Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience. Surprised By Love Copyright(C) Tanya Writer 2013 This is a work of fiction for adults only. The characters and their actions are fiction and none of this has ever happened. This story does contain underage characters having sex. The author does not condone or endorse any illegal activities written of in the story. This just a story, do not do this at home. If you are not old enough to read this please go somewhere else. If you don't like stories of younger children discovering their sexuality, then pass this one by and find a Disney story instead. Surprised By Love Dennis liked to play basketball, and sometimes when he went to play at the local adult league, his daughter, Michelle would go to watch. They would also watch the games on television together, he taught her about the game. She liked shooting hoops with her dad. Dennis even took her to a pro basketball game once. It inspired her to want to play, but Michelle's school didn't have a team for her fifth grade class. The start of spring was coming and basketball would be going soon, and Michelle looked forward to the summer when maybe she could join a summer league and play. But after a call to the parks and rec department things didn't look so good since there were no girls' teams. Her mother refused to let her tryout for a boys' team. She said it wasn't proper for her to play with boys. She said, "They're too rough for a girl to play with." When Michelle pressed on it, her mother could only say that's how girls are, they aren't made to be in such active and strenuous activities. Her father was a bit more sympathetic to her. In addition to her new-found interest in basketball she had an infatuation with Hanna Montana, she loved the idea of being one person to her family, and another to the outside world. Her dad promised to take her to see her favorite TV star Miley Cyrus when she performed nearby. In a partial effort to make up for the loss of not playing basketball her dad persuaded her mom to allow her to cut her blond hair short just like the new style that Miley wore. But the woman who cut her hair didn't know the style of Miley and Michelle ended up not looking like her. She just had a very short haircut, and the boys she played with at school teased her. They said that her new haircut that she looked like a boy. They said she wanted to be a boy, she always played with them and now she looks like one. She just ignored them, but it hurt inside. Though summer looked it was going to let her down, she had high hopes for the fall. She was going to be going to a new middle school. Maybe they would have a team she could play one. Her best girlfriends were also going to that school with her, and maybe she could make some new friends, too. But soon enough the bottom dropped out of her world. She found that her dad's company was downsizing and his position was eliminated. It took him a few weeks before he had a new one, and it was in another town two hundred miles away. With the couple of weeks out of work the move necessitated a lowering of their standard of living, and they moved to an apartment. Now she would have to start all over again, not only would she be at a new school but it would be with all new people with none of her friends there. Not that she minded the part about the new school, but it was not having all her friends around her, that she didn't like. Her mom, Joyce, was bedridden being 8 months pregnant, with their baby brother to be, having a partially detached placenta. This meant that Michelle and her dad had to do most things around the house. Carly, Michelle's 6 year old sister tried to help but there were limits on what she could do at her young age. Michelle helped her dad pack their belongings and sent them ahead with a moving company. While traveling at the same time, Joyce and Carly took the bus and Michelle and her dad followed later driving the family car. Michelle was glad to spend the time with her dad driving since they got to talk. She said that she didn't think her mom loved her, and she felt neglected, by how much attention her mom paid to her little sister. Now that she was confined to bed with the baby, Michelle felt it even more. Dennis assured her that her mom did love her, and just that she had to watch out for her baby to be. He also confided that Joyce was always a very girly girl and that was why she seemed to get along better with Carly, since Carly is the same way. Michelle wasn't as girly, something her mother doesn't understand or feel comfortable with, in a girl. While driving, Dennis tried to make up for that by drawing Michelle closer to himself, where she could open up to him. When they were on the back streets, nearing their new place he let her sit in his lap and steer the car. It created a better bond between father and daughter. They got to their new apartment in a small complex in a quiet area. From her third story bedroom window she could look down the street and could just see a park with playground. She was excited to see that at the park were basketball courts. The first days in her new place she was stuck inside watching her sister. They played games together. She read to Carly. Michelle liked her sister, but she was a different girl, and that didn't last too long