Page 73 of Daily Grind
“So, then who’s the guy?” His mom washed a mixing bowl, then held it out to him.
Brian stood still, gripping the counter, staring at the water dripping off the bowl. This wasnothow he expected his parents to react. Or not react. Slowly, he reached out and took the bowl. “You… what explains what?”
“Oh.” A touch of color blushed his mother’s cheeks. “When you were younger, we thought you might be gay and kept expecting you to come out, but you never did. Then you started dating women… and…” She shrugged.
“We figured we were wrong,” his dad said. “But I guess we weren’t entirely off base, huh?”
Wait,what? “You thought I wasgay?”
“You collected a lot of photos of that young actor fromMy So-Called Life, dear.”
Oh God, yeah. He had. He coughed. “Well, okay.” He handed his father the bowl and took a pile of damp utensils from his mom.
“And all those men’s health magazines,” his father added.
That too. Lithe and muscular male bodies. He also had pored over the ads for guys clothing. “I was… confused as a teen.”
“Sounds like you weren’t at all.” His dad pulled out a drawer and put the mixing bowl with the others.
His mom bumped his shoulder with hers. “So what’s hisname?”
“Rob. Robert. But he likes Rob.” He was babbling. His parents wereokaywith this? They… kinda knew?
The world tilted, righted itself, then tilted again. He steadied himself against the counter and took a breath. “You don’t mind?”
Another exchange of glances and his Dad cleared his throat. “You remember Joe, from the factory?”
One of Dad’s best work buddies. There were three of them, his dad, Joe, and Darren.
Oh.Oh. “Wait, are you about to tell me that Joe and Darren …?”
His dad shrugged. “Yeah. Found out a couple years ago. They’re getting married this summer, now that they can.”
Well, shit. “This is weird.”
“Bri.” His mom washed her hands, dried them, then pulled him into a hug. “Did you think we’d disown you? Hate you? Never!”
“You’re our son, Brian.” His dad’s voice was uncomfortably thick. “We’ll always love you.”
He relaxed into his mom’s embrace. “I didn’t knowwhatto think. I mean—” He drew back. “You guys still go to church and everything.”
A snort from his father. “There’s God and Jesus and the Mass. There’s the church and the people… and then there’s thehierarchy.” He waved a hand. “Those bishops should be plucking logs from their eyes rather than pointing fingers.”
Wow. His heart thudded in his chest. “So, if I brought him to dinner?”
“You’d better,” his mom said. “You should have brought him tonight.”
“I still have to tell Len and Zoe,” he said. “I want to make sure everyone’s okay before…”
Back at the sink, his mom washed a pot and handed it over. “They’ll be thrilled.” She huffed a laugh. “Well, Zoe might feel outnumbered in the guy department, but she’ll come around.”
Zoelovedmeeting his girlfriends. Grew up with too many boys, she said. He dried the pot and handed it over.
His mom bumped him again. “So what’s Rob do? How’d you meet?”
A warmth settled over him. Theyreallywere okay with this. Holy shit. “You realize I’m going to have to repeat all of this at dinner, right?”
His father laughed. “Can’t stop your mom.”
