Thirty Minutes Later...

Justin shook his head in amusement as he walked up to stand next to Brian.  His partner was tending to several pieces of meat presently cooking on the obscenely-large barbecue grill that he had installed on the back patio; his partner was sporting a white apron that read, Chefs like a big piece of meat, while he used a large spatula to flip over several steaks, along with a couple of turkey burgers for Kaylee.  He was impressed by Brian's thoughtfulness as he once more marveled at some of the changes Brian had made over the years.  He was still Brian, but with a few enhancements that he decided he liked. 

"Big piece of meat, huh?" he murmured with a smile, his warm breath washing over Brian's ear.  "That seems familiar somehow." 

"Of course," Brian replied with a grin as he reached back with his free hand to grope for Justin's cock through the slick fabric of his swim shorts; he gave it a squeeze as Justin grunted before jumping far enough away to elude his grasp.  "That's what every self-respecting fag wants." 

"Brian..." he scolded as his partner smirked over at him.  He sighed; some things never changed.  "You think I should send out a posse for Daphne and the girls? They should have been back here a long time ago." 

"Well, the steaks and turkey burgers should be ready soon," Brian told him.  "I'd say if they're not back within the next ten minutes, maybe that would be a..."  He didn't finish his sentence as he heard someone approaching through the trail leading up from the stables.  "Never mind; I think they're coming."  He glanced over as Daphne emerged with one arm around each girl's shoulders; as they glanced over at him and Justin, they spontaneously began to giggle in which he perceived to be a distinctively conspiratorial way. 

"What have you been up to, girls?"  He called over to them as the three of them walked over and sat down at a nearby, glass-topped circular table.  "Your dad was just about to come looking for you."  He glanced over at Daphne, who smiled at him sweetly. He frowned at her; he knew that look, and it did not bode well.  "I thought you were going to go get them and come right back."

Justin eyed her suspiciously, also wondering if there was something going on that neither he nor Brian were privy to at the moment, as she shrugged.  "We just lost track of time, I guess.  You know how it is when we girls get to talking." 

"Yeah," Katie jumped in.  "We had all sorts of things to talk about."  Kaylee giggled with glee, deciding to utter a fake cough to disguise it as she smiled back at her sister.  Katie glared at her before elbowing her in the side as a warning. 

"Hey!" Kaylee groused.  "Watch it!"

Brian and Justin exchanged a curious glance as Justin told the girls, "I'll bet you did.  Well, go wash up.  Lunch should be ready soon." 

As soon as the girls and Daphne had retreated inside, Justin turned to his partner to ask, "What do you think that was all about?"

Brian shrugged.  "Who knows?  With Daphne as their mother?  No wonder they're a little loony." 

"Brian," was the gentle reproach.  "I'm just glad that they get along so well with her." 

"Yeah," he had to agree.  "Me, too."  He slid the turkey burgers and steaks onto a nearby platter, along with some roasted corn on the cob.  "Justin?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Don't forget we have that appointment tomorrow with the attorney."

Justin nodded as he took the platter from his partner.  "I won't." 

Brian nodded back at him, relieved that at least they could start the process in motion.  "By the way, I wonder if you should call the moving company?" he suggested.  "Weren't they supposed to be here by now?"

Justin informed him, "I called them a little while ago; they said they should be here in about an hour." 

Brian nodded.  "Uh...you're bound to really be worn out by the time you unpack everything you're having brought down here.  I think a dip in the Jacuzzi would do you a lot of good.  It's very...therapeutic."

Justin placed the meat down on the table nearby as he turned to look at Brian with a smile.  "Oh, really?  How utterly altruistic of you." 

Brian stretched his arms behind his back as he grunted, "Yeah...my muscles are really stiff today, too. Carrying all that meat out here and lifting that heavy spatula really took its toll on me."  He curled his lips under as he eyed Justin intently, his eyes sweeping up and down to hover over his partner's bubble butt and cock snugly encased in the tight, blue swim trunks.  Fuck, could he have not changed for lunch?  Did he not realize what he was doing to him?  "I may have to join you later to relieve the tension."  Although he suspected that would only be temporary; the only way to permanently solve his perpetual hard-on he was wearing lately was to have Justin back in his arms and in his bed on a nightly basis.  How soon that would be, though, was still debatable.  He was bound and determined not to fuck things up this time; and if that meant that Justin wanted to take things a little bit more slowly and deliberately, then he would have to abide by that. That didn't mean, however, that he couldn't tempt him just a bit.  At least Justin wasn't insisting on no sex being part of the bargain, or he really WOULD go out of his mind. 

