Fate Wins Out

Part 7

Stacy sat at the park, thinking about what she had seen. It all began to make sense to her, the way her aunt and uncle disowned Brian for no apparent reason, Brian being single at thirty without even mentioning a girlfriend. Thinking back to the stories he told about Europe, she realized that he never even mentioned a woman except for his assistant, who he said was married. Her cousin was gay. Then she started to think about her relationship with Justin. She had accepted the fact that he was gay months ago, even to the point of trying to push him to find a man. She loved her husband dearly and would do anything to make him happy. As much as she needed him to be there for her and the baby, she didn’t want to keep him from being himself. He needed to find someone who could make him complete. No matter how hard she tried, she could never be what he wanted her to be. Deciding that she needed to have another heart to heart with Justin, she made her way back to the car and headed home. She just hoped that she gave them enough time to do what they needed to do.

Brian and Justin were making their way back down the stairs, satisfied after their love making when Stacy walked through the door.

“Hey guys. What have you two been up to?” She asked, hiding a smile.

“Uh…we…uh were up in the nursery making sure we didn’t miss any spots.” Justin stammered. He knew he was sounding like an ass but he was thrown by her arrival so soon after he and Brian finished upstairs.

Brian looked over at Justin and couldn’t help but laugh at his pathetic attempt at explaining what they were doing. If Justin kept it up, Stacy would find out their secret by the end of the week. He decided to jump in and save the man from further embarrassment.

“You know how anal your husband can be. He wanted to make sure everything was perfect before you brought in any furniture.” Brian explained, noticing a strange look in Stacy’s eyes.

“Oh, honey. That’s so cute. The room looks great. Stop worrying so much. Now, I’m going to start working on dinner. Why don’t you two go watch TV for awhile and try staying out of trouble?” Stacy laughed before heading into the kitchen.

“Do you think she knows something’s up?” Brian asked quietly after Stacy was out of earshot. He was getting a strange vibe from her that he couldn’t explain.

“How would she know anything? She thinks you’re straight, remember?” Justin asked, wondering what caused Brian to think that.

“I guess you’re right, but we really need to figure out what we’re doing. We can’t keep sneaking around behind her back. It’s not fair to any of us. Look, Justin. I offered to go back to Europe if it would be easier, but you asked me to stay. We need to fix this before it’s too late and someone gets hurt.” Brian whispered.

“I thought you didn’t want to come out to her?” Justin asked, trying to stall for time.

“That was before I found out she had a soft spot for queers,” Brian chuckled, giving Justin a quick kiss then heading to the living room to watch TV.

The next few days passed by quickly. Justin and Stacy went shopping purchasing the furniture for the baby’s room. They were getting anxious about the birth and having the room ready and waiting was just adding to the excitement. Brian and Justin were still trying to find a way to be together, grabbing quiet moments whenever they could. Stacy was going crazy trying to find a way to make them open up to her. By Friday night she was ready to scream. She wanted to give them time to figure things out and come to her, but she was beginning to think that would never happen. She decided to try to move things along by talking to Justin again. She approached him the minute he climbed into bed.

“Justin, I think we need to talk.” She started once he was settled beside her.

“About what? Is something wrong?” he asked, worried about what was on her mind.

“Actually, there is something wrong. I thought we decided that you were going to start going out and meeting men. It’s been over six months now and you still haven’t even tried to meet anyone. Justin, I don’t want to hold you back. You need to find yourself and you won’t do that if you spend all your time with me.” She explained, noticing the far away look in his eyes.

“Stacy, this isn’t easy for me. I’m your husband. How am I supposed to go out when I have a wife at home?” Justin asked. He didn’t like the way the conversation was going.

“If it wasn’t for the baby, we wouldn’t even be together anymore. I told you I was going to leave before I found out I was pregnant. Junior here may have changed our living arrangements a bit, but we need to be honest with ourselves. Our marriage is over, Justin. I don’t want to stand in the way of your happiness.” She confessed, feeling the sadness of having to let him go. She knew it was the right thing to do, but she was going to miss him once they made their break.

“What about your happiness, Stacy?” Justin said, his voice full of emotion.

“Nothing would make me happier then to see you find what you should have been looking for to begin with.” She said honestly.

“So what do you suggest we do? Am I supposed to bring home strange men at all hours of the night without regard to you and the baby?” Justin asked.

“Justin, you are not that kind of person. I have no doubt that you will be sensitive to my feeling. I just want you to meet people and have some fun.” Stacy said. Taking a deep breath she continued with her plan. “I think it would be best if you moved out of our bedroom.”

“What? You’re throwing me out of our bedroom?” Justin asked in shock. Even though he always knew that something like this was going to happen, he was still surprised by what she was suggesting.

“Come on, Justin. You knew this day was going to come eventually. Why do you seem so surprised?” She asked, holding back a small smile at the surprised look on his face.

