#no but seriously i looooooooove chatting 😍😍

[irish-urn]

Rando question in my head (since it seems like they pick you up!).

Don't answer this if this is too spoilery about what you're going to do. In your LWL series universe, in your opinion, what is the biggest thing at the current moment (after your recently released Part 3) besides the yet-to-be signed divorce that is holding Casey from letting herself have Derek?

Is it fair to say that my read of your LWL-universe Derek is that he is already there and ready to have Casey and its a matter of waiting for her to be okay with crossing that line?

I do love asks!!! I looooooove chatting. I am a very talkative person.

So, regarding my sappy LWL series, yes: Derek is ready to be with Casey whenever Casey is ready for that. But also... He's not in a rush? Like, it's been 20 years of quietly loving her, they've found a good rhythm together, they are creating a family... Like, in a lot of ways, they *are* together. And she knows his intentions, and she didn't say No, she said, Not yet. He's lived this long on a lot less.

Now, it's a lot... More for Casey. In Canada, unless you're filing because of abuse or infidelity, you have to be separated for a full year before you can file for divorce. Casey is "fortunate" that Peter lives away for 6-9 months of the year, because she's been able to claim that she and him have been living apart since, like, October. That shaves some months off. But still -- there's at least 4 months before she can file, and then who knows how easy Peter is going to make it for her. And while it isn't uncommon to date while you're only separated, it's still... Kinda frowned upon? Like, it may make the divorce process more difficult because it conplicates things.

Furthermore, consider who's all involved in this triangle: an internationally playing hockey star, a -- what I think from Casey's work uniform makes her a prosecutor? -- and a rockstar that's famous enough to make the social media news when he and his daughter have a disagreement (see the beginning of the movie)... Who's also her stepbrother who has been living in her Guest House for the last 9 months, and is on her kids' emergency contact and pick-up list. Like... That's... Tangly. The wrong person picks up that story, and it could make things very difficult for ALL OF THEM.

But, tbh, those are just the technical aspects. There's also the whole: will our family (both their little group of 6 and the bigger McTuri clan) accept this? That's been the biggest obstacle since she first thought Derek was cute when she was 15 -- and it hasn't changed.

But REALLY the big thing holding her back is: what if I ruin us? What will I and my children do without Derek (and Skyler) in our lives?

I think I alluded to it somewhat, but I'll probably let Casey dwell on it a little more, but Casey cares for Derek an awful lot. And she adores Skyler. And so do her children. All of them are very important to each other. And Casey... Is divorcing her husband. She has just failed in her longest relationship. She is a *failure* (this isn't ME talking, this is Casey's guilt). And Derek hasn't had a serious relationship since Skyler's MOM and look at how that turned out! Derek twitches every time Skyler mentions her name!

So... That's scary. Because if she starts a relationship with him, it CAN'T fail. It HAS TO WORK. it's too important for it not to.

And that's... That's an awful lot of pressure. That's very scary. And she's still healing and learning what she's worth. That takes time. She just needs some more time to heal and learn and gather her courage.

But she's getting there (maybe sooner than everyone thinks. 😉)