"Hey Mom, it's Greg. I just wanted to call and let you know Nicky and I are in Miami now and we've got our new house set up. Well as set up as a few air mattresses and a card table and lawn chairs is going to get. But don't worry we're going shopping later to get some real furniture. Um, just give me a call back. I'd really like to talk and maybe just hear your voice. I miss you and I love you Momma. Please call me back. I could really use some advice right now."


It was an awkward drive home. Nick refused to talk to Greg as he drove through the streets of Miami, listening to the directions his GPS was giving. Lucy sat in the backseat, watching as her two fathers silently argued.

"Pa-pa, why are you mad at Daddy?"

Nick tried to smile at her but it was a grim expression. "I'm not mad at Daddy, I'm just upset."

"Why are you upset?"

Nick sighed and pretended to concentrate on turning onto the right street. "Pa-pa's mad because I didn't tell our new team he's a man." Greg chimed in, "He seems to think the most important thing to tell someone when you meet them is that you're gay and married to a man."

"Greg I didn't say that!" Nick snapped, "I'm just upset because you promised me we weren't going to hide this like we did in Vegas for so long!"

"I didn't hide anything!" Greg argued back, "I told them you were my partner and spouse!"

"But did you call me Nicky?" Nick exasperatingly asked, "Because that's what you always referred to me with your mother and she thought I was a woman! I mean is it that big a deal to say husband?"
"Nick I was nervous!" Greg snapped, "I was alone, in a new city that's bigger than our last home, and I was a little edgy! I'm sorry I didn't come right out and say I fuck boys!"

"You better not be fucking boys!" Nick angrily retorted, "Because I'm pretty sure that ceremony wasn't fake!"

"I didn't mean I was fucking other men! I meant I didn't say I was gay! I mean you never know with new people how they'll react to this and I was scared. I'm sorry Nicky, please, can we just put this behind us?"

"You know Greg I really don't think I want to just push this issue to the side. I'm really pissed that you did this again."

"Nick, I'm sorry. I was wrong, I'll admit that. But what would you have done if you were in my position?"

"I would have stood strong and proudly said I'm gay and married to the man of my dreams with a beautiful little girl!" Nick barked, "I'm not afraid to say it anymore!"

"Even after what happened to Matthew?" Greg angrily asked.

Nick suddenly was silent. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and Greg could sense the pain flowing through his body. Greg could see the tears forming in his eyes, even through his dark sunglasses.

"Nick I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up Matthew."

"Yes you did." Nick said as his voice cracked, "You just had to bring up what happened to my poor brother."

"No I didn't." Greg pleaded, "I didn't mean to say it. It just kind of slipped out."

"Shut up!" Nick abruptly yelled, "You have no right to talk about my brother! You don't know the pain my family and I went through! Then you know what I had to do after that happened? I had to tell my parents that I was also gay! You have no idea what kind of grief my parents had to go through, knowing both their sons were gay!"

"Nick I'm sorry!" Greg said, his voice full of anguish. "I didn't mean to say that."

"Just shut up." Nick sorely muttered as he pulled into the driveway of their new house, "Just shut up."

Nick cut the engine and quickly walked into the house. Greg sat there and watched him walk away as tears began to crawl down his face. Lucy crawled into his lap and wrapped her arms around Greg's neck. He smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "Hey baby," he quietly muttered.

Lucy looked up at her father with her large emerald eyes. "I still love you, Daddy." She quietly said, "I'm not mad at you."

Greg held his daughter tightly against his body and cried into her hair. "I love you, too, Lucy."