Tai Li was born on the 22nd of December. I assume it’s still that day, because “tomorrow” is before Christmas Day. So, y’know, 36 whole hours to plan in.
I am believing that Todd assumed that Andi is still aware of how the family still feels about her. I believe his is wrong.
I am also believing that Andi still believes that Todd is Awesome and he’s made everything alright, again. She is Soooo wrong about that; Todd IS fairly awesome. Still, No one can fix what Andi did but Andi (plus Father Time) and that only depending on with the convent of the forgiverer.
Dude. Andi. You need to let Amanda be around Todd’s family alone. Also. I know Todd’s parents are obviously slowly trusting her. But I doubt a certain Aunt and Uncle are going to be. Especially when they find out what Andi said about Amanda.
Not hating on her but that would definitely take the fun outta things. Also would stress her out.
Amanda’s been over at Todd’s without Andi before, this should not be any different unless Andi herself throws a fit, only then could I see Amanda feeling like she needs to defend her. Personaly hoping this will go smoothly and Andi will manage to hide her disapointment from the kids.
Maybe it shouldn’t be any different, but it will be different, because it’s Christmas. Biggest, best day in the year for an awful lot of kids! (regardless of whether or not their family is religious Christian) Think Calvin and Hobbes. 😉
Andi is almost throwing a fit here. Amanda probably wouldn’t care so long as she gets presents. But yeah. Andi is being a giant baby. She’s upset that her kid is getting quality time with her Dad’s side of the family?
I don’t see Andi throwing a fit right here at all… I think she’s just a little down because she probably assumed that she’d spend Christmas Eve with Todd’s family. Saying as they dated for 9 years, she would spend quite a bit of time with them. Plus remember what her mom said before she got custody of Amanda? That she didn’t want to be a part of that. So I’d say after that, she hasn’t seen her mom and wants to spend the holidays with people who actually care about Amanda, rather than be alone on Christmas Eve, even if things might be tense again with Todd’s family.
Unless maybe she didn’t assume, it could be that Mari and Theo invited her but we don’t know that or not. Despite how unhappy they are with what Andi did, they cannot keep treating her poorly if they want to keep seeing Amanda. Especially if Amanda keeps seeing people talking her mother down, we’ve seen how quick she is to defend her.
These are just my thoughts though, I might not even be a little right. They’re just thoughts.
She is assuming. Andi is being treated the way she treated them. Which btw started by lying about Amanda being dead. Which is disturbing as all out when she also went on to shove her opinion on adoption when she knew Todd was adopted. So are his siblings. But yeah. Her feelings matter so so much more.
Weird because reading the comments,you’d think that. And with how everyone talks,you’d think they believe Todd is evil for not wanting his horrible ex there for Christmas Eve. Especially when it’s obvious she’s getting Amanda for Christmas Day.
Also it would be easier on Andi to not be there. I doubt Todd’s siblings are going to be polite.
I saw it more as disappointment, that she misunderstood Amanda going to her grandparents’ house and probably assumed that she would be going too because she probably went there with Todd every year over the course if their relationship. If she wasn’t invited like she thought, she can still be disappointed, even if Todd has Amanda for Christmas Eve and Andi has her for Christmas Day. That’s just how I saw it.
Yeah. It’s just Christmas eve. She’ll still get Christmas day. Andi brought this on herself when she gave Amanda up without Todd’s consent. She made her bed. She obviously isn’t wanting to lay in it.
I think we need another page to be sure it’s just Christmas Eve, isn’t it a little bit of a drive to Todd’s parent’s place? They might stay overnight so they can do Christmas Morning at the grandparent’s house.
He’s a lot more tactful than I would be. “Yeah, pick up as in I’ll pick up Amanda. She’s part of my family after all. I do want to get all of us together for a while before you show up, it’ll be nice.”
Todd needs to learn something, and he’ll never learn it any younger.
According to the law, the courts and Child Protective Services, Andi is Amanda’s mother. According to those same folks, Todd ain’t dick. He can no more tell Andi, “I’m going to take YOUR KID off somewhere for several days, and you can’t come”, than he could say that to the guy across the street.
I know they talked about DNA, but unlike on NCIS, that doesn’t happen in a day. There has not been time to get results back, and even if they were back, he’d have to go to court to show the results and prove he was her father, and make his case about having some sort of say in what happens to her.
Andi needs to slap him down, and right damn quick.
Yes Andi needs to slap him down and start a custody battle that he would win once the court hears what she did. Yeah she needs to start trying to strong arm her was into his life using Amanda as a weapon to do so. Have you been reading the same story? What the hell makes you think Andi has a leg to stand on to be involved in her visitation with her farther? Because I’ve been involved in court organised visitation and yes they do make visitation that do not allow the other parent to be present if they are in conflict.
On top of that, Andi wanted Amanda to spend time with his family and get to know her father. Yes she could legally stop this from happening but why would she want to if she has Amada’s best interests at heart.
If Andi did try and pull something like this then it would mean she only got Amanda to get back in Todd’s life, not because she wanted her or she has changed. And in that case I would root for Todd taking away Andi’s parental rights no mater what.
Also, all that needs to happen is Andi going “nuh-uh, I want my way.”
Todd then goes “ok, nice knowing you. Begone until I talk to my lawyer” and all of what Andi wants is dashed. Andi has no power in this situation at all.
So why does Andi need to slap him down for? She’d been slapping him for years.
Visitation and family rights depend on state regulations. But if Andi did what she said she would a few weeks (months? – unsure at this point) ago saying she would put his name down on the birth certificate that should clear up most legal issues right there.
Spend xmass eve with one parent’s family, xmass morning with the other’s is pretty standard for separated couples sharing custody. Other than the miscomunication that must have happened here I see nothing wrong with this.
In my family, I’d spend Christmas at my dad’s parents’ house, because he has a huge family that does the whole turkey dinner dealio. Mom and I would celebrate on the Solstice.
Considering she lied about the child’s existence for eight years? I don’t think she’d win. Especially when she gave her up for adoption without Todd’s consent. And insulted his entire family to keep up the lie. Also before anyone says something about that,she knew how much that would hurt and said it anyway. She knew his family was like and immaturely told him that his family wasn’t real and she hated adoption. I mean it isn’t like Todd was worried they’d lose another kid if they did it the way Andi wanted. Or wanted to not put her through that pain again. But hey. Let’s focus on the giant crybaby instead.
Todd can just unhealthily bottle up his emotions and let her do what she wants. It isn’t like she was emotionally abusive to him for years right?
