Lois, thank you for the beta...you are the greatest!
Chapter 12 – A Change In Plans Later Thursday Afternoon…(Day 39) Brian arrived in Toronto and called Lindsay at the gallery. They had originally planned to pick up Gus together from his after school program. But since Brian had arrived much earlier than planned, Brian and Lindsay planned to simply pick up Gus directly from school. Brian exited the terminal and entered his waiting limo. Brian smiled to himself as he thought about how smooth and efficient Cynthia had made his travel life, even with all the constant changes to his travel plans. As the limo pulled up in front of the gallery, several heads turned to see who would emerge from the limo. When Brian emerged, everyone…both men and women…turned to stare. Brian dressed in Armani was always impressive…even in the middle of a very long day. Brian smiled at his admirers as he entered the gallery to retrieve Lindsay. Of course, they all smiled back. “Hi, Brian,” Lindsay said as he was ushered into her office. She leaned over to kiss him hello. It had only been a few days since his last visit, but she was still glad to see him. “I called the school, and Gus will be waiting for us. Do you want me to drive?” “No. No. I have a limo. I think it will be more efficient.” “Well, I’m not one to say no to a limo ride. You know that,” Lindsay said with a laugh, as they started walking toward the exit. Lindsay noticed the looks that they received as they walked through the gallery, and she smiled at the attention. She knew that she and Brian made an impressive couple. She knew that even back in college. Unfortunately, she found out this was a coupling that was never meant to be. But for this brief moment in time, she could enjoy the fantasy and bask in the attention, and Lindsay could genuinely smile…as Brian slid his arm around her waist. Once they were settled in car, and the address of the school had been given to the driver, Lindsay asked about Justin. “Where’s Justin?” she asked with a laugh, knowing that with Justin, he could be anywhere in the world. “Justin’s already in Cincinnati. He flew out yesterday. He just found out yesterday that he’s a finalist for the Bronze Quill Award for innovative website design, so he’s pretty excited. Paul and Jason had to give him the news when he arrived.” “I didn’t know that Justin was doing websites,” Lindsay said with some surprise. “Justin has been doing free lance work in New York in between shows. A loft and a studio are expensive in the City…not to mention the cost of paints and canvas.” “I though you might be helping out with that. After all, he’s been in New York for almost a year,” Lindsay reiterated as if she needed to restate the obvious. Then she quietly said, “I don’t know what I thought.” “No Lindsay, Justin has pretty much sustained himself. He’s done this starving artist thing to the hilt. He’s proven himself…not that he needed to, and I’m extremely proud of his accomplishments.” “You were extremely proud of him when he was just a busboy at the Diner. You have no objectivity where Justin is concerned. So you might as well admit it,” Lindsay teased with a laugh. “Probably not,” Brian admitted with a laugh, “But just let’s keep that our little secret.” Lindsay burst out laughing and said, “Sure, Brian. Your secret’s safe with me.” The limo arrived at Gus’ school. The driver parked, walked around the car, and opened the door for Lindsay to exit. She went into the school to retrieve Gus and exited a few minutes later with him, skipping beside her. Brian watched them approaching the car, and he couldn’t help but smile. The sight of Gus always warmed his heart. Brian didn’t wait for the driver to open his door. He opened it himself and stepped out of the car, holding the door open. Gus immediately covered the distance the moment that he saw Brian. “Dad! Dad!” Gus said, running over to give him a big hug. “Hello there, Sonny Boy. How was school today?” “It was my last day,” Gus said, jumping for joy. “Gee Dad, I love the car.” “Why thank you, Gus. Me too,” Brian teased. Everyone settled back into the limo, and they were off. Once they were settled, Gus continued to look around the interior space of the limo. “What’s the matter Gus?” Lindsay asked, already knowing the answer, for some things never change. “Where’s Justin?” Gus asked with a touch of sadness. “Justin isn’t here,” Lindsay began to explain, “But you’ll see Justin later.” “I will?” Gus asked his dad, looking for the reassurance. “Yeah, Gus. Justin is already in Cincinnati. He’s there waiting for us,” Brian confirmed. “We’ll see him later tonight.” Gus seemed to accept this explanation. “Oh…” he said. Then Gus thought about it for a second. “Can we go there now, Dad?” Gus asked, looking up at his dad. “You mean you want to leave now? You don’t want to wait until later tonight?” Lindsay asked with some surprise. “Aren’t you hungry? Wouldn’t you like to have dinner first? Don’t you want to take a nap? Don’t you want to say goodbye to Mama?” “Can we go there now, dad?” Gus repeated to his dad, completely ignoring Lindsay and her list of questions. Brian couldn’t help but smile… for this was truly his kid. “Gee Gus, I thought we