If you want to read 20 Chapters ahead and more, be sure to check out my P-Tang12!!!
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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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It was a masterpiece of survival. Caleb had twisted the timeline, slaughtered an Italian crime syndicate, burned a billionaire's factory, and taken absolute control of the largest city in the South. He had done terrible, violent things to secure his power. But as he sat beneath the glowing yellow lanterns of the willow tree, surrounded by the people he loved, Caleb knew with absolute, unshakeable certainty that he would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
The celebration continued for a long, beautiful while under the warm, amber glow of the weeping willow tree. As the hours ticked by and the heavy, rich Italian wine continued to flow freely, the wild, raucous energy of the initial toasts slowly mellowed.
The massive party naturally began to wind down, shifting from loud, boisterous cheering into a much more relaxed, comfortable atmosphere.
Everyone was having fun, and slowly, the large, unified table begun to fracture as the family members began to chatter with each other, breaking off into several smaller, intimate groups.
At the far end of the courtyard, Sean MacGuire, Bill Williamson, and Uncle had entirely abandoned their empty plates and were currently locked in a deeply philosophical, incredibly slurred debate about the optimal way to distill Irish whiskey.
Nearby, Javier Escuella was still gently strumming the acoustic guitar he had borrowed from the band, playing a soft, melodic tune while Tilly, Karen, Molly, and Mary-Beth sat close together, their heads bowed as they whispered excitedly about the upcoming wedding arrangements and the stunning dresses they would need to buy.
Caleb, of course, found his attention drifting away from the larger crowd. He shifted his chair slightly on the crushed white gravel, turning his focus to the core leadership of his newfound empire, and the two people who were the absolute center of the night's festivities.
He sat in a comfortable, loose circle with Arthur Morgan, Hosea Matthews, John Marston, and Abigail Roberts.
Right at the edge of their small circle, little Jack was playing near them. The young boy had completely exhausted himself from running around the massive courtyard earlier, and was now sitting happily in the dirt near the base of the willow tree, quietly constructing a small fort out of smooth white stones and fallen twigs.
Every now and then, Jack would hold up a particularly shiny rock to show Arthur, who would offer a gruff, affectionate grunt of approval, or he would proudly present a twig to Hosea, who would graciously thank the boy as if he had just been handed a bar of solid gold.
The atmosphere was incredibly serene, but John had never been a man who could simply sit still in the peace for very long. His mind was already turning toward the horizon, actively trying to figure out how to be the husband and father he had just sworn to become.
John cleared his throat, taking a slow sip from a glass of water, having long since cut himself off from the whiskey to keep his head clear. He looked at Abigail, sharing a quiet, meaningful glance with his new fiancée, before he looked up at the three men who had practically raised him.
The topic of their conversation naturally shifted from the dazzling engagement ring to the heavy, practical realities of the future.
"Listen, Caleb... Arthur, Hosea," John began, his voice low and incredibly earnest. He reached out and took Abigail's hand, resting it gently on the pristine white tablecloth. "Abigail and I were talking a bit earlier this evening. Before the food came out. We've been thinking about what comes next for us."
Arthur raised a thick eyebrow, pulling a cigar from his vest pocket. "What comes next? You get married, John. That's usually how these things work."
"I know that, Arthur," John chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I mean... after that. Once things settle down." He looked directly at Caleb, ensuring the Don understood that this wasn't a rejection of his hospitality, but a necessary step for his own manhood. "Abigail and I are planning to buy a small house. Or, if the housing market in the city is too crazy right now, maybe we could just rent a nice, spacious room at one of those comfortable, high end boarding apartments in the safer districts."
Abigail nodded her head in firm agreement, her fingers intertwining with John's. "We want to build our family independently, Caleb. We want to have our own front door, our own kitchen, and our own quiet little corner of the world. We've spent Jack's entire life sleeping in communal tents and sharing campfires with twenty other people. We are just trying to become a true, normal family."
Hearing that profound, highly emotional declaration of independence, Hosea and Arthur exchanged a long, heavily loaded look.
Of course, Hosea and Arthur could completely understand where the young couple was coming from, and they genuinely supported both of them in their desire to find normalcy.
They knew better than anyone the psychological toll the outlaw lifestyle had taken on Abigail as a mother. But at the same time, a deep, instinctual reluctance settled over the two older men. They didn't want the gang to separate too much.
