The Mother Road series spans over a 20-year period and involves two main characters, Tom and Laura, their family of 10 children, plus various boyfriends, girlfriends, and spouses. Because it’s been well over a year since the last installment, my writing coaches RiverMaya and JuanaSalsa suggested I do a quick character recap prior to this Mother Road chapter. I trust their judgment, so here you go.
NOTE: If you want to skip the character recap, page down to the Title.
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The Main Characters (ages shown as of this story)
Tom McFarland (47) — In the original Mother Road, Tom was introduced as a newly-divorced architectural consultant travelling in an RV down old Route 66. Until the advent of the Interstate Highway System, Route 66 was considered as the Main Street of America. Stretching from Chicago, Illinois to the Santa Monica Pier in California, it was also referred to as the Mother Road. Tom’s 6′ tall, with brown hair, brown eyes, 215 pounds, an average build (not muscular) with broad shoulders.
At the beginning of the series, Tom worked for SustainArch. Later he struck out as an independent contractor under the DBA of McFarland Consulting. Later the firm pivots to Stronghold Corporate Security with Walter’s help. As of this chapter it was recently bought out by a national security firm, Cryptodira.
Laura Terhune/Watkins/Carlson/Palermo/McFarland (52) – The oldest of fourteen children, Laura’s a two-time widow, one time divorcee, and single mother of seven in the first story.
About 5’4″, when they meet Tom is taken in by her red hair, freckled nose, and incredible green eyes. Laura is full figured, with 38D breasts, a belly that’s got some cushion and stretchmarks from giving birth 6 times (including a set of twins), and a full ass. Seeing her with her hair up in a messy mom-bun and splattered with baby food, Tom thinks she’s the sexiest thing he’s ever seen.
For her part, Laura is lonely and finds Tom cute. Before he can figure out how to get her into bed, Laura makes the first move. After three husbands she’s afraid of making a commitment, but Tom’s bedroom skills and the kind way he treats her children soon convince her otherwise. He’s crazy in love with her, and after they marry he often calls her his trophy wife. Laura has a sexual roleplay alter ego, a prostitute named Angel.
Tom and Laura’s Children. (Once married, Tom adopted all of Laura’s children.)
Olivia (Olly) McFarland Maddox (33) — biological daughter of Reverend Watkins, Laura’s first husband who died before Olly was born. When Tom first meets her she’s 16 years old, tall, thin, dark-haired and shy. Tom is quite taken with her in a paternal way. When he decides to propose, he asks Olly’s blessing first. Olivia is married to Brad Maddox. This relationship got off to a rocky start after Brad got Olly pregnant at a college party, but things eventually got worked out.
Liam McFarland (31) – biological son of Glen Carlson, Laura’s second husband — tall, fair-haired and muscular like his bio-dad, outgoing but serious. In the original story, Liam is a lost boy literally and figuratively. Tom takes a detour to go around a flooded part of Route 66, only to find Liam with his bicycle stuck in a muddy ditch in a heavy downpour. Fatherless, he feels hopeless and angry, right up until Tom pulls him out of the mud and gives him a ride home. Liam is married to Miriam, a tall blonde ex-Army MP who’s a dead ringer for Tom’s ex Beverly.
James McFarland (31) — biological son of Glen Carlson – Like his twin Liam, James is tall, fair-haired and muscular, but with a serious and shy introverted personality. James is married to Melissa, a BBW former goth girl and sexual dynamo. James was a virgin when they met, and Melissa makes a point of actively keeping his balls drained using a variety of methods that keep him spellbound. James is still shy and introverted, but extremely happy; his enchantress Melissa is the only woman in the world as far as he’s concerned.
Ava McFarland (30) — biological daughter of Glen Carlson, and a red-haired physical duplicate of Laura. From a young age she’s had a razor sharp mind. She’s the most assertive and strong-willed of all the children. She’s married to Melissa’s sister Ashley, who Tom and Laura took in when Ashley’s parents kicked her out for being gay. After getting married, Ava and Ashley moved to Chicago. Ava attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, pursuing a degree to become an architect like Tom, whom she adores.
Elijah (Eli) McFarland (22) – biological son of Chris Palermo, Laura’s third husband. Eli is the black sheep of the family who struggles with his identity. He has a fantasy that bio-dad Chris is a great guy, but it’s shattered when Tom takes Eli to visit him in prison. Like his bio-dad, he gets a girl, Natalie (Natty), pregnant, then abandons her. Tom and Laura take Natty in — she’s 18 and six feet tall, but because of developmental delays, she’s got the emotions of a younger girl.