before they were bored with each other and went off to do their own things. When Michelle was bored out of her mind, she would go to her room and look out the window and she could see some boys playing but she didn't see any girls around. A couple of days later she was still stuck inside while the sun shined, a pleasant day in the making. Carly was happily playing with her dolls and their mom was asleep, Michelle decided to sneak out of the apartment. She walked out and joined the boys she saw hanging out. They saw her, coming, one of the boys, the oldest, saw her and said to her, "Hey, are you the dude that moved into apartment building down the street?" he asked as he bounced a basketball. "Yeah we moved in last week," said Michelle, not bothering to correct the other kid. He asked, "So guy, what's your name?" Michelle was stumped for a minute, did they really think that she was a boy. Her hair wasn't much longer than theirs. Would they believe her if she told them she was boy? At least she could fit in with them and maybe they would let her play basketball with them. She stammered, "Umm, I'm Mickey." He introduced the other boys, he was Benny, and there was, Jimmy, Tyler, and Garth. Michelle could tell that Benny was about her age but Jimmy and might be a year younger than her, and Tyler and Garth must be at least two years younger than she was. They all strolled down towards the park. The boys talked among themselves as Michelle walked along with them. When they got to the courts, they fell into two teams, each with an older and younger boy on each. Mickey was not asked to play. It seems to have been set teams. It left Mickey to sit and watch them. As she sat and watched another girl came up and began to watch with her. She spoke, "You the new kid in the apartments down the street?" "Yeah we moved in a week ago," Michelle confirmed. "How come we never saw you until today?" "I had to stay in with my little sister." "What's your name?" the girl asked. "I'm Mickey," said Michelle. Nodding, the girl said, "I'm Lori." Michelle could see that she must have been a year older than her. As they talked Lori confirmed that she was 12, and said that there weren't too many kids around. There were a few that are older, and some that are younger, she was the only girl near their age. Michelle felt odd with the kids thinking of her as a boy, but they seem to have accepted her that way. Maybe she could join in more of their games. As they watched the boys play, Michelle asked "Why don't you play with them?" "They don't want girls to play with them," Lori said. "That's weird, why would they want that?" "They don't think girls are very good at sports, and they don't want to lose," Lori sighed. "I can understand them not wanting to lose," Michelle said, "but girls can play just as good as boys." "Yeah, I think so too, but they don't so they don't let me play. They just think girls should be cheerleaders or something. It isn't just them, either. Most of the people around here think the same way." "Yeah," Michelle cried, "Well they're just plain wrong!" Michelle and Lori continued to watch the game. They walked home together as Lori lived nearby. They talked and Lori thought Mickey was the strangest boy she had ever known, but she liked him. Michelle for her part, thought that she had a friend. When Michelle got back to her apartment, she heard her mother's voice. "Come here, Michelle, where were you today?" Joyce asked. "I went outside," Michelle answered simply. "I don't like that," said her mom. "You left your sister alone." "She wasn't alone; you were home, besides she isn't that little. I wanted to go out it was a nice day and I could play with some of the kids in the neighborhood." "I'll have to think about you going out like that. I am not very happy you went and you didn't tell me. I don't like that." But then her mom seemed to soften, "Did you meet any one?" "Yes, a girl named Lori," replied Michelle not mentioning the boys. "Good, you were always playing with the boys, it's nice that you would be friends with a girl." That night at dinner, her mom explained to her dad what Michelle had done. He didn't look upset by that news, but Michelle knew that her dad and mom were going to be talking about that among themselves later. The next day Michelle thought that it best not to try and sneak out again. She stayed in and played games together. That night when her dad got home, he called her over to the dinner table, and her mom gave her a key on a necklace to keep around her neck. "You may have this," said her mom, holding out the key on the necklace. "Keep it on around your neck so you don't misplace it. But please tell me when you are going out, where you are going and when you'll be back." Michelle smiled and gave both her parents big hugs. But she went to her room and took the key off the necklace and replaced with with a shoestring. She didn't want to be seen with a necklace. -*-*-* Lori and Mickey would go to the playground to watch the boys every time she could get out. One day as they sat and watched, another group of five boys came up. It was decided that they would play a game the two groups of boys that Michelle watched vs the new kids. But they need one more person on their team. They said Mickey could play with them, against the other