Lois, thank you for the beta...you are the greatest!
Author’s Comments: If you don’t remember about the award mentioned in this chapter, please see Superheroes, chapter 23 to refresh your memory.
Chapter 6 - A Long Awaited Meeting, Part 1
Wednesday Afternoon in Cincinnati…(Day 38)
Jason and Nicky had arrived at the airport a few minutes early. Nicky liked to watch the planes land and take off. He also liked to watch all the service trucks under the planes. The combination of the planes and the trucks kept the Nicky occupied until Jason heard the announcement that Justin’s plane had arrived, and they proceeded to the gate.
The area near the gate was crowded so Jason raised Nicky up to his shoulders so he could see above the crowds as they both watched for Justin.
Only Jason saw Justin coming through the gate, and they simply nodded and smiled at one another. When the crowd had separated enough for Justin to be clearly seen, Jason lowered Nicky to the floor but tried to hold on to his hand.
Unfortunately, at that moment Nicky saw Justin clearly and that ended all control. “Jusssssstin!” Nicky called out as he started to run as fast as his little legs would carry him in the direction of Justin.
Justin, being quite used to little people projectiles aimed in his direction, simply went down on one knee to accept the running toddler. Justin caught the little person and lifted him in the air and swung him around before he said, “Wow, Nicky. You got sooooooooo big while I was away.”
“I’m really big now.” Nicky informed him in no uncertain terms. “I’m gonna be four years old,” he proceeded to remind Justin, in case there was any doubt about his approaching birthday.
“You know, I did hear something about that,” Justin teased with a laugh, giving Nicky a big hug.
Justin then let Nicky slide down to stand on the floor, and he reached over and greeted Jason with a hug.
“You’re here at last,” Jason said with a sigh. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you.”
“It’s good to see you too,” Justin whispered. “Of course, I can’t complain about my welcoming committee,” Justin added, reaching down to take Nicky’s hand and getting a big smile in return.
“You have made one almost-four-year-old very happy,” Jason pointed out with a laugh. “He could hardly wait for you to get here.”
“Me too,” Justin admitted.
The trio proceeded to the luggage carousel to retrieve Justin’s bag, and then, they headed out of the terminal and quickly settled into the car.
“Now, it’s time for you to get busy. After all, you have a lot of work to do.” Jason reminded him as they were driving away from the airport.
“So I don’t even get a chance to rest from my long flight…maybe get a chance to unpack before you press me into service?” Justin questioned with mock surprise.
“Are you kidding? Everyone is waiting for you back at the house. They’re as excited about your visit as Nicky and me. I’m just glad you came early.”
“Now that I’m here, what is this about you soundproofing the guest room?” Justin quietly asked.
“Oh that! You’ll see when you get to the house,” Jason remarked with a sinister grin.
“I can hardly wait.”
“We’re hoping that you and Brian will be so impressed that you’ll visit more often. You do know how much we love you guys.”
“So Nicky, did all your birthday packages arrive?”
Nicky shook his head yes. Then his expression grew rather sad. “But Dad and Daddy wouldn’t let me open anything. He said I had to save them until my birthday.”
“Did your daddy tell you that Gus was coming?”
Nicky immediately showed his excitement by bouncing in the back seat. “Have I ever seen Gus?” Nicky finally asked.
Justin thought for a moment and said, “I don’t think so. But I have a picture to show you, if you want to see it.”
“Yes. Yes. Yes!” Nicky said all excited. He could barely wait for Justin to open his wallet. Justin reached into his wallet and removed the picture of Gus and Brian and handed it to Nicky.
“See that’s Gus,” Justin said as he watched Nicky’s eyes grow wider.
“He’s little like me?” Nicky observed.
“Gus is a little taller than you because he is 2 years older, but he is really excited about meeting you too. See Gus has dark brown hair, and you have red hair. Gus has straight hair, but you have curly hair. See?”
Nicky finally looked at the picture and got it. “There’s Uncle Brian too,” Nicky added after taking a closer look at the picture.
“Yep, that’s him.”
