Krista

Posting twice a week the few times I did it nearly sent my poor Editor into fits. For his sanity and mine, I can only promise once a week, which has been rather steady by comparison of how I used to post. I think one time I went 4+ months without posting between chapters. My Editor and I made the decision to split the longer chapters up, because it gave us more time to edit. A grace period to stay on schedule, for us to work together on smaller portions of the writing while we both dealt with real life. In the beginning, we were four or five chapters ahead of the readers, but roadblocks and real life will always win out with these things. We lost that buffer, and I could pause the story to make up that lost time, but I don't want to do that either, not unless we absolutely have to. I would love nothing more than to give as much as I can. Know that I am making an effort, I promise.

In my defense, I'm only on chapter 8. Splitting up all these 20, 25, 30, 40k word count chapters... I knew there could be a cost to that decision. And yes, this chapter was also split. It is also safe to say 'something' has to happen in the next one, right? Maybe? Surely? And I still cringe that we're 14 chapters into 3 and a 1/2 days of his story. I am well aware of that fact.

He is frustrating himself as well. He isn't blind to what he's doing. People usually are of two minds, emotional and rational. When emotional is winning, when rational needs to be, then you have this outcome. He has been told how Celia is, witnessed it first-hand. The Rational side of him is probably frustrated, but the emotional side won't allow him to breach that divide. It is a very difficult tug-of-war and it isn't easily resolved in one's mind. He will be there, however long it takes. He needs to feel safe in his own skin, before he can allow anything else to matter. Celia has shown him grace and patience. She hasn't faltered in that.

Aww, thank you! Thank you for reading and leaving a comment as well.

Bought and paid for spies, I'd say. They get paid no matter who cleans the house, why not complain to the ones doing the cleaning that two wild boys keep undermining all their hard earned and paid for work... 😮 it would be diabolical if that were true... I truly hope it isn't. I think Joel has realized that maybe Colt, Davin, and Gavin aren't the best company to be around when they're heading face first into getting wasted. And, it is around Noon, surely even they have some restraint... maybe? But Colt did invite Joel, seeing that maybe Joel needed an escape for a bit as well. Is that progress? Lol... hmmm... do we 'really' know what Celia's way is?

Easy smiles. They can hide so much behind them, can't they? Looming heavy, life changing decisions... who wants to live in those? Not a whole lot of people relish them, or at least I don't. He's had to make a lot of them, still has some to make... in a span of less than a week. At least one, thankfully, didn't have a chance to be made. I never really thought about the pressure on Cody. I mostly lived in the loss he's experiencing. There is pressure on him too, now and a lot of it. Maybe some of that pressure, Joel had shielded from him over the years. Now with Westley still being Westley and Joel out of the picture... Cody doesn't have that buffer. He's young... maybe the pressure hasn't touched him yet. Colt is acting out... or reacting. Either way, tension is building there... and now Joel is with all of that.

Brotherly bonding made me smile... lol. A conversation would be good, yes... any conversation. I also don't know. Well I do know, but I also don't.

or, it will be a cluster-eff of awkward silence mixed with odd looks? It could go either way, I'm thinking.

I woke up to a bang, blinking, I shot up out of the recliner. I felt the sleeping bag fall away and when I looked around, the living room was brightened by natural light. Davin was still asleep, but I heard him groan, he had slid all the way down and onto the couch cushions sometime last night, his feet still planted on the floor. “What are you two still doing asleep?” Gavin asked as he sauntered into the living room, and I grimaced as I watched him walk behind the recliner. He glanced in m

Maybe someone needs to tell them that their sexual tension can be cut with a knife. I don't think they're aware... 😮 Do they have sexual tension? Are they supposed to? I'm the author, I should probably be able to answer those questions. There 'is' some tension between the brothers, but I think it has more to do with Faith and Gavin's release of tension than anything. Or maybe not. Maybe they're just going through a cycle of unrest... maybe they'll get back to their banter just as easily as the tension came... twins tend to do that, and we as un-twins have to deal with that, I guess...

Sorry for the delay in these responses, I've been away. Taking a bit of break to focus on family, work, and just overall home life for a bit. I needed it. I do love and appreciate all the comments and support y'all have shown me with this story so far. Thank you.

