Lois, thank you for the beta...you are the greatest!
Chapter 12 – Reunions Late Afternoon…Day (17) A few hours after leaving Bri-tin, Brian arrived at Debs to pick up Gus. “Hey Deb! Hey Sonny Boy!” Brian said, walking in the house. He was instantly greeted with a hug from Gus. “Where have you been, and where is Sunshine?” Deb asked. “Justin had to go to Cincinnati to meet with an art gallery, but he’ll be back this evening.” “You and Sunshine should come back for dinner.” “We’ll see Deb, Justin’s had a rather long day.” “Brian, it has been three days since I’ve seen Sunshine. I told you that he belongs to all of us, and you can’t keep him all to yourself. Anyway, I know that’s the real reason that you’re moving into THAT house.” “Deb, how can you say that?” Brian smirked, gently kissing Deb on the cheek. “You know Justin needs a place to paint. He wanted to paint at the house. End of story.” “You’re not fooling me one bit, you little shit.” “I know Deb, we can’t hide anything from you,” Brian said with a laugh. Then Brian once again returned his attention back to his son. “Well Sonny Boy, are you ready to spend some time with dear old dad while we wait for Justin to get back?” Brian asked, bending down to hug his son. Gus clapped his hands at the prospect of spending time with his dad and seeing HIS Justin. Emmett entered the room, carrying a several bags, which he handed to Brian. “Be sure to give these to Justin,” he said simply. “And Brian, no peeking.” Brian gave Emmett a glare as he took the bags. Emmett responded to the glare with a laugh. The bags contained the riding outfit for Gus that Justin had requested “Thanks Em.” *** Brian tossed the bags in the car, and he and Gus were off to do some last minute shopping. Brian wanted to pick up a new soccer ball for Gus to leave at the house. Brian felt the grounds at the house would be perfect for father and son to practice together. Brian also took Gus shopping for a few new outfits, all bearing the appropriate designer labels, of course. Brian and Gus did some other special shopping as well. Since a day and a half had passed since father and son had last seen each other, Gus had quite a bit to tell his dad. He told Brian all about making cookies with Deb and the afternoon and evening he spent with Jennifer and Molly. Gus also mentioned that he told his mothers about the new house because they were asking a lot of questions. Brian laughed, as he realized that everyone must be desperate for information about the house, if Lindsay and Melanie had resorted to information gathering from a six year old. Finally a quick stop at Kinnetik to grab his briefcase, and Brian and Gus were off get a bite to eat before picking up Justin at the airport. *** Liberty Air had a very limited flight schedule between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. This was obviously not a heavily traveled route. So Justin had flown out on a 6am flight, which arrived in Cincinnati at 8am. Justin had toured the Cincinnati Art Gallery and met with its managing director. He had then visited with Paul and Jason at their agency, and then had a late lunch with Jason. Justin had left Cincinnati on the 5pm flight, arriving back at Pittsburgh at 7pm. For Justin it had been a very long day indeed. When Justin walked through the gate at the terminal, Brian was concerned, for he could see how tired Justin looked. Although Brian wanted to hear the details of Justin’s trip, he chatted with Gus in the car instead, allowing Justin to fall asleep on the way back to town. *** Back at the loft, Justin quickly showered and dressed in sweatpants. He quickly fell asleep on top of the covers. Brian then helped Gus to shower and to get into his pajamas. Afterwards Gus climbed into bed beside Justin. Brian had a few things do for Kinnetik before he could turn in for the night, so he was working on the computer at his desk in the loft. As he was working, he heard the pitter patter of little feet approaching. Brian smiled “Dad, Justin’s asleep. But I’m not sleepy now, so I’m going to stay up with you,” Gus announced, trying to whisper. Gus reached up to give Brian a hug and kiss. “Thank you, Sonny Boy. I like having you stay up with me,” Brian responded, kissing the top of Gus’s head, knowing full well his son would be asleep within the hour. Gus quickly reached down to the floor and retrieved one of his books. Then he curled up on the sofa to read while Brian continued to work on the computer. Gus was determined to keep Brian company while he worked. Within half hour, Gus was asleep. Brian covered Gus with a quilt and placed a pillow under his head. Brian smiled at the sight of the sleeping Gus, while he continued to work. Several hours had passed. The loft was quiet. Everyone was asleep. Brian poured himself a glass of Beam and once again let his thoughts drift back to Justin’s note. He still didn’t have any answers, only more ‘what if’ questions. Brian knew the answers would only come when he finally talked to Justin. Finally, Brian went to take a shower and get himself ready for bed. Justin was awakened by the sound of the shower, but was too exhausted to move. He waited for Brian to spoon in behind him in bed. When he did, Justin turned and snuggled against his chest. “I thought you were asleep,” Brian whispered. “I missed you.” “I missed you too.” “How was your trip?” “It was a good trip, and I have news. I’m going to be the featured artist at the emerging artist exhibit for the opening of the new wing of the gallery. I’m really excited. I couldn’t wait to tell you.” “Featured artist? Wow! That’s like having a solo show. I’m very proud of you.” “It really was a surprise. The gallery director saw the catalogue of my work on my website and changed his initial offer to me from just exhibitor to featured artist.” “That’s wonderful!” “I’m a little worried though. That’s two shows almost back to back. I have a lot