Fitz

It seemed a little weird to revisit the themes of loss and coping so long after Scott had finally put the worst of his issues behind him. I guess a lot of that has to do with the story originally was only intended to be about 25 chapters. While we're heading towards the conclusion fairly rapidly, I think there are still about 15 chapters left. I was a little concerned about how revisiting the themes of coping with loss would be received after so long. I'm glad my concerns were unfounded. Thanks as always!!

Lol!! Hubby asked me how many times my mom actually did that. In reality, she never has, but I'm a little surprised by that, considering she send me a text message and follows it up with a phone call to make sure I got it. People were right...Zach has a way of thawing and diffusing tense situations! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

"Why did you insist I get out of bed, let alone get dressed today, Richard? It's not even noon yet. I don't see what all the fuss is about," Lydia said as I entered the kitchen. Her back was to me as she sat at the table, and I nearly gasped when I saw her. She always had a certain refined poise about her, even first thing in the morning. Though all I could see was the back of her head, it was clear things were not alright with her. Her hair was disheveled and slightly oily, as if she hadn't sho

Apparently Willow can resist him Glad you liked it! Sarah's motives will be made clear in a couple chapters!

Your inlaws must have been worse than mine! Mine mean well, but are just stubborn and stuck in their ways. Richard is doing this for the right reasons. Zach is adorable, so expect him to find ways to thaw the tension a bit!

Thank you VERY VERY much! I always get a little frustrated when everything seems a little too black and white in a story. It's ok to have a 'villain' and a 'hero', but all the best stories make you feel for an antagonist at times and make you frustrated with the protagonist. Everything with Sarah will be explained, I promise. I have a friend who I hoped that her kids would help alleviate the tensions between her and her parents. Unfortunately, her mother sees them as yet more pawns to manipulate in her game, but in general, yes, little kids are miracle workers at thawing tensions in family. Just wait until you hear the first words out of Zach's mouth to Lydia!

Hubby gave me a lot of grief for how I portrayed Steve's parents. They're basically a caricature of my own in-laws. I hate visiting them because they always make me so damn uncomfortable. Richard and Lydia are different enough in several ways that there's just a resemblance, but still... I really wanted to get through when Lydia meets Zach to end the chapter, because it's 'classic Zach', but the next conversation is fairly long. As for Sarah, you'll just have to wait and see what happens

Hehehe...All I can say is you'll just have to wait and see

Hearing Zach's cries in the middle of the night, though muffled by our closed bedroom door, nearly broke my heart. They were far too quiet to be cries for attention; they were cries I knew too well – cries of a broken soul. I quickly threw on a pair of gym shorts and rushed out of the bedroom as quietly as I could, so as not to disturb Noah, who was still snoring softly. All the doors in the hallway were closed, and I couldn't quite pinpoint where the sobs were coming from. I first tried Zach's

I assumed as much. The last several chapters were largely focused on describing the activities of the day, with minor issues occasionally serving to compliment the activities (I guess kinda like a lot of TV Sitcoms). This chapter, and the next several, start bringing things full circle and tying together connections. There are hints of money continuing to be an issue for the past several chapters, for example. This is one of the reasons, I've 'hated' this week of the story. I knew that the pacing was going to drastically change as it focused more on day-to-day affairs and setting the stage, rather than advancing the main plot of the story. Day-to-day is nice, and can be fun, but I wanted to get back to the main story! (It doesn't help that I initially conceived of this story as running approximately 25 chapters, but my current guess is around 40-45!!)

Let's just say that this time it's not just Willow's influence causing Zach to act the way he was this chapter! I remember always wanting to help on household projects. It's interesting that while Scott is largely modeled after me, but the 'mooch' aspect of Noah is me. Hubby is the primary bread winner. I don't vocalize it a lot, but I do feel bad at times at my inability to contribute in finances. Let's just say that Scott's doesn't know too much about Sarah. They became close when Steve died, but were not really much more than good neighbors before that. Most of what he knows is what she's volunteered since he returned last month.

Zach definitely has attachment issues, but that's only a little bit of what's going on here. Let's just say a little birdy planted some ideas in his head Don't worry, the root cause of his freakouts in 28 will be exposed very soon! I really think that the underlying cause of his attachment issues is that the only person who has ever really loved him always left after a few days. It'll just take time to trust that Noah and Scott aren't going anywhere.

The money issue was a weird one for me. They weren't SUPPOSED to have to have that talk, but money seemed to keep coming up as a minor source of irritation. Scott's issues are annoying, because the back-story with Ian is supposed to stay in my pile of material for a rainy day! I hope you mean the first sentence as a good thing, and not that it got overwhelming! I've been desperate to get out of this week of the story for SOOOOO long (They came home with Zach in Chapter 18, which was posted back in November!)