Don’t think the courts would care about that stuff though, that’s just personal baggage between Todd and Andi to them. Might be different in Selkieland but over here they would not make changes to custody unless someone can prove Amanda is not getting proper care from Andi, and that Todd could provide for her better.
I just don’t like the Andi needs to slap him down attitude. Todd has the right to his anger and resentment. He might not want to ride it for the rest of his life no, but the wounds are still open and stinging. And then because he wants to plan an activity with Amanda with just himself and his family he needs to be slapped down? That’s what pushes people to the bad end of things.
No disagreement there, I’m not a fan of Andi, I’m just pointing out that from a legal standpoint she’s unlikely to loose a custody battle at this point.
And I agree, though if I was in Todd’s position and she brought a custody issue up, I would call her bluff and get a lawyer regardless to make sure she never tried that crap again.
As soon as some DNA proof is in, the custody battle would be something like this:
COURT: What’s the problem?
ANDI: I can’t spend Christmas with the entire family because his grandparents are upset with me.
COURT: And why is that?
TODD: She told me my daughter was dead. This included giving us an urn full of ashes we thought was my daughter. My parents and I have been in mourning for eight f*cking years.
COURT: But eventually she told you that this girl was actually your daughter?
TODD: Yes, and the DNA results prove that.
COURT: Ms. —-, we have no power to force Todd’s parents to allow you into their home. But we do indeed have the power to ensure that Todd gets regular visitations, which includes reasonable access to holidays. Given his desire to know the daughter he thought was dead, we’re going to do that. And given the history here, if he chooses to have those visitations without you around, that is his right now. I hope you make better choices in future, Ms. —-.
Andi may have the legal right to balk at unsupervised visits, or even outright refuse them, but it would not be in her best interests to do so, either legally (it would provoke a custody battle she would not walk out of happily) or socially (it would further drive the wedge between her and the rest of the family, and probably harm Amanda even more).
She will have to put up with a certain amount of ostracism. How she handles that is pretty much the ONLY factor under her control that may change how the family reacts to her.
Socially it would destroy her in the public eye as well. There are people that go to courts of all kinds to watch the show like it’s some kind of three ring circus, and in this case that would be a great way to describe it. And they would talk about what they saw since there is no NDA.
Andi requires the good nature of the public because she is an artist and needs to sell her art to make a living. That is something that would pull her name through the mud and turn the public against her hard. I know we all know the term starving artist, but Andi does not want to starve.
It depends entirely on the state. It’s very surprising how much clout proven fathers can have—even when they are abusive and should not be in a child’s life.
It didn’t imply that she hated adoption or said that, just that adoption was erasable – which was very wishful thinking on her part. If my bio-mom came back after 8 years, my parents would have had the right to slam the door in her face. Andi was being selfish and not seeing how that would be construed to someone who’s only part with adoption had been his own and not knowing about his child would only take that as an insult, not thinking about a next generation
Legality aside, Andi is actually NOT trying to nuke the bridges she’s burnt from orbit. Abusing the idea of custody right now would absolutely do that, and you can bet Todd would come back swinging with a court-ordered DNA test and a move to get full custody of Amanda.
Not to mention that morally, Todd’s family is well within their right to say “hey, after all the shit you’ve pulled, you think you’re welcome to our Christmas Eve gathering? Um, no.”
I like Todd’s look in Panel five. The open resentment there does a good job of conveying (without saying) “You know, unless she ‘dies’ again, in the meantime.”
Hmm… seems someone has been forgetting that “Civil and cooperating in front of the kids” is pretty different from “We’ve all forgotten about that telling us our daughter/granddaughter is dead for eight years thing”.
Okay….
I must say this is not a nice thing to do and its not right. She looks heartbroken.
Sure the whole situation is her fault but this she doesnt deserve.
and i dont think Amanda will ike to see this. On Christmas. The very first Christmas as a family together, for all of them. And Todd wants to take this away from booth of them. This isnt right.
I can understand he doesnt want her around at Christmas, buuuut then he should leave this two for their own Christmas and celebrate with Selkie alone and THEN on the christmas vacation days he can take her to his family. even without Andi, but not like this. Amanda wants for sure her Mother around for her first Christmas and Selkie wants for her first Christmas without Amanda and just her Father and Family.
Like this it will not end well.
Oh joy! He can’t spend Christmas Eve with his biological daughter that Andi LIED ABOUT FOR EIGHT YEARS. Which is great! I mean she can’t spend one night without Amanda or even a few hours so the other side of the family can spend time with her? That’s just tooo much? Gee. How selfish of him.
If I were to guess, being with Amanda on Christmas at Todd’s family is as much for Andi as it is Amanda. Andi’s own mother stated that she wanted nothing to do with Amanda which probably severed ties between parent and child rather quickly. Nothing has ever been said about her Father (though I could be mistaken), so Andi is likely felling alone and a little abandoned herself.
Besides, isn’t this Amanda’s first Christmas with her Mom? That has to count for a lot, even if Todd is still angry with said Mom.
You are right about her first christmas with her mom. But they said pick her up christmas eve morning. They can have her christmas eve and Andi can have her christmas morning. That way everyone is happy.
“Happy” is overselling it. But reasonable compromise.
And did Andi’s mom remove herself from Andi’s life? Because I got the impression she just wanted nothing to do with Amanda. That could mean that during the time Amanda is with her grandparents, Andi is with her mom — it’d be perhaps a bit awkward, some things talked around rather than faced openly, but Andi wouldn’t necessarily be without her mom on Christmas.
From what we’ve seen, Andi’s mom is very black and white dominant and domineering. It is highly possible that since she did not like the very idea of getting Amanda back, Andi doing so tore their relationship to shreds. The others surmise this might be the main reason she wants to spend Christmas with Todd and his family since she has no one to spend it with.
Hmm I’m on the fence here. On the one hand I can understand Todd and probably his family not wanting Andi there given her years long deception. However as many pointed out; Amanda with her issues and her closeness with her mother, may want Andi there, since she’d get to have that ‘family closeness’ she’s never gotten to enjoy before and may want the whole package.
But I digress I don’t wish to jump the gun before the next panel. Pragmatically Andi shouldn’t get her hopes up that Todd or his family will ever let what she did go, however civil for Amanda’s sake they want to be. On the other hand, Todd would benefit from letting go some of that anger and think about what’s best for his daughter regardless of how he feels about Andi.
Plus it’s the season of good will; Todd has ever right to his anger and betrayal but for Amanda’s sake he needs to keep it in check. At minimum he needs to explain to Amanda, WHY her Mother’s not wanted around; otherwise it’d be best to swallow his anger and let Andi come least he has to open that pandora’s box.
