Kevin was playing video games. He had tried to sleep after Edd had gone home but to no avail. He jumped slightly when he heard his phone ring. "DD" popped up on the phone's screen.

"Hey what's up?' asked Kevin.

"I told my mother...about me...about us." said Edd. His tone was hard to read.

"Oh my god, really? What happened? Are you okay?" asked Kevin putting down his controller.

"Oh yes! Kevin she was supportive. I was so surprised. She asked me how many boyfriends I have had. And told me that it was okay...and...and."

"Are you crying?"

"Maybe. I don't know why! It is a good thing."

"I don't know, babe. Maybe you have just been holding it all in for too long."

"Perhaps. I am still worried about father though..."

"You think he will freak out or something?"

"Father doesn't really "freak out"...But I don't know what to expect."

"I'm proud of you, Dee." said Kevin. He was a little jealous that Edd's mother had reacted so well, when his own mother had pretty much disowned him. At the same time, he was happy for his boyfriend. He knew Edd had been dreading coming out to his parents for a long time. Kevin had wanted Edd to wait until closer to graduation. The more people that knew about him and Edd, the more a ball of dread grew in his chest. Of course his parents did pretty much live in Big Apple, but still.

"Thank you. Anyway, there was another reason I called. Mother invited you and your father over for dinner. I know it's short notice, but she said that it would be nice for us all to get reacquainted."

"Ugh, I gotta be honest Dee. That sounds terrible. Your parents make me nervous." said Kevin bluntly.

"I know they are a little uptight but-..."

"It's not that. They are just super smart people. And I'm not. I'm going to say something stupid and they are going to hate me and tell you that I'm not good enough for you. Which is the truth, but I don't want them to know that."

"Kevin, that's preposterous. You are very intelligent. And if anything I'm not good enough for you..."

"What makes you say that? I think you are pretty damn close to perfect."

"Psh."

"Don't "psh" me, Eddward."

"Oh, Lord. You know I hate that."

"Yeah well...That's what you get. Let's agree that we are both worthy of each other, deal?"

"Deal."

"Now as far as dinner goes. What night were you thinking?"

"Oh I don't know. I know we are supposed to go to dinner in Peach City tomorrow night. What about the next night?"

"Sound good, I guess."

"It will be fine."

"If you say so, dork."

"I'll take dork over Eddward..." laughed Edd.

"Goodnight, dork. I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight."

Eddward tossed and turned in bed for the rest of the night unable to sleep very well. He kept running various scenarios in his head over how his father was going to react. Sheldon Vincent was a man who liked things to be a certain way and for things to always go according to plan. Edd doubted his homosexuality was in the plans that his father had made out for him. When the sun peeked through Edd's curtains, he decided to give up on sleep. He went in his bathroom to take a quick shower to try to wake himself up a little.

In the room across the hall, his parents were also preparing for the day. His mother could not keep the secret to herself and was also curious how her husband would react to the news. Beatrice was a tense woman, who always anxious about everything.

"So what are the plans today, Beatrice?" asked Sheldon snapping his wife out of her train of thought.

"Oh. Um...I'm not sure. I suppose whatever Eddward wants to do. It is his birthday after all."

"I know. I just like to have some sort of idea of what we are doing today." said Sheldon slightly frustrated.

"Sheldon. Dear...I think we need to talk before we go downstairs and plan the day with Eddward." said Beatrice cautiously.

Sheldon raised an eyebrow, "Talk? About what?"

"Well, I could not sleep last night. So I went downstairs to read for a while. Eddward came home and we got to talking...And Eddward opened up to me..."

"About what? Were you right? Is he dating that Nazz girl?"

"No...but he is dating."

"That boy...I swear. I told him time and time again that he doesn't need to start dating until he is out of high school. There will be plenty of time for that later. Should we ground him?" asked his father seriously.

"No! Why would we ground him?"

"He disobeyed us." he said then blew out an exasperated sigh as he put one leg into his pants. "So what is this girl's name?"

"Kevin."

Sheldon almost fell in the floor. "What? What do you mean "Kevin"?"

"Eddward...told me he was a homosexual last night. And that he is seeing that Kevin Barr boy." said Beatrice still trying to read Sheldon's expression.

For the first time in a long time, Sheldon was at a loss for words. After several beats of silence Beatrice asked, "Sheldon? Dear, are you okay?"

"He can't be gay. He was supposed to go to college. Meet a nice girl. Preferably where they could be a team, like we are. He was supposed to have a child or two."

"Eddward is still going to go to college. And he could still give us a grandchild. There are options." Sheldon sat on the bed and Beatrice sat next to him. "Sheldon, he was petrified last night. I have never seen him so frightened."

