Andrew Q Gordon

Well I need all the water in case I need to make a quick get away from the angry mobs. Ramon said in his review how it felt like so much more than four days so I had to go back and check the chapters. These last 12 or so, from when Barbara started to get Jason to change until now covered about a week. But most of the story to date was build up for this sequence of events. This event will of course bear on the last 12 or so chapters, hopeful I can still escape the lynch mob at the end. I did want to explore more than just Jason and Peter, otherwise I could have shortened things quite a bit. I always had an image of the Tellerman family when I began this, Peter's family evolved along the way. Boopsie/Betsy wasn't even a thought when I started, although Peter's mom was firmly in place. Now that everyone is off the cliff, perhaps maybe everyone won't clamor for the new chapter so quickly.

Yeah I know what you mean about the four days. The first 23 chapters took about a year, the last 12 went about a week. But this was the crux of the story so far. The last dozen chapters deal with the affects of this. Like I said to Kevin, it ain't quite over yet .

I don't remember that movie but I like the concept. I was worried it would be too cliche how mom came around and such but I think it went over pretty well. But this aint quite over, Peter's body has healed but what about his psyche? Stay tuned

Thanks Nephy, I don't think I consciously tried to do that at first but as I tweaked things I tried to tie things up. As I said in an earlier chapter, Barbara T wasn't a terrible person, just hadn't wrapped her mind around things properly. Took an old fashion bitch slap from Amanda to put some sense into her. Mrs G is definitely the rock that keeps it all together. She ain't done just yet either

As promised, Chapter 35 is up today - read it an weep. Chapter 35: Sunday Afternoon Sorry that's all I'm gonna say right now, read it and let me know what you think. Andy

Dean left shortly after lunch. He got a text reminding him of some homework he had to finish. Jason helped him collect his stuff and gave him a hug when they said good bye. Relieved of entertaining his brother, Jason went back to stay with Peter. Walking through the front door, the hospital felt like his second home, something he wasn't happy about. Alone, he already missed his brother. Having Dean around the last two days helped Jason control his emotions. Now he only had himself. A

Matt: See, with medical advances making advances so rapidly, there is still hope that by the time you are my age you can get Cammy pregnant (or he you) and have your own kids - . Or you could try a less extreme method. LOL Thanks Matt. Nephy: Thanks my dear. Yeah, I am not counting any date as being hard and fast other than to expect it won't be what we expect. Still it is very exciting for us both. Cia: Well in this case we know EXACTLY when the embryo's were created etc so we know all that jazz with certainty, which is probably ALL we know for sure, or will know for sure going forward. I don't have any expectations other than expect the unexpected. Just give me a rough idea, let me do the math backward so we can plan one last hurrah and not risk the birth happening when we are in Italy or something, then batten down the hatches and start to get ready in earnest. 50 million? Are you sure? I mean that sounds a bit light, you must not want to scare me. Lugh: With the miracle of digital this and electronic that, we have already begun to video, photo, store and sort stuff. I like the idea of a letter to the baby(s) might have to get on that soon. As for vacation, yeah I am planning one of those that Mike doesn't know about yet. I am trying to get a better feel on when MD will pass it's marriage law. If not I am going to do it in DC then go away before the baby is born. It will be a nice one, probably use up the last of the money my grandmothers left me but I think this is what they would have wanted me to use it for, they both said 'no bills, something fun that you will always remind you of me.' or something like that. Pictures to follow. Mike: Never quite thought of things that way but the dynamics of the family are going to change no doubt about it. Sadly Mike is one of those people who likes to know things in advance to plan as much as possible. I am a bit more, meh, let's see what happens, but I find myself really wanting to know NOW. LOL. Ah lessons in patience. Steve: We would need a bunch of kids for us to use Steve, that and that is already a family name of someone other than a parent or grandparent and the family is funny about having two of the same name. and perhaps most important, I don't want the Steven in our family to think I named my kid after him, he would SO think that too, then again, it would be fun to say, 'No we named him after some other Steve that we like a whole lot more than you.' Thanks for the note Bee: Haha Bee, mark it in pencil cause as everyone keeps saying it probably won't be the 29th of Sept LOL.

