cereality

It's been detailed here a bunch of times but basically Kelton saw Josie someplace (I want to say piano recital or something) and wanted to start hanging out with her then. He is exactly 4 yrs older and was 18 and headed to college at the time, which means Josie was 14. Gil said no. He then came back on the scene when Josie was 16ish and G&K allowed it and obviously it worked out. Yet he STILL holds a grudge that they said no to a high school grad hanging out with their rising 9th grader (if they did regular school that's what it would have been). The grudge continues to the point where it was mentioned at the rehearsal dinner by both him and by Bobby. In normal world no parent is going to be ok with a college freshmen boy hanging with their 9th grade girl. Let's see how he feels about when Willow and Hazel are 14 - I mean I'm positive he views them as his property, no way he'll allow it either.

Exactly. I think all the kids think of Michael as mom and by extension Brandon has become dad as he is also steady, calm, and mature like Michael. When Layla had her episode which landed her in Children's Hospital where they found the hole in her heart - IIRC she wasn't breathing well - Carlin called 911 and called MICHAEL to come over before the ambulance even did, not G&K. Now with Josie, Kelton calls Michael & Brandon. With Erin going thru whatever issues she is post Covid, she calls Michael to help do something for Brooklyn's birthday -- and that one isn't even an emergency that requires calmness, that just requires someone who will show up and help out, not someone who'll blow you off once they realize work is involved. After the Layla thing Carlin said Michael is great in an emergency, she took care of the baby but also kept Carlin and Evan calm. And yeah G&K were RIDICULOUS during Alyssa's heart surgery. I mean most parents would be beside themselves and want to be no place else if their 25 year old child was having heart surgery -- regardless of whether she had a husband to take care of her or not. Not G&K. As J&A later told it, they showed up the night before, Alyssa was in surgery and then recovery for hours and then by the time she came out of there into a room in the late afternoon - well time for Gil to head to the airport because he had to be back home "for business." Uh the man barely works and whatever grifting he had to do for his church could likely have been held off if he told the person his daughter was in the hospital having heart surgery so he wouldn't be back for a week but whatever. Then John left for an hour to go see the kids who were with his mom, and in that time they try to stand Alyssa up etc. and she does poorly/crashes. Kelly calls John telling him to get back to the hospital ASAP bc Alyssa isn't doing well and oh yeah I need to leave for the airport because my flight is for tonight (just a few hrs after Gil) too. Uh?? Ok thanks for your support. And then J&A detailed a week or so that followed after where Alyssa could not move because of her incisions - like if she needed to roll over in bed, J had to pick her up and roll her over. Kelly was not about to sign up for that situation bc that would mean she'd have to manage the household which is a lot even with all 3 kids living with the Websters - 3 meals a day brought to Alyssa in her room; clean up after the meal; prepping the next meal; any other cleaning that needed to be done. Nope she was outta there, the kid with the heart surgery will be fine, she's got a husband after all he took the vows for sickness and health not Kelly, nope G&K will just go home and pray. Oh but before leaving they'll post a few pics of insta evidencing that they were at the hospital and love their kid soooo much. I mean this is how they behave and it's not like Gil has a job, nor does Kelly have anything to do in her own home bc I'm positive that the kitchen as well as Jeb/Jud are now being managed by Addie/Ellie/Callie. But nope can't stay and help, Kelly will only be anywhere where she can be shrieking with excitement and taking pics. No wonder the kids rely on Michael & Brandon.

Clearly we move in different circles because my experience in 10+ years of NYC finance, the pressure was not to have a baby, it was to NOT have a baby/hold off as long as possible, so as not to derail your high flying Wall Street career. In any event I think what you feel in fundie world in Tenn is much different than secular world NYC or anywhere, where people may poke you a bit about when are you having a kid/aw too bad you don't have one - but your entire self worth is not dependent on producing a baby and they aren't shunning you for being childless. I feel bad for Michael - for having to deal with that - but also given that she and Brandon genuinely seem to love kids. Many of her siblings OTOH who pop out babies left and right, I don't see that same genuine care for children as I see from M&B - I see more of a we need to make more warriors for Jesus or we need a son or whatever.

