Mom and son

I have 3 step kids, 2 bios with my ex, and an ours baby with my husband. His ex follows the HCBM playbook word for word, complete with parking lot meltdowns, parental alienation, and trying to turn my husband against me. We refuse to speak bad about her to the kids, but she affirms any normal frustration they have and any consequence he gives them shes there to alleviate.
My step son seems to be following in his moms footsteps and cant fathom that his actions have consequences. My husband coaches his baseball team and got on him a few months ago for bullying his teammates, cheating at school, and lying. He decided he didnt like this and sent my husband a text that he wasnt coming back home and was staying at his moms to avoid the consequences from all of this at our house. This same thing happened last year with my step daughter and my step daughter made it 6 months over there before she came running back.
Anyway, we are traveling right now for a game and my step son and his teammate walked by me and my son. The teammate said hi to my toddler but my step son just completely snubbed his brother.
My husbands ex flipped shit when she found out we were expecting, during my postpartum time at the hospital she was constantly texting my husband that she couldnt do xyz for her kids and he needed to leave and go do them (he only agreed to one of these requests as it was a valid reason picking up SS from school). Shes screamed at him in front of her own kids that my toddler isnt the kids real brother, and that my husband clearly doesnt give a shit about his “other kids” anymore (even though 2 of the 3 live here 50/50 and he coaches their sports teams. Doesnt seem to fit her narrative that shes telling people which just makes her look crazier).
I feel like all of this is turning my SS against his brother and now he wont even acknowledge him. And at this point i am kind of wondering if i even want SS coming back here if he decides to. He treats my other 2 kids like shit, he cries if hes critiqued about anything, his entire social media is a narcissistic cesspool, and is turning into a compulsive liar.
Im not sure if this is something i need to be more understanding of because hes had his mom actively creating this mess for all of them for years, or if i have a right to be pissed off because it feels wrong being pissed off at a kid to the point of not wanting him back in our house with this behavior. At the same time though, per my therapist, hes old enough to know right from wrong even if he does have a mom who is encouraging this.
Would like some perspective from step parents

I had a decent relationship with my brother and dad for my whole life, until I became a SAHM. I have an advanced engineering degree and my license but it upsets them that my only contribution to society at this point is 'picking up my kids crayons'. When they call or visit, I listen to them talk the whole time about their traveling, job and hobbies (dad's retired), how stressful it is for them to manage their cleaning ladies/lawn mowing service/whatever it is. My brother told me he refuses to hire anyone for his startup that has a family because they won't be 100% focused on the company. I just sit and listen. If I send them a picture of my son it's ignored.
Now I'm pregnant with #2 and I feel as busy as we were in the newborn stage. We moved to a bigger house and have a big yard to manage, I clean the house myself, cook most meals... like most of the SAHP's I'm guessing. When my son takes his nap, I need to nap or clean. I don't want to spend my very limited free time on the phone listening to them complain and talk about themselves. I feel selfish because maybe they just need someone to talk to. But I'm now dreading their visits (infrequent as it is) and calls. They have no interest in my son and haven't asked about my pregnancy once (not a big deal bc they're men but it still feels weird).
Does anyone else feel this way? I feel bad and hate when people act too busy to make time for relaxing and stuff but I genuinely feel too busy at this point. I woke up early to cook breakfast and clean before my dad's visit, now the lawn while my husband is able to be with our toddler inside, and we have a laundry list of stuff to do before a birthday party later.
I love the life I'm living and wouldn't trade it. I think maybe it makes them uncomfortable seeing me just being a parent, and not making an income. I got really lucky and my husband makes a great salary and we just bought a nicer house in a great neighborhood. My parents divorced when I was born and there was never time for us, but were still upper middle class. I'm making friends who have a similar mindset as me so I don't think I'm crazy. But at the same time, even my sister, mom and grandma have told me I need to put my son (he's 1.5 btw) into daycare so I can go back to work 'for his benefit'.
Just a rant 😭

My son's birthday is coming up and he has wanted a gaming laptop for a while. I think he is old enough and shown enough responsibility to have one (with parental controls). I am a desktop gamer myself and I know the basic specs of what to get, but I'm worried about heat and weight
I don't want to drop a bunch of money, <$1,000 It doesn't need to run super high graphics but it needs to be able to run games without issues
Besides specs, do you have recommendations to help me narrow down my search? (I would do a desktop but his mom and I are not together, so it needs to have mobility)
He plays the typical games: Roblox Minecraft Fortnite Etc.

i am remarried mom of three kids, 18, 16, 12. my middle son is currently very angry with me, and refusing to come home after a week vacation with his dad.
context:
their dad and i divorced six years ago. i left everything, started life over quite alone and broke. it was so hard. the biggest grief was losing the kids half time. they were and are everything to me.
after a few years of healing i meet my now husband, who is nice and great. the kids love him. he list his wife to cancer young, no kids. he has character and respect of his friends and family.
two years ago, we moved the kids 15 miles away from town #1 to town #2, with legal permission from my ex and the support of the kids.
it was a disaster. my kids’ dad stopped talking to us after initially fully supporting the move, and took us to court trying to get custody and stop the move AFTER we actually moved. 🤡
the 18 months of custody dispute was horrible. worse than divorce. early on in the case, we moved BACK to our original town to show the kids how much we cared about what they wanted, which was apparently NOT moving after all. (their dad was using this to drive a wedge between us and the kids, even after we moved back, he would not drop the case against us.)
ultimately, the judge did not approve his motions and found him in contempt in some other areas. she gave us a new parenting plan that of course he is not following. custody remains at 50-50 for the boys, though my daughter has been with us full time since last august.
during this time, the kids dad also burns his house down with a cigarette, displacing the kids and racking up four more moves in a year in addition to our two for them (to the city and back.) my son's dog freezes to death after he lets him outside at his dads. he totals his car, with booze and passengers inside. he’s having major outbursts on the soccer fields and got in a fight with his one of his best friends. his dad also gets put on notice from my sons soccer club for unacceptable and hostile sideline behavior (chronic behavior)that includes kicking a ball AT a kid on the other team, ON PURPOSE, and admitting loudly it was.
so i’m seeing signs of deep distress in my son. he is a quiet kid and deep thinker, not one to talk about feelings, though we have been talking deeply for weeks…about soccer. his coaches and friends parents are telling me they are noticing he’s showing signs of too much pressure on him. they say it’s coming from his dad. so i start hunting for a strategy to get him through this time.
all the while, his dad is sneaking him around to try out for this super competitive traveling soccer team i said i wasn’t supportive of, mostly for mental health reasons. i also had him screened for adhd and took him to a therapist in the days leading up to our conflict. (maybe this was too much but im new at this too!)
so that’s the lead up. last friday we have an argument that starts about soccer, and what i see as betrayal and deceit: i said no to a traveling soccer team after my son had four weekends of volatile sportsmanship and yellow/red cards. he went to tryouts anyway with his dad and was surprised when i wasn't fully supportive.
he “sees me as an obstacle to his happiness.” that turned into … he’s still mad at the move—which i never fully explained our side. (all the parenting advice said don’t talk to the kids about court stuff, so i didn’t. you know who did? their dad.) but when i tried to share just the basics, he says im a liar and not a victim. i told him to get out (he was leaving anyway and this felt good at the time, but probably shouldnt have said it.)
he hasn’t come back. says he isn’t ready. he had a week vacation with his dad and is still there. his dad says he does NOT want james there full time. (his dad has several girlfriends currently, so that would hamper his style.)
my heart feels like it’s ripped from my chest, like our connection was completely cut. and the thing is: i SERVE that kid. i coddle him and dote on him and create memories and experiences and life lessons and all the good mama things. i’m a good mom to him. i spend so much time mothering him (directly and indirectly), probably too much at the expense of myself. i’ve felt guilty since the divorce and have always babied the boys especially. and what i get is blame and rage.
i’m hearing this is typical teenage angst, made worse by some huge traumas in his life.
i cant go back to court. there’s lots i could say my kids dad is not doing, to include mandated court coparenting counseling, but it will only make things worse. he’s a narcissist with substance abuse problems, and at least now, with this conflict, he’s finally talking to me again. so much of our trauma these last few years have come from us not talking. it’s truly like dancing with the devil, talking to him now and trying to come together for our son.
my longtime therapist said that their relationship with their dad will be marked by his mask slowly falling off and disappointing them in huge ways. my daughter went through this and i thought my son was starting to see some things … and now he’s flopped, and seems to be incredibly loyal to his dad.
(it’s not about loyalty to one parent over the other for me, it’s about healthy relationships and living in truth.)
so long, sorry. i just need a strategy for how to proceed. do i give my son the space and time he's asking for, even if he's just couch-hopping from friends house to friends house while he's there? what if he doesn’t come back? how much autonomy do i allow him and when do i stand up for what i see is best as his mom?
thanks for reading if you made it this far. looking for books or ideas, resources, advice.