Actually, if you read A New Life by Acedias - his main character Blake used this Secret Lawyer Mind Trick on someone then almost fell for it when someone used it on him. Nephy being a tricksy lawyer [or is it a barrister? you brits have lotsa titles for lawyers] she tried it on me and I nearly fell for it too, but I caught on just before I succumbed. But the picture of the TMNT was kicking - brings back memories of when I was almost still a kid. Thought this one is more my generation:

I imagine when something like this happens, where you have a big fight, at least the biggest they ever had, and then you don't get to apologize because something terrible happens, you will always feel somewhat responsible. Seeing the apartment as a snap shot of what it looked like when Peter left to look for Jason had to be a bit unsettling, at least I would think. Thanks Trevor, appreciate your comments.

Anyta: I don't cry - Ok say maybe I might but I think it won't happen until the baby(s) are born - no betting pool please Yes, I have been told repeatedly that I should expect they could be early, especially if there are twins.That's why I think I said we have at most 8 months left. Pictures will go up, eventually, not going to promise I will put up ones of the ultra sounds and what not. Might stick post birth only from now on. Method: I'm not sure I want them to be born on 9/11 - everyone is so somber that day, especially around here. BUT whatever day he, she, they come I won't complain, it won't be close to my birthday

Amidst the snow and ice coming down on Wednesday, Mike and I got an email, followed quickly by a call from us to the clinic. The pregnancy was confirmed and they now gave us a schedule and a due date - our life changing day - Sept. 29, 2011. First thing, that date seems AWFUL soon to me - much too soon - but then I learned the 40 weeks we were expecting is from the date a woman's cycle begins, not conception - 40 weeks is really deceptive advertising if you ask me. Then if there are twins - and despite everyone wishing multiple babies on me, there is no guarantee it will be twins or more at this point - the due day would be sooner. Basically we have 8 months tops to get ready - I will never get Mike ready by then, no way. Of course I was thinking we had until mid to late Oct so I had to call to find out why the shortened time. We had a lot still to do - hell as much as we have been planning we were also holding off on doing things - okay a lot of thing - so as to not jinx ourselves; nothing worse than a room full of baby stuff and we don't have a baby right? This time we spoke to the head nurse, who has always been extremely patient with us and our questions. She told us that yes the levels are high and yes the Doctor said twins but she was just the nurse and she wasn't going to say it was twins. [Yeah her!!] For those that understand this stuff - and I am reluctantly becoming one of them - the surrogate’s HcG level - this is the hormone that is produced in waves during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy - was 665 at 14 days after embryo transfer. To put that number in perspective - my co-worker who just had a baby had her levels tested at about 4 weeks after conception and her level was 400. Supposedly the level of HcG doubles every 2 days for a while so the surrogate’s level was pretty high. On Wednesday when a second blood test was done, it was 1425 which was more than double. We asked what this really means - let me say here, that the Dr. has always been extremely caution and conservative in his comments. Even before the transfer, which has a very high rate of success and after he told us that everything went as well as it could medically go, he still was cautioning us that we might not get pregnant. SO when he kept saying twins, this made me worried he was correct. In contrast, the Nurse said a bit more reserved. She advised that it could be twins, it could be two embryos, but that one might not make it, or it could be one really well established pregnancy. [she may have said it could be more than twins, but we didn't really follow up on that - we are still just hoping for one right now] Of course when I mentioned the doctor's track record of not promising things, she tried to deflect us away from that - but not that strenuously. What we did learn that is that because this is an Embryo transfer, we should be able to find out if there is a heartbeat(s) at the first ultrasound in about 2 weeks - 2/9/11 to be exact. As it was explained to us, because they place the embryos in the best location for maximum success, they also have better ability to detect a heartbeat sooner. 12 days until confirmation I suppose. But lest I be all one sided and not tell both sides of things. The finance people took great pains to explain there were additional costs for the second Ultra Sound if there were twins or more. Something about needing to measure more than one fetus and that costing so much extra per additional fetus. In the end we just don't know but everyone seems to be preparing us for the possibility of twins. [or more] Either way, right now I am too excited to care - yeah a part of me knows twins will be more than just twice the work, but still. Next up, we are going to start setting up the baby room. The furniture we got this past weekend is in the basement and we don't want it to get ruined. At this point I suppose we need to keep thinking positively so by 9/29/11, it is ready. Wish us luck, we are SO going to need it. LOL

Wow, that was a lot happening in that chapter. It seems with every question you answer, you pose 4 or 5 more. If you hadn't edited chapter 29, I would now have thought the two speakers were Magister Aenhol and Madame Rooste but now? no idea. I am still confused that Ho-o isn't helping. I mean, Ho-o knows exactly where Jacob is, she could have told Adam and then he could have told Aenhol. I mean we know Jacob isn't dead because if he was, so would Adam, so Ho-o knows where he is and what's happening to him. Another question for another chapter to answer.

