Well, well, well...

When we last visited the Saga of Step-ie & The Princess, the plan was for them to be out on or about April 7th and...

...lo & behold, the exorcism is complete!!!

Yup... At approximately 3:30 this morning the P-Vine was awake and heard the door shut, the sound of the U-Haul truck starting and rose long enough to see the tail lights disappearing down the long gravel driveway in route to Fairyland...

Since I asked that the last thread be closed the games purdy much continued along the same grooves as last reported with one final surprise, which I will get to shortly... Yes, the P-Vine and Step-ie haven't spoken 10 words and the Princess has alternately camped out at her $9 an hour coffee shop job or returned the "The Cell" (our guest room) where Step-ie has continued to prepare meals for her and deliver on a tray...

Me??? I have managed to maintain my good-cop persona with Step-ie & The Princess and my Roger-ian counselor/compassionate mate persona with the P-Vine all the while counting the days hoping that things wouldn't blow and ya'll would be getting the last chapter on the evening news... lol... Okay, half lol... Don't think that bizarre final chapters haven't entered my mind... That brings me to the surprise/final chapter...

So last night Step-ie & The Princess came into my studio/office/man-cave andasked if they could talk with me...

"Sure, have ya'll a sit down..."

So Step-ie went out of his way to tell me how much he appreciated the opportunity to stay with us and how much respect he had for the way I have handled things and in essence blew a bunch of flattering smoke up my posterior... I thought it would never end... I also thought there was a monster "but" coming and sho nuff there was...

..."But mother owes us an apology!!!"

Well, that little move is one I fully expected and was ready for and used that request/demand as an opportunity to tell Step-ie that I had just one more talk that we needed to have about "Mothers & Sons"... I told them that that conversation was for Step-ie and me to have alone and offered to drive to Fairyland one day next week, take Step-ie to lunch and have that not-so-little talk...

They seemed to take that well as it was delivered in a non-threatening manner... I have the entire "primer" outlined in my mind and will be taking props with me...

Of course, Step-ie, who know has a deeper understanding of how I operate might re-think making himself available but I have no control over that...

So, my friends, the saga ends... I can't say it ended well but I can say that even if I had known how it would end it was still the correct thing to do... Two grand daughters now have their father back in their lives and Step-ie & The Princess have an opportunity to get their lives in order...

My princess, the P-Vine, has sacrificed greatly and even if Step-ie & The Princess never admit it, they owe her a monsterously big thank you and apology for the childish games they have played with her... Of course, that's going to be the underlying message in "The Talk" I have planned for Step-ie...

Thank you all for your thoughts, your prayers, your ideas, your support, your compassion and for being here for me (us) during this ordeal...

Bobert