Lois and Carolyn, thanks for the beta...you’re the greatest!
Chapter 42 – Talk To Me Late Thursday Night…(Day 46) Brian and Justin quickly undressed. Brian stepped into the swirling waters of the hot tub and extended his hand to help Justin join him there. Justin lowered himself to enjoy the warm waters, and then positioned himself in his favorite position, spooned against Brian’s chest. Brian enjoyed the contact of skin to skin, and Justin had really missed this special closeness too. “We can’t stay here very long, you and I have important things to do in the morning. Tomorrow is going to be a really long day, and we need to get a good night’s sleep,” Brian said, trying to make a point. It obviously didn’t work, for Justin replied with, “You’re not going to get out of this, Brian, so start talking.” Brian just sighed. “What would you like me to talk about, Sunshine?” Brian tried to feign innocence. “Why did you make the decision to legalize our relationship? That’s a pretty big decision; in fact, I would go so far as to say huge, monstrous…” Justin was prepared to go on, but Brian chose to interrupt. “Ok, ok, I get the picture!” Brian said sternly. Then he softened his tone to ask, “Now what’s your point?” “With the way you feel about these things, this is a pretty big decision, don’t you think? So are you going to tell me what’s really going on?” Justin patiently asked again. “There is no impending disaster. My health is good. I didn’t almost lose you in an explosion. I promise you, I’m not reacting to anything. Things in New York really look promising. I just want us to do this together. I want to share a life with you. I’ve been thinking about this for some time. Max and I had talked about it. I called him from New York and asked him to prepare the paperwork. This just feels right, Justin. End of story.” “And you’re sure that this is what you want to do?” Justin had to ask one last time. “I’ve never been more sure of anything,” Brian said, wrapping his arms more tightly around Justin. “What made you think of this instead of getting married?” Justin casually asked. “Last time we were going to get married, you thought I might turn into a Stepford fag or something. This feels right. I think it accomplishes everything we’ve talked about. This is a joint decision. It acknowledges our relationship, and it’s perfectly legal, which is more than I can say about most of those marriages. I don’t want to pretend that we’re legally bound. I want it to be real,” Brian quietly explained. “I can’t argue with that.” “And anything not covered by the agreements are matters between you and me. I guess I just thought that we would work things out like we always do. You’ll tell me what’s acceptable, and I’ll just agree,” Brian said, leaning down to kiss Justin’s cheek. “Brian, that’s not true. We always set the rules together,” Justin reminded him. “And that’s how things will continue to be,” Brian said as a promise. “So do we need to make any new rules?” he asked and waited for Justin’s response. “The ones we have at the moment seem to be working quite well,” Justin answered. “I agree.” “So our legalized relationship will be registered in Pennsylvania and in New York?” “That’s right.” “I’m just surprised that you’re ready to announce to the world that we’re a couple…that we’re together.” Brian started to laugh. “Oh yeah, like this was a big secret. Sunshine, everyone has known that we were a couple for a very long time. I guess at the prom when I kissed you as we were dancing, I was claiming you as mine, for all the world to see. Then you were hurt, and I almost lost you. Then I almost lost you to the fiddler because I was afraid to admit the truth. Both of us are openly gay and honest with the world about who we are. The fact that I asked you to marry me sort of said it all. But taking the extra step and making our relationship legal, to the fullest extent of the law, demonstrates for all to see how committed we are. I have no problem acknowledging that to the world. Now is the time.” Justin leaned back to give Brian a kiss. “I love you.” “I love you too.” “So how do we tell everyone?” Justin asked with a smile. “I haven’t worked that part out yet. We’ll see everyone in small groups this weekend…because Paul, Jason, and Nicky are visiting. I will tell Cynthia and Ted tomorrow at the office after all the papers are signed. You might want to drop in and tell Jennifer before you and Emmett go to lunch tomorrow. We have to tell Debbie together. I’m sure by the end of the weekend everyone will know,” Brian said with a laugh. “Brian, you need to tell Michael and Lindsay. It would be awful if they heard it from someone other than you.” “And you should send Daphne an email,” Brian insisted. “Are you still afraid of her?” Justin asked with a laugh. “She’s vicious, Sunshine, I told you that,” Brian smirked. Justin couldn’t resist laughing. This earned him a gentle nudge from Brian. “What are you going to say to Gus?” Justin finally asked. “I’m going to tell my son that now you officially belong to ME forever and ever. Of course with Gus, his little six-year-old mind will translate that to mean, you belong to HIM forever and ever too. So I suspect that he’ll be pretty happy. My son is crazy about you, you know?” “And, you know how much I love Gus,” Justin whispered. “Yeah, I do. Well, if there’s nothing else that we need to discuss, I guess we should get out of the tub before you start to wrinkle. Especially when the idea of fucking you into the mattress is such an appealing thought.” “Think again! You said that I could have my way with you. Did you forget?” “That offer was for before dinner, but we were so tired that we opted to sleep instead. That obviously means that you lost your chance to have your way with me. Sorry Sunshine.” “Think again, Brian.” “Well I suppose that we could move upstairs to the bedroom and sort of just see what happens,” Brian suggested with a smile and a wiggle of this eyebrows. “That’s a start. I guess we’ll just have to see how persuasive I can be, won’t we?” Justin said with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Justin…” “Besides after tomorrow we’ll be legally equal partners. Equal Brian…just wanted to remind you?” Justin said with a smirk. Brian groaned at the prospect. “You said something about getting out of the hot tub. I do think that it’s time we start moving because my skin IS definitely starting to wrinkle,” Justin complained. As they helped each other out of the hot tub and wrapped themselves in comfortable robes, Brian wrapped his arms around Justin and asked, “Just out of curiosity how long are you planning to be this much trouble?” “Forever and ever,” Justin echoed. Brian smiled at that thought. “I can probably live with that.” Each slid an arm around the other’s waist, as they slowly made their way upstairs to their bedroom. Brian reached the bed and gently pushed Justin down on top of it. Then he just stood at the foot of the bed, looking at Justin and smiling. “What are you doing?” Justin had to ask. “I’m having my momentary fantasy about how cooperative you would be tied to the bedpost. You have to let me have this one moment of fantasy before reality sets in.” “Are you back to the ‘tied to the bedpost’ fantasy again?” Justin said with a smile, reaching up and grabbing Brian by the belt of his robe and pulling him down on the bed. Justin immediately started nipping and licking Brian, on that certain spot on his neck, just behind his ear. Then Justin kissed Brian gently at first, and allowed the kiss to turn passionate. Brian completely surrendered to the kiss. When they finally separated, Brian breathlessly conceded, “But then again…maybe I can’t complain too much…if you occasionally… have your way with me.” Justin just smiled, as he started to kiss a path down Brian’s chest, and Brian completely surrendered to his touch.