Justin laughed as he blushed over the tone of Brian's voice.   "Poor baby; I guess it HAS been a while since you're have time to go to the gym." 

Brian snorted as he closed the lid to the grill and walked over to his partner standing by the patio table.  "I haven't really missed it; between working around the grounds here and all the horseback riding and camping trips Katie constantly wants to take, I probably get more exercise that way than I ever did at the gym. And it's a hell of a lot cheaper, too." 

Justin nodded.  "It shows," he said quietly, unable to hide the admiration in his eyes as he studied the firm physique and lightly-defined bicep muscles.  "You look amazing.  But then again, you always did." 

Brian waggled his eyebrows at him as they turned as one accord to stare into each other's eyes and place their hands on each other's chests.  "You're not so bad yourself," he told Justin huskily.

It didn't take too long before they came together for a kiss that quickly deepened into a more passionate one.  Tongues, lips and hands roamed all over for several seconds until they heard someone clearing their throat from a few feet away, followed by some giggling.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you three about how rude it is to eavesdrop?" Brian quipped dryly as they reluctantly broke apart.

Daphne grinned as she and girls walked up to take a seat at the table.  "We didn't know the appetizer had already been served, or we would have come back sooner."  The girls tittered at that as Brian rolled his eyes.

"Well, that appetizer was only meant for two," he told them.  "Me...And the little work of art over there." 

Justin's face warmed as he asked Daphne and the twins, "What do you want to drink?  I'll get it." 

"Well, I would say I'll have what YOU'RE having, but I think that's not on the menu." 

The girls laughed at her as Justin sighed.  "Daphne, please; they don't need any more encouragement, trust me." 

Daphne grinned back at them, her eyes twinkling as she told her best friend, "Okay, I'll try to behave at least during lunch.  And then Katie and I are going for a horseback ride, so you'll get a little respite from us."

"There IS a God," Brian deadpanned as he reached for a bun to hand it to Kaylee.  "I grilled a turkey burger for you, Princess." 

Kaylee beamed over her father's gesture.  "Thanks, Dad!" she told him as he slid one of the turkey burgers onto the bun with a spatula. 

Brian smiled as he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.  "Anytime," he whispered tenderly as he sat down and reached for the platter to hold it out for Justin.

Justin's heart melted a little more as he grabbed one of the steaks with his fork and put it on his plate, his and Brian's eyes meeting; the same sort of feeling happened each time Brian showed him what a wonderful father he was to both girls.  They say a man's heart is reached through their stomach; with him, it was by the way that Brian was so loving to both of their daughters.

Lunch passed quite pleasantly for the small party for the next hour, the conversation settling on Britin, Kaylee's newly-decorated bedroom at the carriage house, the horses and cats, Brian's latest clients, and Justin's thoughts about what he might do for a job now that he was back in the Pitts.  Daphne was brought up to speed, too, on how Gus was doing in school and speculation regarding Michael's apparent new boyfriend that they had yet to meet, although something told them that now that Kaylee and Justin were back home, a Sunday dinner with Deb couldn't be too far away.

As soon as lunch was over, Daphne made good on her promise to accompany Katie on a horseback ride with Ceres and Eton, and Kaylee was persuaded to go upstairs and lie down in the main house, leaving the two men alone out by the patio as they finished off their drinks. 

"I'd better go change before the movers get here," Justin decided as he drank the last of his beer.

"Why?" Brian asked.  "You look just fine to me." He reached over toward his partner, only to have his hand slapped away as Justin scooted back from his chair to stand up.  "Oh no, you don't!" he scolded him.  "Don't start something you can't finish, Kinney." 

"Oh, I had every intention of finishing it," Brian growled in disappointment.  "Come back here and I'll prove it."

Justin laughed at the pout on Brian's face.  "I have no doubt you would definitely try; but the movers should be here any minute, and I need to show them where to put everything.  I'll be right back." 

