Chapter 15

“Let’s go inside and wash the chlorine out of your hair.”

“Uncle Allan?” She followed me inside. “Can gay boys have babies?”

We’d always been open with her about my sexual orientation. She knew what the word gay meant, and when Anthony and I had been together, she’d seen us hug, hold hands, and even kiss.

“You mean, with our own bodies?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “No, we sure can’t.”

“So then you’ll never have a kid like me?”

“I have you, don’t I?” I pulled her into my arms. She was still little enough to allow it. Soon enoughshe’d be a teenager and I’d miss holding her like this. “Don’t worry about me, okay?”

She didn’t say anything, but I caught the look in her eye. She was definitely growing up.

9

I sat around the house in my pajamas again. Elsie had invited me to join them for a movie, but I’d declined—I couldn’t tag along all the time. They needed their space.