Dodger

Don, it seems, has angered people more with his softly, softly approach, than he did when he was flying off the handle. His change of tactics may have fooled Robbie to a certain extent but the readers have seen or read it all before. They know a bad guy when they see one and Don isn't pulling the wool over anyone's eyes. Robbie, however, is at a definite disadvantage here because even though he knows for certain that his uncle is a genuine, one-hundred percent, undiluted, asshole, of the highest order, he really wants to believe otherwise. I would go so far as to say that he needs to believe otherwise, but maybe that's best left for the therapist to deal with. By attempting to mess with Robbie's mind in order to bring him into line, Don may have put himself firmly into the higher bracket of super villains. It would be interesting to see how he would compare to other unsavoury characters from stories on this site. Unfortunately, I don't think that Robbie is either confident or emotionally stable enough to want to rock the boat at the moment, even though he has many allies. It's always a little different when you're on the ground than when you're looking at things from above and Robbie is in a hole right now, too scared to want to risk any further damage by standing up to Don. He doesn't realise or he refuses to believe that he's actually in a very strong position at the moment, but isn't that always the way? Thanks @spikey582 for reading; your in depth comments are always appreciated my friend.

Tim, you have every reason to be pissed with Don, who is everything that you just mentioned and more. Interesting that you mention Daniel on the receiving end of Don's subversive tactics. He has witnessed it before to a certain extent with his best friend, he may not be willing to let his dad do the same thing to his newly found brother. Thanks Tim.

Robbie would probably have taken the standard Tylenol 1, which as you point out contains codeine (8mg) which as we know is highly addictive. This is sold over the counter in Canada but not in the US where it is a prescription only pain killer. Apparently more than 12 in 24 hours can be fatal. Robbie has so far taken 6 but that is still well over the recommended amount. I don't think that Sue would keep Tylenol 3 in the medicine cabinet with kids in the house. This is only available on prescription and contains a whopping 30mg of codeine. He would be in trouble if this were the case. Best to read the label like Daniel. Thanks @daveymars

I'm impressed that you remembered the locker password, which was way back at the beginning of the story. Probably two years since that was published. This story needs to end sometime. Don and Sue met Tom on their trip to England and Robbie could use this to persuade Don of his sexual orientation. He probably needs to talk to someone who can advise him properly instead of bottling it up.

That's a long way to go back. Robbie has a lot of support now inside and outside of the the family. If he looks hard enough he should be able to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The road will be tough but Don has revealed a few weaknesses which could work against him and Robbie has enlisted a lot of support.

Merry Christmas @Butcher56 Unfortunately, I think that the Don in Robbie's nightmare wasn't much different from the real one. This is how Don would probably have acted if he weren't restrained from doing so by outside influences and members of his own family. i.e. his kids. The adoption may still seem like a bad idea to some, but it's an opportunity to cement his relationship with his new brother and sisters.

I can see your point. The kids of the house seem to be a lot better equipped to deal with these matters than the adults of the house. I've noticed the same thing in real life and I've always put it down to a generation thing. Kids these days are obviously better informed and more accepting of gay lifestyles than their parents. In this case, in theory it would be good if they could take Don and Sue out of the equation, but they may change their minds when they also have to surrender their nice house and comfortable lifestyles. It would be interesting to see how much they would be prepared to give up if this was ever an option. Robbie has money, but would he be prepared to fund Nicola's tastes in the same way as her old man does? They might have to seriously downsize!

I hope not JayT. Thanks for commenting as usual.

Thank you @Crazyd1965 You're right on both counts. what Robbie may be destined never to have a real father but he's got a pretty cool brother with Daniel. Merry Christmas and thanks for reading and commenting.

I suppose there must be plenty of ex-homophobes in the world, but it's difficult to see Don wearing a rainbow t-shirt anytime soon. Who knows stranger things have happened.

Thanks @wenmale64 It took me a while to work out what you meant by 'Don as a footing...' but that's funny and he's certainly not making many friends at the moment. He's a rather big man so it may have to be a pretty big building and there are not too many in Cobourg.

Don, it seems, will stop at nothing in his attempt to bring Robbie into the fold and into line. Emotional bullying hurts too and can cause just as much damage as physical bullying. It's also, of course, a lot more difficult to detect and as in Robbie's case, to defend against. Thanks @Kjamieson

You may be right; I'm not sure what drug killed MJ. Tylenol produce a lot of different pain killers of various strength all of which are capable of killing you, if you consume enough of them. It's a very popular brand of non-prescription pain killers in North America. Merry Christmas to you.

Paracetamol would be the word that Robbie would have used in the UK which, of course, can prove deadly if you take too many. I like your take on Don. It certainly would explain some of his behavior. Thanks @droughtquake

I think that Don believes that he is doing the right thing even if he is way off the mark. Unfortunately this doesn't help Robbie at all. Thanks for your comment @pvtguy

Yes, Daniel is proving himself now that he's managed to get over the initial shock of Robbie and Nathan. Thanks for your comment @Wesley8890

Maybe a snow plow will do the trick. Thanks JP. Hope you have a nice Christmas.

Thank you so much @mg777 I have to admit, it was a typo in chapter 80, thanks for pointing it out, but I think I may be tempted to leave it as it is. As far as the jokes are concerned, I try to use as much original content as I can, and the priest one was one of mine, but I wasn't sure whether to include it or not. It's usually best to stay away from religion and I didn't want to upset any Catholics out there, but so far no one has complained. Thank you for reading the story and for taking the time to comment.

“So what do you think they were laughing about last night?” I asked Nathan. “Beats me, but they seemed to get on okay. That’s good news isn’t it?” I wasn’t so sure. Don and Morgan—fuelled by wine and twelve-year-old scotch whiskey—had been talking and laughing well into the night. Frustratingly though, their lively banter was loud enough to keep me awake, but not quite loud enough for me to hear what they were saying. It had me baffled; I wanted to know what common ground they man

Good suggestion. Don of course, is an English immigrant who moved to Canada in his twenties, but the Brits also have their fair share of homophobes. Thanks @Rndmrunner

Thanks, @Kjamieson The next couple of chapters will be interesting, I hope. I can say no more.

Robbie's also curious about Alex and it looks as if the only way that he's going to be able to find out is by getting Nathan to open up about this alleged bullying. Robbie of course, also has to come clean about Alex.

Thanks, @SolarMaxx Don may have backed himself into a corner here and underestimated Morgan's cunning or his willingness to go the extra mile to help Robbie, and in so doing, help his son too. Don may have one hell of a hangover to deal with in the morning.

Well spotted @redwood 'I'm not homophobic'. I've heard it plenty of times, coming from the mouths of people who I knew for certain were, and probably still are. Morgan won't be fooled by that and Robbie definitely knows otherwise. Unlike Robbie, Nathan has always been sure of his sexuality, but he didn't feel the need to hide it and a supportive family made it a lot easier. Robbie, for various reasons felt the need to hide and even pretend to be straight, which was always going to cause problems. Don, of course, sees this as proof that Robbie doesn't really know what way he's leaning, whereas poor old Nathan, as you point out is a lost cause.