11/20/2017
Log book of Det. Ryan Snow
Case #2798: The Appalachian Murders
When I woke up, I was in such a haze that I couldn’t make out where I was at first. My vision was a blur and all I could hear was the sounds of rushing water. I tried to move my limbs, but each muscle down to my little finger felt like lead weighing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
It felt like forever before the ringing in my ear was slowly swallowed out by a voice crying out from what sounded like a distance only to grow louder as it seemed to approach me from the void I had woken up in. It wasn’t until I heard my name that I recognized it was Kate’s voice, pleading and filled with tears.
I blinked away the blur, finding myself staring up at a water damaged ceiling, a single yellow light brightening the room. My head was pounding and my body still felt heavy, but I moved my head enough to turn and see where Kate was calling from. It took a moment, but I soon realized that she was lying on her back, strapped by her arms and legs to a metal table, looking to me with wide terrified eyes.
“Detective, please help!” She cried out. “Please don’t be dead! Please help me!”
“Bl-Black…Well…” I groaned out as I tried, painfully, to pick myself up off the stone floor, “Black…Well… Ah… Shit… Shit! Ms. Blackwell-“ I was gaining consciousness minute by minute as I finally took in the situation and got to my feet. However, the moment I had gotten to my feet and began running to Kate only to immediately fall back to the floor once again, my ankle getting caught by something heavy. I turned to see my ankle had been shackled to the floor by a cuff and chains. I searched my person to find my coat, along with my Glock had been taken, blood decorating my pants and sleeves. I placed a palm to my forehead to find blood when I lowered it down to look at the warm liquid slithering down from my scalp.
“Ms. Blackwell,” I returned my attention to her, examining what I could from my place on the floor, “are you alright, are you hurt?”
“I… I… I don’t… Don’t think so…” she managed to whine out.
“Where’s Mr. Raines?”
To this question, Kate looked away from me, sobbing being her only verbal response.
I went back to the shackles on my ankle and began trying to yank the chains off from the floor, but they had been well maintained and were too strong for me to simply yank out of the stone. I then quickly looked around the room to find we were in a different basement from the one in Cabin #3, though it had the same kind of layout, the table the only major difference. I also took note of the blood stains that trailed from the sides of the table and the dried pools below.
“I want my mom!” Kate cried out, her voice echoing in the empty room.
“I’ll get you to her, I will, I promise,” I assured her, trying to find something, anything to get us out of this, “do you remember how we got down here?”
“I… I… I just re-remember… Remember you g-getting knocked out… Knocked out by someone and them… Them putting a rag over me… Then everything went black… Then I woke… Woke up… H-Here…” Kate answered, trying to breathe with each sob she let out. “I… I th-thought… y-you… You were d-d-… Dead!”
“I’m not, I’m very much alive and I’m going to get you out of here and back to your parents,” I vowed as I continued looking for a way out of this situation, “we’re going to get you out of here, get you home, and we’ll make sure no one ever gets hurt here ever-“
The sound of the basement door from the splintered wooden steps cut me off. I listened as feet descended down the steps to the basement below, Kate’s ragged breaths the only other sound. The person who came down was a woman. The same exact woman from the photo I had found in her house. She looked as if she had not aged since that photo was taken, despite how long ago it seemed the photo was taken. She had the same exact long, white hair, same tired looking eyes, and same disgustingly pale skin as in that photo and on her profile picture. It was Mrs. Larson.
“Deeeeeetectiiiiiiive,” she spoke in a hoarse voice mixed with what I assumed was her own and several others, both male and female, adult and child, “youuuuuuu shouuuullld haaaaaaaaave juuuuuuusssssst giiiiiven herrrrrrr toooooo meeeeee… Youuuuuuuu diiiiiiiiid nooooooot haaaaaave toooooooo ssssssseeeee thiiiiiissssss…”
“Fuck you!” I shouted, beginning to charge at the elderly woman only to be yanked back by my shackles. “Let us go, right now!”
“Nnnnooooo,” Mrs. Larson replied harshly as she stepped over to loom over Kate.
“Stay away from her!” I barked, trying desperately to break free of my shackles.
She ignored me as she ran a shaky hand down along Kate’s trembling face. “Ooooooooohhhhh, Kaaaaaate… Sweeeeet, sweeeeeeeet, Kaaaaaaaaaate…” Mrs. Larson cooed as she went on stroking Kate’s wet cheek. “Doooooo noooooooot crrrrrrryyyyyyy, dooooooonnnnnn’t thiiiiiiiiiinnnnk oooooofff iiiiiiiit aaaaaaaassssss dyyyyyyyyiiiiinnnnng, thiiiiiiiiinnnk ooooooooffff iiiiiiit aaaaaassssss ssssssssaaaaaaaaaviiiiiiinnng aaaaaannnnoooootherrrrrrrrr liiiiiiiiife.”
“I-I… I d-don’t… Don’t under-understand… w-what th-that… That m-means…” Kate cried, her hands gripping the sides of the metal table beneath her, “P-Please, d-don’t… Don’t kill me… L-Let… Let us-us go!”
“Nnnnnoooooo,” Mrs. Larson answered in the same harshness she used on me, “IIIIIIIII neeeeeeeed youuuuuuuuuu,” she then shot a death glare my way through tired, silver eyes, “aaaaaaaannnnnnd heeeeeeeeee’ssssssss beeeeeeeeeennnnnn nnnnnnnoooooooothiiiiiiiiinnnnnng buuuuut aaaaaa thooooooorrrrrrnnnn iiiiiiinnnnn myyyyyyyyy ssssssssiiiiiiiide siiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnccccccce youuuuuu eeeeeessssssscaaaaaaped meeeeeeee.” She then looked back to Kate with a softer look. “Aaaaaaaassssss fffffoooooorrrrr whaaaaaaaat youuuuuuu caaaaaannnn’t uuuuuunnnnnnderrrrrrssssssstaaaaaaannnnnnd, IIIIIIIIII nnnnnneeeeeeed yourrrrrrrrrr heaaaaaaaarrrrrt tooooooo ssssssssaaaaaavvvvvvve myyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiisssssssterrrrrrrr.”
“The fuck does that mean?” I demanded, still trying to vain to pull my ankle from the chains. “How the hell will Kate’s heart save your sister?”
“Diiiiiiiiidnnnnnn’t nnnnnnneeeeeeed toooooo beeeee Kaaaaaaate’sssssss,” admitted Mrs. Larson, “buuuuuuuut sssshhhhhheeeeee hiiiiiiiiid theeeeee ooooooootherrrrr giiiiirrrrrrllllll ffffffrrrrroooooommmmm mmmmmeeeeee.”
“S-Son… Sonja…” Kate sniffed, the tears still streaming down her face.
“IIIIIIII oooooooonnnnnlllllyyyyy neeeeed fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllle,” Mrs. Larson dismissed Ms. Greymoore’s name, “ffffffeeeeeeemmmmmaaaaaallllle heaaaaaaaarrrrrrrtsssss toooooo rrrrrrreeeeeetuuuuurrrrrrnnnnn mmmmmmyyyyy ssssiiiiissssssterrrrrrrrr toooooo theeeeeeee giiiiirrrrrllllll ssssshhhhhheeeee uuuuuuuusssssed tooooo beeeeeee.”
“That’s a fucking joke right?” I asked. “The hell makes you think eating a female heart will turn your sister back into a human woman? Have you seen what’s happened to your sister?”
“IIIIIIIII knnnnnnnooooooow beeeeeeecaaaauuuuusssssse iiiiiiiiiiit wooooooorrrrrked ooooooonnnnn mmmmmeeeeee,” Mrs. Larson explained, “IIIIIIIIIII waaaaaasssss aaaaaaablllllllle toooooo reeeeeeetaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn thiiiiiiiiiisssssss huuuuuummmmmmaaaaaannnnn fffffffooooorrrrrrmmmm ffffffrrrrrooooommmm eeeeeaaaaatiiiiiinnnnnng theeeeeeee heaaaaaaaaarrrrrtsssss, sssssspecifffffficaaaaaaallllllyyyyyy fffffffeeeeeemmmmmaaaaallllleeee sssssssooooooo IIIIIIIIII mmmmmmaaaaaayyyyyy rrrrrreeeeetuuuurrrrrnnnnn toooo beeeeeiiiiinnnng theeeeeeee giiiiiirrrrrrrllllll IIIIIII uuuuuuusssssed toooooooo beeeeeee.”
“You were dead,” I pointed out, “they found your body up here, you were buried.”
“Theeeeeessssssse sssshhhhheeeeeellllllsssss arrrrrrre mmmmmeeeeeerrreeeellllyyy veeeeeessssssellllllssssss ffffffoooooorrrrrr theeeeeeee sssssspiiiiirrrrriiiiiitsssss weeeee hiiiiiiiiiiide beeeeeneeeeaaaaattthhhh,” Mrs. Larson responded, finally turning her gaze to me, “IIIIIIII haaaaaaad tooooooo maaaake peeeopllllle beeeelieevvvve IIIIIII haaaaaad diiiiiiied tooooo keeeeeep frrrrroooommm theeeee poooooollllliiiiicccce ffffrrrrrrooooommmm pooookiiiiiinnnng aaaaarrrrouuuuuunnnnd aaaaannnnnd rrrrruuuiiinnnnniiinnnng eeeevvvveeerrrrryyythiiiiinnnng.”
“So, let me just get this whole thing straight,” I began as I started rubbing my temples, "when you and your sister starting into… Whatever the hell that thing you call your sister is-“
“Ooooouuuurrrrr sssssspiiiiiirrrrrriiiiiit,” Mrs. Larson corrected.
“Whatever!” I shot. “You found out that eating female hearts turns you two back into human women and to keep police from suspecting you, you pretended to be dead and… What? Just hope a shitty real estate agency would buy your property and you could just… Kill people, people with lives and families outside the mountains?”
“Thaaaaaaaat iiiiiiisssss cooooorrrrrreeeeect…” Mrs. Larson admitted, narrowing her eyes at me.
That’s when I began laughing hysterically, holding my sides that hurt with each harsh breath of a laugh I took. Both Mrs. Larson and Kate looked to me as if I had lost my mind and at this point I was starting to believe I had. Everything I had seen and heard about this entire case would put anyone in the looney bin. And I’m the damn fool who dug too deep into something he had nothing to do with.
“Whaaaaaat’s ssssoooo ffffuuunnnny?” Growled Mrs. Larson, stepping around Kate to stand between us.
“I don’t know what’s fucking funnier, honestly,” I chuckled, running a hand through my hair, “the fact that you thing people won’t be poking around even more when they discover not only is Blackwell missing, but so is a detective and escaped convict all of whom now have ties to these fucking mountains and those cabins, or that you thing I’m more afraid of what you plan on doing with me more than I am when her father finds out I got her in this situation in the first place!”
“Heeeeeee wooooonnnnn’t beeeee aaaaabllllle toooooo doooo aaaaaannnnnyyyyythiiiiiinnnng aaaaaaafffffterrrrrrr IIIIIIIII’mmmmm dooooooonnnne wiiiiiiiith booooooth ooooooooffffff youuuuuuuuu,” Mrs. Larson hissed as she inched closer, “fffffffiiiiiiirrrrrrssssst, IIIIIIIII waaaaaannnnnt youuuuuuuu toooo waaaaaatch mmmmmeeeee kiiiiiiillllll herrrrrrr,” she turned her head to look to Kate who was now just shaking, her eyes seemingly gone dry from the crying, Mrs. Larson then looked back to me, “sssssseeeeecooooonnnnd, IIIIIIII wiiiiillllll ssssssaaaaave youuuuu fffffooooorrrr mmmmmmyyyyy sssssiiiiiisssssterrrrr, oooooonnnnne heeeeaaaaart wiiiiilllll nnnnoooot ssssssaaaaaatissssfffffyyyy herrrr huuuuuunnnnnger.” She took another step. “Uuuuuuuunnnnnllllliiiiiike sssssssoooooommmme ssssssiiiiiibllllliiiiiiinnnnnngsssss, IIIIIIIII caaaaaarrrre aaaaaaboooouuuuut mmmmmmyyyyy ffffffaaaammmmiiiiilllllyyyyyy.”
She stared into my eyes, expecting a reaction and while my blood did somewhat boil at the accusatory statement, I didn’t fully understand what she was getting at. Not until she used that voice. Not until she relived that day with those two familiar child-like voices.
“Screw you, Liam!” She cried out in a voice I remember from my childhood. “I hope you drop dead!”
“Stop.” I demanded.
“Piss off, Ryan!” She shot back in a second boy’s voice.
“I said stop!” I began shouting.
“Help me, Ryan! Please, help me! I’m sorry! Please, Lucky Dime, help me!”
I then lunged toward her, reaching my hands out toward her neck only to be stopped by the shackles as she swiftly, almost without even moving, stepped just out of my reach.
“Fucking bitch!” I screamed out.
“If only you really cared about me, Lucky Dime,” sighed Mrs. Larson as she turned and began making her way to the side of the room where a cart stood in the shadows. She pulled it over to Kate’s side, the cart covered in rusted medical tools.
“P-Please,” Kate wheezed, “p-p-please… I… I d-d-don’t w-want… Want t-to d-d… D-Die, I… I w-w-want m-m-m… My m-mom!”
“Dooooonnn’t woooorrrrryyyyy,” Mrs. Larson soothed, using that mix of different voices, “mmmmmmaaaayyyyybeeee sheeee wiiiillll cooooommmme loooookinnnng ffffooooorrrr yooouuuuu aaaaannnnnd sheeeeeee caaaaannnnn joooooiiiiiinnnn youuuuuuu.”
Kate began to sob, begging and pleading for Mrs. Larson to let her go, thrashing around in her restraints. Telling the older woman that there was no saving her sister and that she was too far gone for this sick ritual to work anymore. I tried to yank at the chains once more, trying to loosen it at least enough to break free and grab at Mrs. Larson.
“Rrrrrrreeeeellllllaaaaax,” Mrs. Larson ordered as she began filling a syringe with some kind of clear liquid from a small bottle, “yoooouuuuuu woooooonnnn’t eeeeeveeennn fffffeeeellll iiiiiiit, thiiiissssss wiiiiiillllll puuuuuut youuuuu toooo ssssssllllllleeeeeep aaaaaannnnnnd wheeeeeennnnnn youuuuuu waaaaaake uuuuuuuup, youuuuuuu’lllllll beeee iiiiiinnnnnn heeeeeaaaaaaveeeennnnn… Uuuuuunnnnnnnllllllessssss youuuuuuu weeeerrrrrrre aaaaaa haaaaaarrrrrlllllooooooot, iiiiiiinnnnnn whiiiiiiiich caaaaaassssssseeeee, mmmmmaaaayyyy Goooooood haaaaaaaave mmmmmmmmerrrrrrrcccccyyyyy ooooonnnnn youuuuuur ssssssoooouuuuullllll… Aaaaannnnnd baaaaaaasssssed ooooonnnn hoooooow youuuuuu drrrrressss aaaaannnnnd theeeee coooommmmpaaaannnnyyyy youuuuuu keeeeeep,” She added as she eyed me, “IIIIIII ssssssaaaaaayyyy youuuuu haaaaaave aaaaa lllllloooooot ooooooffff fooooooorrrrgiiiiiviiiiinnnnng tooooo dooooo.”
Kate continued to cry as Mrs. Larson pushed the needle of the syringe into her arm, pushing down on the plunger as it pierced the flesh. Kate’s loud screams soon turned quieter and her red eyes began to glaze over, but she continued to stay awake, tightening her grip on the table and still begging to be let go.
“IIIIII waaaaannnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch, Detective,” Mrs. Larson spat out my title in Mr. Blackwell’s voice, “IIIII waaaaannnnnt youuuuu toooo waaaaatch herrrrrr fffffaaaaaade aaaaaannnnnnd mmmmmeeeee rrrrreeeemmmmooooove heerr heeeaaaarrrrrt toooooo ffffffeeeeeed tooooo mmmmmmyyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiiissssssterrrrrr,” she then pulled out a recorder, “theeeeennnnnn wheeeeeennnnn IIIIIII ssssssuuuuummmmoooooonnnnn herrrrrrr aaannnnd sheeeee fffffiiiinnnniiiishessssss oooooofffffff heeeerrrrr heeeaaaaarrrrrt, youuuuuuu’llllllll beeeeee neeeeeext.”
“Fuck you,” I snarled, “I hope you and your sister burn.”
“IIIIIIIII’mmmmm gooooonnnnnaaaaa gooooo aaaaallllllerrrrrrt mmmmmyyyyy ssssssiiiiiiissssterrrrrr,” Mrs. Larson turned and began making her way to the basement steps, “ssssseeee youuuuu boooooth ffffffoooooorrrr diiiiiinnnnnnerrrrrrr.”
She then pressed the play button on her recorder and a small, little girl’s voice echoed in the room before Mrs. Larson vanished up the steps.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
Then the door slammed shut.
“De… Tec… Tive…” Kate squeaked out, her breathing slowing.
“Stay awake, Blackwell,” I ordered her gently, looking around frantically for anything to get us both out of this alive, “I’ll get us out of this, I promise, just stay awake, we’ll get out of here, I just need-“
“I’m… S… Sorry…” she breathed out. “I’m… So… Sorry… For… Get… Getting… You… In… To.. This…”
“No, no, this is not your fault!” I assured her. “That psychotic bitch got us both into this shit and I won’t stop until I get us out and put her and her fucking sister are six feet under!”
“W…Wha… What… H… Hap… Happened… To… To L… Liam…?”
I stopped struggling with the chains and turned to look to Kate. Her head was turned to me, her face wet, hands clenching as hard as they could to the table beneath her, the light in her eyes slowly fading second by second. She was trying desperately to stay awake. The medication Mrs. Larson taking hold of her as the minutes ticked by.
I dropped the chains that were in my hands, looking away from her, wanting to stare at anything other than another person I had failed.
“He was killed,” I answered, “we were fishing at a lake nearby… Lake Gaagige… We got into a really stupid ass fucking fight about how which fishing pole we were going to use. I wanted to use our dad’s, but Liam was older and said only men could use dad’s fishing pole… I told him… To drop dead and stormed off… When I got home, my parents dragged me back to the lake and scolded me for leaving him…” I trailed off, swallowing all the tears and screams I’d bottled up since that day. “When… We found… Him… The autopsy… Said he was mauled by a bear… I’ve blamed myself for leaving him there alone… For letting him die and getting killed like that… The last thing I ever told him was to drop dead… I was a shitty brother and now I’m a shitty detective…”
“Is… Is he… Why… You became… A… Detective…?”
I took a deep breath and swallowed the tears again. “No, Blackwell,” I answered, “he’s not why I became a detective… I already knew what had killed him… It was my fault… If I hadn’t been such a brat and stormed off… He might still be alive… And now… What that bitch said…” I replayed Liam’s screams that escaped Mrs. Larson’s mouth. “I’m starting to think I’m getting what I deserve. Karma’s back to kick my ass…”
“H… How… Old…?”
“I was six… Liam was eight…”
“N… N… Not your… F… Fault…”
I turned to look to Kate, her eyes on mine, however faded.
“Y… You were… Only… A k… Kid…”
I took another intake of what little air there was down in that basement. I had spent years trying to convince myself of the same thing, but those moments never got easier for me when those thoughts returned.