“See, Gus sort of looks like Uncle Brian the way you sort of look like Daddy and me,” Jason tried to explain without looking at the picture.
“Ah huh. Does Gus look like Justin too?” Nicky immediately asked.
“Gee Nicky, I don’t know. No one has ever asked me that before,” Justin looked over at Jason for answers.
Jason as usual, was going to be no help. He simply smiled at the question and waited to see how Justin was going to get himself out of this one.
“I’ll tell you what…when Gus gets here, you can look and see if Gus looks like me, ok?” Justin suggested, totaling realizing why Nicky would ask the question.
“Ok,” Nicky said nonchalantly.
“But it really doesn’t matter if Gus looks like me. I still love him very much. Just like I love you.”
This answer seemed to satisfy Nicky for the moment as he reached out to touch Justin’s hand with a smile. “I love you too, Jus,” he said.
Nicky continued to have a private talk with the picture of Gus for the remainder of the trip home.
Jason and Justin remained deep in thought. Both of them were thinking the same thing. How do you explain complex family relationships to an almost-four-year-old? And once it was explained, would this topic resurface over and over again in the course of this weekend.
For Nicky’s biological mother was Gabrielle, and Gabrielle was Paul’s sister. Jason was Nicky’s the biological father. So of course, Nicky sort of resembled BOTH his dads, Paul and Jason. But Justin knew that was not usually the case. Usually kids in gay and lesbian families were lucky to resemble one parent. Nicky just happened to look like both his parents.
Nicky thinks of both Paul and Jason as his dads the same way that Gus thinks of BOTH Lindsay and Melanie as his mommies.
Justin is pretty sure if asked, Gus would explain things a little differently to anyone, who would listen. Gus would say that he has two mommies, one dad, and something no one else has…A Justin. This description seemed to cause Brian to laugh every time he heard it, for it so adequately described the way things were for Gus.
Justin had a feeling that he would hear many descriptions of a family over the course of the upcoming weekend, and he remembered what he saw at the Toronto Zoo. He also thought about his Liberty Avenue Family and smiled. As Justin pieced it all together, ‘diversity’ and ‘family’ both were developing new meanings for him.
The car pulled into the driveway of the house. Once again, Nicky took Justin’s hand to lead him to the front door. Jason walked behind carrying Justin’s suitcase. Nicky still had Gus’ picture clutched securely in his other hand.
When they reached the front door, it opened immediately, and Paul came forward and gave Justin a big hug. “Justin,” he said, “You’re finally here.”
“Paul,” Justin whispered, enjoying the embrace.
“Justin, it’s good to see you. And let me get my hugs in now…before Brian gets here,” Paul teased, while still holding on to Justin.
“C’mon Paul, he’s not really that bad,” Justin countered as he started to lean back. “You must have him confused with someone else. Remember Brian Kinney doesn’t do jealousy.”
“Of course he doesn’t,” Paul agreed with a sarcastic tone. “He’s just so possessive that he has this internal sensor, which calculates how long anyone is allowed to hug you. When his internal timer goes off, that’s it. Brian wants all hands off of you. I don’t blame him. I feel the same way about Jason,” he said, leaning over and giving his partner a kiss.
Nicky decided at that moment that he had been ignored long enough. “Me, Daddy.”
“I’m sorry, Nicky,” Paul said, reaching down to pick up his son. “How’s my big boy?”
Nicky bounced with glee, putting is arms around his daddy’s neck and giving him a very wet kiss. Everyone just laughed.
As Paul lowered Nicky back down to the floor, he noticed that Nicky had something in his hand. “What do you have there?” he asked, trying to get a better view of the picture. This view was obstructed by Nicky’s thumb as he tightly clutched the picture.
“It’s a picture of Brian and Gus,” Justin explained. “I was showing Nicky what Gus looked like.”
Nicky handed the picture to Paul, who took a look at the picture and said, “Gus has sure grown since the last time we saw him, hasn’t he Jason?”