Once the four of us got back to the house, Tom and I unloaded the boxes of new furniture from the car while Noah took care of Zach and the paint supplies. I organized Zach's old room and dragged the boxes in there while Noah and Tom pushed the furniture in Zach's new room to the middle. Once the preliminary setup was done, we each found a task to do and soon each room was bustling with activity. Sarah showed up, so Tom and she took on painting duties while Zach did his best to cover his body in

Let's just say Ian is someone that I'm keeping in my bag o' tricks for a rainy day O:-) It's not necessarily the very last physical things of Steve's, but it's the last that of the obvious 'ghosts'. Actually, a lot of inspiration for the story came from reading the chapter of Jay Gordon's 'The Devil's Gambit' where the main character finally goes through his dead partner's clothes. I cried so hard reading that scene and wondering how I would react. Initially cleaning out the closet was a much larger part of Scott's healing process, but it kept getting pushed back further and further and back until it felt right to make it more of a 'bookend' moment instead of a 'highlight'. Also, Noah was going to accept a few articles of clothing until I realized that, based on physical descriptions alone, there's no way he could! (not to mention the creepy factor lol) Every now and then, it's kinda nice to play up the fact that he's only four and has his little 'bratty' moments, but he's a great kid overall! At least he's past the terrible twos!

As always, thank you for you kind words! I chose 'Moving On', since that's the usual phrase, but I agree with you. Actually, 'Moving Beyond' may yet have a use in this series! (But I'll speak no more on that matter until the time comes!

He IS four years old, so he does try to exert his independence the best he knows how from time to time, but he's also a little on edge today For the most part, this chapter pretty much puts Steve to rest for good. The clothes was the last major thing that Scott had to address. Steve will continue to play a little bit of a role from time to time, but Noah's worked through most of his uncertainty, and Scott has coped with most of the moving on.

It was shortly before midnight when Noah and I drifted off into a contented slumber. I roused myself out of bed about an hour later to brush my teeth and use the bathroom before once again intertwining my limbs with Noah's. I think he did the same shortly after that because I remember waking briefly as he climbed back into the bed at one point. I awoke for good around eight, feeling completely refreshed; the remnants of my past few nights of forced sleep-deprivation seemed to have worked their

Thank you very much!

Exactly! They have been so busy dealing with everything, that it was about time they took a step back, had a nice evening, just the two of them, and focused on the basics of being a new couple.

After a few more stolen kisses, we went our separate ways to prepare for the evening. After a quick shower, I struggled for what seemed like forever to determine what to wear. Like anyone, there are times where I've changed my mind on an outfit after getting dressed, but this was ridiculous. I wanted everything to be perfect for our date. I'm sure I was like that at one point early in my relationship with Steve, but I can't remember for sure. It took five tries before I could decide on the right

I love Atlanta, but it tries REALLY hard to be something it's not. It makes itself out to be a tourist and cultural center, but it's really just a sports/conference town. Stay for three days, and you've run out of touristy things to do! Noah's hung up on the concept of his custody being 'temporary'. Willow doesn't really have a leg to stand on, but that doesn't mean that the bitch won't try something! (and I didn't know you could run out of likes!)

At first I really tried to avoid making it clear where the story takes place (other than a major city in the deep South with a sizable gay population), but I realized I mentioned Atlanta by name when editing either the chapter where Zach's in trouble, or the one after (I can't remember which). Even the unnamed places where they go are real (although when I wrote it, I had no idea that there really was a gym next to a coffee shop that has Thursday night karaoke!) I try to avoid using the names of places usually, although I do mention Centennial Olympic Park and Chuck E. Cheese. I plan on eventually at least self-publishing, and I'm worried that using any trademarked names could open the door to potential lawsuits (that's the same reason why the karaoke scenes do not contain the song lyrics). That's why even though they clearly went to ZooAtlanta in chapter 24 and the Georgia Aquarium in chapter 25, the official names never appear They'll definitely hit up Little Five and EAV (especially since they live in Candler Park), as well as Piedmont Park (especially when Pride comes around in October!). I'm not sure how much of Buckhead will make an appearance. I've lived in ATL for about 18 months, and we've rarely ventured over there except for an occasional shopping trip. (And technically they've been there, since they went to Lennox Mall...of course I just said 'the mall'. Oh, and another Atlanta landmark will be visited during their date

When I was first brainstorming this short, I came up with the last line very earlier on. I liked the idea that people who hadn't read Moving On would think it to be a very sweet and happy ending, while people who had read the main story would feel like they'd been stabbed in the heart with the not-so-gentle reminder of how things don't always work out as we plan.

Chapter 26 should be up in the next few days! It was originally going to be part of 25, but it ran so unbelievably long (for me) that I decided to split it. It's finished, but I just started chapter 27. I'd like to get a bit more written before I post 26. Even if I don't have the time, I'll post 26 later this week.