Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

home…" she murmured, giving him a small kiss on the cheek before rubbing the bright red lipstick print off with her thumb.
    "Yeah, well, Seattle has two things going for it that Rouses Point doesn't . Less than a foot of snow a year and more than one gay guy."
    "And me!" Jimmy added from the back of the car, stuffing Ruby's large suitcase into the trunk.
    "Yes, and Jimmy. Though, sometimes I can't decide if that goes under the plus or minus side."
    "You love me and you know it." Jimmy told him, knowing it was true and that it went both ways.
    "More often than not." Scott agreed, but he was beaming at the man as Jimmy walked back to them and slung his arm around Scott's shoulder.
    "More like always." Jimmy countered, dropping a little kiss into Scott's hair before giving him a small shove to get into the car.
    "You two really should just get married, Jesus." Ruby muttered, rolling her eyes at the two as she clamored into the backseat of Scott's tiny car.
    "If we make it through June without it getting pushed to the November ballot, I'll marry ya, baby." Jimmy told him, laughing as he scrunched himself back into the car.
    "We could do the Pride pub crawl for our honeymoon."
    "You two do the Pride pub crawls every year anyway." Ruby pointed out, and Scott could hear the amusement in her tone. "Gayest straight man on the planet." she added, patting Jimmy on the top of his head.
    "That's right," Jimmy agreed, "I'm as happy as they come."
    Ruby's little giggle sounded like a very unladylike snort, "Don't you mean you're happy as long as you come?"
    "That too."
    ****
    "Okay, mom ," Jimmy said into his phone, pacing around the small living room where Scott and Ruby watched him from the couch, "No, I will. Yes, I promise. Yes, okay, yes, do that. No he won't mind, I swear." He rolled his eyes and made a little talking motion with his hand as he moved into the kitchenette, rattling a small pot on the stove, "Mom, okay, but I gotta go or dinner's gonna burn. Love you too. Yes. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Tell dad hi for me. Okay. Yes, I'll tell her too. Okay, bye mom, boiling over here, gotta go!" And he snapped his phone shut, turning the ringer off. "Oh, my God, I swear she likes you better than me." he told Scott as he came back into the living room.
    "Of course she does. I never took her six thousand dollar show dog and dyed it purple." Scott agreed, laughing as he stretched out on the couch, Ruby flipping channels and curled up next to him. "Or borrowed her Versace micro dress for a Halloween costume."
    "The dog was for the costume too. I don't think I should get dinged twice for that…"
    "Whatever you say, baby, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't see it that way. "
    Jimmy made a frustrated growling noise in his throat as he flopped down on the other end of the couch, putting Ruby between himself and Scott. "She wants me to tell you hello, Rubes. And you ," reaching over the girl and tugging lightly at Scott's hair, "She told me to tell you we're spending the first two weeks of summer with them."
    Scott let his head fall back and relaxed into Jimmy's touch, turning his face to see the man. "Sounds good. Palm trees and a private pool. Guy could get used to that."
    "She's springing for the tickets too, said she'd message you on Facebook about the details."
    "Gotta love the way she spoils us."
    "No, she spoils you . Before we moved in together, I had to buy my own ride home every break. And, tell me again when you added my mother to your Facebook?"
    "When she sent me a request…"
    "Good Christ."
    "Such a pain in the ass when your best friend gets along with your family, isn't it?" Scott asked with a bright grin, glancing between Jimmy and Ruby, the girl now curled up against Jimmy with her feet in Scott's lap.
    "Yeah, well. I'm adding your mom on mine, see how you like it."
    "You'll have to make her an account first." Ruby muttered, "Now shut up so I can watch The Voice . I can't hear a damn thing over you two hens."
    Jimmy tugged at her hair for that, but he quieted down for her, reaching back across the couch to Scott, finding the man's neck and gently kneading it, an absentminded touch, his hands, his body always seeming to gravitate toward Scott.
    Sighing and leaning a little closer into the touch, Scott didn't take his eyes off the screen, didn't move his hands from Ruby's little feet in his lap, but he let himself smile at the familial picture they made, loving the way they all fell into rhythm together, the way Jimmy was the