Jason got his first look at the picture and said, “Yeah. He was just a baby then, no more than 2 years old. And I remember that in a room full of people to choose from, he clung to Justin like there was no one else in the world,” Jason said with all seriousness.
Justin just blushed at the comment.
“Come on in and sit down, I have another surprise for you,” Paul said with a gleam in his eyes.
They removed their coats, and everyone moved into the living room. Justin curled up in his favorite oversized chair, and Nicky immediately climbed in with him, just as he had always done whenever Justin visited.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do when you get bigger Nicky, and when we both might not fit in this chair together anymore.” Justin casually mentioned.
“I’ll obviously just have to get a bigger chair,” Paul commented with a laugh. Then he made the suggestion to his son, “You know Nicky, you could come over here and sit with me?” Paul said, making himself comfortable on the sofa. He then, patted the space beside him as a hint to Nicky.
Nicky looked at Paul as if he had suddenly grown an additional head and proceeded to snuggle in closer to Justin’s chest and to make himself more comfortable.
“I see the answer is no,” Paul quipped with a laugh. “Justin, he has talked about nothing but your coming for weeks. He really is glad that you’re finally here.”
“Me too.” Justin whispered, giving Nicky another hug.
“I’m sure after that long flight, you’re probably ready for a snack,” Jason suggested as her re-entered the living room with a tray of cold drinks and sandwiches for everyone. As Justin went to reach for his plate, he noticed that there was someone else in the room.
Justin looked past Jason and noticed another figure approaching, “Gabrielle,” he said with a smile, struggling to stand up and give her a hug. Nicky wasn’t about to release his grip so he was brought along for the hug. “What are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you until later.”
“Justin, it’s good to see you like always. I just wanted to be here to welcome you properly. Nicky has been learning to tell time so he has been counting down the time until your arrival.” Gabrielle said, rolling her eyes. “You have no idea, how glad we all are that you’re finally here. Where’s Brian?”
“Brian had a meeting in New York. Then, he’s going to pick up Gus so they’ll be here probably on Friday, whereas I came directly from Pittsburgh, well the house in West Virginia actually.”
“Oh yes, I’ve heard about the house. The prevailing rumor is, that it’s a mansion. Brian never does anything in a small way so I’m not surprised. I can hardly wait to see it. But what I really want, is for you to tell me all about New York?” Gabrielle said with a laugh. “I only know bits and pieces from these two here. I didn’t press because I knew that I would get the true scoop from you as soon as you were in the door.”
“Well, there really isn’t too much to tell. I have a small loft there. I also have a separate studio too. I have been there for the year while Brian’s been in Pittsburgh. Brian and I see each other whenever we can. I’ve managed to be included in a few exhibits with other artists. And now, three galleries want to carry my paintings. I’ve done a few shows in a few other cities. I recently did a show in Santa Barbara,” Justin relayed. “I guess, that just about sums it up. Except…I guess, you know that I’ll be here, for the opening of the new wing of Cincinnati Art Gallery,” Justin said innocently.
“Justin, everybody knows that you’re going to be here for that opening…it’s already been in all the papers,” Gabrielle pointed out, feeling like she was stating old news.
“What?”
“Didn’t the gallery tell you?”
“No. Well, I guess that I’ve been moving around a bit. Maybe the news hasn’t quite caught up with me yet.”
“Don’t worry, we saved the article,” Jason said. “You’re famous now.”
“You should read the article. It’s very interesting,” Paul commented. “It seems that you’re going to be the ‘Featured Artist’. The whole article is mostly about you.”
“You’re kidding?”
“When were you planning on telling us, Justin?” Paul demanded to know, trying to scowl so that Justin would understand the seriousness of his omission.
“Excuse me?”
“When were you planning on telling us about you being the Featured Artist?” Paul repeated his question for emphasis.
“C’mon Paul, don’t make a big deal about it. You would have found out when you attended,” Justin pointed out, without showing any remorse. “Then, it would have been a nice surprise for you.”
“Not good enough, Blondie. Please tell me that, at least, you told Brian about this?”
