By the time Justin had reached Craig's home, he had to stay in the jeep for several moments in order to contain his emotions.

He felt guilty. He felt as if maybe he had pushed Brian too far, and maybe he had. Maybe he was doing exactly what he had said he wasn't... and somehow there they were, back at the edge of the cliff.

Justin hated feeling this way. He wanted to talk to Brian, but what could he say over the phone? What could he do? Sorry was bullshit, they both knew that.

Brian needed space, and Justin needed to find it in himself to respect that and keep the distance that was needed for his lover to deal with his own personal demons.

With a sigh, the blond turns off the car and walks up the driveway to the front door. He knew Craig would be thrilled to find him at his door step an hour earlier than expected.

Ringing the doorbell, it only takes a few seconds for the door to open and Craig to greet him, "Good, you're here." He turns back around, walking through the living room and stepping over Kai, who is lying on his back on the floor.

Justin watches as Craig steps over the toddler's body as if it was nothing more than a sofa cushion. The older man continues to the kitchen.

"Hey, Kai," Justin calls out, walking over to the toddler and squating down beside him. Kai's face is wet from tears. "What's wrong, Buddy?"

Kai briefly looks at his brother before gulping heavily and looking back up at the ceiling. He sits up, taking Justin's hand in his and pulls his brother towards the stairs.

"Up the stairs?" Justin asks. He watches as Kai stands up, still holding his brother's hand as he clumsily pulls his hand to the stairs. Justin calls out to Craig, "What's up with Kai?"

Craig walks back into the living room with a cup of coffee, and shrugs.

Justin lets his brother lead him up the stairs and soon he finds himself in Kai's room. "What's going on, Kai?"

The toddler pulls at Justin's hand, pulling the hand down roughly and towards the crib.

"Hey, okay, chill out...I get it..." Justin bends down onto his knees and Kai pulls at his brother's hand again, this time towards the bottom of the crib.

Frowning, Justin lies on his stomach to look underneath the crib. "Oooh..." He sees a sole puzzle piece, of a train, of course, pressed against the wall underneath the crib. Obviously it seemed that Kai had fallen asleep with the puzzle piece and had awoken to find it had fallen against the wall and was now trapped underneath the crib.

Justin tries to reach it, "Shit, Kai, it's really far." Sitting up, he looks over at Kai.

Kai looks at his brother's empty hand and starts to cry again, pulling Justin's arm back towards the bottom of the crib.

"Hold on, Kai, let me move your bed." Standing up, he moves the crib away from the wall. Kai immediately stops crying and watches with wide eyes. Smiling, Justin reaches down from behind the crib and pulls out the piece, announcing, "Ta da!"

Shrieking with delight, Kai grabs the puzzle piece and presses it against his cheek.

"Thanks, Justin. Your welcome, Kai," Justin says with a chuckle as he puts the crib back against the wall.

Kai goes to the closet and sits on the floor. Justin follows him and sees the puzzle board, with the plastic still half covering it. "Wow, Kai, did you manage to take this off yourself?" Justin helps his brother pulls the remaining plastic off and dumps the four other vehicle pieces onto the carpet.

Kai claps his hands and begins to pick each piece up, spinning them between his fingers before letting it drop to the floor and doing the same with another piece. After a few moments, Justin takes the pieces and puts them on his own lap, "Let's DO the puzzle, Kai." He holds up the car piece and says, "Car!"

Kai takes the piece without looking at Justin and matches it to the picture on the board.

"Nice job!" Justin praises, holding out the boat puzzle piece. He pulls it farther back when Kai reaches for it without looking. Immediately, Kai looks up towards the piece and Justin moves it towards his own eyes.

Kai's eyes follow at for a second the brother's eyes meet. Justin grins, "Hi there!" and he hands him the boat, labeling it, "Boat."

Kai places the piece in the puzzle and quickly reaches for Justin's lap where the remaining peices are. Justin immediately snatches them and hides them behind him back. "More?" He asks, signing the word.

Kai bounces up and down on his knees in frustration and reaches towards the pieces, but Justin moves backwards and holds his brother in place. "More?" he asks again.

"Ahh!" Kai shrieks and starts to shake his head from side to side in an almost violent manner.

"Dude, you're gonna give yourself whiplash!" Justin scolds, holding up one of the puzzle pieces. "You want more puzzle? More?"

Kai starts to cry and drops onto the floor on his back. 

With a sigh, Justin lies down beside him and physically helps him sign "more," while saying the word for him. Then he shows him the puzzle piece of the plane. "look, Kai: plane."

Kai reaches for it and Justin decides now wasn't the time to pull back and demand eye contact, so he lets his brother take the puzzle piece.

Sitting up, Kai blinks awkwardly and then pushes at his face with one hand.

Justin chuckles, "Tears bugging you?" he helps his brother wipe the tears away. "You probably get your drama from me." He watches as Kai places the plane in the puzzle.

"Last piece, Kai." Justin holds up the train, "Wow...your favorite."

Kai grins and jumps up onto his knees.

Laughing, Justin holds the train to his face and asks, "What?"

Kai reaches for it, but Justin pulls it slightly farther back. He grins at his brother, "Choo choo!" he calls out to the toddler, moving the piece back and forth, "Chugga chugga...chugga..chugga..."

