably true. Stanford is a West Coast Ivy with a lot of the same wealth/legacy issues as the Ivies. I do think legacy should be a part of the mix; it is how schools build loyalties and extort money from the alums, it just should not be at the expense of a much more qualified candidate.