Lois and Carolyn, thanks for the beta...you’re the greatest! I would also like to thank everyone who previewed the chapters for me.
Chapter 39 – Dinner Is Served Sunday Afternoon…(Day 63) The additional leaf was quickly added to the table, and extra chairs were brought downstairs. Things were quickly rearranged in the room to accommodate everyone at one table. “Why Hunter, it's so nice to have both you and Molly at the same table with us for a change,” Ben teased them. They both glared back at him, for it was an established fact that both Molly and Hunter preferred to sit at a separate table during dinner, so that they could watch everything going on without missing any little detail. “Hopefully, this will curtail their usual mischief of starting things during dinner,” Ted suggested. “Us? “ Molly and Hunter asked in unison. “We never start anything. We're just watchers,” Hunter reminded them. “So much always happens simultaneously at the main table,” he added. “Now, we just have to make sure that we don't miss anything.” “I'll fill you in on anything you miss,” Daniel said with a devilish grin from the other end of the table. “Thank you, Grandfather,” Hunter said with a smile. “And I see that you’re sitting with Jenny, not planning any more grand rescues?” Daniel teased. “Well, Lindsay and Melanie are here, but JR pays no attention to them at family dinners,” Hunter pointed out. “And JR IS sitting next to Ben, he always seems to have a calming effect on her. No, I don’t anticipate any more problems,” he said, leaning over to tickle a happy JR under her chin. “Gus, I see that you have staked-out your usual spot by Justin,” Emmett teased. “I believe that Gus is just waiting to see what interesting morsels will appear on Justin's plate,” Lindsay pointed out. “Gee, Justin, I hope you're not too hungry. After all, you've got both Brian and Gus to deal with. Maybe you'd like to come down here with Mel and me,” she added. “Will you leave him alone?” Emmett challenged, sensing that Lindsay was just trying to start trouble. “Don’t worry, I have extra food for you take with you, Sunshine, just in case…” Debbie teased. “We can’t have any starving artists here.” “Thanks, Deb, but I think I’ll be okay,” Justin answered hesitantly. “I’m heading back to the city late tonight anyway,” Justin informed her. “That’s good to hear. So, how’s the painting going?” Lindsay asked. “I’m sure with all those shows in a few weeks, you must really be busy. How did you manage to get time away from your New York studio?” “Gus made sure that I got some painting done here at the house,” Justin pointed out, tickling Gus for good measure. “But how is that possible? I thought Gus went to work with Brian,” Melanie countered. “Oh he did,” Brian said with a proud smile. “He was a wonderful assistant. Right, Theodore?” “Well, he told me I did a good job,” Ted tried to point out. “Don't get too comfortable,” Brian teased as he watched Ted, starting to squirm. “He still has a few things to learn,” he added with a measure of self-satisfaction. “Maybe, but at least I fared better than Vincent…” Ted fired back. “What happened to Vincent?” Emmett asked, looking directly at Gus. “He can’t make pictures that make Dad happy…like Justin can,” Gus was quick to answer. To which, everyone rolled their eyes and smiled; for everyone knew how Gus felt about Justin. “Lindsay, our son is going to make a great art critic,” Brian pointed out. “Of course, he DOES compare everyone’s work to Justin’s,” he added with a laugh, “Which will probably make mere mortals feel a bit inadequate.” “No surprise there,” Ben said with a laugh, and everyone nodded their agreement. “You have to admit that very few artists are as talented as Justin…” Lindsay quickly pointed out, causing Melanie to do a double take at that remark. After all the weeks of listening to Lindsay profess that she wanted to study in Paris to take her own art to the next level, now here she was, once again, professing her limitations. “Unfortunately, Gus has known that since he was a baby.” Melanie said with a laugh. Then she turned to Daniel to explain. “When Gus was a baby, Justin was his favorite babysitter. Justin was going to PIFA and always had paintings or drawings to do for assignments. Gus always liked to be nearby whenever Justin was working. I guess art just rubbed off on him.” “Let’s not forget that Lindsay is an artist too,” Jennifer reminded everyone. “Although, I’ve never been able to paint or do anything artistic when the kids are around. Justin seems to manage even with both Gus and Nicky underfoot. I don’t know how he does it. Anyway, still after all this time, Gus likes being