Dodger

If it is Don and Sue, then Nicola will be in trouble but she seems to get away with a lot. However, the timing suggests it’s not them. They would’ve been tucked up in their hotel at that time. If the trains were canceled they would have been back home before Nicola left.

Thank you @SimonUK for reading and commenting. It’s never too late to add your voice. Don, of course, would love to get some ammunition to use against Robbie to justify his past actions and prove to everyone he was right. Robbie doesn’t make things easy for himself by taking silly risks, but he’s a teenager. We will have to wait and see how this scene pans out for him, it may not be as embarrassing as people think.

All in good time. It’s only the day after Jo informed the police and the they have their work cut out at the moment with the severe weather. These extreme conditions don’t last for very long but they take a huge toll on the emergency services. Spells of -20 to -30c are common in Ontario during the winter.

The next chapter will be very soon. This wasn't originally meant to be a cliffhanger. All of the above are likely candidates. You could also throw Nathan and even Alex into the hat, but so far no one ..... Oh, but I don't want to spoil the surprise.

The next chapter will be very soon..... As soon as I decide who it's going to be. I'll be picking the culprit out of a hat later today. Only joking.

Alex, of course, would also have a key to the house. This would be really unfortunate for Robbie, who wouldn't even be able to leave the house. Surely he wouldn't be that unlucky. If it's Nathan, then the chances of Robbie remaining faithful to Conner are pretty slim. Maybe Conner, feeling guilty and anxious to make amends, has managed to persuade his mom to drive him into town in the middle of the night? That seems unlikely.

Amy is probably the favourite and certainly the most likely.

This is the first time Robbie has shown any real interest in Conner, other than a quick kiss outside the school. Their situations are remarkably similar. Maybe they will both have to cut ties with their ex-boyfriends.

That's a pretty good bet. It makes sense that someone was knocking and Robbie couldn't hear them, so Amy wakes up and opens the door.

Yeah, Conner's supposed to be his boyfriend, but they're still almost strangers. Robbie is annoyed at Conner but he hasn't exactly been transparent himself. Their situations are remarkably similar. If anything, Conner is the more honest of the two. Had it been the other way around, Robbie would have lied like he expected Conner to do. I think if they are to move forward together then they will both need to cut off ties with their former boyfriends. Whether they can do this remains to be seen.

Amy is the logical answer because she's the only other person in the house. Nicola, Daniel, Don, & Sue, all have keys to get in and he wouldn't have heard them. Anyone else would surely have had to break in, but he probably wouldn't have heard that either. Maybe he should have shut the door first, but it wouldn't have made much difference in the end.

Less than a week to go before Christmas and Southern Ontario was in the grip of winter. It was almost too funny. Don and Sue’s wedding anniversary was met by freezing rain, fierce winds, and plummeting temperatures that turned Cobourg into a shivering ghost town. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one angered by Don’s dastardly attempt to take back control of the house, but even mother nature suddenly seemed to hold little sway over my adopted father. He was determined to get to Toronto, despi

Wow, I don't understand it, but it looks like a dog!

Read this yesterday with the other hungry followers, but I wanted to wait until the dust settled before adding my comment. For what it's worth. With the battle already won, I was wondering if the final chapter might be a bit of an anti-climax, but it wasn't. Not even a little bit. I loved the ending; it was perfect. I'm so pleased I started reading this story.

Can't say enough good things about this story. It has taken me back to my childhood. Not that I was anything like any of the characters. Thanks for sharing your talents here, Tim.

This is a clever and entertaining story set in a very believable world, with a plot that will keep you guessing until the very end. The author uses a varied set of characters, including a lovable pony, in a gripping, compelling and sometimes emotional tale that asks questions and commands your attention. Well-written, highly recommended, and deserving of five stars.

Robbie hasn't shown a lot of interest in his trust fund, probably because he knows he can't spend any of it yet. The biggest asset is the apartment which is not only accumulating rent but it's also increased in value quite a bit. It's Dons duty to keep Robbie informed of this and advise him. There has to be a reason why he's wants to keep Robbie in the dark.

Not sure what Conner is or what attracts Robbie other than he's available. He's a nice guy, smart, level-headed, well-mannered, with a good family and no major hang-ups. Not the type of person Robbie is usually attracted to.

Robbie may want to take a step back and think things through before jumping to conclusions. He right to a certain extent about the money. They live comfortable lifestyles because of Don's job, but Robbie also benefits. He may have his own money, but he never has to use any of it. Robbie gets exactly the same as Daniel. Phone, clothes, computer, gadgets etc. He likes to think he's badly treated, and there's no doubt that he's been mentally abused and denied some fairly basic rights, but in other ways he's just as pampered as the others.

I think you've interpreted it very well. Robbie has always wanted to be part of a family. It was something he was denied as a child. There are many references to this in the story from Robbie and even from Tom who he was always jealous of in England. Tom had a close family while Robbie spent a lot of his childhood on his own. When his mother was in the hospital, he looked after himself, before being taken in by Tom's family. It's this desire to feel wanted that was the driving force behind the adoption. Robbie was always going to agree to it, because he needed it, even if he pretended to others that it wasn't important. Nicola's comment was harmless, she has shown beyond doubt that she cares for him and will do so again. Like most children though, she doesn't want her parents to get divorced and even Robbie is able to understand this. It is different for him as you point out, and it will always be different for him, but it doesn't have to be bad. It doesn't make him an outsider. Don's attitude has caused a lot of unnecessary pain for Robbie and made his integration into the family much more difficult than it should have been. For Robbie, a family is not just a convenience, but an essential need. We know how easily he attaches himself to people, especially people who he sees as strong, either physically like Alex, or mentally like Jo. His counsellor has made a huge difference and there's been a lot of improvement, which we have seen, and will see in the near future. He is more confident now when he's dealing with Don, and not as scared as he was. He was even goading him in this chapter and openly defying him in an attempt to make him lose his temper. It's a game he has always played, but he has to stay focused and beware of unusual gifts.

Very true and this is something I have been anxious to point out in the past. Robbie has got it wrong plenty of times. Everything and everybody is how he perceives them at the time and not necessarily how things really are. He tends to exaggerate quite a bit too and a bit of a drama queen.

Would Don do something as despicable as that? Robbing Robbie of his lolly?

You don't come across as mean @Wesley8890 only to Don, but that's allowed.

Nathan would have loved it, Fran, too. Even Tom would have been impressed. But unfortunately my greatest ever money shot was witnessed only by me. It seemed like such a waste. After thirty-two days in the making, I thought my watery masterpiece deserved some kind of recognition. I credited Conner for ending my most prolonged period of sexual inactivity since puberty. It was his succulent kiss outside the school that lit the fuse, even if I did instigate it myself. Then not long after, in the

Thanks, Carlos for another excellent AAA. Also to @AC Benus, @Graeme, and @WolfM for your candid and interesting responses.