After the death of their mother, Chris Bottoms adopted his little brother Ted, and Chris and his partner Mickey settle down to raise him. Through paperwork left by his mother, Chris learns his brother has a deeply troubled past.<br><br>During a Thanksgiving visit with Chris and Ted’s maternal grandparents, they find out Chris’s grandfather allowed his friends to abuse Ted, so Chris severs all ties with that side of his family.<br><br>Through his job at a hospital, Chris hears of a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic who has developed an ileostomy reversal technique that has proven successful in cases like his. When Chris enters the clinic for preliminary testing, he learns he is a good candidate for the procedure and schedules the first of two surgeries for the beginning of January. A visit from estranged relatives while he’s in the hospital leaves him wondering how many secrets one family can have.

Bottoms Out

The party came to an end, as all parties must, and they took an extremely tired little boy home, where he took a nap, as did Chris and Mickey.


THE WEEK AFTER the birthday party, they accompanied Charley and Joe across the street to view their new apartment. The floors had been stripped of vinyl, sanded, and refinished; and they looked surprisingly good—considering that they were just plain tongue-and-groove pine boards. The entire apartment smelled of fresh paint and looked fantastic, especially when compared with its former appearance.


“It’s hard to believe this is the same place,” Chris said.


“Yeah, Zeb and Zeke did a bang-up job with the painting, and these floors are wonderful,” Charley said.


“What do you think, Joe?” Mickey said.


“This is the first time I’ve been here, and I’m stunned at how great it looks,” Joe said.


“Yeah,” Charley said. “I made him wait until he was well and the painting was finished before he saw it.”


Chapter 39