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

Sunday night I drifted off to sleep, lulled by words I couldn’t quite hear and didn’t know. Some time after midnight the bed shook beneath me and heavy arms wrapped around my waist. Dimly, I was aware of being pulled into Lee’s embrace. His breath was hot as he kissed my cheek. Then his hands splayed out flat on my belly and I snuggled back into his stolid warmth, not needing words in any language other than his touch, his lips to tell me what I needed to hear.


All too soon the alarm clock rang in Monday morning. I woke to sunlight stabbing into our room through half-closed blinds and I fumbled for the clock. I was losing my rhythm now that classes were over, sleeping later and later into the day. At least when I would wake before the alarm, I felt refreshed, slept out. Now I felt rushed and grouchy before I even got out of bed. No wonder Lee was such a bear when he woke up.


Chapter 17