Andrew Q Gordon

Well that didn't take long - George regrets having Carmody on bored - yet the doofus gives him a perfect way to get rid of him, Calvert is in his bed already - that's good for the captain's morale and Humphrey's has earned the promotion he should have had before. All in a days work for Captain Sodmite errr.... Granger

Damn, didn't expect him to do that to FitzWilliam - Bet George is Totally regretting taking Carmody on as his Lt. Not only is he into little boys, he isn't even hiding it.

First command an oh my the very handsome, and by the sound of it, rather randy Lt. Calvert. Sounds like a fun trip to India afterall. AND he seems quite competent to boot. Hmmm interesting start to this Book.

Thank you - personally I think we ought to all be more conscious of how what we do boomerangs back on us and always try to 'be excellent' to each other. Thanks for commenting

Mike's grandmother's name was Gertrude - don't see many of them either but I am not going to name her that Not that I am equating Cadence with Gert or Gertrude, just pointing out that being unique is not always a good thing

You crack me up. I'm italian and he is English, Dutch, Scottish and Kryptonian or something. And he already picked out a few colleges, Swarthmore being at the top, and St. John's in Annapolis is another. **Rolls eyes and wonders where the money for either is coming from***

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAEME!!!!

C - where you been?? Haven't 'talked' to you in ages? School kicked your butt this semester? Nice to see you back no matter. There is only so much screening you can do - she passed a psychological exam, the screening processes, the personal interviews etc. Quitting her job to go work under the table was something I don't think they could screen out. Her 'it's everyone's fault but mine' attitude, that probably could have been caught with a better screening I guess. But all in all we are lucky - I've been hearing much worse stories about how things go with surrogates and intended parents so I am biting my tongue and being happy Can't wait to show off the baby pictures - damn I'm "that" parent already LOL.

@Sara - thanks - now if mom will understand that having a preference doesn't mean I don't or won't love her. She is still trying to convince me I am wrong. - Mom is rather opinionated As for the IE - no you are not missing much at all. @Lugh - Honestly, that was always a fear of mine with a son - not just dipsticks saying that to us or behind our backs but for kids at school saying to a boy - 'you're dads' are fags so are you' or word to that effect. But seeing the ultrasound AND knowing it's a girl has made it feel that much more real. Woo Hoo, for once I can't wait for summer to end @Maria I just feel bad that she is stuck with us as dads - mike is never planning to let her date LOL @Nephy - LOL that is all I can say - my sister has volunteered to take the 'cute' years and return her when she is 13. I told her she had it backwards You just reaffirmed my position @Dave - Giving up was actually a possibility when the surrogate was not getting pregnant and the cost went way up. But we are past that and we are set up for when we want - if we want - to have a sibling. But you're right, that sentiment - what if - 10, 20 years from now, forced us to dig down and make the sacrifice because we knew it would haunt us later. Thanks for your words - and the hug

Mike you get your own 'special' reply. I am not divulging that - especially since this is not about my bedroom antic But nice try.

@ Mike and YB - Actually my mom, his mom, Mike, my sister - basically everyone BUT me, wanted a girl. It's not that I didn't want a daughter, just that I wanted a son. Am already over that and when she is born she is gonna be a spoiled little child whose other daddy has fashion sense so she'll be fine - I have a shot and a scowl @ Antya - um you know their names, and if you don't email me and I'll tell ya. @YB - good lord, you're trying to kill my kid with a name like that? her head is going to explode trying to learn how to spell her name. LOL

Yes I know it's been a bit since I last updated this - much of the good times, happy feelings were tested by the surrogate and her immaturity. I've come to the conclusion it is really just a 'it's not my money' kinda thing. She just sees us as having an endless stream of money and if she does something that causes us to have to pay more - it's no big deal. So updates- 1) Still not insured - but she will be on June 1 - cost to insure - $260 a month with a $1500 deductible - for those of you outside the US, that means the first $1500 in medical bills comes out of our pocket. But if when she goes to the hospital or if she has a serious complication, it's covered - whew. 2) We are back to speaking terms with the surrogate. There are still issues but we'll figure it out. 3) It's a girl!!! The name isn't a secret but I'd prefer not to post it on line where it can be found by anyone - just a bit of caution is called for. So for a few details - The insurance debacle: As I said in the last post, she was getting paid in cash to avoid taxes and her lack of documented income caused her to be rejected. She of course blames the lawyer and I nearly bit my tongue in half to stop for telling her that it was really her illegal activity that created the problem. I let the agency deal with it. Then she needed to get the forms in - she did it a day late and didn't qualify to be insured in May. THis was really an issue for me because we were telling her almost every day she HAD to submit the forms. She had one excuse after another. Finally I told her I was suspending all payments to her because her failure to do what was required to get insured constituted a breach of contract and we would not be reimbursing her for the costs - she got it in, but it was late Because she was late, I ended up flying out to California this week to go with her to the doctor to arrange payment. She needs pre-natal and this was the only way I could insure she went. She does not have a credit card and they required payment at the time of service. I wanted to be certain she went and had no excuse for not going - i.e. she didn't have the money to pay them. When to California - it is called the "Inland Empire." Those from California know what that is. To it looked like one great big sprawl. Lotsa flat surrounded by mountains. Somewhat cool to look at if you avoided the endless rows of houses and buildings. Nothing of note to do really. Then again it was only a day and half there with half of Wednesday taken up by the doctor appointment and spending time with the surrogate. She is really quite nice in person. We get along well, so long as I ignore the fact she is needlessly costing us money. But on June 1 that is over so it's behind us. I feel a bit bad for here - but only a tiny bit. She quit her job - yeah the under the table one that caused us to NOT get insurance. Reason ? She was a customer service telephone support person. They asked her to may 5 hours a week of cold calls to businesses in their industry to drum up business. She - who has high school diploma didn't agree with this approach to the business and told her bosses that. She didn't want to be a telemarketer/phone sales person so she quit. Why work when Andy and Mike are sending her money every month. Thus far she has - used the first two months to pay back her grandparents, take her dead beat dad to a car race, gone to a three day music festival, and saved $100 Next she plans to use the money to pay her rent, and 'save for a car' By the end of this she'll have no money and no job. But hopefully a car with which to get a job. Hopefully. She was feeling us out about a second child already - no kidding right? She needs another $25K to do what she was planning to do with this money. Sigh. Maybe being out of, with a car and a few dollars in her pocket will help her start over - and maybe if we do a second - that is the hope/plan right now - she'll use the money to better herself. So on to the part where everyone gets mad at me. I was kinda disappointed we are having a girl - I really was hoping for a son. Oh well, got over it and moved on but not before my mom bitched me out. I get the whole - so long as it's happy and healthy and I should be happy etc, but we knew all that for the last 4 months. this was not - is she pregnant - is the baby doing well etc - [it is] this was the what sex is it. Now, unlike my mom who was bitchy - she wanted a granddaughter so i guess I rained on her parade, Mike - sage old man that he is - pointed out that, a) of all my nieces and nephews, my niece is the one I am hands down closest with and b ) I can do everything with a daughter I would do with a son. I suppose I knew that all along but he must have been ready for this because he sat me down, and got me over it. B-[birth] minus 20 weeks and counting down.

