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

With an encouraging nod, Aunt Bobbie prompts, “That’s what the doctor said?”


“Yeah,” Penny murmurs. “Evie was a big lady, you know.” A low sigh runs through us, and I smile into my drink as I remember Aunt Evie. Even now I can’t think of her as fat, because that word has such negative connotations in our society. Fatmeans slovenly, unhealthy, overweight. Evie’s body was merely an outward portrayal of the size of her heart, her arms enveloping you in her generosity, her hips wide as if she was mother of us all. My vision blurs and I take a deep breath, inhaling the heady vapors of the rum. I should’ve come this summer.


Dan massages my neck, puts his lips to my ear. “Are you going to be okay?” he wants to know. I nod, yes, but can’t seem to find the words to reply.


Chapter 59