Diplomacy

make them for yourself.”

    182 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    “I’m just scared that if something should happen to me, they will contact Lucy first.”
    Jack knew how much Lucas loved his daughter, but he also knew something must have happened to make him this worried.
    “Just talk to me, Luke.”
    “She called, on the phone,” Lucas cut in.
    “Lucy?”
    He nodded, and then the words came tumbling out. “She told me to leave her alone, that she didn’t want to have anything to do with me or with ‘the kid’. She doesn’t even want to know her name!” Lucas sat on the side of the bed, with his back to Jack, his head in his hands.
    Jack waited for a moment and then moved behind his lover, scooting over so that he had one leg on either side of him and he could wrap his arms around the younger man’s frame. At first Lucas pulled away, but Jack held him tighter and felt him surrender to the touch.
    “Apparently they called her,” Lucas eventually said, his voice thick with emotion.
    “Who called her?” Jack softly asked, trying to calm Lucas down.
    “The kindergarten school we filled out an application for. I handed them a copy of ‘Lise’s birth certificate and her adoption papers and I guess someone at the office got nosy and tracked down Lucy.” Lucas sighed. “I mean, I don’t have her phone number; I don’t even know where she lives, but someone in that school had the nerve to track her down and call her to ask why I’m applying for a placement for AnnElise without her mother’s consent.”
    “That settles it, Lucas. We enroll AnnElise in the U.N.
    International School. They don’t need her mother’s consent. Lucy signed away all her parental rights.” Jack squeezed his lover tight.
    Lucas leaned back into the touch. “That’s what Lucy told me, too, and she said she told the man who called her as well.”
    “Must have been strange to hear her voice again.” Lucas nodded as Jack kissed his hair and rested his cheek against his head. “We could sue them for breach of privacy.” D i p l o m a c y | 183

    “No,” Lucas whispered. “I don’t want to sue anyone. I just want people to accept us for who we are. We are AnnElise’s parents, Jack, you and I.”
    “So is that why you want to get married? To prove that?” Jack was trying to get to the root of it. He knew it would take more than a piece of paper for people to understand this.
    “It’s other things, too. If something happens to me, I want you to take care of ‘Lise, Jack.” Lucas was leaning against his lover, slowly caressing the strong arms that held him.
    “You know I will.”
    “But it works the other way around, too. What if something happens to you, Jack? We’ll be out on the street.” Lucas turned a bit and lifted his legs over Jack’s so he could face the older man. “Even if you put it in your will that we should get this apartment, I can’t afford to inherit this. We’re not legally a family so the inheritance tax will be enormous.”
    “You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” Jack asked as he ran his hand through Lucas’s soft hair.
    “I can sort things out financially, Lucas. It had already crossed my mind that I should set up some sort of trust fund for AnnElise. That would help to resolve the tax problems and take care of you both. You and AnnElise are my family now.”
    “You would do that for me, for us, but you still don’t want to get married?” Lucas looked at Jack questioningly.
    Jack sighed. “I’m scared, Lucas.”
    Lucas straightened his back and turned towards Jack with an astonished look on his face. “Why on earth?”
    “I can see the headlines now. ‘Former U.S. Ambassador marries gay lover’,” Jack pointed out. “I wouldn’t want you, or AnnElise for that matter, to get any kind of backlash from this. We know they’re okay about us living together, but it’s only because we’re fairly discreet about it. It’s a delicate subject for a lot of countries, and I’m sure the U.N. is okay about one of their rising PR men living with another guy, but if we were to marry, while it’s not yet legal in the state of New York, they might consider it ‘drawing unfavorable attention’. I don’t know if you’ve read the fine print of your contract, Lucas, but…” Lucas rolled his eyes. “I know they can fire me if I do that.” 184 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    “Listen.” Jack squeezed Lucas tight in his arms and rocked him a little. “You know I love you and