Lois, thanks for the beta...you’re the greatest!
Chapter 41- Dinner at Bri-tin Late Thursday Afternoon – (Day 46) “Look at the traffic,” Justin commented as they were riding in the limo towards Bri-tin. “It seems to always be like this during this time of day,” Brian added, “That’s why I like to stay at the office until at least 7pm. So I can avoid this.” “Mom and Mollusk won’t be at the house until 7:30 so they’ll miss this, won’t they?” “They should, that was the reason for setting the time when we did.” “We’ve both been so busy all day today, I didn’t get a chance to check with Gregory or Em.” “We’re so close to home, it doesn’t make sense to call them now. They either took care of things or they didn’t. Either way, I sure we’ll manage,” Brian said with a laugh. “I guess you’re right, this has been a rather busy day…made longer become someone wouldn’t just simply sign a stack of papers,” he said, giving Justin a gentle kiss. “After dinner we’ll get in the hot tub, we have things to discuss,” Justin said with a note of seriousness to his voice. “Which hot tub were you thinking?” Brian asked, trying to gauge how much trouble he was in. “The one down stairs. You still have some serious explaining to do. It seems that I’m not the only one capable of getting into trouble.” “Me, why?” “We’ll talk about it later,” Justin insisted. Then he changed the subject. “I wonder what Emmett is creating for dinner?” “Thomas said that Teres would probably help Em. So don’t be surprised to find both of them our kitchen when we arrive home.” “I’ve missed everyone, but most of all it’ll just be good to sleep in our own bed here. It feels like forever since we were there.” “Has it only been 10 days since you left for Cincinnati and I left for New York?” “And tomorrow, everyone will be in town…Paul, Jason, Nicky, Mel, Linds, Gus, and Jenny. This should be a fun weekend,” Justin remarked with eager anticipation. “I’m going to have to TELL you ALL about it, because you’re supposed to be locked away in your studio. I had a plan, remember? Everyone was supposed to leave you alone so that you could paint.” Justin leaned over and rested his head on Brian’s shoulder. “Don’t worry if things don’t work out quite the way that you planned,” Justin quietly suggested. “What’s that supposed do you mean?” Brian started to challenge, “Except when you’re involved, my plans always work perfectly.” “Brian, that’s not funny.” “It wasn’t meant to be. I’m merely stating facts, Sunshine,” Brian confirmed, leaning over to kiss the top of Justin’s head. At that point the limo turned into the driveway at Bri-tin, and both Brian and Justin got very quiet. They noticed the extra vehicles still in the driveway as the rode up to the front door, where the ever-present Thomas was waiting. “Brian…Justin, it’s good to have you home,” Thomas said in greeting. “Thanks Thomas, and I knew somehow that you would be here to greet us,” Brian teased. Thomas smiled. “I’m just keeping an eye on things as usual.” “I see we have guests?” “Your decorator has been here most of the day working upstairs. Emmett and Teres went shopping together earlier today. Now they’re busy in the kitchen together. They seem to be having a great time together, but they have barred me from that part of the house. All in all, things seem to be going rather well, I’d say,” Thomas added with a laugh. “I gather that both the furniture AND Gregory arrived,” Brian continued to speculate, “So I guess we don’t have to creatively store things like we feared.” “No, everything seems to be taken care of,” Thomas responded, “So there don’t seem to be any problems here. The driver finally removed the luggage from the back of the car. Thomas retrieved the luggage and said, “I’ll put these upstairs in your room.” Brian grabbed his briefcase and Justin grabbed his messenger bag; then, the two of them headed inside to see how the interiors of Bri-tin had changed. *** Brian and Justin dropped their things in the foyer. “Something smells good. Em, are you here?” Brian asked in the hallway. Brian and Justin continued down the short hallway toward the kitchen. “Did I hear you call me?” Emmett asked as he came over and wrapped his arms around Justin. “Welcome back, Sweetie.” “Emmett,” Brian said as a solitary way of greeting. Then he proceeded to unwrap Justin from Emmett’s embrace. Teres couldn’t help smiling as she greeted Brian and Justin and watched them interact with Emmett. She could immediately see that they were good friends. Emmett and Teres filled Brian and Justin in on their day. Teres pointed out that she picked up enough food for the weekend, especially the double-stuffed Oreos that Gus was so fond of. She also reassured Brian that he now had a fresh supply of guava juice in the refrigerator. Brian automatically smiled at this news. “It’s good that something can improve your disposition,” Emmett said sarcastically. Emmett then wrapped his arms around Justin and guided him in the direction of the dining room. He wanted to be sure that Justin approved of the way things were set up for dinner. Emmett deliberately left Brian to