Paladin

Yes, I'm also curious about the guy asking for directions. Was he following them from the dog park and used the fact that they stopped as an opportunity to look in the car. The tinted windows would have made that difficult so he wouldn't have seen Devin rather than a dog in the car. Still is he just some random guy asking directions or someone more sinister?

Researching words can take us down many side roads. Yes, I also had to look up dithyrambic. Back to euphoric. OED cites euphoria first being used in 1684 in T Bonet's Guide to Practical Physician, and it stays in medical use. I'm surprised that It takes two hundred years before the use of the adjective euphoric is recorded (M-W, 1888). It's a long time for a noun to be used before its adjectival form is also used.

Greg is very confident in his role as Baron and taking his time to understand what he has inherited and consider what needs to be kept and what needs to be changed, Importantly Greg doesn't feel threatened by the ability of others and is more than happy to incorporate them and their skills into his council. True leadership. While he is receiving a lot of support there is still some resentment simmering beneath the surface. Greg and his marshals are preparing and I'm interested to see how it is dealt with it when it surfaces.

The boys are all so full of fun and love for each other. Tom and Linda decided they can't be happy without being close to family. Chris is quickly going to be surrounded by more love than he has ever experienced. Maybe a few tickles as well.

So Cottontail is a literature geek, complete with accurate references to Canterbury Tales. His first experience of rimming has certainly got him hooked so we can expect repeat performances with Jamie. Maybe 12! Jamie's meeting with Arthur was interesting. Jamie seemed surprised that the biggest supporter of his on line performances wasn't interested in sleeping with him. Jamie doesn't want a boyfriend (?) but when told not to have one, he thinks of Cottontail. Arthur is encouraging Jamie with his musical career. Jamie and Rusty performing together would be interesting. So much to be unraveled in future chapters.

It seems Guy is less secure in his relationship with Tim than he seemed. Hopefully the misunderstanding will all be resolved quickly along with some make up, making out. Excellent chapter introducing Jonathan and his interest with Tim in a very realistic way. He could have difficulty getting another gay student taking him seriously if he continues the "keeping up the King Stud into chicks image" persona. Ben continues to be the fabulous straight friend and confidant.

We seem to have two theories going regarding Jill. One is that she blocked or suppressed her memory of the additional abuse she suffered. The other is that she simply did not disclose the additional abuse because she wasn't asked the right questions. Given a choice I'll go with the tormentor and option 2. It was why I commented that it is important to ask questions that elicit all the information. Great chapter and comments.

@Al Norris is spot on. It is important for people taking evidence concerning child abuse to ask questions that elicit all the information. At the same time they have to be careful not to make suggestions about what had, or might have, happened. This is to avoid suggestions that the questioner or therapist encouraged the child to add "memories" to their experience. The reliability of recovered memory, especially under hypnosis, is a very contentious area. The mind is not like a video recorder and memory is not like replaying a video. It is far more complex. Physical evidence is always the best evidence.

Petard. Now there's a lovely word dating back to the 16th Century, and to be hoisted by your own - Ouch. At least you survived I was amused when I did similar research to @sandrewn to find that Gobbledygook was coined by Maury Maverick, who had been a member of Congress, that august body that coined the wonderful word filibuster. As you are aware a filibuster is a very long speech in Congress, and usually full of gobbledygook. Maury Maverick was certainly a maverick in calling out and naming this gibberish. Enough for now.

At no stage @Summerabbacat did I think that you, a fellow cat lover, would be "having a go" at me. I agree, all you have speculated about Guy and Samantha is totally valid as is my speculation. Of course not being in charge of this story, we could easily be wrong.

Damn! For a moment there I though you meant something else.

My point is that the couples, or at least Tim and Guy have moved from daily phone contact to, well much less based on Tim rationalizing the lack of contact. While teenagers in that era did not have social media sharing (social media as we know it did not exist) they certainly knew how to use a phone. Any parent who had teenagers at that time will confirm this. Most parents even relented and had a phone with a very long extension cord or that, then recent, invention the cordless phone, like Tim's parents seem to have. I didn't think Ben saw Jonathon's hand on Tim's thigh. He was in the restroom. Tim told him later.

I'm wondering what is going on behind the scenes. We start with Tim and Guy speaking by phone every day, but by the end Tim says he hasn't heard from Guy that day and rationalizes I guess he's got plenty to keep himself occupied with down there though. And Ben hasn't heard from Sam for a couple of days . Is there some cooling in the relationships? Jonathan is being a dick, but with the reputation of being KING STUD he could be a dangerous dick, especially back at school, if he resents being rejected by Tim.

