It was another normal day in Pleasantville, everything was the same as ever in the Dawkins house and Tommy had offered to help his mom wash the dishes after dinner, which meant one thing; "What do you want to talk about?"
"Huh?" Tommy paused in the act of drying a plate and fixed his mother with a bemused glance.
"You only offer to help me with the dishes when you want to talk about something," Sally elaborated rinsing suds from the ladle she was in the process of removing grease from, turning to look at her son she smiled slightly, "So what's been troubling you?"
"Could we, uh?" Tommy nodded towards the table.
"Sure," Drying her hands Sally took a seat across from Tommy and waited for whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Promise me you won't freak out okay," Tommy insisted before he'd say any more.
"As long as you haven't killed anyone I'll be fine."
"It's, uh..." Tommy started then came to an abrupt halt.
"Exam pressure? Your friends? A girl?" Sally took a few wild stabs in hope of helping.
"No!" Tommy half-yelled at the last suggestion, his eyes widening for a moment, "It's not that."
"Well then what is it?"
"Mom..." Tommy reached across the table and took his mom's hands in his own, holding them tightly as he made sure to keep eye-contact, "I'm gay."

There was an almost comical moment of silence during which Sally could almost hear the nervous beating of her son's heart, his eyes were filled with complete fear and apprehension. Looking down at the slightly trembling hands still holding her own Sally smiled and looked up again, "Okay."
Tommy blinked owlishly, then again a few seconds later. The figurative sound of his beating heart had been replaced by the mechanical turnings of his mind, cogs spinning furiously as they tried to understand her response, "Okay?" Tommy finally choked out fifteen seconds after her reply.
"Yes," Sally nodded, she felt like laughing but knew it would only confuse Tommy more.
"But, aren't you going to tell me I'm confused? Or yell at me? Or... or..."
"Do you want me to?"
"No," Tommy shook his head instantly.
"Then what's the problem?"
"Aren't you even surprised?"
Sally considered the question for a moment, "Not really. I've been reasonably sure since you were 13."
"13?" Tommy's mouth fell open and stayed that way until his mom had nodded.
"I've had my suspicions since you were about 6, but I knew without much doubt when you were 13."

There was a minute of silence where Tommy seemed to be lost within his own head, trying to accept all the new information and process it. Sally stood up and returned to the dishes.
"Does dad know?" Tommy asked a few moments later.
"No," Sally smiled over her shoulder at Tommy, "Your father's not too good at figuring things out. Why do you think he went into politics?" Tommy smiled in the shy manner people do when they're being included in a private joke and then went silent again.
"Mom, there's something else," Tommy restarted the conversation after a few minutes of tapping his fingers on the table.
"Merton's a nice boy. I'm happy for you both."
"How do you do that?" Sally could picture the look on her son's face, shock with a sprinkling of awe.
"A mother always knows."

Leaving the kitchen feeling bewildered Tommy grabbed the cordless phone and punched in the number he knew by heart as he made his way up the stairs.
"Hey Merton."
"Tommy!" Tommy held the phone away from his ear as Merton's rather loud greeting left his ears ringing, "How'd she take it?"
"Surprisingly well," Tommy admitted, a sense of relief creeping into his tone as he finally started to realize that she hadn't reacted anywhere near as bad as he'd been expecting, "Merton can you come over tomorrow?"
"Why?"
"I think my mom might be reading my mind."