follow along on his own. The table was set up in a semi-formal style. “Because it was Jennifer, I wanted to keep things a little bit formal. But nothing is fussy, so Molly should be ok with things too,” Em explained. Brian was pleased with the way the room was set up, and he especially liked the furniture and touches that had been added to the room. “Gee Em, everything looks great. Thanks, now what smells so good?” Justin asked, “I’m starved.” “What else is new?” Brian commented. “That’s because you never feed me,” Justin reminded him. Brian thought about it and realized that neither of them had really eaten since breakfast. So he turned to Emmett with that look of pleading in his eyes “Em…” he began. “Don’t say another word. Why don’t you two go say hello to Gregory? Then when you come back I’ll have a snack all prepared for you. Just a little something to tide you over.” “Great idea, Em. Thanks,” Justin remarked, gently nudging Brian out the room and towards the stairs. When they arrived on the upper level, they encountered Gregory. They exchanged greetings, and Gregory showed them to the guest bedroom that had been set up with two oversized twin beds. The room was just perfect for two little boys. Curtains had been added for privacy. A few toys and books were added to give the room a homey feel. “Since I had to come out to the house, we also furnished a feminine version of this guest bedroom too. Come and see. Now that you’re starting to have sleepovers, I wanted everything to be prepared. So now, six of the seven bedrooms are furnished. Emmett picked up extra linens and stuff for you. The bathrooms are all stocked.” “Gregory, I can’t believe that you got this all done so fast,” Justin said with some excitement. “It was only because you had given me the sketches. I kept in touch with the rental company looking for just the right pieces from time to time. I knew exactly where to find them. Based on how quickly we had do things when you moved in here a month ago…I had a feeling these last rooms would happen at the last minute too.” “Gregory, you’ve outdone yourself,” Brian smirked. “Justin, my team has done all we can do today. I think I’ll come back in the morning and finish any little details that we may have overlooked. If you think of anything else you need, just send me an email.” “No problem.” “I’ll see tomorrow then,” Gregory said as he was leaving. *** Brian and Justin returned to the kitchen for the snack that Emmett had prepared. They chatted easily together while Brian and Justin enjoyed the finger sandwiches that Em had prepared. “Why don’t you two lie down? I’m sure you’ve had a really long day. I’ll call you in about an hour. That should give you plenty of time to dress for dinner,” Em suggested. “Thanks Em, you’re the best,” Justin said, leaning up to give Emmett a kiss on the cheek. “Justin…” Brian tried to grumble, but failed miserably. “Don’t pay any attention to him, Em, he’s just teasing you,” Justin said with a smile. Emmett nodded his full understanding while Brian tried to scowl. Brian and Justin followed Emmett’s suggestion and headed to their bedroom. *** About an hour later, Brian and Justin both arrived downstairs. Brian decided that guests for dinner required more than his usual sweatpants and tank top. So he opted instead for simple slacks and a soft sweater. At Brian’s insistence, Justin decided to forgo his usual cargo pants and tee shirt so he dressed in slacks and soft sweater also. Brian made one more concession to fact that guest were arriving, Brian decided to wear shoes. Emmett gave both of them his nod of approval. “Em,” Justin began, “I was wondering what you were doing for lunch tomorrow?” “I’m probably free. What’s up, Sweetie?” “I just need to talk to you about something, but I don’t want you say anything to anybody about our meeting or what we talk about. Can you keep a secret?” Justin asked. “I know that I’m the queen of gossip, and your secrets are always so delicious, but sure Sweetie, for you I won’t say anything to anyone if you don’t want me to,” Em said, “Scout’s honor.” “You were never a boy scout,” Brian added as a challenge. “I would have been if they would have let me. So the pledge works either way,” Em insisted. Brian simply rolled his eyes at this latest revelation. “Do you want to meet at the Diner?” Em finally asked. “No, why don’t I pick you up, and we’ll find somewhere other than the Diner to go?” “Sure.” Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Brian eagerly answered the door, figuring he could escape from the fantasy world of Justin and Emmett. “Mother Taylor,” he said in greeting at the door. Then he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. “Brian,” she responded giving him a hug. “And don’t forget me, your date for the evening,” Molly said on entering, turning her cheek up to Brian for her obligatory kiss. “I was getting to you, Miss Taylor,” Brian teased, “I’m so glad that you were able to have dinner with me.” “That’s better,” Molly said with a smile, “Now, what did you do with Justin? You did tell him about our date?” “Of course, he knew we were going to need this moment alone,” Brian continued. “So Justin’s in the kitchen with Emmett.” Molly gave Brian a smile that almost rivaled Justin’s while Jennifer just shook her head at the antics of the two of them. “I didn’t bring my map with me, Brian, so why don’t you point me in the direction of the kitchen. I think I may have to call out to Justin. After all, it’s been so long since I’ve seen him, I’m not sure I’ll be able to recognize him,” Jennifer teased. “You do that, Mother Taylor,” Brian said with a laugh, knowing there was no way possible that mother and son would have any identity problems, but he was willing to play along so he said, “But I will give you a little hint. When you finally reach the kitchen, Justin’s the little short blond guy in there.” “Thank you, Brian. You’re so helpful. Now, if you two will excuse me,” Jennifer teased. Then she called out for Justin. “Mom,” Justin said, wrapping her in his arms. He met her half way to the kitchen. “Let me look at you,” she said. Justin endured her mother’s scrutiny, and after a thorough inspection, Jennifer had to admit that her son looked happy to her eyes. “I’ve missed you, Mom.” “I’ve missed you too. I can tell it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you; I think you’re wearing your hair much longer now.” “Mom…” “It’s okay, after all you’re an artist. I guess you have to have a certain almost rock star image.” “Mom…” “Before we do anything, I want you to give me a personal tour of the mansion. The last time I was here, all the rooms were empty. Molly has Brian tied up somewhere alone, now that she’s reminded him they have a date. So I guess we’ll be lucky if we see them at dinner, huh?” “Molly is pretty formidable, but I’m sure Brian can take care of himself. I would love to give you personal tour of the house. Since we’re headed in that direction, why don’t you come in and say hello to Emmett?” “Emmett is here?” Jennifer said with some surprise. “Well, Brian and I weren’t sure we’d get back in time. And we both knew that take out pizza was not one of your favorites. So we asked Em to give us a hand and prepare something special for you. I hope you don’t mind.” “Mind? Of course not, I’m just so glad you invited me out here.” They finally reached the kitchen where Emmett was putting the finishing touches on things. He looked up when heard footsteps approaching. “Jennifer…” Emmett said with a sigh. “Hi, Emmett. I see that they put you to work.” Jennifer said as she and Emmett hugged each other. “Yeah. I just whipped up a few things…nothing too fancy.” “Perfect. Everything smells wonderful. I’m so looking forward to this, honey,” she said, giving Justin a kiss on the cheek. Justin continued to give Jennifer a tour of the lower level, showing her his studio and Brian’s study. “Everything looks so different now that its furnished, and I like what you were able to do this place.” Jennifer immediately noticed the painting hanging in the study. “Is that the painting that you gave to Brian, when you were moving in here?” she asked. “Yes, that’s it.” “So he finally got to see it. Obviously he liked it, since he hung it in his office,” she pointed out. “He said that he liked it.” “I’ve never seen you paint anything quite like this before. The style is a little different, and I notice it’s one of your few paintings with no people in it.” “When I did the show in Santa Barbara, I had a chance to experiment with a few new techniques. This was one of those experiments. Do you like it?” “Even without people, it’s still a beautiful painting. How are your paintings coming for your upcoming shows?” “I have one painting that I have to have finished by the end of the week. So I’m going to fly back to New York on Monday. That one is the most pressing. I have just about two months to get the other paintings done for the shows in Cincinnati and New York,” Justin pointed out. “So you’re going to be busy,” Jennifer acknowledged. When they got to the media room, Jennifer stopped and tested out the comfortable chairs. “Somehow, I think room is so you. You did a great job with furnishing everything. You've added so many little touches to everything,” Jennifer said, continuing to survey the room. “We couldn’t have done it without you. If you hadn’t come up with that solution for temporary furniture, I don’t know what we would have done. We probably wouldn’t have had chance to move in here. I’m not sure that I ever properly thanked you?” Justin admitted. “You’re welcome, dear. But that’s what a mother is for,” she said with a certain measure of pride. Jennifer started to move around the room again. “I see that we have Brian’s classic movie collection and even a copy of The Yellow Submarine. Is it still your favorite?” “Yeah. Fortunately, Gus got hooked on it when he was a baby. So between the two of us, Brian doesn’t stand a chance. Now, he no longer bothers to complain since he has to watch it so often.” “I remember meeting Brian for the first time. I remember it was in his office at work. I had stopped by to drop off your clothes and stuff and your copy of the tape of