Fitz

Stories like that were going through my head when this story first came to me. I was also reading a couple different stories set about 6 months or a year after the death of a significant other - where the main character was already healed enough to be almost ready to move on with a little closure. It made me wonder what would happen and how I would react if something happened to my husband. It snowballed from there. While this is primarily a love story between Scott and someone new, Steve's death, and Scott coping with it, is a very important element of that story. Thank you!!!!!

Thank you so much, Dewayne!! The idea of a short story following Moving On (which eventually became a 110,000 word story in its own right) was around the time I wrote the Christmas short Our First Christmas (so about 4 years ago). Most of the major plot points in Moving Forward were already solidified at that point. I wanted to play with the idea of "what happens after the 'happily ever after' ending". But as Moving On began to wrap up, I realized I needed to the characters justice, so I expanded it into the story Moving Forward became. I hope I did Scott justice - not just with the other characters, but also with the readers. A large part of the LOOOONG delay between chapter 14 and 15 was because I really didn't want to write the story as I felt it needed to be told. I could have given it a more sugary happy ending for Noah and Scott, but I feel like life doesn't abide by the cute little HEAs. Instead the HEA is what we make it - our life, our love, and our legacy, and that's what I was hoping to convey. Thanks again!!!!!

Thank you so much!! I know how annoying it is to be unable to put a story down, but that's also one of the best compliments an author can receive!!

Thank you so much, Mike!!! I tried my best to foreshadow throughout the story that Scott was dead when written without actually saying it. Of course it's been quite some time since I completed any chapters, so I can definitely understand feeling a bit raw still! Like I said in the note, I have a couple projects I want to tackle first, but I do plan on eventually coming back to write the third book in this series!

Moving Beyond Wow… Geez. I don't know how Pops and Dad figured out how the hell to start writing. Whatever, I'm just going to go for it. I don't think I've written anything longer than a grocery list in the past thirty years or so, so it'll probably be crap, but I guess I just need to get started. The question is where… I guess I should start by saying my name is Zach Hudgins. Noah and Scott were my fathers – although I always called them Dad and Papa (or Pops) respectively. Pops passed awa

... I'm not even sure how to reply to this.

Ahh... Mike... I think you may have been the very first person to comment on chapter 1 of Moving Forward back on TSC. To say you have followed the story from the beginning is an understatement!! Keep an eye out for the short story 'written' by Shannon and Zach. I'm still waiting to get it back from my editor (who has had it for a week already....frustration!!) I'm traveling for the holidays, but I will post it as soon as I get it and am able to!!

Thank you so much! I had the hardest time motivating myself to write the last chapter. I wanted to make sure I did Scott justice... not just for his family, but also for the readers. Keep an eye out... I have a short story with my editor that will give Shannon and Zach the last word!

Thank you. I purposely posted the epilogue at the same time as chapter 15 to help with the emotions in 15. Trust me, I'm more or less immune to the emotions in my own story, but I can't even skim over the last part of Chapter 15 without tearing up!! I have one more short with my editor that I should be posting soon. I allow Shannon and Zach to have the final word the series.

Epilogue It has been thirteen years since Scott died. I still love him, and miss him, and think about him every single day. It was hard at first. Much harder than I would have guessed it would be, given all the notice we had and the time to steel myself for his death. Almost impossible, even. Honestly, I do not think I would have even survived the loss of my husband if it weren't for the love and support of my friends and family. Much has happened in the intervening years. Zach and Joanna had

Chapter 15 Oh how I could go on in detail, narrating every single day of our lives together. Of course, I made a promise to myself to keep this strictly within the confines of reality to the best of my abilities and not embellish the tale as Scott did – at least not intentionally. The truth is time has a way of blending together. Even when I look back on many of my memories of Zach and Shannon when they were young I struggle to remember exactly how old they were, or where we were in our lives a

Ok, first off WOW... I thought I was only like a couple weeks late getting back to you...not six!! Sorry, I've been in a bit of a funk. I remember you saying you were going to be distancing yourself a bit before giving Moving Forward a chance, and a few times I thought about emailing you to see if all was well, since I knew you'd not like the first few chapters...maybe it's closer to nine or so. However, I think you'll like it when you give it a chance I'm working on climbing out of the hole I've been in the past few months, slowly but surely. Hell, now that I think about it, I never even posted 14 to nifty! Surprisingly, the backlash I was expecting after Moving On was not as bad as anticipated. Trust me, as someone who was all about Noah and Scott, it'll be worth the read. Definitely some tear jerker moments, though!

