Podcasts about dad

Did your Christmas go exactly as planned? Ours was… memorable! In this episode of the Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast, Matt and Ila sit down to recap the chaos and joy of the holiday season. From the sugar cookie highs to the "Zero. Wow." moments, we break down our favorite gifts (including a very specific spoon) and how our family traditions are evolving as the kids get older. Plus, we dive into the ultimate holiday escape: The Sims 4. Whether you're looking for a laugh about parenting, curious about our holiday trivia results, or just want to hang out, this episode is packed with festive family vibes. In This Episode: The Christmas Recap: What went right, what went wrong, and the magic of small moments. Gaming Break: Why The Sims 4 is our go-to escape during chaotic times. Gift Talk: The joy of personalized gifts and the best presents of 2025. ‍ Dad & Daughter Chats: Navigating family dynamics and making memories. Quote of the Episode: "I had a sugar cookie." About the Beard Laws Network The Beard Laws Network is home to weekly shows covering true crime, conspiracies, family-life comedy, sports legends, and strange local history. New episodes drop every week from: Yore Town Podcast (True Crime) – Mondays Watch the Series Here TTT Podcast (Conspiracies) – Tuesdays Watch the Series Here Stay Outta My Fridge (Family Comedy) – Thursdays Watch the Series Here Street Sign Storytime (Local Lore) – Sundays Watch the Series Here Subscribe to never miss an episode! Listen to Full Episodes & Clips ➜ Beard Laws Network Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLawsNetwork/shorts ➜ Main Beard Laws Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLaws Follow on Socials TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more → https://linktr.ee/beardlaws Support the Show Like, comment, and share this episode — it helps the Network grow a TON! Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Holiday Reflections 12:18 Christmas Recap and Favorite Moments 22:23 Sims 4 Adventures and Trivia Don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to The Beard Laws Network for all your non-beard related podcasts and shows! New episodes of STAY OUTTA MY FRIDGE drop every Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @beardlaws Hit that subscribe button for more best sports moments podcast episodes, fun food reviews, and family-friendly content! Friends of the show: Live Bearded - https://livebearded.com Yellow Leaf Hammocks - https://www.yellowleafhammocks.com/products/the-vista Shinesty - https://shinesty.com/?ref=beardlaws Want your fridge roasted? Share your weirdest item in the comments for a future Fridge Detective segment! Like, share, and subscribe to join the Stay Outta My Fridge community! Your support helps us grow! Stay curious with Beard Laws Studio—Stay Outta My Fridge: Your go-to for family entertainment! Listen to Full Episodes & Clips ➜ Beard Laws Network Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLawsNetwork/shorts ➜ Main Beard Laws Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLaws Follow on Socials TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more → https://linktr.ee/beardlaws Support the Show Like, comment, and share this episode — it helps the Network grow a TON! #StayOuttaMyFridge #ChristmasRecap #FamilyPodcast #Sims4 #DadLife #HolidayTraditions If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app! It's the best way to help our family show reach more people.This has been The Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast, your source for family comedy, snack reviews, and '90s nostalgia.Find us on social media The Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast is a part of the Bleav Network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You can also find the video version of this episode on our YouTube channel here: "What's Going on in Morocco Right Now: Travel Updates from Marrakech"Learn about the latest goings-on in Morocco, direct from the source: Azdean shares with us what tourism is like right now in Marrakech and beyond, as he calls in direct from the red city. Our conversation today includes a summary of a group tour from Casablanca to Fez, driving down to Merzouga desert, through Dadès Valley and over the mountains to Marrakech. Along the way, the group stopped at a unique and secret cave dwelling, still inhabited, although at least a little modernized! And a look at how to make dietary requests and come prepared when you travel here. Remember, on a tour your tour director will help make sure that ingredients and special supplies are accounted for, since Merzouga and the villages along the way are certainly quite isolated. Which is of course part of the attraction!Azdean is there, on the ground as the African Cup completes its setup: there are football fans everywhere, and media from around the world there to cover the event. As we enter 2026, we look at how busy the country expects to be, and why it may in fact be the best time to visit, because it's only going to get busier as the football World Cup approaches, and even more attention is focused on Morocco. Things are busy, but you can still get in before the crowds get even heavier.Azdean even took a direct flight from Atlanta to Marrakech, thanks to the new service from Delta Airlines. With multiple options from the US and Canada to Casablanca and/or Marrakech, travel to Morocco is becoming even easier.This is a special episode for us: although we've done some extra bonus episodes and live q&a replays, we consider this one to be our official 100th episode! Thank you to our wonderful listeners and viewers who have been there on this nearly four year journey, we're proud to be the trailblazing podcast for travel in Morocco, and are excited for more great topics and guests to come in the new year!Do you dream of exploring the enchanting land of Morocco?Destination Morocco is your ultimate travel experience for those seeking luxury and adventure. We specialize in crafting bespoke itineraries tailored to your unique tastes and desires.If you're a discerning traveler who values an immersive, curated adventure, visit www.destinationsmorocco.com, and let us bring your dream Moroccan vacation to life.Learn more about Azdean and Destination Morocco.Explore our Private Tours and Small Group Tours!

While out for an evening walk, Maddie, Triggs and Dad meet a little bat who's lost! As Brigid tells them all about how she uses sound to get around, Maddie and Triggs make some bat noises of their own as they take flight and help Brigid find her way back home.

In today's story, a little boy runs out of many things and wonders if everything in the world runs out! So, is there something he finds that doesn't run out?Let's listen to the story and find out.Free activity sheet available at www.rituvaish.com/infinite-loveSend your artwork to rituvaish@gmail.com.TranscriptInfinite LoveChildren, we run out of many things during our day, but is there something you cannot run out of?Ravin, a happy five-year-old boy, lived with his parents, his grandmother, and his older sister. They always helped one another, and their home overflowed with love.Every night at bedtime, Grandma read Ravin a lovely storybook and reminded him, “Always keep loving everyone.”One night, Ravin asked thoughtfully, “You tell me to love everyone, Grandma. But if I keep giving love, won't my love finish one day?”Grandma smiled gently and said, “No, my dear. Love never finishes, no matter how much you give.”The next day was Sunday. Ravin went to the playground early in the morning and began playing a game of cricket with his friends. It was great fun, but the sun was shining brightly, and soon Ravin felt very thirsty. He gulped down all the water from his bottle. After some time, his throat felt dry again.He picked up his bottle and exclaimed, “Oh no! I've run out of water!”One of his friends heard him and quickly shared his own water. Ravin felt loved. He thanked his friend.Children, when do you feel loved?That's great.Now listen aheadWhen Ravin returned home, he had to work on a project due on Monday—Best Out of Waste. Before starting, he rushed to the bathroom for a refreshing shower. As he pressed the shower gel bottle, he cried out, “Oh no! The shower gel has finished!”“Mom! Dad!” he called.His father came and handed him a new bottle of shower gel. Ravin felt loved again—clean, fresh, and happy. He thanked his fatherSoon, he spread out paper rolls, soap boxes, bottle caps, and other waste materials to make a sculpture of the Himalayan ranges. But no matter how hard he tried, the mountains wouldn't stand. Ravin felt disappointed and was running out of ideas.Seeing his worried face, his mother said gently, “Why don't you support the mountains with something?”Ravin's eyes lit up. “Thanks for this great idea mom!”He ran to the garden, collected some wooden sticks, and soon his mountains stood tall. He planned to cover the mountains with brown paper and add tiny trees. Excited, as he squeezed the glue bottle, he exclaimed, “Oh no! I've run out of glue!”His older sister, who was working on her own assignment, rushed over and shared her glue with him. Once again, Ravin felt loved. He thanked his sister.The sculpture was finally ready, and Ravin was delighted.After Grandma finished reading the bedtime story, she asked, “How was your day, Ravin?”Ravin smiled and said, “Oh Grandma, I felt so loved today. I ran out of water, shower gel, ideas, and glue—but I never ran out of love.”Grandma hugged him, knowing her lesson had come true.       

Did your Christmas go exactly as planned? Ours was… memorable! In this episode of the Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast, Matt and Ila sit down to recap the chaos and joy of the holiday season. From the sugar cookie highs to the "Zero. Wow." moments, we break down our favorite gifts (including a very specific spoon) and how our family traditions are evolving as the kids get older. Plus, we dive into the ultimate holiday escape: The Sims 4. Whether you're looking for a laugh about parenting, curious about our holiday trivia results, or just want to hang out, this episode is packed with festive family vibes. In This Episode: The Christmas Recap: What went right, what went wrong, and the magic of small moments. Gaming Break: Why The Sims 4 is our go-to escape during chaotic times. Gift Talk: The joy of personalized gifts and the best presents of 2025. ‍ Dad & Daughter Chats: Navigating family dynamics and making memories. Quote of the Episode: "I had a sugar cookie." About the Beard Laws Network The Beard Laws Network is home to weekly shows covering true crime, conspiracies, family-life comedy, sports legends, and strange local history. New episodes drop every week from: Yore Town Podcast (True Crime) – Mondays Watch the Series Here TTT Podcast (Conspiracies) – Tuesdays Watch the Series Here Stay Outta My Fridge (Family Comedy) – Thursdays Watch the Series Here Street Sign Storytime (Local Lore) – Sundays Watch the Series Here Subscribe to never miss an episode! Listen to Full Episodes & Clips ➜ Beard Laws Network Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLawsNetwork/shorts ➜ Main Beard Laws Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLaws Follow on Socials TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more → https://linktr.ee/beardlaws Support the Show Like, comment, and share this episode — it helps the Network grow a TON! Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Holiday Reflections 12:18 Christmas Recap and Favorite Moments 22:23 Sims 4 Adventures and Trivia Don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to The Beard Laws Network for all your non-beard related podcasts and shows! New episodes of STAY OUTTA MY FRIDGE drop every Thursday! Follow us on Instagram: @beardlaws Hit that subscribe button for more best sports moments podcast episodes, fun food reviews, and family-friendly content! Friends of the show: Live Bearded - https://livebearded.com Yellow Leaf Hammocks - https://www.yellowleafhammocks.com/products/the-vista Shinesty - https://shinesty.com/?ref=beardlaws Want your fridge roasted? Share your weirdest item in the comments for a future Fridge Detective segment! Like, share, and subscribe to join the Stay Outta My Fridge community! Your support helps us grow! Stay curious with Beard Laws Studio—Stay Outta My Fridge: Your go-to for family entertainment! Listen to Full Episodes & Clips ➜ Beard Laws Network Shorts: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLawsNetwork/shorts ➜ Main Beard Laws Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BeardLaws Follow on Socials TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more → https://linktr.ee/beardlaws Support the Show Like, comment, and share this episode — it helps the Network grow a TON! #StayOuttaMyFridge #ChristmasRecap #FamilyPodcast #Sims4 #DadLife #HolidayTraditions If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast app! It's the best way to help our family show reach more people.This has been The Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast, your source for family comedy, snack reviews, and '90s nostalgia.Find us on social media The Stay Outta My Fridge Podcast is a part of the Bleav Network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As has become the tradition, Andrew quizzes Vieves on some of the highlights from the last year of shows as they both repeatedly pat themselves on the back for their past hilariousness. Here are links to the ads we talked about in this week's show: Draft Kings - Big Fantasy Baby https://www.ispot.tv/ad/fj_a/draftkings-fantasy-big-baby Quilted Northern - Sir Froggy https://www.ispot.tv/ad/Arzp/quilted-northern-sir-froggy Halos - Brakes https://youtu.be/TZ2MqeR7N7U?si=29_kIbRyGlZiLzN3 Kohl's - Dad's Acceptance Speech https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AblZ/kohls-dads-oscars-acceptance-speech PNC Bank: Time Machine https://www.ispot.tv/ad/fUS4/pnc-financial-services-time-machine PayDay - Salty Sweet https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AjZV/payday-salty-covered-sweetness-customer-service Cox Communications - Cool mom https://youtu.be/0QI5R9_ngXg?si=hP40xaP8IiCVaRHO Casa Santa Fe https://youtu.be/UeEbnWRdl_w Navy Federal: Wedding https://www.ispot.tv/ad/BZUv/navy-federal-credit-union-wedding Geico - Incognito https://www.ispot.tv/ad/T3fQ/geico-incognito Peacock TV: “Standing” https://www.ispot.tv/ad/f0SG/peacock-tv-standing FOX NFL - Tom Brady https://youtu.be/KffXrGVAU0w?si=tbFxKQzAAcyI_8nV Tide Stick - Talking Stain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocurs9KLC0Q Royal Kingdom - Acting School https://www.ispot.tv/ad/TNNc/royal-kingdom-acting-school-featuring-kevin-hart Sears - Dinner Party https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7UVZ/sears-dinner-party NJM Insurance - Snowman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90RumkSomQ

Enhancing Family Digital Security   In this episode of The Secure Family Podcast, host Andy discusses digital security for families with Gary Ornstein, Chief Customer Officer at Bitwarden. They cover the importance of strong, unique passwords, the benefits of using password managers and two-factor authentication, and practical steps for improving digital safety. Gary highlights the mission of Bitwarden to provide security for all, regardless of financial means.   For more from Gary and Bitwarden: https://bitwarden.com/  Take control of your data with DeleteMe. Because they sponsor the podcast you can get 20% off a privacy plan from DeleteMe with promo code: DAD.  Connect

Send us a textHappy New Year!!!  (12/31/25)This is podcast Season #4, episode #146Get Help Dad Podcast with Bad jokes and tips and tricks to make your life  alittle bit better.Instagram: get.help.dad.podcastTiktok: @get.help.dad.podYoutube: Get Help Dad PodcastFYI: You are a great parent!!You can send in your own parenting advice, Dad topics, tell us where you are listening from or lawn care advice to gethelpdad@gmail.com.  We are excited to hear from you.  Please let us know your Name, City/Country you are from.  The Eagles are SuperBowl Champions, Again!!!!

A black hole threatening to consume humanity, an "un-proposal" that broke our hearts, and Max on the cusp of escaping Vecna's mind—and YOU had SO MUCH to say about all of it! "Escape From Camazotz" delivered some of the most emotionally devastating and mind-bending moments of the season, and our inbox absolutely exploded with your reactions, theories, and brilliant breakdowns. The post TSTP 78- Listener Feedback for Escape From Camazotz appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine! Welcome back to another round with three brothers from the same mother and father! Tonight, we declare Huh? What? Quack?, shash, the last episode of the year, he has all the toys, hello Cat, I can dig the D&D fidget, ad nauseum, he has two little swords, Batu Jakku, let go let go let go, whip it good, Alex had 3 fert Christmases, Step-Brothers,  Costco ramen, tisket a tasket I got a basket, Slingz game, fiesta themed, and I'm an Adult, traveling in a diaper, drink said Gatorade and recycle, making that bread, you had me at compound butter, Ticket to Ride, made a scromlett, Final Fantasy Tactics rides again, a new obsession, a "modest" collection, we're a Coca-Cola family, fitting aesthetics, it's been a year, life's fantastic - made of plastic, thank you Chat, time with the family, Topgolf and lots of sushi, speaking of reading, calling out smarthome support, human resource bots, Chris Farley and Chip and Dales, we made that and I don't want it, he sorta wore a mustache, a pain in the butt to clean, gripe, and a single Dad joke to light your way into the New Year! All this and a smattering of Kitty intrusions on this week's episode of Brothers in Arms!   Where you can reach us: YouTube: BrothersinArmsPodcast Instagram: Yourbrothersinarmspodcast Twitter: @YourBIAPodcast Gmail: yourbrothersinarmspodcast@gmail.com Twitch: Twitch.tv/brothersinarmspodcast (schedule varies due to life) Website: https://brothersinarms.podbean.com

NOTAS DE ELENAMaterial complementario de la escuela Sabática para adultosNarrado por: Patty CuyanDesde: California, USAUna cortesía de DR'Ministries y Canaan Seventh-Day Adventist ChurchJUEVES, 1° DE ENEROLAS IGLESIAS DE FILIPOS Y COLOSASEn su carta a los colosenses, San Pablo enumera las abundantes bendiciones concedidas a los hijos de Dios. "No cesamos —dice— de orar por vosotros, y de pedir que seáis llenos del conocimiento de su voluntad en toda sabiduría e inteligencia espiritual, para que andéis como es digno del Señor, agradándole en todo, llevando fruto en toda buena obra, y creciendo en el conocimiento de Dios; fortalecidos con todo poder, conforme a la potencia de su gloria, para toda paciencia y longanimidad". Colosenses 1:9-11.Escribe además respecto a su deseo de que los hermanos de Efeso logren comprender la grandeza de los privilegios del cristiano. Les expone en el lenguaje más claro el maravilloso conocimiento y poder que pueden poseer como hijos e hijas del Altísimo. De ellos dependía que fueran "fortalecidos con poder en el hombre interior por su Espíritu", y "arraigados y cimentados en amor", para poder "comprender con todos los santos cuál sea la anchura, la longitud, la profundidad y la altura, y de conocer el amor de Cristo, que excede a todo conocimiento". Pero la oración del apóstol alcanza al apogeo del privilegio cuando ruega que sean "llenos de toda la plenitud de Dios". Efesios 3:16-19. Así se ponen de manifiesto las alturas de la perfección que podemos alcanzar por la fe en las promesas de nuestro Padre celestial, cuando cumplimos con lo que él requiere de nosotros. Por los méritos de Cristo tenemos acceso al trono del Poder Infinito. "El que no escatimó ni a su propio Hijo, sino que lo entregó por todos nosotros, ¿cómo no nos dará también con él todas las cosas?" Romanos 8:32. El Padre dio a su Hijo su Espíritu sin medida, y nosotros podemos participar también de su plenitud... Por medio de Jesús, los hijos caídos de Adán son hechos "hijos de Dios". "Porque el que santifica y los que son santificados, de uno son todos; por lo cual no se avergüenza de llamarlos hermanos". Hebreos 2:11. La vida del cristiano debe ser una vida de fe, de victoria y de gozo en Dios... Con razón declaró Nehemías, el siervo de Dios: "El gozo de Jehová es vuestra fuerza". Nehemías 8:10. Y San Pablo dijo: "Regocijaos en el Señor siempre. Otra vez digo: ¡Regocijaos!" "Estad siempre gozosos. Orad sin cesar. Dad gracias en todo, porque esta es la voluntad de Dios para con vosotros en Cristo Jesús" Filipenses 4:4; 1 Tesalonicenses 5:16-18. Solo en la medida en que la ley de Dios sea repuesta en el lugar que le corresponde habrá un avivamiento de la piedad y fe primitivas entre los que profesan ser su pueblo (Reflejemos a Jesús, 20 de julio, p. 207). VIERNES, 02 DE ENERO: PARA ESTUDIAR Y MEDITAREn los lugares celestiales, "Bendiciones ilimitadas", 31 de mayo, p. 160.El discurso maestro de Jesucristo, "Bienaventurados sois cuando por mi causa os vituperen y os persigan", pp. 30-33. 

Why Tom Hanks Played Walt Disney: The 30-Year Disney Connection Discover the untold story of how Disney strategically built the perfect actor to play its founder. Tom Hanks didn't just get cast as Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks—he was engineered for the role across three decades of calculated partnership. From Splash and Touchstone Pictures to Toy Story and beyond, explore how Disney's synergy with Tom Hanks created the most iconic casting decision in Hollywood history. This is the real reason Tom Hanks became Walt Disney. In This Episode: Why Disney created Touchstone Pictures and cast Tom Hanks How Splash (1984) launched the Tom Hanks era The brilliant Pixar pitch that convinced Hanks to voice Woody How Tom Hanks became "America's Dad" The perfect synergy between actor and founder Why no other actor could have played Walt Disney Subsribe to Synergy Loves Company on YouTube for deep dives into how Disney connects to everything in entertainment, culture, and history. https://www.youtube.com/@SynergyLovesCompany?sub_confirmation=1 Podcast: Listen to Synergy Loves Company → https://synergylovescompany.com Support the Show: Shop official Synergy Loves Company merch → https://shop.synergylovescompany.com Affiliate Disclosure: Some links above may be affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the channel! Connect with Me: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/synergylovescompany Bluesky → https://bsky.app/profile/erichsynergy.bsky.social Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/synergylovescompany Credits / Resources: • Synergy Loves Company is not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company or any of its subsidiaries. • Images and clips are used under fair use for commentary, criticism, and education. This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

My father always said, "Do not speak unless spoken to." That's how I've lived my life. I normally do not start the conversation. Not until I'm spoken to. Dad's rules! In this case Dad has been very very wrong.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