in the studio while Justin paints. It still seems to be a great adventure for him,” Lindsay explained with a shrug. “I like to read to Jus,” Gus explained in his own defense. “I see,” Daniel said with a smile, as he tried to picture the tender scene. “Of course, Justin did manage to escape from his studio long enough to take us riding yesterday,” Brian revealed. “We went riding on horses!” Gus explained to Daniel. “We rode outside.” “Outside?” Melanie asked, showing her confusion. “We went riding on the open trails,” Brian easily explained. “Gus is no longer stuck inside in the corral. He’s now riding out in the wide open spaces,” Justin explained. “Brian, too.” “I’m really proud of both of you,” Lindsay added. “Justin and I have been riding since we were kids,” she said, quickly explaining things to Daniel. Gus and Brian are just started riding a few months ago. “I see. Well, I heard that you must be quite a rider,” Daniel said to the now beaming Gus. “I heard that Justin even captured it all in a painting.” “It’s over the fireplace at our house,” Gus confirmed. “He means over the fireplace at the estate where Brian and Justin live in West Virginia,” Lindsay clarified, so that Daniel wouldn’t get the idea that the painting was at her house in Toronto. “So how do you like living in West Virginia?” Daniel asked. “It’s quiet… it’s peaceful…it’s home,” Brian revealed. “And it’s only 30 minutes from Pittsburgh, when the traffic isn’t too bad.” “The estate was a good investment, Brian,” Jennifer reminded him. “All my investments are good investments,” Brian quipped, smiling directly at Justin. “If I don’t get gray hairs first,” Ted fired back. “But, I’m not complaining!” “So Molly, how are things going with you?” Lindsay asked. “They had a big career day at school. I was tested and it seems that I might be good in business,” Molly revealed. “I’m sure your dad must be thrilled to hear that,” Ted said with a smile. “So, are you thinking of taking over the family business in a few years?” “Electronics isn’t really that interesting. I hadn’t considered it before, but now that I think about it, I might like business but I think I need something more creative,” Molly explained. “Like advertising?” Ted suggested with a wicked smile. “Right, Bri?” “Now, that’s an idea! So, can I hang out at Kinnetik with you,” Molly asked enthusiastically, with a pleading expression on her face, and looking directly at Brian. Brian cut a look over at Ted, knowing that he’d been had. “Talk to Cynthia...” was all that he said. Ted smiled satisfactorily, without saying a word. “Thanks, Brian. I knew that I could count on you,” Molly said with a smile. “Before you start hanging out with Brian and being totally corrupted, maybe you should consider the law?” Melanie suggested. “The law…huh?” Molly responded, totally unconvinced. “Maybe…” she said politely. “What about you, Hunter? Have you thought about what you might do, career wise?” Jennifer asked. Hunter took a deep breath, thinking that this couldn’t be happening to him. How on earth was he going to keep a secret with this group, and Ben was sitting right there at the table. “Michael thinks that I should be a doctor or maybe a lawyer,” he finally said, thinking that he might skirt the issue. “A lawyer, huh?” Melanie teased. “That has possibilities… if you do something about THAT ATTITUDE of yours,” she added sarcastically. “I don’t know, the law must be pretty forgiving; after all, you’ve managed to carve out a career with that attitude that you have,” Brian took great pleasure in reminding her. The sparring had now officially begun. Hunter had a glimmer of hope that if Melanie and Brian squared off against each other, the actual topic of discussion would be quickly forgotten. He smiled to himself and settled in to watch the verbal action. Unfortunately, Debbie intervened. “All right, both of you, behave yourselves!” she demanded, determined to have a peaceful dinner table. “Go ahead, Hunter, you can continue now,” Carl suggested, smiling at Debbie. “However,” Hunter said and then paused, for he now had to choose his words carefully. “I really liked being one of the dwarfs when I was at Disneyworld…” “What?” Melanie said with total surprise. “I still can’t believe that you were a dwarf,” Debbie interrupted. “Besides, aren’t you a little tall to be a dwarf?” “Evidently, Hunter must be a pretty good actor to make the crowds believe that he was a dwarf,” Daniel decided to comment as a way of helping Hunter out. “Danny, I think you and Hunter are both full of shit,” Debbie quickly added with a laugh. “Now….now, Deb, Daniel has point. I’m looking forward to seeing Hunter in his