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“I came out to them.” John forced himself to say the words quickly, to push past this last frontier on his way to living an authentic life. “As gay.”
“Oh,” Russ said. “We knew that.”
Adele nodded. “Yep.”
Astonished, John stared at them. “Since when?”
“Always,” Adele said. “It was just something we understood about you. No biggie.”
“I, uh, well… Needless to say, you guys continue to surprise me.”
“We like to be unpredictable,” Adele said, grinning. “Please tell me you weren’t worried about talking to us about this.”
“I was a little worried.”
“We love you,” Russ said. “We want all the best for you.”
“Tell him the rest, honey,” Adele said to her husband.
“The rest of what?” John asked, his gaze darting between them.
Russ gestured for her to do the talking.
“Pop had a younger brother named Andy. He, too, was gay, but in those days, he had to keep it to himself. Pop knew, but no one else did. The sneaking around and the secrecy took a terrible toll on him. One day… Russ came home to find him hanging from the rafters in their garage.”
“Oh God… Pop…” John blinked back tears. “I didn’t know.”
“Because I never talked about it with anyone,” Russ said. “Even your mom doesn’t know how or why Andy died. I made up my mind that I’d tell you the truth if this subject ever came up. I told your grandmother I wouldn’t let history repeat itself.”
“I’m so, so sorry you lost him.”
“Thank you. You understand why I wanted you to know, right?”
“I do, and it means a lot to me that you shared it with me.”
“Thankfully, things have changed since then,” Russ said. “For the better.”
“Yes, they have. Thank you for accepting me for who and what I am. I love you both so much.”
“We love you, too, honey,” Adele said. “Always.”
Jace ledCindy and the boys into the house and let Burpy out to pee. While the boys got ready for bed, he packed their lunches for the next day and got bowls and spoons out for breakfast. If you asked him, he was slaying this fatherhood gig and was enjoying every second he got to spend with the boys.
His phone rang with a FaceTime call from Seamus. “Hey. How’s the patient doing?”
“Better, thankfully,” Seamus said, looking exhausted. “How are the lads?”
“They’re doing great. I’ll get them so you can say hello.” He went to the hallway. “Boys, Seamus and Carolina want to say good night.”
They came running and took the phone from Jace. Their animated chatter and questions about Carolina’s injury amused him. Would she have a scar? Would it be gnarly (their new favorite word)? Did the cast itch like Billy Jones’s cast had itched? Was the hospital cool?
After about ten minutes, they began to get silly, so Jace took the phone from them. “Go brush your teeth—and I’m gonna smell your breath.” His mother used to say that to him and Jess.
“You’ve already figured out all their tricks,” Seamus said.
“I remember that one from when I was their age.”
“So, um, Jace…”
