John Henry

Bryan sat on the couch, nervously shaking his leg. He hadn't slept well and was loaded with anxiety. Everyone gave him space, fearful that the wrong word would set him off. Diego and Steve considered pissing the judge off and canceling but knew that wasn't an option. “If Bryan goes off, what should I do?” Steve asked; his discomfort was very plain. “Let him,” Diego replied, nonplused. “He's been holding on to that anger for nine years and deserves his chance to blow off some steam. If

Holy Daddy Issues, Batman!

I felt the meta humor was needed, since it hasn't been done in a bit.

Yes, Caleb is often the voice of logic and reason compared to his older brother. Bryan is definitely reactive and gets in his feelings a lot, especially when triggered. The twins are...well, I think that's all there needs to be said about them. 😁

I honestly don't blame you. Growing Up Charlie was an extremely hard story to write and that opening scene was rough after promising a happy ending. I don't want to spoil anything more for you than what's already done, but there's a method to my madness, and I think you'll be pleased (even possibly vindicated) if you stick with the rest of the story, especially since it does connect to Thicker Than Water a lot.

I figured this would've been a spoiler for that series. I had my reasons for Growing Up Charlie and I think I proved my point. Growing Up Ry is just tying up the loose ends to turn it into a happy-ish ending that will lead into another series that links multiple stories together. Please don't give up on them yet.

Have you read them or just talking about what's been mentioned in this story?

That's a pretty good assumption. The next chapter is already in the queue for next Saturday at the same time.

If you're hinting at Quinton, I think Diego would be better off doing it himself. Lol

If anyone is interested in a condensed summary of Billy's family history, you can DM here or end me an email. I will warn you now that if you're easily triggered, you may not want to know. You were warned.

Difficult is a good way of putting it, given that I can't exactly put the Bartons' stories on Gay Authors, as they would seriously violate all kinds of policies; however, your conclusions are very likely correct.

“He did what?!” Bryan nearly shouted. He was pacing and seething. “He did what?!” Steve looked at Diego wondering what to do. He knew that Diego had very strict rules for his sons—their sons—but Diego was just letting Bryan lose it. The 8th grader's face was red, he was breathing heavily and looked like he was about to commit murder, and all Steve wanted to do was reach out and hold him. “Please try calming down,” Steve pleaded and regretted it the second he said it. “I am calm! I

Of course. A posh, Southern Accent is appealing, but an "inbred" Southern Accent is mockery in the making. Most Americans can't tell the difference between British accents, either, which is why most Americans can't do it. I've been watching Emmerdale for a couple of years and can tell a bit of difference in the Yorkie Accent from some of the others, but I could never tell the difference between a London Accent and Birmingham Accent. Hell, most Americans could never tell the difference between a Welsh and English accent, either. That's like trying to sort out a Pacific Northwest Accent vs the Standard American Accent. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

Great point. I definitely have a personal connection that mirrors your experience regarding Spanish dialects (and Spain vs Latin America). I don't speak Spanish and use Google for all the Spanish in this story. Knowing how Google Translate works, I'm also not trying to rely on it. I once had a friend from Spain try to explain the subtle differences to me, and it went in one ear and out the other. Lol There certainly is similar among English speakers but not necessarily anything inherently cruel. For example, Americans make fun of Canadians for how they say, "About." It's more of a jest than anything else. Americans will make fun of regional dialects, as well, with a lot of focus on the US Southern Accent, which can give off the impression of stupidity and lack of education or can go in the opposite direction of being stuck up or condescending. The West Coast Accent (which is really the Southern California (SoCal) Accent), can also make you sound dumb from movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures. The Midwest Accent sounds a lot like the Canadian Accent and gets the same flack, and the New York Accent which always makes people sound like they're in the Godfather or just being rude/mad. I'm sure the same can be true among those in England, Scotland, Ireland and Australia. The comedian, Trevor Noah, makes fun of Americans all the time when it comes to how we say things, like zebra and battery. Most of it is for humor, but there are certainly times when it gets done nefariously, like when white people in America make fun of how African Americans talk, and that has been used to deny black people jobs, housing and other essentials all the way up to today. Racist Americans don't care which dialect of Spanish someone speaks or where in the Latin World someone is from. Their bigotry will show regardless and degrade the Spanish speaker, nonetheless.