It’s a complicated situation with no clear solution.
The solution is chosen by the participants, and not really up for our judgment calls. That being said… I don’t think allowing Andi into a major family holiday immediately after the revelation would at all be a good thing. It would change the entire character of the celebration. It would keep things tense and dampen the enjoyment.
Consider a counter-scenario: Here is the woman who abused your kid back in kindergarten. She only just now came clean about that. It’s over now, and there’s really no chance of it happening again. Feel like having her over for a happy Thanksgiving?
I agree with your fence-sitting and take up a similar stance. The only thing that may sway me is what Amanda may want. I have no idea what she wants, or if the allure of lots of presents may sway her from being with Mom solo on Christmas Eve… No clue how much she’s grown, or wants to just show Selkie up that she’s getting just as much attention at Christmas? Not sure… We’ll see what Dave does:)
My cousin was adopted by my grandmother as a baby after her parents proved drugs meant more to them than their children. Over the years my cousin would beg for her parents to be allowed to see her and be a part of her life. She had a strong bond with her father and really loved her abusive mother. I believe they should have been cut out of her life to safe her from her mother’s abuse. But I was the same age as my cousin and seeing my loving parents only made her want her own so badly.
Cutting them out was a wound to her. She held resentment for year over this.
Andi isnt abusive to Amanda.
There is no reason to cut her out of Amanda’s life nor exclude her from important moments like Christmas. Also no where in the above pannel does Todd say it will only be Christmas Eve. Andi specifically says Christmas. Thus implying Todd and his family think their pain justifies seperating Andi from Amanda on one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Nothing makes that ok.
Andi was a child when she gave up Amanda and her own mother convinced her to lie. Holding that against her and ruining what should be a happy day for Amanda is wrong.
People who have never experienced what its like to be a child and be aware adults you love are fighting shouldn’t throw stones.
Amanda deserves her entire family. I cant see this ending well if Amanda realizes all these people are going to leave her mom alone for Christmas.
Andi is just going to have to deal with it. Todd isn’t cutting Andi out of Amanda, but there is going to be a degree of separation. Andi won’t always be able to join Todd’s family. Pretty much the same deal as divorced parents, in a way.
Considering the things she has done that lead to this? She’s being denied Christmas Eve. Not the day. Also the siblings might not be civil when she’s around them. So it would be easier for her to be excluded.
And here they seemed to be making such good progress on co-parenting Amanda. The two girls were actually acting like sisters, almost. It was going too smoothly. They had to hit an obstacle.
Todd’s proving to Amanda that he is still angry at her mom. And Andi is as crestfallen as a puppy who’s had its nose smacked for being too happy. The next moment she might gulp and go, “Oh. Oh, yes, all right,” but even if she does it’s too late. Amanda saw the first reaction. I wonder what she’ll think?
It doesn’t really matter that Andi richly earned Todd’s anger. For Amanda’s sake, I say he should suck it up and include her mom in the family gathering.
Also, it’s Christmas. Isn’t that all about forgiveness of sins, and the notion that redemption is never out of reach, for anyone?
Sins of a fake dead kid for eight years and insulting his family? That won’t be easy and I doubt his siblings will try to be civil. Especially when they care very much for Todd. Andi brought this on HERSELF. She’s not invited to Christmas Eve. He didn’t say anything about Christmas day now did he?
But I guess Todd’s just too mean and evil to ever side with and should tend to Andi’s every whim.
Of course he’s not mean and evil. He has every right to be angry. But this isn’t about Andi, and it’s not about him either. It’s about not throwing away an opportunity to give Amanda a bit of stability and security in her life.
No, but if Amanda catches Todd deliberately excluding Andi from the festivities, Amanda will probably have questions. Questions that I do not think Todd is right NOW prepared to answer without causing some pretty severe damage to Amanda.
Not to mention that as young as their relationship (Todd and Amanda’s) is, I don’t know that Amanda would not think that Todd is lying, especially since Amanda’s “real” mom found her and wanted her, while her “real” father “passed her up” when he saw her in a line up of kids (he thought she was dead, but she is probably is not going to see it that way).
It may not be the most unstable, but that would only be as long as Amanda did not catch Todd’s tone and purposeful exclusion (no matter that he is entitled to it) and Andi’s sad look. If she did, this could go down like a precariously placed Jenga tower.
Dude. It’s just Christmas Eve. After what she’s done I doubt either her Aunt and Uncle will be happy. Especially after a disgusting horrible,nasty unforgivable LIE she pulled for eight years. How dare he want alone time with his kid.
Also Amanda now knows that Todd thought she was dead.
Does no one see how emotionally damaging this was for him and his family? Or does Andi’s feelings always come before Todd and his family?
You seem hung up on the idea that I care about Andi’s feelings on the matter. I don’t. As far as I am concerned, she has a long way to go to earn Todd’s trust, and rightfully so. However, as a parent, the adults are not the only people in this equation. Did you forget how protective Amanda is of Andi? Let me remind you:
I am fine with Andi not being invited…as long as the two of them can be discreet about it. And maybe I am too sensitive to this sort of thing, but with the way these two are acting, their only hope is that Amanda was out of the room or severely distracted. Because they are both being way too obvious.
And Amanda knows that Todd thought she was dead, but not WHY Todd would think that. That needs to be discussed at a good time. That is not a Holiday. Preferably.
More like, visibly blindsiding her mom with rejection while welcoming her is an emotional hit Amanda really doesn’t need right now. How’s she supposed to feel? Happy that her dad wants her? Angry that her dad doesn’t want her mom around? It’s not fair to any kid to put them in a position of conflicting loyalties, but especially not a kid with as much damage as Amanda.
I don’t want to make a federal case of it. It’s a little thing, so far. It could easily be smoothed over in the next page, if Todd realizes. And he might, he’s a pretty smart guy.
All I’m saying is, it was a slip. Todd could have handled this better. If he wants to punish Andi, he does have some revenge coming. Still, if he didn’t want her to be at the Christmas celebration, he could have told her on the phone. That would have given her a moment to gulp and accept it. It apparently didn’t even occur to him that she would want to be there. And he also, very obviously, didn’t stop to think how it was going to feel to Amanda. It was a moment of thoughtlessness.
ONE CHRISTMAS EVE WILL NOT MURDER ANDI. She made HER BED. She is not even apart of the family anymore. Especially after they split up. Her LIE was heinous and disgusting. She can handle Christmas Eve with either friends or possible family.