Busted Parents: 2 Stories “Do as we say, not as we did.” Based on a post by yellowjacket66. Listen to the Podcast at my First Time. Her Parents Caught Us Naked But Haley and I discovered their shameful secrets. "I'll rip your fucking dick off; and stuff it down your fucking throat, if you knock-up my daughter." It was Mr. Boyd Summers, the father of my girlfriend Haley. He was very angry. Haley and I, both 18, having recently graduated from high school were sitting in her parents' kitchen listening to the diatribe from Haley's father. Haley spoke up, "Daddy, we're not doing anything like that. Please don't say things like that." Mr. Summers continued, he was drunk and pissed-off. He ranted at me, "Don't you tell me you're not fucking my daughter!" But I hadn't told him I wasn't fucking his daughter; his daughter had. She continued to defend herself. "Daddy, please! Josh and I have not been having sex." Mr. Summers said, "Bull; shit! Don't lie to me, little girl." "I'm not lying." She said. Haley was now crying. Mrs. Summers entered the fray, "Boyd, don't speak like that to your daughter." He said, "She's just a slut! Just like you and your sister." Mrs. Summers ignored the words and calmed him down. "Boyd, sit here! Let your daughter explain herself." Oh boy, this would have to be a good explanation. Mr. Summers sneered, "Okay, explain how you and this asshole” Boyd sneered at me; “Came home naked? What were you doing, reading poetry to each other?" He was drunk and angry. I could see his point, though. Haley and I had showed up at the front door to her house, buck naked. It was a Saturday night in late May, and I had picked her up for a date at 6:30. We left, fully clothed, only to return at 1:30AM, without our clothes. Seeing their slender, beautiful daughter, naked with some kid, had to be an incredible shock to her parents. I walked her  from the driveway to her front door. It was locked because we violated curfew. Haley had knocked on the door and we both retreated to hide behind some shrubs. My plan was to get the hell out of there once Haley had contacted her mother and gotten inside the house. Her mom opened the door, to find no one on the porch. The conversation went like this; "Pist, Mom. Can you get me a coat. I'm cold." Her mother said, "Well come inside. Why are you hiding?" Haley said, "I lost my clothes. Someone stole them." "Where's Josh?" "He's out here too." I had asked her to just go inside and not involve me. It would only make things worse if she were naked and with me. "Does he have clothes on?" Haley answered, "No. They stole his clothes too." That's when Haley's dad came outside. "Helen, Wha da fuckis going on?" He asked. We could tell immediately that he'd been drinking. Haley's mom explained; “Boyd, Haley and her boyfriend were saying their clothes had been stolen.” "Whah dah fuck!" He said. Haley said to me, "Josh, Let's just go to your house." I imagine my mom would be more receptive to me bringing home a naked girl. She probably expected shit like that from me. Haley's mom said, "No. Get in here; both of you!"  "I don't want Daddy to see me naked." Haley protested. Boyd said, "Why not. Probably half the city has seen you naked." Anyone on the block could have heard Boyd announce his daughter's nakedness. He was hot, and getting hotter. But he didn't actually want to see his daughter naked, so he turned and went in the house while Mrs. S got a couple of coats from the closet and handed them to us in the bushes. She gave Haley a long coat, but I had just a short coat that really didn't cover my ass and my dick was sticking out. Having a girl's mother see your cock is not going to create a favorable impression. It was enough to get us in the house. Mrs. S got a pair of her husband's work pants for me, and a sweatshirt. Haley went to her room and put on some clothes. We were hoping that would be the end of it, but Mr. S called her down to the kitchen and told me to sit my ass down. That's when he threatened to cut my dick off and shove it down my throat. He was a big, rough guy, and I believed him. Anyway, Haley and I tried to explain what had happened. She told the story, the G-rated version. "Josh and I went to the movies and afterward we were driving around talking." Partially true, we'd gone to the drive-in where we had necked furiously through the entire movie. Neither of us could remember what the flick was about. I was playing with her naked tits the entire time. She continued, "After the movie, we drove around for a bit. We just like to drive around and talk about things." We were looking for a place to park. It was years ago, before cell-phones and the internet. Haley continued, "You remember the old rock quarry out past Hooverville, where we would swim during the summers." Her mom and dad nodded. "I convinced Josh to go swimming. It was such a nice night and I remembered all the good times when you had taken us there when we were kids." She was sucking-up to them, playing the little daughter but not emphasizing that she went swimming while naked with her boyfriend. I spoke up and said, "It was my idea to go swimming. It wasn't, but I was trying to shield Haley's honor. She said, "No, it was my idea. We didn't have swim suits, so I convinced Josh we should skinny-dip. He didn't want to, but finally gave in, because it was very dark and he didn't want me to get hurt and not be able to help. We'd never done anything like that before.”  I hoped they believed it. This part about it being her idea was true. When Haley suggested we both strip and go swimming, it actually didn't take me more than a second to agree. We'd been to the drive-in movie. We'd gone there on dates half-a-dozen times. We'd graduated from just kissing to where I stripped Haley to the waist and spent a couple of hours playing with her fascinating tits. I took my shirt off too. I also had my hands in her pants, playing with her virgin pussy and rubbing her smooth, soft ass. I sucked her tits and put my fingers inside her. She pulled on my cock. She had gotten me off many times. She would use her hands to satisfy me, which avoided my urge to go further. She would come too. Her crotch would get so warm that I couldn't believe it. We steamed up the car windows, which obscured our view of the movie, but we didn't care. We were young and in love. After the movie, we drove around as we said. The quarry she mentioned was a popular 'make-out' spot where teens like us would 'park'. Haley continued telling her folks, "We were swimming, when a couple of guys saw our car and pulled up. Then they saw our clothes on the hood of Josh's car, and took them." It was true. We were swimming in the cool deep water, and when a few guys we knew from school showed up. They knew my car. "Hey Josh. What are you doing?" One of them said. It was a guy named Eddie. He called a few times and I said, "I'm just taking a piss." "Bullshit. Your clothes are on your car. Are you taking a piss or whacking off." "Okay. I'm just swimming. I'll talk to you guys next week." Eddie asked, "Are you alone?" I said I was, but he said, "Well is this your bra and panties on the hood of your car." I begged them to just be on their way, but they were enjoying their mastery of the situation. "Who's with you?" "None of your business. Please just leave us alone." He said, "It must be Haley Summers in there with you. Her ID is in her jeans." His friend john said, "She must be naked. I'd like to see that." I said, "We are wearing swim suits (a lie)." Carl, another of the guys said, "Why don't you two come out and say hello. You must be getting cold in that water." It was true. The water was very cold. My dick had shriveled to the size of a peanut. We both had goosebumps and Haley's nipples were hard, like little pebbles. The banter went back and forth with them wanting us to come out and me trying to get them to go away. Haley asked them to please leave. I offered money, but they weren't interested and I didn't have much anyway. It was a stalemate, but we were in the losing position. We were shivering from the cold water. Finally, they said, "We'll wait over here by our car while you two come out." Haley was very cold and said, "Let them see. I really don't care. We won't see them again since school is over." We had graduated and probably wouldn't cross paths with the three guys very often again, although two of them were juniors and would undoubtedly spread salacious stories around school next year. It pissed-me-off that they would say embarrassing things that might detract from Haley's reputation, but we had no options. So, I went first. Haley hung back in the bushes. They had taken our clothes from the car hood, including my wallet and the car keys. I tried to talk them into returning my stuff, but they wouldn't do it. I was embarrassed, standing there naked. They'd seen me naked after gym class. Haley was the prize. "We want to see Haley naked." Eddie said. John said, "I want to see those titties of hers that she flaunts around school." Haley was a very popular girl. She had a killer body and a nice set of boobs. Many young men drooled over her. She'd only started at our school for her senior year (and was 18), but had attracted many invitations for dates. She went out with a number of guys, but she wouldn't 'put out', so the more lecherous dudes left her alone. I was in American History class next to her, and asked her out in a moment of rare courage. She accepted and we had been 'going steady' for the last four months of the school year. As time went on, we did more and more, but she had limits and I proceeded very cautiously, not wanting to disrespect her; but damn, she made me hot. Haley was a young woman with glands and sexual desires too. We hadn't had sex. She was telling her daddy the truth. We sure were proceeding toward it though. She wanted to wait at least until we had graduated; and I had agreed. Anyway, Haley finally had to walk out naked and the assholes shined a light on her, seeing her pretty naked body. She tried to cover-up, but with limited success. She had one hand covering her pussy, and the other arm over her breasts, but everything else was exposed. I'll bet they all went home and whacked-off, thinking about her. She stood there for a moment then hid behind my car. They wouldn't give us our clothes, but did return my wallet and keys and Haley's ID. Eddie put the items on a rock and then insisted that Haley walk over to get them. She was angry and embarrassed, but gave them their show. They could see her tits when she picked up the items. She dropped my wallet and needed both hands to hold everything, so the jerks had a glimpse of her pussy. They finally drove away with our clothes. I'm sure Haley's panties were their most popular trophy. They were wet with her scent, perfume and the secretions from her pussy during our hours at the drive-in. Haley was upset. She knew an unknown number of boys would be fondling and sniffing her panties. I lamented my inability to recover them somehow. On the other hand, after a few minutes, Haley became highly aroused, over being exposed to other people. She didn't say anything but she was hot when I kissed her. It was our first hint of her exhibitionist tendencies. Those guys had seen her naked, but I was the one taking her home. Haley had told her mom and dad a sanitized version of the events at the quarry; she said; “Somebody stole our clothes but we hadn't seen who it was.” Her dad wasn't satisfied and was skeptical of everything she had told them beyond the fact of Haley and I showing up naked at their door. The tables Turn. He ranted, "Helen, your daughter is going to get knocked-up, then what?" Haley had gotten into a good college and her dad was afraid she would get pregnant and mess up her future. Helen said, "Boyd. She's not going to get pregnant. She'd told you she's not having sex with this boy. Why don't you believe her." He said, "I know what goes on with kids these days." She said, "They're smarter than we were." He grumbled and Helen said, "Here you are yelling at this boy about whether he's doing the same things you did when you were his age. I don't think he's pressing her to have sex like you did with me." Some family secrets were coming out. Haley looked at her mom. Mrs. S said, "Go ahead, Boyd, tell your daughter how you begged me to let you screw me and how you got me pregnant and I had to quit college. Your daughter is smarter than I was." Whoa, too much information, but it explained his suspicions. Haley, angry with her dad, pushed the issue, "Daddy, did you have sex with Momma before you guys were married?" Mr. Summers was being confronted by his daughter, tried to avoid answering, but she was agitated. Helen volunteered, "They called it fucking back then, just like they do how. Tell them Boyd, how you had to marry me; or my daddy would've cut your dick off and shoved it down your throat." Boyd was finally stymied. "We shouldn't be talking about this in front of Haley." Haley said, "Jennie and I used to wonder about how Benjamin was born only five months after you guys got married. You told us he was premature. He sure was." Haley was laughing now. Her mom joined her. “No wonder you assume everybody does it! Truth is, you did it!” It finally broke her daddy's angry mood and he began to laugh. “Go ahead, Helen, let your daughter know everything. Tell your daughter what a slut you were.” Helen laughed too. She walked around the table and stepped behind Boyd, then slid her hands down inside the collar of his tee shirt; and said; "Your daddy couldn't keep it in his pants, once he met me. Damn right I was irresistible, wasn't I Boyd." He just meekly said, "You were, oh boy, you were." Then he reached around and slapped her ass. They realized they were saying too much. Boyd pulled Helen's arm around and gathered her on his lap. The two parents seemed to lose interest in us kids. After a few minutes, Helen said, "We're going to bed. You kids can watch TV downstairs. Just keep quiet. See you tomorrow." I sensed that they had urges to satisfy. I was following Haley to the staircase when Boyd called me to the side and handed me something. It was a three-pack of condoms. He tried once more to put his game face on and said, "My warning stands." They went off. Haley looked up at me from the bottom of the stairs, relieved that it was over, at least for now. Then, we reflected. Her parents had just confirmed they were going to leave us alone in the basement game room, and her dad had given me a 3-pack of rubbers. Haley laughed and asked me to help pull out the hide-a-bed. We found a movie on TV; another movie that we weren't going to watch. I got comfortable and she went back up to the kitchen to make popcorn. I was sitting back on the hide-a-bed with my naked body under the sheet and quilt, thinking I was going to give Haley a delightful surprise. I was just watching the movie when I heard her coming, and looked her way when she reached the bottom of the stairs. She had a bowl of popcorn, but that was all. She was naked. I looked at her firm young breasts; her flat stomach with her sexy navel; the furry dark triangle of hair on her pussy; her toned thighs; her tanned legs; her glimmering long hair; her smile; and her pretty face. I was transfixed by the most wonderful thing I had ever seen. My very own girlfriend, naked and walking toward me. She put down the refreshments and crawled up, straddling my lap and put her breasts in my face. I ran my hands over her back and her tender ass-cheeks. My cock was hard, of course and she soon discovered my complete state of undress. I nuzzled her breasts and licked her nipples. I said, "Are you sure we should be doing this?" She said, "Didn't you just hear them tell us they were going to leave us alone as long as we don't make too much noise?" I wasn't sure they meant it that way, but I nodded. She moved down and pulled on the sheet. My horny young cock popped out. I reached to the lamp table and got a condom. I started to open it. "You don't need that." Haley said. "Why not. I don't want your daddy to cut my dick off and shove it down my throat." She said, "I'm on the pill. Momma took me to the doctor last month. She said she couldn't tell me what to do anymore since I was an adult; and that I should never be dependent on some horny boy having a rubber when he needs it; or pulling out of my pussy before he comes." I was experiencing a lot of new surprises, tonight. I just looked at Haley, speechless. "Momma told me not to tell Daddy. He doesn't know. It would upset him so much. I think he wants me to stay his little girl until I'm past menopause!" Haley leaned in and kissed me passionately. I had one hand on her soft tit, and my other hand on her soft ass. Then she decided to move straight to the feature presentation. She slid her pelvis down onto me, using her hand to guide my straining cock into her smooth, warm vagina.  It was the first time for both of us, and it felt marvelous, like nothing I had ever experienced. My Cock was squeezed in the sleeve of her cunt, and I felt a sensation along the entire length of my dick, massaging and stimulating it. She kissed me and humped her hips, riding my cock. It didn't take me long. My cock had dreamt of being inside a pussy for its entire life, and wouldn't wait any longer. I felt my semen build up and my balls began to contract; then I exploded into Haley's spasming cunt. The release was amazing. We were both panting and sweating from extreme arousal. Unbelievable! We kissed and held each other. I apologized for coming so soon. She told me not to worry, because we were going to do it again. "My daddy gave you three condoms, so he expects you to screw me three times tonight." I was pretty sure that was not his intent, but I said. "Well, I certainly don't want to piss him off, do I?" We made love a second time and then a third. We made good use of the couch in the recreation room while the television played a movie; we had no idea what it was. I relished Haley for the entire night. The second time we did it, she wanted to try 'doggie style' so I had the pleasure of gazing at her soft young ass while my cock sawed in and out of her pussy. The third time was in the 'missionary position' and was tender and slow. It is the most memorable night of my life, the first time I made love to my future wife. I was there all night but left very early in the morning before her parents were up and about. I didn't want to confront her mom and dad after spending the night with their daughter. But I'm sure they heard my car start when I left. Haley couldn't honestly deny that we were having sex any longer. I told my mom that I'd stayed at another friend's house. Haley and I dated through college and were married the year before we graduated. We must've fucked a thousand times over those four years. We are still together. Haley still laughs with her brother and sister about the secrets her mom and dad had revealed that night. One vivid memory I have is after I impregnated Haley for the first time, after we were married, of course. Her mom and dad came to visit and we told them. I shook hands with her dad with one hand on my crotch. He saw and said, "Don't worry. I'm not going to cut your dick off and shove it down your throat. I was just kidding when I said that." He sure fooled me! Based on a post by yellowjacket66, for Literotica.  Santa's Christmas Sausage. Mark saw mommy doing Santa Claus. Based on a post by Bh76. Listen to the Podcast at my First Time. I woke to the sound of scraping, on the roof. At nineteen years old, I knew it was the big tree in the backyard and not Santa Claus. It woke me all the same. I looked at the time and sighed; three o'clock. We had gotten home from my grandmother's a little after one, and I was out like a light. My parents used the time after we got home, to wrap our immediate family's presents. It was an annual tradition. They always opened a bottle of wine, turned on 'A Christmas Story,' and wrapped our presents. It never made sense to me that they did it the night before, but it was what it was. I was thirsty, so I opened my door, and looked to see if they were still up. I didn't want to get yelled at for spying on my presents. Those spankings from my youth, were still fresh on my mind. Hearing nothing, and seeing no lights on, I made my way down a few stairs and sat low. Through the ballusters I could see motion near the sofa. In the glow of the Christmas Tree lights and a burning fireplace, I could clearly see the back of a man, with a red santa hat, incredible white beard, red tanktop, and red pants dropped to his ankles, and the bare legs of a woman.  Santa's coat was draped over the ottoman. I slid on my ass, wearing just my boxers and a tee-shirt. Now 3 steps lower, I could clearly see the backside of done serious doggie fucking! My mom was bent over the couch, getting fucked from behind, by a man in a Santa suit. It was a very authentic-looking suit. And the beard looked incredibly real. I watched in shock as she had her legs spread wide, and leaning down on her hands with her pelvis at rest on the sofa's rounded armrest. her large natural breasts swung with each hard thrust from Santa, who I certainly hoped was my father. Her heavy breathing was loud, and she occasionally looked back over her shoulder, and the man who was reaming out her wet cunt. I assume her eyes were closed in lust, and she at times bit her lips. "Fuck me, Santa. Fuck me harder, Saint Nick." I stayed down and peered through the balusters, to avoid being seen; and watched as Santa continued to plow my modest, old-fashioned mother from behind. I have to admit she looked hot with her sweaty hair matted to her forehead and her plump ass jiggling with each impact. I found myself getting hard at the sight. The slapping sound was loud and sexy. Her moans were soft and frequent. Santa groaned, "Ho, ho, fucking ho, you've been a naughty girl this year; haven't you?" "No, uh; Santa; oh. I've; oh God! Been, a; ah; good, uh, girl." "You've been a slut, haven't you? You've been letting your husband have your ass, haven't you?" Santa said; which made me almost give up my presence up high on my perch. I couldn't believe my mom did anal. Holy shit! "Yes, Santa, oh God! Harder, I'm so close. Jim loves my ass, and I love it too." I couldn't believe my ears. Then my cock got rock hard, imagining my mom, with a cock deep in her ass. "Well, Mary, I just happen to have some lube, right here." What happened next, shattered all of my preconceived notions of what was really happening. Out of nowhere, a bottle appeared in his hand ,bathed in a shower of golden sparkles. It couldn't really be Santa Claus, banging my mom in our living room, could it? I watched Santa take off his gloves and squirt the liquid onto her crack. He fingered her backdoor and she squealed in delight at the double penetration. "So good, Santa. So fucking good." I gasped when he pulled out of her pussy and flopped his fat sausage, lying flat on her ass crack. I couldn't take my eyes off of his long fat cock as he lubed it up. I couldn't believe she was going to try to take it. I looked down at my boxers and realized I was nearly as long, now poking way out of my fly; but I was nowhere near the girth of that salami roll. I feared for her getting injured. He said, "Are you ready, Slutty Mary?" "Yes, Santa. Give it to me." He pressed the tip in, and I watched her turn her head back, she was terrified as she looked at his face; her eyes bulged in shock as he wedged his shaft deep in. "Holy hell," she shrieked. Santa flashed an evil grin and pushed forward. "Oh, damn," he groaned. "You're the tightest ass I'll have, all this night." I saw anger flash in my mother's eyes, but it was only for a moment. She got lost in the sensation from the intruder in her ass. "Yes, Santa. Nice and slow. Just like that." He threw his head back; then started to piston back and forth. The sight was incredible! I wished I had a camera. I was going to have jerk-off fodder for a long time, with just the memory. "Oh yeah, Mary. That's what you like, isn't it, Santa's slut. You're my slut right?" "Yes, Santa. I'm your slut. Oh, fuck that's good." He continued his steady pace as he stretched her hole. I could only imagine what it looked like up close. What I was seeing was better than any porn I'd ever seen. "You love it don't you. You love my big cock in your ass." "Yes, Santa. Oh, fuck! Yes." He picked up his pace and started to slam into her. I could hear the slapping again and it was so sexy. I loved that sound. Then I watched her face and tits fall to the cushion and she brought her fingers to her pussy. Added to the slapping sound was the sloshing sound of her wet pussy being frigged to orgasm. I noticed a round black object on the Ottoman, that I hadn't seen before. Lean my face up to the slot between two balusters of the staircase railing. It had been obscured by mom's head; until she laid her face onto the sofa cushion. A square lighted shape was next to it. Mom had a camcorder, filming her sex video with Santa? "Cum for me, Mary. Cum hard." "Fuck, fuck, yes!" she shrieked loudly. They didn't break stride, oblivious to how loud they were. I couldn't believe they didn't wake my sister. "I'm close, Mary. I want to cum on your tits." He pulled out and she rolled around onto her knees. He only stroked a few times, before rope after rope blasted onto her neck and tits. He groaned in pleasure before he flicked the last drops of cum at her open mouth. It was so dirty, so unlike my mother on any other day of the year. Well, I assumed that. I'd never watched her get fucked before. A red towel appeared, and he wiped off his glistening cock, still slick with lube, then my mom's spread ass. He tossed it into the burning fireplace and pulled up his pants. I watched my naked mom sit on the rug and sip some wine as she watched his semi-flaccid cock get tucked into his red pants. Then he fastened his belt. He smiled at her as he put on his coat and straightened his hat. "You're the best fuck ever, Mary. I still can't believe you took me anally." "I trained for it, Santa. I used dildos and butt plugs, all day, to get used to the size." "Such a good girl, Mary. You've definitely earned this one." He moved his hands like a magician and a present appeared in his hand. It looked like a necklace box. "Oh, Santa. You're too good to me." She stood naked, her tits swinging, and kissed him in what looked like serious tongue-wrestling. I took that opportunity to return to my bedroom. I never got my drink. Morning Light. "Rise and shine, everybody," my mom shouted from the kitchen. When we were kids, she was the one who got woken up by us. Funny how times change. I walked into the hall and saw my sister emerge from her room. Her hair looked every bit like a rat's nest as she scratched her butt and elbowed me out of her way. I shook my head and took delight in the smell of cinnamon rolls and sausage, wafting through the house. Dad was pouring a cup of coffee as mom flipped the sausage. "Jenny and Mark, do you want to put the icing on the rolls?" We'd been doing that since we were old enough to hold the spatula. "Of course, daddy," Jenny said brightly. She was eighteen, but delighted in Christmas as if she were still five. I sat down and watched dad as he slapped mom on her ass. She winced and gave him a yelp. He smirked knowingly, as he sat with his coffee. I still didn't know what the hell happened the previous night. Was it really Santa Clause? Or was it my dad? I watched mom closely that morning. I'd never before noticed how sexy she was. I always knew she was pretty but seeing her, taking a large fat cock in her ass; gave me something entirely different to think about. We finished icing the rolls and Jenny excused herself to go to the bathroom. Mom sat down and took dad's hand. She looked at me with a smirk and said, "So Mark, I hope you got enough sleep, last night. But did you enjoy the show?" Busted! "Um..." I stuttered. "It's okay," dad said. He waved his hands and a napkin appeared in his hand. "Just don't do it again, okay? You're old enough to know a healthy marriage when you see it; but unless you're invited to watch, just go about your own business. Got it?" I nodded and bit into my roll.  I couldn't believe; I forgot. Dad used to do magic for us, when we were little kids. And  I couldn't believe that's all they said about their sex fantasy videos. Years later, when I caught them screwing in my garage, I realized they were becoming full-blown exhibitionists. Unreal. Not long after that; Jenny told me she came across a folder of sex videos, hidden deep in a portable hard drive. She thought Dad had a secret porn stash, that mom ought to know about. I told her; “Mom knows. Trust me. The videos are probably home movies they made; and then watch together as a turn-on.” “What?” she said. “Mom and dad do that stuff?” “Yeah! I said. “I stumbled upon the two of them really late one night, in the living room. The next morning mom and dad asked if I enjoyed it. I was speechless. They just told me to give them space, and quit watching.” “Damn!” Jenny said. “Never would have thought our prim and proper mother would be this kinky?” Hey!” I added. “At least they have a great sex life. How many of our friends even have both parents still together?” “As long as we don't have to explain to our friends about our parents posting it on Pornhub, I'll be just fine with it.” Jenny concluded. Based on a post by Bh76, for Literotica.

Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 10 Dave & Olivia use skills meant for a last resort.Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Let's review the list of characters: David Belsus – 46, physics & astronomy professor at Eastfield college, a community college in the Dallas area. Prepper, survivalist, has a greenhouse in his backyard and lives in an outer ring suburb. Six foot, fit, short cropped hair. Lupie Ramos – 32, former financial advisor, Dave's neighbor, got caught out of state when the lockdowns started. She spent two frantic weeks trying to get back to her daughter. Lupie has been in love with Dave for over a year. Long, dark brown hair, medium build, and a lovely smile. Esme – 9, daughter of Lupie, prone to the occasional snarky comment. Adores Dave. Becca; 18, Lupie's babysitter, was watching Esme when lockdowns occurred. Her refusal to abandon Esme, as her mother insisted, likely saved Becca's life, since her extended family ignored precautions and died of Duo. Esme, Lupie, and Dave are all Becca has left in the world. Short, medium build, small tits, with short blond hair and a smile that is shy with strangers and beams with family and friends. Janice Wheeler; 33, Dave's first partner to arrive, a librarian at Cedar Valley, another community college member of DCCCD. Slender build and medium height, Janice is 3/4 Korean, her paternal grandfather is Anglo. Medium length black hair often pulled back in a bun for work or ponytail at home. Shawna Cooper; 36, senior meteorologist at WFAA, Master's degree in meteorology from O U, worked at NSSL and spent time as a storm chaser. Whole hog sci-fi nut, beginning with Start Trek TNG. 5' 10", large tits, medium brown skin, dark brown eyes, shoulder length black hair styled like a frizzy weeping willow. Olivia Tyler (Liv); 21, senior studying horticulture at Tarleton State University, near Dallas. Daughter of Carter and Janelle, Dave's best friends since college. Had a well-known crush on Dave throughout her teen years. Since her dad was former SF and a survivalist, Liv is skilled with several firearms as well as bladed weapons. Never failed to take a deer any season she's hunted. 5'10" long, dark brown hair, large tits, lightly tanned, brown eyes, and a wide smile. Melanie Ustanich; 22, graduate student in IT at Tarleton, Liv's roommate, recently found a passion for cooking. Spent most of her life in foster homes, Liv's parents accepted her like family the first time she went with Liv on Thanksgiving Break. 5'8" medium length auburn hair, green eyes, small mouth with a ready, mischievous smile. The ladies came through, leaving one mug beside the detective and swiftly exiting with the pot, several mugs, a milk jug, and a small container that may have just been repurposed as a sugar dish. Verratti pushed her mask up to her nose to take a sip, holding the mug like a sacred talisman, her eyes closed and a look of bliss dawning on her face. It was a short day. She opened her eyes and the distance they contained sent the brief appearance of joy below the horizon once again. Laying her mug back on the table, she pulled her mask back into place. "The man that was with you that day at the range?" "Yes, my friend Carter. He was the one that arranged the time on the range." "And how did he manage that? Didn't you say a few times he was a security guy?" "He runs physical and digital security checks for sites his company guards. He and his guys also get hired out by insurance companies to check out their client's security plans as well." For a moment, Dave allowed himself to forget the pain and use the present tense. "I think you mentioned a few times before class that he was in special forces?" "Yep. He likes to say his civilian job is kinda similar to his work in the army, just with paintball or laser tag gear." "Good." She motioned him to sit close, so she could speak lower. "You've stumbled into something no one seems to be working hard to solve." Dave's eyebrows stitched together. Her tone was more ominous than her words. "Nine weeks ago, a truck carrying seven vaccinated women was attacked. It was on its way to some rich neighborhood to deliver partners to the McMansion set. The attackers covered their tracks reasonably well, so we never caught them. Two weeks ago, a shipment of vaccine got hit between Grand Prairie and the Vax Center. They didn't even try to take the whole shipment, just grabbed a bunch and ran like hell. The chopper that was following them didn't have infrared on it, so they lost track of them in the trees in the dark." Dave stayed silent as she paused to gather her thoughts. "Look, I shouldn't have said any of this, but nobody's doing anything. Your friend has the skills to deal with the problem. And the way you've always presented yourself, if he's your friend, then he'll want to apply his skills to right a great big fucking wrong that's being ignored. There's an Air Force liaison office in the station right now. They're supposed to coordinate a military response to big attacks, but they've been blasé about both attacks." "Wait? Military to take out crooks? I mean, even big deal shit like this? Shouldn't that be done by SWAT or ATF?" She stared at him. If he had to guess, her lips were tightly pressed together under her mask. Her words were tightly spoken as she continued. "The fact your attackers cut their fallen buddies' nuts off suggests they had bonded female partners. That means either the hijacked transport, or the vaccine attack. Maybe both. And that means they may have been coming here to abduct your partners and bind them to themselves." "But that would kill them!" Dave started out as a loud interjection, but at her look, and as his own self-control kicked in, he dropped to a strenuous whisper. "There; is a way. But only if the man is dead. There was an ER nurse on the first transport. She would have known about the procedure, at least in broad terms." She pulled a map from her valise. Unfolding it, she pointed to two locations. The attacks happened here, and here." "Yeah, that stretch of I-20 is a bit empty, even being in the middle of urban sprawl." "Because of that attack, they moved the flights to Love Field." "No rural hideouts along the way." "Exactly. Now look, here's where the chopper last was sure they had an eye on them." Her finger indicated a spot southeast of Athens. "What I'm asking you is to get a hold of your friend. See if he and some of his team are willing to investigate; and maybe rescue some of these women. No one else is doing anything about this. And they are escalating." "Do you think they'll try again here?" "I don't know. Not anytime soon, you gave them plenty of reasons to give this place a wide berth. I can't swear to that, but I'd say they'll at least leave you alone for a while." Which means they may be coming for my family again. Whenever they feel like trying again. No point in telling her about Carter. I'll have to do this myself, but I'm not telling her that. A trained, former special forces operative that still does security testing is a reasonable person to ask to do this. A community college professor that's been trained by his prepper buddy doesn't sound nearly as reassuring. Fuck Carter, why the hell did you have to die? "How sure are you on that last sighting?" She flipped her notebook back several pages. After consulting her notes, she carefully laid her finger again on the map. "Right there." Dave stared at the indicated location, noting nearby major road intersections and the distances from each to the tip of her finger. Mainly, he looked at the roads that formed a boundary around the area. The raiders may not be inside that space, but it was a place to begin. "Be very careful. There's suspicion that some army deserters are with these guys." She took a deep breath. "It's like pulling teeth getting anything out of the Air Force woman about this. Please professor, talk to your friend. I'll contact you in a day or so to see if he's responded." "Why don't I just call you?" "I'd rather have that discussion when I'm not at the station or around other officers." "Okay. You need anything else from me detective?" "No. No, I should be going. I'll call in a few days." "I'll be ready." Hope I've found them by then . Dave walked her to the door and locked up behind her. He slipped over to the parlor to check the window patch for any air leaks. Dave ran his hand around the edges, slowly, but felt no movement, not cold streams. Some of the family had come downstairs, now that the weather was once again outside. Dave sat in a chair, staring off into space while the others red or talked. This may take more than a day, just to find these guys. And once I do, I'll need time to observe, and then time to plan. Food, water, ammunition. I'll need something long-range. My best bet will probably be picking them off one at a time at first. I've got silencers for the MP5's, but no subsonic ammo. It's still going to be obvious when I shoot. Carter has all the subsonic ammo. Imagine the look on the face of whoever finds his armory. Fuck, what if they just bulldoze the place? Yeah, Liv and I need to try and get his weapons and equipment. Wait, I have subsonic.22LR. I could use that for the first few. Fuck, I'm really doing this. That means I'll be gone for a few days. It's already been two days for Rebecca, and she's on such a short fuse. We really ought to ask the vaccine experts why that is. Gee, what a call to make. "Hey, vaccine guys? Yeah, look, I've got this eighteen year old cutie that just insists on having sex every four days. Like, she's climbing the walls by day five. What's up with that?" I'm sure they'll have all kinds of sympathy. Well, I have my first thing I've got to do before I go. Dave found Becca in the room she and Reena shared. The one they'd previously used as a 'hotel room' the night the ladies put together for prom. Reena was not around. "Hey, sexy nerd girl, what're you up to?" Becca rolled on to her back from her book reading. Her face was glowing, though she was also blushing from her scalp to, well, lower than her shirt collar. She very cutely bit her lower lip. Dave chuckled. "You are so damn cute, ya know that?" Her face twisted a little. "Demotion huh? I've gone from sexy to cute in less than a minute." "One does not preclude the other. There is an intersection of the two. In my opinion, you exist within that intersection." "God, you know how weirdly sexy it is that you can talk math about sex?" "You know how great it is that you're one of two partners I can talk to that way? Most of the others either won't get it, or will be turned off by it." The radiant look Becca got from the compliment was exactly what Dave was going for. She wasn't just a teen hottie, or gamer girl, or some other check box. She was his younger nerd partner that he got to introduce to so many things he loved that were new to her. Or, things she'd heard about, but not yet experienced. And she was fun in bed. Becca's hand slipped to the hem of her t-shirt. Dave stepped swiftly up to her bed and grabbed her hands. He pulled her around so her ass hung off the edge of the bed and her head was braced against the wall. She and Dave were still experimenting with different ways to have sex. She'd recently mentioned that quickies sounded kinda hot. Dave figured now would be a good time to try. He grabbed her shorts and panties at the hips and pulled both down to her calves, bringing her legs straight up in the same motion. Dave leaned against her, her ankles on one of his shoulders, as he unbuttoned his pants and shoved pants and boxers to mid-thigh. The aroma of Becca's arousal reached Dave's nostrils, matching the signal that her panting breath and lust-filled eyes were sending. Truth to be told, he was fairly revved as well. The little gasp she gave as he hand-fed his mostly hard cock into her saturated pussy was delicious. Dave leaned in closer, folding her legs back onto her body, her ankles on either side of his head, her shorts against his collarbone. He drilled her fast and hard. This wasn't love making, wasn't a tantric exercise, and was not 'the full Dave'. A quickie was just that; hard, fast, and get 'er done. Becca's cute little huffs and grunts urged him to keep going, her moist, rippling channel gripping his shaft and egging him on. In due time, Dave felt that familiar tingle in his balls rising up through his cock and he began firing his hot seed into her eager passage. Becca shuddered and convulsed the same as if Dave had taken most of an hour lifting her to ecstatic heights. Dave leaned a bit further in to kiss Becca tenderly on the lips. Becca giggled. "That was fun." "Good, we can add that to the repertoire," Dave said, buckling his pants. He leaned in for another kiss, this one with just a moment of lingering, before walking away. Becca's eyes shone brightly as they followed him. Now I wait. Dave spent the rest of the evening sitting with his ladies, sometimes talking, mostly listening. Lupie called everyone to the dinner table. A nice warm casserole that soothed the insides after most of the day with the inside matching the weather outside. Downstairs anyway. Mostly what Dave remembered from the evening was looking around the table at his family as they chatted and moved on from the events of the morning. Mostly. Every once in a while, someone's attention wavered, or they flinched from a sound. That's why I have to do this. Dinner was late enough that some began their night time routine once it was over. It had been a draining day, even for those that had huddled upstairs. The emotional impact, the fear and anxiety they'd gone through took a physical toll. "Hey, Shawna, let's meet in my office in a few minutes, okay? I'll find Liv and Mel and have them join us." "Sure. Night security?" "Yeah. The detective was reasonably sure there wouldn't be a repeat tonight, but let's be safe." "Okay." Shawna hugged him tightly. Dave went off to find the other two, then made his way to his office. Even though they'd just finished dinner, he felt a bit munchie. He pulled a half-eaten pint of blueberries out of his fridge and snacked slowly. Each woman smirked as they entered. Shawna started imitating the guitar intro of a certain song by Black Sabbath. Dave just shook his head with a rueful smile. Then he popped a few more berries in his mouth. "We need to maintain a watch tonight," he informed them once he'd cleared his mouth. "The threat is perceived to be low, but I'd rather not take a chance. I'll take first watch, then wake Shawna to relieve me. She can wake Liv, and when Liv's shift is over, she can wake Mel." The way Olivia stared at Dave made him wonder if she suspected his real plan, but she said nothing. "We'll post guard here in Shawna's morning room with the door open. It's right at the top of the stairs, so anyone would have to come past the guard to get to any of us. I'll drag the chair from that room to the door, far back enough that anyone looking in will see darkness, but near enough the guard can see the head of the stairs and part of the hallway in each direction." "That's it. Get some sleep. When it's time to switch over, get up and get moving. We'll have one pistol out and transfer that over. Don't go to bed until your relief is in place." Shawna came in for a kiss before she left. A long, slow kiss with no tongue. She looked meaningfully into his eyes before she walked out, saying nothing. Dave waited over an hour for all the activity in his house to settle and everyone to fall asleep. He slowly and quietly rose from his seat. He slipped in to the master bedroom to find Shawna on the outer edge of the bed. Of course she'd thought ahead so she wouldn't disturb the others. Dave lightly tapped her foot, and she stirred awake. Dave went back to his post while she dressed. Once she got there, he handed over the pistol. "You're going after them aren't you?" she whispered low and urgent. "Yes. It's the only way to ensure everyone's safety. These guys are a danger to us, and others. The detective was so frustrated with the inaction, she told me other events that have happened, but no response from the police." "Other houses have been attacked?" "No, the other attacks haven't been on houses, but they look related." "How far away are they?" "I don't know for sure. She gave me some information on the last place they were seen." "Then how long will you be gone?!" She kept her voice low to not disturb anyone, but there was a 'shouting' tone to her whisper. "I don't know. I'm taking food and water in addition to the rest of the gear." "David, please be careful. All our lives depend on you." He wrapped his arms around her for a tight hug. "I know. I'm doing this for your safety. No more middle of the night break ins." He paused for a moment. "Carter took me through a few scenarios that apply. We had to use paintball guns for those trainings, but I've spent plenty of time on the range with all of these weapons. I won't be as good as Carter, but I'm good enough to pull this off. I'm coming back to you babe." He pulled back so they could look each other in the eyes. "You are plenty of reason to come back." "Me and eight others," she said with a teasing grin. "Anyone of you alone is enough to go fight this fight and get my ass back here in one piece. I finally understand Carter now. Somethings you have to fight for." He slipped away from her and went to the master bedroom closet. In a box tucked away in a corner, he pulled out a set of lightly used 90's era BDU that Carter'd urged him to get from an Army-Navy store. It was not the only set, but he wasn't going to be gone that long. Hell, his partners would all be screaming for doses by then. After dressing, and donning his combat boots, he walked silently out of the bedroom. That he had to pause and prep his mind for. Carter had shown him how to walk quietly in these boots, it just took practice and care. It had been a long time, so he ran through the lessons and practices in his head for a minute after he had them on. He trod gently down the stairs to the gun closet. He typed in the code and swung open the door. That's when the darkness at the end of the unlit hall moved. "Go to bed Olivia." His voice was flat. "You are not going after these guys alone." Dave flipped on the light in the small space. The illumination spilling into the hallway revealed Olivia in a matching pair of BDU. "How the hell?" "I mailed myself a box to this address before I reported to the vaccine center. Mostly other stuff, but one set of woodlands and my best broken-in boots." "Livy, you need to stay here and watch the others." "I need to watch over your ass and bring you home so you can keep fucking all these women that are addicted to your cum." Dave felt a wave of shame at the comment. That he was risking himself, some, but their safety required he take out this threat. That he was; unfaithful to any of these women, because none of them were the only one. Yes, he could personally enumerate all the reasons why, but that didn't change the visceral reaction of a man that never wanted a lot of women, just one that he could be devoted to, and vice versa. "Liv ;” "I'm not trying to talk you out of this. I'm certainly not condemning you for having multiple partners, David. On behalf of myself, and all your partners, I insist I go with you and provide overwatch. You know I'm a better sniper than you. You're better at CQB. We do this together." A cold hand gripped Dave's chest. "Olivia, I already dragged you into one gunfight. I won't do it again." "You didn't drag me into anything. The world sucks and some people are assholes. The same guy that taught you raised me not to just stand idly by. I'm going with you." She came in close, molding her hand to his jawline. "You didn't cause the attack this morning. You stood in the gap, and I stood with you. What you're about to do is needed. And I'm standing with you again." Without another word, she slipped around him and started gathering her gear. Dave joined her. Within half an hour, they loaded tactical gear, ammo, weapons, water jugs, canteens, and field rations in Liv's pickup and got on the road. They were completely in sync, though neither spoke a word. Chapter 12; A Walk on the Chaotic Good Side. October 29, 2020 12:30am The hum of the heater fan on its lowest setting combined with the warm air coming off the windshield were not helping Dave maintain alertness. Livy drove while he checked their route against what he'd seen on the detective's map. So far, it was just a matter of 'drive towards Athens'. Dave snuck the window down a little, inviting some cool air to help him stay fresh. Not too far, though. Occasionally, they'd run into an isolated cloud still giving up a pittance of drizzle, remnants of what passed over their house yesterday morning. Mostly it was just cold. "I miss the little triangle windows that pivoted open on Dad's old beater pickup." Dave chuckled. "Yeah, those were useful. Guess somebody decided to save money and make them fixed instead of movable." Olivia humphed in response. When she said nothing for a few minutes, he reached into the bag on the seat between them and pulled out an apple. She didn't notice until he took his first crackling bite. "Damn. Again?" she laughed. "Fill up too much and you'll bust out that stab shirt. Sorry, it's just;” "I'm eating way more often than the rest of you, and not gaining any weight. Yeah, I know. They said this serum shit has weird side effects. Seems for me it's kicked my metabolism into the stratosphere." "Oh, big words like 'stratosphere' huh? Hmm, ya know, the higher metabolism would explain why you're outrunning me." Dave turned his head towards her, a mock annoyed expression on his face. "I've been faster than you for years. For a bit there in your teens you gave me a good challenge." Liv giggled. "I got faster so you'd have to look at my ass." "I worked harder to stay ahead of you so I wasn't looking at a sixteen-year-old's ass." Out of the corner of his eye, Dave noted Livy giving him a rueful look. With a quiet voice; and one eye on the road; she asked, "Is this the only way we could have been together?" His heart skipped a beat. His voice was deepened with loss when he replied, "I don't know, Olivia. I just don't know. The two of us together would have been a very unusual pairing in other circumstances. No law would have stopped us being together but a lot of custom and tradition would interfere." He reached his hand out and she took it. "So it was either this, or an asteroid hitting the Earth for me to get you?" Dave laughed. "Maybe not quite that dramatic." Their joined hands lay on the seat between them for a time, enjoying the union of their lives as the cold, damp miles passed. Half an hour later, signs proclaimed a junction ahead as they neared their first waypoint. "Want me to stay on 175 and go east around Athens?" "No, west on 7. When we get to the southside of town, we'll take 19 south." Dave waited before asking, "You need to switch out. We've both had long days." "I'm good. Just hand me another Dr. Pepper." Dave knee-stood in the seat, reaching back to the cooler with water, soda and reusable freezer packs. Ice would have been too loud loading at the house, and going to an automated ice station was more deviation than he was willing to take. The drinks weren't ice-cold this way, but they were at least cool. Between the caffeinated soda, and the No-Doz bottle in the glove box, they could fight off the drowsiness the road hum threatened to induce. Weirdly, the squeeze from the compression shirt for the stab plates helped keep him awake, though it did make it tougher to twist around for things. Maybe if he wore it more often, he'd know how to move better in it. With the late hour, and pandemic rules in effect, they hadn't seen another vehicle since pulling out of their own driveway. They crossed three overpasses for major roads out of town before exiting to southbound 19 / Palestine St. The creepy feeling intensified as they took their exit. The north side of the road held a hospital with what was undoubtedly the only ER for thirty miles around. In some directions, even further than that. And there was no activity at all. The lights were on. But no signs of human movement. A few miles down the road they passed the middle school, completely abandoned since March. Liv's hand slipped back to the middle of the bench seat. Dave added his to hers, holding her gently but firmly. Ten minutes later, with their headlights boring holes into the pitch black, Dave's phone buzzed. He pulled it out, noting the time was now approaching 2am. -There's been another attack, this time on a very rich man's estate. Bodyguards dead, left laying there. -Rich man dead, carried off, along with most of his partners. -Last seen southbound on 45, suspect they are taking that to 287 until Palestine. No intelligence beyond that. Please ask your friend to decide quickly. Dave quietly fumed. Another attack meant more suffering that he hadn't prevented. That was the whole point of this crazy scheme wasn't it? Immediately, he recalled a story Carter had told only once, after they'd been roommates for more than a year. It was a 'Boy's Night In' with two pizzas and a tsunami of beer, and some typical action flicks playing. Dave's friend related a time when they'd been too late to protect a local villager that had cooperated with the Special Forces team. The local government goons had not been kind to the collaborator. Or his family. "We found out too late, got there too late, not a fucking thing we could do. Not one fucking thing. Except," he raised his head so his bloodshot eyes were revealed, "we tracked the fuckers and took them out before they got back to their base. It was beyond our mandate. We were supposed to train only, not engage directly. We did it, and never talked about it." Track the fuckers down and take them out. Little wonder why that particular memory surfaced now. "Something wrong?" "Text from the detective. They hit another house. Successfully this time." "Oh shit. What are we going to do?" "What an old friend once told me was the only real option. Track the fuckers down and kill them." "Dad was such an eloquent man." Dave barked a laugh as he texted back. -We're already enroute. -We'll locate them on the run and track them to their base. -Thank God. -And thank your friend for me. Dave still saw no reason to inform her of his omission. Well, he felt a little guilty, but she'd get over it. Lupie on the other hand, might just tie him to the bed and spoon feed him between each woman's 'dosing' turn. Shawna might or might not help Lupie, but she was not going to help Dave avoid Lupie. Hell, by the time he got back, Lupie might be so worked up she'd chew him out exclusively in Spanish for over an hour. In between kisses and hugs because his dumb ass came home in one piece. Getting his mind back on the present, Dave pulled up a map on his phone. "This may make it easier to find their base. They're coming down 287. Previous attempts tracked them as far as Palestine. We'll intersect with 287 just outside Palestine, so we'll pick a good spot when we get there and wait. I suspect they will be an hour or half hour behind us." "K." Dave zoomed and scrolled on his map for several minutes. "There's a community college north of the intersection. It has a parking lot that will give us a good view, but far enough away we could miss something. There's also a gas station and a convenience store on the south of the intersection, on the west side that would give better views, but higher risk of detection. It's probably closed. If we're the only car there, it's going to be awfully suspicious; especially if we pull out right after they pass." "Don't worry, Dad gave me a few lessons on shaking a tail, and on tailing. Just before I went off to college, he even had me drive back country roads with no lights; on the road or car. If we can avoid getting noticed when we first pull out; by waiting 'til we can just see their tail lights; we should be fine." "Let's go for the convenience store first. If it looks too dicey, we'll move off to the college parking lot." Liv nodded her agreement. The silence that followed persisted until the intersection loomed. The community college parking lot had all of its lights on, as did the Exxon just south of it. The Valero on the west side and south of the intersection had its awning lights on, but no more. No lights were on around the convenience store south of the highway confluence. Even better, there were two vehicles parked in the lot. Liv pulled into a space near one of the other vehicles. But not too close. She killed the lights, lowered the windows halfway, and turned off the ignition. Both occupants of the truck surveyed first the near vehicle, then the more distant one, looking for any sign of occupancy. If these guys were good, they might have a lookout posted to watch for a tail. During the forty-five minute wait, neither their eyes nor ears detected any sign of another person in the parking lot. For that matter, there was no sign of anyone around the college, or in the gas station south of them. The station across the way probably had an attendant inside. A low rumble coming from the northwest initially alerted Dave and Liv to their approaching quarry. Without exchanging words, they each hunched down in their seats. Both were on full alert. Hunter versus hunter was a dangerous game. Of course, if one hunter doesn't know the other is around, so much the better. For the other at least. Five S U V, varying from mid-size to huge, rolled swiftly through the interchange. They slowed from far in excess of highway speeds, down to something reasonable for the possibility of merging; if one had incredibly sparse traffic to handle. Which worked just fine, since there was absolutely zero traffic to merge with. As the engine sounds began to fade, Livy sat up and started the engine. She quickly doused the lights that automatically lit up before backing out from behind the vehicle two parking spaces over. Hopefully, it shielded them from the target's notice. Well, that and the fact the targets were headed away from them, and presumably keeping hostages in check. With swift, smooth motions, Olivia got the pickup on the highway following the distant trail of tail lights. Noting the woodlands on both sides of the highway limiting visibility around the curves, Livy began rapidly closing the distance. Balancing that were the few streetlamps and the need to not show up in the last vehicle's rearview mirror. The train of S U V passed under one, went dark again except for the taillight; which brightened briefly; then were illuminated again for a flash before disappearing. "Shit," she muttered. "It's gotta be the underpass for the loop. That's why they went left and cut off. They went behind the embankment. Just take the loop to the left and keep pressing. We'll catch them. Just be careful of more street lamps. I'm not sure if this loop they're hopping on is limited access. If they hit stoplights, we'll need to be very careful to avoid notice." "Right." There were a few traffic lights to negotiate, but both were solid green the entire time the runners and the pursuers were in view. The greater concern was the street lights near the intersections. Increasing their following distance once a traffic light became visible bought them some grace. They also took the risk of allowing the convoy to get out of view over a small rise while they waited just outside the pool of light before making the left at Park Ave. That was followed by mild panic until they could catch up with their quarry. A sweeping left turn awaited just over the crest. Dave spotted tail lights turning right as they finally hit a straight section. It turned out to be another curve in the road. This road had just enough curves to allow Livy to close the distance and remain unobserved. As the pursuing duo came around one curve, the convoy ahead was disappearing around the next. Just as they cleared a shallow 's' turn, Dave spotted tail lights disappearing to their right. "Ease up, I think we're going off onto a narrower road." By the time they reached the turn, Liv had them at an appropriate speed. No sign of the convoy ahead, and greater darkness with the trees closer in, she had to go slower. Fortunately, the road was winding through a few tight turns which caused the convoy to go even slower. They managed to catch sight of taillights and hear engine noises through the trees before they got close enough to be noticed. The asphalt took a gradual rightward curve, but a faint red glow inside the dust cloud ahead signaled the convoy had plunged ahead onto the dirt road. Hunter and unwitting prey slowed again, but the frequent braking and the scattering effect of the dust kept Dave and Liv well aware of their quarry's position. Liv coasted and maintained distance so she never had to touch the brake. To do so would reveal their pursuit. The convoy slowed further and Liv allowed the truck to coast to a stop. "Let's find a place to park this thing and dismount." Dave pointed off to a small pocket beside the road where the trees curved away from the dirt track. Each opened their door gingerly, sliding quietly to the wet grass. Liv and Dave first checked their own gear, then each other's. Satisfied they wore or carried everything they thought they would need, they eased the doors closed, latching them softly. "One benefit of this weather; the gators will be hibernating, and maybe the snakes too," Dave said in a whisper. "Brumating. And probably yes on both counts. The gators will be in the water, but the snakes will find a burrow or hollow log. So stay away from likely hidey holes." "Yes, professor." Dave's wry grin was both smart ass and respectful. Liv's nature knowledge far exceeded his own. Her reply smile was appreciative. Then both faces went blank as the two focused on their mission. Using every technique Carter had taught him, Dave slipped stealthily through the trees. Crouching, he moved swiftly from bole to bole, taking care to avoid rock piles and downed logs. The red glow in the distance was diminishing. He noticed sets of tail lights lining up side-by-side before extinguishing. They were parking. That was a good thing, because Dave and Liv were already on foot. That also meant the possibility of guards on the perimeter. Dave paused a bit longer in his position, searching for any sign of patrols or stationary sentinels. Seeing none, he dashed forward to a new location and watched again for any sign of an observer. Liv moved from her prior spot to the place Dave had just vacated. Morning twilight was in full swing, so the pair had good lighting. Periodically, Dave observed men moving to each vehicle, removing a woman, and leading her to one of the buildings. A few men guarded the vehicles, but their focus was on the occupants, not someone outside. All the better. Dave and Liv found themselves places within whisper distance a few feet back from the tree line. Unobstructed views with low probability of getting spotted. In better circumstances, they would observe for hours, from multiple positions around the clearing, gathering information and striking in the wee hours, or at first light tomorrow. But; those women being taken inside compelled faster action. Whatever these assholes were doing needed to be stopped. At the same time, they couldn't just rush in, or they'd lose, Dave would be dead, and Liv would be dead or worse. And not long after, the rest of his family would be in very dire straits. So don't fuck up, asshole . This had to be what Carter meant about walking the razor's edge. One thing was clear; these guys had no security posted. The pre-dawn twilight was sufficiently bright that someone looking out the window would spot them if they got stupid. The trees opened up into a large clearing. Within the open space sat the parked S U V, two large buildings, and several smaller ones. The two large buildings were corner adjacent and perpendicular on their long axes. They were somewhat longer than they were wide. The large building stretched wide across their eyeline seemed to be where everyone was gathered. That's the building the women had been taken into. Several others converged on that location not long after. About half an hour after the last man disappeared into the big building, Dave and Liv spotted someone leaving. He had someone over his shoulder. He headed for one of the smaller buildings. About five minutes later, it happened again. Time to communicate. He pulled out his phone, already set to silent, no vibration. Fortunately, he had a few bars. -Compound located. Track my location. Stuffing his phone in his pocket without waiting for a reply, Dave slid closer to his partner. "I'm going in closer. I'll get under the windows and listen in." Liv's face was unconvinced. "Is that wise?" "We need to know more before we do anything. I've got to get close enough to hear them. Get your rifle ready to snipe. Keep me covered. I'll pass on the outside of the first building," he pointed to the one that lay along their line of sight and perpendicular to the target building, "and then cross along the near wall of the one they're in. You'll be able to see me for most of that time, and you can see either end. You'll know if someone's about to come around and spot me." "We need Dad's low watt tactical radios." "If wishes were horses, hun." He gave her a quick kiss, then silently backed further into the trees. This allowed him to move more quickly without detection, though he still remained on alert for any sentries out here in the trees. There were none. Approaching the tree line again, he scanned thoroughly with eyes and ears, for any sign of someone that would spot him emerging. With still no sign, Dave dashed from the trees to the near wall of the likely empty large building. There he waited, listening for any sound suggesting he'd been seen. His heart was pounding. He worked to calm himself so he could hear anything over the roar of the blood in his ears. Of course, that could just be the contrast. This rural fall morning was incredibly quiet thus far. Satisfied he was as yet undetected, Dave moved stealthily to the far corner of the building. He put a hand on the wall, feeling the rough brick exterior. It was distinctly not new, but not decrepit either. A few short steps brought him to the building's corner. Using the 'slicing the pie' tactic Carter taught him so long ago; and re-taught over and over and over; Dave passed around the corner to find no one there. Hugging the wall, he crept by, pausing at each of the two doors, listening for any sign of occupancy. By the time he reached the end of the building near the occupied building, the sun was not yet up, but the sky was well-lit. As was the compound. With more on the line, Dave took more time with his pie-slicing cornering technique. The rest of the compound, then the side wall of the other building, and then the back wall of the target building came slowly into view, all devoid of other humans. He slid carefully along the sidewall of the empty building until he was near the corner closest to his target. With his head only he once more rounded the corner, verifying no one had entered the small area bounded by the two buildings on two sides in the time he'd been behind the first one. Sure that he was clear, he crossed the gap to the second building. He watched his footfalls carefully since the area conjoining the two buildings had been cemented in a rectangular shape. Postholes along the edges suggested this might be some sort of outdoor area with an awning during warmer times. A broom at the corner Dave was heading for suggested someone took the time to keep it clear of debris. At least he didn't have to worry about stepping on a twig. Dave heard a door open, then close. Footsteps in grass reached his ears but receded. He swiftly slid along the wall to the front of the building and took a cautious peek. Once again, a man was walking toward one of the smaller buildings, this time carrying a woman in his arms rather than over his shoulder. Dave eased himself away from that corner and back to the corner proximate to the back wall. He had to step carefully around the broom again as he came around to the semi-enclosed courtyard. Dave eased his way carefully along the back wall. At least now he had the benefit of knowing Liv could watch the area around him and cover him as needed. He crept carefully, listening for sounds through the wall. Primarily though, he knew his best chances were under the three windows, two of which were close together, more than halfway down the building's length. As he approached an exterior vent for a dryer, he paused. For a moment the thought flashed through his mind that this would be the ideal place for a snake to hide. Then his rational brain took over, reminding him that the intermittent nature was likely insufficient to help a snake survive through the winter. They were more likely off in the woods somewhere or hiding in the walls of one of the houses. The first window was just past the vent. Dave paused. He waited for a few minutes, but heard nothing. He edged up, his face upturned, his nose turned away from the building. Edging upward, he allowed his peripheral vision a first glimpse in the window. It was dark. He turned his head slowly, seeking greater detail. A few shadows and a small light on the back wall limned out an empty kitchen space for a community. Efficient, but a little too regimented for Dave's taste. A little too zombie group think. Dave moved forward. This time he skirted around a pile of small diameter metal pipes. Must be for a future irrigation project or outdoor faucet. The next window was only a few feet past the pile. Dave had to be careful how far out he went. He crouched and quickly got back to the wall once past the pipes. He could already hear voices. Someone was angry. "I said sit the fuck back down. You dumbasses cost us three men with your half-assed raid. No, you don't get a shot at any of the women from this raid. You're lucky we let you fucking live. One more fucking word out of your fucking mouth and I will shit-can all your asses. And you, big mouth, you'll go last; after I ass fuck your sister without a new dose! You can watch her melt like somebody poured battery acid in her shithole, then I'll kill you, with the memory of her screams in your fucking ears!" Dave went cold. His mind called up one of the videos about the dangers for a woman exposed to the semen of any man other than her partner. Anger welled up in him, but he tamped it down. A berserker rage banged against the walls of Dave's discipline. He held his focus, knowing he would only accomplish his goal with cold efficiency. All the things Carter said over the years, words that had been whirling in his ears since the moment of the break-in, all settled into cold clarity. Yeah, they were gonna die. In due time. He crept closer. Again taking care to avoid detection, Dave saw a woman select a syringe full of a vibrant green substance. She moved over to; a dead body on the floor? What the hell? Why is she injecting the dead guy? Wait, now it's purple inside? Maybe he just misidentified the earlier color? The woman with the syringe stood. A man dragged a blonde woman over to a table near the lady with the syringe. Dave heard her whimpering once she was close. A second man took the woman's other arm. The two men held her pinned, face down, against the table as her whimpering turned to active cries. Dave's stomach turned over. A third man pulled the woman's pajama pants down. She wore no panties. The woman with the syringe approached. The way she walked, and the look on her face, gave the impression she was walking to the gallows. Dave swore she mouthed the word 'Sorry' to the pinned woman before injecting her with the purple contents of her syringe. Immediately, the woman jerked and thrashed. The man behind her dropped his pants. Dave dropped low, not needing to see anymore. Hell, he'd seen far more than he ever wanted to. The cries and sounds he heard had a certain resonance with the priming and later imprinting orgasms of his partners. But overlaid with a guttural, raw emotionality. Then there was no more sound from the woman. A few low conversations between the men, and then Dave heard the door on the other side of the building open. Dave duck-walked away from the window and around the pipes. Once against the wall again he raised up a bit and paused. He needed to collect his thoughts. What to do was clear. Kill every man here. Given what they were doing, there were no innocents. The only questions revolved around how to do what needed to be done. Ideas formed in his head, but he needed to confer with Olivia. At the very least, she needed to know his intentions. Teamwork would be vital. He also trusted her judgment. Her input could prove useful. It often did. Something more about Olivia was rattling around the back of his head. A thought jumping up and down, demanding attention, but not coming forward. Like a word sitting on the tip of your tongue you just can't say. Something he knew, but wasn't fully acknowledging. It didn't seem related to the immediate task, so Dave moved his attention elsewhere. The number of trips from the large building to the smaller ones was very nearly the number of trips from the cars to the big building earlier. That meant soon the men would no longer be occupied with; what they had been doing. Since some had recently come back from a raid, they were likely to bed down soon. That would be a good time to strike. Time to move and communicate. The door had cycled twice more during Dave's thinking. As he rounded the corner of the empty building, free to move unobserved, he heard the door slam open. He froze in place, a few steps past the corner, where he could listen without being detected. Multiple footsteps approached, and sharp mutterings between two men. The footfalls changed as they crossed from the grass onto the concrete. Their voices became clearer too. "Why drag her all the way out here? It's fucking cold and wet." "'Cuz I don't wanna clean up the fucking mess when the old bitch slags, that's why! Grass will just eat it up and get nice and green next summer. Inside, the carpet and the fucking pad have to be replaced." Dave's blood boiled. He tamped it down for immediate purposes. He also started moving back the way he came. Weapon at the ready, he rounded the corner again. Three figures were just crossing off the concrete pad and back into the grass. Two males in hunter camo and a naked blonde woman sobbing as they dragged her between them. They stopped several steps off the pad. One man was out of view, the empty building blocking Dave's line of sight to him. Liv surely had a good shot on him, but she might not yet know enough to take it. She'd know soon enough though. The man Dave could see was turned away from Dave, with the woman collapsed, on her knees in front of him, looking away from Dave also. By their orientations, the man that was out of sight was probably facing the corner and would see Dave the instant he came around it. Fortune favors the brave . One of Carter's favorite phrases. Dave slipped the MP5 back behind him, on safe, he pulled the.22 pistol from his holster, and the silencer from his cargo pocket, mated them gently, and carefully began screwing the silencer in place. The woman cried out, pleading for mercy. Unseen by Dave, the second man slapped her, the sound unmistakable. Dave was moving as the slap echoed. His face etched in stone. No anger in his visage, no mercy in his eyes. His weapon came up smoothly as his feet accelerated him along the wall towards the man in his vision. Dave was now a fire and maneuver platform for the pistol. Just before he cleared the corner, he fired three rounds, all into the man's upper left back. His shot group was as perfect as the practices with Carter over the years. At least one of the rounds went through the man's heart. The suppressor dulled the sound of firing, and the subsonic ammunition avoided the supersonic crack of the rounds that would surely draw attention. The stricken man fell even as Dave came around the corner, rounding on the next target. That man was just beginning to look towards the corner with a curious expression. Dave fired again. Three rounds, just as Carter had trained him. He also dropped with no further resistance or sound. The first target was on the ground and the second descending, knees buckling beneath a falling torso, when the shuddering blonde woman registered the changes. She began to rise and turn around. Dave reached her at that same moment, grabbing her bicep and hauling her to her feet. To forestall undesirable attention, he shifted his hand from her arm to her mouth, clamping it shut. He got there just in time. The woman stared at him, terror in her wide-open eyes. He held his pistol low and to the side, but her eyes ping-ponged several times from it to his face. As frightened as she was, her eyes settled, then roved over his face. Within seconds her terror was held in check. Not gone but shoved aside. Like she was ready to believe something less evil than that of the other men's plans was now upon her. "Stay quiet, I need to get you out of here." She nodded. Wariness was present, but also a willingness to believe in; something. Grabbing her hand, Dave led her across the concrete pad and around the corner of the empty building. He didn't stop until they'd passed the length of the building, now leaning against the short wall, in full sight of Olivia. In pausing, Dave was reminded consciously of what his subconscious had of course noted; the woman wore not a stitch of clothing. He quickly averted his eyes, but not before registering her phenomenal figure. Granted, the condition of her skin on her face and her body indicated a woman with more than just a few decades of experience on this little ball of rock, but she was none the worse for wear by any means. Fit was an entirely apt description. Her tits had a natural sag, but still bore a certain firmness as well as a modest heft. And her eyes. Her eyes were captivating. Penetrating even. They stared at him from a gently rectangular face. Modestly arched eyebrows topped those gazing deep green orbs, and model perfect cheekbones provided a pedestal for those eyes to rest upon. Shapely, proportionate lips still trembled slightly beneath a nose that was not quite angular, and more than a button. Her face would fit in on a magazine cover or a boardroom. A face that could launch a thousand simps. "Let's get into the trees. My partner, Olivia, is waiting for us. Once we get away from prying eyes, we can give you something to cover up with. What's your name?"" Her face warmed briefly even as her arms instinctively moved to shield her tits. "Natasha." Her voice was unsteady, but not weak. "That way, Natasha." Dave pointed to a small gap between two young trees. Nothing he'd seen suggested she was a plant or any other kind of trap, but with only himself and Liv, he realized there was no room for fuck-ups. He spent much of his time walking sideways, keeping an eye to their rear. They entered the trees easily and without getting spotted. Natasha immediately slowed, picking her places to step more carefully with her bare feet on the woodland surface. They proceeded straight back from the buildings, in reverse of Dave's approach. He caught her arm when they reached the point to turn left towards Liv. Pointing quietly, Dave directed her on the new course. She nodded and kept moving. A few steps later, things started getting exciting. "Oh, holy Shit!" Even before his head turned, he knew the speaker was in the same vicinity as the two bodies he'd left behind. Through the intervening trees, Dave spotted a man standing in the gap between buildings. He safed the pistol and started unscrewing the silencer. There was no angle in stealth anymore. Once separated, the pistol went back in the holster and the silencer in his cargo pocket. He brought his MP5 back around. The man circled the two bodies slowly. Dave quietly moved closer to Liv, until they could see each other. With her attention on him, Dave drew his hand across his neck, then pointed at the man still examining the space where his friends had fallen. He heard the report of the rifle at nearly the same instant the back of the man's head sprouted a jet of blood and tissue. Dave hustled the last several steps to Liv's position. Liv gave him a wry smile as she looked behind him. "Recruiting more ladies, David?" As Dave began to object, her smile dropped. "I saw the whole thing. I didn't hear what was said, but they had it coming, that's for sure." "Yeah well, we need to get her warm and clothed. And still deal with these guys." "I've got spare clothes in the truck. Let her hide inside. At least get her out of the elements." Two men appeared, one on either end of the occupied building. Dave, Liv, and their charge were too deep in the trees for the men to spot. Besides, they were focused on the three bodies they could see. "Okay, I'm going to get her in sight of the truck, and then head down the backside of that building," Dave pointed to the empty building. "Got it. So, do I let these guys go back inside?" Do I tell her to take the shot? We're already all in here . Something in Dave went cold. "Once they turn back, take the shot." Liv merely nodded, her attention, earlier divided between her scope and Dave, was now fully downrange. Dave ushered Natasha along a tiny foot path, giving her some ease in foot placement. He tried to keep his eyes off her naked form, but when she jumped at Liv's first shot, the jostling of her tits was magnetic. He turned his eyes away quickly. Fortunately, he was able to spot the truck at this range. "We're going to have to work quickly to shut these guys down. Can you see that white patch through the trees?" Dave pointed in the direction he wanted her to look. Natasha nodded. "That's our truck. The door is unlocked. Get in there and get out of the wind. That will help you warm up some. Liv says she has a change of clothes behind the seat. Take a quick look to see if you can find a shirt or something. Then stay low, stay out of sight." The woman nodded again. "You are leaving me?" "I have to stop all of them before they hurt anyone else." Another shot rang out. She lunged at Dave, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was alarmed for just a moment, but he felt the shaking of her silent cries. She jolted again with the next shot. He gave her several seconds, then peeled her arms off of him. "I have to go." With that, he turned and hustled to a spot along the tree line proximate to the edge of the empty building. He was still covered by trees when he spotted a man moving toward him along the building. He's trying to flank Liv . Dave took up a firing position braced against a tree. Then he fired three rounds. The man dropped without a sound, though the shots echoed through the compound. Another crack from Liv's rifle announced her continued engagement with their opponents. If Dave didn't get engaged soon, they could overwhelm her. He sprinted across the gap and raced down the building's length. Another shot rang out. Dave reached the corner of the building, breathing hard, heart pounding. He heard feet slapping concrete and then go quiet. Swiftly turning the corner, he saw two men sprinting away, through the gap between buildings, and one more passing the other end of the building in the distance. Then another came around the corner near him, the follow-on to the two with their backs to him. He noticed Dave as Dave's SMG reached chest height. Dave's trigger finger pulled three times, smoothly, in quick succession. Three widely spaced red spots erupted on the man's chest. He fell against the wall and slid down. The man's weapon clattered to the concrete pad. Immediately, Dave shifted to the men headed away. One was beginning to turn. Dave fired on him first, this time with his weapon fully raised, taking aim and grouping his shots. Dave shifted to the second man that hadn't yet keyed on Dave's position behind him. With three rounds in his upper chest while running full tilt, the man tumbled to the ground. While Dave was taking out his targets, he'd registered two shots from Liv's rifle. That meant ten men in total they'd killed. But how many were there? At least ten, since the S U V had two men each. What Dave didn't know was how many were left behind to hold down the fort while the attackers were out. As he mulled over the issue, he dealt with two more immediate concerns. His weapon locked open on his last shot. He triggered the magazine release with his right, catching and removing the spent magazine with his left. Quickly, he stuffed the empty mag in his cargo pocket before pulling a fresh magazine from his tacvest. With a fresh magazine in place, he pressed the bolt release, driving a new round home. To be continued in part 11, Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts, for Literotica.

