Clancy59

@astone2292 “Estranged is an interesting word. It's true and false at the same time, and I think we'll get some answers in a future chapter .” Well, if the parents were so out-of-contact with Caleb that they were unaware of his position as Head Enforcer and the existence of Tasha and Lowe, I would definitely call it ‘estranged.’ Who caused it? We don’t know. The parents seem very excited to hear from Vincent, and by extension, from Caleb, also. I think they are excited by the prospect of the reunion. Let’s see how Caleb reacts.

I’m sorry to hear you’ve been having a rough time. Things are, indeed, extremely difficult right now. Some people have even more burdens hovering over them than others. I hope that, whatever the stressful issue is, it has been, or soon will be, resolved. I don’t even know how to discuss the various points in this chapter. You always pack so much into them! Vincent successfully completed his first audit and had a wonderful reunion with the parents of his childhood best friend. The father seemed puzzled at first as to who he was, but leave it to Mom to immediately recognize the child in the man after all this time. It was wonderful that he was able to catch them up on, not only his life and it’s miraculous events, but those major events in their son’s life, including the fact that that they have a grandson. They are right to be proud of both young men and their accomplishments. I had the impression, however, that for some reason, they were estranged from their son. Did I misunderstand that? If that was true, why? Vincent then went and visited his parents’ graves. Again, I have the impression that he had been unable to do this before, which would make sense if he was in the foster system. Not everyone would understand his need and/or desire to visit. He may not have been in the area. Some adult in charge of him may have decided that it would be too traumatic for him to visit their graves. There could have been any number of reasons. However, he visited today, and it was touching and heartfelt and loving. He was able, at least in his own heart, to let them know he was OK. He has a home and a family. He loves them and he is loved by them. He was even able to allow Wolfie out enough to have a chance to visit. I thought it was sweet that Wolfie seemed heartbroken that he wouldn’t ever meet his ‘parents,’ but happily accepted the opportunity to learn more about them later on. The reunion with Mason afterward was even more loving as a result, I think. He was coming home. (Although he was greeted with the news of a family gathering of dozens of people he hasn’t met yet! Oh, my! That’s going to be a LOT of Mac and cheese!) The working relationship of Dirk and Ingles will be interesting to watch as they figure out how to settle into their roles, considering their personal relationship. Chief Henry has now been apprised of the situation and has laid out his legitimate conditions. Ingles has explained his priorities to Dirk, who understands and agrees. They can’t allow their relationship to endanger other officers or innocent citizens. (And now Dirk is lightening the situation with some of the absurd situations he encountered when he worked in NYC.). The next question is, how long before the rest of the department knows about them? The next doozy of a storyline will be Cyrus and Tilliman partnering up to confront Harold about his shady dealings. I knew they were both investigating him, but I didn’t really expect them to tag-team him! This little meeting will be very interesting indeed!

What a chapter! This was an excellent description of working through grief, whether of an estranged person or a beloved one. Alec had to work himself through his reasons for the way he has felt for years…all the excuses he has laid upon his mother for the abuses that he used as an excuse not to return to his hometown. Now she is no longer there and available to blame for his own shortcomings, which he admits are not few. His father wants a relationship, which he always wanted, but Mae seemed to block. Now, he also has no excuse not to return for Finn. He also admits that his job is portable enough to come back. Yes, this was a highly emotional day for Alec, in many ways. It was also a major turning point in his quest for mental health. He may not ever completely recover—his mother did that much damage to him—but he can now start making strides forward, especially with Finn’s help. (BTW, every time I read her name, I have to cringe a bit. ‘Mae’ was my beloved mother’s middle name. Every time I see it in relation with this hateful woman, it seems so out-of-place. Mama was the antithesis of this character—one of the most nurturing people you could ever hope to meet. Everyone jokes about husbands and MILs not getting along—well, my husband and Mama loved each other very much. So, as I said, every time I see this hateful character with Mama’s name, I just shudder. 😣)

Armand still does not understand the value people place on his artwork. He just thinks of it as something he does that he enjoys and he sells a piece here and there. He has no idea how much they sell for. Just one sold for $50,000 and that was before he was known! Although I don’t have any real idea, because it’s not really discussed in the storyline, I think Armand is actually a multimillionaire. His eyes are going to pop when he checks his account! As to whether the apartments are worth the kind of repairs being discussed, that’s the question of the day. We just went through that with the house hubby grew up in. We had to take it down to the studs and replace every pipe and wire, they were that old. There was lead everywhere, as well as asbestos. However, now we have a 3 bed/1.5 bath house that we can rent out. Nice extra income for us.