boys. They were going to play shirts against skins. Mickey's team was going to be the skins. She had to remove her shirt and play topless. Michelle was a bit uncertain about this for a second, but she wanted to fit in, so she whipped the shirt over her head. Her breasts had yet to begin to develop so she could pass as a boy. The game was nip and tuck since a couple of the boys on her team were younger than the boys on the other team. With Michelle's playing, with her excellent outside shooting she put the team over for the victory. There were high fives all around as the hard fought game was won. Lori for her part gave Mickey a kiss on the cheek for his efforts. The next day with was back to business as usual, Mickey was back watching, with Lori talking with her. For Lori, Mickey was unlike any guy she ever knew, but the difference intrigued her. As much as Michelle wanted to play with the boys and fit in with them, she also found herself liking Lori. It was strange to like a girl like that, her thinking Michelle was a boy. A couple of days they were all on the playground, playing games that they all could play, when it started to pour rain. The gang scattered, Lori took Mickey with her to her house since was closer than Michelle's apartment building. Once they got inside and they were dry. It was time to have some fun. They turned up the stereo in the living room and danced and jumped up and around just being silly. Lori's older sister, Jenny, came home, and she had them quiet down. Lori took Mickey to her room. Lori wanted to try something, and she got Mickey to agree with it. She wanted to try and put makeup on Mickey. Michelle sat patiently while Lori applied the cosmetics. She put on eye shadow, mascara, with a little blush to his cheeks she finished him off with lipstick. Mickey looked like a very attractive girl. It was time for Michelle to go home. Lori got him to agree to leave the makeup on until he got home. But he pulled the hood up holding it close around his face so no one would see him like that. But when she got home, her mom saw the makeup job and thought it very nice. She was happy to see her daughter looking more like a girl then the way she dressed most of the time in long shorts and a muscle shirt. *-*-*-* On the other side of town there was a stream that people would swim in. The gang all agreed that they would go swimming the next day. Michelle only had a one piece swimsuit made for a girl. That night she took it out and a pair of scissors. She cut off the top part and left the bottoms so that it would look a boy's speedo suit. She tried on the suit. It fit, being from last year the elastic in the waist held it up well enough. But it also showed that she didn't have the bulge that would show in a boy's suit. What to do about that? In the morning Carly was playing with her modeling clay. It gave Michelle an idea. She made for what she thought would pass for male genitalia, it was a thin rod of clay that was not too long. When Carly asked what she was making, Michelle told her it was none of her business. She went and put on her new suit and put the removable male genitals and looked at herself in the mirror to see how it would pass for a boy's thing. It was tight enough in the suit to hold in place the fake cock. The kids all rode off on their bikes to a nearby stream that was a local swimming hole. Michelle put her suit on under her clothes. The five guys were there as well as Lori. They swam together and climbed on a raft in the middle of the stream. While floating on it the boys got the idea to see who would be the king of the raft. They tried to push other off. Lori rooted them on, and she especially rooted for Mickey. When they had enough of the water, they walked in a grove trees nearby. Lori took Mickey by the hand, and had him close his eyes while leading him down a path away from the others. She lead him to a small clearing near the stream. She put her hand over his eyes. Then she leaned over and kissed him on the lips. She pulled back and took her hand off from over his eyes. They looked at one another, Michelle didn't know what to think, because a girl had just kissed her. Even though it was a girl it was still her first kiss. She didn't know what to think. Lori for her part looked in Mickey eyes to gauge his reaction. When she didn't see rejection, she told him that she liked him. Mickey smiled back at her. Lori took his hand and lead him back to where the rest of the group where playing at. Michelle rode her bike home alone. There were many contrasting feelings running through her head. She needed to try and figure them out. She didn't go out and play with the kids the next day, but stayed in and read to and played games with Carly. Michelle hadn't figured it out, she liked Lori, and she liked kissing. But Lori thought that she was a boy, but she wasn't a boy. Girls shouldn't be kissing girls should they? She liked Lori and she liked the kiss, and would want to try it again. She hope that if there was another time she wanted to be able to kiss back, instead of being taken by surprise. But what to do about this, this was a girl kissing her, even if Lori thought that Mickey was a boy, she really was a girl? Lori for her part was left to stew. What was Mickey thinking? Why didn't he come out? Didn't