"John, Abigail... you know we want nothing but the absolute best for you and the boy," Hosea said gently, leaning forward on his cane. His silver hair caught the light of the paper lanterns as he looked at them with deep, fatherly concern. "But moving out into the city... living in some boarding house away from the estate... it just feels incredibly sudden."
Arthur struck a match, lighting his cigar with a sharp flick of his wrist. He blew a thick plume of smoke into the night air, his green eyes narrowing slightly. "Hosea is right. We've fought tooth and nail, bled in the snow, and nearly got our heads blown off a dozen times just to make it to this exact point. After all of us have gone so far to reach this position together, after going through all of the terrible things that have happened over the last year... it just don't sit right with me having you two pack up and leave the safety of the walls."
Arthur pointed the glowing cherry of his cigar toward Jack. "We're a pack, John. We survive because we watch each other's backs. You move out into an apartment, you ain't got Silvio standing at the gate. You ain't got me sleeping down the hall."
As for Caleb, he sat back in his chair, quietly observing the exchange. His sharp, analytical mind processed the emotional currents flowing around the table. He could completely understand their conviction and their fierce, burning spirit to stand on their own two feet. It was a highly respectable desire.
But Caleb also possessed the cold, calculating logic of a man who ruled a criminal empire. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, and fixed his piercing blue eyes on the couple.
"I admire the ambition, John. I really do," Caleb started, his voice smooth and incredibly measured. He asked them, cutting straight to the logistical reality of their dream, "But are you genuinely ready for this life on your own right now? Have you truly thought about the daily mechanics of living in a city like Saint Denis without the immediate support system you've always relied on?"
Caleb gestured casually toward the rest of the gang laughing at the other end of the courtyard. "Right now, if you need to run an errand, or if you need to go to work, you have an entire village ready to step in. After all, in the gang, there are many people who have always helped in looking after Jack."
"Tilly, Karen, Mary-Beth, Hosea... they all take turns watching him, teaching him, and keeping him safe. If you move into an independent apartment, Abigail, you will be entirely on your own for twelve hours a day while John is out working for me."
Abigail, hearing that highly practical assessment of her daily life, didn't back down. The fierce, protective mother inside her flared up. She nodded her head, acknowledging the truth of his words, but she remained entirely resolute in her reasoning.
Saying to Caleb, her voice trembling slightly with intense emotion, "I know it will be harder, Caleb. I know I won't have Tilly to help me wash his clothes, or Hosea to read him stories when I'm cooking. But it's a price I am more than willing to pay."
She looked down at her hands, her thumb gently stroking the smooth platinum band of her new engagement ring.
"Because even though our life is finally out from the desperate, running life of crime... there are still heavy traces left off it. I'm not blind, Caleb."
Abigail looked up, her dark eyes locking onto the Don with a mixture of profound gratitude and unyielding maternal terror.
"I know exactly what John is doing for you. John is being made a part of your mob family. Yes, I know you are actively changing it into a legitimate corporate business, and I thank God every single day for that. But you still have men with scars and rifles standing at the gates of the mansion. You still have enemies in this city. There is still a shadow over that house."
She turned her gaze to look at her young son, who was currently giggling as a glowing firefly landed on his small nose.
"I wanted the boy to grow up without any influence from the life of crime," Abigail whispered fiercely, the tears shining in her eyes. "None at all. I don't want him seeing men carrying shotguns in the hallways. I don't want him hearing Arthur and Vincenzo talking about extortion or security perimeters over breakfast. I just want him to be a normal boy. I want him to go to a normal school, come home to a normal house, and never, ever have to know the dark things his father had to do to survive."
A heavy, profound silence fell over the small circle. Arthur looked down at the table, his jaw tightening as the undeniable truth of Abigail's words hit him. Hosea sighed, closing his eyes, feeling the heavy burden of their violent history.
Caleb listened to her impassioned plea. He didn't look offended, and he didn't try to dismiss her fears. He nodded his head slowly, a look of deep, profound empathy crossing his handsome face, his voice incredibly soft and reassuring, "I hear you, Abigail. I fully understand exactly what you are saying, and I completely agree with your motivations. You are a mother trying to protect her child's innocence. I also wholeheartedly support your belief that Jack deserves a life far removed from the violence we have all endured."