“I think you’re just being nice,” I laughed painfully, “but I’m afraid I- and my folks- don’t share the same sentiment.”
I was staring down at where the chains were coming from in the ground, Kate not saying a word for over a couple of minutes. I spun to see if she had fallen asleep and immediately tried to find out how to wake her up again. However, once I our eyes met, I saw that she was still fighting sleep, the last of her tears rolling down across the bridge of her nose and into her hair.
“I… I… I had… Had a c… Crush… O… On… J… Jasper…” she confessed, her voice getting quieter and higher. “P… Paul and… And Son… Sonja knew… I never… Never c… Cared f… For Luke… But I’m… Sure… S… Sonja t… Told him…” she looked like she was going to sob again. “I… I never g… Got the… Ch… Chance… T… To tell J… Jasper… I… Was… Scared… He… He and… P… Paul were friends… And I… I kn… Knew… How P… Paul f… Felt… A… About m… Me… I… I did… Didn’t wa… Want to… R… Ruin… Anyth… Anything…” She took a gulp of air. “I… I ha… Hated L… Luke… I… A… Always… Kn… Knew… He… He was a… Player… B… But Sonja… Said… Said she was hap… Happy… So… So I did… Didn’t wa… Want to g… Get in… H… Her way… B… But Luke d… Didn’t l… Like h… How cl… Close… We… Were… I d… Didn’t w… Want him to make… Make her th… Think I… I was l… Leading her o… On… T… To get them… To b… Break up… Th… Then… That n… Night… Sh… She w… Wanted to… To leave…” She let out two pained gasps of breath. “I… I let them down… I let them all down… Luke pro… Probably thought… Thought I w… Was the one who… Who f… Filled Sonja’s mind… With thoughts of… Of him ch… Cheating… Th… Then I… I got them… All killed…
I… I didn’t deserve them, d… Detective…” she went on, looking away from me to stare up at the water damaged ceiling, “I… I… I was a… Terrible… Terrible friend…”
“Did you read their guest book entries?” I asked.
“N… No… D… Didn’t w… Want to… To r… Read any… Anything p… Private…” Kate answered.
“Jasper didn’t blame you,” I assured her, remembering what he had written in his entry during his time watching Mrs. Larson just outside the cabin, “even when he heard the voices- when he heard Mrs. Larson- telling him to, he didn’t. I don’t think the others blamed you either. You didn’t do anything wrong, Ms. Blackwell, there’s no way you could have known any of this would happen.”
“K… Kate…”
“What?”
“C… Call… Call me… Kate…”
“Aright, Kate,” I let out what little laughter I had left inside me, “so long as we’re the last people we’ll be chatting with, call me Ryan.”
“R… Ryan…”
“If we at all live through this, I’m going to need a long vacation after this,” I said as I turned to look at my shackles again, looking around myself to try finding anything to Get free since a vacation sounded like something to die for at that moment, “do you know any good vacation spots I can book for the fall?”
“Y… You’re… You’re a… Dick…” Kate struggled to laugh.
“I also enjoy pineapple on pizza,” I winked as I reached down to my ankle, ready to break it just to taste that sweet combination of tomato sauce and fruit.
“G… God… I… I c… Can’t… Believe… I th… Thought y… You w… Were c… Cute…”
I sat down on the floor, grabbing my ankle with both my hands. Needing to hype myself up enough to do what I was going to do, I began removing my shoe and sock from the foot, rubbing and squeezing my way up and down the ankle to my toes. I had never broken a bone in my life before this and I definitely never thought I’d do it of my own volition, but this was a desperate time and it definitely called for desperate…
“Wait what?” I turned to look to Kate, finally registering what she had said.
However, just before I could be sure of what I heard, the sound of a hunting rifle going off just above our heads right before we heard the door to the basement swing open and immediately be slammed shut. Both Kate and I turned to see someone stumble down the wooden steps, his clothes torn and body scratched and cut to a nearly deadly degree. I was even shocked he was still breathing.
“M… Mr… R… Raines…?” Kate gasped out.
“What’s left of me at least,” Mr. Raines grumbled as he limped over to Kate and quickly began undoing her straps to the table, “damn thing almost ripped my head off, but one swing of the barrel to its eye and I was able to get away… Can’t say it didn’t do its damage though… I’m… Getting really fucking hungry…”
He shook his head violently before limping over to me. He then raised an eyebrow at me when he saw how I was positioned still on the floor with a bare foot in my hands shackled to the floor.
“I… I was… I… I thought you were-“ I stammered.
“I am,” Mr. Raines interrupted, “at least, I’m on my way there anyway.” He then retrieved my Glock from his back pocket. “I don’t know what that thing did to me, but I’m not gonna make it out of this alive, or the way I came in. It’s a massacre out there by the way. Lot of men in blue bodies out there… Very… Hard to ignore… Sure more will be on their way. So.”
With that, Mr. Raines pointed at my chains and pulled the trigger on my clock, barely giving me time to cover my ears as the sound rung out loudly in the basement. I shook my head, trying to undo the blurry and ringing side effects of the sound of a gun going off near your head. I gave the older man a glare before standing and snatching my Glock from his hands. That’s when I saw Kate shifting herself to the side of the metal table she was no longer tied to, trying to get her limbs to comply with her to help her off and on to the floor.
I ran over and grabbed her just as she nearly stumbled face first to the floor and lifted her up to her feet, her body heavy with lack of keeping herself up.
“Do you think you can walk?” I asked, trying to keep her on her feet.
“I… I don’t… I…” Kate stammered as she tried to push herself off of me while also using using me as a crutch until she could stand on her own. However, she didn’t seem to be able to put any kind of pressure on her legs without falling down.
“Kate?” A girl’s voice called out from above us.
Feeling Kate shudder, I realized that it must have been the sound of Sonja’s voice and Mrs. Larson was using her to keep Kate from running. I quickly swung my arm down behind her knees, pressing the other down on her back as I lifted her up off the floor, my Glock at the ready as I kept it pointed in front of me while my arm held up Kate’s knees.
“She must have heard the gunshots,” I pointed out, “how’d you get past her in the first place?”
“I set the other cabins on fire,” Mr. Raines answered as if it were the simplest of answers, “I had to distract her somehow and give those bodies she’d been eating a better fate than becoming her shit.”
“Are you planning on setting this place on fire too?” I asked.
“‘Course I am!” Mr. Raines exclaimed, seemingly offended I’d even ask. “I already doused it in gasoline, I ain’t wasting all that time!”
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice cried out, getting closer to the basement door. “Are you seriously leaving me here to die alone again!”
“Please… Make it… Stop…” Kate sniffed as she gripped my shirt and burying her face into the fabric.
“Let’s get you two out of here.” Mr. Raines began leading the way to the basement stairs, cocking his rifle as he did so.
“What about you?” I asked, immediately following after him.
Mr. Raines didn’t answer as he stomped up the stairs and kicked the door open to the first floor of the cabin. The stench of the gasoline he had spilled hitting me harshly in my face.
“Kate!” Sonja’s voice, along with a different crescendo of male voices shrieked out as Mrs. Larson appeared from the corner of the hallway where the basement was located.
“Leighton?” A different woman’s voice asked the moment the old woman’s eyes spotted Mr. Raines. I then watched in both shock and confusion as it almost looked like the very skin on the woman melted off to reveal a much younger woman. The woman I recognized as Bonnie Collins. “Leighton… Love is that you?”
Mr. Raines kept his rifle on the vision of the woman he once loved before her murder, but didn’t move or speak.
“Darling, I’ve missed you so much!” The fake Bonnie cried out as she began making her way to Mr. Raines with arms open wide to hug him.
Mr. Raines then lifted his gun up higher, placing his finger on the trigger which caused the vision to stop in her place.
“Leighton?” The fake Bonnie asked. “Baby, it’s me… Bun-Bun… Don’t you recognize me…?” She began to tear up.
“You’re not my Bunny,” Mr. Raines growled before he shot once at the woman.
The fake Bonnie swiftly dodged the bullet, an inhuman hiss coming from an unhinged mouth, revealing a row of long, sharp teeth. The skin of Bonnie then melted off to reveal another woman, a lot younger than the first one it intimidated. The face of one of the victims upon being brought on this case.
“Kate,” the fake Sonja called out, “Kate, what are you doing? Who are these men? Why are they trying to hurt me?”
Kate let out a sobbing gasp, her nails digging into my shoulder with her arm wrapped around my neck.
“Didn’t I suffer enough?” The fake Sonja asked. “First my boyfriend and now you? Why don’t you want to be with me anymore?”
“Shut up!” Kate demanded. “You’re not Sonja! You killed her, you killed all of them! I don’t care what happens to me, but I’m not letting their memories end with you!”
Kate then snatched my Glock from my hand under her legs and shot directly at the fake Sonja’s head. Again the shot missed as the fake vision of the girl slithered out of the way, a frustrated growl of a dog and human escaping it’s mouth. It then zipped to the side, cowering with its back to us on the floor.
“Lucky dime…” A child’s voice then took over. The vision’s skin melting now to a much smaller figure. “Is this what you want? To kill me all over again?” He turned to look up at me, Liam’s face forever eight-years-old staring up at me. “It’s no wonder mommy and daddy hate you now… You were always a shitty brother… Now, I’m gonna starve to death because you’d rather help a couple of strangers.”
“I’m sorry, Liam,” I replied, everyone, including the fake Liam looking to me in surprise, “I left you alone out here and that’s what got you killed by that thing out there and I’m sorry. But, if I’d stayed it may have been both of us and then mom and dad would have no one left to blame but each other. If you had left and I was the one killed, you’d probably be in my shoes instead. I’m sorry for letting you get killed, but I’m gonna make up for it now.”
I then took my Glock back from Kate and pointed it to the vision of Liam.
“Good bye, Liam.”
I shot the gun once again, missing the creature again, however, this time I just kept shooting, Mr. Raines following after. Our different bullets just kept firing, the thing dodging and trying to get closer to us. The creature screeched out at us in a myriad of different voices both familiar and unknown. It wasn’t until one shot from my Glock struck the creatures shoulder and Mr. Raines’ rifle struck its head when the skins of everyone it was trying to turn into all melted off, revealing Mrs. Larson once again.
However, this time, she looked shriveled, older than she looked before. Her face looked deformed, beginning to grow furry, her eyes growing nothing but red, no irises, no pupils, just red. Her hair grew longer, branches like antlers growing painfully out from her skull, breaking the skin as they grew larger. The lower half of her face grew elongated, turning into that of a muzzle of fangs and a drooling mouth.
“You… All… Have no rrrrrrriiiiiight!” A different, unknown voice snarled out from what used to be Mrs. Larson. “People liiiiiike you all… Abandoned me and myyyyyyyyy sister!” The fur growing around this thing grew out short and shaggy, the cloths it was using melting off with the skin and flesh it was wearing. It now didn’t look anything like a human woman. It now took the form of a large wolf mixed with that of a deer, it’s body dog-like with hooves, antlers, and a long, scraggly tail. “You lot abandoned us here! You left us all here to diiiiiiiie!”
Guilt was weighing down on me with each syllable it was growling. Kate looked away from it, burying her face in my neck as Mr. Raines lowered his rifle.
“Nooooow, you’re bringing more here to just leave and let die out here!” It went on, it’s horrifying, broken body shuddering. “Why let them just vanish and die up here when they can bring people like my sister and I back? Give me Kate’s heart and fix what you threeeeeeeeee failed!”
Mr. Raines then handed over his rifle to Kate, placing it down on her stomach as her hands were still wrapped around my neck. The older man made his way over to stand over the thing, its neck creaking like a rusted door as it turned its wolf-like head to look up at him.
“Leighton…” Bonnie’s voice came from the creature. “Give mmmmeeeee her heart aaaannnnd we can be togetherrrrr again… If you eat the deeeeeetective’s we can saaaaaave you tooooooo…”
“My Bunny’s dead,” Mr. Raines told it as he dug in his pocket and took out a carton of matches, “and so am I.”
“You’d burn your wife?” A mix of Bonnie and Mrs. Larson’s voices shrieked as it glared at the match he took from the match box.
“You’re not my wife,” Mr. Raines told it, “and I’ll never see her again.”
“Fooooooool,” Mr. Larson’s voice chuckled, “you’llllllll killllllll us both!”
“With the shit I’ve done in my life, I know you’re taking me to Hell with you,” Mr. Raines growled back as he struck the match on the box, “so I’m sure as fuck not afraid to burn here on Earth with you!”
Mr. Raines then dropped the match to the floor right before the creature and everything around the two of them immediately went up in flames, the fur of the creature catching quickly and engulfing it. An agonized shriek echoed out all around us, the creature thrashing in the fire it had gotten swallowed up in. Mr. Raines then grabbed it by it’s long, furry throat and swung it down back flat the floor, jumping to pin it down.
“Get out!” Mr. Raines cried out to me. “Leave here!”
Not needing to be told twice, I held onto Kate tightly and bolted past the two burning bodies, jumping over the fire as it began growing fast throughout the cabin. I quickly got to the front door and stopped to look back to see Mr. Raines fighting the creature and preventing it from coming after us, it begging for me to bring Kate back and that it would die without her.
“I’ll clear your name,” I called back, trying not to reel back in horror as I saw Mr. Raines skin begin to melt off, “I’ll let people know you didn’t kill Bonnie!”
“I’ll let people know you didn’t… Kill… Liam!” Mr. Raines’ voice called back, him thrashing around with Mrs. Larson as he said my brother’s name in my voice.
I turned back and kicked the front door open, rushing Kate out of the burning cabin. I ran until I got far enough from the smoke, turning back to see all three cabins now on fire, the area around them all ablaze. The only place untouched was Mrs. Larson’s house, all the evidence remaining. I could hear sirens in the distance coming closer. The sounds of shouts from the surviving officers sounding much closer.
“I’m here… I’m here… I’m here…”
I looked to the front porch of Mrs. Larson’s house where her recorder continued to call out for her sister. I set Kate down at the base of a nearby tree and ran to snatch the recorder, shutting it off. I searched around, looking for any signs of Prudence, but it appeared that the fire and the sounds of sirens and voices had scared her off. I ran back to Kate, her eyes closed and her not responding to me calling to her, but after checking her pulse and breathing, I found that the medication Mrs. Larson had given her had finally taken over and she was now fast asleep, the rifle Mr. Raines gave her still sitting on her rhythmically rising and falling stomach.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I leaned against the same tree I set Kate down on and slid down to the ground next to her. The first two cabins were already practically nothing but ash, the last still blazing as I heard the slowly fading screams of Mrs. Larson and Mr. Raines coming from inside.
When the screaming ended all together, the smoke turning blacker as it rose from the flames, I got to my feet and took out my pack of cigarettes as I approached the fires, staying far enough away not to get burned. I opened the pack up before stopping myself as I reached for one of the ten remaining cigarettes inside. I then flung the entire carton into the fires without taking one.
“Save one for me down there, you old bastard,” I told Mr. Raines before making my way back to Kate’s side.
It wasn’t long before the remaining officers found us, looking in confusion at the fires and to me with a sleeping victim in a homicide case on the ground. I told them we’d need to call an ambulance for Kate and that we needed to keep the flames from getting to Mrs. Larson’s house as it held evidence on the case. One officer retrieved his radio and called for an ambulance while a group ran to the house and another went to try controlling the fire as best they could by yanking out any bushes near by and throwing them away from the area around the house.
Luckily, the fire trucks were called long before the fire spread too far, residence noticing it practically the moment Mr. Raines set the first cabin on fire.
As I sat there, keeping Kate held up against the tree we sat under, I listened to the crackling of the fire, the sirens of fast approaching fire trucks and the ambulance, and the sounds of distance, coyote, almost human, howling.