Ok, first off WOW... I thought I was only like a couple weeks late getting back to you...not six!! Sorry, I've been in a bit of a funk. I remember you saying you were going to be distancing yourself a bit before giving Moving Forward a chance, and a few times I thought about emailing you to see if all was well, since I knew you'd not like the first few chapters...maybe it's closer to nine or so. However, I think you'll like it when you give it a chance I'm working on climbing out of the hole I've been in the past few months, slowly but surely. Hell, now that I think about it, I never even posted 14 to nifty! Surprisingly, the backlash I was expecting after Moving On was not as bad as anticipated. Trust me, as someone who was all about Noah and Scott, it'll be worth the read. Definitely some tear jerker moments, though!

Thanks, Lisa!! I'm actually pretty sure I also misspelled Beso a few times too. I swear there was once or twice going through the chapter I saw 'bezo' but couldn't remember at that moment how it was spelled. I'll go back and fix those. Thanks!

Thanks, Lisa!! I'm actually pretty sure I also misspelled Beso a few times too. I swear there was once or twice going through the chapter I saw 'bezo' but couldn't remember at that moment how it was spelled. I'll go back and fix those. Thanks!

And thank YOU for the comment!!

As always, thanks a ton, Michael!! Zach's been an almost perfect child up until now...think he'll stay that way once the hormones start coursing through his body, or do you think he'll be a little hellion?!

Chapter 14 Scott and I were in the delivery room when Brandi gave birth. As we had hoped, everything went smoothly, and the baby was perfectly healthy. A nurse gave Brandi the baby to hold after she had been wrapped in a blanket. Brandi whispered something in the baby's ear, gave it a hug, and passed it to Scott. "Her fathers should be the ones to hold her," she said simply when the nurse gave her a questioning look. We named her Shannon Amelia Hudgins. Shannon was Brandi's middle name, and A

The potential is definitely there. You'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out! Thanks as always!!

She most definitely will be! Thanks, as always!

Thank you so much! I generally update my website first, and GA soon thereafter. Nifty falls a bit by the wayside, and lags for a few days, since I have to reformat the chapter for html. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I started writing Moving On to deal with my inner demons, and I'm always touched when someone tells me they've helped them face theirs. I wish you the best of luck with writing your own. If you need any assistance, feel free to reach out to me!

Well the formatting is because something screwed up when copy/pasting from my website to GA. No matter how many times I tried to make it work, it REALLY REALLY wanted my background to be dark gray. I tried to fix it (by searching for and removing background-color tags from the source code). All this is because I'm OCD about wanting it to be full-justified and GA's text editor doesn't give me that option, and I've found I can cheat it by copying from my website as opposed to copying from word. Honestly, I didn't check to see how it formatted when it actually went 'live', but it looked correct in the text editor. I'll take a look and possibly re-post the chapter if it's off (based on your comment, I'm assuming it is). There is a certain level of 'by the way' with this chapter, too. I never managed to outline the story past their reconciliation. I have tons of notes, but they only help so much. All I have regarding Shannon is 'they decide to have another kid. Adopt.' I'll agree there's a bit of retconning going on in this chapter by jumping back in time. I blame Willow. I was so excited to do that chapter, I forgot to double-check my timeline to see exactly when Shannon needed to come into the picture. I realized partway through, and should probably have temporarily scratched the chapter to get the necessary stuff out of the way. By the way, my editor was NOT amused by the throwaway line Noah said about needing to hire someone to put everything in order!! Thank you so much for your response!!

Well the formatting is because something screwed up when copy/pasting from my website to GA. No matter how many times I tried to make it work, it REALLY REALLY wanted my background to be dark gray. I tried to fix it (by searching for and removing background-color tags from the source code). All this is because I'm OCD about wanting it to be full-justified and GA's text editor doesn't give me that option, and I've found I can cheat it by copying from my website as opposed to copying from word. Honestly, I didn't check to see how it formatted when it actually went 'live', but it looked correct in the text editor. I'll take a look and possibly re-post the chapter if it's off (based on your comment, I'm assuming it is). There is a certain level of 'by the way' with this chapter, too. I never managed to outline the story past their reconciliation. I have tons of notes, but they only help so much. All I have regarding Shannon is 'they decide to have another kid. Adopt.' I'll agree there's a bit of retconning going on in this chapter by jumping back in time. I blame Willow. I was so excited to do that chapter, I forgot to double-check my timeline to see exactly when Shannon needed to come into the picture. I realized partway through, and should probably have temporarily scratched the chapter to get the necessary stuff out of the way. By the way, my editor was NOT amused by the throwaway line Noah said about needing to hire someone to put everything in order!! Thank you so much for your response!!

Thanks as always

Chapter 13 As I continue to write this, the fact that I'm rambling becomes clearer the farther and farther I get into telling my story. I just finished writing about the day Zach finally faced his mother, which happened in September of 2018, a year and a half after Scott and I decided to reconcile, and just over two years after the death of Mia. However, I feel like I need to go back in time a bit in order to continue the story. Maybe this would make a lot more sense if I actually put everythi