would have more time. Well, I guess we could reschedule our flight. Let me check the Liberty Air schedule,” Brian said with some surprise. “Ok, Lindsay, so how long will it take us to pick up his luggage at the house?” “We’re only a few minutes away,” Lindsay confirmed with a sigh. “Everything is all packed.” “So you want to go to see Justin now?” Brian tried to confirm, while trying to check plane schedules on his cell phone. Gus nodded his head, and then looked up at Brian again with sad eyes. “Ok, so we’ll take the next flight to Cincinnati. It looks like we have just enough time to get to the airport. How does that sound?” Gus beamed a smile back at his dad that would almost rival Justin’s sunshine smile. Brian realized that he was so fucked…a six year old had him wrapped around his finger. They stopped at the house and retrieved Gus’ suitcase, and Lindsay handed Brian an envelope of legal papers to make it easier to transport Gus into/out of the country. Lindsay also handed Brian a small backpack of books and games for Gus to play on the plane. Brian looked at Lindsay in complete disbelief that she would even think that his son would carry a backpack through an airport. He raised an eyebrow as he looked at the hideous backpack. It was not so much that Brian had a problem with Gus wearing a backpack…it was that Brian was not going to walk through an airport with Gus wearing the backpack. After all, image was everything. Finally, Brian quickly placed the contents of the backpack into his own brief case, and he stuffed the offending backpack into Gus’ suitcase. Lindsay couldn’t help laughing at the entire maneuver. This was so Brian. *** Lindsay asked to be dropped off back at the gallery, since it was obvious that she wasn’t really needed now that Brian and Gus were together. Lindsay remembered the days when Gus was just a baby, and she was always dropping in at the loft in Pittsburgh so that Gus and Brian could spend time together. Lindsay now understood that times had changed. She wasn’t sure when it happened…but she knew that somehow it had. Lindsay called Melanie at her office and explained about the change of plans, and Gus had a chance to cheerfully say his good byes to Melanie by phone. At the gallery, Lindsay and Gus said their good byes with hugs and kisses all around. Lindsay also kissed Brian goodbye. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, Gus happily got back in the limo with Brian and waved goodbye to Lindsay once again. At that moment, Lindsay realized that Gus wasn’t her baby anymore. Brian and Gus arrived at the airport and checked their luggage. They went to the head of the long lines to pass through all the security checks for Liberty Air due to Brian’s VIP status. Brian picked up a few light snacks for Gus to eat and gum for him to chew on the plane. While they were at the concession stand, Gus noticed a pack of UNO playing cards at the register. Gus asked Brian to buy a deck for them to play on the plane. Brian wasn’t really sure about this…especially since he had the sinking feeling that Gus was suggesting a game in which he was an expert. Brian couldn’t help but smile as he paid for the cards. Yep…this was his kid. They had a few minutes before their flight was announced, so Brian reached for his cell phone, and he called Paul to update him on the change of plans. “Paul, it’s Brian.” “Brian, what’s going on?” Paul asked, upon receiving this unexpected call “How’s Justin?” “He’s fine. He misses you. So do I. When will we see you?” “That’s why I’m calling. I’m in Toronto. Gus wants us to take the next flight. So it looks like I’ll get in at about 8 pm. I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t going to be a problem. I can easily take a cab from the airport to the house.” “No Brian, we’ll pick you up. We’ll see you in few hours. Just call me from the terminal when you land in Cincinnati.” “Ok. I’ll do that.” Brian said to Paul. “Hold on a minute, Paul.” Brian looked down into the pleading eyes of his son. “Is Justin around?” “You want to talk to Justin?” Paul said with a laugh. “Now that’s a surprise. He’s right here.” “I guess I had better let Gus talk to Justin. Otherwise, the flight is going to seem really long,” Brian teased. Paul laughed, showing that he fully understood what Brian was trying to say…traveling with an anxious child was never any fun. Paul handed his cell phone to Justin, and Brian handed his cell phone to Gus. “Justin?” Gus said all excited as soon as the phone was in his hands “Yes, hi Gus,” Justin said. “How’s it going?” “Ok,” Gus answered, but then he couldn’t contain his secret any longer. “I’m at the airport,” he tried to whisper to Justin. “You are?” Justin said with a laugh and some surprise. “All by yourself?” he teased. “Nooooo. Dad’s here.” There was a pause. “Dad said to tell you that we’re on our way.” “You are? That’s great, Gus. I’ll see you soon then.” “I love you, Jus.” “Love you too, Gus.” “Here’s Dad,” Gus said, handing the phone back to Brian. “Why thank you Gus,” Brian teased. “Hey,” he said in greeting to Justin. “Hey, I heard a rumor that you’re at the airport,” Justin teased. “Yeah, our flight leaves shortly. Gus wants to see you. He