I’m leaving the org at the end of summer. I’ll finally be financially ready. I have my letter for social services ready. I’m mailing it Monday. I have three career choices in mind as well. My mom/legal guardian is an Uber PIMI.
The woman who studied with me is in her 90s and her daughter asked me to stay with her in 12 hour shifts (7 pm to 7 am) The thing is I actually stay more than 12 hours. I’m there from 7 pm to 9 am. When the next person comes to relieve me. They only pay me $50.
I did not want to do it. They use people in the congregation so they don’t have to take care of their own mother. I said no when she asked but my mom told me I owed the woman who studied with me. Then went on about how selfish I was. I just took it to shut her up. I should have stuck to my guns. On top of that…they offered $75 but my motheguardian told them to pay me $50. Plus there are days the daughter forgets to pay me but I kindly wait until next week.
I let her know last week I’d be quitting in August. I don’t want to do this anymore - period. Whether I get placed in a group home or not… I don’t want to sit with this woman. Am I wrong? Am I selfish? Do I owe her? Tell me and I’ll stand corrected.
Her elder son lives right next door + her granddaughter lives 10 minutes away. The daughter is making a big deal about me quitting. “How am I going to find someone to replace you?” — Easy! One of the family members can do it. It’s a lot I’m leaving out of context but just understand the family is lousy. She won’t stop nagging me. I muted notifications from her on my phone.
They don’t understand what they ask people to do is a lot. I got bit by a snake and almost attacked by a wild animal since I’ve been working for her. I also told her that a neighbor I briefly did elder care for paid me $600 a week for the 2 weeks they needed me. She said I’m not in a position to ask for a raise.

