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

Mickey yawned and said, “What time is it?”


“Been there, started that,” Chris said.


Mickey rolled over to face Chris. “Ready to start something else?”


They began a long slow session of lovemaking, and just as Chris was about to go over the edge, he heard a knock on the door.


“Are you guys up? Can I go downstairs and open my presents?”


“Run on downstairs, Ted,” Chris said between gasps of pleasure. “But wait for us before you open anything, okay?”


“Shit,” Mickey said quietly. “Talk about timing.”


“Yeah, the joys of parenthood. We can pick up where we left off when we come back upstairs to shower, shave, and dress.”


They slipped into robes and headed downstairs to join Ted, who was inspecting his presents. There were quite a few colorfully wrapped packages under the tree, but in what seemed like a matter of minutes it was all over.


Chapter 70