Thank you! Yeah, the timeline is still like three-ish days, give or take a few hours, to a half-day.... who knows we're thirteen chapters into this baby. But, yes... it is a short span. A year would be a short span for something like this. Hell, five years. When your world is turned on its head overnight, you don't recover from that. When you lose everything you've tried to protect... both to keep, and because you're afraid, you don't simply come back to yourself. Joel will 'never' be exactly who he was three days ago. Right now, he is no longer a loved son. Right now he's not longer a baseball player. People may see that as a good thing, because they 'hope' Celia and Trace can help him... but three days in, he doesn't know that. I do like the twins, whilst writing them I did struggle and hope with fingers crossed that their voices were differentiated, but similar. That I gave them their own organic feel instead of a walking, talking, and fast eating mirror of one another. It is a balance in making the sameness of twins who are similar both in looks and in personality... but different as well. I wanted to do them that way, because my twins are not that. They do have similarities, as in they like to be close to one another, prefer the same classrooms for classes, etc. But, they are different. Very distinctly different. The twin dynamics are still there... as they age that's become less so, but I think that has more to do with one of them being male and the other female. Aww.. Lacey might feel a little lost in the shuffle of things. A new person in the house, a crowded house usually, her brother might have put in a bit of distance since the girlfriend came along, and Celia and Trace are maybe not prioritizing her as much as they used to... maybe she feels like she needs to be a bit louder to be heard. I don't see her that way, but I could be author blind. Celia and Trace... are giving Henry a run of his money for being my favorite parent characters. I still like Henry though... lol. There needs to be more Cody's in the world. And.. you 'may' be right about Colt... maybe. and yeah, Westley probably needs the Jonny Lundst approach, if we're honest... I do wonder if they would find his search history a huge fault with him though. At least his parents do seem to think that 'anything' of that nature wouldn't be tolerated. We only have gotten to see one version of that outcome. With the busted up laptop and Joel exiled, we won't get to see that play out. Westley will 'mess up' though. He might have 'just enough' motivation to manage doing that.

Another pretty version. I mean honestly, unless you sound like a cat caught in a fan... the song does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. It is one of the better written songs out there... I do prefer a more melancholy approach to the song. Lang started out a bit Jazzy. I do like her though, she has a very full and soulful voice.

It was beautiful, if only the shuffling around and overall noise didn't take away from playing a bit in the background. I did like that you could tell that people were stopping to listen... or maybe the crowd was possibly dispersing more around him and off camera, as it did become slightly less distracting as song got closer to concluding. Thank you for sharing.

Yeah, I am raising twins. I am all too familiar with their dynamics. The picking, their own separate language, the protectiveness. In my siblings there are three sets. Girl/Girl, Girl/Boy, and Boy/Boy. The boys are the worst, they roast one another and they're getting older. They're eighteen, so their language and ways to prank, pick at, and such has... gotten worse. I would say, "grew with them," but I'd say it went the other way... lol. The older they got, the more juvenile their language/antics got. They are not really based on Gavin or Davin either. I would say Gavin and Davin are tame by comparison so far... I mean, I've thought my brothers were going to have a full on fight, but then they'd just blink and bust out laughing... and here I am ready to turn the water hose on them. I remember them crying the first time their school separated them into different classes in the third grade. They had to make arrangements for them to be put back together, they weren't ready. My twins are the same way, they want to be in the same classes and they're approaching the dreaded teenage years and still prefer it to be that way. My daughter at the moment is far more protective over my son, but like I said, he's a soft little puppy compared to her as it is.

Rude behavior, Steven. And, you're a teller of half-truths, as usual. There are times when you've sent me... surprise links to look at all the time. Terrible news articles, unfunny jokes, less than ideal things. And most importantly, crappy ass music. So, I am erring on the side of caution when it comes to you. Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' is probably the crown jewel of the 'best' songs you've ever sent me. And, wasn't it just a few weeks ago that you told the GA world that your poor computer had to be taken to a specialist, put on anti-biotics, and cleansed. Seems to me like someone 'needs' to be careful around you when you're flinging links out there for someone to click. Being willy-nilly about that sort of thing is how one ends up in such situations. Just saying.

Just point me in the directions of the characters that get off scot-free when it comes to such... things. I may need to put some fear into a certain Wildthing when he gets cheeky...

I wonder if 'all' of Gavin's teasing of Davin about not having a girlfriend, stems from Gavin having one himself. The, "I have something you don't... ahhahah" is it juvenile? Possibly. Will he change? No. That is how they show their love, constant picking and fussing, none of it serious, but bystanders think they're ready to throw hands... or he may know, twins often do know the other twin best... but is Gavin even looking at Davin so deep as all that? Who knows, Gavin has his own distractions in the form of Faith. Pretty, quiet, not as gossipy Faith. Apparently she also has parents that leave her unattended for stretches of time... the fox in the hen house, so to speak. And yeah, I think it is safe to say from this chapter, both twins are over their parents attempting to give half a shit halfway across the world. An Elephant that isn't going to magically go away... either. He's going to have to see that decision through, he's running out of time.

Aww sorry, I knew when I wrote it... it would be a heavy bit of reading. It might have done with a little brevity mingled in. There's only so far down the story can go before it starts ticking up, I'm hoping. Shameful parents.. sigh. At least they were all lucky to have landed on a third and good set, so it seems.

He might have all the puzzle pieces face up and ready to assemble... let's hope he has the patience for that. And yeah, it is abandonment and neglect... they're putting a lot of weight on the care of other people, not caring if it happens or not...

Hmmm.... yeah, I do think people get tired of a situation and think they have to leave for a lot greener pastures, so to speak. Small towns die off from people seeking what their hometowns cannot offer them... or at least a better array of people. I think Davin would be okay, if he just got out of that house and away from those nagging thoughts that his parents will come back 'for' him.. and not just the.. check in for a week like any other place they may be staying at the time. And Davin has a crush on Colt? Ohhh since when?! I love juicy gossip. Spill that tea..