Brian sighed heavily as Justin turned, watching the tightly encased, perfectly shaped bubble butt cheeks swishing back and forth as he walked away, back toward the carriage house.  He rubbed his hand across his face, wondering how much torture he could take.  Thank God, Justin wasn't insisting on being celibate while they worked out all the kinks; he knew there was no way he could handle THAT. 

Deciding that he'd better follow suit, he stood up and headed toward the back of the house to change.

Fifteen minutes later, he walked out the front door to hear a beeping noise nearby as a medium-sized white truck slowly backed up the side driveway on its way around back toward the carriage house.  He turned to follow the truck, curious to see what Justin had decided to keep from his condo in Chicago.

The truck finally pulled up to the carriage house a few minutes later as Brian emerged from the walking trail; he watched from the clearing as two burly, muscled men opened the doors and jumped down.   He could see Justin coming out of the front door, a sort of frown on his face as he propped it open. He wondered what that was all about as he stood several feet away to quietly observe the action. 

The movers walked back to the rear of the truck, and after lowering the back gate they soon began to cart items encased in bubble wrap through the open front door.  No doubt these flat, square- or rectangular-shaped items were some of Justin's works.  A couple, unmarked boxes were next, followed by some small pieces of furniture and some lamps.  A couple of what appeared to be wrapped pedestals, followed by two statues of some kind, were taken in afterward. 

Brian shook his head; he remembered some of the statues from Justin's apartment, and they weren't exactly what he would want for furnishings.  But he supposed there would be some out of the way place they could be positioned once Justin and Kaylee moved back into Britin with him and Katie.  After all, the house was monstrously huge.  It certainly was big enough to be a museum!  He figured that they could easily be tucked into a spare bedroom or something.

He watched as the men walked back out with Justin following along behind them; his partner caught his eye and nodded briefly as he walked toward him.  Brian figured the moving men were done, but noticed they returned to the vehicle and just stood next to the passenger side door as if they were awaiting further instructions. 

"All done?" Brian asked as Justin walked up to him. 

Justin shook his head.  "No they have one last item to unload," he told him as he nibbled his lower lip a little nervously. 

The gesture didn't go unnoticed by Brian, who narrowed his eyes slightly.  "What sort of item, Justin?"  He decided that it had better not have something to do with that former asshole of a boyfriend, or it would promptly be heading to a trash dump somewhere - if he didn't burn it first.

"It's my piano," Justin explained tentatively, waiting for the volcano to erupt.  He didn't have long to wait.

"Your grand piano?" Brian growled in dismay.  "That gigantic monstrosity that took up the entire living room back in Chicago?" 

"It didn't take up the entire living room," Justin insisted.  "Just...part of it.  You told me I could bring anything with me that I wanted," he pointed out.

"But a fucking piano? And a grand piano to boot? There is NO way a grand piano is going to fit inside that carriage house!" 

"No kidding."

"Then what...?"  Brian's eyes widened in realization. "No fucking way, Justin! That is NOT going in Britin. Where the hell would you put it?" 

Justin snorted.  "Well, I think the studio's out. And I guess the dining room and your bedroom would be impractical if you wanted to eat or sleep.  And I imagine it would be a bitch hefting it up the steps...So that only leaves..."

Brian's face turned red in dismay.  "NO!  That piano is NOT going in my study!  Over, done with, end of discussion!"    That was Brian's private sanctuary; his place where he could go to either unwind or to get some much-needed work done without being disturbed.

Justin huffed in disbelief.  "Where else am I going to put it?" 

Brian smiled sweetly.  "Don't tempt me, Sunshine... I don't care where you put it!  Put in out in the stable where you can serenade the critters!  Maybe the cow will give more milk if you play a few bars of "Mooooon River." 

"You don't HAVE a cow, Brian," Justin pointed out.  "At least you didn't until now.  Brian, there is nowhere else to put it!"

Brian's eyes flashed as the two movers watched quietly from near the truck, unable to avoid overhearing the energetic discourse taking place several yards away.  "Oh, yes there is!  You can tell then to haul it right back where it came from, or take it some orphanage or nursing home somewhere.  It is NOT going in my study, Justin!" 

"So now it's YOUR study?  Well, I guess it'll be YOUR bedroom, then, too!"  He crossed his arms angrily over his chest and gritted his teeth as he counted to ten.  "Fine," he responded much too calmly.  "I'll just tell them to take it to my mother's condo.  And then I'll drive up there and stay with her.  Kaylee can move back into the main house with you and Katie then."  He took a deep breath as he told his partner sadly, "I'm not going to live somewhere where I have no say so in what I can or can't do, Brian.  I thought it was going to be our home again." 

