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

“What’s this?” Sarah said. “It looks cute.”


“It’s pineapple upside-down biscuits,” Ted said. “I copied down the recipe one day when I watched Paula Deen make them.”


She took one of the little cakes, took a bite, and said, “Oh, my, this is really good. Thank you, Ted.”


Ted beamed as he continued to pass out the little desserts and listen to the compliments.


In the end, Chris’s fears were groundless, and he wound up with a great deal of dessert left over. Later, as everyone was preparing to leave, he persuaded each pair of guests to take some leftovers with them.


“There’s no way that Ted, Mickey, and I can eat all those leftovers ourselves,” he said.


CHRIS BARELY HAD time to change clothes when he got home from work on Friday when Ted came home from the Clarks, who’d been serving as babysitters during the Christmas break.


“Can we go get my surprise now, Papa?” he said.


“You bet we can, just as soon as I get my shoes on.”


Chapter 72