Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

hall closet and yanked the door open. "Come on, Trip. Get a move on. You may be queer, but even you should know better than to keep a lady waiting."
    Jacob followed him out the door towards the car. The lilacs along the driveway were coming into bloom. Their scent lingered on the air and the setting sun gilded Daniel's dark hair. They were uncles. But would never be parents. Jacob blinked back tears of joy and pain.
    He remembered sitting down with Lily at her kitchen table, two weeks ago. She had taken his hand with a serious look on her face. He'd frozen for a moment, wondering if there was something wrong with her or the baby. But then she'd said, "I need to talk to you about names."
    "Huh? You want my advice?"
    "No. I want to tell you what Michael and I decided."
    "Okay."
    "You know we were going to give the baby Brian's name. Harry or Hannah, after Michael's grandmother. And then Brian or Briana."
    He'd said, "Okay," again, although it caught in his throat.
    Lily rubbed his hand gently. "But we're not going to do that. The next baby will named be for Brian. I haven't forgotten him, and I do want to honor him. But this child I want to name for my new brother. Michael's not Jewish. We don't have to stick to traditions and dead people's names. So this baby's second name will be Daniel. Or Danielle."
    He had just stared at her. He barely felt the tears on his cheeks. Lily leaned forward and kissed his damp skin, although she had to work around her swollen belly and the table to do it. "We love him like a brother, Jacob. And Mother and Father have been so hard on you both. I don't think he knows how important he is. I want him to know."
    Jacob had raised her fingers to his lips. He'd never kissed his sister's hand except in play and mockery, but he did it now. "Thank you."
    And today Hannah Danielle was born.
    Ahead of him in the fading March sunshine, Daniel yanked open the driver's side door. "I'm going to drive," he called gaily to Jacob. "At your pace, the kid will be in college before we get a chance to see her."
    Jacob rounded the car and got in the passenger side. "At least with me driving, we'd have a chance to live to see the graduation," he grumbled. But his heart was as light as the golden air and the world was filled with sweet perfume.
    ****
    June 1952
    Jacob glanced up as the door to the house opened. Daniel tiptoed in, clearly trying to be quiet. The effort was spoiled by a poorly judged motion that slammed the door behind him.
    Jacob ostentatiously ignored the loud bang and turned back to the book in his lap as if it held his whole attention. As if he didn't notice that Daniel was smiling and dressed up in his favorite shirt. As if he didn't see the way Daniel's hair was mussed in the back...
    "Hey, you didn't have to wait up," Daniel said. He wandered into the living room and dropped onto the sofa beside Jacob. He smelled of beer and cigarettes and cologne.
    "I was reading," Jacob muttered. He meant to get up with dignity and head to bed, now that Daniel was home. But he heard himself say acidly, "While you were out God-knows-where until one a.m."
    "You knew where I was," Daniel said. "Cliff was having a couple of us from the firm over to celebrate winning the High-Style clothing account. I told you that. Didn't I?"
    "No." Jacob put a bookmark in his novel and closed it carefully. That was what he'd suspected, though. That Daniel was off somewhere with Cliff and his friends, having a good time. Well, other than the moments when he'd thought Daniel was dead under a train somewhere. "You didn't tell me."
    "Well, I would have if I'd seen you in the last two days. You're a fine one to talk about being out late. What time did you get home for dinner last night? Ten o'clock, wasn't it?"
    "That's different. I was working. You know we had that problem with the zoning on the new store. Father's been busy with that all week and someone had to pick up the slack."
    Daniel muttered, "Yeah. I forgot. That was this week's excuse." He stood up quickly and had to reach for the arm of the sofa to balance himself.
    Jacob grabbed his sleeve and tugged him back down. "What do you mean, this week's excuse?"
    Daniel sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "Look Trip, let's not do this, all right?" He leaned back against the cushions and closed his eyes. "You're tired and I'm a little drunk. I don't want to fight."
    "I'm not fighting," Jacob said stubbornly. "I'm just asking why the fact that I work late now and then makes it