Curt, a college professor, lives with his lover of several years, a pediatrician of Chinese descent named Lee. Eager to write, he receives a grant to take the summer off and work on a novel. Then Lee's mother calls -- she wants to visit. Curt is eager to meet her but Lee isn't so sure ... she's of a different generation, a different culture even, and doesn’t speak much English. Still, Curt insists.<br><br>But when Mrs. Gui arrives, Curt finds himself struggling with writer’s block. He feels like an outsider in his own home when Lee and his mother converse in Cantonese, leaving him out of the conversation, and even his sex life suffers with her in the bedroom next to theirs. Can Curt and Mrs. Gui move past their cultural differences to see that they both love Lee and have his best interests at heart?

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Mai Gui barely came to my shoulders, but she stood with an authoritative air that added inches to her height. I felt my shoulders straightening whenever I looked her way. She walked with quick precision, her legs like scissors cutting through our home. When she spoke, she didn’t look at Lee but focused on the object of her discussion instead, as if assured her son was right behind her, eager to answer her questions. 


I felt like an unwanted baby tagging along after older, wiser siblings who didn’t bother to include me in their conversation, or a balloon caught carelessly in a child’s hand and pulled along for the ride. The only thing tethering me in place was Lee’s hand in mine, his fingers familiar and warm around my own.


Chapter 14