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

We’d called home every day and had even talked to Steven and Mark a couple of times, but firsthand information is always best. The boys went to their room to unpack, and Philip and I did the same. When we assembled downstairs for dinner, Philip and I presented the three ladies with various little gifts we had purchased. We also had gifts for the fourth lady, Mrs. Goodman. It took a couple of days for us to get firmly settled back into our normal routine.


I KEPT MY PROMISE to the boys and called the headmaster at Exeter Academy and one or two members of the board. None of them expressed any displeasure at the prospect of two same-sex couples attending the prom. In point of fact, and to my surprise, one of them thought it would be very good for the school’s image and wondered if some positive publicity might be derived. I passed that information along to Steve and Roger, who said they would pass it along to the other two boys.


Chapter 110