It's Tuesday, December 30th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Trump bombed Nigerian ISIS camps It was a first in United States history. President Donald Trump authorized US military action against ISIS-linked camps in northwestern Nigeria for the purposes of defending Christians who have been the brunt of a genocide that's taken place over the last decade. At least two camps, run by the Muslim terrorists, were hit by 18 precision missiles last Thursday on Christmas Day, reports The Guardian. Nicaragua banned Bibles Nicaragua has banned Bibles at the border.  Tourists may not carry Bibles in any form into the country, according to new regulations. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that the list of forbidden items now includes Bibles, newspapers, magazines, books of any kind, drones and cameras. The Nicaraguan government has also shut down 1,300 religious organizations since April 2018. Repression has picked up since the 2021 election when Daniel Ortega was elected for a fourth consecutive term in office.  Leading opposition candidates were jailed before the sham election.   Nicaragua has the fourth worst economy in South America, just above Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti. Scottish pro-life grandmother arrested outside abortion mill A 75-year-old grandmother is the first to be arrested in Scotland for coming within 656 feet of an abortion mill. This comes after an anti-protesting law was passed last year.   The Times reported that Rose Docherty was holding a sign that simply stated: “Coercion is a crime. Here to talk, only if you want.” In John 3:20, Jesus said, “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.” Puerto Rico recognizes pre-born baby as a person Puerto Rico will now recognize the human fetus as a natural person from conception. That's the substance of a new law which is intended to provide the unborn child with dignity, rights of inheritance, and legal recognition. Sadly, the country still allows abortion for reasons connected to the alleged “life and health of the mother.” Iran's skyrocketing inflation and war with U.S., Israel, & Europe External and internal pressures are increasing on nations worldwide. Iran has edged up into 53 percent year-on-year inflation. That's the fifth worst in the world.  The economy is exasperated by water and energy shortages. And the nation is dealing with rising numbers of protests and strikes. In a published interview late last week, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was in a "full-scale" war with the U.S., Israel and Europe. Russia's unrelenting attacks on Ukraine And Russia continues its war on Ukraine. Russia Today reported an additional 32 settlements in the Donbas area came under Russia control in December. United States sold $11 billion of arms to Taiwan Following the U.S. sale of $11 billion of arms to Taiwan, the Chinese armed forces have initiated an aggressive military exercise in the South China Sea.  It's the largest scale blockade and attack simulation ever conducted to date. The communist nation is conducting live-fire exercises extremely close to the shores of Taiwan.  The official People's Liberation Army news site announced that the drills include “task forces of bombers, amphibious assault ships, and anti-ship missiles.” But keep in mind Isaiah 40:15. The prophet wrote, “The nations are as a drop in a bucket and are counted as the small dust on the scales; [The Lord]  lifts up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor its beasts sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him less than nothing and worthless.” U.S. blocks Venezuela's oil exports Things are heating up in Venezuelan waters — as the U.S. military continues its blockade of the nation's oil exports.  Tankertruckers.com reports  about $1 billion of oil, or about 8-10 tankers, have been held up in the Caribbean by the current blockade.   The Venezuelan government relies on oil exports for about two-thirds of its financing. Venezuela is pushing 250 percent inflation, year-over-year. That qualifies as the absolutely worst conditions in the world. Private Texas schools applying for $10,000 government grants Now, in stateside news, private schools in Texas are signing up for state funding. At least 600 private schools have applied for grants under a new law, for the 2026-27 school year, according to Center Square.  The pilot program is offering $10,000 grants to 100,000 students in the Lone Star state. U.S. dollar less desirable Will the dollar retain supremacy in the world market? The U.S. dollar is less and less desirable by national banks around the world.  The percent of the world's foreign exchange reserve, held in U.S. assets, has dropped off from 72 percent to 57 percent since 1999.  Oklahoma college teacher fired for penalizing Biblical worldview The teacher at the University of Oklahoma who had given a Christian student a zero score on her paper for advocating a biblical view of gender has been fired.  The university issued a statement charging the teacher assistant, by the name of William Curth, with arbitrary grading. The student, Samantha Fulnecky, had appealed to the Bible in her essay, noting that, “God created men in the image of His courage and strength, and He created women in the image of His beauty. He intentionally created women differently than men.” Dad rescued daughter from kidnapper on Christmas And finally, a Texas dad rescued his daughter from a kidnapper on Christmas Day, reported WDBJ7.com.   The 15-year-old was walking her dog, when she was abducted at knife point. Her father traced her location by the phone — and found his daughter in the suspect's truck, rescued her, and called the authorities. Praise God she was not physically harmed.  What a courageous father! Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, December 30th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Join AMBrewster for a sneak peak into Truth.Love.Family.'s Season 34 content!Truth.Love.Parent. is a podcast of Truth.Love.Family., an Evermind Ministry.Action Steps Purchase “Quit: how to stop family strife for good.” https://amzn.to/40haxLz Support our 501(c)(3) by becoming a TLP Friend! https://www.truthloveparent.com/donate.html Download the Evermind App. https://evermind.passion.io/checkout/102683 Use the promo code EVERMIND at MyPillow.com. https://www.mypillow.com/evermind  Click here for Today's episode notes, resources, and transcript: https://www.truthloveparent.com/taking-back-the-family-blog/tlp-612-whats-coming-in-season-34Download the Evermind App! https://evermind.passion.io/checkout/102683Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruthLoveParent/Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truth.love.parent/Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TruthLoveParentFollow AMBrewster on Facebook: https://fb.me/TheAMBrewsterFollow AMBrewster on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebrewsterhome/Follow AMBrewster on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AMBrewsterPin us on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TruthLoveParent/Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTHV-6sMt4p2KVSeLD-DbcwClick here for more of our social media accounts: https://www.truthloveparent.com/presskit.htmlNeed some help? Write to us at Counselor@TruthLoveParent.com.

I don't like to perform a wedding unless I can first have several premarital counseling sessions with the couple. I remember when I told my youngest son (he was very young at that time) that I was going to be performing a wedding ceremony for one of the women on our staff. But the way I said it was this: "Hey, guess what? I'm going to be marrying Margaret." He burst into tears. He said, "What about Mommy?" So I've cleaned up my vocabulary a little bit, but I won't perform a wedding unless I can first counsel that couple. I'll tell you why. You need to get some of the stars out of their eyes. "I love him!" "I love her!" Well, that's great, but most pre-married couples need an emotional optometrist who can help them take a little more honest look at this person that they really do love. So I try to give them some emotional glasses to see who is really there. I think those sessions are a "must" and in fact I even give some tests to show the differences in expectations and in their perceptions of each other. Why? Well, because of the truth of three time-tested words, "Love is (fill in the blank) blind." No it isn't! Not really. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Love Has X-Ray Vision." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 1:9-10. This is a great prayer here! In fact, I think it's a prayer we ought to just pray right out of scripture on behalf of some people we care about. Here it is: "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight." It doesn't sound like love is blind there, does it? "And I want to pray this so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ." Now, the word that's used here is agape love. Of the several Greek words that could be used, this is the one for divine love; it's the highest form. He says, "I pray that your agape will abound more and more." And he said that agape love is insightful. It's not just blindly accepting of everything. This applies to all your relationships, not just romantic relationships. Then he gives here some solid guidelines for all the important choices that you are making at this stage of your life. He says that this knowledgeable love will make you able to discern. It really means to test. Test what? Well, I want you to have the kind of love, God is saying here, that's able to check out what is best. The Greek word that's used here is one that literally means to carry through. What's worth carrying through life? I want you to be able to discern that. It's often translated "more valuable" in the Bible. When you put it together it seems to say this, "Authentic love checks out every choice and chooses what's really worth the most." That kind of thinking settled it for my oldest son one day when he was trying to spend all of his allowance on junk food at the store. But he didn't, and when he left he said, "Dad, I decided I'd spend on what lasts." That's what this is talking about. Some people have us believe that love is this syrupy, naive, acceptance of everyone and everything. But actually, that was pretty tough, because it keeps asking, "What's really best in this situation? What will last?" Not, "What's more comfortable, what's more fun, what's more acceptable, or what's more materially profitable?" No, what's more eternally valuable? You can have that discernment in your daily choices the same way the first-century believers did. You've got to pray for it. Ask for it often. Like Superman, you can have x-ray vision, but to see the things that are really valuable. God can give you powerful inner eyes when you open up to His discerning love. When you have love, God's way, it's not blind - it has x-ray vision.

On Wake Up To Money, we talk a lot about jobs, wages and the labour market. And we often hear from the bosses of some of our biggest recruitment firms.One of those is the Reed Group.Sir Alec Reed started the company 65 years ago and made it into one of the UK's biggest private businesses. He was knighted for his services to business and charity in 2011.He'd long stepped down as Chief Executive of Reed by then, handing over the reins to his son, James, in 1997.Sean Farrington sat down with James to look back on the life of his Dad - and how they navigated being part of the same team at work as well as at home... something that will sound familiar to so many across the country.