Well Nephy, to answer this I suppose I will need to post chapter 35 - which I won't be tricked into doing just yet. But I don't believe I ever said anywhere that Peter wakes up or survives. I'm not saying he doesn't but IF he does, I think all your other points are valid. You are very tricksy tryng to get me to answer what everyone who has posted wants to know - nice try - 'oh you said he gets better' haha good one

Thanks Zane, appreciate hearing from you. We are much closer to the end than the beginning so I hope to wrap things up soon. Andy

Well SimonJ, I know what happens but I ain't telling just yet. But I will tell you that Dean's decision is part of the story - so I won't leave anyone hanging for that answer. Thanks so much for your continued support. Andy

Haha, that's good because wait two more days is what has to happen. I wasn't sure how much to get into in the apartment, but as much as Jason does and will blame himself, seeing what he ruined makes it hurt that much more. Thanks for the review, as always

To me this is Jason's real 'home.' They spend most of their time there with the occasional foray to Jason's apartment for the night. Sure it is 'Pete's Stuff' but Jason has a possessory feel for things since he was there so much - remember it was 'their bedroom.' The fight and uncertainty seems to have Jason uncomfortable with these feelings right now. Sure he wants things to be like they were, but there is a bit of doubt given their last conversation. Not sure I feel like a proud poppa - sure this is my baby, but I am not near as attached to this as I am say my dogs. When the kid(s) arrive, I am sure those feelings will be stronger still. But still this does feel a part of me so perhaps. Andy

I never comment on predictions - other than to misdirect but I won't do that hear. I have promised and will keep to it, that next chapter will address Peter's condition a bit more. Other than that - my lips are sealed. Thanks for reading and commenting. Andy

Yes Frosty - IF Peter survives and IF Peter were there I am sure he would - [you didn't expect me to say for sure did you?] Jason's evolution are in no small part due to Peter's influence. I think from what we've seen of his family, we can tell who shaped Peter's character, [Hint, it wasn't Tom or 'Boopsie.'] Thanks for the comment and for reading AND for helping me

Hmm, when you put it like that, yes you are correct, it DID need protecting and the most likely to damage it would be those you suggest. The Scout's interest might have been him being polite to Dean or it could be more - that won't be address any further. My idea was he would be invited to try outs for the national practice squad, but that was about as far as he got/gets. Probably should have left it out as it doesn't add much to the story but it was part of the conversation between he and Dean so I left it in. Next chapter I will be interested to hear your take on things - not saying why, just curious Do you really expect me to tell you what happens next?? I did say more about Peter will be revealed next chapter so just a few more days. And not gonna say if you will need tissues or not, sorry [okay, I'm not really sorry,] Andy

Not sure how far you have read, but the first few chapters I definitely didn't use them often enough. As I wrote later chapters, I use them a lot more in dialogue for a more natural feel. I don't use them much in the narrative portion as I feel/felt contractions are most appropriate in dialogue where it is used to make the speech as natural sounding as possible. In narrative I felt it better to eschew them were possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Andy

Oh Eric, it is not ruled out there are quads or quins in there, just that it is almost certainly more than one - Lord help me if it is more than 2 LOL. Thanks for the note - I think I might need all the good luck I can get soon. Andy

Can't say I remember that song too well and I was in college in the 80's [yes you already reminded me once today I was old so I beat you too it here ] But I do love the big mullets LOL

That would be hard because he was locked up in jail. Not to fret, he will get his soon enough

Chapter 34 is up. Jason returns to Peter's apartment for the first time since their fight - what does he find? Chapter 34: Sins Of The Past Revisited As promised, next chapter we will find out more about how Peter is doing. Then you can all get off the cliff I left you on Andy