But hey how DARE Todd not forgive her. Or include her. I mean I bet his siblings will be soooooo happy to know what she did. They’ll be soooooooo civil. I know I wouldn’t. Especially to a lieing jidiot like Andi.
Shouldn’t even be seen as Todd trying to punish Andi. Even ignoring what she did – they broke up, why should his ex-girlfriend be invited to their family gatherings?
It’s not unstable to not have Andi there, unless Amanda is particularly dependent on her (which may be true, but she can at least do fine long enough to be at school). And if Amanda is worried about why she’s not there it can be explained with “well, kiddo, your mom was kind of a jerk to the entire family a little while ago and we need a bit of time to cool off”.
Separated parents don’t automatically cause instability in their child’s life. It’s when the separation is done horribly and the parents fight over the child that things become unstable. Andi knows she fucked up and isn’t in the mood to fight Todd. Todd and his family are royally pissed at Andi, but wouldn’t dream to mess up Amanda by fighting over her.
If Amanda refuses to go without her mom, then that’s something different. That’s her choice. But that hasn’t come up yet – if it even will.
Here’s the thing. Andi hasn’t EARNED anyone’s trust yet or forgiveness. She has done nothing to earn this time. For crying out loud guys.
Her act of panic screwed everything up. She didn’t just lose trust. She hurt people. Does no one care that she hurt the people who trusted and loved her?
Again though, this is pretty standard for parents of divorced or separated kids. Despite sharing parentage of Amanda Andi and Todd are not together, therefore separated holidays, vacations or just visitations and such will be a fact of life for them they’ll have to accept.
If anything I’d say they are better about it than many, it’s not uncommon for one parent to pick up or drop of the kid with the other and just leave until it’s their time again. Andi and Todd actually hang out and do and do activities together with the kids, too.
The word “forgiveness” has a lot of different concepts packed into a single word. Which makes it kind of hard to unpack.
Imagine if a guy stole money from you, say your life savings, right before you were going to make a major change in your life. And that theft changed the entire character of your life, top to bottom, completely derailing everything you had planned to do, making you take on multiple jobs and give up on even minor indulgences, for years, before you were back on stable ground.
And all the time that you were recovering from that theft, that guy remained friends with you, co-miserating about the problems, trying to support you psychologically, maybe loaning you a little here and there to get by — but you never realized he was actually the person who had taken your life from you.
Then, a couple months before Christmas, he comes clean about having taken everything from you, having been the one to change your life so drastically that you can’t even imagine what you would be like now if everything had gone as you had planned it to go.
Now, you might eventually be able to forgive him. Sure. That’s possible. People change and all that.
But trust him? Not for a long, long time, if ever — because of how deceptive the act was, not the theft but the pretending to be your friend even as he could’ve given the money back, or at least told you what happened so maybe e.g. you wouldn’t’ve been spending months corresponding with the police and such.
Let your guard down around him? Difficult. May never happen again. Maybe it would, but it’d take a while — not just a couple months.
Invite him over to holidays? Only if you want to have a chilled atmosphere, a bunch of people not talking about the elephant in the room, or, worse, shouting matches as emotions boil to the surface. At best, Stepford smiles as people pretend not to have negative emotions for each other.
Add kids to the mix, and it’s just a tragedy waiting to happen.
It is NOT reasonable to expect that the first holiday is just one big happy, directly after a revelation like that, when you’re still trying to wrap your mind around the insanity that person brought into your life.
Oh, man, your stuff here brought back one strong memory. Not too long ago, did we not debate what is and is not forgiveness as far as Andi is concerned and someone referenced a nice paper or psychology report on it? All good stuff:) Forgiveness is indeed different for everyone.
I feel SO bad for Andi here. Not because she’s right (which she mostly isn’t), but because she is trying so hard and is obviously hurt that she’s not included in this part of the holiday celebrations. I’ve been there: when you’ve done something wrong and are trying as hard as you can to make up for it. Of course no one else owes you anything when it’s *your* fault. However, it can still be very hurtful when you feel like you’re doing better and being a better person, and something happens that forcibly reminds you just how many bridges you’ve burnt and how badly you’ve behaved.
On a happier note, I ADORE Amanda and Selkie’s dialogue in the last few comics! It makes me smile. 🙂 While they are still competitive and not always friendly, there is a tone to their interactions in the past comics that is, if not quite affectionate, at least more sisterly. Dave, I admire your ear for dialogue and I say this as someone who has two sisters! 😉
Stories run on conflict, I suppose. This is going to be a conflict for a long time. Andi made one big mistake. Now what’s the more important word in that sentence, “one” or “big”?
The answer to that is going to color your answer to everything.
Frankly I think that’s mostly secondary at this point, they split up before this even came out. Andi and Todd are not together any more, she is no longer a part of the family so she does not get invited to the family gathering simple as that.
Late to the post due to life and not reading the previous eighty some posts, so this may have already been pointed out by someone, BUT…
We have to remember how recently Todd and Andi broke up. It’s implied to be less than a year, and they were in a long term relationship. Todd’s mother even said they welcomed Andi in as a daughter. Andi’s used to having the option to spend holidays with Todd’s family and it probably didn’t occur to her that with the thawing of relations did not come a renewed welcome mat. Andi is also not on the best of terms with her own mother right now.
Andi’s looking at a holiday alone. This has been another BIG reminder of just how much she screwed up.
They didn’t plan this out beforehand? oO
I guess this is the planning out beforehand. How long before Christmas is this all taking place?
Day before apparently.
Tai Li was born on the 22nd of December. I assume it’s still that day, because “tomorrow” is before Christmas Day. So, y’know, 36 whole hours to plan in.
Aaaagh. I mean “tomorrow” is before Christmas Eve.
I think they have they are just confirming commute times and realising that there was some miscommunication / assumptions done.
I am believing that Todd assumed that Andi is still aware of how the family still feels about her. I believe his is wrong.
I am also believing that Andi still believes that Todd is Awesome and he’s made everything alright, again. She is Soooo wrong about that; Todd IS fairly awesome. Still, No one can fix what Andi did but Andi (plus Father Time) and that only depending on with the convent of the forgiverer.
Convent = Consent, concur, condition, conscript, convict, what ever, I hate my spall chip. Someday it’ll really get me into trumpet.
! 😉
It’s already winter break, so this is being discussed with a matter of days until Christmas.
I’m torn between hoping Andi can be included, and thinking Amanda might benefit from time with just her Dad’s side of the family on her own.
Better tell Todd’s parents Andi is coming. They have one more shopping day to run out and get an extra stocking and a whole lotta coal.
