Yeah, and he might have said it was important for Dick Grayson to have a father than Alfred to be Bruce's Dad. They didn't, get over it.
Look, you don't like him using Tresser in this, fine, we get that, I'm not that hot on it myself as I liked Tresser in his solo stoey and Suicide Squad days and this iteration has never seemed like him.
Is it "paper thin"? Perhaps, but it's THERE, and complaining just about every single week about Busiek actually USING a character that he actively made a choice to use (for better or worse) is a hiding to nothing.
Narratively it would be worse to build him up and then NOT mention him at key moments. If he were to "stop now", you'd end up with a complete clusterbollocks like Countdown, where character relations consistency between issues was a moot point.
Plus I'd also throw in that "lover" does NOT always means someone you've had sex with, it can just mean someone you love. Not as common these days, but still in use.