Great timing with the arrival of the newcomers. I’m just afraid it may not be the ones we want! PLEASE be the ones we want! The Banerjees seemed to be surprised that Mother is the ruler in this family, and not Nameer (although I was really pleased when even SHE noticed the change in his attitude withe arrival of his guests). This family may not be what they were led to believe it was, and they may already be second guessing themselves. Lakshmi seems pleased, however. Not only is Shivay attractive, they share an interest in Project Runway (and maybe fashion design?) and he supports the idea of her pursuing a career in the fashion industry in which she seems to have some talent. Even if they are not married, maybe they can get her away from her traditionalist, controlling parents. Figures Gunnar takes the nurturing pathway. He is a very caring werebear/person. He realizes that these bears who attacked them were being coerced in fear of their lives. Maybe they can turn ‘state’s evidence’ (is that the term?) for the Council to help convict Colt and his minions and send them away for a VERY long time. Please, @Grumpy Bear, don’t be long in bringing the next chapter. We have to know who is at the door!

Tony got upset when seeing the mural. Anna gasped in surprise, but that didn’t necessarily indicate upset. The question is ‘why?’ Did something happen in that village when they lived there that forced them to leave and eventually move to this location? Is there someone still there? What’s the story? Why the extreme response? It must be quite a story to ban them from their restaurant, and supposedly their lives, completely. Armand and Colin have some detective work ahead of themselves if they want to continue their relationship with the other couple. Let’s hope Tony calms down and explains what happened in the past, or hopefully Anna is able to do so.

Well, it is kinda hard to be sneaky in the middle of the open ocean, after all, @raven1! I, too, agree with the surprise at how easily the crew seemed to accept the concept of the Lycan and shifter world. However, I was thinking that, in the middle of the ocean, strange things could have happened to them in the past (I guess I‘ve been watching a lot of the Discovery Channel lately. ) They may have seen some that made them a bit more, ‘open’ shall we say, to accept what they saw. Now they have had the experience of working with these guys for a couple of days, and with Siku for longer. The werebears have been totally hardworking and honest for every moment, except for their secret. That has allowed a level of trust to develop between them and the human crew. It also helped that these guys readily defended them against these ‘pirates’ who were attacking them. Thankfully, Charlie was able to stop Siku from doing something that he would regret later. Now, on to Thanksgiving. Sounds like Nameer has invited the bears to crash his family’s dinner. I can hardly wait for this! Mother will be livid! It was smart of Gunnar to suggest Nameer pack a bag for himself when he packs one for Shivay. Life will not be worth living when she finds out who helped the bears ‘rescue’ Shivay from her grip. Hopefully, Mike will be recovered by then. I’m very glad to see this story continuing. I am looking forward to the next chapters, especially now as the drama starts to peak.

Well, the gang really underestimated Colt and his evil plans. But, at least, they got the incriminating evidence they need to bring him up before the Council. Hopefully, his cohorts will also be caught and charged. That was a close call with Shivay’s note. Imagine if his mother had been the one to find it! WWIII would have broken out. Shivay would have found himself married before bedtime that night! I am concerned that he has fallen asleep with the note in his hand. As exhausted as he is, both physically and mentally, I wouldn’t be surprised if he oversleeps and Mother comes in to wake him up. It has already been stated that everyone except his father simply barges in. If she comes in before he hides that note, she is going to go ballistic—look how she acted simply because he left his briefcase in the hall! Well, I am looking forward to the next chapter. Hopefully, Mike can heal himself with a shift. But now they have Colt coming at them with vengeance in mind. Not good. Looks like the Security forces will have to show up as soon as they are done with their current assignment! Or sooner!