Seeing they are going over to their place, I’d think it’s mainly up them rather than Todd whether they want Andi around too.
I wouldn’t get her all that coal, are you kidding me? The anger Todd still is holding for her? Probably turn it all to diamonds in that heat.
need pressure too, otherwise it just burns :p
Andi produces all the pressure she needs herself for diamonds.
Hell of a mixed message, that. “Merry Christmas, I got you a giant bag full of diamonds”.
Let’s just start calling coal Pre-Diamonds and hope they buy it.
Dude. Andi. You need to let Amanda be around Todd’s family alone. Also. I know Todd’s parents are obviously slowly trusting her. But I doubt a certain Aunt and Uncle are going to be. Especially when they find out what Andi said about Amanda.
Not hating on her but that would definitely take the fun outta things. Also would stress her out.
I agree but I wouldn’t be surprised if Amanda has a fit cause she doesn’t want her mother left out and if she cant be there, she isn’t going either.
Amanda’s been over at Todd’s without Andi before, this should not be any different unless Andi herself throws a fit, only then could I see Amanda feeling like she needs to defend her. Personaly hoping this will go smoothly and Andi will manage to hide her disapointment from the kids.
Maybe it shouldn’t be any different, but it will be different, because it’s Christmas. Biggest, best day in the year for an awful lot of kids! (regardless of whether or not their family is religious Christian) Think Calvin and Hobbes. 😉
Andi is almost throwing a fit here. Amanda probably wouldn’t care so long as she gets presents. But yeah. Andi is being a giant baby. She’s upset that her kid is getting quality time with her Dad’s side of the family?
I don’t see Andi throwing a fit right here at all… I think she’s just a little down because she probably assumed that she’d spend Christmas Eve with Todd’s family. Saying as they dated for 9 years, she would spend quite a bit of time with them. Plus remember what her mom said before she got custody of Amanda? That she didn’t want to be a part of that. So I’d say after that, she hasn’t seen her mom and wants to spend the holidays with people who actually care about Amanda, rather than be alone on Christmas Eve, even if things might be tense again with Todd’s family.
Unless maybe she didn’t assume, it could be that Mari and Theo invited her but we don’t know that or not. Despite how unhappy they are with what Andi did, they cannot keep treating her poorly if they want to keep seeing Amanda. Especially if Amanda keeps seeing people talking her mother down, we’ve seen how quick she is to defend her.
These are just my thoughts though, I might not even be a little right. They’re just thoughts.
She is assuming. Andi is being treated the way she treated them. Which btw started by lying about Amanda being dead. Which is disturbing as all out when she also went on to shove her opinion on adoption when she knew Todd was adopted. So are his siblings. But yeah. Her feelings matter so so much more.
I’m not saying what she wanted matters more then Todd’s, I was just saying what I thought was going on.
Weird because reading the comments,you’d think that. And with how everyone talks,you’d think they believe Todd is evil for not wanting his horrible ex there for Christmas Eve. Especially when it’s obvious she’s getting Amanda for Christmas Day.
Also it would be easier on Andi to not be there. I doubt Todd’s siblings are going to be polite.
Also I said almost. She’s definitely pouting despite the fact it’s just Christmas eve. Not Christmas day.
I saw it more as disappointment, that she misunderstood Amanda going to her grandparents’ house and probably assumed that she would be going too because she probably went there with Todd every year over the course if their relationship. If she wasn’t invited like she thought, she can still be disappointed, even if Todd has Amanda for Christmas Eve and Andi has her for Christmas Day. That’s just how I saw it.
I think it’s more like she’s worried about missing the holidays with her kid.
Yeah. It’s just Christmas eve. She’ll still get Christmas day. Andi brought this on herself when she gave Amanda up without Todd’s consent. She made her bed. She obviously isn’t wanting to lay in it.
I think we need another page to be sure it’s just Christmas Eve, isn’t it a little bit of a drive to Todd’s parent’s place? They might stay overnight so they can do Christmas Morning at the grandparent’s house.
I don’t think Amanda’s exactly ready for that. So I’m doubtful.
Todd’s sister is totally capable of cutting a chick..
Now now Todd, you can be a little more tactful than that.
He’s a lot more tactful than I would be. “Yeah, pick up as in I’ll pick up Amanda. She’s part of my family after all. I do want to get all of us together for a while before you show up, it’ll be nice.”
Todd needs to learn something, and he’ll never learn it any younger.
According to the law, the courts and Child Protective Services, Andi is Amanda’s mother. According to those same folks, Todd ain’t dick. He can no more tell Andi, “I’m going to take YOUR KID off somewhere for several days, and you can’t come”, than he could say that to the guy across the street.
I know they talked about DNA, but unlike on NCIS, that doesn’t happen in a day. There has not been time to get results back, and even if they were back, he’d have to go to court to show the results and prove he was her father, and make his case about having some sort of say in what happens to her.
Andi needs to slap him down, and right damn quick.
Yes Andi needs to slap him down and start a custody battle that he would win once the court hears what she did. Yeah she needs to start trying to strong arm her was into his life using Amanda as a weapon to do so. Have you been reading the same story? What the hell makes you think Andi has a leg to stand on to be involved in her visitation with her farther? Because I’ve been involved in court organised visitation and yes they do make visitation that do not allow the other parent to be present if they are in conflict.
On top of that, Andi wanted Amanda to spend time with his family and get to know her father. Yes she could legally stop this from happening but why would she want to if she has Amada’s best interests at heart.
If Andi did try and pull something like this then it would mean she only got Amanda to get back in Todd’s life, not because she wanted her or she has changed. And in that case I would root for Todd taking away Andi’s parental rights no mater what.
Also, all that needs to happen is Andi going “nuh-uh, I want my way.”
Todd then goes “ok, nice knowing you. Begone until I talk to my lawyer” and all of what Andi wants is dashed. Andi has no power in this situation at all.
So why does Andi need to slap him down for? She’d been slapping him for years.
Visitation and family rights depend on state regulations. But if Andi did what she said she would a few weeks (months? – unsure at this point) ago saying she would put his name down on the birth certificate that should clear up most legal issues right there.
That takes some time to process so that it’s legal, though. I don’t know how long it’s been, so I don’t know if it’s had time to go through.
Spend xmass eve with one parent’s family, xmass morning with the other’s is pretty standard for separated couples sharing custody. Other than the miscomunication that must have happened here I see nothing wrong with this.
In my family, I’d spend Christmas at my dad’s parents’ house, because he has a huge family that does the whole turkey dinner dealio. Mom and I would celebrate on the Solstice.