Yes. I think this is VERY true. It's emasculating for a supposed fundie man to be working at his wife's business counting dresses. Just this week Carlin posted another video and Z is in the background on the phone and she goes on about how big bro is always talking to the manufacturers. Uh yeah pretty sure talking to dress makers about needing more sleeves on dresses bc fundies don't buy sleeveless isn't considered a manly profession. Now Z will spend the next 6 mos-1 yr renovating and W can gush that her man is SOOOO busy. But seriously go be a contractor then, make an actual salary and do work besides just fixing your own home??

Similarly read that Missouri is hiring nurses at $5000/wk -- obviously thru an agency as temps bc I doubt they are looking to pay $250k/yr for nurses but obviously right now the desperation is there. I can't imagine it's that different in Tenn., also a hard hit state with low vaccination though maybe not as bad as Fla or Arkansas. Even in their video this morning Kelton said the ER was packed at 1 am. I wonder if Michaela just doesn't want to deal with Covid patients and/or Brandon doesn't want her to? I imagine she probably expected to do something in the maternity/baby areas re nurses, not adults and certainly not adult men. But right now if you get hired as a new nurse, I imagine you are going to the general nursing floors (likely not ICU bc you have zero experience) which is a ton of Covid; like I don't think you get to say I'll take the offer but only if it's OB or pediatrics because that's not where the need is. Ok so she isn't working, but that doesn't change my point - that her sisters and even brothers in law DO think less of her bc OMG she didn't get the ultimate job of mother so she "has to" do these other things like go to school to occupy her time; she didn't make her husband a father, what a terrible thing blah blah. Yet SHE is the one (and her husband) that they call time and time again when THEY need something including with their kids.

Not saying it's necessarily worth it if they made 10k or 20k esp given that reno costs are going to be significant these days even if you DIY bc materials costs are up across the board. But I do think they maybe didn't take a loss/dig themselves into a further hole, which for these fundies is saying something bc often it's just about God's will (i.e. what they want that they get convinced God is telling them to go for), practicalities be damned. Ha we all know it's not for a school district since they don't believe in that sort of thing. It's to have kids growing up running barefoot on a farm chasing chickens . . . to them that's the most ideal life. Plus for Zach you know it has to be a bit about establishing the kind of farm/life Papa Bill has because he looks up to him.

Even if the kids themselves are great swimmers, they are only 3, 4, and 6. Sure they may instinctively know how to save themselves but it's not like 3, 4, and 6 yr olds are known for their judgment. Would Allie be expected to know what to do if a 3 or 4 yr old got a cramp or injured herself and couldn't swim? Would she be expected to pull them out? I mean if so then by all means sign her up to be a lifeguard at the local pool. I don't think they're cautious enough parents to have a pool. I mean when they moved in and the girls hadn't had swimming lessons yet, they'd throw some floaties on and let them be in the pool - sometimes John would be in there with them, but sometimes it was just Alyssa watching from the side baby in hand. John wanted a pool bc he grew up in Florida having one, but thing is John isn't home 40 hrs/wk to supervise this. And maybe his growing up with a pool was fine bc maybe his mother was more responsible/less lazy than Alyssa??

Thank goodness for Aunt Michael and Uncle Brandon for being around to step in with everyone's kids and for loving the kids enough that they WANT TO. They came over at 1 am in to stay with Josie's kids - ok someone would do that even if they didn't love kids bc someone else was sick. But Erin also posted a video yesterday thanking them for making Brooklyn's birthday so special. They were at her "party" - which was just the 8 of them. But I having a feeling Michael (and prob Brandon too) did some of the decorating, baking the cake etc. as it completely appears that Erin is not 100% up to it these days; or maybe they let Erin do those things with Brooklyn but watched the other kids for her. While the Josie thing was more of an emergency, the Erin birthday wasn't and they could easily have begged off as there was no real party that everyone was attending; at the end of the day Law and Gil stopped by with presents and M&B could easily have done the same or just given her a gift when they next saw her. I have a feeling all of them (girls AND guys) feel uncomfortable around M&B to some extent - like pity bc they can't have kids' or M "has to" work bc what else is she going to do with no kids ever; kids are the purpose of life so IDK how to talk to anyone who hasn't experience being a father or mother blah blah. Yeah well your childless sister and BIL who happen to love kids are good backup, aren't they??

