Title: Pretend
By: sarcasticsra
Summary: Nick has to pretend.
Pairing: Nick/Greg
Rating: PG
A/N: Thanks for the beta, Kelly.

***

When it came to having the perfect home life, Nick pretended.

His father was a successful judge, his mother a first-rate attorney. His sisters were all in excellent careers, either married or engaged. Everything was great. Wonderful. Perfect. All that was missing was the white picket fence.

Nick had a good enough career, of course, but if he had to endure another look and, "When do you plan to settle down? You're forty-two," from his mom, he thought he might scream or punch something.

Because he couldn't tell his mom that he'd found the person he wanted to "settle down" with – that they were already in the process. Said person was not dainty, not Texan, and would probably die laughing at the thought of bearing children.

Greg Sanders was also decidedly Not-Female.

Nick loved Greg, and Greg knew it. Nick had also been quite uncomfortable with his feelings at first, confused as to how Greg could be so sure.

"Okay, Mr. Denial Isn't Just A River In Egypt, it's not that complicated. Just let yourself feel," Greg had said, smiling goofily despite his rather wise words.

It was the memory that made Nick wonder if he had ever stood a chance of not falling in love with him.

But, all of this, Nick's parents did not, could not, and would not know. He didn't know low long he'd keep the secret, or how long his mother would ask him about marriage, kids, and the trusty dog named Lucky, but he knew he couldn't tell her the truth. "Alternate lifestyle" for his parents meant having spaghetti dinner on Thursday instead of Tuesday.

Sometimes, Nick pretended he told them and was accepted instantly. He pretended no one cared that Greg didn't have two X-chromosomes, and that he was a part of the family, like all of his sisters' husbands or fiancés. It was a great daydream, but at the end of the day, that's all it was – his imagination.

Nick wished he didn't have to pretend.

-End