I took three deep breaths before I responded. I said, “Mom, I know it’s not fun to deal with all of this, but I’ve got to go play baseball. That’s my job. If I don’t do my job, then this whole thing falls apart, and I’ll be back home in Indiana working in the quarry with Dad. I know neither of you wants that.”

She asked me to give her five more minutes. I stood in the concourse at the stadium in a quiet corner trying to talk softly enough that no one could hear. The space was empty except for food vendors starting to set up and the occasional fan walking by who’d shown up early to see batting practice. I said, “Okay, five more minutes. I love you, Mom. I love Dad, too, even when he’s ridiculous.”

Mom whispered, “He got furious last night after dinner and started slamming things around in the kitchen. It was after Sam said what he did at dinner.”

“He said something you haven’t brought up yet?”

“Sam said that he wished that he could be proud of the fact that both of his parents were living in the 21st century and able to deal with reality. He said that it felt like one of his parents was still living in the 1950s. He said one of us was going backward in time. Your father turned red after that and didn’t finish his dessert.”

I wanted to say how proud I was of my little brother. I was the family jock, and he was the smart kid. He was a straight-A student, and he had a good chance of finishing high school as his class valedictorian. All of those hours at the public library with his nose in books instead of staring at the Internet was paying off.

I asked, “Why is it such a big deal to Dad? Why does he feel so threatened? Do you have any idea? I don’t remember him making jokes about gay people when I was growing up or complaining about gay marriage or anything like that. What’s going on? Sam won’t do anything stupid.”

I heard her snuffle on the phone. “I’m not sure. I haven’t had the guts to do it yet, but I think I’m going to call your grandmother, his mother, and talk to her.”

I interrupted, “Don’t you do that without talking to Sam first. Please don’t. Let him decide who finds out when.”

“Oh, I won’t. I promise.” Her voice softened. “You know, when your father isn’t around, Sam is so much happier than usual. It’s not like Sam was unpleasant to be around. He’s always my little boy. You are, too, Harley, but I’d noticed Sam staring off into the distance a lot, and he was quiet a lot of the time. I tried to ask him about it a few times, and he shrugged before leaving the room or turning on the TV.”

“He was thinking, Mom.” I recognized that behavior from the times I caught myself staring off into the distance while sitting on the bench when my team batted in baseball games. I didn’t think it through as far as Sam, though.

“How long do you think he’s been gay?”

I laughed out loud.

Her voice sounded slightly desperate when she asked, “What’s so funny? None of this feels funny to me. Harley. There is so much of this I don’t understand. I wish you were here. I mean, not that you would know so much more about it, but we could figure it out together. You’re an adult now. We can work through adult things together.”

I wanted to tell her that I was gay, too, but I knew that it wasn’t the right time. I said, “What I thought was so funny is that I think Sam was born gay. It might have taken him fifteen years to figure it out, but it’s always been there. At least that’s what the science says.”

She shifted directions again in the conversation. I knew that her mind was thinking in a million directions at once. She’d been like that since the first phone call. She said, “I think your father is worried what other men think of him. I think he worries that people at work and in town will think he’s different or he’s less of a man or something. I know it’s crazy. I told him that I don’t know why he even needs to talk about it with anyone else. He should talk about how great Sam is doing in school.”

My voice came out somewhat more forceful than I intended when I said, “Once Sam is out to other people, don’t hide from it. You don’t have to obsess about it, but it’s a real part of who Sam is.”

She said, “No, I’m not meaning hiding it, but how often do you think that they talk about gay kids at the quarry? Honestly, I know your father talks about baseball and his boat and what he calls ‘man’ stuff. I don’t think Sam being gay is going to come up much if he doesn’t bring it up.”

Sometimes my mom was incredibly wise. She was right. Since I figured out that I was falling for Eric and what it meant about me, I thought the fact that I was gay was like a flashing sign I had to keep covered up. I think the reality was almost the opposite. Most people didn’t care at all. Even if we came out at a baseball game, and the press came after us, that wouldn’t last for long. The world would go back to caring mostly about whether Eric and I could hit home runs and catch long fly balls.

I asked, “So what are you going to do?”

I heard her snuffle again. “I don’t know, but it helps to talk. I need to let you go and play baseball. We’ll be watching you on TV like we always do. Your father will probably sit in silence. That’s his behavior during games for the last three days. Lily will walk in, throw her hands in the air, and say, ‘Baseball…again!’ Sam will wander in and out at some point, and you’ll win the game, right?”

I said, “We’ll do our best.”

“Try hard. I know your father feels a little better when the Yellowjackets win. Maybe this will all blow over soon. I’ll talk to Sam, and then I’ll call your grandmother. Maybe she can talk some sense into your father.”

I said, “Do be careful when you talk to Grandma.”

“Careful?”

“I know that you assume she will think about Sam the same way you do, but Dad’s ideas came from somewhere. There is a chance she won’t like him being gay either. Be prepared, Mom. That’s all I’m saying.”

She laughed, and she sounded a little sarcastic when she said, “I haven’t been prepared for anything my kids have done. Why should I start now?”