he like her? Didn't he like kissing? What had she done, had she scared him away? She had never liked a boy like this before. She had never wanted to kiss a boy like that, and she did like Mickey. He was different from the other boys around and in school, she just liked him. She had dreams at night that she was kissing boys. She even spied on her sister Jenny, when she had a boyfriend over, when she wasn't supposed to have him in. Mickey hadn't come yesterday, and he hadn't come out yet today. Lori was beside herself about what to do about it. Should she wait and see if he would come out? But she wanted to know did he like her or not. It was so hard to wait and see. Finally she could take it no more. She went over to Mickey's apartment. She had to know. She knew that Mickey's mother was sick she knocked softly and called for Mickey with a low voice. Michelle heard and came to the door. Michelle told her that she would come over to her house in a few minutes. Michelle came up to Lori's house, Lori let her in and took her back to her room. Lori's sister Jenny didn't see Lori or know that she was home. Lori and Mickey talked quietly in her room. Lori admitted that Mickey was the first boy she had ever kissed and she was glad that is was Mickey that she had. She confessed that she liked him. When Mickey told her that her was the first kiss he had ever had, and that he liked Lori too, it made Lori feel better. Mickey told her he was glad his first kiss was from her. About that time they could hear Lori's sister Jenny opening the door and letting someone in. Jenny was trying to quiet him but Lori recognized the voice of Jenny's boyfriend, Glenn. Quietly Lori explained that because Glenn was 19 and Jenny only 16, her parents didn't like him coming around. They thought that he was too old for her, but Jenny was obviously sneaking him into the house. The voices in the living room grew quiet but there were still sounds coming from there. With a finger across her lips, Lori led Mickey out of her room toward the living room. They saw that Jenny was on her back on the couch with Glenn there with her. They were kissing. Glenn had his hand on Jenny's boob and was squeezing it and rubbing her hard nipples poking through her tank top. Mickey was staring with a look of unbelief on her face, while Lori was looking with great interest. Glenn leaned over Jenny and took his hand and pushed up Jenny's top and bared her breast. He leaned over and kissed the nipple, then began to suck on it like a baby would. The look on Jenny's face was of pure pleasure. They watched for another minute before Lori lead Mickey back to her room. Now even more quietly they discussed what they had just witnessed. Lori admitted that it turned her on, and she would like to know how that felt. Michelle was confused was Lori wanting to do sexual things? With her? It wasn't long before Lori made her intentions clear. She lifted her top and showed her small tangerine sized breasts to Mickey. She encouraged him to touch them and finally she told him that she wanted him to suckle on her the same as Glenn did to get Jenny. The feeling was very strange to Michelle but she did it. Lori's breast felt soft and squishy and yet firm. (She thought of her own, would they be like that, when she ever got any.) When she touched her she could see Lori react; she drew in a breath with a whoosh. Her nipple began to react too, it seemed to grow, like it was standing up. The tiny areola around it puckered a bit. Lori relaxed with a look of pleasure on her face. Michelle leaned over and did like they had seen Glenn do and took it into her mouth she suck on it. She began to work her lips on it and was sort of nibbling on it. After a while Lori wanted her to change and do her other one. Michelle found she liked what she was doing. Still it was strange that being a girl she was doing this to another girl. Michelle found herself getting hot and felt things she never felt before. She felt like she had butterflies in her belly and even lower. It didn't take long before her panties started to feel wet, like she had peed herself, but she knew that she hadn't. It was strange, all these feelings. She liked doing this and she liked Lori, but it was all new to her. They suddenly heard a big commotion from out in the living room. There was a lot of scrambling around from the front of the house. They heard the voice of Lori's mom. Lori quickly slipped her boob back into her bra and the two of them got off the bed. Within a minute they figured that Mickey would have to go, without Lori's mother seeing her. It might be as bad for her as it would be for Jenny having Glenn over, Lori having a boy in her room. Lori opened the window and helped Mickey climb out. Mickey jumped down the couple of feet from window ledge to the ground and made his way around the house and out of the back yard without being seen. The following Saturday Carly stayed home with her mom while Michelle went out with her dad to do the shopping. Lori came over knocking softly on the door so as not to awaken Mickey's mom. It was Carly who answered the door. "Is Mickey home? Can he come out?" "You're Lori aren't you?" Carly asked. "Yeah, you're Carly?" "Yeah," Carly answered. "Is your brother home?" "No he had to go with my dad to do the shopping, for