It had been hurtful, Joe Hardy thought, as he sat in a diner in River Heights. Yes, it had been quite hurtful when his parents announced they were getting divorced. But they had seemed quite amicable about it, and still spoke to each other regularly. Perhaps it was more the shock, then. Yes, it quite a shock for your parents to announce they were divorcing, because your father is gay, and is in love with another man. Yes, perhaps that was it.
Joe looked across at his older brother, Frank. Frank was busy shooting strange looks at Nancy Drew, the girl whom he may, or may not be, in love with, depending on who you asked. Nancy was also shooting strange glances at Frank, albeit, more covertly. Now, that was another emotion that had also been in play: lingering horror. It turned out that the man Joe and Frank's father was in love with was Nancy's dad. Talk about ways of interfering in your kids' love lives.
Thinking about the happy couple, Joe looked across at them gazing lovingly into each other's eyes, as they silently sipped their shared milkshake, through matching Curly-Q straws. Joe looked back at Frank and Nancy, who also sipped their (separate) milkshakes, through rather plain old straws, perhaps struggling to find some way to get their shared image of kissing Joe out of their minds.
Joe sat back in his seat, sipping away at his Magic Bill. Well, whatever feelings had been juggled around lately, no one could argue that the experience hadn't been a touch curious.