The Yellow Submarine. I wanted to throttle him back then, but now he’s family. And except for this date with my daughter thing, I’m very fond of him.” “Me too. And Mom, I wouldn’t worry about this Molly and Brian thing. Let’s face it, she’s really not his type,” Justin pointed out. They both laughed out loud. “You’re probably right,” she agreed with another laugh. “C’mon, let me show you the upstairs. Believe it or not upstairs has furniture too,” Justin teased. Jennifer allowed Justin to pull her to stand, and she followed behind him. As they were walking upstairs, Jennifer paused to ask, “How do you and Brian keep track of each other when you’re in this house? I always knew it was big. I just didn’t realize how large.” “Brian makes me carry a cell phone when I’m in the house. I was supposed to contact Gregory about having an intercom system installed, but like everything else here, we just haven’t gotten around to it.” “No, I guess the two of you would have to stay in town for longer than a minute….” “Mom…” They stopped at the master suite. Jennifer only took a quick peek, then they moved to Gus’ room. Jennifer was really proud of the little touches that Justin had added to make Gus feel at home…especially the oversized Teddy Bear. Jennifer wanted to go “awww”, but something told her that probably wasn’t a good idea. “Honey, I see that you furnished most of the bedrooms. What made you change your mind? When we talked about this you were only doing a few rooms.” “Paul and Jason are flying in tomorrow, and they’re bringing Nicky for a play date with Gus. I didn’t want to redo Gus’ room to move an extra bed in there, and I didn’t really want Nicky stuck with sleeping on the futon. So I had Gregory set up this a new room for them. Gregory’s been working all day today on this.” Jennifer was amazed at the thoughtfulness of her son, and she was very proud of the way his mind worked. “So what about his one,” Jennifer asked as they paused at the next room. “Did you set this one up in case Molly and I stayed too?” Justin couldn’t contain a laugh. “Mom, if you and Molly stay over, I think you could each have your own room. Let’s face it, we have seven bedrooms in this house.” “Good point, but you never know when you’ll have a full house, and Molly and I have to bunk in together.” “I suppose we can’t see into the future. But in that unlikely event, yes you and Molly could bunk in together here,” Justin agreed. “Thank you, dear.” Justin just shook his head at the antics of his mother. They quickly peeked in on the other bedrooms and made their way back downstairs, to find Brian and Molly in the living room enjoying the fireplace. “So how is the date going?” Jennifer asked as she joined them by the fire. Molly turned at the question and gave her mother a big smile. Jennifer immediately knew that things were going well. Molly finally saw Justin standing there and thought she had better at least acknowledge him. “Hi Jus,” she finally said, “I really like the house. Brian took me on a tour.” “He did, did he? I just gave Mom the tour, how come we didn’t run into you guys?” Justin asked. “We carefully avoided you so that Molly and I could be alone,” Brian pointed out. Molly once again just beamed. “We even used the back staircase,” he continued. “Just to be sure.” “I see,” Justin said with a sigh. Jennifer couldn’t hide her smile as she watched the antics between the three of them. “If you’ll excuse me, I should check with Emmett about dinner,” Justin continued, leaving Molly and Jennifer alone with Brian. “Molly, I almost forgot to tell you. You know that this is Gus’ weekend to visit me?” Brian pointed out and waited for her reaction. The thought of Gus immediately made Molly smile. “Yeah. I guess that means that his mommies will be here too, huh?” “That’s right. And so will Nicky,” Brian casually slipped in this new information and waited again for Molly’s reaction. Molly’s interest was immediately piqued. “Justin emailed us pictures of Nicky’s birthday party.” “He did?” Brian reacted with some surprise to this new information. “Well, what did you think?” “I thought that if I was ever little again, that would be a great birthday party to have,” Molly explained. “I’ll tell Justin that you thought so,” Brian teased. “He helped with a lot of the party stuff." “Did Justin send you pictures of the piñata that he made in the shape of a truck?” Brian asked. “I saw that. That must have been really neat. When I as little, Justin would do craft projects with me all the time,” Molly added. “Yes, I thought my kitchen would never recover from their projects. Justin was messy even when he was a kid,” Jennifer added with a laugh. “He still is,” Brian added, thinking about his paint-splattered Armani shirts that Justin insisted on wearing. “Justin claims that you can’t be both neat and creative.” “I think he might be right about that. After all he is a great artist, in spite of the mess he makes,” Jennifer reminded him. Brian had to agree. “You know, Molly, Nicky will be here this weekend because he has a play date scheduled with Gus,” Brian mentioned