But then, Caleb's posture shifted. The empathetic friend seamlessly transitioned into the visionary leader, the man who understood the brutal, uncompromising reality of the Gilded Age better than anyone alive.
"But at the same time," Caleb continued, his tone dropping into a serious, highly philosophical register. "I feel that the decision the two of you have just made tonight is entirely too drastic, and it is being driven by emotion without any solid, long term plan whatsoever."
Caleb reached out, pouring a small splash of water into his crystal glass, gathering his thoughts before delivering the hard truth.
"I understand that you do not want Jack to be involved in the life of crime, Abigail," Caleb stated firmly. "But at the same time, he absolutely needs to know about it. You cannot just lock him away in a pristine little apartment and pretend the wolves don't exist."
Abigail opened her mouth to argue, her maternal instincts bristling, but Caleb gently held up a hand to stop her.
"Listen to me," Caleb said, his eyes burning with absolute, undeniable conviction. "He can't just live a life completely sheltered from the reality of this world. Look around this table. All of us are here, alive and breathing, solely because we knew exactly how dark and how completely bottomless this life can be. We survived because we knew how to spot a lie, how to read a dangerous man, and how to protect ourselves when the law failed us."
Caleb pointed toward the young boy playing in the dirt. "If you raise Jack in a completely sterilized bubble, entirely isolated from the people who love him and know how the world actually works, you are not protecting him. You are making him incredibly vulnerable.
The moment he steps out into the real world, the moment a corrupt politician, a greedy businessman, or a street thug crosses his path, he will have absolutely no idea how to defend himself, because his mother hid the darkness from him."
It was at this exact moment that Caleb invisibly, flawlessly activated his max level Persuasion Skill.
The air around the small circle seemed to grow heavier, pulling Abigail and John's absolute, undivided attention entirely onto him. His words bypassed their defensive, emotional walls and struck directly at the core of their logical minds. His voice resonated with a hypnotic, paternal wisdom that made his argument sound like undeniable, absolute gospel truth.
"That is exactly why keeping him here, with all of us present in his daily life, could actually help Jack immensely," Caleb explained, his max level skill weaving the narrative with terrifying perfection.
"He doesn't need to hold a gun, and he doesn't need to run a racket. But he still needs to know the basic survival instincts of the life of the outlaws to at least use it to protect himself. He needs to watch Arthur, to learn what true strength and unwavering loyalty looks like. He needs to listen to Hosea, to learn how to read a man's true intentions behind a fake smile. And he needs you, John, to show him that a man can walk through hell and still choose to be a good father."
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Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 8/10
- Agility: 8/10
- Perception: 9/10
- Stamina: 8/10
- Charm: 8/10
- Luck: 9/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl MAX)
- Rifle (Lvl MAX)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl MAX)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl MAX)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl MAX)
- Sneaking (Lvl MAX)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl MAX)
- Poker (Lvl MAX)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl MAX)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Dead Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Bow (Lvl MAX)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl MAX)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl MAX)
- Crafting (Lvl MAX)
- Persuasion (Lvl MAX)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
- Cooking (Lvl MAX)
- Teaching (Lvl MAX)
- Trilingual Language Proficiency - G, I, & C (Lvl MAX)
- Inventory System (Permanent - 100x100x100)
- Acting (Lvl MAX)
- Alcohol Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Treasure Hunter (Lvl MAX)
- Drugs Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Business (Lvl MAX)
- Leadership (Lvl MAX)
Money: 2,822 dollars and 60 cents
Inventory: 284,392 dollars and 61 cents, 11 gold nuggets, 74 gold bars, 1 Double Action, 1 Schofield, 2 Colm's Schofields, 1 land deed (Parcel), 1 Mauser, 1 Semi Auto Pistol, 1 Lancaster Repeater, 1 Old Wood Jewelry Box, 1 F.F Mausoleum small brass key, 1 Ruby, 1 Braithwaites Land Deed, 1 Broken Pirate Sword, 1 Milton's Safety Deposit Key, 1 Senator Pendleton Sealed Envelope, Proof Of Marlin-Thorne Firearms Co., 10 Dynamites, 1 LeMat, 1 M1899, 1 Carcano, 1 Ownership deed of Doyle's Tavern, 3 Diamonds, & Important Documents & Deeds Of Cornwall
Bank: -