True I shouldn't say they're not vaccinated. We don't know. But as social media whorish as they are, I've always assumed if anyone was vaccinated it would have slipped on insta by now and/or if they believed in vaccines, it would have come out by now. BUT I say that as an east coaster; in these religious communities in the south it is considered shameful to get the vax bc it means among other things that you trust in drs more than God. So maybe a few have gotten it but kept it really quiet as a deep dark secret. I think I attribute Evan's brother's thinking to all of them - he's a loud mouth on insta + cut from the same cloth - he's made fun of people taking vaccines, so I assume they ALL feel that way. So looked up what 17 acres of land with a house on it goes for in Powell Tn (IDK that they're in Powell but it's one of the towns near where they live). There are 2 such listings for 19 and 22 acres with large reasonably renovated houses (i.e. granite countertops, nice floors) for 725k and 880k; and those properties all have multiple out buildings - garages, sheds etc. Then there's one listing with a small totally unrenovated house - 189.9k. I imagine that's the type of thing Z&W got as W says the house will be a total reno job (hi Chad - hope you're ready to do some work at cost). They may have made out well on this deal, which is good given Z's lack of employment. The housing market is hot even where they are - per Carlin and Evan who post videos with Carlin in tears bc houses go under contract as soon as they are listed. The type of house Z&W are in - rancher but fully renovated - seems to sell in that area for 200k maybe even closer to 250k if someone really wants it. I actually wonder if C&E will consider buying it - at least they won't be shut out of the housing market? Though when they showed their house hunting videos they seem to not be going for the modest renovated ranchers but more the McMansion style house that Alyssa has (and also what Evan grew up in); those are the houses they went and looked at and when they drove by a property with a house being built, also in that same style, THAT is what they wanted - not a starter home. So Z&W may be making 10-50k on this deal AND Z will spend the next 6 mos-1 yr renovating it and W can gush that her man is SOOOO busy and he won't just be sitting in her store counting dresses. Z seems like he likes construction, why not pursue it professionally then rather than just fixing up your own houses? I mean he doesn't want to be (or can't be - bc of his wife/mom and/or his weight) a cop, so go down the skilled trades road like your brothers in law!?

So Z&W have now bought a farm - not sure if it’s an actual farm but 17 acres of land and a house that needs total renovation. I’m guessing they saw the hot housing market and realized their totally renovated house had some equity and could sell for $$$ so cash that out and go unrenovated which doesn’t cost this family real $$ bc they DIY/Chad everything. Oh and Whit’s mom had Covid, was in the hospital and it didn’t look good but she recovered. Damn they’ve known people with bad cases of Covid and still this family won’t mask or vaccinate or stop going places.

Well they want to be “cajoled” into telling when they see how worried their “fans” are and are asking 10,000 questions re what happened. Because then it’s all I’m #blessed to have sooooo many people who care.

So Josie spent last night in the ER. No idea why yet - she’s vague-gramming on IG re how good it is to be home with her babies.

Ah Willow was with Katie. I know Carlin said in the car "we have cousin Willow with us" but I didn't see Josie so I assumed the cousins just wanted to ride in one car, and then when I saw Willow skating with a blonde, I assumed it was her mom not her aunt. Honestly IDK how Josie intends to run her "business" selling barrettes when she and Kelton plan to have a kid yearly mostly likely AND she can't even run it with 2 kids. This isn't the first time she's been at her "shop" -- which BTW looks like an office suite in a suburban office park -- with the newborn and Willow has been with Katie or at G&K's house, presumably also with Katie there as I doubt Kelly is taking responsibility for a toddler for hours on end. I think Katie is Josie's childcare. Fine I guess except as you mention, she'll be gone in ~4 mos and then what?? All of these "businesses" seem to do fine when the mom has 1 kid, pre toddler age - she brings that kid like Carlin brings Layla every day. Yet when they have more than 1 they need to figure something out or else their entire time at "work" will be keeping the toddler from pulling down shelves of items. IDK what Whit does with her kids but she usually only has Jadon at the store, so someone is watching the other 3 and it isn't always Z bc he's at the store too nowadays. So yeah IDK what Josie intends to do with both kids starting in Dec and then all their future kids after that. Why even expand into an office suite for such a short time? They really couldn't set up shelving someplace in their house? How much room do hair clips take?

