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

Noah slowly pulled away, looked at me with frank, open eyes before glancing at Father Ginderbach, as if only just now realizing he was there.


“I fine!” Noah said, his voice rather flat and lacking its usual exuberance. Had anyone else but Ginderbach asked, I’m not sure he would have answered at all.


He slid off my lap, then stood there for long moments looking at me, his hand on my leg, checking in, making sure I was still there, that everything was all right.


He merely stood there, as though lost in thought or struggling valiantly to come back to reality.


I picked up his shirt from the floor, and he stuck out his arms automatically, wanting me to dress him.


He had red marks and bruising on his forehead, his long hair masking the worst of it. I pushed the hair away, examining him.


Chapter 37