Ok, so for context, my (49M) sister (51F) has a 22-year-old son. My nephew's dad and my sister were not married, only dating, and they broke up after your nephew was born. Now your nephew's dad is a very wealthy man and was able to provide your nephew and his other kids with a very lavish lifestyle. My nephew grew up very rich. He went to a very expensive private school, always had very expensive designer clothes from head to toe, had a chauffeur, was well traveled, et cetera. My nephew's dad paid $20,000 a month in child support and while this might seem like a lot, my nephew's father is very wealthy and this wasn't much for him. This gave my sister a comfortable life after my nephew was born.
My sister remarried and her husband quit his job to live off my sister's child support since it was enough to support them and their new family but they were very irresponsible with their money, always blowing it on stuff, not saving and investing, and my sister always had a problem with my nephew's life. I love my nephew. He's a very humble young man and I'm so happy that he never had to stuggle and that he's lived an extremely privileged life (especially since we are people of color) and he will never have to stuggle but he is very spoiled and out of touch.
Like I said, he's basically a spoiled rich kid, a trust fund baby (which on the surface isn't bad), but my sister had a problem with it. She didn't like the fact that he went to an extremely expensive private school and that all his friends came from very wealthy families. She didn't like his designer clothes or his lavish lifestyle. When my nephew turned 18, he stopped seeing his mother, went to an expensive college for rich kids and basically had no contact with his mom. My sister also doesn't like my nephew's girlfriend (27F), who also comes from an extremely wealthy family, and my sister doesn't like her for this reason; she wanted him to date a girl who came from a lower-class, working-class, or middle-class background, not an upper-class one. After my nephew turned 18, he went without contact with his mom, and this was very bad for my sister. Remember how I said she was very irresponsible with the money?
Well, since she's not getting child support anymore, they were beginning to really struggle financially, and they ran out of all the money and my nephew's dad won't financially support her anymore. My sister and her husband have teen sons. My sister feels like her son should financially support them and his teen brothers. Like I said, my nephew has a very large trust fund and could easily support his mom and their family, but he chooses not to. I don't agree with this at all.
What did Uncle Ben say? "With great power comes great responsibility." My nephew was born to an extremely wealthy man, which obviously makes him very wealthy. By association, my nephew lives a very privileged lifestyle and has a lot of money and power. With that power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is using that money to take care of his family.
He has the power to financially support his mother, his stepfather, and his stepbrothers, and because he has that power, he has a moral obligation to help them. I'm not going to sit here and defend my sister and act like she was the greatest person. She didn't like her ex-boyfriends and her son's lavish, wealthy lifestyle, but at the same time, she was more than willing to live off them and the very large child support because they were irresponsible with the money. They are in trouble but that doesn't change the fact that my nephew should help her. What do you think?
TLDR: My (49M) nephew (22M) won’t help his mother (51F) What should I do?