Thank you, Paul Appreciate the feed back and glad you enjoyed it. I will try to live up to your expectations Andy

Nice picture frame there Tim. But I am digging the new 'do. I think I have those same glasses - guess it's time for new ones, the fashion trend has been set, now to set a new one

Wait, didn't we do this two weeks ago?? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARK!!!! From one old coot to another

I read most of this on the plane, and then began the next installment. It is really an engaging tale. The way you connect people with events is riveting. The way the various part connect is great. Well done on many levels Mark. Andy

That was a fitting end, wrapped up things nicely - the Intrepid, a ship George Capture but which he was too young to captain to port, Carmondy and getting command. WOO HOO. Yes it does pay to be connected I suppose. Now if only I could connect to George - err ... nevermind - you already 'laid' claim to him if we find him.

Poppa George! I like it. SO Lord Heathford is probably a good and dear friend of the Wilcox clan. One wonders why the Earl has the stomach to stand his presence. It is clear which side of the family the Granger Clan will be spending time with

So Brentwood is being bled dry by the old Lord. One wonders if Caroline's dad didn't worry about being beheaded by his tenants so gave the 'problem' to George. But then along came St. George the Just Nice to see Travers made Post. Wonder if the King had much to do with that. Would seem the Earl was pushing for it and that of course had to carry some weight. Especially since the Admiralty wanted to truss up Toulen to their liking.

So George, the good naval officer that he is, got his first real taste of politics. Good thing he has such an excellent teacher in his father. One suspects that when the time comes, George will take his father's role with the Prince. Poor Travers, he is a fish out of water in court and is floundering being with George in the same house as his wife. Tough lot to be in.

Being the crass sort that I am, the hand job at the hand can't really compare to the 'attention' he got during his time at sea. Nice to see George can add loyal to his list of positive character traits. His defense of Lord Hood is admirable and proper. No doubt the others, including Sir Phillip, will no doubt appreciate this and make note. This is such a great story, how you weave everything together, keeping the various little story lines in tact. Kudos.

Well at least we learn that Granger can actually keep it in his pants when he wants to Hopefully Bentley will make an appearance later in the series for us to see how well or not he was healed and what affect George had on him. Adopting Micel was a nice thing, I'm surprised George is so defensive about it. But then again, it was a french child and he is what? 19 if that? Adopting a 9 year old seems a bit much. Though with servants and what not at Bridgemont and eventually Brentwood, there wouldn't be the need to do too much parenting. Still a nice touch.

So I realize I am late to this party and am working hard to catch up, but I have to say Mark, this is really good stuff - [i'll leave out the slips in perspective etc, and leave this post to stuff about the story itself. ] I realize you have more than a few people tell you that your work is good, so it shouldn't come as a surprise My snarky comments in the reviews aside, I love how tangible the characters are. Even the Wilcox people - despite the almost over the top, Simon LeGree type behavior doesn't reduce them to caricatures. I also find fascinating how you work in the real folks like Napoleon and Nelson. Are Hood, Chatham, Spencer real? Last, I was impressed with the nautical descriptions. Having never sailed a ship of the line or even a frigate, I suppose you could be blowing smoke up our collective butts, but it did seem real. Well since it's been two years since someone commented, I figured I'd dredge it up just in case someone else is reading the CAPs saga but never picked up this one Andy

Happy 19th!

Wow a ship of the line and not just any ship of the line but the biggest of the big. Then again, needing to speak french seemed to be a prerequisite and that left George for the job. He even got a bigger ship than Travers. So along came Bentley. Seems a bit off that the admiral and everyone else knows about the Berwick but no one did anything to stop it. In fact it seems they used it to their advantage by foisting the ones who tried to hurt Shafte on that ship as punishment.