Last time I wrote about Bratty's long-lost sister, so this time I'll write about SO's middle son - Bratty's brother who we're calling Luke.  Luke is a year older than Bratty and just turned 25 (Bratty turns 24 next month).  He graduation from college 3 years ago as a Drama major.  He loves to act on stage and particularly in Shakespeare productions.  He is still living at home with Darth Vader (BM).

After SO and Darth Vader split, the oldest child, Princess, was off to college.  So it was Bratty, Luke and Darth Vader at home.  Bratty claims that Darth Vader was verbally and at times physically abusive to her (but not Luke) because Bratty still wanted to see SO. 

SO shared one story from that time period where Bratty (then about 15 or 16) decided she didn't want any of the food in the house and walked to the grocery store at night without permission from Darth Vader.  When Darth realized Bratty was gone, she and Luke jumped in the car and headed to the store (where they figured she had gone).  They found her in one of the aisles and here is where the story splits.  Bratty claims Darth Vader grabbed her arm and was pulling her out of the store.  Darth claims that Bratty took off her shoes and threw them at her and Luke.  At any rate the store called the police to handle the commotion.  They interviewed Luke and he corraborated Darth's version.  Bratty never forgave him for it.  

Since then, Bratty and Luke have only seen other a couple of times - once at Princess' graduation and once at a breakfast with SO when Bratty was visiting from college.  SO said it was an awkward breakfast and Luke was quiet most of the time.  

SO had no contact with Luke for awhile after the split, due to Darth's PAS.  However, out of the blue one day when Luke was a senior in college, he emailed SO asking for help with the next semester's tuition.  SO agreed to help and they have been meeting regularly for lunch or dinner ever since (with a bit of a hiatus during the early days of the pandemic).

Pre-pandemic, Luke was working on getting voice-over gigs (he had a nice deep theatrical voice) and auditioning for roles but not much has panned out.  Once the pandemic hit, he seemed to lose any motivation and spent much of the last year collecting unemployment and playing video games with friends online.  Darth doesn't charge him rent though he says he contributes towards food and pays for his own car.

SO met Luke for lunch last week and told him he was getting re-married.  Luke said congratulations and seemed genuine about it (though he's stated in the past he has no interest in meeting me, which is also fine with me).  SO asked him if he would want to join us for a reception next summer in the mid-west, and catch up with his extended family (who Luke has been estranged from since the split).   Luke said probably not but he'd think about it.

I told SO I wouldn't expect much improvement in his (or his family's) relationship with Luke until he moved out of Darth Vader's place.  SO asked him about moving out on his own in the past and all Luke said was he's thought about it but no action towards that goal so far. 

As far as Bratty and Luke go, Bratty did send Luke a Happy Birthday message this year.  Not sure if Luke will reciprocate or they'll see each other much if Bratty does move back to this area in the fall for post-bacc 2.0.  We'll see...