So a little more activity from Erin on insta lately - a pic kissing Chad; posts for Brooklyn's birthday; IG video for Josie's birthday and randomly showing a summer evening where Trace etc. were hanging out outside and the kids were playing with Chad. But I do wonder if she isn't well bc she is largely MIA. Gil rented out some skating rink today as a church activity - Whit, Carlin, and Josie are all there skating with their babies and then out to lunch with Gil - making a big deal of having time with cousins etc. Erin wasn't there nor were her kids. I mean she's up and around in her house, as she shown a little video of baking with Brooklyn recently, but she really seems not to be going anyplace, even family events or the boutique. Wonder if she just doesn't feel well enough/doesn't have the energy.

Will have to look for that post/that video. I do think she and John have REALLY painted Allie into the - mommy's little helper and will be SUCH a good wife and mommy herself - role because frankly it helps them since they choose to have a kid every 18 mos. Allie goes with it because she doesn't know any better and frankly what other positive attention is she really getting from her parents. It's not like they're going to gush about - OMG my 6 yr old LOVES to do science experiments, maybe she'll be an engineer or dr one day. But yeah I get the sense Allie spends a lot of time watching the 3 and 4 yr old so Alyssa can dress up the infant and put up videos of the girls on insta with the perfect music, showing how perfect their childhood and the summer is 🙄. I mean it's kind of bullshit that Allie shares a room with Maci!? IDK if Maci is still in J&A's room or not but reality is it's because they expect some help from Allie even at night -- if not right now, then in a few mos. Even kids who sleep thru the night will wake up randomly sometimes because they're teething or gassy or whatever. Sure A or J will come wandering in if it seems like she's crying a lot, but just a little fussing - oh Allie will rub her back until she falls asleep, she wouldn't bother mommy and daddy for that. Uh -- she's SIX. She's a small child herself, should be in 1st grade, getting a good night's sleep, good food etc. Allie is also going to end up being the cook here -- give it another 2 years and they'll be gushing about how Allie LOVES to make dinner for them. Alyssa has shown that she has ZERO interest in cooking -- she'll feed them cheese and crackers or those prepared meals that are entirely too small for her giant manual laborer husband and he ends up running out to McDs or getting a pizza at night half the time. AND Alyssa grew up having to cook for 21 people/night, so to her NBD if Allie has to cook for a family of 6, it'll just teach her responsibility and prepare her to be a wife and mother some 12 years from now. 🙄 Alyssa's parenting style is very much what happens when you make your kids raise their siblings when they are just children themselves. They end up burnt out and then when they have their own kids, the cycle continues as soon as they can dump parenting, cooking, whatever on their oldest kids, they do it. Way to go G&K.

Yeah I saw that pool video and the whole time was thinking WTH!? Who puts a 5 month old in the pool with no adult in there!? I realized she was in a float but come on these are dollar store floats not US Naval Academy life vessels. Alyssa in full makeup and standing far enough away to not get splashed at the edge of the pool holding the float doesn't count as an adult in the pool with the kid. I guess she feels her 6 and 4 year old are "adult" enough to help an infant until she can jump in. Honestly I think she's way too lax with the pool. I realize they have taken swimming lessons but they are only 6, 4, and 3. They seem to spend their days in the pool with Alyssa watching them from the patio - fully dressed, holding a baby, with no playpen or anything to put the baby in should she ever need to jump in. And I honestly don't believe that she never leaves them in the pool to run inside to change the baby's diaper or get her a bottle or whatever being like - oh it's ok I can see them from the kitchen window. I didn't grow up with a pool, maybe this is how it's done. But IDK I feel like I'd handle it like that when the kids were 12, 10, and 9 not at 6, 4, 3. She's actually really lax on a lot of parenting. Meals are routinely a spread of crackers, cheese and fruit. She takes them out all over the place - coffee shops etc. indoors, no masks of course - during a pandemic when Orlando is one of the main places of concern in the country; I mean after years of not sending anyone to school THIS is the year she is sending them to a co-op one day a week to mix and mingle with other kids and their germs? I imagine a lot of this just comes from how she was raised. When you're 1 of 19 you're just roaming free and the only time anyone notices if you're gone is if a boy doesn't show up at a meal or a girl (esp Alyssa and Michaela) don't show up in time to start dinner. No one was ever watching them so she probably feels like she doesn't have to watch her kids the way modern parents do - yet G&K also didn't have the hazard of a pool . . . .