The Upside Down is collapsing—and it's not because of Vecna, it's because of an exotic matter black hole that could consume the entire human race. Join hosts Darrell and Addi as they break down "Escape From Camazotz," the episode where everything we thought we knew about the Upside Down gets flipped on its head. The post TSTP 77- Escape From Camazotz appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

In this warm and reflective Christmas episode of Father & Dad, Fr. Steven and Dad talk about the joy of celebrating Christmas in the parish, especially the gift of seeing so many people gathered for Mass—some who may only come a few times a year. Rather than judgment, they reflect on this moment as a sign of hope and an open door for deeper connection.The conversation turns to an important reminder: being Catholic is about more than simply showing up for Mass. While the Eucharist is central, faith is lived within a community, and salvation is not a solo endeavor. Fr. Steven and Dad talk about how parish life is strengthened when people participate beyond Sunday worship—through shared meals, fish fries, pancake breakfasts, and the simple act of being present to one another.Dad also shares his joy in leading OCIC (Order of Christian Initiation for Children), walking alongside elementary school students as they prepare to receive their First Holy Communion. Together, they reflect on how Christmas renews not only our faith, but our call to belong, participate, and grow together as the Body of Christ.

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Two children and mother killed in Boxing Day house fire in Stroud The words from my Dad that saved me as a new parent Kate Bush heartbroken over friend missing at sea TV lookahead for 2026 and beyond Home secretary urged to strip activist of British citizenship John Simpson Ive never seen a year as worrying as 2025 Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad Mums 27 year wait for return of global explorer son Karl Bushby Man shot dead by Norfolk Police in Thetford after two car crash Hospitals warned end of life care crisis threatening treatment

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Kate Bush heartbroken over friend missing at sea The words from my Dad that saved me as a new parent Hospitals warned end of life care crisis threatening treatment TV lookahead for 2026 and beyond Home secretary urged to strip activist of British citizenship Mums 27 year wait for return of global explorer son Karl Bushby Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad Two children and mother killed in Boxing Day house fire in Stroud Man shot dead by Norfolk Police in Thetford after two car crash John Simpson Ive never seen a year as worrying as 2025

Send us a textBarney was the first of our live interviews at the 2025 Classic Car Show at the NEC.As Andy's boss, he's known Barney for 18 years, but this is the first time he had interviewed him. We start things off with a bucket and a gritty sponge, with him helping to clean his Dad's yellow Mk1 Escort Mexico. We stay in that car for drives to the South of France, including knocking the exhaust off on the ferry with some frequency. There was a teacher at Barney's school with an RS500 Cosworth, and a sixth former with a Beetle. Naturally, as the CEO of Heritage Parts Centre, we spoke about how Barney got into VWs - it was the Bug Jam coverage on TV, which he saw at school that set the spark inside him. Elsewhere, there's mention of his Nans interest in British sportscars, and how she almost got a Morgan, but by the time her name came up on the waiting list, she was too old to get in and out of it!Find out more about Heritage Parts Centre here: www.heritagepartscentre.com or follow Barney online at www.instagram.com/barneyceoA big thanks to our new podcast sponsor Viking Covers.If you are looking for quality and customizable indoor or outdoor vehicle covers please go check them out. www.vikingcovers.co.ukWe'll be telling you more about these guys soon - stay tuned.Support the showWe'd love you to hear and share your stories, please tag and follow us on social media. www.instagram.com/mydadscar_podcastwww.Facebook.com/mydadscar podcastwww.buymeacoffee.com/mydadscarIf you'd like to support the podcast and are able to, you can ‘buy us a coffee' which will help towards costs of hosting and purchasing equipment to allow us to record guests in person, rather than just on zoom. Get in touch with us direct - MyDadsCarPodcast@gmail.com

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv The words from my Dad that saved me as a new parent Mums 27 year wait for return of global explorer son Karl Bushby Hospitals warned end of life care crisis threatening treatment Home secretary urged to strip activist of British citizenship Kate Bush heartbroken over friend missing at sea Man shot dead by Norfolk Police in Thetford after two car crash John Simpson Ive never seen a year as worrying as 2025 Two children and mother killed in Boxing Day house fire in Stroud Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad TV lookahead for 2026 and beyond

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Hospitals warned end of life care crisis threatening treatment Mums 27 year wait for return of global explorer son Karl Bushby Man shot dead by Norfolk Police in Thetford after two car crash Why are young people leaving Britain to work abroad John Simpson Ive never seen a year as worrying as 2025 Two children and mother killed in Boxing Day house fire in Stroud Home secretary urged to strip activist of British citizenship TV lookahead for 2026 and beyond The words from my Dad that saved me as a new parent Kate Bush heartbroken over friend missing at sea

It's the final episode of the last episode of television before heading into the first ever pay-per-view for ECW, a wrestling promotion that is trying to prove that a small independent promotion can do it, can be a viable contender all by itself, with the help of nobody else. Nobody. Nobody except the wide range of wrestlers that owed favours or would work for cheap; the first booker Eddie Gilbert who set the tone for what the show would be; Vince McMahon, who while not outright funding the thing, has helped it along as long as Paul Heyman stopped burying his promotion and focused instead on - after WCW raided ECW's roster already, allowing him to raid it much more effectively - WCW; and nobody else except for of course Paul Heyman's Dad's money I assume (and connections) which helped screw Tod Gordon out of the weekend pissup and hotel orgy-hosting nonstop party he had founded that was masquerading as a wrestling company. It's that pivotal final episode of television before that pivotal first pay-per-view, "this Sunday night", at 9 PM, across America, and presumably through piracy and early internet messageboards, across the Globe to a certain extent. Barely Legal. You've got to start that episode right, with a powerful piece of attention-grabbing footage that will make even the most jaded channel-scrolling stoner to shake the cheeto dust out of their eyes, sit up in their Barca Lounger and say hey… I should see if I can steal Barely Legal off the Internet. And what better way to start that episode of television than with… Oh, it's the Pitbulls. It's time for Luke Pennock & Brendan Flaherty to review episode 205 and 206 of ECW, from April 1st & 8th, 1997! Up next - our BARELY LEGAL livestream - presented in eye-wounding VHS-VISION. Join us on Discord - 12.30.25 at 8 PM EST.  Buy the shirt! Buy the shirt! Buy the shirt.  IG & Twitter: @hcorehavenpod Contact us: hardcoreahavenpod@gmail.com Luke on Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/pukelennock/ Logo by Raymond Biesinger Theme song by RANX