Ok, so for context, my (49M) sister (51F) has a 22-year-old son. My nephew's dad and my sister were not married, only dating, and they broke up after your nephew was born. Now your nephew's dad is a very wealthy man and was able to provide your nephew and his other kids with a very lavish lifestyle. My nephew grew up very rich. He went to a very expensive private school, always had very expensive designer clothes from head to toe, had a chauffeur, was well traveled, et cetera. My nephew's dad paid $20,000 a month in child support and while this might seem like a lot, my nephew's father is very wealthy and this wasn't much for him. This gave my sister a comfortable life after my nephew was born.
My sister remarried and her husband quit his job to live off my sister's child support since it was enough to support them and their new family but they were very irresponsible with their money, always blowing it on stuff, not saving and investing, and my sister always had a problem with my nephew's life. I love my nephew. He's a very humble young man and I'm so happy that he never had to stuggle and that he's lived an extremely privileged life (especially since we are people of color) and he will never have to stuggle but he is very spoiled and out of touch.
Like I said, he's basically a spoiled rich kid, a trust fund baby (which on the surface isn't bad), but my sister had a problem with it. She didn't like the fact that he went to an extremely expensive private school and that all his friends came from very wealthy families. She didn't like his designer clothes or his lavish lifestyle. When my nephew turned 18, he stopped seeing his mother, went to an expensive college for rich kids and basically had no contact with his mom. My sister also doesn't like my nephew's girlfriend (27F), who also comes from an extremely wealthy family, and my sister doesn't like her for this reason; she wanted him to date a girl who came from a lower-class, working-class, or middle-class background, not an upper-class one. After my nephew turned 18, he went without contact with his mom, and this was very bad for my sister. Remember how I said she was very irresponsible with the money?
Well, since she's not getting child support anymore, they were beginning to really struggle financially, and they ran out of all the money and my nephew's dad won't financially support her anymore. My sister and her husband have teen sons. My sister feels like her son should financially support them and his teen brothers. Like I said, my nephew has a very large trust fund and could easily support his mom and their family, but he chooses not to. I don't agree with this at all.
What did Uncle Ben say? "With great power comes great responsibility." My nephew was born to an extremely wealthy man, which obviously makes him very wealthy. By association, my nephew lives a very privileged lifestyle and has a lot of money and power. With that power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is using that money to take care of his family.
He has the power to financially support his mother, his stepfather, and his stepbrothers, and because he has that power, he has a moral obligation to help them. I'm not going to sit here and defend my sister and act like she was the greatest person. She didn't like her ex-boyfriends and her son's lavish, wealthy lifestyle, but at the same time, she was more than willing to live off them and the very large child support because they were irresponsible with the money. They are in trouble but that doesn't change the fact that my nephew should help her. What do you think?