All very good and valid observations. I'm not a fan of the US "Justice" System and find it to be a joke most of the time. Although Judge Arthur is a fictional character, I've based some of his behavior and attitude on a real US Federal Judge, Justice Julius Hoffman. If you have a Netflix account and a VNP, check out the movie, The Trial of the Chicago 7 on the US Netflix list. Even though it's a dramatization of the events, it'll really open your eyes to the bullshit faced by people in the "land of the free." If you don't have a VPN or access to the movie, you can check out Legal Eagle's review of the movie on YouTube. The guy is a real lawyer in the US and goes through it discussing what the movie got right and wrong from a legal and historical context, and the movie down played a lot of the truly fucked up things Justice Hoffman did. As far as Steve and the boys, again, you made a lot of really good points, which is also why I had Billy suggest Steve. Steve is intimidating physically, and Calvin would push Diego's buttons for sure.

I do have a play, Mattyboy, but I can't give any hints without spoilers. I don't recall any jokes Diego made, except the "white trash" internal joke, which he admonished himself for. Billy, on the other hand, definitely deserved his contempt fines, and Diego is completely justified in being pissed for it. However, I wouldn't necessarily say the fight was unnecessary, as the judge had already shown prejudice and disrespect at the very beginning and was the one who initiated it. Judges in the US still have to uphold the rules of conduct and cannot misbehave, either.

I can't comment on Billy's "Victory" without spoiling anything, but I do like writing these courtroom scenes. As I've mentioned before, Boston Legal is one of my favorite TV shows of all time.

I marked it as comedy for a reason. Lol Judge Arthur is a character, and that's all I can say about him at the moment.

Billy's objections and requesting the recusal is certainly for the appeal. The antagonism was more for...fun...which will become much more clear later on. Charlie at the visit would be good, too.

I figured you'd like that line. It's been awhile since I had some meta humor in the story.

One of my favorite TV shows is Boston Legal, and my favorite character on it is Alan Shore (played by James Spader). Alan antagonized judges the same way Billy did, so these courtroom scenes will be entertaining. The real Calvin is a giant ball of insecurity and would find someone like Steve grossly intimidating. We'll just have to see how things go with the first visit.

Charlie called sometime around mid-January. A new judge was assigned to the case and set a hearing date to see if Calvin's evidence was admissible. Diego was pissed but knew there was nothing that could be done about it. He was also concerned about his relationship with Billy, since he had only spoken to Charlie since the incident. Steve said to not worry, and that Billy was probably busy, yet Diego couldn't help but feel that he pushed his lawyer too far. If it wasn't for his legal woes, D

UPDATE (Jan. 30, 2024): I'm hoping the next chapter will be released this weekend. I'm not a lawyer and have very limited knowledge on the law and legal procedures, which will be making up a huge portion of the coming story, and I want to make sure that I'm not taking too many liberties. While I'm not planning to go to law school for the sake of this story, especially since the setting isn't set in any specific state in the US, I do want to make sure things are as close to real as I can make it, which means delays in chapters. I will be finishing this story (and sooner the better, to be honest), it just may take longer than I would like.

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I didn't want to go on and on about Diego's failed relationships in the beginning, as I assume most would've been with guys who were into him, until they found out he had kids then dumped him. I believe I mentioned that some were okay with it but didn't last long...or at least I meant to or implied it. I like keeping to only the most relevant of details and let the rest stay loose in case I need to fill in the gaps later. It's also likely that I wasn't exactly clear on his past in that regard, keeping the information in my head but believing I put it in print; that's what happens when you don't take notes on your own story.