Quaranteam - Dave In Dallas: Part 9 A talk with a detective leads to a decision. Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Jan visibly relaxed as she followed Dave out. Olivia was checking in with Shawna and Mel. Dave waited until it looked like Liv had reached a stopping point in her conversation, then signaled for her to come back up. "Dave, how long until the cops get here?" Shawna asked. "Patrol isn't coming. Said since we aren't in immediate danger, they'll focus on 'higher priority calls and get to us when they can'. Which means they aren't coming. A detective will come out to investigate, but that will take time." "How much?" "Dunno. I have a plan though. I'll talk it over with the others and hash out the details. I'll come back out and fill you two in shortly." "Okay." Mel replied. "I'll call Mitchell. See if he can cover for me. He already has morning shift. Between him and April, they can manage for a day." "You sure?" "He's ready to work without a net for one day at least. Probably longer, but I don't want to fry his nerves unnecessarily." "You're a good boss, babe." Dave gave her a quick kiss, then charged back up the stairs to Esme's room where Lupie, Nessa and Olivia waited, with Esme and Roscoe of course. Currently, Esme had her face buried in the big dog's neck, giggling. As Dave took and held each ladies' hand briefly, he heard Jan come in with Becca and Reena in trail. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. We'll take pictures to document the damage and the bodies. Then we'll make repairs. We've got four people with weapons skills. Until the breaches are sealed, at least two of us are armed, on sentry duty downstairs. Once we've got the holes patched, at night at least, we'll go to one person on guard." He paused a minute so everyone could absorb what he'd said. "Does anyone have a good digital camera? We should use something other than cellphones if we can." "Depends on the camera and the user," Mel said. "Unless someone's had classes in photography, they're probably better off using a high-end phone camera." "Does anyone have a high-end phone camera?" Dave asked. "I know mine is decent, but not great." "Mine's pretty good, Liv's too." The other just shrugged. "I have a couple of good digital cameras at my office." Nessa replied. "Listings without photos don't do so good. The cameras are the best available last year, so they should show all the needed detail. I took classes at the El Centro to learn how to make the most of them. Well, the classes were three years ago when we different cameras. We got new, better ones last year." Dave nodded, then thought for a moment. "Okay, I'll escort Nessa to her office for the camera. We'll document everything. Then we'll assess the damage and figure out what we need for repairs. Liv, you and Mel will go to the hardware store for the supplies. Watch your; " his eyes flitted to Esme, "butts. If anything looks sketchy, get back here, supplies or no." Olivia nodded. "Just keep the same in mind yourself." Lupie gazed at him like she wanted to burn Liv's words into Dave's mind. She was not alone. "Vee, we should get going as soon as you're dressed. I don't think you want to go out in the cold drizzle in silk peejays." Vanessa smirked, rising to go change. "I'll be in shortly to grab a coat." As Nessa walked out, Dave sat down beside Lupie. Neither said a word, he just folded his arms around her as she leaned into him. Her shoulder pressed against his chest. Her head settled into the crook of his neck. Dave stroked her other arm, from the top of her shoulder, all the way down to her elbow, slowly, gently, hoping to give her the reassurance that no words would convey. He looked up to see the imploring look in Jan's eyes. With a flick of his own eyes, he signaled for her to sit on his other side, which she promptly did, leaning against him. Lupie reached out to softly grasp Jan's hand. The two sat on either side of Dave, just feeling his presence. While the other two snuggled against him, Dave made eye contact, individually, with Olivia, Becca, and Reena. Liv, while still working through some understandable nerves, seemed otherwise okay. Rebecca looked worried but trusting. Kareena looked like she was on the verge of losing it. Dave waved her over. Reena rose from where she was sitting on the opposite side of the room and streaked over to sit in Dave's lap. Lupie and Jan both made space for the younger girl to sit. The hands that they clasped together, rejoined, encircling Reena. Meanwhile, Reena buried her face in the crook of Dave's neck. Dave's eyes fell on Becca and Liv, the only two of his partners in the room not already huddled with him. Becca looked worried, but trying not to intrude. Not surprising for her, but not an accurate assessment of how Dave or the others would feel about her joining in. Quite the opposite of course. Beginning to understand Becca's feelings of inadequacy, was, however, shining an uncomfortable light on Dave's own lingering personal demons. Then there was Livy. The one that stood by him, protecting the others as the barbarians stormed their gates. He could see the conflicting emotions bounding across her face. She needed this comfort as much as he did. Today was the first time either of them had fired a shot at another human being. Dave waved them both over. "Let's make some space for Liv to sit here. She's got to be pretty spent too." Lupie looked at him plaintively. Like she knew the rightness of what he suggested, but some selfish part of her, that was losing, did not want to move. She did. Then she wrapped her arms around Olivia. "If it weren't for you, he would have been all alone down there, Liv. Thank you." Lupie hugged the younger woman closely. Olivia leaned back into her, while staring at Dave. That's when she started shaking. Dave tried leaning into Liv, But he still had Reena on his lap, and Jan on his other side. Becca, not yet in the cuddle pile, knelt in front of Liv, stroking her thighs soothingly, not erotically. "If you start singing soft kitty, Becca, I swear I'll drop you from the roof." Though Olivia's voice was unsteady, her essential snark came shining through, evoking the laughter she was seeking. None laughed harder than Becca, who threw her head back, snorting hard, with a wide grin that suggested Liv might have been prescient. "Okay, okay ladies," Dave said as the laughter subsided, "I need to go tell Shawna and Mel what's going on, get a coat, and escort Vanessa to get that camera." He patted Reena's leg. She immediately rose halfway up and slipped over to sit beside Liv, sandwiching the brunette between herself and Lupie. Dave addressed the room. "On security issues, Liv's in charge." He fixed his eyes on Olivia. "You know the drill; two on duty, one off, staggered relief. No one downstairs except guards for now. Well, people will start getting hungry once the nerves wear off, so let Lupie and a helper in the kitchen to make something." "And two more helpers at the end to carry everything else up." "Yeah." "And have the third in the kitchen on guard during cooking time." "Yup. and the guard is not doing anything but guarding. Just do your best to keep the guards rested and alert. Hopefully it won't take more than an hour or two to get the camera, but we'll maintain the watch while we document and repair." Liv nodded, as did Lupie and Jan. Nessa opened the door just then, smartly dressed for the weather in jeans and a stylish but sturdy jacket, and Dave's coat in hand. "Thanks, hun." Dave said as he approached her. "Let's go tell Shawna and Mel what's going on, and then head out. We'll take Liv's S U V." The brunette gave a thumbs up from the midst of the loose cuddle the family sat in. Esme and Roscoe had joined them. "Oh, and make sure Lupie and anyone else that cross the living room knows to steer clear of the broken glass, both to preserve evidence until we document it, and spare their feet." Passing Shawna, Dave motioned her to follow him part way down the stairs, then signaled Mel to come up and meet them. The looks on their faces as Dave spoke morphed from incredulous at the dispatcher's comments, to mild worry and trust when Dave explained his plans. Shawna stood up as Dave did, hugging him tightly. In his ear she said, "You be careful. I just got you, baby. I need you, and not just because of the serum." She punctuated her statement with a kiss on the lips that clearly wanted to linger, but self-control did not permit. "Escorting Nessa, armed, is just a precaution. I really don't expect any more trouble. We just need to be smart about this; be ready if something does happen." The first part was to allay their fears, the second to bolster their vigilance. Two steps down, Mel gave Dave a hug as well. "Just come back. You hear me? Come back to us. I don't want to change families anymore." Dave picked up on the allusion to the constant moves while in foster care. He hugged her tightly. "I promise, Red." Then he adopted a bad Austrian accent. "I'll be back." Mel giggled and smacked his shoulder with a wry smile. She followed Dave and Nessa down the stairs until she reached her station. The other two continued through the house and out through the garage. Liv's vehicle was in the driveway and it would have been much shorter to just go through the front door, but Dave was trying not to pass through any portion of the crime scene until after they'd documented it. Nessa drove. For one thing, it was her office, and Dave didn't know the way. For another, in the passenger seat, Dave could scan all around the vehicle, keeping a constant watch. He meant what he said earlier, the risk was likely zero now. Still, caution would be far better than getting caught unawares. Again. The streets were empty of course. While that should have lowered Dave's anxiety levels, the current risk factor was not the only thing that could gnaw at him. Dave had nearly a hundred hours of practice at shoot / no-shoot ranges, hundreds of hours of raw target practice, and had successful hunts every year he'd gotten a license. And no, despite all the bullshit coming out of those idiots at PETA, shooting a deer was not the same as shooting a person. Not even close. What they only knew as a pseudo-intellectual exercise Dave now had logged as real life experience. He didn't regret it. They were attacking his home. They broke in, in the middle of the night, carrying arms. Their intent was unknown, but there were no innocent reasons fitting those facts. But they were dead, at Dave's hands. And Livy's. He needed to find a way to console her, help her through this mental minefield even as he tried to navigate it himself. The look on her face as he left hovered in his mind. What had he led her through? Maybe he should have taken the low position on the stairs, and had Liv wait at the top of the stairs as backup? Then maybe she wouldn't have to have fired a shot? Maybe he could have fired quickly enough to hold off the attackers on his own. Then Liv wouldn't have to carry the burden she now had. "Babe?" Vanessa called out. Seeing no change in Dave's face, she tried again. "David? Honey, can you hear me?" "Huh? What?" "You're spiralling. I'm no expert, but that look. I've seen it before. A couple of our younger realtors are vets." "Not the same. This was a single incident that only lasted a few minutes. Those guys lived in hell for months." "Only one has chosen to open up to me, but it seems it's only a few minutes that the mind can't let go of." Dave kept his face stony and doubled down on his scanning. What could he have missed while his brain was wasting time with obsessions? "David, please don't run away on me, on us. We need you. You've been a good man for us every step of the way." Her voice got shaky as she continued. "We needed you this morning, and you stepped up. I've never been one to consign manliness exclusively to feats of strength or military prowess, but those are included. What you did this morning was another way to show your love. You stood between us and harm. You took the risk, and I am grateful for that. I know the others are too." Dave didn't reply, but did take a deep breath. The rest of the ride passed in silence. It took forty-five minutes to reach the realty office. Since most were working remotely; or dead; the place was empty. Dave followed Nessa in as she went straight to the cabinet and extracted a camera and a fresh memory card. Then they headed right back out. As she was locking the outer door, her stomach rumbled. Dave chuckled. "Maybe we should swing through a drive-thru for some breakfast. Any preferences?" "I'd really like a coffee. I think I saw an open Starbucks three blocks back. I don't know if they're working in bubbles; like a fixed group for each shift; or maybe they got dosed already, but they're lit up. A big coffee and a pastry and I'd be fine." The lobby doors had large "Closed, Use Drive-Thru Please" signs. Nessa pulled in and placed her order, then looked over at Dave. "Almond croissant, bacon gouda sandwich, and; a trenta pink drink. Easy ice." The look on Nessa face was priceless. She managed not to laugh, or say anything, just turned to the speaker to relay the request. While they were waiting their turn in line, she reached her hand under Dave's chin. She pulled him toward her, even as she leaned in, giving him a long, slow, loving kiss. "The man that can hold off armed assailants in the middle of the night, with no warning, doesn't need to be embarrassed about what he drinks with his breakfast, baby. You've certified your manliness in so many ways, even before this morning." Tears rimmed the bottom of her eyes. Dave was just brushing away her tears, trying to think of something to say when the car behind them honked. The car ahead was now two car lengths away. Both settled back into their seats. "Thank you," Dave said huskily as she edged forward. They passed the remainder of the return trip in silence, though a few meaningful glances were exchanged. Shawna and Mel left their stations and met them in the middle of the living room as soon as the two heard Dave and Nessa coming in through the garage. Dave had also texted as they turned on to the right block. "Upstairs, now mister." Shawna's voice was stern, uncompromising. "What?" "I didn't think about it before you left, but these guys might be carriers of Duo. We're vaxxed directly, but you're only safe through us. The briefing we got was clear; if the man we're bonded to is exposed, or even potentially exposed, renew his immunity with sex. Lots of it. Nessa and I will start documenting. Liv and Mel will stand guard." Footsteps on the stairs announced Olivia's descent. "Go on. Becca and Reena are in the spare bedroom waiting. Others will rotate in. You don't have to finish in us for your immunity. Once we gush, with or without you, switch to the next girl." "But y'all won't get your dose that way." "That's not the concern right now. Your immunity is. Go on." Dave recognized that tone, plus the looks in every eye present. He was sure the looks of those not present would match. Sure enough, when Dave opened the door to the bedroom, he saw his two youngest partners already waiting. Becca, her blonde hair cascading past her shoulders, small, pert tits standing out proudly as she kneeled on the bed wearing nothing but a smile. Reena was identically attired, her warm brown skin and large tits the most notable contrast with her friend. Dave began stripping off his gear and clothing, double checking that his pistol and smg were on safe, even though they had been for a few hours now. He set his weapons away from the bed, but further from the door than the bed. Coos and sexy comments from the girls had him half-chubbed by the time he pulled off his boxers. "Oh, yeah baby. That's what I'm looking for." Reena purred. She pulled Dave's face down to hers and locked his lips in a passionate kiss. Dave immediately began stroking her sides, then moved to caress her lush tits. As his hands contacted her big soft mammaries, Reena hummed. Dave pushed her back onto the bed. Whether this or his fingers grasping her nipples caused her to gasp is anyone's guess. Dave settled himself between her thighs. He felt a hand grasp his cock and notch it in Reena's entrance. Then a small hand delivered a soft slap on his ass. He felt Reena's hand reach around his back, but never saw the thumbs up she gave to Becca. That hand immediately switched from signaling to grasping as Dave's cock surged into her wet and waiting pussy. "Oh, fuck yes. Fuck me, David. Fuck me with that magic fucking cock." She started nibbling on his earlobe as he drove in and out of her slippery passage. It was one of his 'drive me wild' spots. His thrusting rapidly accelerated in speed and power. He raised up, taking his ear out of her reach, but her lascivious smile and her bouncing tits provided incredible visual stimuli. Reena managed a few encouraging erotic words, but quickly devolved into grunts and moans as his animalistic attack on her eager vagina brought both of them to the edge of ecstasy. She got there first. Barely. Her rippling inner muscles touched off his eruption, in turning kicking her into a second orgasm just as the first was reaching its maximum. The power of the doubled orgasm drove the air from her lungs and all thought from her mind. She clutched Dave fiercely with her arms and legs, claiming him as an anchor as pleasure wracked her body. She finally relaxed, flopping back to the bed, panting. "That; was; Awesome!" Dave sat up, his ass on his heels. Then Becca grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to half-turn so she could kiss him. He could feel a turmoil of emotions in that kiss. He brought his hands up to grasp her shoulders while his tongue tangled with hers. Dave barely felt the washcloth Becca slipped under his cock as he slid out of Reena's ravaged little hole. Reena grabbed it to capture any leakage. Meanwhile, Becca pushed Dave flat on his back and straddled him. She leaned down to kiss him again. Then Dave felt an extra hand on his mostly hard shaft. It was elevating him to Becca's hot, moist, little pussy. Reena was returning the favor. Becca sat back slowly at first, until Dave was seated in her entrance. The stimulus of the kiss, the hand on his cock, and Becca's small tits and tiny nipples rubbing his chest had him nearly full hard again. The young blonde's eyes fluttered slightly as she eased her way onto Dave's rod. Probably leftover semen on me setting off a serum reaction , Dave thought. Becca grasped his shoulders with her hands as the ripples passed through her. The effects of the brief exposure ran their course quickly. She sat up, bracing herself on his shoulders as she slowly began to ride him. Her eyes locked on his. Her hips bounced and rotated and snaked, all while Dave's cock stayed buried within her. Dave reached up, grazing her torso with his palms until he cupped her petite and alluring tits. He began massaging the lovely mounds with his palms. His fingers rubbed, rolled, and lightly pinched her nipples. Dave felt the bed shift, and then heard the door click shut. Reena must have slipped out of the room. He returned his attention to Becca, fixing his eyes on hers. So much life was there, waiting, yearning, to become. Her face bore worry; understandably; but something more. It was the something that gave him peace with their relationship, despite his natural doubts about their age difference or himself. He curled up to kiss her lips, which she returned before he lay back down. Her sleek body hammered up and down on his cock, the motions getting increasingly rapid. Her breathing grew ragged and punctuated by moans. She slammed herself down one last time, fully seating Dave inside her as pleasure shot through her body. Dave lowered the exhausted girl to his chest and held her while she caught her breath. Her fluids saturated his cock and leaked slowly out around their joining. A discrete knock preceded the door opening quietly, and closing almost as quickly. Almost imperceptible footsteps approached the bed. The silence of a librarian. "Becca, time to switch." Said Jan in her usual soft voice. "Try to understand, he's a magic man." Her voice was slightly muffled as her head was slightly mushed against Dave's chest still. Both adults chuckled. Then Dave said, "Been watching seventies music on MTV?" Becca nodded. "Mostly concerts since they didn't make many videos back then. People wore weird shit back then." "Hey, I was a kid in the seventies. Those people were my parents, aunts, and uncles." "No more stalling." Jan said in her firm voice. Becca slid up, so that Dave slipped out of her, then clambered off the bed. She immediately grabbed a washcloth, from a stack the ladies must have staged there. House Belsus had no shortage of women that could plan ahead, in detail. As Becca cleaned herself, Jan cleaned up Dave. Then she climbed over Dave to lie between him and the wall. Dave looked at the light tan blouse and mid-thigh, navy blue cloth skirt she wore. "Overdressed aren't we?" Jan's eyes twinkled as she took Dave's hand and placed it high on her thigh, under her skirt. Taking the hint, he slid his hand up her leg, finding her happy place bare and wet. The next hour became a blur as Dave's lovers each took turns 'topping off' his immunity. Well, except Niki. She'd only arrived last night, and was still in her imprinting sleep. When Dave and Shawna; who had been the last in line; had finished cuddling afterwards, they dressed, grinning at each other like a couple of teens that had the house to themselves. A quick kiss and they left the room. As they stepped out, Shawna leaned back in and gave a sniff. "We're gonna need to light a candle in there. Several candles. And lay down some carpet deodorizer." "That's a later problem. Right now I want to check in on Niki, then see how things are going downstairs." As they walked, Shawna spoke. "Well, Nessa and I photographed everything in excruciating detail. Multiple frames, multiple angles. Both breaches, and each corpse, along with the blood trails. She even took close up photos of each man's fingertips and captured decent images of the fingerprints." "Good enough for id purposes?" Dave asked as he opened the door to the master bedroom. "Dunno. Hopefully. We'll see what the police say." "They'll have the bodies to print the old fashion way." "Yeah, couldn't hurt though. Besides, we copied all the images on a second memory card. We're keeping that and handing over the original. Mel swears there's no difference in file integrity." Dave stood by the side of the bed, reaching out to place the back of his hand against the cheek of Niki as she slumbered. She was warm, but not feverish. He pulled back the blankets to examine her legs, remembering their discussion the night before about her injury. There were lots of flaked off skin in the bed surrounding Niki's legs, and some kind of residue along her legs as well. "Best to wait until she wakes to clean her up David. We don't want to disturb her during imprinting sleep." "But we can't wake her during it, no matter what we do." "Still, whatever's going on could be a delicate process. Let's err on the side of caution hun. Let her heal, then we'll help her cleanup later." Dave nodded his agreement and neatly pulled the covers back over Niki's sleeping form. As he adjusted the bedding, Shawna spoke. "Let's go see if Lupie's managed to get the glass out of the carpet to her satisfaction." A wry grin grew on Dave's face. "Is anything ever clean to Lupie's satisfaction?" he asked as they hit the top of the stairs. "When it comes to glass shards in carpet, I'm a fan of Lupie's exactitude." "Fair point. Hey, has Roscoe gotten out yet?" "Oh yeah. We took him out through the garage after you and Nessa left. Esme and Liv walked him around in Lupie's yard 'til he settled down and did his business. Then they played for awhile. Mostly Esme played with him while Liv kept watch." "Bet he loved that." "Yeah, those two are like peas in a pod now." Shawna said as they reached the floor of the living room. Dave walked over to Lupie, who leaned back onto her heels from her work looking for glass shards. The overhead lights were off. She had a flashlight in one hand, using the glint from the shards to locate them. She tilted her head up and Dave gave her an appreciative kiss. "I think he likes her more than me at this point," Liv groused from her position against one wall of the living room. "Aw, he's not replacing you. He just has a new buddy to have fun with." "Yeah, yeah. I'm still getting replaced by a younger model." Shawna rolled her eyes and snickered. "Oh, yeah, you're such an old hag, Liv." Olivia's only answer was a smirking scowl. Dave motioned Liv over to a quiet corner of the room. "How are you holding up?" "I'm okay," she said in an uncharacteristically small voice. "The others kinda dogpiled me for awhile. It's just; it's not like I thought it would be." Both were silent for a minute. "Dad did stuff like that for years." Her voice started to crack. "How? I mean shit, now I get why he was so strict on some things, or why he would get distant. How the fuck wasn't he a bigger asshole?" As she started to shake with sobs, Dave wrapped his arms around her, tears streaming down his own face. Lupie noticed and came over, with other members of the house following to join a group hug. It wasn't even noon yet, and already a very long day. Chapter 11; A Nudge. October 28, 2020 9:15am After Livy's entirely understandable emotional outburst, Dave suggested she remain at the house while he escorted Mel to the hardware store. Liv stomped that idea down, hard. "I will not leave my duties for someone else to perform. I thank all of you for your support. I'm okay. My dad didn't raise me to leave people hanging." The facial expressions several of them shared indicated a mutual desire to object to that particular characterization, and a mutual recognition of the futility of any words they could say in that cause. Liv was calm and collected when she and Mel left, both of them armed and masked up. Each wore full-length pants, long sleeves and gloves as well, to maintain the appearance of quarantine protocols. The NDA's they'd signed were still in effect, so they couldn't give anyone a reason to wonder why they were not concerned about the virus. All the gear they wore managed to dwarf Melanie's medium frame and curves, but nothing could hide Liv's large bust. That and the contrast of Liv's milk chocolate brown hair with Mel's auburn locks allowed the others to distinguish the two as they walked out. A few texts from Mel to Lupie kept the family reassured they were both fine while they were out. Liv drove, using the argument that she'd had combat driving training with her dad. He'd slipped her in when one of his security teams were going through annual training. Still, getting the lumber and fasteners to make temporary fixes for the broken window and sliding door took the better part of an hour in-store. The drive itself was short. While Liv and Mel were gone, Dave gathered a couple of sawhorses and tools from the garage and set up on the back deck. Even though they'd photographed everything, Dave didn't want to disturb the two bodies lying on the deck. Arranging the tables had a new dimension to consider. A creepy one that should have bothered him more than it did. He pulled out a plastic table from a hall closet to serve as a tool stand and laid out the cordless drill and everything else. The saw he placed on the table and immediately connected the extension cord to it, leaving the other end disconnected from, but near, the outside outlet. Finished, Dave settled into a patio chair. The chair was made of stretched grey fabric on a black metal frame, one of four on his low back deck. Given the size of his household, he needed to pick up some more. Or better yet get some nice wooden deck chairs. With the combined incomes in the house, they could afford to splurge a little. Except, they're supposed to move. How soon he didn't know, but why buy new furniture when they'd just have to move it; and might not have a deck or patio to put it on? Dave's gaze wandered across his yard. The greenhouse drew his attention. With the lower temperatures, the potted bay tree had been moved in there. Would they get to move the plants? Restarting his entire food base would suck. His practice platform would have to be carefully dismantled, assuming they had enough warning time. The platform was well worn and smooth. He'd even practice barefoot sometimes to get a feel for it. No splinters. That smooth. Starting over again; on so many things. Seems like that was the new refrain in life; starting over. Dave shook himself out of that downward spiral. Nothing good lay down that line of thinking. His eyes landed on the body on his deck, and the red stain beneath it. Once the body was removed and the detritus cleared and scrubbed, he'd need to sand it and re-stain it. Well, maybe not. Depends on how long until they moved. Dave realized he needed to talk with Vanessa about the timeline on this thing. But what the hell did it mean? Why would they cut the nuts off their own dead? What was going on? None of this made sense. Nothing had made sense for months. Why not pile on one more inanity? "David?" Jan's soft voice, loaded with concern, snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. He turned his head to face her. Her slender frame easily fit within the break in the glass door. "David, it's freezing and wet out here. Wouldn't you rather be inside?" She looked about the deck and all of his preparations. She crossed from the door to his chair and slowly knelt beside his knee. Her soft brown eyes pleaded even more than the words from her mouth. "It's not good for you to be out here like this, David. Please, come inside." Dave stood, reaching her position at the door in three quick steps. Kissing her softly on the lips, he pulled back with a cheeky grin. "Yes, dear." Her bemused smile was just what he needed. He let her guide him to a spot on the couch. It was only slightly warmer, but a lot drier. Plus, Jan snuggled in close. After a few minutes, she got up to pull a blanket off the back of the other couch. She rejoined Dave, wrapping the blanket around the two of them. They said very little. Jan's calm, quiet presence prevented any further worrisome mental tangents. When Liv got back with the supplies, his first order of business was to check that they'd had no problems and hadn't been followed. In that, they were clear. With weapons slung, the three of them unloaded the lumber and such from the truck and into the backyard via the side fence gate. They were careful to avoid the corpses, giving them a wide berth. Where the fuck were the cops? "Okay, Liv, can you make one last verification on the window measurements while I get the plywood on the sawhorse?" "Sure. You wanna screw it straight to the wood frame, right?" Liv asked. "Yup." Dave replied. "Hmm, you could just screw it straight to my frame, Dave." Mel purred and waggled her eyebrows. Liv was out of earshot by the time she'd spoken. Dave sagged for a moment. Mel was one of the several he hadn't ejaculated in earlier, so she would still need dosing in the next four days. Mel immediately felt bad, as expressed on her face. "Sorry, Dave, I'm just messing with you." "Yeah, I get that. And I like the quick jab jokes most of the time. I'd rather a sharp mind that occasionally nicks my fingertip than a dull one that needs every non-literal comment described and outlined for her." Melanie snickered appreciatively. "Still, I'm responsible for all of you, and your needs. I take that seriously; as much fun as any one of you are to be with, it's also a job that I gotta get right or someone gets hurt." It took Mel about half a second to close the distance and press her body against Dave. Her arms latched around him. "Hey, you do a great job taking care of us, each of us. This morning was one of the more obvious proofs. You're really good at the less obvious stuff too." Dave gave her ass a light pinch that made Mel yelp. "Thanks, kitten. I really am getting in a better head space with your help and others. Sometimes my instincts are from the old days, though." Liv stepped back out onto the deck just then. Mel's wicked grin reappeared. "Well, in the old days, you didn't have me to fuck; or your big tiddy daughter slut." Liv backhanded Mel. "I'm not his daughter, dammit! Don't say shit like that. I won't get laid for a week if that's in his head!" "Damn, that was my tit! That fucking hurt!" Olivia looked completely unapologetic. Mel's face switched back to lascivious. "That's okay, I know what could get him revved and ready to fuck." She sauntered over to Liv and took her friend's face in her hands, softly. Then she kissed her, long slow, and deep. Liv's response was surprise at the sudden switch, but not unaccustomed to the familiarity. Melanie broke the kiss, then turned to look at Dave with hooded eyes, her cheek pressed against Olivia's. "What do you think David? You up for nailing a couple of kinky bi-sexual college babes?" Dave drew in a breath and was about to reply when she continued. "Even if one of them is your big tiddy mfm--" Liv's hand sealed over Mel's mouth to block a repeat of the undesired phrase. "With dead bodies lying right here in view? Not so much." Dave hoisted a sheet of plywood and settled it on the sawhorses. Liv released Mel, who spoke only with her wicked grin and gleaming eyes before heading back inside. Liv called off the measurements, which matched what she and Dave measured earlier. A few minutes with the measuring tape and pencil and they had two panels marked off, one each from two different corners of the sheet. Liv held the plywood while Dave cut one panel, then they switched roles for the second panel. After securing the saw, Dave grabbed the drill and screws while Liv snagged the cut sections. They passed back through the broken glass door and proceeded to the entryway to patch the broken window. Nice thing about drywall screws; they're very good for more than just drywall. The frame of the window was wide, and solid wood. Dave held the one section in place on the inside as Liv used the cordless drill to run two pilot holes each on both sides of the frame. She quickly changed to a driver bit and put drywall screws into the holes. The pilots were large enough for the shaft of the screw, but not the threads, that way the screws had a good, firm, bite in the wood without cracking it. Once Liv had four good screws in the plywood panel, Dave stepped back, making room for her to run a few more pilot holes and screws; two more on each side and three each across the top and bottom. Liv was a little annoyed having to use the step ladder for the top screw on each side as well as the three across the top. "Don't worry about it. Hell, I'm gonna use it when I do the outside. Yeah, if I really had to, I can reach and do it. But, with less strain, I can be sure to get the screws level." Liv looked slightly mollified at Dave's admission. To further assuage her injured ego he delivered a gentle, lips only, kiss after she descended. She rolled her eyes and smiled before leaving to find the hand vacuum to get the sawdust. Dave started shuffling the equipment through the never-breached security door around to the outside of the window. He was just running the extension cord back to the outlet near the door when Liv came out. This time, she held the panel in place while he drove pilot holes, quick changed to a driver bit and put screws in place. Liv backed off so he had room to run the rest of the pilot holes. Dave was just driving the last screw holding the panel in place when he heard an engine coming down the street. Two engines. "Get inside, use the door as cover," he ordered. Dropping the drill in the grass under the windowsill, he hoofed it around the corner of the house. The brick would give him some small measure of protection if it was needed. He pulled the SMG around on its sling, from against his back to the ready position. Almost the moment he was in position with weap. As the S U V came to a stop, Dave registered the markings and got a mental jarring. Black background, two blue stripes, with white letters spelling out 'Police' and 'Garland'. Garland was three towns away, on the other fucking side of the lake! The officer stepped out of her vehicle, standing between the body and her driver's door. Typical for an on-duty officer, her hair was hidden up under her hat. More importantly, her right hand was low, hidden by the vehicle's body, likely on her pistol. In fact, given what Carter had taught him about procedures, she'd likely already removed the safety strap, her thumb hooked around the grip. She was exposed enough that Dave could see her badge. She was too far away to identify the authenticity of said emblem, but everything was falling into place as legit. "Sir, please place your weapon on the ground. My name is Officer Korman of the Garland Police Department. We are here in response to multiple 911 calls from this address." Dave held both hands, empty, out to his sides. "Yes officer, we called several times in the early morning while we were under attack, and after. I'm going to disarm myself, and hand my weapons inside to my family." The officer's eyes flicked to the door. Clearly, she'd been distracted enough by Dave that she hadn't noticed Olivia. Or Olivia's gun. Even at a distance, she flinched visibly, realizing she'd committed a fatal error. "We have no beef with law enforcement, officer. We've been a bit on guard since the incident. My partner will secure my weapons inside and close the door." Dave used his left hand to reach slowly across his body at shoulder height. He hooked his thumb under the strap and slid it off his shoulder and across his arm. Leaving it to twist, dangling from his thumb, he held his arm straight out, full length, as he slowly walked to the door and handed the weapon off to Liv. Keeping his right hand still up and visible, he then unstrapped his thigh holster and handed that inside as well. Liv had a wary look as Dave pulled the front door closed between them. Dave turned back to the officer. "Ma'am, as you can see, I am now unarmed, everyone else is inside. We were just repairing the damage from the attack, and staying vigilant." "You altered the crime scene?" The voice should have been annoyed, but was too monotone to convey any meaning beyond the words themselves. "We took extensive pictures of the bodies and both breaches. We haven't sealed the rear breach yet. We'd just finished the front when you arrived." The policewoman stepped around her door, closing it. On alert, she came around the front of her patrol vehicle and approached Dave. "Sir, the young woman that entered the house, is that your daughter?" Does she know about the vaccine? Best to play it cagey . "She's my best friend's daughter. I've known her since she was punching her mother's belly from the inside." The officer approached a few more steps as he spoke. At this range, Dave could see the drained appearance behind the weak smile his jest evoked. "You say you took pictures?" "Yes ma'am. We have it saved on a memory card for you." Dave shivered involuntarily. The drizzle had let up and the temperature had risen slightly with the sun. Not that the Sun's presence was particularly notable today. Working on the patch had kept him moving and focused so he didn't register the chill. Now he had the luxury of discomfort. "We carefully took photos of the bodies, the area they fell, and the path in between. We didn't move them ourselves, their buddies did that. Then they, well, take a look." Still wary, the cop walked over to the corpse still splayed out on the driveway. "And you didn't do this?" "No ma'am. We haven't touched the bodies at all. Shot 'em when they were inside the house. Their pals drug them back out here and did this. There's three more on the back deck. We shot two of them in the house. The third was shot by one of his friends, out on the deck." "I'm going to have our mortuary contractor collect the bodies for the Me. Please bring me the memory card with the original images." She beckoned towards the van as Dave moved to the house. Mel once again assured Dave the copies she made were full copies, indistinguishable from originals. Dave took the copied memory card and walked back out. The two figures in hazmat gear carrying the encased body between them were approaching the back of the van when he stepped out into the dreary day once again. "Here's the memory card officer." "Thanks. Two more in the back you say?" "Three. Two that we shot and one shot by his buddies." "Right." "There's a side gate so we can go around the house." "The shooting occurred inside?" "Yes ma'am." "I'm going to need to examine the area myself, and take some notes. There should be a detective along later. I'll make a note in the file that I've collected the pictures you took. She can get them from the station house." "Do you know the detective that's coming?" "No clue." "Then how do you know it'll be a woman?" "Probability, sir." Dave's heart sank. While the officer sounded drained for most of their conversation, those last two words were absolutely desiccated, the depleted echoes of a mind that had seen everything torn asunder, replaced with a nightmare even Wes Craven would run away from. Once the body movers returned, Dave led the three of them through the side gate into the backyard and pointed out the corpses on the back deck. He stayed in the grass to give them plenty of room for their work. The officer scribbled notes as the two body collectors packaged up one corpse and carried it off. She kept a distance from Dave the entire time, with her weapon hip carefully away from him; and the broken glass door. When the collectors came for the second body, she remained at a distance from the scene as they worked. For the third body, she followed them out. She fixed Dave's eyes with her own as she walked off. "I'll be back in a moment to examine the interior." Dave passed into the house through the breach. Lupie was busy in the kitchen with a couple of helpers. Shawna and Liv were in the living room. The younger woman was more obviously on alert, and maybe on edge. An attentive eye could discern Shawna was similarly watchful, but more calm. Liv picked up Dave's SMG to hand it to him. "No, hold on to it. Actually, put the SMG's away. Let's keep the pistols for now though. The policewoman is coming inside shortly. Let's keep the weapons out of sight. She's not a threat, how 'bout the two of you skedaddle up stairs while she's here?" "Sure," Liv replied. "You know the code?" Shawna asked. "Yup. Mom & Dad's wedding year." A sharp rap at the door announced the officer's arrival. Dave was a few steps away from the door, so he strode quickly in that direction after checking that Liv was already inputting the entry code for the gun closet. If he could keep the officer examining the parlor space first, and long enough, Liv and Shawna could get clear before the officer came into the living room. No point in agitating the woman. Dave noticed she was wearing a face mask and gloves when he opened the door. His plan to stall worked. Hell, he didn't even have to try that hard. The Lady asked enough questions about the attempted breach of the door and the eventual entry through the window that Dave heard his two partners ascending the stairs well before he and the officer moved towards the living room. "So this is where the shooting actually occurred?" "Yes ma'am. Liv stood over there at the landing, and I was initially braced against that corner where the hallway meets the room." "Initially?" "Once they broke through the window, I was concerned Liv would be exposed from that direction. They didn't seem interested in coming through the glass door anymore, so I crept forward behind that couch so that I could hit anyone that might try to get an angle on her. I don't think the guy I shot saw her before I shot him." She scribbled furiously in her notebook for a few minutes. Then she asked to speak with Liv. His partner descended; Dave was relieved to see she'd left her firearm upstairs. Lupie, Jan, and Reena passed upstairs after Liv cleared the stairs. The dishes they carried smelled great. If Dave hadn't heard the officer's stomach grumbling, he might have felt sorry for himself. She must have seen the look on his face though. "No, thank you. That would still be inappropriate," she said. "I will need to speak with ;” "Olivia." "; Olivia, alone please." Dave nodded and headed upstairs. Carefully, he lowered himself to a crouching position in the hallway beside the head of the stairs. He couldn't hear the words, but by tracking tone he would be alerted to impending trouble. There was none. It took several minutes, but then he heard Olivia walking the officer to the door. Dave was at the bottom of the stairs before Liv made it back from securing the front door. "All good?" he asked. "Yup," said the brunette. "She look exhausted to you?" "Very." "She say anything about who did this?" "She only asked questions, no answers. I tried a few while the body boys were away from us. No dice." "Boys?" "Dunno, I actually wasn't paying attention." "With the residency of this house, you're having trouble identifying male from female?" Liv said with a wink. Dave's only reply was a bemused glare. Liv's bounteous bust bounced with her laughter. "I love hearing that sound." Shawna's rich tones rolled into the living room as she reached the landing. Dave turned to face her. "Speaking of sounds I love to hear ;” Shawna came closer and kissed him. The feel of her magnificent bust pressed to his chest and the smell of his lover's skin gave Dave thoughts he couldn't address just yet. "I'd tell you that you have me already and don't have to win me over, but I love hearing those sweet nothings." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed her nose on his. "Melanie and I ate already. We'll stand guard down here. You two eat and finish the repairs." Dave kissed her once more, then headed upstairs. Melanie passed him at the foot of the stairs. Liv followed immediately behind him. Dave had to 'endure' a lot of hugs, and a few kisses, within a few feet of entering the spare bedroom Lupie had set up lunch in. Homemade chicken soup with all the rich, deep flavors from multiple ingredients missing from the canned stuff. Plus fresh rolls. He was getting used to being spoiled like this, but damn, it was so good to have a woman around the house. Having nine women around the house sounded like a recipe for disaster, but it hadn't been an issue at all. Which reminded him. "Anyone keeping an eye on Nicole?" "I just came from the master bedroom before you came up," said Jan. "She's still solidly out. As long as it's been, she must be experiencing a regeneration. There's no telling how long she will be unconscious." Dave stopped before her for a lingering kiss and a minute or so of gazing into her eyes before getting a second bowl of soup and two more rolls. Liv lingered over her first bowl, then spent some time talking with Lupie while Dave finished up. "You ready?" Liv asked as he added his bowl to the dirty stack. "Yep. Now for the tough part." He paused in thought. "Did you pick up the glass handling gloves?" "Yeah, bag's on the couch. I don't want either one of us losing a finger." They grabbed the gloves on their way through the living room to the deck. Then things got tricky. First, they removed the fasteners holding the two frame pieces together. The glass was sandwiched between them. Then, with Dave holding high on the large pane, well away from the shattered area, Liv carefully pried the inner frame piece away. Dave had to step over it as she moved it out of the way. The most delicate part came next. Liv ran a flathead screwdriver around the edge of the glass to ensure it came away cleanly. Very gingerly, they pulled the top edge away from the frame, then slowed its descent as its own weight rotated it the rest of the way out. They laid it in the grass. "I really expected the edge by the break to fall apart." "Guess we got lucky." "Damn lucky. Let's get that plywood in place, then we can break that thing into large pieces and dump 'em in the trashcan." With Becca, Esme, and Lupie living in Dave's house, the large rolling trashcans for Lupie's property were empty. One of those had plenty of space for the glass pane. The plywood took some trimming to fit vertically. But there was open space horizontally, so a second piece of plywood was needed to fit the gap. With the frame back in place and secured, Dave and Liv ran a few 2x1's across the seam. A bit of caulk squeezed into the crack would prevent any air leak; or whistling. Breaking and stashing the glass in the spare bin and cleaning the deck area took another forty minutes. By the time they got inside, Jan had already vacuumed the last of the sawdust and glass bits from the carpet adjacent to the sliding door. Dave and Olivia washed up. Liv joined Mel in their room, watching a streaming show on the latter's laptop. Dave went down to the living room, finding most of his family present. "Hey, babe." He slid onto the couch beside Lupie. She immediately nestled into his shoulder. She placed one hand on his chest, the other on his thigh closest to her. "I appreciate everything you've done to keep things working smoothly here while Liv and I dealt with what happened. That helped keep everybody's nerves; manageable." Her hand on his chest gripped tighter, like she was trying to palm him. "You're the one that stood in the line of fire and faced down armed men coming to kill us. Or worse. Making food and cleaning up is not the same." "The value of one act does not negate the value of the other. Cleaning up is the first step in returning some normalcy after the disruption. A hearty meal helps soothe the soul. What you've done matters." Dave barely heard her next utterance. "Just don't leave me David. I need you. Please be careful." He pulled her in tight. "I will." A knock at the door interrupted anything else he might have said. The late afternoon gloom and the chilly air seemed perfect for the woman standing on Dave's doorstep. Not overly short for a woman, she sported jet black hair pulled into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and pale skin on an oval face. Her cloth mask covered her mouth. Dave half wondered if the darkness around her eyes was makeup or weariness. Oh good, Detective Wednesday Addams is here . "Hello, sir. I'm Detective Carmen Verratti. I'm here to investigate the break-in and deaths that occurred earlier." The mask she wore muffled her words slightly. An emotion detector would not have registered the tiniest blip as she spoke. One for weariness would have pegged. "Would you like to start with the outside or inside?" Dave queried. "Let's get the outside done before the temperature drops." She took a sip from her insulated beverage bottle. Dave picked up a vague whiff of coffee as he followed her out to the driveway. "I'm not sure what woke me up in the first place. We have a dog, but he was upstairs and deaf. He didn't start barking until after the shooting began. There's chickens in the next yard over. I suppose they might have made a noise, but not once I was awake. I armed myself and left my bedroom. I encountered; one of my housemates on the stairs." Dave continued, walking through each step of the encounter. Once they were past the part where the guys coming in the front broke through the window, they walked around to the back deck. As with the blotch in the driveway, the detective seemed transfixed by the stain on the deck for several seconds. When she was finished with her visual examination of the deck and backyard, she motioned for Dave to lead her inside. Waving to the plywood she asked, "This is the second breach?" "This was the first place they got through. By the sounds of things, they were trying to breach the sliding glass door and the front door at the same time. They just weren't ready for a security door. The guys in the front came through the window, but by that time we'd already taken out two guys coming through the back." "And that's when you heard two men arguing about someone's sister?" "Only one voice got loud enough to pick out words." Liv supplied. "He seemed pretty pissed, so whatever the quieter voice mentioned must not have been pleasant." "So could one of these men be the brother or brothers of one of your partners?" the detective queried. Dave shared uneasy looks with Liv, Shawna, and Lupie. Four brains looked stuck in feedback loops trying to figure out how to respond without breaking the NDA's they'd all signed. "I'm aware of the vaccine and its effects. I was finally informed this morning, though I haven't been partnered yet. It explains some of the changes I've seen around the station." All four visibly relaxed. "That certainly makes this easier. So, I think a few of us have fathers still hunkered down and alive, but no brothers." Shawna supplied. "Well, Niki mentioned she has a brother hiding out in his college dorm somewhere out of state," Lupie mentioned. "Out of state? Not likely to be involved, but can you ask her to come down so I can speak with her?" "She just joined us last night. She's still out as of an hour ago when I last looked in on her." "Please check again. If she's still out, then I may have to come back to follow up with her." Lupie moved like swift water off the couch and up the stairs. She came back down shortly, shaking her head once the detective's attention was on her. While Lupie was away, the detective began asking questions directly of Liv and Shawna. Liv said she'd heard some sort of thumping sound in the back yard, like maybe someone had fallen coming over the fence. It explained her wakefulness, but not mine, given the master bedroom was over the front of the house. Maybe the guys approaching the front made a noise. Maybe my sleeping brain sensed a disturbance in the force. Sometimes you just fucking wake up at an opportune time. Detective Verratti asked the others as well. Shawna hadn't awakened until I was exiting the room, and didn't get out of bed until the glass door was broken. The others didn't wake until the first gunshot. Lupie slipped upstairs to invite the rest of the family to come down, a few at a time, to share their observations. Since most had been upstairs the whole time, they had little to share, and the questions wore out quickly. Dave watched as she spoke with the others. The detective was mildly more relaxed once she admitted to knowing about the serum. Those that had been out of the room for the revelation were informed as they came down, so all of House Belsus seemed mostly comfortable. It was still an interrogation. But Det. Verratti seemed; uncomfortable. She was scratching in her notebook, having just asked one last question of Esme (while she sat on Lupie's lap) when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Lupie looked at her expectantly as Verratti checked her phone. "That's all I needed, thank you. You can head upstairs little miss." She said with a smile. The smile faded once Esme's back was turned. "I have to make a call. I'll step out front, but I have a few more things I want to wrap up with you Mr. Belsus." She grabbed her heavy coat as she headed out. The temperature had been cold all day, and was beginning to drop now that the sun had gone down. "Yes ma'am, I'll be waiting." "I'll make some more coffee." Shawna rose and headed to the kitchen. Liv got up and sat beside Dave, laying her head on his shoulder and wrapping her hands around his bicep. Dave was at one end of the couch, leaving her room to draw her feet up behind her. She killed two men. She's going to be coping for a long time. I never should have let her into that mess. I should have left her at the top of the stairs holding a second line of defense. Then again, with only one target for them, would I have succeeded? What if they had killed me, got to the stairs and then Liv gunned them down? She'd still have these feelings, but I'd be dead. She and all the others would be in deep shit because I'm not around to pump out cum anymore. So I did the right thing right? Maybe. Fuck, if Carter was still here, I could; what did he call it? Do an After Action Review! That's the phrase he used. Tell him what the fuck happened and let him pick it apart, or back me up. Probably a little of both. Fuck, if Carter were still alive, I'm not telling him I'm fucking his daughter! A knock at the door announced the detective's return. Shawna opened the door and led her into the living room. The detective was stony face as she entered. She was also carrying a valise. As she reached the chair she'd used earlier, she took a sniff. Taking the hint, Shawna informed her, "Coffee will be ready in another minute or two. I put on a fresh pot when you stepped out." "Thank you." The detective's face actually showed signs of life. "Professor Belsus, could we speak privately? Somewhere with some table space if you please." "Sure, we can use the dining room. Nice big table in there." The coffee machine chimed just as Verratti placed her valise on the table. She looked expectantly back towards the living room. Lupie and Shawna were already on their way in. "We'll be quick. How do you take yours?" "Black, one spoon of sugar, please." Lupie nodded and kept moving. "Now that I think about it, the library is more isolated, but it doesn't have a large surface like this." Dave confessed. "This will do. I'll wait until they've passed back out to start anything sensitive." She paused briefly. "Well, it's been years, so I don't know if you remember me, but I took your astronomy class about twelve years ago. We ran into each other again on the shoot / no shoot range about five years ago too." "Right. I remember that." To be continued in part 10, Based on a post by RonanJWilkerson, in 12 parts, for Literotica.