"Frightened?"

"Yes. He said he was afraid that we were going to hate him."

"Hate him? He really thought we could hate him?"

"From what Eddward told me, Kevin's mother was less than pleasant about the whole situation. I don't know the details, but I'm assuming that Eddward was afraid that we would react similarly."

"I'll be honest, Beatrice. I'm not happy about it, but I could never hate him. He is still our son."

"Exactly. So when we go downstairs, let him know that it is okay. I think that is the best birthday present that you could give him today."

Edd dressed himself in a nice sweater and a clean pair of dark jeans. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do be doing that day, so he decided that this would be a safe choice. After he was groomed and ready to go downstairs, the smell of breakfast began to waft upstairs. He liked it when mother was home to cook. She was a better cook than he was, although he was not bad. He walked into the kitchen to find his mother in front of the stove cooking egg white omlettes and turkey bacon and his father sitting at the table drinking coffee.

"Good morning, Eddward. Happy birthday." said his mother as she smiled at him.

"Good morning. Thank you." he smiled back at her.

Edd sat across from his father and poured himself a cup of coffee. He liked the stuff but never brewed it when they weren't home. It was a waste to make a whole pot whenever he only wanted a cup or two. His father was being uncharacteristically quiet. He kept his gaze on his newspaper. Edd figured that his mother had told him about their conversation last night. He could not tell if his father was angry or if he was simply just trying to figure out something to say.

"So, what do you want to do today?" asked his father in his gruff voice. The sudden break in silence made Edd jump a little.

"Oh. I-i...didn't really have anything planned." said Edd as his mother put a plate of the healthy breakfast in front of him.

"Well we had discussed going out to dinner tonight. I still think that is a fine idea. Is there anything in the city you would want to do?" asked Beatrice.

"Well there is a fascinating new exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I wouldn't mind going there."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." said Beatrice.

When a plate was placed in front of Sheldon, he put his paper to the side. He looked at his son. He was still the same boy he remembered from the day before. Sheldon knew it sounded silly to think that Eddward would look any different to him, but this was all very new and unexpected. He was fiercely proud of his academic achievements and the man he was turning into. Sheldon sighed and decided that it was time to address the elephant in the room.

"So, your mother tells me your a homosexual." said Sheldon bluntly. He didn't know how else to bring it up. But judging by the way that Edd looked like a deer in the headlight, he knew he probably should have had a little bit more tact. Being tactful was not one of Sheldon Vincent's strong suits.

"Y-y-yes, sir." Edd said nervously. Sheldon saw what his wife had meant. His son looked positively petrified. Sheldon had a couple of colleagues at the university who were homosexual. A woman who had been with her partner for several years in the physics department and a man who was a brilliant botanist. He liked them just as well as he liked his other colleagues. Which was to say, he liked them as long as they didn't get in his way or infringe on his work space. It didn't bother him in the least how they spent their personal time. It was different though when it was his child. He knew how these Peach Creek types could be. Honestly, if Beatrice hadn't insisted on bringing Eddward up where she had grown up then he would never have even been in this backwards town. It didn't bother him that Eddward was gay. It scared him. He wanted a different life for him, but he knew that it wasn't his choice. And he honestly believed that it wasn't a choice for his son either.

Sheldon realized that it had been several minutes since he had said anything when his wife had nudged his arm. "I apologize. I was lost in thought. Are you sure, son? Are you sure that you are gay?"

"Yes." Edd said shyly.

"Eddward, you know that I could never hate you. Or rather you should know that. You are a smart kid. Man." he corrected himself. "No this is not the life I had envisioned for you, but then things don't always go according to plan. So if this is who you are, then I accept that."

Edd felt tears burn his eyes for the third time in the last twelve hours. He was so tired of crying. He managed to blink them away. "Thank you." he said simply.

"Well, let's eat this breakfast before it gets cold then we will head into the city. We can go to that exhibit then have lunch. Then your mother and I have a birthday surprise for you."

"That sounds great." smiled Edd and started in on his breakfast.

"Have you talked to Kevin? Did you ask him about dinner? I know it is short notice since we are only in town until the 26th." said Beatrice.

"Dinner?" asked Sheldon.

"Oh I forgot to mention that to you. I told Eddward to invite Kevin and his father over for dinner so we could all get to know each other." said Beatrice. His father nodded at her then turned his attention back to his breakfast.

"Yes. I spoke to him last night. He said that tomorrow night would be work for them."

"Perfect." she said with a grin.

They ate in silence for a while before his father said "So, are you and this boy practicing safe sex?" out of the blue.

Eddward choked on his omlette.