Thanks Lois for the beta...you're the greatest! Chapter 21 – Unexpected Arrivals The Next Morning…(Day 14) Debbie and Carl were relaxing at home, leisurely reading the Sunday papers. Emmett had recently come downstairs to mention that Drew wanted to come over to watch the game with Carl. Carl was excited to have the company since he knew Debbie would soon be busy preparing dinner, and Emmett would probably be lending her a hand. Emmett and Debbie had already started to move in the direction of the kitchen. There was a knock on the door. Carl looked out the glass portion of the door, but didn’t see anyone. Thinking it was his imagination; he returned to his favorite chair and made himself comfortable. Just as Carl got settled, he heard the knock again. He got up again to check. Carl was just about to approach the door again, when it appeared to open all by itself. “Grandpa Carl, didn’t you want to let me in?” Gus asked, with his hands on his hips. “Gus, what are you doing here?” Carl said sweeping Gus into a hug. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you earlier.” Then Carl looked up and saw Ben and Michael smiling behind Gus. Carl greeted everyone. “Are Lindsay and Melanie with you?” Carl asked, looking behind them for the girls and noticing that they weren’t there, “What are you doing with Gus?” Gus meanwhile scampered into the kitchen and was now in the middle of big hugs with Debbie and Emmett. “We couldn’t reach Justin in New York, so we decided to take a flight to Toronto,” Ben explained calmly. “How’s JR?” Carl asked. “She’s fine. She’s really growing. You should see her Carl; she has really gotten big,” Michael pointed out with pride. “Melanie and Lindsay were fine too.” At that moment, Debbie returned to the living room, while Emmett gave Gus some milk in the kitchen. “Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?” Debbie asked, with hands on her hips, as she walked into the room. “Don’t get upset Ma. Lindsay and I were talking about my painting. I mentioned that JT wasn’t in the picture and all. Gus overheard this and got upset,” Michael started to explain. Debbie walked over and swiped Michael on the back of his head. Somehow, he was expecting that. “Ma!” he protested. Then he continued. “So Gus talked to Brian yesterday, now he knows Justin is ok. Brian even let Gus talk to Justin. Gus was happy and everything seemed fine. Then this morning at breakfast, Gus tried to stage a protest,” Michael explained with a laugh. “Gus came down to breakfast this morning and refused to sit at the table. Then he announced he was starting a hunger strike until he saw HIS Justin. I think he must have overheard about the tactic from Melanie. It makes me wonder what they’re teaching the kids. Nevertheless, he refused to eat his cereal. He folded his little arms across his chest and got that stubborn look. You know the one Brian has when you know he’s not going to budge. Gus hasn’t been talking to Lindsay and Melanie since yesterday, so they were just beside themselves. So Ben and I agreed to bring Gus back with us. I’m sure the only reason Melanie and Lindsay agreed, was because they knew Justin was here. They would have never let Gus come and stay like this with just Brian.” “Well that’s quite some story,” she remarked, reaching over to finally hug Michael and Ben. Michael and Ben brought Carl and Debbie up to date on some of the other highlights of their trip. After everyone was caught up, Michael asked, “Carl, could I borrow you car? I need to drop off Gus at Brian’s, plus I wanted to check on Hunter and the store before dinner.” “I think I’ll stay here and hang out with Carl,” Ben said. “I’ll leave my cell phone on if you need me.” Michael went to retrieve Gus from the kitchen. With Gus in one hand and the keys from Carl in the other, Michael left for his appointed rounds. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Brian and Justin were curled up on the sofa in the living room, reading the paper. Justin was spooned against Brian’s chest, securely held in Brian’s arms. “Are you going to go with your mother to look at temporary loft space tomorrow?” Brian asked casually, as he turned the page. “No. I don’t think it’ll be necessary,” Justin said nonchalantly. Then Justin could feel Brian’s muscles tighten. “Oh?” Brian commented, trying not to let his fear that Justin was about to leave take over his whole being. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I have a better idea,” Justin said, ”I’m just not sure how you’ll feel about it though,” Justin said pensively. Brian held his breath waiting to hear. He knew from experience the moment that Justin uttered the words, ‘I’ve been thinking’, that he needed to be prepared for anything. After all this was Justin. “All right, what are you thinking?” “Well, I think I want to stay at the house and paint,” Justin said sheepishly. “What house?” Brian asked, just to make sure they were on the same page. “Bri-tin of course!” Justin confirmed, trying to figure out why Brian was being so dense. “Justin …” “Brian, please?” Justin said almost in a whisper. “I don’t know,” Brian whispered in response. Justin turned around and starting kissing Brian ever so gently on the lips then on the neck. “It’ll just be for a little while…wouldn’t it be fun?” Justin suggested, while continuing his kisses. “Justin the house isn’t livable. I haven’t been there since you left. That’s almost a year.” “I know. But you have caretakers and everything,” Justin pointed out. “Everything works doesn’t it?” “Sure, everything works in the house? It’s just empty,” Brian confirmed sadly. “I’m sure we could rent what we need. I sure Emmett would help,” Justin suggested “That seems like an awful lot of work if you’re leaving in a couple of days,” Brian said hesitantly. Justin heard the Kinney-speak loud and clear. Brian wanted him to stay, but was afraid to ask. “Well I was thinking of staying longer, if that’s ok. I want to stay at least until the project that you brought me here for, is finished. Of course, I have to fly out for meetings and stuff with my agent, but that would just be day trips. I was thinking that I could paint here, in Pittsburgh…or rather West Virginia. I was thinking I could maybe stay for a while,” Justin finally said and then waited with baited breath for Brian’s response. Brian fell completely silent. He heard the ‘I was thinking I could maybe stay for a while’ and he couldn’t speak. He sat in stunned silence. Brian was afraid to move…afraid to blink for fear that what he had just heard would vanish in a whisper. He once again sent up a silent prayer of thanks, as he felt his heart soar. “If you’re sure that’s what you want to do,” Brian said, trying to sound calm but knowing that Justin could feel his racing heart. “I don’t see any problem.” Brian pulled Justin into a passionate kiss. When they separated for air, Brian tried to speak again, “Wouldn’t you rather get a studio here in town? Although I will admit I like the idea of being at the house, after all the interruptions of yesterday, we would be far enough away that I would have you all to myself. But are you sure it’s what you want?” “Yes,” Justin affirmed. “All right,” Brian agreed. “I’ll call the caretakers tomorrow and have them get everything ready. I’ll talk to Cynthia in the morning so she can find out about renting whatever we need.” “I’ll talk to Emmett during dinner,” Justin volunteered. “Be sure you keep it quiet Justin, you know if the family finds out you need help, they will all get involved, and you won’t be able to get any painting done.” “I promise.” “It will be fun to stay at the house,” Brian finally said with a smile, knowing in truth, that it was all he had ever wanted. Brian and Justin just sat there spooned together for a while, each deep in thought about staying at Bri-tin. Neither one of them said anything. They just simply snuggled closer together. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ As Justin was reading the arts section of the paper aloud to Brian, they heard the door to the loft slide open. Brian kissed the top of Justin’s head, as he whispered, “Michael”. The sound of approaching little footsteps suddenly made both Brian and Justin move in the direction of the door. Justin bent down just as this speeding little person propelled himself into Justin’s waiting arms. Gus giggled joyfully “Jus is that really you?” Gus asked, squeezing his little arms around Justin’s neck and not letting go. “I don’t suppose you remember me?” Brian asked, pretending to be hurt. “Oh yeah, hi Dad.” Gus said, without taking a step or releasing his grip on Justin. Brian just smiled and shook his head. The he peeled off Gus’s coat and moved back towards the door to talk to Michael, leaving Gus and Justin alone. Brian took one look back over his shoulder and smiled at the two most important people in his life. “Mikey.” Brian said. “Look Brian,” Michael interrupted. “Gus threatened a hunger strike in protest until Melanie and Lindsay let him see Justin. He made his point by not eating his cereal this morning at breakfast. So Ben and I agreed to bring him back with us. I’m sure the only reason they let Gus come back with us was because they knew Justin was here to take care of him. It seems Gus is out of school this week, so he won’t be missing any school time.” “Thanks, Mikey.” “Look I’m really sorry about what happened,” Michael said humbly. “I guess I’d better let you get back to Gus and Justin. Don’t forget Ma is still expecting all of you for dinner.” “I’ll see you later, Mikey,” Brian said as he ushered Michael out the door with a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks again.” Michael started to feel a little better. Brian walked back into the living room. Gus had already settled into Justin’s lap with his back against Justin’s chest. Justin and Gus now were reading the funnies together. Gus had one of his