"Mum, are you in?" Levi calls from the entrance to the house, as he walks in with George. "I brought George to see the dogs!"

"She'll be home in a little while," a male voice responds from the living room.

"Oh." Levi acknowledges the voice, heading in the direction from which it came; he opens the door to find the middle-aged man sat back against the sofa, flicking through the limited number of TV channels. "Hi, Daniel."

"How you doing, kid?" Daniel asks genuinely; his kindness emanates from him. "Did you want something to eat? What about your boyfriend?" He jumps up from his seat, extending a hand out for George. "I'm Daniel — Penny's 'guy friend'. You must be George."

George senses the authenticity from the man, so he decides to mess around a little. "Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou," he introduces, as quickly as his tongue will allow him. "A pleasure to meet you, sir." He accepts the invite, shaking Daniel's hand firmly. "I've heard a lot about you."

"I thought I'd heard a lot about you too — turns out, I didn't even know your name." Daniel chuckles, before reaching down to grab the television remote from the gap in the sofa; he switches off the clunky box to eliminate the distracting sound it's making. "Say it again. Slowly this time."

"Georgios," he repeats. "Kyriacos ... Panayiotou."

"I'm not even going to try it," Daniel concludes, glancing to Levi. "Bet you can't even say that, can you, lad?"

"You mean, Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou?" Levi responds, a small smirk finding its way to his face. "Trust me, I've practised a lot."

"Wow, that's love." Daniel beams at the two young men, scratching the back of his neck. "Did either of you want a drink or anything? Snack? I'm sure I can whip something up, if you want."

"That's not necessary. But thanks," Levi dismisses speedily, wanting to cut the interaction with this man short. "We're actually about to go and play with the dogs. Aren't we, George?"

"I suppose that was the original plan," George agrees hesitantly; in reality, he rather enjoys Daniel's company — it's always enjoyable to him, to find somebody who accepts him for who he is. "But maybe Daniel could join us?"

"Oh, I'm sure he wants to relax inside—"

"I'd love to join you guys," Daniel intercepts Levi gleefully. "Did you want to go outside and play fetch? I've been teaching them to do it super fast. Penny's got nothing on me, now. I've got Maisie running to the other end of the garden in half the time she was doing it before."

"I'd love to see that," George encourages sweetly. "Come on, Levi. Let's go outside."

"It's mid-December," Levi reminds him — his feeble attempt at making excuses against bonding with Daniel. "It'll be freezing."

"That's why we have coats. And if we run around a bit, we'll warm up." George is wise to Levi's plans, but he wants his lover to make the effort to get to know his mother's new partner. After all, Daniel could become Levi's legal stepfather one day, provided all goes well. "Are we all in? Come on."

The three of them head towards the back door; Levi unlocks it, opening it wide. "Maisie! Meggy! Play time! Fetch!" he calls, encouraging the two excitable dogs to come to him. They hear the command, making quick work of bounding over to the back end of the house to join the men. "Good girls! You wanna play fetch?"

The dogs sit before him, wagging their tails in anticipation. Their tongues poke out of their mouths, as they pant quietly; with doe eyes which glance up at the humans above them.

"You girls are too sweet," George coos, bending down to rub at their fur in turn. "So, so beautiful, aren't you?"

"Come on, then." Levi gestures with his hand for everyone to go outside, before grabbing two tennis balls from the counter; he throws them into the garden. "Fetch! Go on!"

The dogs race one another, competitively running to their own ball to capture it with their teeth; Maisie returns to Levi a fraction of a second before Meggy does, which causes Daniel to beam with pride.

"See? I told you I got her running faster now," he points out, satisfied with his own training skills. "She's a little speed demon."

"You did a good job with her," George praises. "Now you just need to do the same thing with Meggy. I don't think it would be too difficult."

"Yeah — I'll have to get onto it, won't I?" Daniel agrees. "But anyway, Mr Name-I-Cannot-Pronounce, how did you and Levi actually meet?"

"You can call me George. I was only teasing with the name," George laughs. "But, uh, it was ... actually by accident," George begins to explain. "I received a phone call late one night, and I thought it was somebody else. So I answered, and I decided to confess that I was gay to them ... Turns out, it was Levi on the phone; he'd gotten the wrong number. But we ended up talking more on the phone as time went on, until we decided to meet face-to-face."

"So was it really the wrong number?" Daniel questions rhetorically, raising an eyebrow. "Or was it meant to pan out the way it did?"

"I often ask myself that — and I'm somebody who doesn't normally believe in fate, or anything." George chuckles softly, rubbing the back of his neck as he watches his lover play with the dogs. "But regardless of what it was, I'm glad it happened."

"You boys are good together," Daniel compliments. "Even with only knowing you for a brief time, it's so clear how much you love each other. You don't find that much these days — everyone is always in it for the sex, or for something other than the love."

"Do you love Penny?"

"It's very early days, kid. I don't want to go ahead and make her feel uncomfortable if she doesn't feel anything for me," he explains. "I know what I feel inside, but I'd never push it on her when it's too soon."

"I felt the same with Levi," George admits. "He's the first man I've ever had anything with, and I felt the love immediately. But I was too scared to say it. But once I finally did, I wished I'd done it sooner. It felt right." He gives the man an expression of empathy. "Sometimes, it helps to get the feelings out sooner rather than later. Then there's no doubts on either end."

