Krista

I'm listening. Listening is probably best.

Hmm. If they do, I hope they 'measure up,' to expectations.

Likely. Have faith in yourself, unless Whiskey does horrible things to you... but even then.

He is the one that keeps me from posting early. It is him you have to convince, not me.

You'd be surprised how many perfectly straight guys I've seen kiss one another. Most of it playful, but a few full on impressive with wandering hands and everything. It is refreshing to see men in general so centered and relaxed with who they are. And yeah, Joel isn't going to have the intervention and Jaxton isn't going to have the restraint of them either. Small town loyalty can be a little tricky...

I completely read that has penises too. Wait what am I doing? I totally read that as pennies. You dirty minded little thing.

I wonder how many pennies you're willing to wager? Or if it is cheating if I know the outcome? What can you even do with pennies anymore anyway? Aww, I know of someone that did something similarly, but it was a guy kissing a girl and she punched him. And no, it wasn't me. But, surprise kissing... hmm. It isn't a third person advantage. If I wished to follow Gavin on a deeper level, I could have spared him the writing to do it. It would've just taken place with Joel being given information or witnessing the events and whatever that would look like. But, it could still happen. A day out with the twins where Gavin takes the lead role and we learn more about him, it wouldn't be a bad thing. Just not something I've done. But yeah, going off narrative with voices other than main narratives is something far easily done in third omniscient, not as easily done in third limited.

You cannot be done with Colt before I give you your gift. It happens next chapter, my goodness... if I thought you this fickle, I wouldn't have done what I did to that boy. *sighs* I'm a bit worried about Joel's mindset. At least with this chapter and the next a bit. Quite a bit. For reasons I can't explain at the moment, but y'all focused on Gavin, so at least this chapter I needn't have worried. Maybe that was the intention all along? Dangle Gavin in front of you and you forget to look too closely at what Joel says/does... am I that clever? And you're right I am the author and I may have done Gavin a little dirty, having him just being a bit of a distant clown in the background. Colt reeks of sandalwood, not bad hygiene, I think he bathes at least. You just may not appreciate how he does it. Maybe he needs pointers. Maybe he needs someone to give them to him. I'll not accept any Celia or Trace bashing, behave yourself sir. But yeah, they do like to 'talk it out' it might turn into.. 'talk it to death...' but I hope not. They are dealing with Four teenage boys, seemingly.. and a scrappy little eleven year old girl that probably has more fight than all four of them put together. Lol! I don't know if I've won any round by Colt forgetting his tent. He showed up single, but does he end up that way? 😮 That whole PS was pure entertainment. Blaming me for shenanigans before I've shown my cards. How dare! But I'll still take the win.

When you're the smallest dog in the fight, you might have to pull out a few bags of tricks. You never know, the kicker might be willing to do things to win that a bigger dude might not think they need. Like bite soft tissue...

Possibly. If they treat him like crap, then who could be motivated to win with a team that doesn't treat you like you're a welcomed part of it? It would be a terrible dynamic. I think he'd say kiss my ass before he stepped onto the field though. He'll miss baseball, but getting out of a toxic place is worth the missing of something.

That sounds like a goal to be worked toward.

I'm sorry, wanted to pop in and say that I've been taking a few mental days away. I've been stressed with real life things and I've not been motivated to be here. I didn't want anyone thinking that I am beginning to ignore comments. I do see that y'all have been busy.... maybe a little bit naughty at first glance for some of you. Not naming names. I'll take a deep breath and give it a go tonight.

It may be different for them. Gavin might be over them being who they are, but Davin may not. And it is strange to care about material things that you only see once or twice a year. And not your children who likely needed you and you weren't there. It is neglect. A weird sort of neglect, but I don't think that would matter to the twins.

Yeah Trace is observant and I think he prides himself on being a father. The Twin's house is large, a museum or shrine to a family that no longer lives there... a very clean one.

How gracious of him. That's the best way to go about it. Open them to the conversation, but let them tell you if they wish to.

I had an entire comment ready to prove how brave I was, had Myr's @ at the ready and almost pulled the trigger on the submit button... then realized something... I know I tormented that man off and on since 2006, I may need to think about this a little bit. But just know, I got a lot farther than you did.

Sweet talking will get you nowhere.