Considering she lied about the child’s existence for eight years? I don’t think she’d win. Especially when she gave her up for adoption without Todd’s consent. And insulted his entire family to keep up the lie. Also before anyone says something about that,she knew how much that would hurt and said it anyway. She knew his family was like and immaturely told him that his family wasn’t real and she hated adoption. I mean it isn’t like Todd was worried they’d lose another kid if they did it the way Andi wanted. Or wanted to not put her through that pain again. But hey. Let’s focus on the giant crybaby instead.
Todd can just unhealthily bottle up his emotions and let her do what she wants. It isn’t like she was emotionally abusive to him for years right?
Don’t think the courts would care about that stuff though, that’s just personal baggage between Todd and Andi to them. Might be different in Selkieland but over here they would not make changes to custody unless someone can prove Amanda is not getting proper care from Andi, and that Todd could provide for her better.
I just don’t like the Andi needs to slap him down attitude. Todd has the right to his anger and resentment. He might not want to ride it for the rest of his life no, but the wounds are still open and stinging. And then because he wants to plan an activity with Amanda with just himself and his family he needs to be slapped down? That’s what pushes people to the bad end of things.
No disagreement there, I’m not a fan of Andi, I’m just pointing out that from a legal standpoint she’s unlikely to loose a custody battle at this point.
And I agree, though if I was in Todd’s position and she brought a custody issue up, I would call her bluff and get a lawyer regardless to make sure she never tried that crap again.
As soon as some DNA proof is in, the custody battle would be something like this:
COURT: What’s the problem?
ANDI: I can’t spend Christmas with the entire family because his grandparents are upset with me.
COURT: And why is that?
TODD: She told me my daughter was dead. This included giving us an urn full of ashes we thought was my daughter. My parents and I have been in mourning for eight f*cking years.
COURT: But eventually she told you that this girl was actually your daughter?
TODD: Yes, and the DNA results prove that.
COURT: Ms. —-, we have no power to force Todd’s parents to allow you into their home. But we do indeed have the power to ensure that Todd gets regular visitations, which includes reasonable access to holidays. Given his desire to know the daughter he thought was dead, we’re going to do that. And given the history here, if he chooses to have those visitations without you around, that is his right now. I hope you make better choices in future, Ms. —-.
Andi may have the legal right to balk at unsupervised visits, or even outright refuse them, but it would not be in her best interests to do so, either legally (it would provoke a custody battle she would not walk out of happily) or socially (it would further drive the wedge between her and the rest of the family, and probably harm Amanda even more).
She will have to put up with a certain amount of ostracism. How she handles that is pretty much the ONLY factor under her control that may change how the family reacts to her.
Socially it would destroy her in the public eye as well. There are people that go to courts of all kinds to watch the show like it’s some kind of three ring circus, and in this case that would be a great way to describe it. And they would talk about what they saw since there is no NDA.
Andi requires the good nature of the public because she is an artist and needs to sell her art to make a living. That is something that would pull her name through the mud and turn the public against her hard. I know we all know the term starving artist, but Andi does not want to starve.
Based on my own experience with custody battles, this sounds pretty spot on.
It depends entirely on the state. It’s very surprising how much clout proven fathers can have—even when they are abusive and should not be in a child’s life.
It didn’t imply that she hated adoption or said that, just that adoption was erasable – which was very wishful thinking on her part. If my bio-mom came back after 8 years, my parents would have had the right to slam the door in her face. Andi was being selfish and not seeing how that would be construed to someone who’s only part with adoption had been his own and not knowing about his child would only take that as an insult, not thinking about a next generation
“It’s like babysitting. Not a real family.” Basically what she told him.
Legality aside, Andi is actually NOT trying to nuke the bridges she’s burnt from orbit. Abusing the idea of custody right now would absolutely do that, and you can bet Todd would come back swinging with a court-ordered DNA test and a move to get full custody of Amanda.
Not to mention that morally, Todd’s family is well within their right to say “hey, after all the shit you’ve pulled, you think you’re welcome to our Christmas Eve gathering? Um, no.”
I like Todd’s look in Panel five. The open resentment there does a good job of conveying (without saying) “You know, unless she ‘dies’ again, in the meantime.”
Hmm… seems someone has been forgetting that “Civil and cooperating in front of the kids” is pretty different from “We’ve all forgotten about that telling us our daughter/granddaughter is dead for eight years thing”.
Okay….
I must say this is not a nice thing to do and its not right. She looks heartbroken.
Sure the whole situation is her fault but this she doesnt deserve.
and i dont think Amanda will ike to see this. On Christmas. The very first Christmas as a family together, for all of them. And Todd wants to take this away from booth of them. This isnt right.
I can understand he doesnt want her around at Christmas, buuuut then he should leave this two for their own Christmas and celebrate with Selkie alone and THEN on the christmas vacation days he can take her to his family. even without Andi, but not like this. Amanda wants for sure her Mother around for her first Christmas and Selkie wants for her first Christmas without Amanda and just her Father and Family.
Like this it will not end well.
Oh joy! He can’t spend Christmas Eve with his biological daughter that Andi LIED ABOUT FOR EIGHT YEARS. Which is great! I mean she can’t spend one night without Amanda or even a few hours so the other side of the family can spend time with her? That’s just tooo much? Gee. How selfish of him.
If I were to guess, being with Amanda on Christmas at Todd’s family is as much for Andi as it is Amanda. Andi’s own mother stated that she wanted nothing to do with Amanda which probably severed ties between parent and child rather quickly. Nothing has ever been said about her Father (though I could be mistaken), so Andi is likely felling alone and a little abandoned herself.
Besides, isn’t this Amanda’s first Christmas with her Mom? That has to count for a lot, even if Todd is still angry with said Mom.
You are right about her first christmas with her mom. But they said pick her up christmas eve morning. They can have her christmas eve and Andi can have her christmas morning. That way everyone is happy.
“Happy” is overselling it. But reasonable compromise.
And did Andi’s mom remove herself from Andi’s life? Because I got the impression she just wanted nothing to do with Amanda. That could mean that during the time Amanda is with her grandparents, Andi is with her mom — it’d be perhaps a bit awkward, some things talked around rather than faced openly, but Andi wouldn’t necessarily be without her mom on Christmas.
From what we’ve seen, Andi’s mom is very black and white dominant and domineering. It is highly possible that since she did not like the very idea of getting Amanda back, Andi doing so tore their relationship to shreds. The others surmise this might be the main reason she wants to spend Christmas with Todd and his family since she has no one to spend it with.
