all her perfumed； turquoise jewelry…wearing glory； acting like her presence was really no big deal。
Jesus。 Jenny had seen their mom in Prague。Why hadn？t shewarned him？
Dan brought in his mother？s packages and placed them gently on the kitchen floor。 Vanessa tried
to make eye contact with him but his eyes were glued downward； and he was seemingly deep in
thought。 Or in a trance。 Maybe his mother had hypnotized him？ Maybe she was a New Age
gypsy？
？Now； Dan；？ Jeanette began； as she rooted through the cavernous bags； pulling out assorted
packages and placing them on top of the piles of newspapers covering the kitchen table； ？Jenny
told me all about your special announcement； and I？m here to help you celebrate！？ Vanessa stifled
a nervous laugh as Dan？s face turned sheet white。
Rufus held the spatula； piled with what Vanessa was now convinced was dog food； even though
they didn？t have a dog。 ？What announcement？？ ？Coffee！？ Jeanette chirped excitedly opening a
large pink box and shoving the contents under Dan？s nose。 ？Will go perfectly withthese 。？ Dan
craned his neck and peered inside。 Cradled in white wax paper was a chocolate ？clair。 Two plump
cream puffs nestled on either side of the long； frosted pastry。 His face flushed red with
embarrassment。 Maybe he was just being paranoid or perverted； but that looked a whole lot like
a？？It？s a penis！？ his mother trilled； as if reading her son？s thoughts。 ？It？s to celebrate Dan being
gay！？ Jeanette practically screamed。 ？The cream in the center is the sweetest part。？ She winked。
Um； ew？
？Gay？？Rufus brought the spatula to his lips and chewed thoughtfully。 ？When did this happen？？
All eyes turned