school production next month, so we can judge for ourselves,” Brian suggested. “ Hunter could see that Brian was in rare form today and determined to cause trouble at every turn. Ben decided it was time for him to step in here and see if he could help. “I think it’s great that you want to be an actor. I once thought about acting myself,” he added with a laugh. “But, I do know that Michael clearly had other ideas. So, how were you planning on telling HIM?” “I wasn’t planning on telling him. I trust that you won’t mention anything to him either,” Hunter suggested. “You know how he gets when ANY of HIS plans are tampered with. He doesn’t take disappointment well. Telling him would not be pretty!” “Yes, we do know that,” Carl confirmed, glancing over at Brian. “But what were you planning on doing, receiving your Academy Award statuette and then casually mentioning in your acceptance speech that you had decided to forgo attending medical school?” Everyone was silent for a moment as they tried to visualize that scene; then, they all started to laugh as the image came into clear focus for them. “I’m thinking about the stage, not movies,” Hunter corrected them. “But I still have some time, remember, I haven’t graduated from high school yet.” “Don’t worry,” Ben said lovingly. “We’ll talk about this. I’m sure that we’ll find some way to bring Michael around,” he said supportively. “See, catastrophe averted. All you needed was a little help from your dad,” Daniel added. “You already knew that I was on your side.” “So Justin, have you heard from Paul and Jason?” Blake asked. “Speaking of troublemakers…” Ted commented. “They should be visiting in about two weeks, right Gus?” Justin responded. “Right….” Gus confirmed. “Gus is already counting down the days until he and Nicky are having their next playdate.” Brian explained.” “You mean until they have their next play date WITH JUSTIN,” Molly corrected. “I’m sure that’s how they see it, right Gus?” Gus started laughing and covered his face with his hands to hide. Justin leaned over to wrap his arm around him. “I think Nicky is really cute,” Emmett gushed. “Of course, you do,” Ted commented. “You’ll only admit that because Drew isn’t here to hear you.” “Drew understands about me and Nicky,” Emmett assured him with attitude. “Sure he does?” Ted added with some doubt. Carl started to explain to Daniel that Emmett was sort of dating Drew Boyd, the famous football star. Then Melanie took the opportunity to fill Daniel in on the rivalry for Emmett’s affections between the famous football hero and a perky four year old with red curls and freckles, named Nicky. Finally, the romantic in Lindsay couldn’t leave out the details about the love-at-first-sight-moment between Nicky and Emmett at the mansion. Everyone was enjoying this story. Then they all paused as they thought that they heard the front door open. Carl lingered only a moment, before standing up to investigate. Before he could move very far, the intruder was now standing at the doorway. “Michael!” Debbie exclaimed with some surprise, as everyone else looked up too. Michael simply stood there, completely silent. “Why don’t you pull up a chair?” Carl suggested. “Are you hungry? Let me fix you a plate,” Debbie said, standing up to return to the kitchen. “That is isn't necessary. I'm not really hungry. I genuinely thought that dinner would be over by now. Isn't dinner a bit later than usual?” Michael complained. “Carl and JR went to the park, and they were a little late getting back. Plus, Carl and I had a date last night, so everything is a bit off-schedule,” Debbie revealed. “It doesn't matter…” “Come on, Mikey, you have to keep your strength up,” Brian argued, as everyone started to make room for him at the table next to Brian. Some things never changed. Michael noticed the spot that was being made for him, and he couldn’t resist the opportunity to sit next his best friend, so he decided to grab the suggested additional chair. As he joined everyone at the table, Michael suddenly realized that he was very hungry. And when food was placed in front of him, he immediately began to mindlessly scoop food into his mouth. His attention was primarily focused only on the food and the person sitting next to him. He was so used to these large gatherings that it never occurred to him to see who might actually be sitting at the table. But after a couple of mouthfuls of food, Michael started to scan the faces at the table. “No one was sure that you were coming to dinner,” Lindsay commented. “We all hoped that you’d show up, especially since Mel and I haven’t had a chance to visit with you,” she continued, pretending that