After an extended lunch break, Brian decided to take the rest of the afternoon off to spend some more time with Gus. They went to the park and played catch, Brian pushed Gus on the swing, and then later they walked over to the man-made creek at the edge of the playground and Brian taught his son how to skip pebbles over the water.

"Maybe we can teach Kai how to do this too," Gus suggested.

"Yeah, maybe."

Hours later, Brian returned home after depositng a sleepy three-year old back to Lindsay in time for dinner. With little chit chat since Melanie was about to arrive (and Brian explained, he was in no mood to deal with a bitch in a heels).

He finds Justin lying on the couch watching Kai watching the street by the window.

"Fascinating." Brian comments as he closes the door.

"I just don't get it." Justin says with a long sigh. Sitting up, he walks over to Brian, "He was a complete shit when they came to test him, and once they left he was back to his docile and happy self. I just don't fuckin' get it."

Pulling the blond against him, Brian kisses his forehead before pushing him away and walks over to the bedroom to change, calling out, "Hey, Kai!"

"I ordered Chinese. I didn't feel like cooking," Justin says as he follows Brian into the bedroom and sits down on the bed.

"So what happened?" Brian asks, unbuttoning his shirt.

"He barely did anything they asked. It was so fuckin' frustrating. Like, I knew he could do the stuff they were asking him to do, but he wouldn't do it!"

"Maybe he was scared," Brian offers, walking over to the bathroom.

"I don't know, maybe." Justin closes his eyes and lies down on the bed. "It was just really, fuckin' frustrating."

"So what services are they going to give him?" He calls out over the running water.

"Once a week special instruction with a special education teacher and once a week speech therapy with a speech therapist... and an occupational therapy consult because he wouldn't do any of the motor tasks, even though we both knew he could do them... but the fuckin' thing was standardized so he scored, like 20 months when really we all know he can jump and land with both feet and I've seen him kick a ball.... he just wouldn't do a goddamn thing they asked him."

Coming out of the bathroom, Brian strips out of his pants, "So that's it?"

"45 minutes each session... and when they suggested doing it in his child care place, I told them I would rather they do it here so I could see it and learn... but then I started thinking about how unsuccessful he is in his day care... I mean, he won't sit for the whole circle time and he still won't play with the other kids..."

"And you think someone coming in once or twice a week for 45 minutes will help?" Brian asks, pulling on a pair of jeans.

"One of the assessors suggested hiring a shadow." Justin begins, sitting up.

"What's that?"

"It's a person who helps facilitate a kid to be successful in a classroom, like helping Kai sit and participate in circle time and expanding his play skills and making sure he is noticing the other kids and making him interact with them... shit like that."

"They can provide that?" Brian asks, impressed.

"No." Dejected, Justin sighs again, "It's a private agency that does it or you could hire college students who are studying special education or psychology in school... they said people either pay out of pocket or request state aid."

"State aid would probably take too fuckin' long," Brian comments as he puts on his shirt and walks out of the bedroom, "We have the money, let's just hire some shadows for him then."

Lying back down on the bed, Justin knew Brian would say that. Melanie's words came back to haunt him. Justin knew that if he wasn't with Brian, he probably would be requesting state aid and the wait would be longer than if he had the money himself. It wasn't fair: money talked. It wasn't fair.

"Stop fuckin' pouting and help me set the table," Brian calls out from the kitchen.

"I'm not pouting," Justin grumbles, sitting up and heading out the bedroom, "I'm just..."

"Pouting."

"Fuck off."

"Be productive," Brian offers as he hands Justin the glasses to put on the table.

"So I went online and was reading about Applied Behavioral Analysis... it's a type of intensive one-to-one therapy that breaks down tasks so it's easier to learn... it sounds like something Kai would benefit from."

"Okay." Brian puts the plates on the table.

"It's like, 2 hours a session for toddlers, and sometimes it's twice a day if they aren't receiving other services.... I was thinking of looking into it for Kai. Like, maybe in the afternoon when he wakes up from his nap after lunch, he could have a 2 hr block of time working on stuff without distractions."

"You don't think that's a lot of work for a two year old?" Brian asks, suddenly concerned that Justin was putting too much pressure on Kai.

"I don't think so.. I mean, it wouldn't hurt to try it out. Kai could spend the mornings at day care with the shadow working on socially interacting with peers and following group directions and playing games with other kids... and then he'd come home, have lunch, take a nap and then wake up, have a snack and then 1:1 work time. Afterwards he could play and do whatever while I made dinner and then the evening is spent relaxing... so, I dunno... it could work." Justin shrugs.

"Sounds like you already gave it a lot of thought, Sunshine." Brian walks over to the window, "Hey, Kai." Kneeling down, he touches the toddler's shoulder.

Kai makes a passing glance at Brian and then zips past the older man, laughing, as he runs around the sofa.

"He's happy to see you," Justin comments with a smile, going back to the kitchen counter to bring the food cartons over.

Brian walks over and takes Kai's hand, guiding him to the table, "Let's eat."

"How was lunch with Gus?" Justin asks, sitting down and watching as Brian helps Gus sit in his booster seat and buckles him in.

"Good."

"Yeah?"

Brian sits down, "Gus was fine with it. Mel and Lindz are on the fuckin' rag."

Justin laughs, "Good to know."

"I'm going to ask them if Gus can spend the night this weekend." Brian comments, opening a carton and pouring some food on Kai's plate before putting some on his own.

Justin nods, knowing that it's a good idea, but also wishing that they could spend their first weekend just getting Kai adjusted... but he knew it would be a lot of compromising, and Gus was just as important as Kai. Smiling, he suggests, "We can get a large canvas and fingerpaints... they can paint together."

"Sounds terrible," Brian answers with a smile.

Justin grins, "It'll be awesome."