Eventually, Eli reconciles with Natty and marries her. To get the newlyweds on their feet, Walter takes Eli under his wing, hiring him at Stronghold Corporate Security and teaching him tricks of the trade. Eli, however, gets in an affair a coworker and abandons Natty and their daughter. Walter loves Natty and is absolutely furious. The rest of the McFarland family loathes Eli for what he’s done, but as far as his uncle Walter is concerned Eli has betrayed him, and betraying Walter is a very bad idea.
Amelia McFarland (21) – biological daughter of Chris Palermo. Amelia is rather quiet, and attends college in the Seattle area. She is fond of Tom; she and Eli were his little shadows growing up. Unlike her brother, she has zero interest in her bio-dad.
Lucas McFarland (20) – biological son of Chris Palermo. In the first story, he’s just started baby food after having been weaned from breastfeeding. Like his older brother James, Lucas is a quiet giant. Intensely loyal, slow to anger, but dangerous when he loses his temper. He and Eli don’t like each other, and at times have physically fought, with Eli always losing. Although Lucas dated Natty’s sister Josie for a while, he’s always secretly adored Natty. After a huge family blowup where Eli reveals Lucas’s real feelings about Natty, Josie breaks up with Lucas. After Eli abandons Natty for the second time Lucas fills the gap, marrying Natty and raising her baby daughter Marie.
Pearl McFarland (19) — Tom and Laura’s biological daughter. A younger version of Olivia, the tall slim Pearl has her father’s height and hair color, but with her mother’s strong emotions. She’s loving and empathetic, instinctively protecting others who are hurting. Tom tries hard not to have a favorite child from the combined family, but Pearl secretly has a special place in his heart because she’s his first biological child, conceived in the cabin where Tom first slept with Laura.
Tom McFarland Junior, aka TJ (12) – Tom and Laura’s biological son. After Pearl’s birth, Tom thought that eight children were enough and had even gone so far as to schedule his vasectomy. Laura disagreed, and persuaded her husband to go through one last pregnancy before he got the snip. TJ was the result. He idolized his older brothers Eli and Lucas, up until Eli betrayed Natty; TJ had developed a huge crush on his sister-in-law and was (and still is) very protective of her. TJ’s a boy with his father’s heart, taking good of all the younger nieces, nephews, and grandkids when asked, but he especially spoils his baby sister Ruthie, giving her anything she wants.
Laura Ruth (Ruthie) McFarland (4) – Tom and Laura’s third biological child. One could theorize Laura’s hyper-fertility caused Tom’s vasectomy to reverse itself, but whatever the cause, the 4,000-to-1 shot hit home, getting and Laura pregnant a final time. It was a high-risk pregnancy, with Laura going into labor early. After having the baby Laura almost died due to hemorrhaging, but a post-partum hysterectomy saved her life.
With Ruthie being her last bio child, Laura has done everything she can to keep Ruthie a baby for as long as possible; at 4 years old, her daughter has moved on to solid foods, but will still climb into her parent’s bed to nurse from Laura every now and then.
Other Key Characters
Walter Connor (54) —Tom has done some work for Quiet Sal Bartolo, a mob boss, in the past and they respect each other. When Brad Maddox gets Olivia pregnant and then claims the baby is not his, Tom goes to Quiet Sal and requests some help in persuading Brad to step up and do the right thing by his precious Olly.
Quiet Sal provides it, in the form of two enforcers: Mr. Green and a Mr. Orange, both well over 6′ and easily 250 pounds. Enough things happen (including Brad’s Corvette mysteriously catching fire) to convince Brad that meeting up with Olivia to talk about their baby’s future is a most excellent idea. The reconciled lovebirds decide to get married, and at their wedding to deliver a new vehicle as a present from Quiet Sal, it’s revealed that Mr. Orange’s real name is Walter Connor.
While at the wedding, Walter sees Tom and Laura having a sensual moment and realizes that he’s tired of paying for sex; instead, he wants a real relationship with a woman just like Laura. In the fifth chapter, her meets her: Laura’s younger sister, Dotty.
Dorothy “Dotty” Terhune/Harmon/Connor (47) — a red-headed green-eyed wet dream Terhune sister, and a younger version of Laura. Dotty first appears in the fifth chapter, arriving on the McFarland Farm in search of her oldest sister, whom she hasn’t seen since Laura left to marry Reverend Wright nearly 20 years prior. She’s on the run from her abusive drug-dealing husband, to protect her son Trent. Tom feels inadequate to protect her, so calls in some help: Walter, now 50 and retired from the mob.
One look at Dotty and Walter is hooked. She’s his perfect woman, and he’s determined to win her, not knowing in Dotty’s eyes that he’s already won. Walter also bonds in a fatherly way with Dotty’s son Trent (now 9). Having the Terhune family fertility, Dotty gets pregnant and marries Walter, and before long Trent has two sisters, Jackie (now 3), and Athena (now 2).