Hi everyone–
Happy Mother’s Day! Sadly, i don’t have many moms in my life. My mom and my husband’s mother have been dead for many years now. When my mother was alive, she was a unique character and i took care of her for more than 25 years after my father died. So today, i’m sending cards to friends who have kids, but i’m also celebrating the moms that i’ve created in my books.
I write a lot of families in my stories. I guess because my childhood was problematic, the families i write are often really great parents who inspire me. Here is a scene from The Scientist and the Supermodel in which Jake Martin and his brother Cal get advice from their mother, Lydia.
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His brother leaned his elbows on his knees with his shaggy head hanging. “How should I do it, Roan?” Clearly, he was turning to the one with experience.
Roan smiled. “Take a deep breath and say it.”
“I’m gay.”
His mom wrapped her arm across the broad back. “Yes, dear, and what’s making you so unhappy?”
He twisted his head sideways and looked at her quizzically. “I just told you I’m gay.”
“Yes, darling, but you’ve always been gay, and you’ve never been so unhappy before. So what’s wrong?”
Jake couldn’t help it. He laughed.
He got a stern look from Lydia for his trouble. “Jake, this isn’t a laughing matter.”
“Mom, he’s been beating himself up over the fact that he’s never told you and Dad that he’s gay. And you already seem to know it.”
“Well, I’m his mother, for crap’s sake.”
Jake laughed again. Lydia only swore under pressure.
Caleb looked up at his dad. “Did you know too, Dad?”
His dad shifted a little in his chair. He wasn’t entirely comfortable talking about his kid’s sexuality, hetero or homo, and had often ducked “those” discussions, leaving them to their mom. “Well, your mom and I talked about it once or twice, and I agreed that you seemed most comfortable that way. I worried that you might get discriminated against, but you gotta be true to who you are.”
Cal turned back to his mom. “How’d you know?”
“I’m more interested in talking about what’s troubling you, Caleb.”
“Just tell me, and then I’ll tell you.”
“You were always more interested in boys than girls. And besides, your nature is the closest to Jake’s.”
“What the fuck?” Jake pushed away from the wall.
“Jacob!”
“What do you mean by that, Mother?”
She looked at him as if he had just asked the strangest question. As if he should know. “Jacob, you’ve always been bisexual. When I first noticed it, I read a lot and came to understand you better.”
He spread his hands, aghast. “How could you know this when I didn’t?”
Again she gave him the amazed look. “Didn’t? Jake, Tom was your lover for over a year.”
Jake felt like she’d slapped him. “Not exactly.”
“I’m no expert on homosexual practice, dear, but I know happiness when I see it, and you were much happier with Tom than with any of the girls you dated during that time. And now you have Roan.” She smiled at the beautiful man. The mask was back. Jake wanted to escape. Run. Leave the house, the world. Shit, what was going on?
Lydia continued like her middle son wasn’t melting down. “Right now I want to know why you’re not happy, Caleb. What made you get so drunk it took three men to get you home?”
“Charlie left me.”
“Your roommate?”
“My lover.”
“Ah. Well, dear, Charlie is a nice boy.”
“He said I didn’t love him because I wouldn’t come out and tell people he was my boyfriend.”
“And is that true?”
“Yeah, I didn’t tell you or my coach or the team.”
“No, I mean is he right that you didn’t love him?”
Cal looked stunned at the thought. He cocked his head and stared at his mother. “Sure I did, uh, do. I thought I did.”
“I’m certainly not trying to talk you out of your love, Caleb, but why did you hide it? If you were proud of your relationship, wouldn’t you have told us?”
“Shit, I don’t know.”
“You and Charlie have been friends a while now. If you thought it was serious, don’t you think you would have found a way to tell your family?”
“I really liked having somebody close by to fu — uh, have sex with.”
“Well dear, having regular sex is a happy thing, not to be sneezed at. But I’ve met Charlie a few times, and while I like him as your friend, I think he may not be destined to be your life partner. He’s young. Maybe it’s appropriate that he get some more experience on this earth before he settles down. Meanwhile, you look for a relationship that offers you more of what Jake and Roan have.” She smiled at Roan, who seemed to want to run as badly as Jake. “As for telling people you’re gay, I think you define being gay, not the other way around. You’re six feet four, you like broccoli, and you prefer to have sex with men. What’s to hide?”
Caleb grabbed his mother and hugged her until Jake feared for her respiration. Jake felt like he’d been kicked in the head.
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So many people have emailed to tell me they love Lydia Martin. I do too. Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in our lives. : )