Charles and Philip Barnett have settled down to raise their children, but their domesticity is disrupted when Philip's nephew Steve is delivered to their doorstep early one morning after being beaten senseless by his homophobic father.<br><br>So the family grows, but of course, that's the easy part. A rabidly fundamentalist sheriff and a gay-bashing incident leave Steve and his new boyfriend in legal hot water and at the mercy of the deputies' harassment, and Charles must once again take up the fight for justice for his loved ones.

Triumph

“How about the rest of you?” I said.


The other three boys expressed sentiments similar to Steve’s.


“That’s all well and good, but the decision has to be made with the approval of your parents or guardians,” I said. “Before we discuss that, there’s something else I need to say. Tom, do you and Larry realize that holding hands in public wasn’t the smartest thing you’ve ever done?”


“It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, and we really didn’t think anyone would mind,” Larry said, “but looking back, it was kind of dumb.”


“Good,” I said, “then you’ve learned something today, haven’t you?”


“How are you going to proceed, Charles?” Mason said.


Chapter 66