arms raised and one hand was resting against Justin’s cheek. Brian spooned in behind Justin and held them both. Brian laughed to himself as he tried to picture Gus and his protest, hunger strike. Brian reached for his cell phone to call Lindsay and let her know that Gus had arrived safely. Brian handed the phone to Gus, so he could talk to his mother. Justin also talked briefly with Lindsay. Lindsay made a point to tell Justin that they only let Gus visit because they knew he was there. Justin was quick to point out to Lindsay that she was STILL underestimating Brian. Justin reminded Lindsay how much Brian loved Gus. Lindsay wanted to know about how New York was going, but Justin said he would tell her everything we he saw her. Justin got up to fix everyone a snack, while Gus and Brian continued to read the paper together. Justin returned with a plate of fresh fruit. There were also a small stack of the double creamed Oreos, which both Gus and Brian had no trouble finding. Brian called the car rental agency and arranged for an acceptable rental car to be delivered immediately. Brian wanted a luxury car…Justin wanted a van…they settled on a luxury SUV. After all Brian knew he was going to have to drive the car while Gus was here, so it had to meet his usual demanding standards. Justin couldn’t believe how much trouble a simplest thing could be when Brian was involved. Since this was the agency that Kinnetik used extensively, Brian arranged for the car to be delivered to the loft immediately, and that Cynthia would straighten out the paperwork on Monday. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ After dropping Gus at the loft, Michael stopped by the comic book store. He found that Hunter had everything under control. Michael let Hunter know he was very proud of him for handling the store while he was away. Hunter blushed at the unexpected praise. Seeing that the store was in good hands, Michael walked into his office. He spent a few minutes checking the things on his desk; then his eyes drifted up to the painting. It appeared that Hunter had hung the painting of the Superheroes on the wall, as a surprise for Michael. Michael got up and walked over to the painting. He ran his fingers gently over the painting. “It’s ok that they didn’t believe me when I said that Justin was lost in New York,” Michael said aloud to the painting, as if the superheroes would understand every word he was saying. “Brian brought Justin back home, and that’s all that matters. Brian and Justin belong together.” Michael looked at the painting, but his thoughts were remembering the sight of Gus clinging to Justin, as if his little life depended on it. Michael also remembered the look in Gus’s eyes the moment he saw Justin. At that moment for Gus, no one else in the world existed but Justin. Michael realized he had seen that same look in Brian’s eyes many times, whenever Brian looked at Justin. Brian’s feelings for Justin had been so plain for all to see, and Michael wondered how he could have missed them. Michael thought about Jenny Rebecca and the fact that Melanie and Lindsay and the kids were now living in Toronto. He kicked himself for his part in that travesty because he failed to stand his ground and talk to Melanie about the importance of family. Instead he allowed Melanie to succumb to her own paranoia and relocate to Toronto. Michael believed now that their move to Toronto was a big mistake. Watching Gus with Justin had shown him that. Even though Brian had supported him a million times, Michael failed to support Brian when it was most important. Michael had visions of having Brian all to himself again, so he allowed his own child to be taken to another country. In his anger with Brian over the custody battle, Michael had even allowed Gus to be separated from Brian. All his efforts had been in vain, because Michael received less time with Brian in this last year than he had ever spent over their twenty previous years of knowing each other. Michael thought about all that he had lost. Michael also realized that Ben was an understanding man, but even Ben’s patience was wearing thin. Michael finally realized that he could still lose it all if he wasn’t more careful. Michael touched the painting one last time to remember what it was like to be 14 years old again…when life was simpler…and he was with Brian on those special Saturday afternoons in his bedroom, dreaming of superheroes. Michael turned out he light in his office and returned to the main store. He helped Hunter close up the comic book store and set the alarm. Hunter joined Michael in the car for the short ride back to Debbie’s. Michael told Hunter the highlights of his trip and the story of the “littlest protester”. Hunter was laughing so hard that his sides hurt by the time he reached Debbie’s, especially as he visualized the image of Gus-in-protest. Now Hunter was definitely looking forward to the return of Brian and Justin family dinners.