Brian rubbed his face with his hand.  "Oh, for fuck's sake!  Justin, try to look at it from my side.  That is where I do all my work and unwind at the end of the day!"  He took a deep breath to try and compose himself.  When he spoke again, his voice was a little more normal sounding.  "Justin, why is that damn piano so important to you?  You can buy a full-size organ or something that will take up a lot less room; that would be just fine.  Anything but THAT white elephant."  

Justin averted his eyes.  "It wouldn't be the same," he insisted quietly.  "You wouldn't understand, so don't bother.  I'll just go tell the movers..."

Brian sighed as he reached out to grab Justin's wrist just before he could escape.  "Wait, Liberace," he told him as Justin slowly turned around to face him, his eyes watering and his chin jutted out in defiance.  Shit. He never COULD handle Justin being upset.    Justin lifted an eyebrow in challenge as he told him, "Okay, okay.  We'll find a place in the study for it somehow.  I...I guess we can move out one of the leather recliners or something...Or maybe all the rest of the furniture, too," he muttered under his breath.  Maybe he could at least keep his desk in there; that piano was monstrous in size and was going to take up most of the room, despite what Justin thought.

"We?" Justin replied.  "Now it's we?" 

Brian pulled Justin closer to him as he told him softly, "It was always we, Justin.  You, me, and the girls.  Don't you know that?  I still don't understand your attachment to it, but if having that piano here means that much to you...Then okay.  I'll get over it. Just...Don't go; don't even allude to going.  We've come too far now to start over again, don't you think?"  He took another deep breath before he uttered the last word, still finding it hard to say such things aloud.  It seemed so...pathetic.  But if it meant the difference between having Justin and Kaylee back home, then so be it.  "Please." 

Justin swallowed as he gazed into his partner's anxious-filled eyes, suddenly feeling like an asshole.  It wasn't as if he had even told Brian he was bringing the piano here.  And he hadn't even asked him about it first.  "No, Brian..." he began as Brian's eyes widened in stunned disbelief before he realized what he had just said.  "No!" he hastily added.  "What I mean is, I should be apologizing to you for not checking with you first.  I should have realized it might be a problem finding somewhere to put it in the house."  He sighed.  "I guess this moving back in business is going to take some adjustment for both of us.  If you really don't want the piano in there, I'll call my mom and see if she can find room for it somewhere.  Or I can have it put into storage..."

"Justin," his partner answered as he placed his fingers across his lips to silence him.  "It's okay; really.  He placed his hands on Justin's biceps as he admitted, "Yeah... there will have to be some back and forth here on both our parts.  But the end result will be more than worth it."  He leaned in to kiss the soft, warm lips briefly before pulling back to shout over at the movers, "The piano's going in the main house!  We'll meet you at the front door!" 

The movers nodded, relieved to finally get some direction, before one of them walked around to the back to reattach the back door; moments later, a beeping sound could be heard as they slowly backed up the driveway, heading toward the front of the house.

"Thanks, Brian," Justin replied gratefully.  He couldn't quite explain why that piano meant so much to him.  Perhaps it was partly due to all the photos he had always displayed on top of it with Brian and the girls that he cherished, or the countless songs he had played on it when he was in a melancholy or nostalgic mood and missing the partner he had left behind but had never forgotten.  Whatever it was, he couldn't have imagined leaving it with the condo.  It would have felt like a piece of himself had remained there, too, and he wanted to make a fresh start now and never think about that particular sorrowful period again. 

Brian nodded as he clasped Justin's hand.  "Come on - we'll need to show the movers what needs to be rearranged so it will fit in there."  Justin nodded with a smile as they proceeded back up to the main house, their previous disagreement now resolved. 

On the mountaintop nearby...

Daphne pulled on the reins as her horse came to a gradual stop, deftly swinging herself over the saddle and pulling off her riding helmet as she stared in awe at the wondrous view.  "This is just beautiful, Katie!" she murmured as she took in the blanketed mountains of green, the blue sky with wisps of clouds, and the thousands of wildflowers that looked like colorful, kaleidoscopic waves as the summer breeze blew.  "It is so peaceful up here!  I can see why you and your father would enjoy coming up here so much." She walked over to sit at the picnic table as Katie dismounted and joined her, placing her helmet down on the tabletop.