Agreed. We've definitely seen calls to Erin where Whit and Carlin are very much keeping sweet with awwww you don't feel well and Erin crows about how lucky she is to have them to handle these things. Yet I can see resentment brewing at some point esp from Whit who also has 4 kids; I can see her get bitter that she (and Z LOL) are always at the shop counting dresses or whatever and Erin shows up if/when she can. They may be understanding of illness (though who knows do these people think covid and long covid are real)? But I could see resentment if instead of dropping out formally if she can't do it and cashing out or whatever, Erin continues being a partner - with others doing the work - and Erin still feeling entitled to a share of the $$ because after all SHE is the one who decided what should go where in the shop and how photo shoots should be conducted with HER critical eye for design. Like I could see her thinking - so what if I'm not there counting dresses, a monkey could do that, they'd be sitting in an ugly warehouse if not for me. And the other 2 thinking so what you helped as a design consultant early on that doesn't mean you should share in the profit forever if you won't work day to day. Like if Erin was coming in day to day, they'd probably need 1 less employee and could save $ there. And of course this is the Bates so it's not like there's any kind of partnership agreement nor even an advance discussion re pulling out of the business, which there should have been bc no one expected covid but they must have thought - at some point what happens if you have 36 kids and can't work anymore, do we still pay you??

You're right. I hope she's ok. As much as I snark on these people and I HATE their handling of the pandemic, I still want her to be ok healthwise. She posts IG stories here and there though very sporadic lately of the kids running around feeding the animals with Chad with some kind of #blessed for living the simple family life type of message. But even those posts aren't frequent anymore. They did go to the beach in June I think with his parents/his side of the family so she was at least ok enough to travel then but that was 6+ weeks ago - a long time in a pandemic. Best case scenario she's pulling back from the boutique and it becomes a Carlin and Whit (& Zach thing) but I feel like if she did that she'd be posting passive aggressive things all over insta re how she is soooo glad she is home with her kids full time and really raising them and focusing on their needs blah blah. Worst case (and I hope not) - the covid complications from before are continuing or she has it again with this new variant and they've been too busy with that/drs appts etc. to make everything look all perfect on social media or deal with the boutique. Also a possibility with her - she's super depressed not being able to have more kids and is withdrawing from life with no interest anymore in the boutique, nor in being around sisters who all have newborns and/or are trying to get pregnant and is just laying in bed or having a meltdown doing laundry (a la Michelle Duggar though the reasons were different) and having Chad cook/clean/raise the existing kids/earn the money. I don't put that past Erin actually.

In normal world sure, nothing wrong with a woman starting a business and it grows so successful that her husband or other men can work there too. But in fundie world - come on??! These people have preached since day 1 that the man is the provider and head of his family, and wife is there is be his helper/encourager/bearer and raiser of his kids/and his cook and maid. Kinda reversing gender roles aren’t we Z&W? Isn’t the Bible against that sort of thing? If he’s neither the one that can provide financially nor squat down and birth the kids, what exactly is his (Biblical) role in this family? Not much of a headship if you ask me.

And there he is again in today's video, at the Bates Sisters Boutique brain storming session, chilling with the ladies and holding a baby. Z is a regular momtrepreneur. FWIW Evan is there too but at least we know he goes to school/works 40 hrs/wk in an actual trade, he may just have had a day or afternoon off so he decided to goof off and grandstand in front of an audience, his favorite thing ever. How is Whit not embarrassed? I know she didn't want him holding down a real job with an actual schedule, but I assume she thought he'd be out working up a sweat like a man chopping down trees, only to have him at her business daily talking about dresses? I mean she's got the least manly husband of them all if this continues and given how comparative these girls are, you know she's noticed . . . . I guess they all think of Brandon as the outcast but IDK he works for a fundie org doing video/computer work, that's still manlier than ordering dresses all day and talking about whether the cap sleeve ones will sell better than the short sleeve ones and if we need to order more of those!?

