It was just going to be a simple Spanish fabada bean and chorizo soup from his grandmother’s favorite recipe. Jake hoped for a nice meal and a better time with his widower father. His dad didn’t seem homophobic, but he just didn’t get that Jake was gay. A quiet dinner might clear the air.<br><br>But the trip to the supermarket was a disaster involving a bear and some sausage. Then his dad showed up accompanied by a health aide who isn’t quite what she seems. And the bear shows up, too.<br><br> Stress and rum piles up. Will Jake’s father get a new grandson? Does Jake have a bear in the kitchen and in the bedroom, too? Is this meal one big happy family gathering, or an even bigger disaster?

For Better or For Worse

So much was tumbling around in my mind that I felt like a clothes dryer. At first, all I’d thought of was please my dad, have a romance with Larry, get laid. All about me. And here was this woman, yes, woman, who had saved my life, loved my dad, and was afraid he would reject her, just like I worried about him. And here was Larry wanting to please me by fixing me a meal I obviously liked, that I could eat without hurting myself. And here was this boy, this little teenage gay boy with no place to live, rejected by his own father, and trying to please my dad, who was trying to make the kid and himself happy. What a gay soap opera this would make.


A car crunched into the driveway, and Eve went to the door, calling to me, “It’s Larry. Your boyfriend’s back, and you’re gonna get in, hmm, how does that go?”


Chapter 12