nonchalantly. “He does?” Molly responded with obvious enthusiasm. “And I know how fond you are of Gus. So I just wanted you to know that there will probably be two little ones around this weekend…both probably in need of your guidance.” “You really think so Brian?” Molly asked now with a serious tone. She obviously took this guidance thing as a serious responsibility. “So I just wanted you to be prepared, in case they both descend upon you at once,” Brian said in such a way as to let the prospect hang in the air. Jennifer had to turn away to keep from laughing as she could tell from Molly’s facial expressions that she was already calculating the possibilities. Jennifer now knew, without a doubt, that Brian had a wicked streak. At that moment, Justin returned to announce that dinner was served. Everyone moved to the dining room to eat. Emmett had truly prepared a simple feast, starting with Caesar salad. The main course was Cornish Hens stuffed with wild rice with the vegetable side dish of asparagus. Emmett had chosen Sauvignon Blanc to go with dinner…with sparkling cider for Molly. Of course, Molly’s cider was served in a regular wine glass, so she was completely thrilled. During dinner everyone chatted easily, remembering to include Molly in the conversation. Justin filled Molly and Jennifer in on some of the things that happened in Cincinnati, which had everyone laughing. Brian talked a little bit about New York. Finally over dessert of Crème Brule, Brian began to broach the topic of New York. “Mother Taylor, I guess you’ve notice that Justin and I have been spending a lot of time in New York City.” “Is that where you’ve been? With the two of you it’s rather hard to keep up.” “I’ll have to agree with you on that. But what I’m trying say is that events have been happening at such a frantic rate, that the time has come for me to open the New York of Kinnetik.” “Oh Brian, that’s wonderful. Does that means that you and Justin will be together? I know that this separation has been hard on both of you.” “Yes, that does seem to be unavoidable,” Brian said with a sigh. “Brian!” Justin protested. Brian just smiled. “I’m going to need to locate office space in New York City. You did just such an excellent job, finding just the right building here in Pittsburgh, I was hoping that you would do the same for my New York location.” “Oh, I would love to help,” Jennifer gushed, “Working on your projects are always so challenging, how can I resist? Fortunately my company has offices in New York, so this I can easily get any assistance we may need.” “Perfect. I also need your help to find some sort of temporary housing and office space. Although it will be months before Kinnetik is ready to move into its official offices, Justin and I need to be in New York now. And, as much as I love his tiny loft there, I think …” “Say no more. How do you want to work this?” Jennifer interrupted. “I’ll have Ted or Cynthia give you a call to work out the details, but Justin and I felt that this was something that we should tell you and Molly in person.” “I’m glad you did,” Jennifer said, showing her obvious happiness for the two of them, “Oh honey …” she added. “There’s one more thing. I need you and Molly to keep the fact of our moving to New York under your hat for a while.” “I can surely understand why you may not be ready to tell everyone just yet,” Jennifer had to agree, “I won’t say anything.” “What about you Molly? Can I trust you not to tell anyone? As a favor to me,” Brian really stressed the last part. “Sure, just for you, Brian,” Molly said, sending him an air kiss. “Thank you,” Brian whispered with a smile. After dinner and dessert, they all returned to relax for a few moments in front of the fire. Eventually, Jennifer looked at her watch. “This has been a wonderful evening, but I think it’s time for us to go. I have to get Molly home… after all this is a school night.” Brian and Justin walked Molly and Jennifer to the door. Molly surprised Brian by reaching up and putting her arms around him. “I had a great time on our date,” she said, giving him a hug. “Me too,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. Jennifer smiled. She hugged Justin and said, “It’s good to see you honey, and I’m very happy for you and Brian,” she said hugging Brian as well. “Thanks Mom.” Finally everyone said their goodbyes. Brian walked into the kitchen, and Justin wrapped his arms around Emmett from behind. He was just finishing packing everything up. “Thanks Em. Everything was wonderful.” “Glad to do it for you, Sweetie. You know that. I’m really looking forward to lunch tomorrow.” “Me too.” Once Emmett had left, and Brian and Justin were alone, they wrapped their arms around each other. “We have a date with a hot tub,” Justin reminded him. “You know we could easily put off the hot tub thing until tomorrow night. We could go right to bed, you know?” “Not a chance, Brian.” “I didn’t really think you would put it off, ” Brian said with a smile, “But it never hurts to check.” Brian was now ready to face the inevitable, as he and Justin headed for the downstairs hot tub.