I’m a FTM (first time mom) and I’ve been in a flare up since 12 weeks. I’ve been miserable my mesalamine pills aren’t even working anymore. My GI said it’s from the hormones of being pregnant. I’m in the navy so if I switch to biologics I’ll lose my career. But at this point I’m more concerned for my son’s health and mine. I’m just at a cross roads as to what to do.

Ok, so for context, my (49M) sister (51F) has a 22-year-old son. My nephew's dad and my sister were not married, only dating, and they broke up after your nephew was born. Now your nephew's dad is a very wealthy man and was able to provide your nephew and his other kids with a very lavish lifestyle. My nephew grew up very rich. He went to a very expensive private school, always had very expensive designer clothes from head to toe, had a chauffeur, was well traveled, et cetera. My nephew's dad paid $20,000 a month in child support and while this might seem like a lot, my nephew's father is very wealthy and this wasn't much for him. This gave my sister a comfortable life after my nephew was born.
My sister remarried and her husband quit his job to live off my sister's child support since it was enough to support them and their new family but they were very irresponsible with their money, always blowing it on stuff, not saving and investing, and my sister always had a problem with my nephew's life. I love my nephew. He's a very humble young man and I'm so happy that he never had to stuggle and that he's lived an extremely privileged life (especially since we are people of color) and he will never have to stuggle but he is very spoiled and out of touch.
Like I said, he's basically a spoiled rich kid, a trust fund baby (which on the surface isn't bad), but my sister had a problem with it. She didn't like the fact that he went to an extremely expensive private school and that all his friends came from very wealthy families. She didn't like his designer clothes or his lavish lifestyle. When my nephew turned 18, he stopped seeing his mother, went to an expensive college for rich kids and basically had no contact with his mom. My sister also doesn't like my nephew's girlfriend (27F), who also comes from an extremely wealthy family, and my sister doesn't like her for this reason; she wanted him to date a girl who came from a lower-class, working-class, or middle-class background, not an upper-class one. After my nephew turned 18, he went without contact with his mom, and this was very bad for my sister. Remember how I said she was very irresponsible with the money?
Well, since she's not getting child support anymore, they were beginning to really struggle financially, and they ran out of all the money and my nephew's dad won't financially support her anymore. My sister and her husband have teen sons. My sister feels like her son should financially support them and his teen brothers. Like I said, my nephew has a very large trust fund and could easily support his mom and their family, but he chooses not to. I don't agree with this at all.
What did Uncle Ben say? "With great power comes great responsibility." My nephew was born to an extremely wealthy man, which obviously makes him very wealthy. By association, my nephew lives a very privileged lifestyle and has a lot of money and power. With that power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is using that money to take care of his family.
He has the power to financially support his mother, his stepfather, and his stepbrothers, and because he has that power, he has a moral obligation to help them. I'm not going to sit here and defend my sister and act like she was the greatest person. She didn't like her ex-boyfriends and her son's lavish, wealthy lifestyle, but at the same time, she was more than willing to live off them and the very large child support because they were irresponsible with the money. They are in trouble but that doesn't change the fact that my nephew should help her. What do you think?

Ok, so for context, my (49M) sister (51F) has a 22-year-old son. My nephew's dad and my sister were not married, only dating, and they broke up after your nephew was born. Now your nephew's dad is a very wealthy man and was able to provide your nephew and his other kids with a very lavish lifestyle. My nephew grew up very rich. He went to a very expensive private school, always had very expensive designer clothes from head to toe, had a chauffeur, was well traveled, et cetera. My nephew's dad paid $20,000 a month in child support and while this might seem like a lot, my nephew's father is very wealthy and this wasn't much for him. This gave my sister a comfortable life after my nephew was born.
My sister remarried and her husband quit his job to live off my sister's child support since it was enough to support them and their new family but they were very irresponsible with their money, always blowing it on stuff, not saving and investing, and my sister always had a problem with my nephew's life. I love my nephew. He's a very humble young man and I'm so happy that he never had to stuggle and that he's lived an extremely privileged life (especially since we are people of color) and he will never have to stuggle but he is very spoiled and out of touch.
Like I said, he's basically a spoiled rich kid, a trust fund baby (which on the surface isn't bad), but my sister had a problem with it. She didn't like the fact that he went to an extremely expensive private school and that all his friends came from very wealthy families. She didn't like his designer clothes or his lavish lifestyle. When my nephew turned 18, he stopped seeing his mother, went to an expensive college for rich kids and basically had no contact with his mom. My sister also doesn't like my nephew's girlfriend (27F), who also comes from an extremely wealthy family, and my sister doesn't like her for this reason; she wanted him to date a girl who came from a lower-class, working-class, or middle-class background, not an upper-class one. After my nephew turned 18, he went without contact with his mom, and this was very bad for my sister. Remember how I said she was very irresponsible with the money?
Well, since she's not getting child support anymore, they were beginning to really struggle financially, and they ran out of all the money and my nephew's dad won't financially support her anymore. My sister and her husband have teen sons. My sister feels like her son should financially support them and his teen brothers. Like I said, my nephew has a very large trust fund and could easily support his mom and their family, but he chooses not to. I don't agree with this at all.
What did Uncle Ben say? "With great power comes great responsibility." My nephew was born to an extremely wealthy man, which obviously makes him very wealthy. By association, my nephew lives a very privileged lifestyle and has a lot of money and power. With that power comes great responsibility, and that responsibility is using that money to take care of his family.
He has the power to financially support his mother, his stepfather, and his stepbrothers, and because he has that power, he has a moral obligation to help them. I'm not going to sit here and defend my sister and act like she was the greatest person. She didn't like her ex-boyfriends and her son's lavish, wealthy lifestyle, but at the same time, she was more than willing to live off them and the very large child support because they were irresponsible with the money. They are in trouble but that doesn't change the fact that my nephew should help her. What do you think?

