Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

He'd known this was going to be bad. For a moment he wondered if he should encourage Trey to leave, to get him out of the clusterfuck that this family reunion was turning into. Trey might think he loved Josh, but that last untested lie still lay between them. What if Josh couldn't do real sex with Trey either? Trey might come to regret all of this public declaration stuff soon. Josh tried to move away from Trey, but Trey's hand clamped on his other arm above the elbow, pinning them together.
    At the same time, Aunt Julie said, "Oh hell, Nan! Stop with the God stuff. I know for a fact you haven't been in a church since Felix was christened. You can't pretend you care about it now."
    "It's true though." His mom's face was getting red. "It doesn't matter whether you call it God or nature or whatever. It's just wrong."
    Uncle Ted said tentatively, "You know, what happened to Felix..."
    Josh's dad interrupted, "That has no bearing on this. We know most gays aren't pedophiles..."
    "The two aren't even related," Trey snapped.
    Josh's dad glared at him. "We're not stupid. I paid more than enough money for that therapist of Felix's to explain things to us, about that man and what he did. Felix has nothing to do with this. I still don't like gays, it's revolting and I don't want to know any of them or be around them, and I certainly don't want one in the same house with me." He glared over Josh's shoulder at Trey.
    "Or in the same family?" Josh demanded. "What about that, Dad? Are you kicking me out too? Because I'm just as gay as he is."
    "No one's kicking anyone out," Uncle Ted snapped, scrubbing at his hair with one big hand.
    "Speak for yourself," Josh's dad retorted. "If you let that freak of nature stay in your house, Ted, then I won't."
    "Are you talking about me or Trey?" Josh could feel his pulse pounding in his throat.
    "Both of us, I guess," Trey muttered.
    "Okay, that's it, we're leaving." Josh's dad yanked his car keys out of his pocket and grabbed a bag up from the floor beside the couch. "Come along Nan. Julie and Ted aren't thinking straight and Josh is clearly drunk. We'll find a hotel for the night."
    "I'm not drunk!" Josh protested.
    Aunt Julie said, "Please. Don't walk out. Let's talk about this."
    "Nothing to talk about," Josh's father said harshly. "You've all taken leave of your senses. I blame it on fatigue. Nan and I will find a nice, clean hotel. We'll come back in the morning and I expect by then that faggot will be gone and we can have our family weekend without all this bullshit."
    "You're the one who's talking bullshit..." Josh began, but Trey hugged him in a hard embrace.
    "Let it go. Let them go," he muttered in Josh's ear.
    Josh stood, fuming, as his parents picked up a couple of suitcases and swept out of the room. Their footsteps were loud on the front porch and then the sound of the car swept away down the drive. Josh slumped back against Trey. He wanted to say, So, that went well, in an insouciant tone. But the first word came out like a sob and he stopped.
    Without letting him go, Trey said over his shoulder, "Aunt Julie, I'm so sorry."
    Her attention snapped from the closed door back to them. "Oh no you don't. Don't apologize for that. You boys didn't do anything wrong."
    Josh managed to say, "I could have just not told them."
    Aunt Julie's voice was soft. "Josh, honey, it should have been a good thing. You and Trey finding each other after all this time is a truly good thing."
    "You really think so?" God, he sounded pathetic. "You're okay with this? With us?"
    "Heavens, yes." Aunt Julie came over and wrapped her arms around both of them. "More than okay. And you've won me a bet."
    "Huh?" He kissed her sweet-smelling cheek and she stepped back, smiling at them.
    "I used to tell Ted, 'I think Trey is gay. The way he looks at Josh sometimes, I think he loves him.' But Ted wasn't so sure."
    Trey said, "And you didn't care? You never asked me?"
    "It wasn't what I wanted for either of you at first. But mainly because it's still a hard road and you boys had things hard enough. But the way you smiled when you were around Josh? That was lovely. How could I be unhappy about that? As for deciding whether to tell anyone, that was your choice."
    Josh felt Trey shudder against him. "I didn't think anyone knew. I didn't want them to."
    "Even I wasn't sure, honey. Just sometimes... And now here you are. Together."
    "Yeah," Josh sighed.
    She looked at him. "Trey makes you happy? He makes you feel like a