John Henry

"Leave a Tender Moment Alone" is the title of a song from Billy Joel's An Innocent Man album. Billy Joel and Billie Joe sound the same, hence Bryan's remark about Green Day. In other words, Bryan made his dads feel their ages.

Yes and no. It's something that those who have read the Growing Up trilogy on Nifty will know by now, especially if they made it through the second novel. To keep things short and GA friends, Charlie was kidnapped and assaulted (to put it lightly). Ry still harbors guilt and fears that it could happen to their kids, too, especially with how independent they are. That trilogy very much violates the guidelines for GA (and technically does on Nifty, as well), so it will never be posted here, nor is it required reading for this story. It's the reason why Charlie broke down in his car after Diego explained what Calvin did to him. Those stories aren't for everyone, and though the third novel is still being released chapter-by-chapter, by reading this story, you've already spoiled the ending for the trilogy.

I am certainly my own worst critic and have never denied it. Lol I'm not one who generally likes filler chapters unless it progresses the plot, and we all know that the hearing will be sooner than later. If I were a reader, I'd be annoyed that I haven't gotten to the "good bits" yet. Lol I do appreciate the support and sentiment, though. Kenny was certainly undersold early on, because I wasn't intending him to have such a bit part to play in this tale. To be honest, I only have very loose idea of where this story is going, so we're all on the same chaotic ride. All your points regarding Kenny are valid, for sure, which is also why I've started to do more with him (hell, I've even forgotten about the dog until recently). Kenny still has his role to play in this drama, and we'll soon see why and how. I'm actually surprised nobody has mentioned the restaurant scene where Bryan runs into Steve's arms.

Bryan was only staying a week with Kenny to help him adjust to living with Billy and Trevor. Being away from his family has been difficult, but he's still only 14.

Definitely. Bryan has grown very attached to his soon-to-be stepdad.

I had this really awesome reply, then something happened and it all vanished. 😒 Anyway, lets try take 2. 🙄 I wanted to show the dichotomy between Kenny's old life and new. Going from an only child, who is pretty much on his own, to having a big, supportive, foster family, with kids his own age, is a huge turn for him. I didn't want his transition to be relegated to a small blurb in a chapter, since his relationship with Bryan has become a focus in this story. It seemed in appropriate to demote him to a minor character after all this time. I also wanted to show the relationship between Billy and Trevor, with a focus on Trevor's stability within the family Kenny was moving in with. I think readers will appreciate this scene more once Billy reenters lawyer mode.

Yeah, I know it's yet another filler chapter, but I needed the character development, especially from the twins. I also wanted another sweet moment between Steve and Bryan.

Packing up Kenny's old apartment was stressful. Kenny was a wreck. He didn't sleep much, with it being a new place and having not slept in an actual bed in a while. He also wanted to be held by Bryan. Around 3:30am, he considered sneaking into the other room but fought off the urge. After everything Billy and Trevor were doing for him (and had already done), it seemed too disrespectful. So, Kenny didn't get much sleep when Trevor woke him up around 8am. Nobody warned the adults that Bryan w

Great story, Chris. Lots of twists and turns till the very end. I didn't figure things between Ken and Larry would work out. They were in a chaotic situation and seem to be drawn to chaos. Once that sort of thing is over, those kinds of people often find other sources to fill the void. Can't wait see what's next.

I think they're 14, which makes it a bit worse, in my opinion given it's closer to when puberty starts, generally, so less time to adjust.

Liam seems to have issues expressing himself appropriately. The walk home when he complains about needing alone time, then the fist clinching when Mike frustrates him or throws his own words back at him, like when Mike refused to go back to the bedroom.

If Liam hadn't put hands on the kid, I would've agreed with you; however, the father reacted as any father should. It was an accident, even Mike said so. I think Liam's reaction was visceral due to brothers attitudes and wanting to protect Mike. However, he didn't need to escalate the way it did. Now, if Liam came over and was like, "What the fuck?" and the kid got pissy about it, then Liam's reaction might have been justified.

Maybe, but it's also not a school, so far less likely.

Your story is just amazing, and you can "steal" my theories all you want. If I were worried about that sort of thing, I wouldn't comment on any posts. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm good with spoilers (wink, wink). I was more thinking that Liam would initiate the kiss, to be honest. He may not the kind of gay who wants to jerk another guy off, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't want to kiss Mike, even just on the cheek, to assure him that things are okay between them. This theory crossed my mind, but then someone had to have a jerk off scene at the end of the chapter, which was a just a touch (no pun intended) distracting. I did that a couple of times in my trilogy on Nifty. The first time was get people to shut up about a coupling they wanted to see. I don't recommend it unless you really want to mess with people. Specifics about Mike's dad aren't needed, since we know enough to move on without needing answers. Maggie's scars could be eluded to with something like, "Your mom saved me from a horrible situation (or time in my life), so I'm returning the favor." An acknowledgment can often be just as impactful as an explanation. I think Liam over reacted but the kid's dad didn't. If I were the kid's dad, I would've been prepared to replace the food until Liam touched my kid. It's a very real situation and outcome. It was an accident and Liam was the one who was out of line. Raunchy moments, you say? Planned, even? In chapter 5, perhaps?

I don't think Mike's anger wasn't warranted, but the name calling seemed out of character to me. He's nervous that he'll say or do something that will upset Liam (or Maggie), so him losing it and calling Patrick an idiot seemed out of pocket at the time. I know I wouldn't have put up with it, myself, but I also have a well known reputation for...lack of patience (to put it mildly), and would've reacted about the same, though I'd probably stop at the name calling. My dad's favorite type of abuse was degrading my intelligence, so I'm very put off when someone does that to a child. The twins are out of control, which says more about the relationship status of Maggie and her husband than anything. Even in the first chapter, when Maggie tries to get her husband to talk to Liam, he passes the buck back to her. He may not be a deadbeat dad like Mike's sperm donor or Calvin in my story, but a dissociative dad is only marginally better. The twins seem to respect Mike, at least enough to not want to actually upset him, so hopefully, he'll be a positive force in their lives...especially once he and Liam get married and have kids of their own...just sayin'. 😁

Completely understandable. The real Calvin is so much worse than I'm portraying him, so I know, if he ever read my story and had a fit, he'd regret the tea spilling I'd do. As for Mike's dad, it just came off that he didn't want to be a dad and bailed, which happens, sadly; plus, the story wouldn't necessarily work if the man was still in the picture.

Liam is likeable. He's just a moody, teen boy.

It worked on Dexter and American Psycho, so why not Chris's story?

Maybe our main character is the murderer?

I know Arch and I joked about Calvin being Mike's dad, but that would only be a disservice to Mike. In any event, as mentioned in the comments of my story, Calvin is very loosely based on a real person, and I'm 99.9998% certain that this story is 100% fiction. As much as I would love for there to be a connection in our stories, I think Calvin would be a poor choice.

That pun....