Katie nodded.  "I know...this is my favorite place in the whole world!  There's always something amazing to sketch up here, and it's so quiet you can actually hear the wind blow.  Sometimes Dad and I even see a bald eagle flying around here.  And lots of other wildlife."  She inhaled the perfumed scent of pine trees and wildflowers as she smiled, glancing over at her mother.  "I'm glad that you came to visit," she told her. 

Daphne smiled warmly at her. "I am, too, Honey," she told her sincerely.  "It's been way too long.  And now you and your sister are finally back together...along with your two dads." 

Ceres whinnied softly nearby as Katie replied, "Well, kind of together.  We still have some work to do there." 

Daphne grinned.  "Well, something tells me that won't take too long.  Your Dads love each other very much.  They're both just very, very stubborn and pigheaded, that's all.  I think it won't be long at all now." 

Katie giggled.  "Nothing that a little rat doo and stifling heat shouldn't take care of, anyway."

Daphne laughed.  "I do like the way you two girls think!  Your father is such a drama queen; I can tell you right now, he will NOT like what you're about to inflict upon him one bit."  She turned solemn-looking as she told her daughter, "You and Kaylee should be ashamed of yourself, Katherine Elizabeth."  A broad grin broke out on her face as she told her, "I'm proud of you!" 

Katie grinned, a look so like her mom's as she asked, "Did you think of anything else about Daddy that might help push him in the right direction?" 

Daphne smiled. "No, I think you and your sister can more than handle things from here without my help.  I do have one suggestion, though."

Daphne leaned over to whisper in her daughter's ear conspiratorially, even though no one was anywhere around. 

As they pulled apart, Katie beamed in delight.  "Really? I love to do that, too."

Daphne nodded with a smile.  "Good, then it should be easy." 

"I would have never thought about that idea, but I love it!"  Katie decided.  "Thanks.  We can probably figure out a way to do it down at the house later, maybe with Emmett's help."

Daphne grinned.  "Oh, he'd be ideal for that job!  Definitely!"  She sighed as she looked around.   "I really hate to leave, but it's getting late. It's so beautiful up here."

Katie nodded as she, too, looked out over the wondrous vista in front of them.  A wind was rustling through the multitude of cedar trees, creating a gentle whooshing sound as a hawk screeched overhead.  "I know what you mean," she told her mother.  She turned to smile at her.  "That just means that you will have to come back here more often, then. Do you like to camp, Aunt Daphne?" 

She nodded.  "I don't get to do it much anymore, but yes, I do.  My parents used to take me camping when I was about your age.  They had horseback riding at this one place, in fact.  That's where I learned to ride a horse; so did your father when he went camping with us."  She winked at her daughter as she leaned over to gently ruffle Katie's hair.  "I'd love to come back here again, Katie.  With you AND Kaylee." 

Katie winced.  "I'm not sure after what happened that Kaylee will ever get on a horse again. That really scared her.  It scared ALL of us." 

Daphne nodded.  "Yeah.  Me, too.  I guess it's too far from the house to walk up here, though."

Katie nodded.  "Yeah.  But we do have a couple of ATVs that Dad and I get out every once in a while and ride. Each one will fit two people in them.  Maybe she could ride up in one of those with you." 

Daphne smiled.  "That's an idea!  I'll keep that in mind."  She reluctantly slid off the bench and reached her hand down to her daughter.  "Ready to go, then?" 

Katie nodded as she stood up to join her.  Impulsively she leaned up to give her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"What was THAT for?" Daphne asked, pleased but also curious.

"Just for being my mom...and for being such a good friend to Dad and Daddy."

She smiled down at her daughter, her eyes glistening with pleasure.  "Just don't forget to invite me to the wedding," she teased.

Katie's eyes widened.  "Oh, my God!  Do you think they would get married?" she shrieked in excitement at the thought.

Daphne laughed.  "Hold on!" she cautioned.  "First things first. I was just kidding.  I'll settle for another ride up here with you and Kaylee - and getting your fathers back in the same house again."

Katie's face fell slightly as she faced her mother.  "You don't think they ever would?" she asked sorrowfully.  The idea of her two fathers getting married sounded so amazing. 