“I don’t know. I guess it’s all just happening so fast. I wasn’t prepared for this. Where am I supposed to stay? The nursery is all set up for the baby and Brian is in the guest room.” He pointed out.

“I was thinking you could redecorate the office. We don’t really use it anyway.” She offered.

“But that’s your office. Where are you going to put your computer and all your paperwork?” He asked, rising from the bed and pacing around the room.

“I can put the desk in here. There is plenty of room and it would be more convenient anyway. If I stay up late working on a fundraiser I’ll be able to crawl right into bed when I’m done.” Stacy had thought about every possible excuse Justin could come up with so she had an argument for them all.

“What about Brian? What are we going to tell him about why we aren’t sharing a bedroom anymore?” Justin asked, grasping at anything to try to change her mind. As much as he wanted to be free to explore things with Brian, he couldn’t help the feelings of guilt for the way he was abandoning Stacy.

“How about the truth? Justin, it’s time we started being honest with everyone. You are gay and it’s time to come out of the closet. If anyone has a problem with it, than that’s their problem. This is our life and we are the ones who have to live with the choices we make. Let’s just start out slow and take things as they come our way. I love you, Justin and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we both get what we want,” Stacy explained. She rose from the bed and walked over to Justin, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“I really do love you, Stacy. You have been a wonderful wife and are my best friend. I wish things could have been different for us and for that I am truly sorry.” Justin apologized, hoping it sounded as sincere as it was meant to be.

“Don’t apologize for being who you are. You have been a wonderful husband to me and you will always be my best friend. You are a generous person, always putting everyone else’s needs before your own. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you in the first place. It’s time for you to put yourself first for a change. You deserve at least that much.” She meant every word of it. He did deserve to be happy and she was hoping that he would find that happiness with Brian.

“Thank you, Stacy. For everything. Now if it’s alright with you, I am going to spend one last night in our bed with you. I will work on the office tomorrow,” he promised, taking her hand and leading her back to the bed. They fell asleep in each other’s arms knowing that their relationship had just changed forever.

Brian woke up late the next morning after spending the night tossing and turning. He took a shower and got dressed, ready to make his way downstairs before hearing some banging coming from the office. He knocked on the door and walked in, surprised to see Justin packing everything up in boxes.

“What’s going on? Feeling the need to do more redecorating?” Brian joked.

“Stacy threw me out of our bedroom.” Justin said without looking up from what he was doing.

“She threw you out? What happened?” Brian asked with concern.

“She said that it was time for me to come out of the closet and live my life.” Justin said by way of explanation.

“Are you okay with that?” Brian questioned. He could see sadness in Justin’s eyes and wondered once again, if he should just go back home and get out of the way.

“I don’t have much of a choice, but I guess she’s right. We can’t keep living a lie. It’s not fair to either one of us. I’m not going to abandon her or the baby, but we are never going to have the marriage we were supposed to have. We might as well work everything out now, before the baby is born.” Justin said, finally looking up into Brian’s hazel eyes.

“Did you tell her about us?” Brian asked.

“No. That’s not my place. Besides, we don’t even know if there is an us.” Justin said as he went back to packing.

Brian closed the door and walked over to where Justin was kneeling and pulled him to his feet. “Do you want there to be an us?”

“Yes.” Justin whispered with emotion.

Brian lowered his head and placed a kiss on Justin’s mouth before looking deep into his eyes. “Me, too. More than you will ever know. How about we work on getting you all settled and then we will find a way to tell Stacy about us.”

“I love you, Brian.”

“I love you, too.”

It took three days, but Brian and Justin finally got the office turned into a bedroom. Stacy watched the men working together and saw the closeness that the two of them shared. It was killing her to keep quiet about what she knew, but she wanted to give them time to come to her. She had accepted the fact that they were together, but worried about what would happen when Brian had to go home. Stacy loved them both and nothing would make her happier than to see them fall in love. She couldn’t help but wonder if they had a future together and wished she could talk to them about it. She got her wish on Monday night. Waking up for one of her many late night trips to the bathroom, she heard quiet laughter coming from Justin’s room. Listening by the door for a few minutes while Brian and Justin offered words of love to each other, she realized that she needed to take matters into her own hands. Taking a deep breath, she barged in the room and confronted the two men wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Alright, you two. I have been very patient with you both, but enough is enough. Stop sneaking around here like a couple of school boys and just come clean already. I know that you two are together. I’ve had my suspicions since I came back from New York. I was waiting for one of you to come to me. When that didn’t happen, I threw Justin out of our room trying to make him step up to the plate, yet that still didn’t work. I woke up to go to the bathroom and heard you two in here and couldn’t let it go anymore. I know that you are both trying to protect me, but I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself. Now, I’m going to go to the bathroom and then I’m going back to bed. I will see you both in the morning and you better be prepared to talk.” Stacy said before turning on her heels and walking out of the room, leaving both men speechless.
 

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