Love Is Always Write Volume 4

future, almost as if he didn't want Greg to be more than a good friend with benefits who would also change diapers.
    Mellady, who'd grown nosy about Greg's life since his return to the States, soon found out about Greg and Stefan, and she couldn't have been more smug if she'd arranged it herself. She told her brother more than once that she had planned this the day of Emily's christening, from the moment she'd heard Phillip had flown the coop.
    No one else in his family knew yet. Most of them didn't even know his sexual orientation. He didn't think they'd care that he was gay. Come to think of it, his siblings had probably figured that out. But a public announcement about a relationship made him feel slightly congealed inside.
    Then Greg got an invitation to a party. It was a shindig—the invitation's word, not his— held on one of his new coworker's boats. He put off telling Stefan until the day of the event.
    "There's a party tonight I don't particularly want to go to," he admitted to Stefan soon after he walked in the door at six p.m. He grabbed a plate, piled it with the lasagna Stefan had made and joined the other two at the kitchen table where they ate.
    "Put that load of applesauce in your mouth or I'll take away the spoon and feed you," Stefan warned Emily. He dabbed a napkin at the glob of sauce on the floor where she'd flung it.
    He tossed the napkin on the impressive pile of dirty ones. He always managed to go through quite a few during a meal with her royal highness. Greg suppressed a smile, recalling the streaks of food he'd let his siblings wear on their faces and clothes after a meal. He gave more of a damn now, of course. Stefan was getting more relaxed, thank goodness.
    Stefan took a bite of excellent lasagna and gazed at Greg thoughtfully. "Would it help if I got a babysitter and came along?"
    The mouthful of food Greg had just swallowed seemed to grow and take up too much room in his throat. The silence filled the kitchen. Even Emily seemed quieter than usual.
    "Never mind," Stefan said at last.
    "Oh, hell. It's not you."
    "What is it, then?" When Stefan got that firm-but-quiet voice, Greg knew it was spit it out or else.
    As always, he aimed for honesty. "Okay. I'm just avoiding the idiocy that might follow me into the workplace. Remember the guys at Emily's christening?"
    "That was months ago. Which guys?"
    "Phillip's friends at that party. They had those smirking smiles. No one would come out and say faggot, you know? It's just a raised brow or an exchanged look. I've managed to avoid that all my life, and this isn't important enough to—"
    "I get it." Stefan put down his fork. Greg waited for the anger, but Stefan seemed remarkably unruffled. "All right. I'm not saying I'll stay happy with that for the rest of my life, but I can manage for now. You can keep us a secret. But not later. When Emily's older? I don't want her to be embarrassed by me or my life. So once she's aware of what's going on, I won't stay hidden."
    He spoke calmly enough, but the words were a sharp slap against Greg's face. Shit. Of course that would be the message Greg gave the world and, far worse, gave Stefan. This man is an embarrassing secret.
    No freaking way.
    He saw himself too clearly. Since he'd come back into Stefan's life, he'd been cruising along, trying to have it both ways. He'd better get his ass in gear, or Stefan would boot it out. The man had enough self-respect to do that. Stefan was worth more, and so was Emily.
    If Stefan tossed him out, Greg wouldn't get to hear him make funny voices at Emily again, no more talking like a bug. Greg would sleep alone, and he'd grown to hate that.
    Greg felt like a moron. For a second or two, he flat-out loathed himself and then figured that was stupid too. He put down his napkin and rose to his feet.
    "Come on. We'll go to the party, and we will have a wonderful time," he said.
    "What? No, I mean it, I'm fine. You're stressed enough about work. Besides I don't have a babysitter for Em. Some neighbors, friends of mine, invited me over to watch a movie, so Emily and I will go there."
    It occurred to Greg that he hadn't met many of Stefan's friends. He'd made work excuses when Stefan had invited him along. Now was the time to barge out into the world, holding onto the man he loved. "Can I go with you?"
    "What?" Stefan looked puzzled.
    "Where are you going? Would it be okay if I came along?"
    "Actually they wanted to meet you again. They saw you at the christening and