Daphne smiled.  "I didn't say that," she told her daughter as her eyes lit up hopefully.  "Stranger things have happened.  Let's just take one day at a time, though, okay?" 

Katie nodded, mollified somewhat that perhaps one day it MIGHT occur.  "Okay," she agreed as Daphne slung her arm around her shoulder and they headed back toward the horses.  "But now I won't be able to get that out of my head." She sighed dreamily as they reached Eton and Ceres and she looked around the mountainside.  "Wouldn't this make an absolutely incredible place to get married?  It's so beautiful up here, especially right before sunset." She and her father used to sit in the grass on the edge of the mountain, speechless, as they watched the wonderful palette of colors the sun displayed as it slowly sank below the horizon.  Up here it was almost as if no one else existed, and as if you could almost touch heaven.  She could picture both of her fathers, facing each other as they held hands and recited their marriage vows. She smiled.  She could always dream, couldn't she?  Maybe one day it would be a reality.

Daphne affectionately ruffled her daughter's hair as Katie turned to look at her.  "We'd better get going; I'm sure your Dads are wondering what's taking us so long."

Katie nodded as she and her mother donned their riding helmets and mounted the horses.  Taking just a short moment to savor the wondrous scenery surrounding them, they finally turned and headed back down the trail leading them toward the house below.

Early Evening - Britin

"Well, I see you've kept up with your cooking skills," Brian observed as he polished off the last bite of his chicken tetrazzini.  "I might even go so far as to say you're improved upon them."

"Thanks...I think," Justin quipped as the girls giggled.  Daphne had left about an hour ago to return to Pittsburgh, having an early shift at the hospital tomorrow; Jen, too, was back home, and Gus was still out on his date.  That was fine with the girls, though; it would make their espionage that much easier to handle.  Although they did have to promise their mother that she would hear all about what happened tonight and tomorrow. 

Justin yawned as he swallowed his last bite of dinner.  Rising from the table, he began to scoop up the soiled dishes just like he used to do so long ago back at the diner.

"Girls, I think it would be nice if you would take the dishes into the kitchen for your father, especially after he did all the cooking tonight," Brian suggested.  He received a surprised, but grateful reaction from Justin as Brian pulled on his wrist to get him to sit back down next to him. 

There was some initial grumbling from both daughters, but once they determined they could scheme a little better in private - plus give both fathers some 'alone' time - they decided it wasn't such a big price to pay as Katie gave her sister a signal to follow her into the kitchen and they began to carry the dishes to the dishwasher.  With a pretense of heading upstairs to play a video game immediately afterward, the two girls then headed upstairs to Katie's bedroom; or so they said.  In reality, as soon as they had left the kitchen, they walked quietly and stealthily out the front door, closing it softly behind them before proceeding around back toward the carriage house.

Fifteen Minutes Later...

"Dessert?" Justin asked as he placed his drinking glass into the sink, Brian following closely on his heels.  He turned around to face his partner, finding him only inches away.  How had he gotten that close to him so quickly? 

Brian smirked as he placed both hands to either side of Justin and his eyes lazily traveled down the denim-clad legs, then up the cabled, dark gray sweater and onto the slightly flushed face as Justin realized the implications of that question.  Brian was a little disappointed that his partner had seen fit to go back to the carriage house earlier and change out of the swimsuit, but he had to admit - the clothes fit him well; a little TOO well.  They made his blue eyes sparkle, and conjured up all sorts of vivid thoughts about what was hidden beneath them, and how much fun it would be to undress him.  "What sort of 'dessert' did you have in mind, Sunshine?" he drawled as he leaned in closer, his palms resting on the marble counter.  His breath washed over Justin's face, making it hard for either one of them to concentrate. 

"I...forgot; you don't do carbs this late," Justin immediately corrected himself.  "So...never mind."  His breath was coming out in little pants as he gazed into Brian's darkening eyes.  He knew that predatory, lust-filled look...and so did his body, one part of his body in particular as his cock slowly rose to attention.

"That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind imbibing in a little protein, though," Brian huskily replied as his eyes flickered down to the slightly-parted lips, just dying to be kissed. Well, he was only too willing to oblige. 

Justin's hands automatically rose to rest, palm down, on Brian's shoulders.  "Brian...the girls..."