she hadn’t stopped by the comic book store to have lunch with him, just the day before. “How are you doing, Michael?” “I heard that Jenny Rebecca obviously didn't inherit your taste in breakfast cereals,” Melanie said with a slight laugh. “Welcome to the world of breakfast with a two year old.” “She was just being stubborn,” Michael commented. “I don't know where she gets it from,” he added with all seriousness. “I really believe that she was just upset because Ben and Hunter weren't around.” “I saw her late this morning, and she was fine,” Ben commented. Michael looked up at the unique sound of this voice, but was completely speechless. Ben simply continued, “Of course she crawled into my lap and went to sleep. Nothing new there,” he added with a laugh. “Some things never change,” Hunter said nonchalantly. Michael was still in a state of shock at finding Ben here. “Ben, what are you doing here?” Michael immediately challenged once he found his voice. Hunter and Ben looked at each other with a look of understanding between them. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea,” Ben quietly commented. “Ben is here because I invited him,” Debbie said resolutely, making it absolutely clear that no arguments would be allowed about HER decision. “Ben and Hunter are STILL members of THIS family,” she reminded him. Michael immediately started to quietly sulk. Hunter decided to step in here. “So, aren’t you going to say hello to grandfather?” he innocently asked. “I said hello to Carl when I came in,” Michael confirmed in return. “I’m not talking about Carl, I’m talking about Daniel,” Hunter said with attitude. “What?” Michael exclaimed with total surprise. “Hello, Michael,” Daniel said cautiously, “I’m glad that you’re finally here, too,” he said quietly. “We tried to wait for you,” he added. And for the first time, Michael noticed that his father was present at the table. “Daniel,” Michael said quietly. “I didn’t see you when I came in.” “That’s understandable. There really are quite a lot of people here,” Daniel pointed out. “I can’t believe that you all get together all the time for Sunday dinner,” he added with a smile. “Isn’t it great that Daniel could make it to dinner with us,” Lindsay commented, hoping to nudge Michael in the right direction. Michael decided to ignore the question, choosing instead to continue to sulk. Brian leaned over, and being Brian, couldn’t resist making a comment, “If you keep looking like that, you’re going to get jowls,” he whispered. Justin and Gus were the only ones to hear him, and they snickered quietly. “Debbie and Daniel were looking at pictures of you earlier. Of course, no viewing of photographs would be complete without the picture of you taken at Pride 2000. Teddy and I were just commenting that you make one bitching drag queen,” Emmett added with a laugh, hoping to ease Michael‘s mood. “Fortunately no one recognized me that day because I was in drag,” Michael pointed out, “So I didn’t have to worry about showing up on the six o’clock news.” “Believe me, I do know that feeling. Of course, for some reason the camera’s always follow Divina no matter where she goes. It’s only as myself that I can travel unnoticed,” Daniel revealed. “Sometimes as me, no one seems to notice me either,” Michael suggested, once again resuming his sulk. “That sounds like self pity to me, and you know that makes my dick soft,” Brian reminded him. “And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” “Besides, now if you show up on the six o’clock news, think how many additional issues of Rage we’d sell,” Justin reminded him wistfully. “You’ve been with Brian too long. He’s rubbing off on you,” Michael teased. “My little advertising genius!” Brian quipped, leaning over to give Justin a gentle kiss as Gus covered his eyes. “Easy for you to say, your life hasn’t been thrown up in the air,” Michael reminded him. “Obviously, you’ve never lived with Justin when he’s preparing for two shows,” Brian said sarcastically. “You have no idea how I’m suffering,” he added. That remark got him a swipe on the arm from Justin. “Ouch!” “What’s going on Michael?” Ted had to ask. “You cut yourself off from all of us. You have to know that we’re all here for you.” “Of course we are, Sweetie,” Emmett concurred. “How can all of you sit there and act as if nothing has happened? The world is a very different place for me now. I’ve been lied to and deceived by anyone that I’ve ever trusted,” Michael complained, now starting to whine. Everyone at the table rolled their eyes, for they’d been enjoying a peaceful dinner. Now, they all knew that was over, and drama queen moments were about to begin.