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

“Now can I get some attention from you?” Richard said.


This produced a laugh, as we all realized that Richard had felt somewhat neglected while the party was being planned.


THE REST OF THE year flew by in a rush of activity, not least of which was a huge gathering at Christmas. Charles insisted that I invite all of my siblings, but only Julien and Marie were able to come to Atlanta, as my other brothers had already made commitments to celebrate Christmas with their wives’ families.


Mark and Steven were old enough to appreciate that something special was happening, and we had a huge tree set up in the library. In the basement, Charles found a number of boxes of old decorations that we’d overlooked on previous Christmases and added them to the decorations we already had. The tree as well as the house was decorated to the hilt.


Chapter 96