mom, she said thinking fast." "Tell him I came by, OK?" Lori said as she turned to go. "Yeah, I'll tell him," said Carly quietly appraising her sister's friend. Carly was in her room when she heard Dennis and Michelle get home. After they got the groceries in, Carly took her aside and said, "Lori came over, she was looking for my brother Mickey. Did you tell her that you were a boy?" "Umm," said Michelle, a little embarrassed, "It kinda came out that way, but you can't tell mom." "No I think she should know," Carly maintained, "that you said you were a boy." "No you can't tell her!" Michelle cried. "You'll ruin everything!" "If you take me out with you then I won't tell." And so Carly joined the games. The gang played other games besides basketball. Even the littler kids could join in playing steal the bacon, or even capture the flag. One day they had a water fight. They had horseback fights, with Carly riding on Michelle's back. They had a great time together. When her parents asked Carly, if she liked going out Michelle to play with the kids. She said liked playing with the bigger kids, and that her favorite kid there was Mickey. Carly and Michelle shared a secret smile between them. It was getting near the end of summer and Lori asked "Mickey what grade he was going to be in?" "Sixth." "I didn't see your name on the classroom list." "Oh I guess because they haven't registered me yet." As they walked back to where the smaller kids were playing, they saw Jimmy being a bully and pushing around the little kids. He pushed over Carly and she fell cutting her knee. Michelle went over to him and demanded, "What are you doing pushing the little kids around?" "Lay off me," said the bully, "What's it to you?" "You pushed my sister down." "So what ya gonna do about it?" he challenged. "This!" With that Michelle threw a punch hitting Jimmy in the face and the fight was on. They were soon on the ground rolling around grappling with each other. There were a few more punches thrown. Finally Michelle had Jimmy down on his back sitting on his chest, knees, holding down his arms, while she hit him in the face, blackening his eye. Lori came along and urged Mickey to let him up. With great reluctance she got up. Jimmy got up and ran home in tears. Michelle took Carly home. They came in quietly and Michelle took her to that bathroom, washing and dressing the abrasion on her knee, before covering with a band-aide. It wasn't long before Jimmy's mother showed up on their doorstep. She wanted to talk to Mickey's mother, she brought Jimmy along with the black eye that was developing. She wanted an apology from Mickey and to see him punished. When she came to the door and asked for Mickey's mother, Joyce was surprised and didn't know who this Mickey was. Before she could say much Michelle heard them and was in sight standing back from the door. Jimmy pointed out Mickey by pointing to Michelle. Joyce could only turn in surprise. She had Michelle apologize and say it wouldn't happen again. Jimmy and his mother went away, happy enough. But Joyce was far from happy. She launched into Michelle, "How dare you tell them that you were a boy! What were you doing? You want to act like a boy all the time? What were you going to tell those kids when you went to school in two weeks when they know that you are a girl? You made me look like a fool. That I don't know what my daughter is doing when she is outside of here! And you got your sister involved in this little farcical charade!" Joyce was livid. She had calmed down only somewhat by the time that Dennis had gotten home. She told him in no uncertain terms how embarrassed she felt that she had done this, and if running around masquerading as a boy wasn't enough she was getting in fights. Michelle tried to defend herself by saving that she was fighting because he had been bullying the smaller kids. She said, "He hurt Carly. she got her knee cut. He was pushing her down. He was pushing all the little kids around." Her dad countered: "He might have been doing that, and it was wrong of him to do that, but you shouldn't have hit him. What you should have done is tell some adult. Let us deal with it. But that isn't what has your mother upset; it's that you were lying, apparently all summer. You were telling them you were a boy." "But dad, they wouldn't let me play if I was a girl," Michelle cried. "Besides I never told them I was a boy they just thought I was and I didn't tell them different." "That is still lying even if you hadn't told them that directly. You still were making yourself out to be something that you were not. That is lying. You made your mother look stupid not knowing what her daughter is up to when she is out of her sight. It makes us feel that we can't trust you. Now go to your room and think about what you did and how wrong it was." The following morning Joyce was still upset about it. Michelle was dressed in her muscle shirt and shorts. Joyce came into Michelle's room and told her to get dressed. "You're going over and apologize to Jimmy and his mother." "I did that yesterday." "No you didn't, you were still lying by not showing yourself as you are. I want you to put on this." Her mom held up a frilly pink dress. Michelle was horrified. "A dress!? I don't want to wear it!" "I don't care what you want. I