I had to go to the grocery store today. Was running out of food for the dog, short on milk and just needed some things. I haven't been out for a month because of my step dad.
I can't trust my step dad. He will just sit and watch TV while I am gone. He has dementia and 85 years old. Not too long ago he went outside in the shed. He slipped and fell. I didn't know he was outside he never tells me. His son came by for dinner and found him while I was outside vaping. I did walk around looking for him but just in the wrong places. But anyway I got out today because my step sister in law came by for awhile to keep an eye on him.
I went to Weis grocery store. While I was shopping I was getting my cat her canned cat food. It was taking me awhile because looking for different food for her I didn't find. I look up and this older guy is just standing there waiting for me. I told this guy he should have said something and I moved out of the way. We got talking about our cats. He has like fifteen plus cats that he takes care of, I have one. But I have my cat for a reason I believe
First of all I have had two cats. My first cat was about 18 years ago. She was a black cat that my neighbors supposedly were taking care of. My neighbors back then, at least the guy, were jerks. The father laid out in the sun in his bikini bottom and didn't do anything all weekend. I felt sorry for his wife and kids. They always had cats running around outside. This black cat came to me one day and I found some food for her. She kept coming back. She became my best friend.
I went through some very hard times. I even thought of suicide. You know what kept me from doing it? My cat Midnight. Just seemed like everytime she came to me I had peace. I go out for a cigarette she would come to me without me calling her. She would come because she knew I needed her. A few times she was sitting right outside the door. When she passed away she was in my arms. She was like my best friend, an angel at that. I really do believe God sent her to be my friend.
Then about a couple weeks before she passed away she ended up getting under the porch. We had a board off because we had to do plumbing work under there years ago and Midnight liked going under there in the winter. Now we had to get her out so she didn't just die. When we did we kept her inside and took care of her. A few days after this calico cat, her name is Reese, walks up to me outside. She's rubbing my legs and meowing. She just followed me inside. I kept her in my room until Midnight passed on. Now she is all over and a climber. My mom passed on a year later from pancreatic cancer. A lot of other crap happened in that year and if God hadn't brought Reese before Midnight passed on I don't know where I would be today.
I believe everything happens for a reason and what we decide changes our future. That's why we need to make sure we stay on a good path and not a bad one. Personally I don't think we need to try to be perfect because that's impossible but use common sense. There is always a better way and having faith is what helps you to get there. Sometimes we just need a little help and we get a friend

Hey Cortney,

 First off I love your channel. I always watch your videos before bed as they help me relax. I know, I know, what psychopath can relax after some of the stories you read? It’s not really the story itself, it’s more like your voice is calming. Anyway onto my story. I have had many paranormal experiences, since childhood. I am an empath and I’m very sensitive to the living and the dead. Sometimes to things that were never human as well. However, this experience almost made me shit my pants. I was watching paranormal YouTube videos, as well as a few from your channel. I had seen a few where the kids call their mom “mother” instead of the usual “momma” or “mommy”. Usually because it’s not actually the child that’s speaking. As my eyes began to have trouble staying open, I turned off my phone and started to drift off the sleep. I heard my bedroom door open just before I knocked out. Figuring it was one of my 3 children, I huffed and asked what they needed. I heard my youngest son, 5, say “momma I don’t feel good.” I asked what was wrong, still struggling to stay awake. That is until he said “Mother, Mimi is going to die tonight.” In a voice that sounded like him and a grown man were talking in sync. I shot bolt upright in my bed and turned to look at my son. This thing was not him. It was the same size and shape but completely black and featureless. Kind of like his shadow would look if it could stand up off the floor. It giggled and ran out of my room back to the room he shares with his older brother. I stared at my open bedroom door, frozen. I knew I couldn’t just sit there, and hell if I was going to sleep. I got up, walked down the hall and opened their bedroom door. They were both passed out, mouths open, obviously in a deep sleep. The shadow creature had disappeared. I went back to my bedroom, grabbed my phone and called my mom (their Mimi). I had to call 3 times before she picked up. Understandable at 3:45 am. She sounded like she had been in a deep sleep also. I told her I was sorry I woke her up, then explained what had just happened. She said “unless a full bladder is going to kill me, I am fine.” I said ok and told her goodnight and sorry again that I woke her up. She said it was fine, she was going to the bathroom then back to bed. I felt a little better knowing my mom was ok, but still uneasy about the shadow child demon thing that had just impersonated my son. However, once I calmed down, I realized I was too tired to stay awake. No matter how creeped out I was. I was trying to get comfortable when my phone started ringing, making my heart almost leap out of my throat. It was my mom, panicking I picked up. I asked her what happened, was everything ok. She told me to calm down, everything was fine. She called me to tell me that as she walked to the bathroom, she smelled something funny. Turns out her gas stove had been left on. She said her and her boyfriend had been out late. They hadn’t gotten home till close to 2am. She made him some food, took a shower and laid down. Due to her being so tired, the stove must have not been turned all the way off. Even though the flame had died, the gas itself was still running for almost 2 hours. She said if I hadn’t called, they may have passed in their sleep due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Or even worse. Her boyfriend always smokes a cigarette in the morning before work, while he has his coffee. The whole trailer could’ve exploded with them inside. I don’t know why or how, but I think a demon/shadow creature saved my mom’s life. I just wish it didn’t have to use my son and scare the living crap out of me to do it. Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed. I have a lot more stories I can post if you want to read them. 

As a mom of a 7 year old, I’m always looking for games that I can play with my son. This had quickly become our favorite and I was bummed when the drama started.
My son was one of the players who logged on almost every weekend to keep playing.
After the patch there were some tears over lost furniture and costumes, and needing to restart - but it gives us excuses to play some more.
He spent last night getting started and spent a good portion of time walking up and down the stairs and chatting with the villagers.
It was easy to join his game and played smoothly.
I know I’m in the minority here preferring single player and co-op, but I love that he can play safely without me being as worried about the random strangers on the internet.
I’ve seen that some airship people sometimes read and comment on these posts, so I just want to say thank you to them. My son and I love playing this game and have had a lot of fun bonding time in skylight. So glad we’ll get to continue.
Wishlist from the 7 year old: - bring back Christmas! He misses the snow globe, ice spider, and Christmas decorations in his house. - we miss our snow Angel and snowball emotes. - he wants to be able to sit in the chairs and sleep in the bed. - keep being awesome!
We haven’t unlocked Grendel yet, but he is very excited to get him.

I (M20), and a couple of months ago, my ex from high school showed up at my apartment out of the blue. I hadn’t seen her in three years. She moved away right before graduation, and I never got a clear reason why. We broke up because long-distance seemed impossible with all the uncertainty.
When she arrived, she had a toddler with her. She told me he’s my son and that he’s two years old. I was completely blindsided. She explained that her parents had forced her to move away because they found out she was pregnant and didn’t want her to have the baby while still in high school. They also wanted her to keep it a secret from me because they didn't think I was "responsible enough."
I did a DNA test to confirm, and the kid is mine. Since finding out, I’ve been reeling from this revelation. I don’t know how to feel or what to do. On one hand, I feel an immense sense of loss for not having known about my son for these two years and missing out on so much. On the other hand, I’m also really angry at her and her parents for keeping this from me. I understand she was under a lot of pressure, but I feel like I should have had a say or at least known.
She says she wants me to be involved now, but I’m not sure how to proceed. I’m a full-time college student working part-time, and the idea of suddenly being a father is overwhelming. I want to do the right thing, but I also feel like I was robbed of the choice and the chance to prepare for this.
Update: Over the weekend, I spoke with my parents about the situation. They were shocked but supportive. My mom cried, mostly because she was upset about missing out on her grandson's early years, but they both assured me they would help in any way they could. We spent the weekend with my son, and it was overwhelming but also kind of amazing. He’s a sweet kid, and I felt this unexpected bond with him.