"You're very smart, George. You've got a good head on your shoulders," Daniel smiles. "For being so young, especially. But don't take that as an insult — I'm saying, with how much more life you have left in you, you've already got the gist of some things that even some people my age can't grasp."

"I didn't take it as an insult, don't worry," George assures him. "But if you feel it, that you love her — tell her about it. I think she'd appreciate knowing where she stands with you. I know she's been hurt before, and I know Levi is cautious with any man his mum connects with because of it."

"So that explains why he can be so distant with me," Daniel reasons, his gaze averting to Levi across the garden. "I did wonder why he couldn't quite interact with me like I wanted. He's never said anything."

"He's too polite to say anything," George informs him. "He knows he needs to give you a chance before judging — but he's so scared that someone else will hurt Penny like the last guy she married. He called me in tears when he found out about you ... just because he loves his mum so much."

"That's a good kid," Daniel beams. "I can't even be hurt by his devotion to her. I'd be exactly the same. I just hope he realises I'm not like the last guy. I'm not sure of the ins and outs of what he did, but I know for a fact I won't do the same."

"I think Levi just wants the peace of mind about it all." George eyes up the garden chair a couple of metres away from him, deciding to take a seat on it. He gestures with his head for Daniel to take another one next to him while they continue their conversation. "Which I'm sure he'll get, the longer you stick around for."

"Well, that's my intention." He nods, in acknowledgement to his own words. "And I hope you and Levi will stick together, too. You both deserve the happiness you give to each other."

"I'm not so sure about that," George argues softly. "My track record isn't exactly flawless. Not by a long shot."

"How do you mean?" Daniel furrows his brows curiously.

"I ... have a girlfriend back home in London," he confesses. "But I don't love her, because obviously I'm not attracted to women. But I've just found out she's pregnant, too. I've been wanting to leave her for so long, but I don't know how to do it without breaking her heart."

"Ah." Daniel looks a little floored by this revelation, but he tries to remain supportive despite this. "I'm guessing Levi knows about her?"

"Of course. She's the person I was trying to confess to, when Levi called me the first time." He heaves a sigh, shrugging to dismiss how much the situation bothers him. "She loves me so much, and I feel so guilty for every second I stay with her. It's even worse now I'll be having a child with her. I'm just glad Levi is so patient about it all. I feel as though I don't deserve him half the time."

"Don't talk like that." Daniel playfully punches George's shoulder, to motivate him. "You are a good man, George. I know there's a question of morals involved with cheating on a young pregnant woman, but you can't help the way you feel. It doesn't make you a bad person through and through. I guess, as long as you tell her sooner rather than later ... the damage won't quite be as bad."

"I've been with her for two years," he adds. "She'll have been living with me for six months, come Christmas Day. I'm in too deep for this to cause no damage. It's going to break her."

"But by staying with her, you're only damaging yourself," Daniel reminds him. "And I know she's carrying your baby, and she doesn't deserve the hurt ... but really, you can't keep thinking of how others will feel. You need to start living your life for yourself. The only way you're ever going to feel better about this, is by telling her the truth. She can only heal once she's been told everything. Until then ... she's just sitting in a pit of pain that she doesn't even know about yet. And it'll only feel worse the longer you leave it."

"I'm just so scared," George frowns. "What if she hates me for this? And what if she turns everybody against me for who I am?"

"Then that's on her. But I'm sure she isn't a perfect human being either. People mess up, kid. Everyone does. But it isn't about the mistakes you make — it's about how you deal with the repercussions. If you own up and correct your wrongdoing, you can say you did the right thing. If she goes around bitching about you, that's her handling it the wrong way — and that isn't your fault."

"But I'd deserve it if she did that," George states in defeat. "For what I'm doing to her."

"So you own your mistake and you grow from it once the shitstorm is over. Until you confess, there's nothing you can do to grow from the mistake. If you're scared, you're scared. You can only do this once you're ready."

"You're very helpful," George tells him, giving him a genuine smile. "I know it's all common sense stuff, but ... I guess I just needed somebody to say it straight to me. So thank you."

"It's nothing." Daniel pats the side of George's arm supportively. "And hey — I know you have Mr Lover Boy over there, but if you ever need a second pair of ears for any problems, you know where I am."

"I appreciate it." George nods, taking on board what Daniel has said to him; he looks across to Levi. "Hey, Levi? Come talk to us. We're having a great time over here."

Levi looks apprehensive about engaging in intimate conversation with Daniel, but hesitantly makes his way over to the garden chairs anyway. "What are you talking about?"

"Just a bit of everything," Daniel answers. "Life in general." He pulls a third chair for the young man. "Come and sit with us."

Levi obliges, taking a seat with the pair; once he's settled, he throws the tennis balls into the distance for the dogs to catch again. "So, what's the current subject?"

"Love," George replies. "Relationships. Motivational stuff. This guy is great to rant to." He gestures to Daniel. "You should talk to him more often."

"I'm always open to everything," Daniel adds, in support of George's words. "Especially for you boys. Penny thinks the world of both of you ... so I do, too."

The kindness takes Levi by surprise, despite his reservations about this man. He evaluates that it's fair to give him a chance; so he sits back in his chair, throwing tennis balls every so often, and allows himself to freely talk with George and Daniel for a while.

•••

Chapter thirty-six! Hope you enjoyed. xx