"...Are up in Katie's room," Brian reminded him.  He leaned in closer, almost until their lips were touching as he whispered, "I'm just talking about kissing you, Sunshine; not fucking you...not yet, anyway."  And before Justin could say anything else, Brian pressed his lips firmly against his lover's and Justin was lost in the sensation, winding his arms around Brian's shoulders to link around his neck to pull him even closer. 

Brian moaned deep in his throat as their tongues tangled together and his arms slid tightly around Justin's back to lock him into place; grinding his denim-clad crotch against Justin's, he let him know in no uncertain terms how aroused he was.  It wasn't a surprise that Justin obviously was feeling the same way about him; it never DID take them long to get all hot and bothered when they kissed.  Several seconds later they breathlessly broke apart, each panting softly as they clung together for support. 

"Justin...Fuck, I want you," Brian confessed as he stared into the flushed face and the dark, blue eyes.  "Bedroom..."  It was as if he had built up ten years of pent-up need for this man, and now he couldn't get enough of him.  "Now..."  He started to walk backward with Justin still held firmly in his arms, only to have Justin plant his feet on the floor and stop dead in his tracks. 

"Brian, wait," his partner managed to reply as he pushed against Brian's chest to try and create a little more space between them.  "We...we can't," he told his partner with great regret.  "The girls...they're upstairs...your bedroom is just down the hall...they would hear us..."

"OUR bedroom," Brian immediately corrected him, wanting him to know that was how he thought of it; how he had always thought of it.  He shook his head in disbelief; if they were having these problems now, what would happen when they DID move back in together?  If Justin thought he would hold back from his vocal 'appreciation' of their lovemaking, he had another thing coming.  The girls were old enough to know about the 'birds and the bees,' weren't they?  It was either going to be that, or he would be getting a contractor out here immediately to soundproof their room.  "Justin...shit...tell me you're kidding." 

"Brian, you know I'm right...neither one of us is exactly quiet when we fuck..."

Justin had a point there.  Unfortunately.  Brian groaned in repressed desire as he grasped desperately at a solution, any solution.  "Carriage house, then..."

"Brian, I don't know...The girls...They'll be alone here..."

"Justin..." He huffed in exasperation.  He loved his partner for how much he cared about their daughters' safety, but he was killing him here.  The more he was around him, the more he had to have him like some unquenchable nectar.  He finally slumped his shoulders in defeat and sighed heavily as he placed his forehead against his partner's.  "Aaarrgh!" he cursed.  "Why did we decide to have kids again?" he asked as he heard Justin chuckle.

The two pulled back to gaze into each other's eyes.  "You know you couldn't live without them now," Justin countered as he reached to gently stroke Brian's cheek with his fingers.  "They're as much a part of your life I am - and as you are to me." 

Brian shook his head in frustration but finally nodded, secretly pleased that at least Justin was thinking that way.  "Yeah, I know," he conceded grudgingly.  "Shit, though!  Here's this obscenely huge house, and what did the builder do? They put all the fucking bedrooms on the same floor!"  He rubbed his face in exasperation.  "I am NOT going to have you back here with me finally and not be able to....to...be with you."  He couldn't quite say the words make love, but he knew deep down that was exactly what it was.  And 'fucking' sounded too mechanical and devoid of emotion; the total antithesis of what he and Justin were doing.  "I know!  How about sending them off to camp again?" 

Justin laughed as Brian finally couldn't help grinning back at him ruefully.  "I know you're kidding about that."  His face grew sympathetic as he told him, "I know it's not so easy for us to find time together, not with the girls to think about now.  But we'll figure something out."

"Well, that doesn't help our current situation very much," Brian maintained, feeling painfully hard at the moment.  All that kissing and caressing had just stoked the fires even higher. 

Justin nodded.  "I know the feeling," he admitted; he wanted Brian so badly he could almost taste it.  But, of course, that was the problem; neither man had done anything yet to assuage that hunger and just the idea of 'getting another taste' wasn't getting either one of them off, and only making it worse.  "Well, there is a lock on your study door, isn't there?" Justin asked quietly.  "And that room's on the main floor." He knew the movers had had to move out both recliners earlier to make room for it - much to Brian's consternation - but the dark, brown leather couch - and the large, plush, area rug in front of the fireplace - still remained. 

