Kitt

Having been away for a couple of weeks I had a bit of catching up to do. At the risk of starting the argument all over again: While that may very well have been the case - aren't these recruitment camps applied to and filled well in advance? The idea that a position suddenly became open does not bother me at all, but that in the three weeks since Barry had become the adviser that it had not been mentioned at all does. If it was so important why was it not pointed out to Zach right away and that he was put on the wait list? It seems to me that three different situations that have separated the boys or attempted to in as many weeks is suspect. As for Wally and Clara's reaction to Zach choosing Europe, would someone explain to me how forcing the boy back to Clairemont for his senior year would be benificial to his potential NFL career? LaSalle = high visibility Clairemont? not so much. I also have to agree that Will's reaction to the Nebraska camp was not domino one. When Barry sent Zach to camp while Will went to Hawaii, he also told the boys that the rest of July would be free for them to go to Europe. The pressure he tried to put on Zach to go even after knowing the boy had committed to Europe with JP and Will was not even it. When Barry, Wally and Clara ganged up on the boy to get him to drop Will is in my opinion domino one. And I do not think we have seen the last one fall yet. As I said in one of my reviews, Zach must feel something like the wishbone at the table after Thanksgiving dinner - everyone pulling him in different directions. Each faction professes to want what is best for the boy, but I am seeing it to be more like each wants their own way. I don't see Wally and Clara's demand he return to Clairemont as being best for his career, I don't see hiding his relationship with Will as good for his emotional well being, although it is necessary at that point. I don't see Barry as being honest about why he wants Zach in Nebraska. I don't see Will's emotional outbursts as helpful at all, and I don't think the kid has a snowball's chance in hell of getting anywhere unless someone manages to actually come down on Zach's side.

My dad passed on at the age of 77, never having "grown up". His body failed him in many ways at the end, a stroke had slowed his mobility and robbed him of speach for his last 10 years, but that hardly changed his outlook. He just went a little slower to get to where he wanted to be. Now in my mid 50's I think I understand his outlook much better than I did when I was a young adult.and used to tell him to act his age. He never did and told me that growing old was unavoidable, but growing up was optional. He enjoyed every last minute he had on this earth, and I intend to do the same thing! Don't let yourselves get old before your time! It is entirely in your outlook!

Any male can sire a child but it takes a special man to be a DAD. Happy Father's Day to all of you!

The bad thing about being away for a couple of weeks of R&R is not being able to sit down and enjoy your chapters as they are released. The good thing about it is I had several chapters to sit and enjoy reading while working my way through the mountain of laundry that always results at the end of a trip! It is indeed nice to see Brad coming back to life. And as you mentioned in your reply to rjo, this will really be the first time he is part of the whole dating thing, someone anybody his age ( and mine ) dreads if a relationship is ended, whether by death or divorce. It is a completely different world out there now from when I last dated in the late 70's! Poor Zach must be starting to feel a bit like the wishbone from the holiday meal! Everyone seems to want to control his future! It did not surprise me at all that Barry pulled that command performance at football camp or what ever it was out to spoil the trip a second time. I have been firmly convinced he was in cahoots with Wally and Clara right from the word go. That his parents would sabotage his career by dragging him back to a backwater like Clairmont where he would get considerably less scout attention in retaliation for his defying them shows that Zach's career is not their highest priority, especially considering that they were trying to shut down a trip that would pad his resume nicely in favor of something that was less productive from almost every point of view other than separating Zach from Will. The custody transfer promises to be interesting too! Thank you for yet again posting fantastic chapters! You have kept the story riveting in spite of a relatively quiet period in which most of the family members are mending bridges and recuperating from the roller coaster of 911. The queasy post roller coaster ride feeling has mostly faded. So why do I now feel the anticipation of yet another wild ride ahead? Because we all know you will give us just that, we must just bide our time till you are ready to release the brake again.

If he thinks Will is going to give up that easy he has another think coming!

Possibly more so if he has not!