Hmm I’m on the fence here. On the one hand I can understand Todd and probably his family not wanting Andi there given her years long deception. However as many pointed out; Amanda with her issues and her closeness with her mother, may want Andi there, since she’d get to have that ‘family closeness’ she’s never gotten to enjoy before and may want the whole package.
But I digress I don’t wish to jump the gun before the next panel. Pragmatically Andi shouldn’t get her hopes up that Todd or his family will ever let what she did go, however civil for Amanda’s sake they want to be. On the other hand, Todd would benefit from letting go some of that anger and think about what’s best for his daughter regardless of how he feels about Andi.
Plus it’s the season of good will; Todd has ever right to his anger and betrayal but for Amanda’s sake he needs to keep it in check. At minimum he needs to explain to Amanda, WHY her Mother’s not wanted around; otherwise it’d be best to swallow his anger and let Andi come least he has to open that pandora’s box.
It’s a complicated situation with no clear solution.
The solution is chosen by the participants, and not really up for our judgment calls. That being said… I don’t think allowing Andi into a major family holiday immediately after the revelation would at all be a good thing. It would change the entire character of the celebration. It would keep things tense and dampen the enjoyment.
Consider a counter-scenario: Here is the woman who abused your kid back in kindergarten. She only just now came clean about that. It’s over now, and there’s really no chance of it happening again. Feel like having her over for a happy Thanksgiving?
I agree with your fence-sitting and take up a similar stance. The only thing that may sway me is what Amanda may want. I have no idea what she wants, or if the allure of lots of presents may sway her from being with Mom solo on Christmas Eve… No clue how much she’s grown, or wants to just show Selkie up that she’s getting just as much attention at Christmas? Not sure… We’ll see what Dave does:)
My cousin was adopted by my grandmother as a baby after her parents proved drugs meant more to them than their children. Over the years my cousin would beg for her parents to be allowed to see her and be a part of her life. She had a strong bond with her father and really loved her abusive mother. I believe they should have been cut out of her life to safe her from her mother’s abuse. But I was the same age as my cousin and seeing my loving parents only made her want her own so badly.
Cutting them out was a wound to her. She held resentment for year over this.
Andi isnt abusive to Amanda.
There is no reason to cut her out of Amanda’s life nor exclude her from important moments like Christmas. Also no where in the above pannel does Todd say it will only be Christmas Eve. Andi specifically says Christmas. Thus implying Todd and his family think their pain justifies seperating Andi from Amanda on one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Nothing makes that ok.
Andi was a child when she gave up Amanda and her own mother convinced her to lie. Holding that against her and ruining what should be a happy day for Amanda is wrong.
People who have never experienced what its like to be a child and be aware adults you love are fighting shouldn’t throw stones.
Amanda deserves her entire family. I cant see this ending well if Amanda realizes all these people are going to leave her mom alone for Christmas.
Andi is just going to have to deal with it. Todd isn’t cutting Andi out of Amanda, but there is going to be a degree of separation. Andi won’t always be able to join Todd’s family. Pretty much the same deal as divorced parents, in a way.
Considering the things she has done that lead to this? She’s being denied Christmas Eve. Not the day. Also the siblings might not be civil when she’s around them. So it would be easier for her to be excluded.
And here they seemed to be making such good progress on co-parenting Amanda. The two girls were actually acting like sisters, almost. It was going too smoothly. They had to hit an obstacle.
Todd’s proving to Amanda that he is still angry at her mom. And Andi is as crestfallen as a puppy who’s had its nose smacked for being too happy. The next moment she might gulp and go, “Oh. Oh, yes, all right,” but even if she does it’s too late. Amanda saw the first reaction. I wonder what she’ll think?
It doesn’t really matter that Andi richly earned Todd’s anger. For Amanda’s sake, I say he should suck it up and include her mom in the family gathering.
Also, it’s Christmas. Isn’t that all about forgiveness of sins, and the notion that redemption is never out of reach, for anyone?
Sins of a fake dead kid for eight years and insulting his family? That won’t be easy and I doubt his siblings will try to be civil. Especially when they care very much for Todd. Andi brought this on HERSELF. She’s not invited to Christmas Eve. He didn’t say anything about Christmas day now did he?
But I guess Todd’s just too mean and evil to ever side with and should tend to Andi’s every whim.
Of course he’s not mean and evil. He has every right to be angry. But this isn’t about Andi, and it’s not about him either. It’s about not throwing away an opportunity to give Amanda a bit of stability and security in her life.
So spending time with her Dad’s family without Mom is unstable?
No, but if Amanda catches Todd deliberately excluding Andi from the festivities, Amanda will probably have questions. Questions that I do not think Todd is right NOW prepared to answer without causing some pretty severe damage to Amanda.
Not to mention that as young as their relationship (Todd and Amanda’s) is, I don’t know that Amanda would not think that Todd is lying, especially since Amanda’s “real” mom found her and wanted her, while her “real” father “passed her up” when he saw her in a line up of kids (he thought she was dead, but she is probably is not going to see it that way).
It may not be the most unstable, but that would only be as long as Amanda did not catch Todd’s tone and purposeful exclusion (no matter that he is entitled to it) and Andi’s sad look. If she did, this could go down like a precariously placed Jenga tower.
Dude. It’s just Christmas Eve. After what she’s done I doubt either her Aunt and Uncle will be happy. Especially after a disgusting horrible,nasty unforgivable LIE she pulled for eight years. How dare he want alone time with his kid.
Also Amanda now knows that Todd thought she was dead.
Does no one see how emotionally damaging this was for him and his family? Or does Andi’s feelings always come before Todd and his family?
You seem hung up on the idea that I care about Andi’s feelings on the matter. I don’t. As far as I am concerned, she has a long way to go to earn Todd’s trust, and rightfully so. However, as a parent, the adults are not the only people in this equation. Did you forget how protective Amanda is of Andi? Let me remind you:
She tore Todd several new holes for daring to sound angry at her mother https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie710/ https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie711/ https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie712/
https://selkiecomic.com/comic/selkie714/
I am fine with Andi not being invited…as long as the two of them can be discreet about it. And maybe I am too sensitive to this sort of thing, but with the way these two are acting, their only hope is that Amanda was out of the room or severely distracted. Because they are both being way too obvious.
And Amanda knows that Todd thought she was dead, but not WHY Todd would think that. That needs to be discussed at a good time. That is not a Holiday. Preferably.
Because people are more focused on how Andi feels and are demonizing Todd again. And all he wants is one night.
