Mancunian

Surprisingly, minus the facial hair, it's close for about 10 or 12 years ago, but at 43 I don't look that good although I wish I did.

That will go well with freshly baked bread, proper butter, a rich smooth creamy flavoursome Chedder and juicy beef tomatoes.

Big juicy Beef Tomatoes?

Well you finally did it didn't you @Paladin, don't try to play innocent you know what you did. You sent Ollie and all of us readers on a right royal roller coaster ride with this chapter didn't you. You dragged us up with the fantastic high of a birthday party that Ollie will never forget and we all got emotional about it and you let us go there. Then without her being anywhere around you enabled her to bring Ollie and us readers crashing down with one hell of a bump at the cemetery, she had lied to Ollie and broke his heart while you let us crash around him. And then what did you do? You lifted Ollie out of it by surrounding him with the love of Andre and Chris who he now thinks of as dads and had me blubbering like an idiot at the end of the chapter! Only brilliant skilful writing can evoke that amount of emotion in one chapter, outstanding. I don't know whether to hate you or love you for what you have done, but I guess I'll love you for it, it's another great chapter. Now where's the next chapter? We need it.

I'll bring the cheese, a good stong English Chedder. 😃

Damn, that hay fever, it blurred my vision again as read how everyone accepted and treated Ollie, those dad and big brother goodnights bring it on even worse. I'm not sure how my hayfever will react to the surprise birthday party. I guess I'll just have to struggle through.

It's been a struggle to read the last couple of chapters, I think my hay fever is kicking in and blurring my vision a bit. But I have read them and I love the way Ollie is being accepted by everyone, they are very touching scenes. Hey @chris191070 if the Aussies are delivering Tim Tams I'll have a case or two . But you can keep the vegemite 🤢. I think Lachlan and family are party addicts, they'll have a BBQ/party to celebrate opening the curtains lol.

They look a lot like what us Brits call Penguin bars, so I'm sure I could devour a pack or two.

The initial move-in has gone well for Ollie and long may that continue, but I guess something will give in time it always does. I'm of the mind that Ollie's mum will try to cause trouble on his birthday and I think she will come unstuck, Andre's mum Carol will be there and I don't think it would be wise to poke that lioness, she is fierce 🦁(no lioness emoji!). It appears that Ollie's mum isn't really a mum, more what I would call a broodmare so she deserves what she gets now. Ollie is building a good relationship with Andre and Chris, I wonder when he will start calling one or both of them dad? I'll bet it will be sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, you are right and contrary to popular belief of the straight community most of the worst abusers, especially those who abused boys are straight not gay.

A great chapter that smacks of love and support, oh and lots of junk food and snacks, lol. I'm looking forward to more of this. Just to join the cat discussion, I grew up with cats, dogs, rabbits and horses, each had their own good and bad points but I enjoyed being surrounded by all of them, well the horses were in stables, not the house, lol.

@Summerabbacat I read your comment about the way Ollie's behaviour and that he seems too happy. I agree that he does seem too happy and that concerns me too. But the reality of children dealing with traumatic events, including abuse, is that some overcompensate in their behaviour and come across as super exuberant and outgoing, in reality most are suppressing the traumatic events and this behaviour becomes a defensive coping mechanism, for some it is the only way they can deal with it. This is probably the case with Ollie, good therapy will help and over time his behaviour will become more normal.

Yep, it's all coming together nicely and Ronald McDonald..erm sorry Ronald McDougal agrees, lol. It was refreshing to see that Ollie has a good friend who misses him and will be happy to be back in touch with him, those friendships are important. I do think it's evil though to keep the poor lad in the dark about Ollie returning, but I like it, the surprise will be good and I'm picturing a happy reunion. I had to smile at Ollie's question about 'turning gay' and loved the way Chris handled it. It reminded me of a story I read elsewhere about being worried about coming out as straight to his gay dads, naturally, they didn't care, the boy's happiness was the only important issue. I have to ask @Paladin when Ollie is reunited with his friend, will the awesome foursome expand?

Oh this is so much like real life, when something happens it all happens at once. Some may end up in despair at the minor obstacles but I think everyone will rally round and get everything sorted leaving Andre and Chris wondering why they were concerned. The guilty plea is a relief, that means less trauma for Ollie, Andre and the other victims and gets the trial over much quicker. I'm not so sure that the courts will go easier on the scum though, not with the amount of charges against him. If it was up to me I'd lock him up and throw the key away and that's when I'm in a good mood . But the best news is the awesome foursome have been officially recognised, I'm looking forward to reading more about them.

I'm still going to play devil's advocate where Ollie's mum is concerned, she is unfit to be a mother at the moment, but why? Yes she may be an uncaring mother and may be guilty of more than we know, but she could equally be suffering mental health problems caused by the trauma she has gone through. Let's wait until @Paladin tells us more about her before we stick the knife in, if she deserves it I'll be the first in the queue to kick her ass out. I love the way the young lads are forming a good solid friendship and if I'm reading things right it will be as supportive a friendship as Chris, Andre & co's group of friends. Oh if Andre and Chris are not passed as foster parents and have Ollie placed with them I just might have a falling out with the author.

