Hello, my friends. =) First off, I want to offer my thoughts to anybody in the path of Hurricane Rita ... this looks like a nasty one, too. My thoughts are with you. Second, I finished chapter three. Here you go. (Thanks to Esther [qaffanfictionprojects] for the bunny, and thanks to Lynn and Jess for beta-ing.)
Chapter Three Justin had just finished giving Alex a bath, and was drying her off with a towel when he heard the doorbell. He wrapped the towel around her. "Go get dressed in your pajamas, honey. Daddy's gonna go get the door, okay?" he said. She nodded, turning and running into her bedroom. He smiled, shaking his head as he headed down the stairs. He pulled the door open and couldn't believe what he saw. It was a mini version of Brian standing on his doorstep. He made a quick decision to act like he didn't know the boy was Brian's son. "Can I help you?" he said, a smile on his face. The boy looked back at his friend, then back at him. "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong house …" he said, looking down at the napkin in his hand, then at the numbers on the house. "I'm looking for Brian Kinney," Gus said. Justin nodded. "You're in the right place, I'm his partner Justin Taylor," Justin informed the boys. "Oh, um, is he here?" Gus asked. Justin shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, he's not here right now. But he just called about 15 minutes ago, saying that he was leaving work, so he should be here in about 5 or 10 minutes if you'd like to wait," Justin offered. Gus looked back at Jeff, who shrugged. "Um … okay," Gus said. Justin moved aside, letting them into the house. Gus turned to look at Justin. "You know who I am, don't you?" Gus said more than asked. Justin stood for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I do. How could I not? You're like a carbon copy of him, only younger," Justin said, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I've been told that a lot today," Gus muttered. Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of little footsteps coming down the stairs. "Daddy! I'm all dressed," Alex said, jumping off the last step, running to Justin. She noticed the company and clung to Justin's leg. "Who's that?" she whispered. Justin smiled, leaning down and picking her up. "Alex, this is Gus, and this is …" Justin trailed off, realizing he didn't know the other boy's name. "Jeff," he spoke up, a smile on his face. Justin nodded. "Gus and Jeff," Justin told the little girl. She looked from Jeff, then back to Gus. She decided that they were okay. "Hi, I'm Alex," she said with a smile on her face. Gus smiled. He looked at Justin. "Is she … I mean … am I …" he couldn't formulate the question in his mind. "Is she your sister?" Justin asked for him. Gus nodded. "Well, I guess that's up to you. Why don't we move into the living room, get out of the foyer here," Justin suggested. The boys followed him through a doorway into a nicely decorated living room. Gus and Jeff sat down on the sofa, and Justin sat down in a chair facing them, with Alex in his lap. She sprang off his lap. "Daddy, I'm gonna go play," she said. Justin nodded, and she ran off. "She's got a lot of energy," Jeff commented. Justin glanced at him and nodded. "Yeah … most kids are like that," he said. There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds before Gus cleared his throat again. "So … the reason I'm here …" he started, but Justin held up his hand. "Why don't we wait for Brian?" he asked, standing up. "Can I get you guys something to drink?" he asked. "Uh, whatever soda you have is fine," Jeff said, and Gus nodded, agreeing. Justin nodded, heading out of the room. Gus watched his walk away, and suddenly he couldn't take it anymore. He had to ask. He stood up. "Why didn't he want me?" he asked, watching as Justin stopped in his tracks and turned around. "What?" Justin asked. He wasn't sure that he heard Gus right. "I said … why didn't he want me? Was there something wrong with me?" Gus repeated. Justin couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I … uh … I really think that you should be asking him these questions, not me," Justin said. He turned back around and walked into the kitchen, grabbing two cans of soda out of the fridge. He stood there for a second. Why didn't Brian want him? What was Gus talking about? He shook his head, carrying the sodas into the living room and handing them to the boys. As he sat down, he heard a car pulling into the driveway. Glancing at Gus, he saw the boy's body tense as he glanced out the window. "Is that him?" Gus asked. Justin nodded. "Yeah, that's him," he said. ----- Brian pulled into his driveway after a long day at the office. Glancing at the clock on his dashboard, he saw that it was already 7:30pm. Sighing, he shut off the car and got out, stretching. The one thing he did miss about the loft was how close it was to his office. He didn't have to drive 20 minutes to get to the office before. He grabbed his briefcase out of his passenger seat and headed into the house. "Honey, I'm home," he called, a smirk on his face. "Justin?" he called. "In here, Brian," he heard Justin's voice calling him from the living room. He headed into the living room. "Who's here? I saw a car out front—" he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the two boys sitting on the couch. He looked from them to Justin, then back at them again. Without even asking, he knew one of them was Gus. And he knew which one. Gus stood up when he saw Brian staring at him. "Um … I don't … I don't really know what to call you," Gus said. Those words tore into Brian's heart. "Gus … what … how …" he looked at Justin who shrugged. "They just showed up on the doorstep about 10 minutes ago," Justin said, standing up. He gave Brian a kiss on the cheek. "I'll go play with Alex … give you some privacy," he said. He saw Jeff stand up as well. "Um, Mr. Taylor, can I