They ate lunch, cleaned up the dishes, and spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the sofa in the living room listening to music and talking. It wasn't that they didn't want to make love. The thing was, having a chance to spend time together, just talking, was so delightful neither of them wanted to spoil the mood. Sylvia's mother asked Jason a lot of questions about his family and was surprised by how close they were and how much he obviously loved and respected his parents.
"I wish my girls felt about Milton and me the way you do about your parents," she mused.
"Brenda does, I think," Jason replied. "She really loves you a lot. And I think, maybe, Sylvia loves you, too, but she doesn't know how to show it."
"I know," Karen sighed. "I suppose the fact that their father is an alcoholic may have something to do with it, but I keep feeling as if, somehow, I've failed them. Sylvia, at least. Brenda seems to be doing pretty well, despite all her father and I have put her through." She paused and took a deep breath. "Jason, do you think Brenda might be...ah...well...um, ah, gay?" she asked.
Jason was surprised by her question. "Why do you wonder that?" he replied.
Karen shrugged. "I'm not sure, exactly," she said. "Maybe I'm wrong. I hope so. It's just that Brenda hasn't ever had a boyfriend, but she's had quite a few close girlfriends. Almost all the students at the riding academy are girls, you know?"
"I didn't know that," Jason said. "Would it bother you if she was, you know, gay?"
"I'm not sure," Karen said. "I certainly would like grandchildren someday, and I guess part of me would like to see both of my girls grow up and be happily married. On the other hand, if Brenda's happy, that's all I care about."
"My Uncle Rich is gay," Jason said. "He's my father's younger brother."
"How does your family handle it?" Karen asked.
Jason shrugged. "I'm not sure we 'handle it' at all," he said. "The fact that he's gay doesn't usually come up, at least not around our house. He's Uncle Rich and his partner is Mike. They've been together as long as I can remember. They live out on Fire Island. Uncle Rich is a stockbroker and Mike works in New York in the theater."
"And your father isn't upset by the fact that his brother is gay?" Karen asked, sounding a little surprised.
"Heck, no," Jason said. "Dad and Uncle Rich are real close. Mike, too. They came and stayed with us for a while and Mike and Uncle Rich helped Dad build a deck on our trai...mobile home. You should see it, it's really nice. Mike works building sets for Broadway plays, and he's a really good carpenter." He paused. "How do you think your...your husband will act if it turns out Brenda is a lesbian?"
