The Guncle

That evening, Emory unexpectedly shows up at Patrick’s door and Patrick invites him in for a drink. What begins as flirtation becomes Emory reading Patrick like a book: “But you have this sadness. I see it” (274). Unsettled and yet attracted, Patrick invites Emory to his bedroom. They lie in bed together waiting for Maisie and Grant’s nightly intrusion. When the kids sneak into Patrick’s room, he flicks on the light, reassures them that his door is always open, and he and Emory playfully improvise a slumber party complete with popcorn and a late-night movie. To Patrick’s delight, Emory is eager to play along. Patrick is surprised by the ease with which he can show affection with another man in front of the kids.

Patrick begins to dread the end of summer, when Maisie and Grant will leave for Connecticut, and he will be alone again. One evening, they all sit in the backyard watching a meteor shower. Part of Maisie expects Sara to be waiting for her when she gets home. Patrick thinks that, in a sense, she will be. They talk about Greg’s return and plan a celebration for him. The kids, particularly Maisie, have grown up a lot. She has confronted her grief and emerged whole. Both kids express fear about a future without their mother. Just then, a huge meteor hurtles past, burning up in a spectacular fireball. “That was Mommy” (285), utters Grant. They agree that Sara will find many ways to speak to them if they are open to it.

Greg arrives to pick up the kids, and they embrace in a tearful reunion. Patrick hangs back, allowing Greg to take center stage.

That night, Patrick decides he did well over the summer. Greg confides that rehab was a struggle at first, but when the program finally clicked, he acknowledged his addiction, his lies, and his shame. They discuss Clara’s feelings of betrayal and Patrick resolves to help her through it. When Greg mentions how much the kids love their uncle, Patrick demurs, pulling back from the adoration: “it’s painful to be loved” (294). Greg informs him that it was Sara’s idea to give Patrick temporary custody of the kids, and, fearful of a future without Sara, asks Patrick to come back with him. Patrick says no, suddenly eager for a bit of solitude.

At the airport, Greg beseeches his brother to settle down and start a family of his own. As their boarding time nears, Greg asks once more for Patrick to come to Connecticut with them, but again, Patrick dismisses the idea. He and the kids bid a tearful farewell.

Patrick struggles to adjust to the empty house. He places his new Golden Globe on the shelf and takes down the Christmas tree. Later, Patrick invites JED for dinner. While grilling chicken, John tells Patrick that he’s been keeping Joe trapped inside him for too long, that it’s time to set him free: “Pain doesn’t lift until you feel it” (306).

Alone in his house, Patrick feels the solitude like a darkness bereft of frivolity. He rewatches YouTube videos of himself and the kids, and then a video from his final day on The People Upstairs. Just as he wonders what’s next, Cassie calls: A network has expressed interest in creating a show that will film in New York about a gay uncle with custody of two kids. Patrick agrees to meet the producers in Los Angeles.

Patrick arrives early for his meeting, so he strolls the studio backlots, soaking up the familiar yet strange environment. In the meeting, the studio executives compliment Patrick—they want to build the show around the warm rapport he has with the kids in the YouTube videos—“A Father Knows Best for the era” (316). However, the show will be shot in LA, not New York as Cassie promised. Feeling he owes it to everyone—Greg, Maisie, Grant, Sara, and Joe—to reclaim his life, Patrick accepts the offer.

After the meeting, Patrick runs into Emory, and they have a heart to heart. Patrick confesses he doesn’t know what he’s looking for, what sort of path he needs to rejoin the world. He would like to do theater in New York, but that would mean turning down the hefty paycheck of a sitcom.

Months later, Patrick prepares to go onstage in a stock production of Noises Off in Connecticut. Cassie has bought him some time before shooting the TV pilot, which he fills by doing theater near Greg and the kids. Backstage, Clara brings him roses before returning to her seat next to Greg, Maisie, Grant, and Emory. Waiting in the wings for his cue, Patrick feels the presence of Sara and Joe, and understands the trajectory of his journey, from darkness into light.