join you?" Jeff asked. Justin smiled. "Sure, Jeff. And … please, call me Justin. Mr. Taylor makes me feel old," he said with a smile. Jeff nodded, walking with Justin into Alex's play room, closing the door behind them. Brian watched them until the door closed, then turned back to his son. He took a deep breath and sat down in the chair that Justin just vacated. Gus followed suit, and sat back down on the sofa. "So, I'm sorry to just barge in on you like this … I know it's probably an inconvenience," Gus said, not looking at Brian, looking instead at his hands that were playing with each other. Brian furrowed his brow. "Gus … you could never be an inconvenience. You have … you have no idea how happy I am to see you," Brian said. He stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Gus instead of across the room. Gus glanced up at him, and Brian was amazed by how much he looked like him. "I won't stay long … I just …" he glanced back down at his hands. "I just wanted to know why you didn't want me," he said quietly, not sure he was ready for the answer. Brian couldn't believe what he just heard. "Why I didn't want you? Gus," Brian put his hand under Gus' chin, lifting it to look at him, "what would make you think that I didn't want you?" he asked. Gus couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped his lips. "Well, I'm almost 18 years old, da- uh … Brian. Almost 18. Did you ever come up to Toronto ONCE in those 18 years to see me? Did you even try to make any kind of contact with me? No. So why wouldn't I think that?" Gus asked, moving away from Brian on the sofa. Brian sat there for a second, taking in the words Gus just said. "Gus … I tried constantly for about ten years to get in contact with you! I have old phone bills with calls to Canada to prove it! I went up to Toronto once to see you, but your cunt—uh, Melanie refused to let me see you! She threatened to have me arrested if I set foot near you again!" Brian said. Gus laughed. "Oh, right. Like I'm supposed to believe that my mother wouldn't let you see me," Gus said, shaking his head. Brian had a look of hurt on his face. "It's true, Gus. Call her. Call her and ask her," he said. Gus looked up at Brian and saw the pain and the hurt in his eyes. "But … why? Why would she do that?" Gus asked. "She hated me. From day one, when she and Lindsay met, and Lindsay introduced her to me, she hated me. She only agreed to let me be your father because it was the only way Lindsay wanted it," Brian said. Gus saw the pain in his eyes when he spoke of Lindsay. "But … she told me that you didn't want to see me, and that's why she moved us to Canada," Gus insisted. Brian shook his head, putting both his hands on Gus' cheeks. "Gus … you're my son! I could never not want to see you," he said. He reached into the drawer in the side table, and pulled out three plane tickets, handing them to Gus. "Look," he said. Gus looked at the tickets. "These are tickets to Toronto on my birthday," Gus said. Brian nodded. "I had this trip planned for three years, Gus. That was when Melanie got the last phone call from me. Since you would be 18, she couldn't stop you from seeing me," Brian explained. Gus put his head in his hands, rubbing his face. "I … I don't know," Gus said. Brian nodded. "I know this is a lot to take in, Gus," he said. Gus nodded. "How long are you planning on staying here?" Brian asked. "I don't know. I honestly was planning on just coming here for some closure, then going back home," Gus said. Brian rolled his lips into his mouth. "Why don't you and your friend stay here for awhile? I have some time off work coming up, because we were going to go up to Toronto, but why don't you just stay here?" Brian suggested. Gus shrugged. "Um, I guess we could," Gus said. "I'd have to check with Jeff, make sure it's okay with him," he said. Brian nodded. He sat there for a second before reaching over and pulling Gus into a hug. Gus resisted for a moment, but then kind of hugged him back. "Gus, I know you may not believe me, but I love you. I've always loved you," Brian said. Gus closed his eyes tightly, he felt tears behind his eyes, and he didn't want to cry in front of his dad. "I …" Gus started, but Brian shook his head. "You don't have to say anything, sonnyboy. Let's just take this time, get to know each other," Brian said. Gus felt something like affection when Brian called him sonnyboy. "Sonnyboy?" Gus asked. Brian smiled. "I used to call you that when you were a baby," Brian said. Gus nodded. "I kind of remember that …" he trailed off. "Anyway," he pointed to the playroom, "is she my sister?" Gus asked. Brian shrugged. "If you want her to be. She's biologically Justin's, but we're raising her together," Brian said. Gus nodded, and yawned. "You look tired. Why don't I take you up to one of the guest rooms … you can get some sleep," Brian said, standing up. Gus nodded, standing up as well. "I'll have to run to my car and get my bag," Gus said. Brian nodded, waiting by the front door while Gus ran out to his car, grabbing both his bag and Jeff's bag. He dropped Jeff's bag by the playroom door. He followed Brian up the stairs, and into one of the rooms. "You can crash in here … we'll talk more in the morning, okay?" Brian said. Gus nodded. "Okay," Gus said, sitting down on the bed. Brian turned around to walk out. Gus bit his bottom lip. "Hey, Brian?" he called. Brian turned around. "Yeah?" he asked. "Can I … I mean, would you mind it if I called you dad?" Gus asked. Brian smiled, shaking his head. "Not at all, sonnyboy," Brian said. Gus smiled, nodding. "Okay. Well then, we'll talk in the morning. Night, dad," Gus said. Brian nodded. "Night," Brian pulled the door closed and leaned against it. He couldn't believe it. He had his sonnyboy back. Reaching a hand up, he wiped away his tears, and headed downstairs into the playroom to tell Justin what he knew. End Chapter Three 9-23-05