“Of course, I told Brian. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“So Paul, did you get tickets for the ENTIRE family to attend the Justin’s exhibit?” Gabrielle asked with hands on her hips. “Or, only for you and Jason?”
Justin watched her and thought she must have taken lessons from Debbie about how to get her point across.
“See how much trouble you cause, Justin. It would have been so much simpler if you had told me everything when you were here weeks ago.” Paul persisted. “I would have purchased tickets for everyone right from the start. Now I have to go back and get the remaining tickets. See how much trouble you cause? Is there anything else you would like to tell us? Let’s get everything out in the open, right here and now.”
“I can’t think of anything,” Justin said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“I see.” Paul said and immediately got up and went into his study. He returned, carrying a folded glossy newspaper. “So, it’s going to be like that is it?”
“What do you have there?” Justin innocently asked.
“You mean, you don’t know?” Paul continued.
“C’mon Paul, give him a break. He probably hasn’t seen it. After all, he’s been traveling all morning.”
Paul took great pleasure in the opportunity to make grand, sweeping gestures.
First he unfolded what was in his hands just enough to show Justin the name of the glossy newspaper. “Here, see the title of the publication. Does the name Advertising Age ring a bell?”
“Should it?” Justin asked with some confusion.
Paul sighed with exasperation. “Jason, help me out here.”
“Justin, what my partner is trying to tell you, is that Adz Age, which was delivered this morning, included in this issue a list of the nominees for the Bronze Quill Award.”
“Oh. That’s nice. What does that have to do with me?” Justin innocently asked as he went back to eating his sandwich.
Paul opened to the page with the listing of the nominees and handed the page to Justin. Then, he leaned back into the sofa and waited for Justin’s reaction.
“My name is listed,” Justin quietly acknowledged. “I can’t believe it.” Justin sat there in stunned silence.
“Justin. Justin. Say something.” Jason demanded. “We didn’t even know that you were nominated until we saw this. Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I don’t know what to say,” Justin answered.
“Keep turning the pages. There’s background information about each of the nominees in each category. So you should read about yourself.” Paul simply announced to everyone present. “I’m going to call Brian.”
Paul pulled out his cell phone and placed the call. “Hi Cynthia, it’s Paul Dunbar. Is Brian available?”
Cynthia immediately announced who was on the line and transferred the call to Brian.
“Paul,” Brian began, “To what do I owe this call? I take it that Justin has arrived. Is he ok?”
Paul chuckled a bit and then continued, “Justin is experiencing a bit of stunned silence at the moment, but otherwise he’s ok. I did want to let you know that he arrived safely. Nicky is thrilled.”
“Well, that’s good. Paul, but why is Justin experiencing stunned silence. We both know there’re a lot of terms one would use to describe Justin, but ‘silence’ has never been one of them. What going on?”
“Brian, did you get your copy of Adz Age this morning?”
“Yeah, but I’ve been in meetings… It’s here in the stack on my desk. What about it?”
“Can you pull it out of the stack?” Paul requested.
“What going on, Paul?”
“Just humor me.” Paul could hear the rustling of papers.
“Ok Paul, I’ve got it.”
“Turn to page 3.” Paul said, and then he paused and waited. “Do you see it?” Paul patiently waited for Brian to search the page. “The nominees for the Bronze Quill Award are listed,” Paul said and then waited again. “Now do you see it?”
“Holy shit, Justin’s name is listed!”
“Turn to page 6. They included background information on him as well.”
“Holy shit!”
Paul thoroughly enjoyed Brian’s reaction and couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease. “Well, I’ll see you when you get here, Brian. In the meantime, I have a Bronze Quill Nominee under my roof. This is the recruiting opportunity of a lifetime. I’m going to see if I can get Justin’s signature on a contract while he’s still in his stunned state,” Paul took great pleasure in mentioning all of this, knowing full well this would upset Brian.
“Paul, we’ve had this discussion before!” Brian said sternly. “You agreed to leave Justin alone about that job! You promised not to try to recruit him!”