There still hasn’t been any contact between Kaplan and his home pack, even with new leadership. That’s what I was talking about

I really liked seeing how each of the characters were relating with each other, both partners and others, but I was especially pleased with Kaplan. He has always seemed to be rather reticent to step on the toes of his ‘superiors’ in the pack. He has always been respectful, but always did whatever the others deemed proper and correct. However, here, he stopped Cyrus cold and brought him down from the stratosphere his temper had sent him to. He did it as Cyrus’ Beta, but also as his Mate. He refused to let Cyrus go into this meeting at a disadvantage. He may have been a pack beta before, but now, he took the reins and really WAS THE Pack Beta! Please note the differentiation with the capitalization. He took the lead as they entered the meeting with guns ablazing and caught Mr. Tilliman completely off guard, thereby upsetting his equilibrium and supposed control of the meeting. I was so proud of him! Dirk and Ingles came into a situation first thing in the morning—they hadn’t even gotten into the station! When they got there, Dirk’s instincts kicked in big time. Was it his bear? Maybe. Whatever, those heightened senses could very well have saved both of their lives, or at least severe bodily harm. Those lowlifes knew exactly what they were doing. They came back to witness the carnage they inflicted in that innocent neighborhood. It’s a good thing Dirk was able to put 2 and 2 together in order to warn the firefighters about the additional potential explosives. Now, Vincent will be helping with an investigation into the nefarious doings of the Oglala Pack, which kicked Kaplan out so many years ago. How many others were also so harshly mistreated? It would be wonderful if Kaplan could be put back in touch with his parents and that they want him! Although, I don’t understand why they haven’t made contact before this. Maybe they were told some lies themselves? Well, Kaplan now has a very powerful position and some very powerful friends. The ‘leaders’ of that pack are about to get some big surprises.

My Dad’s nickname was Grumpy. (At least in our house!) I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Shivay’s mother had some connection to Colt. She is that evil. Poor Shivay never had a good example of a good, loving relationship. He’s going to meet this girl in 2 days and is supposed to marry her in 2 weeks. Hopefully, he will be aware of how bad the situation truly is and try to go back to Siku before that happens, but he may have to run the gauntlet with the help of the Wisconsin gang. 🐻🐯🐱🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻

Our Grumpy Bear is back! Our Grumpy Bear is back! Yay! You have been greatly missed, you know. We have been more and more worried the longer you were gone. So, we’re glad to have you back. OK. I admit to a bit of squealing myself, at least to myself, and fumbling to pull this story up when I saw it in the lineup. And I did go back one chapter to refresh my memory on characters. I join the others in looking forward to the next installment. You certainly brought the story back with a bang with several storylines updated. I am furious for Siku and hope he can mend fences before it is too late for Shivay. Anything his mother is planning is sure to end in misery for him. Look how she bosses her husband around—and he takes it! I hate to see who she thinks is an appropriate bride for her son. Gunnar, Matt and the gang to the rescue to take this Colt character down! There are multiple lines going in the Arctic and they all tie in together. I’m sure the Alpha and Susie will take care of Corbett and get the polar werebears the retribution they deserve. I am looking forward to seeing how all of these come down. Again, though. Glad you’re back, @Grumpy Bear

Oh, dear. Here we go! Anyway, I was wondering if there was going to be some connection with Sebastian and Company. How soon before they make their appearance? Once they find out what has happened, I think they’ll be on the next flight.

I just had to comment to you. I was reading through the comments and got a big kick out of how you were using Pernese profanity in our message. Very appropriate.

OK. That makes more sense. I guess I hadn’t realized that much time had passed. I had pretty much assumed the rest. And I’m glad there’s so much more time coming with this story!

