Mark Arbour

RE: Miracles. No.

I'm sorry. :-(

Thank you so much for your comments. You make an excellent observation, in that both Matt and Wade lost their fathers. That's bound to either draw them closer together, or drive them apart.

Great review, Kody! I kept you busy today! A couple of thoughts. I'm guessing that Brad didn't really focus on his arguments with Will while he was in the stairwell because he was so focused on the crisis at hand. We've seen that with Brad (and will see it again) where he puts his all into a task to avoid thinking of what's happened (like his brother Billy's funeral). To a CEO of a successful company like Robbie, that company would be like one of his children. It's actually quite natural for him to think of what would happen to it in the event of his death.

Thanks!

I remember 9-11 as a very unifying time, and I suspect it will have that effect on the family. At least temporarily.

You are assuming that it isn't possible for this story to have a happy ending. I'm not so sure about that. Overcoming great hardship and trauma can be a pretty uplifting thing, assuming that happens.

i think that on this one, he'd understand.

Excellent job, Jeremy!

I’ve gotten some feedback from readers, asking me plaintively why Robbie had to die. Here’s why: This story is historical fiction, and history affects the family and the characters strongly. My historical purpose is to try and recall an event, or a time, by seeing the characters deal with those events. Some events are big enough (and bad enough) that it costs us lives. For Vietnam, we sacrificed Andre. For the Cold War, we lost Billy Schluter. We lost many to AIDS, and a couple to drugs and alcohol. In my opinion, the attacks on 9-11 profoundly affected this country, probably more than Vietnam. The sheer tragedy of the event demanded a similarly tragic impact on the family. It simply would not be reasonable, based on the prior experiences of the story, for something so horrific to go without costing us a main character. Part of me thinks that would almost be disrespectful, in a weird, twisted, pagan-sacrifice kind of way. So why did it have to be Robbie? He was a good character, because while he was generally likeable, he was also flawed, stubborn, and erratic. And kinky. Huggable, and fuckable: a good character. It really has nothing to do with the “Hayes curse”, although that is a wonderful mythological foil. Robbie’s death satisfies the pagan gods of history, but it also opens up a wide variety of future plot opportunities. He touched so many lives in CAP. I have Frank dealing with his death, and I wonder how that will impact his health, and his relationship with Isidore. JP will probably remember Robbie fondly, as a son to be proud of; but Stef will bear some residual guilt, wondering if he treated Robbie fairly. Brad will have to grapple with losing his soul mate, even as he tries to determine whether they were really all that good for each other. And he’ll have to start dating again, getting into the whole 40-year-old guy who’s single thing. Even in Millennium, he always knew (deep down) that he would end up with Robbie. That can’t happen now. Then there are his four sons, all of whom will have to adapt to Robbie's absence in their lives. You can make a credible case for all of them being severely effected, but I think JJ and Darius will have it the toughest. There were alternatives to consider instead of Robbie. Brad could have died, or Stef, but they are both too pivotal, rivaling JP as cornerstones of the story. A character like Matt, or Wade, would have created a tragic loss, but they would not have impacted the entire family to the degree that Robbie does. In other words, they were too peripheral, as were Ace (and Cass), Claire (and Jack), or Gathan and his relatives. Robbie wasn’t offed to end some curse (although, as noted, that’s a cool concept), he was killed to illustrate the pain and horror that was 9-11, and because he was the best candidate to do that and to help move the story along. And the final thing is that doing what he did, charging back up the stairs, through the flames and the smoke, is illogically heroic. It's not something Brad, Stef, or JP would probably have done, because they'd have their minds firmly fixed on their responsibilities. And it's not something that Darius or Will would have done, because that's just too extreme for someone at their age/developmental level. But doing something noble like that really does fit the character that Robbie was. RIP Robbie Hayes (1963-2001).

Jeremy, The Genesis song and Buckley were great choices.

Well, that's intuitive (hit first/fall first) but I think since the South Tower was hit more toward the middle, the stresses caused by the hit PLUS the extra weight of the building on top of it made it inevitable that it would fall first.

A tragic chapter for a tragic day. Sigh.

I understand your reaction. I really toyed with somehow having him survive. One of the miracle people, you know, only there really didn't seem to be any that survived the South Tower collapse.

And truly, that was the only factor I took into consideration. ;-)

See. I try to make things as tenable as I can. :-)

The AC/DC song made me smile.

Sorry to ruin your day. Then again, it is 9-11.

Thinking beyond the initial horror, I wonder if JP would have had a chance to say goodbye to Jeff like that if JP would have carried so much guilt with him.

He will be missed. :-(

Now if you are speechless, that is saying something. :-)

Thanks. It's a rough chapter.

Thank you so much! I brought myself to tears on this one. Hell, even Sharon cried.

You know, that's the weird part. When I planned this out, I focused on the event, but the aftermath is taking much much longer.

Thank you so much. It is somewhat strange to have readers thank me for causing them pain. I guess that's what BDSM is all about. :-)