A rarity when Tim and I completely agree. There can be no way that Barry did not know about what ever this football gig is more than a few days in advance. With the thousands of high school football stars out there all competing for openings at these summer things, there have to be wait lists etc, and both Zach and Barry would have known if there was even the possibility of being included in something important enough to cancel an internship abroad with a respected professor of history, something that would also be very important on the transcripts. It is nice to see Matt and Wade starting to think with organs above the belt line. Now - if they can just get the thought process above the collar... As always, Monday morning is a little better when Mark Arbor posts! Thank you.

Even the nicest families have their little glitches...

Ok, you have me hooked. I see all sorts of trouble the new abilities might lead Able III into!

You already know i loved this one! Will we get another peek into Cliff's life?

Reincarnated lovers united again. Uf-da! I love how the wicked phobias faded when the boys found each other again.

Being gay and being OPENLY gay are two separate issues. Zach needs to get through the rest of high school and university before worrying about the NFL locker room. The boys are currently going the DADT route. That takes guts, determination, and a bit of luck besides.

For the most part the only time I "feel old" is when I run into students I have taught riding to when they were pre-teens as they are registering their own little ones for riding lessons.

HEHEHE - in the words of my nephew when he was about five as he was doing his zombie imitation and grabbed his mom's head ..."Brains,brains, brains, oppps - empty!" His grandpa taught him that one!

Trying soooo hard not to give things away!

This is true, but if I had written down everything that could change the situation I would still have been writing my post now, and it might just have had more words than the last chapter did! LOL

Very Interesting. Able III has a lot of thinking to do. I can see so many different ways you could develop this story, it will be torture between chapters waiting to see which paths you take your characters down. As for controversy, you very clearly warned us all before we even started. If a reader can't handle it, that is on them. Considering how Able III was raised, there can be very little familial association, making the possibility of incest more likely. If one doesn't see father as dad, it can change the whole dynamic. I am looking forward to more!

There are a lot more variables to the Zach/Will relationship than you guys are taking into consideration. Yes, if everything goes as planned for Zach's football career it makes an open relationship with Will impossible if Mark sticks to what has actually happened in the real world concerning gay men in most professional sports. But there are so many other things that could change the entire picture. There is the possibility of Zach having a career ending injury - something every aspiring running back faces. The possibility of him not cutting it academically and losing his position on the team because of it. I knew a very gifted Varsity Baseball pitcher in high school who was also very gifted academically. Graduated early, full ride to his first choice school and a guarantee starter spot on the uni team. His first semester he found himself to no longer be the top of the heap - just one of the crowd. He had a complete breakdown, including hospitalization, and did not return to school to try and start over for several years. The possibility of a change in Zach's priorities. The possibility of being outed by some act independent of his time with Will. One wrong word by one of the people who know Zach's preferences and its over. Hell, one wrong word from one of the girls he dates as cover could end his career aspirations for reasons totally unrelated to being gay. And I am still not sure I trust this Barry person, in spite of what was said in that meeting in Malibu. He seems to me like the type who might try to use the knowledge of Zach's sexuality as leverage. The possibility of Will becoming impatient and moving on to someone he can be open with. ( Who, Will? Impatient?) There is even the possibility that Mark takes poetic licence and has Zach come out and face the consequences, in spite of the fact that this did not actually happen till 2014 in real life. This is fiction after all and Mark can do anything he damn well pleases!

Isn't Broderick's girlfriend in the movie the same one who played Stepahnie in Short Circuit?

Oh my lord! Are you sure your two protagonists are not related to me? That was hilarious and I can so see it happening to someone in my family!

WoooHooo! I knew you would put on the purple soon! Congratulations!

May your day be bright and sunny and bring you all the joy you deserve! Happy Birthday!

While it is fantastic to see the healing, I can't help but feel SOMETHING is going to hit the air circulation device in the very near future. Thank you Mark. Your posts always make a day a little better!

Yes he should! I never got the posting that he had answered! Sorry guys! Was a crazy weekend!

"I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that is something I cannot allow to happen."