Poor Pete. He'd blanched and, mouth gaping, left without uttering a word."Sorry" had formed on Lucy's lips too late, the apology drowned out by the cl...ck of the front door. With the deepest regret, she acknowledged that she'd lashed out needlessly at the person who loved her most. After all, Pete had been totally supportive when she'd quit her well-paid job to write full-time, and he encouraged her to carry on when her first novel failed. The success of her second novel was as much down to him. K dad be careful." Mike said sarcastically, he waited for his dad toleave and then locked the door. He went back out through the kitchen and upthe stairs to his parents bedroom, his mom was still sitting up in bed, theduvet pulled up around her, she looked at her son as he entered, he wasagain only wearing his pyjama bottoms, Mike walked upto the edge of thebed."What the hells going on Mike?" Sarah asked slightly scared. "Did I hearyou say someone had broken in? Wheres your father, Mike?" Dads. That kind of thing ... they thought somethingwas wrong with you you, if you were like that." Religious objections?" asked Lorraine."No my parents thought religion was for weaklings. It's just they alsothought psychiatry was for weaklings too. So I stuffed my feelingsinside, even though each step toward being more masculine my body tookwas like a knife to my heart." But you could do something about it now, couldn't you?" Lorraineinquired."Came close last year. Thought I would start small, do. ”I went on, “Alice chimed in to say that their son, only son, wanted a school program with the same gifted program for young athletes that he had in California.”Don asked, “What the hell is a gifted athlete?”Even though I’d chatted with our new neighbors for thirty minutes or so, touring their home and so forth, I shortened the story.As I was getting up to find something to drink, I just replied, “… their kid named Elli is an honor roll student who also swims, plays the flute and wrestles: Elli.