You keep saying this is the last book and then you bring in new story arcs! Come on! If you keep doing this, how long is this book going to end up being?! I have a question about Alpha Reardon. Obviously, he knows about Vincent and his history while he was still in the Baltimore area. I’m just not certain why. Vincent was human at the time. Is it because his parents were killed by a member of the magical community? Reardon appeared to be surprised to see Vincent there, although he seemed pleased that Vinnie had survived and thrived so well. I guess I am not sure why Reardon would have been so aware of Vincent’s existence, considering he was not involved in the shifter or magical communities at that time. Why hasn’t he made contact prior to this, if he was so concerned? I think my confusion is showing with the rambling in the previous paragraph! 😜

You guys are almost as bad as MrsG and Kbois! Anyway. Its good to see the guys getting along together. They’ve both matured (well, it has been 10 years, after all!). Things look promising in this area, and Herky simply adds to it. He is adorable! Woof-woof! 🦮 (My pup doesn’t know what a ‘dog’ is, but say “There’s a woof-woof!” to her and she gets all excited! ) On the other hand, Alec has missed several rapid-fire phone calls from his father. When? Was it last night or this morning? Doesn’t really matter, but it could make a difference in how urgently he responds. It does sound like things are not good with his mother. It had already been mentioned that her health had been declining since he had arrived. It could be that the end of their confrontations are now at hand. On one hand, I’m glad that his agony is over, but on the other hand, I’m sorry it had to reach this point. No one should lose a parent, or anyone, with such a bad relationship. At least his father wants to make up for the years of neglect and, truthfully, abuse. Hopefully, Alec can be open to this with help and support from Finn, Finn’s family and River (and even Kenji).

@Carlos Hazday, I had to laugh at the news this morning. They had a headline about an historic birth at a Chicago area zoo of a puggle and then asked what a puggle was. I laughed, because I knew! Sure enough, they have had an echidna hatched there, which is evidently the first time in the US (I think that’s what they said). They showed it digging around in a little dirt ‘crib’. It was actually quite cute.

Closeted nothin’! He admitted out loud to having a Potter marathon just before writing this chapter!

Oops. I did miss that. I had my mind on cleaning the fridge and the pending thunderstorm (it’s overhead right now with LOTS of thunder and heavy rain!). I was distracted! 😜

Maybe James can be their son. 😍

Harry’ father’s name was James. His mother was Lily. Come on. You’re gonna ask a children’s librarian something like that?

YES! I KNEW IT! I knew that Loren would cave! He caved on the wedding, he would cave on the kids! Jay must be to the moon! Wait till everyone else finds out! I was swamped yesterday, so missed this until just now. While I am sorry this story is ‘done’, I am very happy to hear you are working on the subsequent chapters. I can hardly wait to see Loren with his own Little Bean. Hmmm. If Aiden and Carson are ‘taters,’ what will these kids be? Thanks again, Mrs. G, for another wonderful story. I, for one, am looking forward to what else you produce.

I was going to say that Nagini and Northman have to be related. Also, I can’t help but remember that Voldemort’s snake is named Nagini! Thiago is certainly settling in with a toddler. Fab is pulling typical toddler antics—Mickey D for every meal, throwing up at the ball game, whoopsies in his pull-ups, etc. The accident was just that—an accident. Thiago handled it like a pro. What I like is that whatever they do, Fab isn’t afraid of how Daddy is going to react. He knows Daddy loves him and will take care of him, no matter what. However, I think Thiago has learned that you do NOT give a toddler a hot dog and a pretzel and Cracker Jacks in the hot afternoon. It’s a definite recipe for disaster! All in all, a great visit, but do we really have to wait until next June?!

State Fair for us was great, as kids. We backed the Grandstand, so we got to hear all the shows for free. I’m talking the big ones—you name them, they played our Fair. And we got to hear them by just sitting on our front stoop. And then the evening concluded with a 15-minute fireworks display—every night for 10 nights every year. Our street got packed (I mean you couldn’t drive on it, it was so crowded) with people coming to watch the show. When we got a puppy, we would take her with us to the various neighborhood houses where I babysat to watch the shows. She grew up being excited for the shows because it meant playtime with the kids. We could tell her to go to one kid’s house, open the door and she would bound through the crowds directly for that house. People could never understand why we weren’t worried about our pup getting out during the fireworks, and watch her in amazement when she WATCHED them! My husband and I made sure our current pup is not afraid of fireworks or storms. She isn’t. We took her to the show for the 4th last year. No reaction, other than wanting to play with all the people. A couple of nights ago, we had a bolt of lightening and loud thunder right over our house wake us all up. She startled, like we did, looked at us and the roof, and went back to sleep! We were awake longer than she was!