When his snobbish future in-laws travel all the way from Boston to visit, wise-cracking Southerner Wiley Cantrell learns gay marriage is not without its disadvantages. He’s preoccupied by concerns over the health of his special needs son Noah, a meth baby who was not expected to live yet is now on the cusp of puberty, and the antics of Wiley's outrageous would-be mother-in-law and severely conservative father-in-law strain his relationship with Jackson Ledbetter, a pediatric nurse who poses problems of his own. As their respective families meet and greet, each just as meddlesome and inflexible as the other, North meets South and the fireworks and cultural misunderstandings are plenty.<br><br>Then a tornado blows through the small Mississippi town where Wiley's mother lives, wrecking his mother's house and leaving their lives in disarray. And Jackson's secret drug addiction comes to light, devastating Wiley and Noah. With so many stones in the road, Wiley and Jackson find their dream of becoming a real family falling apart. Though Wiley relies on humor to cope, he'll need something more to keep his happily ever after from slipping away.

Stones in the Road

“They have strong beliefs,” he said. “Remind you of anyone?”


“I’m failing to find the humor here, Jackie.”


“They’re a little kooky,” he admitted. “And don’t call me Jackie.”


“But they’re passionate about what they believe in.”


“Are you going to repeat everything I say?”


“Right now you ought to consider yourself lucky if that’s all I do, because I want to kill you. And I mean that in the nicest way. You expect me to listen to that nonsense for a month? You could have warned me!”


“Didn’t it occur to you there’s a reason why I moved so far away from home?”


“Because your father is the Antichrist?”


“He’s a nightmare,” I said. “He’s a birther! In my house! He doesn’t believe the president of the United States is an American citizen. What an idiot!”


Chapter 6