It's good to see that Andre has the full support of his closest friends, his brother and sister-in-law. As to whether he should tell his parents is not straightforward, if it's going to be brought out into the open then yes he should but the timing has to be Andre's decision. If it is not going to be brought into the open then who Andre tells and when is his decision, yes he should consider other people's feelings but it must be remembered it is about Andre, not everyone else and it is his choice. There are many comments about Ollie's mum and judging her, I can understand people's feelings but the truth is we know very little about her so judging her is unfair. The only things we know for certain are, that she is a widow, her husband was murdered, and she is possibly still grieving for her husband which makes her vulnerable (she has possibly been manipulated by an evil man) and her life has just been turned upside down again which is more trauma. It's a wonder she hasn't had a breakdown. I know her reaction is annoying, to say the least, but is she mentally stable after all she and her son have been through? I'd prefer to know more about her background and history before I make any judgement.

This is a great light chapter, but I fear it is just a brief respite in the storm. Andre, Ollie and the other victims still have the trial to get through and that will be an ordeal on its own and can hinder their emotional recovery. Each time any of them tells someone about the abuse will be another 'reliving' of that abuse and they will always be apprehensive about doing it. Hopefully, those hearing it will be supportive, but that is not going to be the case in court, the defence will do all they can to trash them and their evidence. If the offenders plead guilty most, or all, will be spared that trauma.

There are a lot of positives in this chapter, the best being that Ollie has been placed with good foster parents and that Andre and Chris have applied to become foster parents, I hope they are approved. But then there are some negatives and that includes Ollie's mum's behaviour. But I'm not giving up on her yet, remember, she has been manipulated by an expert which puts her under the wrong influence, there could still be hope for her but that could be way off in the future sometime, as for the rest of his family 👎.

This is a very important point, often these scum prey on vulnerable women with children, Ollie's mum would fall into this category and will probably need help and support too. There is likely a large number of children who have been abused by this arsehole and his cohorts. Meaning a lot of people will need help and support, and a group of offenders that need to be taken off the streets. The police and social workers have a lot of work to do. When I think back to my childhood, growing up when my parents fostered older children I can say that it is often very challenging, especially when a child has been abused. Having grown up with my parents fostering I have seen firsthand the effects of different types of abuse on children, it is heartbreaking. If my parents were alive they would say that is also very rewarding. As an adult, I have worked with homeless people, many of them with substance abuse addictions are victims of abuse in their childhood, for some who I have spoken with they have never spoken about it before because of feelings of guilt and convincing themselves they are responsible for their abuse and would never be believed.

I love the way this chapter starts, it's just another normal day for these guys going about their business. But everything has been going so smoothly I've been waiting for the other boot to drop and looking for it as each new paragraph started. Now that boot has dropped with Ollie and his revelations coming in completely from the left field. The way you have brought this into the story is brilliantly thought out and written. Ollie's story is very believable and is something that happens too often in real life and fits well with Andre's experience in his youth. Scum like Ollie's future step-father often prey on vulnerable women with young children as they are seen as easy to manipulate. His identity will likely become public knowledge as often happens in these cases, it's not supposed to happen but it does. Andre and Ollie will need professional help and support, that help and support will be different for each of them due to their ages, circumstances of the abuse and the current effect it is having on them. With the snippets of information from an earlier chapter, I figured out what you say about the offender's age, placing him as being late thirty's to early forty's. From what was written in the earlier chapter there could be more than one culprit to be arrested and if 'prison justice' is the same in Australia as it is in the UK, they may not make it to trial.

Life is moving on with some aspects moving faster than others. Buying property can be tricky and time-consuming, but if you're the only one interested it can be surprisingly quick, then the current owner can't sell fast enough in case you change your mind. Living above work is not a good idea and living next door to family is never a good idea, that's my opinion for what it's worth. Andre and Chris know what they want and feel comfortable enough to go for it, so good luck to them and ignore any naysayers. They are grown adults and if they make a mistake, it is theirs to make and deal with, good luck to them.

I liked this entertaining chapter with the faux jealousy and crushes, not to mention William being a typical baby complete with his piss, poop and vomit, lol. But we can't criticise Chris for not coping as Tyron turned up before anything became a problem, maybe Chris' fairy godmother sent Tyron but we'll never know will we? As for Chris losing touch with Michael, these things happen in life and in this case, it was not by choice but I agree Chris could have done more to contact Michael on his return, or is there something else we don't know?

There is nothing I can add to the previous comments. I'm enjoying the story and keep coming back for the next chapter, what else can I say?

The news about Nonna is sad there is no denying it, but Nonna is not letting it hold her back, she is a real trooper who makes people feel good and feeds them until they are fat, lol, I love her. I hope her treatment is successful, a woman like her deserves a long and happy life. As for the rest of this chapter, all I can say is this, if my doctors would let me go I'd kill for a weekend in Melbourne with these guys.

It's good to see Andre and Chris' relationship is settled, they are now looking to the future and making plans which is great. But I'm one of those that wonders what is going to go wrong as it usually does when things are going good, and then you tell us. If Chris thinks looking after a baby is easy then he has a big shock coming and that's not to mention the s****y nappies! I can't wait to find out how he handles it, lol.