of paintings to do. But at least my studio at the house is now ready…so I can get started,” Justin said with a grin. “Now I just have to get to work.” “I’ll make sure of it.” “Well, we still have the project to finish…you know with the meeting and all.” “By the way, I met Maria Silvestri today. They want to have a meeting in two weeks. Do you think the artwork will be ready?” “You and I did the majority of the work over the weekend…” “You mean before all the interruptions.” “So the drafts were pretty clean. All that the art department had to do was produce the next stage boards. With any luck they should be ready tomorrow. Then all I have to do is add the finishing touches. So we should be ready for your meeting.” “That’s good.” “What did you think of Maria Silvestri?” “She has this soft exterior, but you know that she’s tough. She would have to be to hold the position in the company that she has. By the way, she was very interested in your paintings in the lobby.” “Really? That’s odd! She’s a numbers type. Cristina is the artist.” “In fact, Maria wanted to move the meeting next week to the Eyeconics offices so her sister would be able to focus on the meeting. She’s afraid Cristina will be distracted by your paintings instead on focusing on the task at hand.” Brian and Justin both had to laugh at the prospect. “I saw Paul and Jason while I was in Cincinnati,” Justin mentioned casually. “You did?” “They said to tell you hello. They did major renovations on the art department at Dunbar and Smith. It’s now state of the art with the new equipment and everything. Jason and I had lunch together, but Paul couldn’t get away. My trip was short notice and all. But, Paul said to tell you hello.” “How much sketching did you and Jason do during lunch?” “Brian.” “What other mischief did the infamous duo create?” “Paul and Jason want us to stay with them. Maybe even go out a few days before the show. And, Brian, the opening for the new wing of Cincinnati Art Gallery is going to be a black tie affair. It would be good for us all to be together again.” “Why Sunshine, are you inviting me to your show in Cincinnati?” “Will you go with me?” “A chance to wear my Armani tux…how can I resist?” “Ever the romantic!” “Of course, we need to have Patrick fit you for a new tux before the show.” “Brian.” “Sunshine.” “You want to hear something funny. The gallery director’s son is a fan of Rage. I had to leave an autograph on the digital picture they took of me while I was there.” “So it seems you and Michael have fans everywhere. Who would have believed it?’ “Because of Rage, I have been asked to stay over a few days after the opening. It seem the high schools will be touring the new wing. The Gallery wants me to talk to them about art as Visiting Artist in Resident. Mr. Larson said something about I was young enough to relate to the students. So that should be interesting. I think the fact that I worked on a comic book has a lot to do with their offer.” “Congratulations, Sunshine. You have been able to so much with your art. I remember when you and Michael were creating the comic. Cluttering up my loft.” “Yes, I remember.” “I did some horrible things back then. I was so jealous. I would have never destroyed your work otherwise. I’m not the same person now that I was then.” “I know.” They were both quiet for a moment. “So what mischief did you and Jason cook up?” “None actually. I did invite them here for a visit. I did mention to Jason that if Paul resisted the idea, he should mention that our house has a pool.” “Ah, Atlanta.” “You remembered?” “It was a long time ago. But when I saw your campsite for Gus, it all came back to me.” “The campsite…why did that bring it back?” “Atlanta was hot, but you showed the same attention to detail at the campsite too. I think it has to do with your artistic sensibilities. Anyway, Paul and I learned a long time ago, when you were just twink, to get out of your way and let you and Jason have free rein. That lesson has served us so well over the years,” Brian said with a laugh. “I was more hoping to create some new memories.” “Oh, you were? Huh?” “Well we better get some sleep. You have to go into Kinnetik in the morning.” “Yes and Gus has his riding lesson at 3pm.” “Emmett picked up the outfit you requested. So I guess we’re ready. But Justin, promise me you’ll spend some time in your studio tomorrow.” “I promise. Will you stop worrying?” “I’m not worried.” Justin leaned up and kissed Brian passionately. “Yes you are!” They passionately kissed again, and Justin deepened the kiss. “Fuck Justin, don’t start that now, when you just told me you were too tired to get into the shower.” “The shower, what’s wrong with here in bed. Gus is asleep on the sofa instead of between us,” Justin teased. “We can be quiet.” “Sunshine, you’re never quiet.” “Well I can be. If I must.” “We’ll be at the house tomorrow, where the rooms have doors. Besides you really need your rest.” “Oh you mean for painting.” “No, I wasn’t thinking about that.” “Then why do I need to rest?” “Because you made me promise to fuck you in every room of Bri-tin as well as the pool, the tennis courts, and the stables. When I was at the house today I realized how many rooms that is. Justin, the house is huge…there have to be at least 7 bedrooms. I was too tired to count the rooms downstairs.” “So you mean if you had known about the fucking-requirement, you would have bought a smaller palace when you asked me to marry you?” “No I’m going to be fine. It’s you I worried about. You have to have enough energy for your art and me and all those rooms. That’s a lot. We are all quite demanding. So you need to get some sleep.” “You’re probably right. I hadn’t thought about it that way,” Justin said, snuggling in closer to Brian’s chest. “Well...see…that’s what you have me for.” Brian replied, wrapping his arms every so tightly around Justin. And, they both drifted off to sleep.