Okay so I have to admit I had tears when I got to the little boy in the airport saluting Ritch ... damn, just writing about it here brought tears.
I enjoyed watching strings from other stories being tied into this one. That's one of the most significant differences from the early CJ stories. Those exist in a sort of vacuum but the spinoffs occur simultaneously with overlapping timelines. The sudden flick of a switch reminding us that Chipper was doing the "Voice" while Ritch was busy adjusting to life at the Academy in Colorado. Also, that he hadn't seen his brother's completed home. There are a lot of divergent lives being lived.
Excellent chapter.