When Michael Knapp brings his lover Dan Biggs home to meet his parents, he doesn't expect things to go smoothly. His mother's been trying to marry him off for years, and sometimes he isn't even sure his father knows he exists. He has always felt like the shadow son, competing with his terminally stupid older brother and smart-mouthed little sister for his parents' attention. Coming out to them over dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get noticed.<br><br>But an unexpected phone call interrupts his announcement -- Aunt Evie, the family matriarch, is dead. With Dan in tow, Michael follows his family to Sugar Creek, where he spent his summers growing up, to prepare for the funeral.<br><br>Amid an overabundance of memories and relatives, Michael's world begins to slip. His dysfunctional family, Evie's death, and an old friend's confession all threaten to smother him. Worse, in his grief and confusion he seems determined to inadvertently push everyone away, including his lover. Can he and Dan move beyond his family and his past to a new life together, before Michael's insecurities tear them apart?

It's All Relative

If I had known I’d get the Bible instead of money, I might not have bothered to send her an invitation at all. But I did, and I sent Aunt Billy one, too, and her three daughters, as well, Ginger and Lenore and Sylvia. I always thought Aunt Billy should’ve held back on the kids and just had cats instead, naming her daughters the way she did. Aunt Marge was already gone by then, and I never met my Aunt Clara, but I had a few extra invitations left. “Can I send Aunt Jessie one?” I asked, glancing through the address book. I couldn’t find her listed.


But my mom snatched the book from me and snapped it shut. “She won’t be needing one,” she told me. When I started to argue, she asked, “You don’t really think she’d come, do you? She barely knows you’re alive.”


Chapter 17