It's not that a tree business CAN'T be successful, it's that no one appears to work at this tree business full time to bring in the business, put up some ads, get some contracts either with city/state for repeated work or HOAs (there may not be tons in their area but there probably are nice suburbs someplace driveable). It very much seems like a business that gets jobs here and there bc some "sweet friend" needs some tree trimming, that's the kind of thing that brings in additional income not the kind of thing that'll feed 12 mouths at G&K's house and 6 mouths at Z&W's house, not to mention all the other brothers they pull in to help when they do get a job. Reason I think this is I feel like MANY of their jobs are documented on social media - at least the sizeable ones - bc Trace goes along to help (sometimes in addition to Jackson/Warden/Isiah and maybe even Law/Nathan if they're around). Trace puts EVERYTHING on IG with the #blessed omg I LOVE working with pops and my bros . . . . If they're gonna feed that many mouths with a single business it can't just be tiny jobs that Gil and Z may be doing alone sometimes, they need many of these other bigger jobs which require the brotherly man power. Those seem rare, like 1 every month or two . . . . Hence Z is peddling dresses now, hanging out with the ladies all day. They're such hypocrites. They're all about OMG MEN, manly, we're tradesmen, we work with our hands, during covid - all the sons in law were crowing about being essential workers (at least Kelton/Bobby/John were). If any other guy was selling dresses at his WIFE's business, G&K would be the first to mock him, yet for Z it's a-ok.

So I guess Z officially works for his wife at a dress shop. Way to be the manly headship dude. This is the 2nd time that Carlin has posted a video of a regular weekday afternoon and she and Whit are there folding clothes/stacking shelves etc. and Z is seen sitting there at a laptop working and grabbing from a pile of peaches someone had brought in as a snack. This does not seem to be a random - oh the husbands drop by to say hi when they're in the area for their work or the husbands come over to help unload the truck when shipments arrive - type of thing. This seems like a Z reports to his wife's work and his wife/sisters have likely given him some business/computer tasks like invoices or ordering goods or something along those lines, while W probably gushes to him about how they could NEVER do it without him, he's the BRAINS (ala Josie and Kelton). Good move leaving (or getting pushed out of) city employment for daddy's business which has 12+ mouths to feed in Gil's home and yet brings in business a few days a month max. Sure we believe it was to "invest in your kids," I mean it's not like it takes money to raise kids or anything and way to teach those 2 sons of yours how to be the provider.

He's one of 5 kids so his thought on having 5 may not be random. Yeah he def wants a son, as does Chad (brother for Carson) and Evan (sports legacy). He seems like the kind of macho dick that'll never be happy without a son. They are definitely having a 3rd either way as Kelton kept saying -- WHEN she is pregnant next time, we'll see how it goes and then we'll decide based on that pregnancy. Given how Kelton is, I'm assuming that if Josie's symptoms are at all tolerable, Kelton will expect her to soldier thru kids 3-5. I think the only son in law that doesn't care if it's just daughters is John and I really think it's because he just doesn't want (or didn't want) that many kids. I'm not saying he doesn't love his kids, but I just think he's not enamored with kids generally and the disruption they've caused in his house/finances/sex life/time with his wife and he wouldn't be any more enamored just bc they were boys rather than girls.

Where is the dog? I refuse to watch an entire video on it. Is the dog shipped off permanently bc she made it seem on IG like some kind of obedience school. I'm unclear on why they even go a dog except to complete the perfect IG pic of a perfect family with 2 kids (and then #2 didn't come quick enough) + dog. Yet they can barely handle the 1 kid they got including fitting her in size appropriate clothes and feeding her real food. And they head off to his mommy and daddy's 3 weekends a month for home cooking and babysitting - did they need a dog when they can barely take care of themselves??

His dad is an IT consultant; I thought he owned his own company but per Linkedin it looks like he works for an IT consulting firm - though it's possible he sold his co. to a bigger co. and became an employee. He does seem to live well - he's often shows driving up in his Mercedes; seems to dress like someone who has worked in a business space. Interesting that he went to a real university (Baylor) and got a real degree in business administration and developed a corporate career, yet he sent all his kids to a fake Christian college (PCC) and is raising his sons to be plumbers - as there's another son after Kelton who is a licensed plumber. I do wonder if it was about diving deeply into religion after his wife passed and raising his kids that way, so it was all about Bible all the time, sending the kids to PCC where his wife went etc., deciding that was better for them than secular life/regular college/regular corporate jobs etc. He never remarried and in fact still wears his wedding ring. I can't imagine remarriage isn't allowed -- I mean I'm sure a father isn't expected to raise his kids. Who knows maybe he is still deeply in love with his wife and can't imagine being with anyone else; maybe he just decided he'll throw himself into raising his kids and not worry about remarrying; I imagine his youngest daughter is probably ~13ish -- as his wife died after childbirth when Kelton was 13 or so and K is now 26. He unlike Kelton comes off like a nice guy from what little we've seen.