My dad is the first to break the silence. “Is that what you’ve been so nervous about?” “Well, yeah.” And then something completely bizarre and unexpected happens. My mother leaps up from the table and comes around to hug me. She squeezes my head and kisses my cheek. “I am so happy for you, Gideon,” she says, in between kisses. “I was getting so worried that you didn’t show any interest in girls or anyone. I kept thinking you were going to end up alone.”