“Oh, that was when he was a lowly student at PIFA. Now he’s a Bronze Quill Nominee, it’s a whole new ball game,” Paul said, reminding Brian that the original ground rules, which dated back to when they first reconnected years ago, were no longer in effect. Paul was enjoying every minute of Brian’s discomfort.
“Will you stop gloating long enough to tell me if he’s ok?” Brian demanded, having some difficulty getting Paul to cooperate with him.
Paul handed his phone to Justin.
“Hey,” Justin said.
“Hey. Are you ok?” Brian asked immediately with some concern, knowing that Justin might be having some difficulty accepting the news.
“I’m just a little bit stunned. I know that we talked about this, but I never expected to make it this far,” Justin admitted. “The competition was pretty stiff, and I have very little experience.”
“I’m not surprised. In fact, I’m very proud of you. Congratulations. Wow! This is something else!” Brian said, allowing his excitement for his partner to show through. “Are you going to be ok?”
“I think so,” Justin whispered.
“Now don’t let Paul pressure you into anything until I get there. You can’t work for Dunbar and Smith,” Brian insisted. “It’s not even an option. We have plans. We made promises,” Brian reminded him.
Justin relaxed a bit and smiled at what Brian just said.
“I know,” Justin whispered. “Paul was just giving you a hard time. All he did was show me the article,” Justin confessed with a sigh.
“Oh well, that’s good. I see that Paul has been spending too much time with Jason again. Jason’s bad habits seem to be rubbing off on him.”
“I would definitely have to agree with you,” Justin said with a laugh.
“Look, I’ll see you in a day or so, but I’ll talk to you later tonight.” Brian said.
“Later.” Justin said, and then he handed the phone back to Paul.
“Brian…I’ll see you when you and Gus get here. We’ll have lots to talk about,” Paul teased, unable to resist the urge to get in one more dig.
“Will you try to behave yourself until I arrive? Justin’s under enough pressure as it is with the upcoming shows and Milan and all. Now this. Just don’t add to things, ok?” Brian said sternly, hoping Paul would get the message.
“Got it. You don’t have to worry. Jason and I will take good care of him. See you soon,” Paul finally said.
By the time Paul closed his phone, Gabrielle was sitting on the arm of Justin’s chair with her arm around him. “Don’t pay any attention to that brother of mine. He’s just trying to upset Brian. Let’s face it, it’s one of his most favorite past times,” she reminded him, scowling at Paul as she spoke.
Paul and Jason couldn’t resist laughing.
Justin took a few sips of his drink and let everything settle in. “I’m a finalist for the Bronze Quill. I still can’t believe it.” Justin said aloud.
“Believe it, Sweetie,” Gabrielle insisted. “From what I can tell, you have entered the big leagues. It’s probably a good thing that you’re here in Cincinnati. The press is probably camped on your doorstep in New York, trying to get an interview.”
Justin smiled and leaned against over against her. “Gabrielle, this is the Bronze Quill, not the Academy Awards. I may get written up in the trades, but that should be it,” Justin said as a way to halt Gabrielle’s fantasies.
“Are you ok now?” Jason finally asked.
“I think so,” Justin acknowledged, sliding lower in his chair and accepting another hug from Nicky in the process.
“Good. Because according to my calculations…” Jason began until he was interrupted.
“Jason, you’re an artist. Please leave the calculations to people like Ted,” Justin teased.
“I will have you know I finally finished my MBA program. So please?” Jason tried to make his point again. “So as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted… according to my calculations, your exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Gallery, your exhibit at the Thornton Gallery in New York, the emerging artist exhibit in Milan, and the awards ceremony for the Bronze Quill should all be happening at about the same time.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Justin said with a smile, thinking about the recent decision for he and Brian to move to New York together.
“Well, I guess with this little piece of news, we should at least allow you time to unpack and maybe even let you rest for a moments before we put you to work,” Jason finally said with a smile, “C’mon let me show you to your room.”
Paul grabbed Nicky into a big bear hug, so he was content to remain in the living room with him and Gabrielle while Jason led Justin to the guest room.