Given when this story is set and the use of landline phones, Jonathan would not even need directory assistance. He would just look up Tim's home in the phone book, which was provided free to every house with a phone. Things were different back then, although there is still an online version available.

There's nothing wrong with fine unless you have to pay one. I understood the context of Adam's use of fine the first time meant he was referring to Kai's back. He was indicating that Kai's back was fine after the sex. However I thoroughly enjoyed Kai taking it to mean the sex and then the playful continuing use of the word. Kai may have felt like my masculinity was in question but I don't think that thought was shared by Adam. I must need to get a new bed. I had to look up "gel memory foam mattress" on internet. A very enjoyable chapter.

Loved the development in this chapter. Family bonding more. The boys moving to the farm and Tom and Linda staying and not moving to Tennessee. The brooding threat from the vile Maddox brought back to our attention.

While that is very true @drpaladin I have to say I, and my cats, experienced apricity briefly today during our ongoing bleak winter. Apart from that I think I'll just file apricity under "things didn't know had a name".

Overall an interesting chapter. More physical punishment than I'm comfortable with. I suspect Lanny learnt something about what not to do, but nothing about appropriate behaviour. I'm pleased that Steve is seeing a psychologist and attention is being given to his stuttering. According to the doctor, he was handling things well, as was his sister, sounds as if Jill still isn't opening up about everything. I hope she soon does. No mention of Nick being seen. If you're worried about us doing anything, my father pretty much turned me off from sex. I don't plan on doing anything with a boy until I know him real well. This is a real and very common, but rarely discussed, result of child sexual abuse. Many victims have difficulty forming romantic sexual relationships. Brendan and Skylar? I don't see a problem with having coffee in a public place as a first meeting, but if they want it to go further Skylar has to be upfront with his supervisors. Jack is good value as a sole parent friend.

Another wonderful and emotional chapter. Both couples saddened by having to face separation over Christmas and New Year. While there is promise of being together after that (at least for a short time with Sam and Ben) nothing is certain as they enter the new year. We don't know much about Guy's father and his attitude to gays and what about this boyfriend that Guy's mother will be staying with. I get the impression Guy isn't keen on the guy. Is guy's mother likely to want to move and live with the boyfriend? I agree with you @Summerabbacat about the different level of acceptance between gay and hetero PDA's. It is getting better but still has much further to go.

Another chapter full of family getting together and having fun. The threat to them is still there and close. They need to be vigilant.

More seriously, I loved the graphic of national flags and the "coexist" slogan. It is a very appropriate reminder when we have tension in various places around the world. Vexillology is the study of all flags, not just national flags, and in the context of "coexist" our rainbow flag is very significant, along with the flags of various first nations' peoples.

Because there isn't a groan emoji I apologize in advance. Trying to remember which flag belongs with which country can be very vexing. Dare I go for another flag joke? OK. What's the best thing about Switzerland? I'm not sure but their flag is a big plus.

Another excellent chapter. Once again we see George being being formal with Greg and then almost playfully informal with him. An incredibly strong friendship is developing. But, what did George mean by Sometimes I wish… ah, but that’s just a fairy tale George knighting Trevor was a surprise but well deserved. It also shows how strongly George feels about child protection. Greg is expanding his sphere of influence but he needs to keep a wary eye on Count Morrison. I loved the way Billy pointed out a consequence of Greg's proposed law about age of consent.

First for both of them and no regrets, even if Mike continues with his insecurities. I think they have both learnt a lesson about ensuring privacy before doing private things. An I think Maggie has learnt about knocking first. She must now know that both boys are gay. Still enough mystery around Mike's mum and the photo. If it is Mike, why hasn't he realized it? Liam recognized himself even though he had never seen the photo before. Great chapter.

Another wonderful chapter that is moving the story on but also keeping it intriguing. It contains a lot of emotion. Greg's decision was hard for both of them and does raise the question about when to rip off bandaids. There was also a lot of emotion in the children's depositions and not all of it can be apparent in a transcript. The recording will reveal more about the effect the abuse has on the children than the written word in the transcript. Brendan is quickly falling into the role of loving and caring parent and the three children are rapidly responding and showing love and caring in return. Dark clouds still hang over them.