told you what you are going to do. And you better get to use to wearing a dress, you will be wearing them to school. What did you think you get to run around lying to everyone that you are a boy. What did you think was going to happen when you are in class and you are Michelle not this Mickey person you made up." And so Michelle was forced to go over and explain that she is not Mickey, but that she is Michelle and that she is sorry for hitting Jimmy and for making believe that she is a boy. Joyce marched Michelle over to Lori's house and she would have to tell Lori that she was a girl. Luckily for Michelle, Lori wasn't home but would be home soon. Joyce said they would wait. When Lori came in they told her before she had the chance to talk to Michelle. She didn't want to see Michelle she went to her room without talking or even looking at Michelle. How could she see her, she had made out with this girl, she supposed was a boy. Once they were out of their place, Joyce let Michelle run off. But she was still wearing the dress, over her shorts and muscle shirt. Once she was out and alone she pulled off her dress, and left it a place along a deserted part of the playground. As she walked across the edges of the playground, she could see the other kids. She could hear Jimmy telling the others that Mickey was a girl. "Yeah she came over and she was wearing a dress and everything. Her mom said she was coming over to apologize for hitting me and for lying about being a boy. She said yeah that she is a girl." Jimmy explained. "I don't believe it, you're making it up," said Tyler. "Well if it's true, then you got beat up by a girl!" laughed Benny. "What do you think Lori, you think Mickey is a girl?" Lori just looked off into space, not saying much. Just them Garth turned and said, "Hey there he is!" They all turned to see Mickey, and she took off running, and they ran after her. Finally Benny caught up with her, and tackling her to the ground. When he let her up, the others had caught up. Benny said "We heard that you are a girl. Are you?" Michelle didn't say a word. Benny said, "Well, I'm going to find out." Lori walked up and said. "No leave him alone." "You do it then," Benny said. Lori walked over to Mickey first looking her in the eye, then grabbed the front of his shorts and pulled them away from his body and looked down into his panties. As she looked up she could also see the red eyes that had been crying. There was the terror in her face at being found out, as well as the embarrassment. But Michelle she didn't stop Lori from looking. Lori looked away, then turned to walk away. Tyler said, "So is he a girl?" Lori replied, "Leave him alone." The kids dispersed leaving Michelle standing there alone. Michelle spent the next two weeks in the house. She was grounded, but not that it mattered to Michelle, she didn't want to face the other kids. But when her grounding was over, she dared not go out. But not at least until she was the coast was clear and the other kids weren't around. As she walked in the direction away from the apartments the opposite direction from the playground. Out of nowhere Lori walked up to her. Michelle could only stop and they looked at each other. Without saying a word they walked off together. Finally when they were well away from the neighborhood, Lori stopped and turned "What's your name?" "Michelle." She turned and walked on again. Michelle walked on by her side. Finally they stopped, and Lori again turned "You're a girl and we kissed and stuff. I did that with a girl. But I didn't know that you were a girl. I liked you and I liked it. But you are girl. I don't know I am so confused, I like you and or at least I liked Mickey, and I liked doing that with you. But you knew you were a girl, and you did it with me. Why?" Michelle, said, "I don't know I liked you and when we were doing it I didn't think about being a girl, just that we were doing it and I liked, it felt good." "Yeah it did feel good," admitted Lori. "But you liked feeling a girl?" "I didn't think about you being a girl so much," said Michelle. "I just liked you and we wanted to do that. I guess I didn't care if you were a girl. But I did like touching you. I didn't think about us being girls. I just liked you, you liked me and you liked what I was doing. Is that bad?" "I don't know they say two girls aren't supposed to do that." But with a bit of sly smile Lori said, "I did like it, and I don't know I guess I still like you." This caused Michelle to smile too. "What do we do now?" "Are we still friends then?" Lori asked. "Yeah, if you want." Michelle said. "Yeah I want but you have to wear a dress sometimes so we both know that we are both girls." Michelle shrugged and said, "Yeah, OK." "But you know if you are a girl, you can have sleepovers. Nobody says anything about two girls having sleepovers." Lori said while flashing a devilish little smile. "OK, if my mom will let me," Michelle replied. "You know if you sleepover we can kiss and make out more." She winked at Michelle, who just smiled back at her. All of my stories can be found at:/files/Authors/Tanya_Writer/ If you like my stories let me know. Or you don't, let me know and why. You can reach me at writer.red.rose@yandex.com As always thanks to my editor Nick Nason for all his help and work.