This week, Cy is teetering on the edge and Chad prepares for Christmas up north. --- Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Chad Daniels (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@ThatChadDaniels⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) is a Dad, Comedian, and pancake lover. With over 750 million streams of his 5 albums to date, his audio plays are in the 99th percentile in comedy and music on Pandora alone, averaging over 1MM per week. Chad's previous album, Footprints on the Moon was the most streamed comedy album of 2017, and he has 6 late-night appearances and a Comedy Central Half Hour under his belt. Cy Amundson (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CyAmundson⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠) With appearances on Conan, Adam Devine's House Party, and Comedy Central's This is Not Happening, Cy Amundson is fast-proving himself in the world of standup comedy. After cutting his teeth at Acme Comedy Company in Minneapolis, has since appeared on Family Guy and American Dad and as a host on ESPN's SportsCenter on Snapchat. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3404: Craig Stephens reflects on his ambitious plan to retire by age 55, beating his father by one year, and the financial realities that threaten that goal. With his children's college expenses looming in the same year as his intended retirement, he explores the deep impact of generational choices, personal sacrifice, and the ROI of higher education. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.retirebeforedad.com/greatest-risk-to-retirement-goal/ Quotes to ponder: "I reject the notion that because younger generations are statistically more likely to live longer than our parents, we will need to work longer." "More than a decade ago when my Dad retired from his teaching career at age 56, I told him my retirement goal was to beat him and stop working at age 55." "According to a recent study by Alicia H. Munnell at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average age of retirement for men in the US is 64." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome back to Father Knows Something! Dad advice with a dash of ADHD, and some millennials chiming in to add their takes. This week's episode has Jerry and Justin getting a bit festive with some holiday drama. How do you navigate seeing family when they're accusing you of being emotionally manipulative? Or how do you know when to come out to your family and make the holidays feel more you? Going to need you all to chime in with your own advice! Submit your write-in ! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/V6DarM6gJuBRa9uZA Bonus Stories on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/fatherknows⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ !! Our P.O. Box: Father Knows Something. 5042 Wilshire BLVD. #470. Los Angeles, CA. 90036Follow up on Instagram @ Father Knows Something UPDATE US!! If your story has been read respond here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://forms.gle/6CP9KoWvJ4NMKewa7⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Be sure to subscribe and tell us what you would give for advice! Full-length audio episodes are available on all podcast platforms! Index: 00:00 -- Start Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unfortunately, we didn't receive any new contributions for today's Monday Mailbag, but I didn't want to go without sharing an episode with you. So this week I'm brining back the first Monday Mailbag episode. This episode originally aired in April of 2024 and has some great contributions from Geoff, Barb, Colby, Bradley, and Andrew. The post 678- Monday Mailbag appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Welcome to Show Boys, a podcast that delves into the world of film, tv and gaming. In this week's episode, Mike and Dad are back in the wasteland for the Fallout Season 2 Episode 2 - The Golden Rule! Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/showboyspodcastCatch reruns of our massive backlog of content over on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/showboyspodcastFollow PokéBoys on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PokeBoysPodcastVisit our website for everything Show Boys related! https://showboysmedia.com/Come for the podcast, stay for the community. Join our discord today!https://discord.gg/gPqSu7QmnQInterested in supporting the podcast? Visit our Patreon page and sign up to become a Patron for some cool perks, or toss us a bone on Venmo @Show-Boys!Merch Shop! https://my-store-be6562.creator-spring.com/Like what you hear? Let us know in the comments and please consider subscribing!

Teaching manners isn't about rules and rigidity—it's about showing love, kindness, and respect to the people around us. In this conversation with Monica Irvine from The Etiquette Factory, we unpack simple and practical strategies for teaching manners in a way that sticks. You'll discover why manners are more than table rules and how they shape your children's character for life.If you've ever wondered how to teach manners without constant correction, this episode is full of practical stories, heart-tugging lessons, and family habits that make character training simple. Monica shares easy-to-implement tips to help kids feel valued, develop respect for others, and build lifelong relationship skills.What you'll learn in this episode:✅Why teaching manners is really about loving others✅The key mistake parents make with etiquette✅How to create “soft heart” moments for better learning✅Practical lessons your family can start using week✅How manners build humility, confidence, and strong relationshipsMonica Irvine is the President of The Etiquette Factory and co-Founder of Fundamentals4Kids. As a renowned national speaker and published author of over 20 books, Mrs Irvine delights in her passion for helping children and adults reach their full potential. Mrs Irvine is a retired homeschool mom who now enjoys the fruits of her labors watching her children raise her most loved grandchildren.Follow Monica Irvine and The Etiquette Factory on FacebookRecommended Resources:Character Training Tool KitCharacter Development Without the DramaCharacter Building in 3 StepsShow Notes: What It Really Means to Have MannersKerry: Well, let's talk about etiquette and manners. Could you tell our listeners just a little bit, maybe why is this so important? Especially in today's culture? And how does this go beyond just saying, please and thank you. I mean, please, and thank you are important, but that's just a little small part of it. So tell us why and what, how it goes beyond that.Monica: I know sometimes over the years I've told my husband I should have named the company something besides the etiquette factory, because I'll be at a convention and I can always see people's reaction. They look up and they read the sign, and I can read their brain often where they're going. Oh, that's great and all. But we've got more important things to worry about than what fork to eat your salad with and to me I know why it's so much more than that.Let me first give you the definition that we use for etiquette at the etiquette factory, and that is etiquette which manners and etiquette, chivalry all mean the same thing. Etiquette is helping those around us to feel valued, and comfortable.George Washington's Rules Changed EverythingMonica: Years ago I was homeschooling our kids, and we were studying the life of President George Washington. And what a fascinating life that man had! And as we were doing that I stumbled upon George Washington's rules of civility and decent behavior. Many of you have read a couple of those, if not just Google that. And you will see this list of 110 chivalry skills that, according to President Washington's journal, he put to memory at the age of 13 he actually copied these 110 chivalry rules out of a French book.As I started reading these rules, I just, I can just tell you the spirit penetrated my heart, and being the mom of 3 boys. I was like, Wow, you know, my boys, could benefit from knowing some of these? Of course, manners was always important to me. and so I said, You know, let's start trying to memorize one of these a week and kind of having a manners thing each week.We started memorizing these chivalry skills, and something happened. I started noticing a change in behavior. and it fascinated me because I was like, what's what's changed. I mean, I've always told my boys to have good manners. I've always taught them.The Problem with Teaching "In the Moment"Monica: I think a light bulb moment happened when it dawned on me that usually 98% of the time when I was trying to teach my children manners was in the moment of correcting, like my one of my kids would say or do something that wasn't the most polite, and I would be oh, honey, no, baby, you can't say that, that's not polite. And then I would go on to tell them why.When all of a sudden I shifted to start having a daily manners lesson during the school day, when my heart was softer. My children's hearts were softer because they weren't being fussed at. and we just had a discussion about well, how do we use our napkin correctly? Or how do you make an apology sound sincere. All of a sudden my boys would be like, Mom, let's do another one. What's the next one? Let's go ahead and talk about the next one. and it literally is what changed everything.Why Manners Really MatterMonica: Most people think of manners when they think of table manners right and usually family sit around the table, and for parents that manners are important to them. Their table sounds like this. Could you, too, with your mouth closed, honey, sit still in your chair, stop stop making that noise. Get your elbow off the table, and it's just this constant correcting.But when I teach kids the definition of manners and I use an example like this, I'm like, okay. So if I came over and had dinner with you all your family tonight. and I sat down and I started eating like a pig. I mean, y'all, I'm chewing with my mouth open. I am making some weird noise with my tongue, or I eat so fast that I'm finished getting up and leaving the table. When you're on your 3rd bite any of those behaviors, I would be sending your family a message, and that message would be, look, I'm here for one person, one person only, and that's myself.You see, the lack of manners is called selfishness. Manners is just trying to get me and you and all of us to look outward to pay attention to how our behavior or lack thereof, is causing other people around us to feel.Teaching Children to Feel Others' EmotionsKerry: I love the idea of being valued and being comfortable around someone. So I know this includes things like kindness and respect. Can you give us some ideas on how moms could either do that? Or my other thought was, how do they go from just learning the rules to actually internalizing some of that.Monica: For me, and the way we go about teaching children is we try to actually tug on their heartstring a little bit what I mean by that is, usually it's when it's when our emotions are hit that we change our behavior.So, for instance, let's say that our child has a habit of leaving their dirty clothes and wet towel on the bathroom floor, and most of us would handle it this way. Get your towel off the floor. Come, get your clothes. and usually it's in frustration right?Well, all of a sudden, when you sit down with your kids and say, let's let's talk about, for instance, the way we leave the bathroom for the next person that uses it. If if I go into the restroom and I make a mess. However that happens, whether it's my dirty clothes, my wet towel, I leave the sink full of spit and toothpaste, or I don't have the commode, you know, nice and tidy. Do you want? Do you want to come in after me?The Power of Standing to Show HonorMonica: So let me give you. I'll give you all a lesson. One of our lessons. So one of our lessons is the stand up lesson. So if if we were at an event and someone brought in the American flag, what would we all do? You know we stand up, and why do we stand up? Well, we we stand up because of the honor and respect that we have for what that flag represents.The same thing happens in our home. So the etiquette skill is that today, still, in the 21st century, it is polite for children to stand for adults and for gentlemen to stand for ladies. I use the word honor a lot because I want to raise and wanted to raise honorable children. What does it mean to be honorable? Well to be honorable. You have to do some honorable things and honorable things. Always 100% of the time require some level of sacrifice. That's what makes them honorable when you give of yourself in order to bless help someone else.So how would this look in our home? Our families still eat at the table at least 3 or 4 times a week. But so Mom or Dad might say, Hey, family, it's time for dinner. and so our family would come to the table, and all of us would stand behind our chair until the person we're honoring sits down. Typically, I would suggest that that person first be mom. So Mom is the first person that sits down or the cook.We're Creating Entitled ChildrenMonica: The last time you and your family had a big gathering, maybe 4th of July, who were actually the first people that had their plates prepared. 98% of you are, gonna say, the kids. because see? At some point our society decided that was easier. Oh, yeah. So we got to get the kids, get their plates, get their drink, make sure they have everything they need. And we think if we get the kids situated, then us adults can go over here and eat peacefully, because we're not being bothered by the needs of our children.And then we're the same adults that want to walk around this earth complaining about the entitled generation. And I'm like parents. So you're gonna let your children have their plates fixed before their grandmother. Are you crazy? We've got to stop it because I believe that this behavior is hurting our children.Simple Ways to Practice Valuing OthersMonica: When I'm teaching children and families how to help their children to greet people and introduce themselves. It's not just that we're supposed to introduce ourselves. It's just that greeting people is another way to help people to feel valued.For instance, the last time you and the children went through the Walmart checkout line. What were what were our children doing? Were they obsessing over the candy, mom, can I have this? Can I have this. Were we on our phone scrolling through social media while we're waiting, we're all getting tricked by the enemy into this self absorption.Whereas if I teach my kids how to value others right before we go through the groceries checkout line, I'm going to say, Hey, kids, what are we about to do check out, mom, what does that mean? We're going to help the cashier feel valued. That's right. And so then my children all know to say, Hello, how are you doing today? Oh, good afternoon! What's your name?Kerry: That's so good, you know, in the middle of what you were saying. But while back the word humility just kept coming up to my mind, and the idea of Philippians. 2. Where Jesus is the perfect example of humility and giving of himself. So I really appreciate you bringing this down to the gospel, and it really is sacrifice, and that there's benefits for all of us when we sacrifice.Resources and EncouragementMonica: So the etiquettefactory.com. We've got some wonderful programs. This is our preschool through 3rd grade course, called fundamentals for kids. With little kids, we find that they need to play a game. They need to sing about it, hear a story. Make a craft. And that's what fundamentals for kids is. It's twice a week you pull something out of the box and we help you have a conversation with your kids.And then the life skills for you is for 4th, 5th grade all the way through, seniors. In fact, it can count as a half a credit for our high school. We actually show videos of teenagers doing the skills the wrong way and the right way.Monica: Oh, just you know, if I could go back in time and tell my new homeschool mom self, give myself any advice. It would be relax. Relax. You know, if if we all sent our kids to public school. There would be some gaps in their education when they graduated. and if we sent them to private school there would be some gaps in their education. and as we homeschool when they graduate. there's going to be some gaps. But it doesn't matter about the gaps. What matters is that every day we try to help our children learn to love, to learn. and that's all that matters.In all the years that we homeschooled, y'all, we never finished curriculum. The only curriculum we ever finished. Every year was our math. But what happened is, we learned to love, to learn, and have very successful children who have done some really difficult things in their careers. It works itself out. But teaching character, teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no substitute for that, and have some fun because you're making memories.Ready to start teaching manners in your home? Visit The Etiquette Factory to learn more about Monica's practical curriculum that makes teaching character and manners enjoyable for the whole family.

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3404: Craig Stephens reflects on his ambitious plan to retire by age 55, beating his father by one year, and the financial realities that threaten that goal. With his children's college expenses looming in the same year as his intended retirement, he explores the deep impact of generational choices, personal sacrifice, and the ROI of higher education. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.retirebeforedad.com/greatest-risk-to-retirement-goal/ Quotes to ponder: "I reject the notion that because younger generations are statistically more likely to live longer than our parents, we will need to work longer." "More than a decade ago when my Dad retired from his teaching career at age 56, I told him my retirement goal was to beat him and stop working at age 55." "According to a recent study by Alicia H. Munnell at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average age of retirement for men in the US is 64." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Social media influencer Rob Kenney joins Wendy Snyder (in for Bob Sirott) to talk about how he began his YouTube channel Dad, how do I? and how he comes up with ideas for videos. He also explains why he started his channel and who taught him all the skills he teaches.

"That's why you called, isn't it? Because you need me to take over."---You're looking after his house for the weekend. There's just one complication. This is your Dad's closest friend that you've had an ahem suffocating crush on, for the last few years.Later that evening, you're restless and call him in a state. It was too much, being in his place, around his energy, his aura, his clothes, his bed sheets… You're wrapped in one of his black shirts, mumbling over the phone to him, trying to relax a little more. You miss him, you miss just being near him, talking to him, you thought you could control it but tonight was just too much.He's been like a rock for you the past couple of years, through all the troubles you've had with your parents and friends, flings and crushes. He's been holding out on pushing things further than a flirty platonic point given his relationship with your Dad, but it's not exactly like he's not been thinking some flirty thoughts of his own he'd much prefer to act on than suppress for any longer…---IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE FULL SPICY VERSION OF THIS AUDIO, YOU CAN LISTEN HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3404: Craig Stephens reflects on his ambitious plan to retire by age 55, beating his father by one year, and the financial realities that threaten that goal. With his children's college expenses looming in the same year as his intended retirement, he explores the deep impact of generational choices, personal sacrifice, and the ROI of higher education. Read along with the original article(s) here: https://www.retirebeforedad.com/greatest-risk-to-retirement-goal/ Quotes to ponder: "I reject the notion that because younger generations are statistically more likely to live longer than our parents, we will need to work longer." "More than a decade ago when my Dad retired from his teaching career at age 56, I told him my retirement goal was to beat him and stop working at age 55." "According to a recent study by Alicia H. Munnell at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the average age of retirement for men in the US is 64." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textMovie review Monday: Violent Night (2022)!!  (12/29/25)This is podcast Season #4, episode #145Get Help Dad Podcast with Bad jokes and tips and tricks to make your life  alittle bit better.Instagram: get.help.dad.podcastTiktok: @get.help.dad.podYoutube: Get Help Dad PodcastFYI: You are a great parent!!You can send in your own parenting advice, Dad topics, tell us where you are listening from or lawn care advice to gethelpdad@gmail.com.  We are excited to hear from you.  Please let us know your Name, City/Country you are from.  The Eagles are SuperBowl Champions, Again!!!!

Plans on plans on plans—and YOU had thoughts on ALL of them! "Shock Jock" kicked off Volume 2 with teams scattered across two dimensions executing elaborate strategies, and our inbox absolutely exploded with your theories, reactions, and breakdowns. Hosts Darrell and Addi are dedicating this entire episode to listener contributions because you brought the fire on every major moment! The post TSTP 76- Feedback for Shock Jock appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

Movie reviews #57-1 (Pied Piper 1972) This be a rated G movie about the Black Death with an obviously stoned looking Donovan as the Pied Piper. surprising that Donovan never wrote a song called “get the cash up front”.2 (Watch out we're Mad 1974) Your decade under the influence crew has watched several Italian 70's films that had some good political and even queer representation, but they all also had horrible sexual assault of women scenes. Enter this film that does not have horrid assault, just two guys spending all their time together being frenemies and wanting 2 dune buggy's, that's it, annnnd we found it quite refreshing.
3 (Murder by death 1976) Peter Sellers and many other talented people star in this zany whodunnit, but Sellers plays an extremely racist character, soooooo just watch Clue!
4 (Amityville Horror 1979) The older brother from Goonies, Dad has great hair in this movie, in the beginning. As his demonic possession marches on his hair care routine goes right out the window. Better reporter, and superman's girlfriend is here too, and the whole thing would be fine if the damned priest she asked to cleanse their new house knew what he was doing.
5 (Strangers, the story of a mother and daughter 1979) Bette Davis and Gena Rowlands star in this serious but also campy rad made for tv movie about A Mother who don wanna talk and a Daughter who does, who will win.
6 (Brubaker 1980) Wow this has a great top four, Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto, Jane Alexander, and the mighty Morgan Freeman in one of 2 movies he did that year where he is stuck in prison. This film is great and is about prison reform which it still desperately needs. Reform hmmmmm maybe revolution.
folks that's this batch of films and we will see ya next time. Please drop us a review, and thanks for listening.

Dad's nervous as a kitten about it. 