Also Amanda doesn’t know the full story. She’d be less loving if she found out how deceitful her mom is and how much it hurt Todd.
More like, visibly blindsiding her mom with rejection while welcoming her is an emotional hit Amanda really doesn’t need right now. How’s she supposed to feel? Happy that her dad wants her? Angry that her dad doesn’t want her mom around? It’s not fair to any kid to put them in a position of conflicting loyalties, but especially not a kid with as much damage as Amanda.
I don’t want to make a federal case of it. It’s a little thing, so far. It could easily be smoothed over in the next page, if Todd realizes. And he might, he’s a pretty smart guy.
All I’m saying is, it was a slip. Todd could have handled this better. If he wants to punish Andi, he does have some revenge coming. Still, if he didn’t want her to be at the Christmas celebration, he could have told her on the phone. That would have given her a moment to gulp and accept it. It apparently didn’t even occur to him that she would want to be there. And he also, very obviously, didn’t stop to think how it was going to feel to Amanda. It was a moment of thoughtlessness.
ONE CHRISTMAS EVE WILL NOT MURDER ANDI. She made HER BED. She is not even apart of the family anymore. Especially after they split up. Her LIE was heinous and disgusting. She can handle Christmas Eve with either friends or possible family.
But hey how DARE Todd not forgive her. Or include her. I mean I bet his siblings will be soooooo happy to know what she did. They’ll be soooooooo civil. I know I wouldn’t. Especially to a lieing jidiot like Andi.
Shouldn’t even be seen as Todd trying to punish Andi. Even ignoring what she did – they broke up, why should his ex-girlfriend be invited to their family gatherings?
It’s not unstable to not have Andi there, unless Amanda is particularly dependent on her (which may be true, but she can at least do fine long enough to be at school). And if Amanda is worried about why she’s not there it can be explained with “well, kiddo, your mom was kind of a jerk to the entire family a little while ago and we need a bit of time to cool off”.
Separated parents don’t automatically cause instability in their child’s life. It’s when the separation is done horribly and the parents fight over the child that things become unstable. Andi knows she fucked up and isn’t in the mood to fight Todd. Todd and his family are royally pissed at Andi, but wouldn’t dream to mess up Amanda by fighting over her.
If Amanda refuses to go without her mom, then that’s something different. That’s her choice. But that hasn’t come up yet – if it even will.
Here’s the thing. Andi hasn’t EARNED anyone’s trust yet or forgiveness. She has done nothing to earn this time. For crying out loud guys.
Her act of panic screwed everything up. She didn’t just lose trust. She hurt people. Does no one care that she hurt the people who trusted and loved her?
Again though, this is pretty standard for parents of divorced or separated kids. Despite sharing parentage of Amanda Andi and Todd are not together, therefore separated holidays, vacations or just visitations and such will be a fact of life for them they’ll have to accept.
If anything I’d say they are better about it than many, it’s not uncommon for one parent to pick up or drop of the kid with the other and just leave until it’s their time again. Andi and Todd actually hang out and do and do activities together with the kids, too.
The word “forgiveness” has a lot of different concepts packed into a single word. Which makes it kind of hard to unpack.
Imagine if a guy stole money from you, say your life savings, right before you were going to make a major change in your life. And that theft changed the entire character of your life, top to bottom, completely derailing everything you had planned to do, making you take on multiple jobs and give up on even minor indulgences, for years, before you were back on stable ground.
And all the time that you were recovering from that theft, that guy remained friends with you, co-miserating about the problems, trying to support you psychologically, maybe loaning you a little here and there to get by — but you never realized he was actually the person who had taken your life from you.
Then, a couple months before Christmas, he comes clean about having taken everything from you, having been the one to change your life so drastically that you can’t even imagine what you would be like now if everything had gone as you had planned it to go.
Now, you might eventually be able to forgive him. Sure. That’s possible. People change and all that.
But trust him? Not for a long, long time, if ever — because of how deceptive the act was, not the theft but the pretending to be your friend even as he could’ve given the money back, or at least told you what happened so maybe e.g. you wouldn’t’ve been spending months corresponding with the police and such.
Let your guard down around him? Difficult. May never happen again. Maybe it would, but it’d take a while — not just a couple months.
Invite him over to holidays? Only if you want to have a chilled atmosphere, a bunch of people not talking about the elephant in the room, or, worse, shouting matches as emotions boil to the surface. At best, Stepford smiles as people pretend not to have negative emotions for each other.
Add kids to the mix, and it’s just a tragedy waiting to happen.
It is NOT reasonable to expect that the first holiday is just one big happy, directly after a revelation like that, when you’re still trying to wrap your mind around the insanity that person brought into your life.
Oh, man, your stuff here brought back one strong memory. Not too long ago, did we not debate what is and is not forgiveness as far as Andi is concerned and someone referenced a nice paper or psychology report on it? All good stuff:) Forgiveness is indeed different for everyone.
I feel SO bad for Andi here. Not because she’s right (which she mostly isn’t), but because she is trying so hard and is obviously hurt that she’s not included in this part of the holiday celebrations. I’ve been there: when you’ve done something wrong and are trying as hard as you can to make up for it. Of course no one else owes you anything when it’s *your* fault. However, it can still be very hurtful when you feel like you’re doing better and being a better person, and something happens that forcibly reminds you just how many bridges you’ve burnt and how badly you’ve behaved.
On a happier note, I ADORE Amanda and Selkie’s dialogue in the last few comics! It makes me smile. 🙂 While they are still competitive and not always friendly, there is a tone to their interactions in the past comics that is, if not quite affectionate, at least more sisterly. Dave, I admire your ear for dialogue and I say this as someone who has two sisters! 😉
Stories run on conflict, I suppose. This is going to be a conflict for a long time. Andi made one big mistake. Now what’s the more important word in that sentence, “one” or “big”?
The answer to that is going to color your answer to everything.
Frankly I think that’s mostly secondary at this point, they split up before this even came out. Andi and Todd are not together any more, she is no longer a part of the family so she does not get invited to the family gathering simple as that.
Late to the post due to life and not reading the previous eighty some posts, so this may have already been pointed out by someone, BUT…
We have to remember how recently Todd and Andi broke up. It’s implied to be less than a year, and they were in a long term relationship. Todd’s mother even said they welcomed Andi in as a daughter. Andi’s used to having the option to spend holidays with Todd’s family and it probably didn’t occur to her that with the thawing of relations did not come a renewed welcome mat. Andi is also not on the best of terms with her own mother right now.
Andi’s looking at a holiday alone. This has been another BIG reminder of just how much she screwed up.