Kai smiles at the puzzle piece and reaches for it again, but Justin persists with the challenge. "Chugga chugga choo choo... chugga chugga choo choo...chugga chugga....." he stops and waits, knowing that he's heard his brother attempt to say choo choo before.

"Guh," Kai says, slapping his thighs. He reaches for the train again. Justin moves it away and for a moment Kai looks at his older brother before his eyes rest on the desired puzzle piece.

Justin rests his back against the wall of the closet; he was in no rush.

Kai looks down at the unfinished puzzle and starts to pick the pieces off the board, spinning them in his fingers.

Justin pretends to play with the train, "Chugga chugga choo choo...choo choo...."

After a few moments, Kai reaches for the train, but Justin is quicker and moves away, "Oh, you want something?"

Kai looks at Justin.

Justin smiles and pretends to pull down an imaginary bell as he calls, "Choo choo!"

Kai looks away, tilting his head to one side but looking at the opposite direction. He then looks down at the puzzle.

Justin closes his eyes, wondering if his brother had forgotten what he had wanted in the first place.

Suddenly Kai begins to shake his head back and forth from side to side, letting his arms fly up against gravity.

"Planning on flying?"

Kai laughs, looking up at the ceiling and purses his lips together, "Oooo."

"Choo! Choo!" Justin exclaims, putting the train piece in his brother's hand, "Awesome, Kai!" He wasn't sure if his brother was trying to say choo or not, but Justin was taking it as a request regardless!

Kai babbles "Kutekute," his pink tongue darting out and he repeats it a few more times before putting the train piece in.

"You did it!!" Justin claps. He wonders how long it takes Gus to complete a puzzle.

Standing up, he calls out to Craig, "Is Kai's stuff packed already?" He wouldn't be surprised if Craig had packed it the night before.

Justin stands at the top of the stairs and Craig walks over to the bottom step, "Yes, his bag is in the closet." He opens the closet and pulls out a duffle bag.

"Great. Lisa from the Alliance called. His assessment is going to be this Wednesday." Justin informs him.

Craig shakes his head, "I don't think I can make it."

"So...." Justin trails off, waiting.

"I'll give you some papers to sign on Sunday when you drop him off."

"For temporary guardianship?" Justin asks. Brian had told him what Paul had said about it.

"Something like that," Craig dismisses.

"You know," Justin comments, walking down the stairs and opening the duffle bag to see what was in it and if he should add anything. "I heard that being a temporary guardian means that Kai would have to actually be LIVING with me. I mean, that's how it works."

"Temporarily," Craig adds, "I might be out of town."

"Work or pleasure, Craig? Or both." Justin asks, though he's pretty sure of the answer, "Is it the blonde? Do you just have a thing for blondes?"

"Justin!" Craig argues, not wanting to have this conversation.

"So what's her name?"

Taking the bag from Justin, Craig zips it up and tosses it by the front door, "Jill."

"Jill? Ooh, and does this Jill know--" Justin is cut off.

"I don't announce to every woman I meet how many children I have or what's wrong with them." Craig snaps.

Justin bites his tongue. Asshole.

Taking a deep breath, Craig walks back over to the kitchen, "Jill and I have started a relationship."

"What happened with whats-her-face?" Justin had already forgotten her name.

"It wasn't working out." Craig replied, placing some dishes in the dishwasher. "Jill and I are thinking of going out of town for a few days. I'm thinking we might take our relationship to a more serious level."

"Bondage?"

"Justin!"

Rolling his eyes, Justin returns up stairs to retrieve his brother. He didn't want to know about his estranged father's deep relationships.

Kai in his arms, Justin stops at the front door, "Are you planning on giving me some notice or will Kai just be in a basket on my door step with some papers to sign?"

Craig doesn't take the bait, "I'll let you know on Sunday."

"Nice to know I'll have some time to rearrange my schedule." Justin snaps, not wanting to admit that next week was spring break. Craig didn't need to know that at all.

"See you Sunday," Craig says as he opens the door, not even looking at either one of his sons.

"Gee, maybe Kai's lack of eye contact is a learned behavior?" Justin comments.

"You're in quite a mood, Justin." Craig states, looking at the blond. Turning to Kai, he sighs again and makes a pained effort, "Goodbye, Kai."

"Wow. I should have recorded that."

"Goodbye, Justin."

Turning away, Justin slings the duffle bag over his shoulder and heads to the jeep.

"You finally got a car," Craig comments as he was about to close the door.

"You noticed." Justin places Kai in the car seat he had purchased on the way to Craig's house. That way, he never needed to borrow Craig's. He doesn't feel the tension drain until he hears Craig close door. "Jesus Christ, Kai. I don't know how you can live with that asshole."

Kai plays with the buckle.

With a sigh, Justin enters the driving seat, "Okay, Kai. Let's see if Brian is home. My guess is he's not... and I'm not going to talk about it, so don't ask."

He looks at his brother through the mirror and smiles softly, "Sorry, Buddy. I'm being a jerk, aren't I?"

Kai continues to play with his buckle.

"Maybe Brian will be home... we'll see, okay?" Justin hopes the day can be salvaged.

Meanwhile, at the dealership, Brian is signing papers and wondering why it takes so long to become a car owner, and yet no one needs this amount of paperwork to become a parent.