In this episode of The Milk Check, Ted Jacoby III welcomes Lloyd Metzger and TJ Jacoby of Valley Queen Cheese Company for a deep dive into the science, functionality and future of dairy proteins. The conversation starts at the molecular level – the difference between casein and whey – and builds toward the real-world implications for product developers, processors and nutrition brands. We cover: Why casein is built to carry calcium (and whey isn’t) How heat and pH change protein behavior Fast versus slow digestion and why both matter The role of whey protein in muscle maintenance, aging and GLP-1 nutrition What pro cream really is and why its value may be underestimated Why cellular agriculture is more niche than threat If you work in dairy, food formulation or nutrition, this is a protein conversation worth digesting. Got questions? We'd love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check TMC-Intro-final[00:00:00]Ted Jacoby III: Hi everybody, and thank you for joining us today for this very special recording of the Milk Check Podcast. Today, our topic is: what is the future of dairy proteins? And we have two very special guests. The first is Lloyd Metzger, VP of Quality and Technical Services for Valley Queen Cheese Company, and formerly Professor of Dairy Science at South Dakota State University. And the second, particularly special to me, is my son TJ Jacoby, Whey Technologist for Valley Queen. A South Dakota State graduate. Someone who has been interested in dairy proteins since his first biology class in high school. Guys, thank you for joining us today and welcome to The Milk Check. Lloyd Metzger: Glad to be here. TJ Jacoby: Good to be on, Dad. Ted Jacoby III: It’s December 18th, 2025. Milk production in the US is up 4%. Milk production in Europe is up something similar. Milk production in New Zealand is up. Milk production in Argentina is up. We are definitely in an [00:01:00] environment today where the supply of milk and dairy is overwhelming demand, at least for the moment. Cheese prices are near historical lows. Butter prices are near historical lows. Nonfat milk, skim milk powder prices are on the low end of the range. This market is a market that feels heavy, and I think most people out there would say, it almost feels like even though we’re at lows, we may actually go lower before we go higher. And yet, on the other hand, there are whey proteins, Josh, if I’m not mistaken, whey proteins just hit historical highs. Josh White: Maybe the highest prices we’ve ever seen for whey protein isolate and WPC 80. Ted Jacoby III: So, we have an environment where the demand on the protein side is extremely strong, and the trends on protein consumption are extremely strong and really feel like they’re gonna be around for quite some time. We’ve got baby boomers retiring and whether it’s because of GLP-1s or it’s just a general knowledge and understanding of what human nutritional needs are as people age, they know that they need more protein in their [00:02:00] diet. So, it begs the question: what is going on with dairy proteins and whey proteins and how is this going to evolve in such a unique market where demand is so strong for protein right now? And so, I’m gonna ask the question first. What’s the difference at a molecular level between whey proteins and milk proteins? Because when we’re in an environment like we are now, where you’ve got the demand really, really high, you also have a market that’s gonna start looking for alternatives, simply because prices are so high. What is the difference between milk proteins in general and whey protein specifically? Lloyd Metzger: It’s important to talk about from a functional perspective how the proteins are different. I’m sure we’ll get into the nutritional differences between those proteins as well. It’s important to understand what’s driving those differences in functional characteristics. And it’s really all about calcium. The casein system is designed to carry calcium. The whey protein system is not designed to carry calcium. That differentiates the two groups of [00:03:00] proteins and makes their properties very different. TJ Jacoby: I’ll explain it like this. Milk proteins, there’s two classes of proteins, right? There’s casein and then there’s whey. The casein is used to make cheese, and then the whey protein is what comes off. So, the whey protein is everything that is not used to make cheese. So, the reason why casein proteins works so well for cheese because those proteins like to fall together in these spheres, they like to stick to one another. They like to stick to one another ’cause they have certain groups that latch onto the calcium and then they bridge with phosphate. When they do, they have multiple proteins, different types of casein proteins that bridge together with phosphate and then based on their repulsion forces, they stick together. Calcium and phosphates really help it stick when we make cheese. The outside of that casein, micelle, that ball, when we make cheese, that outside is stripped off, it becomes hydrophobic, and that causes those spheres to stick together. That’s a huge functional property of casein. Whey [00:04:00] protein is the opposite. Whey protein is really hydrophillic. It’s very polar. So, they like to float around in solution and stay floating around in solution. And they don’t like casein. It likes to stay separate from casein. And so, when you make cheese, it readily is released into the whey stream because it likes to stick with the water. In the same way, those kind of stick together with these sulfur groups. But when you heat it up, they unfold. And when they unfold, now there’s certain reactions that can take place. So, those are the two major differences between casein and whey. Lloyd, what did I miss? Lloyd Metzger: I would try to simplify it a little bit. The difference between casein and whey protein is casein is what’s trapped when we make cheese. And whey protein is the soluble protein that’s left over in the water phase of cheese. Cheese making is a dehydration process. We concentrate the fat and protein that’s in milk, the casein version of protein in milk. But you gotta look at the properties of those two [00:05:00] systems and the groups of protein. So, the casein protein is actually really stable to heat, but it is not stable to pH. So, casein will always coagulate at low pH. So, you lower the pH of milk, you get a yogurt-like product. That’s all the casein that’s coming out of the system. Whey proteins don’t mind a low pH, and they’ll stay soluble at a wide range of pH. But now, when you get to temperature, the complete opposite happens. Casein can handle super high temperatures and be very stable. Whey proteins can not handle high temperature at all, they start to gel. I think it’s important to look at the two different groups. Now you get into the functional differences between those two and the very different properties you have between those. Lloyd Metzger: That’s why you get all these products that are very different from each other. Why cheese is so much different than whey protein. And then you have these dairy products that are a combination that have the two together. So like when we make yogurt, we end up with the two products together and get this property that’s partway in between the two proteins. Ted Jacoby III: [00:06:00] Based on what you’re describing, when we’re talking about milk proteins, MPC 80, for example, there’s a higher level of calcium, I take it in milk proteins than compared to whey proteins. Is that true? Lloyd Metzger: Absolutely, but let’s remind everybody: milk protein is both casein and whey protein together at the normal ratio that’s in milk. So, of the protein, 80% is casein, 20% is whey protein. So, when you say milk protein, you’re actually meaning 80% casein and 20% whey protein. Now, when we talk about cheese or casein, we’re basically a hundred percent casein and 0% whey protein. Now, when we talk about whey protein, we’re essentially a 100% whey protein, no casein except for one fragment of casein that actually gets solubilized, as TJ described, and now actually becomes part of whey protein. Something that a lot of people don’t understand is that about 15% of what we call whey protein is actually a piece of casein that gets lost in the whey and now gets [00:07:00] captured and harvested in the whey protein manufacture process. But again, it’s important to remember milk protein is a 80 / 20 combination of casein and whey protein together. So, when you’re talking about milk protein, you’re actually talking about whey protein and casein together. Ted Jacoby III: It’s funny, I just learned something never really quite had my head around, and that’s that 80 / 20 ratio, that 80% of all the protein in milk is actually either alpha or beta casein. Correct? Lloyd Metzger: There’s actually four different casein fractions that are involved that make up that 80% of the total protein. Ted Jacoby III: Okay. The casein molecule isn’t really any bigger than most of the whey protein molecules, but they tend to clump together in those micelles. And so, they act as one big humongous mass compared to whey proteins. Correct? TJ Jacoby: Whey proteins may be collected like in pairs like two at a time, but casein proteins, there’s hundreds, right? Lloyd, that will just clump together. Thousands. TJ Jacoby: So, these spheres are absolutely massive protein complexes, but in fact there are a lot of little individual [00:08:00] proteins that make it up and they’re all bridged together with calcium and phosphate. Lloyd Metzger: It’s a packaging system that was designed to package up calcium and phosphorus. So, the whole casein system was designed by nature as a delivery vehicle for calcium and phosphorus, because calcium is not soluble by itself. Calcium phosphate is essentially rock. It’s the material that makes up eggshells. Think, think about a ground up eggshell that calcium phosphate complex is not soluble and it will sink to the bottom of your container of milk if you didn’t have the protein complex to hold it in solution. The analogy I use is it’s basically a kidney stone. Think about how much fun milking a cow would be if all the calcium and phosphorus was in the form of a kidney stone as you’re trying to milk the cow. All that calcium and phosphorus can be solubilized with the casein system and put it into solution and then make it so you can deliver that in a nutritional product. Ted Jacoby III: That makes perfect sense. That’s really cool. I think you guys also already touched on the differences in solubility as you were [00:09:00] describing the different proteins. But there’s differences in digestibility as well. What’s the source of that difference? TJ Jacoby: I’ll take this one. Returning back to the infant stage, I feel like we could set this up in light of why nature created these proteins. Dairy is the fundamental human food for infants. You have babies that can live up to a year off of just their mother’s milk. All the proteins that are found in there, those building blocks to grow an infant, can be boiled down to those two protein streams: whey protein and casein protein. The purpose of the casein protein for the infants is it’s fast acting. It’ll go right into the gut, and the gut is full of enzymes, but also really, really low pH, so low that it actually causes even those whey proteins to unfold. And It allows the stomach enzymes to break it up super, super fast and be absorbed. It’s considered one of the most bioavailable proteins known to man. It’s designed for that, that’s why nature created whey protein. Well, whey protein itself is also very nutritious. It has one of the highest concentrations of [00:10:00] essential amino acid, and the second highest known to man of branch-chain amino acids. That means it doesn’t have to be processed through the liver before it can be used by the human body. If your body’s actively using and consuming protein whey protein’s really good because it can be absorbed into your system and go right to the muscles. 33% of your muscle is branched chain amino acid. That’s what’s getting broken down while you’re working out. And then in the elderly, that’s what’s getting broken down that’s causing some muscle degeneration. Whey protein can help fortify that very quickly. However, all protein that is consumed in the body could also easily be processed through the liver with time. And so, if you have time, that’s where the casein comes into play. The casein, when it hits that acidic environment in the gut, it immediately clumps together. It actually creates cheese curds in the gut. And the reason why that’s so important is it slows down digestion so that slowly over time, that will be absorbed into the system. So it’s not [00:11:00] like a rush of energy right after the baby eats and then it goes away right away. Instead, it slows it down. The casein itself also likes to trap other nutrients. The casein in the gut will house the fat and the vitamins and the nutrients so that it’s slowly absorbed over the course of the next few hours before the baby’s next feeding. Ted Jacoby III: As a result of those digestibility differences, what are the differences in the amino acid profiles between casein and whey proteins? The body’s gonna need to break down most of that casein in order to absorb it. When the body breaks down that casein, what are the differences in the way that it absorbs some of those amino acid profiles and short-chain protein strands from the casein versus what’s readily bioavailable from the whey proteins? TJ Jacoby: Casein does not have the same percentage of those essential amino acids. It’s not as high, but it’s designed to be slow absorbing. Protein itself, it almost doesn’t matter the amino acid structure, as long as your body has enough of those vitamins and nutrients to absorb and to restructure it to [00:12:00] a different protein within the liver — that’s what your body needs. Most of us, the protein doesn’t have to be fast-acting. It’s not like our muscles are actively breaking down all the time. It can slowly be absorbed, be processed through the liver, and then used for almost any other function as long as we have all the vitamins and minerals that we need. Lloyd Metzger: Part of this huge shift we’re seeing in demand for protein, especially whey protein, this started 25, 30 years ago with bodybuilders and wanting to build muscle mass. And the realization that TJ mentioned: branch-chain amino acids are very important if you wanna rapidly put muscle mass on. It is also very important if you’re elderly or if you have sarcopenia where you’re starting to lose muscle mass. In those nutritional states, it’s really important to have high-level branch-chain amino acids, so you can put muscle on. Or if you’re on a GLP-1 medication where you’re not gonna be able to eat very much, you need a very efficient source of protein to build muscle mass. So there’s certain nutritional states where it is important to have branch-chain amino acids [00:13:00] and be able to get those from a protein like whey protein that has ’em at a very high level. But for the normal person, it’s not really all that relevant. You could get the protein you need from any protein that provides all the essential amino acids. Now, most plant proteins don’t do that. We’re talking about the difference between casein and whey protein. Both of them are an order of magnitude higher in nutritional quality than plant proteins because they have all the essential amino acids. And to TJ’s point, as long as you have the essential amino acids, the body can produce the non-essential amino acids from those essentials. Essential ones are amino acids the body can’t produce. You have to have those in the food you’re consuming to be able to produce the components you need. Josh White: We’ve got listeners from the dairy side of the equation and listeners from the utilization side that are making different products. And some of those customers are currently faced with the reality that a part of the equation for their adoption of whey proteins as an ingredient has shifted. The competition level’s very [00:14:00] high. They’re having more difficulty accessing some of it. And the price has changed quite a bit. And I think that when you’re talking about these products going into CPG applications as a lower inclusion rate ingredient, but with a lot of label power, being able to put whey protein, for instance, on that label, there’s several of them out there that are struggling to determine what the functional differences might be between the various dairy proteins. And what I’m afraid that is happening is some of these companies that are on the lower end of the value scale and can’t afford to keep up with all of the great products that are demanding whey protein or even milk protein, are gonnastart exploring alternatives outside of our space. and I think that we don’t want that, right? And what we’re seeing is this popularity of whey protein is driving a lot of customers for R&D projects to be asking us specifically for whey protein. And so help us understand what applications might make sense to use one, the other, or both. Lloyd Metzger: It completely depends on the product that [00:15:00] you’re after and the characteristics of the product that you want. Something like a beverage can go two different directions. So, if you’re gonna retort the beverage and put a lot of heat on it, you can’t do that with most whey proteins. They’re gonna gel. The most comparable protein to whey protein would be an egg protein. And everybody understands what happens when you heat eggs; they turn into a gel. So, whey proteins will happily do that. If you have a high enough concentration and you expose them to enough heat. Casein actually helps to protect whey protein from that coagulation. A lot of these high-protein beverages, they’re oftentimes a combination of casein and whey protein. They might alter the ratio a little bit from the 80 / 20. They might bump the whey protein up a little bit and have a 60 / 40 casein to whey protein. And so you’ll see ranges in that ratio of casein to whey protein, depending on the characteristics of the product that you’re actually after. The heat is a big piece of that. And then we go to pH as a big piece of what changes the functionality of casein to whey protein and makes you [00:16:00] change those ratios. Yogurt is another great example. You’ve got these super, super high-protein yogurts and a lot of cases they fortified with quite a bit of whey protein to be able to have more protein and still have the characteristics that you want in that product. In the protein bars, there’s all kinds of whey proteins there. In that application, you actually don’t even solubilize the protein. There’s hardly any water in that bar. It’s really almost a dry protein that has a plasticizer with it, some carbohydrates that actually make that edible. You’re almost eating a dry product. There’s a lot of food chemistry that goes into which product category you’re putting it in. There’s not this straight fast rule that you use whey proteins in this, you use casein and that. It depends on what food chemistry you use and how you put the blend together and then what processing you couple with that to get the characteristic that you’re actually after. Josh White: Can we spend a minute or two talking about the acidified products? They’ve gained a lot of popularity. The market potential is quite large. Can we talk a bit about the [00:17:00] differences between the clear WPIs and our traditional products? Lloyd Metzger: I wanna clarify the question. Are you talking specifically about whey protein only in the clear whey protein beverages versus the normal whey protein beverages? Ted Jacoby III: Yes. Lloyd Metzger: We really start to get into the weeds because we’ve got different whey products. So we’ve got whey protein concentrate. And then that comes in various forms. WPC 34 or WPC 80 are the most common. The 80 and the 34 correspond to how much protein on a dry basis those two products have. And they have whey proteins in the normal ratio that would be in the starting whey. Then we get into a group of products called whey protein isolates. And whey protein isolates go through an additional manufacturing process that allows you to purify the protein further and they’ll have more than 90% protein on a dry basis. And you may start to alter the ratio of the various whey proteins that were present in the starting whey. Now, when [00:18:00] we get into the clear whey protein isolates, we really start to alter the ratio of the proteins that are in there. We’ll also start to change some of the mineral profile of the components that are in that product. And then when we use those isolates in a formulation, we gotta be careful about all the other ingredients ’cause they’re gonna have an impact on whether or not the product is actually clear and whether or not it can be stable to heat. So, you can actually make whey protein stable to heat by controlling the mineral profile and controlling some of the processing conditions. You’re now taking a category of dairy ingredient and you’re starting to use technology IP to be able to provide specific functional characteristics that aren’t normally part of that ingredient. All of these may be called the same thing, and the basic consumer has absolutely no idea what the differences between all these things are. And when they’re looking at a label, they’re probably looking for the word whey protein, and that’s all they’re looking for. Josh White: As we’ve seen the market tighten up, we’ve seen [00:19:00] more inquiries and exploration about the use of pro cream,also called WPPC, also called WPC 70, so many different names. Definitely, in our experience, there’s quite a uniqueness as we originate this product from different manufacturers. Perhaps we can talk a bit more about what this product is and how it differs from the other proteins in the complex. Lloyd Metzger: I talked about WPC 80. That’s just the normal whey protein that we concentrate out of whey. And then, I mentioned whey protein isolate. To convert WPC 80 to a whey protein isolate, you use a filtration step called microfiltration. And in that microfiltration step, you remove any protein that is interacting with fat and take that out of the system. So, if you start with a normal WPC 80 and we’re gonna change it into a WPI. We are gonna go through a microfiltration process and we’re gonna lose about 25% of the protein that was there and all of the fat that was there. And [00:20:00] we’re gonna make a WPI out of that. And that WPI is gonna have about 75% of the protein we started with. The protein that we harvest out of that is actually pro cream. pro cream is just a byproduct of converting WPC 80 into WPI, and it’s gonna have about 25% of the mass of the protein that you started with, and all of the fat that was in that starting WPC 80 material. So that’s why you see it called high-fat WPC 30, and if you dry that down, it’s about a WPC 60. You can take that and blend that with WPC 34. You can do all kinds of things with that ingredient. Manufacturers are always trying to find a home for that. ’cause you’ve got a very high value product that’s easy to market in WPI. Ted Jacoby III: Lloyd, that pro cream, our hunch is there’s a lot more value in that pro cream than the market currently has its head around. Lloyd Metzger: they’re the same proteins that are in WPI, they’re just interacting with a fat. Now the fat [00:21:00] is very unique in that there’s quite a bit of phospholipid fat in there. And so there’s a lot of literature and research being done on the potential health benefits for brain development of phospholipids for infants as well as elderly to help with memory retention and actually help to prevent some Alzheimer’s effects. So, you see some companies starting to market that component that they’ve isolated. I think there is a lot of potential value there. But we’re in the early stages of where that’s gonna go. And you have some companies leading the way that are producing very specialized pro cream type products that are being used in infant nutrition or elderly nutrition. TJ Jacoby: But Lloyd, how do those phospholipids affect the shelf life of pro cream? Lloyd Metzger: They don’t help. The phospholipids are unsaturated fats or partially unsaturated and unsaturated fats are very easy to oxidize, so if they’re not handled properly, you’ll get very stale and oxidized off flavors in the product. It’s something you gotta be careful of. Ted Jacoby III: Oxidized fats, [00:22:00] another way to call that. That’s rancid, right? Yes. Lloyd Metzger: On its way to rancid. Josh White: Another selling point that people will make of the benefits of pro cream are IgGs. Can you guys explain a bit more of what that is to the layman? Lloyd Metzger: So, immunoglobulin is a protein that’s also present in milk. It’s really high in colostrum. It’s at very low levels in milk about 72 hours after the cow was started milking, the levels drop way down, but there is still a low level there. Those immunoglobulins are a very large protein. So when you go through your WPI manufacturing process, they’re gonna partition with that fat and that protein portion that you’re capturing. So they’re gonna go in that pro cream. Looking at the composition of IgG in the different waste streams, you’ll find it’s elevated in that pro cream portion. Now I’d be a little concerned about what kind of shape that IgGs in because you’ve seen a lot of heat [00:23:00] and different manufacturing conditions through that process. So you’d really have to be careful about what kind of claims you’re making based on what kind of shape that IgGs in. Mm-hmm. TJ Jacoby: For an infant, those IgGs will go right into the bloodstream. It’s whole proteins, but for us, it actually has to break up the protein entirely before it can be absorbed into our system. So what kind of functional benefits does IgG bring for an adult? I’d be curious to see what that literature entails. Mike Brown (2): Over the last couple decades, DNA technology has been used more and more to produce valuable proteins, often for medical use like insulin. Are we gonna see a point with the cost benefit of that kind of technology we’ll reach where we can actually use that to produce these whey proteins rather than using a cow? Lloyd Metzger: There’s different levels of concern depending on the particular protein. An individual protein and an individual soluble protein like beta-lactoglobulin and alpha-lactalbumin that are in [00:24:00] whey, those have more potential to be produced in a fermentation type process. ’cause they’re an individual protein. You can over express it, you can get a lot of that produced. But when you get to the complexities of multiple proteins that are in whey, that’s when it really becomes uneconomical to do that from a fermentation standpoint. ’cause you’ve gotta produce all of those individually, try to put ’em together, then purify ’em. What people forget is how efficient the cow is. The cow is essentially a walking fermentation tank that feeds itself, controls its own temperature, cleans itself up. All you’ve gotta do is get the milk out of it. When you look at all the steps that go into the process and what it takes to produce it, it’s really hard to beat the efficiency of a cow. Ted Jacoby III: Lloyd, am I right in assuming that the threat of cellular agriculture to dairy would come in the development of specific protein chains and amino acids, but probably not in terms of the complete [00:25:00] protein profile that is delivered in milk proteins and whey proteins. Lloyd Metzger: Correct. And it would be the very high-end, expensive. So the lactoferrin. It would be your first one or some of the IgG, anything that is at low concentration and very high value. Because even if you did everything perfectly, you’re probably still talking $25 to $30 a pound in the manufacturer and isolation process. Well, we we’re really excited about $11 whey protein isolate. Right? You know, and that’s still half the price. Ted Jacoby III: Makes sense. Lloyd, TJ, this was an absolutely fantastic discussion. This was exactly what I wanted to get out of it. I can tell you I learned quite a bit today and I’m sure our listeners will too. Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Lloyd Metzger: No problem. Happy to do it. TJ Jacoby: Truly special to be on today, Dad. I grew up listening to a lot of these podcasts, right? Now we’re here, now we’re on it together with you. So, no, it was truly special.[00:26:00]

Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows!   This is where we answer our community's wellness, weight loss, and anti-aging questions to help people get back on track!   Check out today's questions:    Lara: Hi, dr. Cabral! Hope you and your family are well.. I'm wondering about some ingredients in supplements, how to know which are ok? Have you maybe done a podcast about it ? It would be great to have a check list when it comes to supplements, please.. For example, gellan gum? You've said xanthan gum is not ok, guar is ok, what about the others? And I am wondering about other ingredients as well, fillers and additives.. which are ok and which are not Thank you so much! Happy healing to everyone!                                                                                                                                                      Rachel: Love your podcast thank you for all you do and hope to become an IHP one day! Anyway, this question is about my Dad. I have been doing some research, but would love your advice. He is 66 years old with diabetes and takes metformin. He has recently developed the early onset of neuropathy in his foot. What can he do to help slow the progression or even reserve the neuropathy? Supplement suggestions or diet advice? Thanks so much!                            Sarah: Hi Dr. Cabral! Will you please suggest an all natural method to get rid of flat warts I have all over my legs? I did run the big five labs and I've been working on all the imbalances for six months now, but the flat warts have not budged. Thank you so much for all you do!                                                                                                                                               Tony: Hello Dr. Cabral, Suffered some early trauma and have had chronic stress most of my life. Never ate vegetables and fruits growing up. Now, @34 I have sibo, dysbiosis, leaky gut and nervous system dysregulation. Working on them with the DESTRESS protocol,and therapy. Wondering how to introduce new foods. I'm not kidding when I say I've been on a restricted diet my whole life and new foods cause immune flares and can tank me for a few days. I'm sure like the graduated exercise program in IHP, it's about introducing them slowly and letting the immune system adapt, but wondering if you had any tips on food expansion. Ran the big 5. Low potassium/sodium. DHEA of 3, some yeast and fungal markets elevated. Want to regulate nervous system and repair my gut over the next 12 months. Thanks!                    Kelsey: Hi Dr. Cabral! Hoping you can shed some light on this. After coming off hormonal birth control earlier this year, my cycle has been irregular and my PMS symptoms have become intense. I'm wondering how long it typically takes the endocrine system to rebalance? I'm also curious if supporting the liver or increasing certain micronutrients might help speed the process. Thank you so much!                                 Thank you for tuning into today's Cabral HouseCall and be sure to check back tomorrow where we answer more of our community's questions!    - - - Show Notes and Resources: StephenCabral.com/3613 - - - Get a FREE Copy of Dr. Cabral's Book: The Rain Barrel Effect - - - Join the Community & Get Your Questions Answered: CabralSupportGroup.com - - - Dr. Cabral's Most Popular At-Home Lab Tests: > Complete Minerals & Metals Test (Test for mineral imbalances & heavy metal toxicity) - - - > Complete Candida, Metabolic & Vitamins Test (Test for 75 biomarkers including yeast & bacterial gut overgrowth, as well as vitamin levels) - - - > Complete Stress, Mood & Metabolism Test (Discover your complete thyroid, adrenal, hormone, vitamin D & insulin levels) - - - > Complete Food Sensitivity Test (Find out your hidden food sensitivities) - - - > Complete Omega-3 & Inflammation Test (Discover your levels of inflammation related to your omega-6 to omega-3 levels) - - - Get Your Question Answered On An Upcoming HouseCall: StephenCabral.com/askcabral - - - Would You Take 30 Seconds To Rate & Review The Cabral Concept? The best way to help me spread our mission of true natural health is to pass on the good word, and I read and appreciate every review!  

In this podcast episode of Previously On, fangirl Jillian and her husband Tyler recap the season 1 finale episode of Heated Rivalry, Episode 6 "The Cottage." From hand-holding car rides to making burgers and opening up about family, they break down why this finale works so well and why it feels like such a reward after everything Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been through. And of course, they react to Shane and Ilya getting caught at the cottage!Then they break down the top 5 true love romantic moments, meeting the parents (your boyfriend's here!!!), and the future they're planning together. Plus, they discuss everything known so far about Heated Rivalry season 2 and make predictions about what's next for the series. #heatedrivalry #recap #podcast 00:00:00 Reenactment of Ilya's problem00:01:05 Introduction to podcast00:02:56 Finale discussion00:04:38 Dad catches Shane and Ilya00:11:34 No books, no spoilers disclaimer00:13:02 Future of Heated Rivalry00:17:51 Timeline00:21:02 Top 5 true love moments for Shane and Ilya in Ep 600:22:22 Holding hands in the car00:27:11 Don't marry Svetlana00:32:16 Opening up about family00:38:07 Ilya and Shane say "I love you"00:42:41 Meeting the parents with your boyfriend00:53:26 Shane's talk with mom00:57:16 Tyler's takes00:57:26 Scott Hunter's speech00:57:46 What about Kip?01:02:14 Shane preparing the cottage for Ilya01:03:00 Silent retreat - good or bad lie?01:03:45 Did Shane practice that thirsty line?01:04:29 Might not last long warning01:05:04 Shane grilled 8 burgers01:06:29 Best Ilya quotes01:08:09 Rose and Hayden call Shane01:09:42 Hockey video game01:11:13 Plan to change the narrative01:20:12 Knee-ography01:21:06 Parents don't text01:22:28 Season 2 predictionsBuy our merch: ⁠https://www.etsy.com/shop/PreviouslyOnTeenTV⁠Follow Previously On Teen TV on Instagram: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/previouslyon_teentv/Follow Previously On Teen TV on TikTok: ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@previouslyon_teentv⁠⁠Subscribe to our YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe2lgvvZGKMrQ8v24FmDdWQ?sub_confirmation=1⁠

Three teams across two dimensions are executing bold and dangerous plans—and if you think nothing could go wrong, you haven't been watching Stranger Things. Join hosts Darrell and Addi as they break down "Shock Jock," the midseason premiere that kicks off Volume 2 with even more elaborate schemes than before. The post TSTP 75- Shock Jock appeared first on Golden Spiral Media- Entertainment Podcasts, Technology Podcasts & More.

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