Alright fine, the 'help' doesn't need the heated floors. The heated walkways and such would have saved me from ending up under my own vehicle one crisp winter's day, but I don't know if I'd want to spend the money on it. It was not a good start to my day and since my husband was at the door falling over at the sight of me, it was not a good night of rest for him either. Bubble baths are great... lovely, fantastic. I have a soaker tub big enough for two. I just took a bubble bath last night and I want one now. I'm in a terrible mindset right now, so a bubble bath may do me some good. I guess the reason why Bethany feels like a second thought is because Five's sole purpose for coming is Percy, he doesn't seem all that motivated to be of much help. He also didn't seem like a willing participant to actually leave the cottage either. It was Percy convincing him that he needed actual winter clothes in order to function that finally convinced him. But, he seemed there for Percy, which for now, a true statement to make. The rest of his reasoning isn't so clear. Mind you, with how you described the Cottage, the.. caretaker's cottage as it were... they'd have to bribe me with some damn good bribes to get me out in the cold winter days as well. I hate winter. I've always detested it. I want one day of soft powdery to play in snow, take pictures for Christmas things, because I'm female and that's hardwired into my genes... matching clothes and all. Then I want it gone. The main house has to be 5x nicer, so that will at least get me out and across the property to it once it is opened up for the season. But after that... the 5x nicer would be far too expensive to bribe me out of, I'm thinking. They may not get me out of it until Summer when I long for other things. In my first comment I didn't get into the dynamics of the two of them much. I still think the Gay Chicken thing will come back to bite both of them... it will be eye opening. Even if you say Five is mostly straight. It may end up hurting Percy more. Their dynamics in the writing is a fun read. The way they are constantly two separate energies willing to play the same game. It isn't something I'm used to seeing, because there's always a limitation to that sort of interaction. Something in the middle to buffer them. Since they're the only ones there, there's not much to buffer them aside from their own boundaries. There doesn't seem to be that many known boundaries. There's hints at them, but even when those boundaries are prodded, they're not left alone very long. And you're 1000% winning with me and pet names. You may have landed on the one thing that will do me in, since it most definitely isn't shoelaces. I'm continuing the ignore my new name. Petitions will be burned and not honored.

Are these outcomes for your asshole characters? If so, creative. I may need to take notes.

A wee late to this chapter, but you're flying through this story as I already have another waiting for me and I have writing to do... you know. The Gay Chicken thing will cause more harm than fun, I'm thinking. It is cute and not even remotely all that innocent for either of them already. And there's over ten bedrooms in that Cottage, so there's that. Picking ones right next to one another just screams convenience instead of privacy and comfort. The marble soaking tub a bonus. When you said cottage I was thinking a small out of the way thing. I knew Pinecrest was supposed to be fancy, touristy, and expensive. So I should have known that Grandpa's cottage would read more like this than a fixer upper. If they broke something in that monster... with heated concrete *who the fuck?* Then that would be a rather costly and expensive repair. Their families can afford one or two, I'm guessing... but would it be worth it, just the two of them. And, it also sems like Percy has just been given a bit of a gift really, there's a crew coming to do the majority of the caretaking. So, they're pretty much overseeing it, keeping a schedule, but mostly allowed to do whatever the hell they want. And why heated concrete and not heated bathroom/bedroom floors? That's far more common. No one wants cold tootsies first thing in the morning or after stepping out of a warm bath/shower. Cold tile is awful. I must admit the pet names for one another, although part of the joke would tax me. I hate pet names. I have never liked them. My husband is the only one that can get away with using them, because I know that's his love language. But I get cranky whenever someone uses my real first name, so imagine me with pet names. I've been going by Krista since I was like eleven years old. My mother's first husband's wife... convoluted statement, I know. Liked C names... and since she was in the process of remarrying when I came along... also a bit convoluted. I was given a C name to go right along with my older step siblings. There's a pop diva from the 90's - 2000s that went a little 'drrty' that shares my first name. Either way, I'd have to threaten both of them within an inch of their lives if they continued to insist on the playful pet names... and I'd mean every threat. Stephan's gossip is alarming. He didn't seem like the type to go full blown off his boat. Isn't he supposed to be in Ibiza? Maybe that will give him some sort of respite and Stephanie an opening to knock some sense into him. Prep or not, enjoyment or not... that's too slippery a slope, especially since they all know his mindset isn't right during the approach of all that. I wonder if Bethenny will end up being terribly hurt by all this? There has to be a limit to her trusting of Five. He seems honest, but also not so honest when it should count for something. The almost dismissal of her invitation was a bit eye opening for me as well, but I do understand the other side of that coin. Especially if Stephan's seemingly bad spiral being a possible reason for a 'get together.' A punctured Kidney. Yeah, with the bruised ribs, broken bones, and the threat of sepsis and possible minor internals that would go along with all that - he likely won't be out of the hospital in 25 days, let alone feeling up for travel.

I've not read the chapter and I already know you deserved everything written in that paragraph - down to the letter.

Aww.. not to be dramatic about this, but if Cody had access to a time machine... then I think Joel's laptop would suspiciously come up missing or be broken beyond repair.