didn’t want to wait. So, it looks like we’ll be there in a couple of hours.” “I’ll be waiting,” Justin said softly. “I’m counting on that,” Brian whispered. Then he changed his tone to ask, “ So, how are the party plans coming?” “Next year we’re going to send Em out to Cincinnati to handle this,” Justin responded with a laugh. “And is Jason still alive?” Brian thought he should check…just so he would know what he was walking into. “Just barely.” “That’s about what I expected,” Brian teased with a laugh. “Now don’t do anything drastic until I get there.” “Ok,” Justin agreed. “Later.” “Later,” Brian said as he closed the phone. Now father and son could settle down and wait for their boarding call. When it was announced that they could board, Brian leaned down to Gus and asked, “So are you ready to go see Justin?” Gus immediately got all excited. “Let’s go, Dad!” They both confidently boarded the plane together. Brian and Gus watched out the airplane window as the City of Toronto faded away during take-off. They were now on their way to Cincinnati…and Justin. *** Justin closed the cell phone and paused for a moment to take in the news that Brian and Gus would be in Cincinnati in just a few hours. Paul interrupted his thoughts. “So Brian will be here tonight. That’s great. We’ll have some time to spend together,” he said with this big smile across his face. “All right, Paul. You can go ahead and admit that you’re excited. You’re as bad as Nicky,” Jason teased, shaking his head at his partner’s expression. “Maybe,” Paul added. “Brian and I might talk all the time, but it’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other. And so much has happened.” “Well, fortunately Justin and I had a productive day. We picked up a few things at the mall, before we got here to the office. We’ve been creating most of the afternoon. Wait until you see the wall hangings and stuff that Justin created. They’re all amazing. No one is going to recognize the playroom, when we’re done.” “Did you remember to get balloons?” Paul quietly asked. “Oh yeah! Justin and I got loads of balloons,” Jason confirmed, leaning down and giving Paul a reassuring kiss. “Among other things. Wait until you see the piñata that we started. It’s too bad it’s going to be destroyed, but I think Nicky will love it.” “What did you do make it in the shape of a truck?” Paul asked sarcastically, not being able to resist an opportunity to tease. Justin suddenly burst out laughing. “How did you guess?” Jason asked with surprise. “I was only kidding? I really should have never left you two alone! You too are really over the top. I’m so glad that Brian is on his way here. I’m going to need all the help I can get,” Paul tried to protest in between his fits of laughing. “You two can laugh if you want. This is going to be the best birthday ever for Nicky, and that’s all that matters. I’m sure Brian will agree with me,” Jason insisted, leaning down to give Paul another kiss. “Look, I’m going down to the art department to check on things,” Justin said, turning to leave, wanting to give his friends some privacy. “The copies should be done by now. I’m going down to check with Glenn,” Justin announced as he was leaving. As Justin left he had a certain bounce in his step as he tried to contain his own excitement that Brian and Gus were on their way. *** Early That Evening In Toronto...(Day 39) Melanie and Lindsay were alternately preparing dinner and playing with Jenny, who really loved all the additional attention. “I just don’t see why Brian couldn’t stick to at least one of his original plans,” Melanie began. “Gus is probably starving to death. I wonder if Brian will think to at least get him snacks at the airport. Oh, why couldn’t they stay for dinner and then leave?” “Because Gus wanted to get to Justin. He didn’t want to wait.” Lindsay answered quietly. “So he just got in a limo with Brian and happily drove away. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Melanie asked again for confirmation. “He’s not a baby any more. He smiled at me and waved goodbye.” “Because Gus knew he was going to see Justin, I bet he didn’t even put up a fuss about getting on the plane. Of course, once on the plane, he gets to fly first class with Brian and his VIP status so I’m sure he’s going to have tales to tell about that too.” “I knew I would have separation anxiety when Gus was 18, and he went off to college,” Lindsay said with a laugh. “But who knew that he would be so fiercely independent at six years old.” “I guess the hunger strike to see Justin should have been the first clue, huh?” Melanie teased. “Are you going to be all right about this?” “It’s a little harder than I thought, and I know he’ll be back in three days. And I know that Brian will make sure that he calls. So I’ll be all right, just give me a bit. What about you?” “Same here. He sounded so happy on the phone though when he called me. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. And like you said, he’ll be back in three days.” Melanie walked over and put her arms around Lindsay and kissed her gently. They knew they still had each other. At that moment Jenny reminded them that she was still in the room and felt neglected.