Dodger

Happy Birthday, Steve. Hope you have a good day!

I don't think that anyone in the family has listened to anything that Robbie has said, other than perhaps Amy and no one listens to her either! Walter the wise old man with plenty of experience under his belt, would certainly give the brash Don a run for his money. Don, of course, would rather walk over hot coals than allow a liberal like him to further poison his nephew's fragile mind. If Don is going to foot the bill for a therapist, he's going to want one who can bring Robbie into line and see a return for his money!

Yeah, I wouldn't want his luck, that's for sure, although admittedly, as people point out, he doesn't always help himself by making rash decisions and the wrong choices. He must be due a winning run.

I wasn't sure so I thought it best to set the record straight before the pitchforks!

SORRY CORRECTION. The next chapter is next week but Daniel tends to keep things bottled up for longer than necessary.

Don at a PFLAG meeting! Now that's a volatile mix if ever I've seen it. They'll have their work cut out for sure. Robbie needed to talk to someone about this before it blows up in his face and I think it was probably a good idea to come clean to Nicola, who is the kind of person you need on your side if the shit hits the fan. All will be revealled soon. Thanks, Benji.

When Robbie was on the run, he compared Alex's useless father with Don and concluded that despite the gulf in social standing, there wasn't a lot of difference as neither were good parents. If the self-confessed 'stupid' Robbie can work that out then Sue should be able to see it too. Alex has enough problems on his plate without having to face Don, who she knows is not best equipped to deal with issues that he doesn't understand. It would be an interesting match-up though and the first round remember went to Alex, who made fun of Don when he came knocking at his door looking for Robbie.

I don't think that you're being whiny or harsh on Daniel at all. Maybe the boys could have told him about it a bit sooner but other than that I think that they have been quite considerate and loyal to him. Nathan wants to keep him as his best friend and Robbie desperately wants him as a brother. He overheard them talking in the shower and did the best thing he could have done, pee in the garden and go back to bed. It wasn't as if he caught them banging on the sofa. I don't think he's going to need counselling to get over it but if he does, probably best not to let Don organise it!

I couldn't agree more if only I could pronounce it!

Yeah, Sue's behaviour is a little odd. The jury seems to be out on whether she's a goodie or a badie, even I'm not sure. Maybe she should concentrate on her own family's problems or is this just some kind of distraction?

Who knows what Daniel heard but whatever it was, he's not likely to tell anyone about it for at least another month!

Hey, @Sweetlion I just noticed this comment, but you make some good points particularly about Robbie's special friendship with Tom. I think with Don it's more a case of ignoring the obvious. I don't think he's looking for a solution unless it's one that suits him.

“Has Daniel left home?” I was sitting at the counter on Sunday morning while Sue was cooking breakfast. “It does seem like it sometimes,” she said. “I’ve told him he has to come home tonight,” said Don from behind me. I swivelled my stool around to look at him as he walked into the kitchen but although he was answering my question he directed his reply at Sue and walked straight past me to kiss his wife and make himself a coffee. This was my third day at home and we had barely said a w

What a lovely message. That has cheered me up and made my day, maybe tomorrow too. Happy Birthday my friend.

Thank you, @tesao There are definitely assholes everywhere in this world and I can say from personal experience that Canada is no exception. I didn't face the kind of problems that Robbie has had to endure but I'm afraid there are bigots and homophobes on both sides of our friendly borders. The consensus seems to be for Robbie to refuse the adoption and, of course, it is his right to do so. The court will interview him a couple of weeks before the set date where he will have the opportunity to say no. It will be up to him whether he wants to use Don's homophobia as a reason for this decision if indeed, he decides against it. Daniel's behaviour is also frustrating, I can understand that but we're all in the same boat as Robbie and we only know what he knows. Thanks for following the story, I appreciate your interest.

Thank you @Rndmrunner I have been taking more time than I used to with each chapter. The story has also gone on a bit of a tangent lately deviating a little from the original version which should have ended by now, so maybe it's a good thing.

Not a lot of difference really. He would have the same surname as the rest of the family but it's more cosmetic than anything else. It may help him feel more like a part of the family and give him the same rights as the other children but he probably already had these. For Don, though it's important that Robbie sees it through!

Thank you croyde. Robbie's situation isn't as bleak as it appears and as you rightly point out the long-awaited adoption, which looked to be a formality, may now present a few problems for Don. Robbie has already agreed to the adoption but will still need to be formally interviewed by a court official--on his own--where he will have ample opportunity to make life difficult for Don and very embarrassing. At his age, Robbie can back out of the adoption at any stage, whether he chooses to do so is another matter.

Thank you, @redwood for your support. Unfortunately, Canada still has its share of people like Don and this is especially true in small communities like Cobourg which is not really suburban. It's too far away from Toronto for most people to commute and more of a retirement town. Very white, middle class, religious, yeah you thought you only had those towns in the States. It's not a bad place though and although I don't live there I often pass through it and this year I noticed that they held their first-ever gay pride march led by the local MP. Not very well attended I'm afraid, but what can you expect from a town of less than 20,000. If it's good enough for Trudeau then it's good enough for the local politicians I suppose but I can't knock him that. We will have to wait and see about Daniel, I think it's more of a trust thing than homophobia, but all will be revealed soon. Oh and thanks for spotting the quotation mistakes, which I haved now put right. I really appreciate it when people point out errors which I have missed. Obviously, I want the story to be as good as I can get it and this helps.

Thank you @wenmale64 I agree with everything you say. Dare I say it, but Robbie's bedside discussion with Don was a much-improved performance over their previous confrontation, so maybe he's learning or showing some signs of maturing. He's been thrown in the deep end for sure but it's a quick way of learning to swim and if he can, as you say, argue his case in a calm and well-thought manner, he holds all the cards. It's not easy at that age when you feel the world's against you but there are a lot of people rooting for him.

Amy is a lot smarter than the adults of the house give her credit for and being relatively new to the world she is able to see things a lot more clearly than those who try to protect her. I'm not sure what they are trying to protect her from though. I would suggest the person who she really needs to keep away from is Don who has been, by far the most destructive influence in the family. Robbie definitely needs to get some sound advice and preferably from someone who carries a bit of weight who Don will have to listen to. Walter, the wise old man, is retired but he would be able to put him touch with someone who could help. The other option would be the principle, Mr Andrews but maybe he's too close to Don's network.

Too many like him in this world I'm afraid. Thanks for your comment @Dahawk

Great comment. The boys did well to stand up to Don and get their message across but their antics as you point out are a reminder of their ages and Nathan is not as mature as Robbie would like us to believe. I've been accused in the past of making Nathan almost too perfect to be real but our only source of information has been Robbie and he has been infatuated with the boy since the day that they first met. According to Robbie, his boyfriend is the smartest, best looking and most talented boy on the planet, but isn't that always the way when you love someone? 'Your cousin banged your friend - this doesn't mean you're doomed to be a third wheel for all eternity' love this line and I'm glad you can relate to Robbie and even see some of yourself in him, that's cool.

You make a good point here because Don hasn't shown any interest at all in Robbie even when it benefits him. Robbie doing well at school reflects well on Don and he accepts the plaudits but it's not as if he was sitting down and helping with his homework every night. Don's answer to most problems is to throw money at them and it has generally worked but the conversation about the bedroom showed how little he knows about his nephew. Amy is the only family member who has been consistently loyal to Robbie, no matter what and she knows more than people think. Thanks, Spikey.

You're not the only one but it's good to see that Don's getting a reaction. Keep an eye on your blood pressure though because he's not going down without a fight!