The side of Brian's mouth turned up into a pleased smile.  "I like the way you think, Sunshine.  I always wanted to fuck someone on top of a piano; I think it might be the only position we haven't tried yet."

Justin laughed.  Leave it to Brian to think of that particular fact. "Well, I might wind up with splinters in my ass as a result," he told his partner, who rolled his tongue into his mouth.   "But I guess it's the least I can do since you were so accommodating earlier." 

Brian grinned as he turned and began to tug Justin urgently toward the study.  "Well, come on, then.  Let's go tickle some ivories." 

Same Time - Carriage House

Kaylee stared over at her sister in confusion.  "What are you doing?" she asked, watching her sister wadding up a couple of small, brown lunch bags by the kitchen counter.  "Isn't it kind of late to be practicing your basketball shots?"

Katie rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.  "Don't you know anything?  These are for later." 

Kaylee crinkled up her nose.  "What are you going to do with those? They're all crinkled up now." 

Katie huffed in disbelief.  "For crying out loud, Kaylee!  Don't you know what mice sound like?  We have to make this real." 

Kaylee shook her head, totally perplexed.  "No," she told her, totally lost.  "I don't make it a habit to be around them.  They're dirty and icky and they carry diseases.  What do those have to do with mice?" 

"Boy, you really ARE a city girl," Katie told her.  She walked over and began to knead the balled-up paper, making a crackling sound.  "THIS is what mice sound like when they get under the sink and in the cabinets, because they like to chew on things.  So I'm going to use it tonight to make sure that Daddy hears 'mice' in the house.  NOW do you understand?" 

Her sister's mouth hung open.  "You want me to take those two wadded-up lunch bags, sit under the kitchen sink and make mouse noises all night?"

"Of course not!  Duh!  If you sit under the sink, Daddy will open the door and THEN what would you do?"

"Chew on some cheese, squeak and wiggle my nose?"  She couldn't help giggling over the idea. 

"This isn't funny, Kaylee!  Do you want Dad and Daddy back together or not?" 

"Of course I do!" Kaylee responded, insulted.  "I was just making a joke, that's all!  I thought we were in this together!"

Katie rolled her eyes as she held up her hands in surrender.  "Okay, okay; we are.  What I mean is you're going to come down and unlock the front door after Daddy goes to sleep so I can sneak in and hide in the hall closet, and then I'll sneak out through the secret door.  You can wake him up and tell him that it's too hot or something...And then when he comes down to investigate, I'll hear you talking to him and I can start with the paper." 

Kaylee's head was swimming.  "What secret door? What are you talking about?" 

Katie grinned.  "Come with me; there's something I want to show you."  She walked over to the coat closet next to the front door and opened it to push some of the clothes aside.  "Look over there," she told her sister as she pointed to what looked like a door built into the left side. 

"What IS that?" Kaylee asked curiously.  The 'door' had a small, black knob on the left hand side, and was flush with the wall and made out of the same color wood as the rest of the interior.  If the clothes hadn't been pushed aside, she would have never known it was there.

"Daddy doesn't know about this," Katie informed her.  "I found it a few years ago, so it would have been after the two of you were gone."  She reached over and pulled on the little knob; it was indeed a half-sized door built into the wall.  Kaylee could feel a rush of cold air that sent a chill through her bones as her sister opened it.

"That's creepy!" She decided.  "What's it for?'  She shivered.

"Dad and I did some exploring when I found it.  There's a small light switch on the left-hand side of the wall," she told her as she reached over and flicked on the switch, bathing the dark walls beyond the door in a dim glow.  There were wooden steps leading downward.  "The carriage house doesn't have a basement," she reminded her.  "But this leads down to a small wine cellar where the previous owners apparently used it to keep moonshine."

"Moonshine?"

"Booze, liquor, alcohol...when it was illegal. Way, way back in the Stone Age." 

"Ohhh," Kaylee murmured.  She wrinkled up her nose.  "Well, I don't care if it DOES have a light; I wouldn't want to go down there!"

"You won't have to," her sister assured her.  "I'll sneak out of the house later tonight after Dad has gone to bed and come back here.  I'll send you a text to let you know I'm on my way.  Then I'll hide in the closet here until you can lure Daddy back downstairs.  And THEN I'll start with my mouse imitation..." 

Kaylee eyed her skeptically.  "I don't know...You really think it will fake him out?"

"Of course!" her sister assured her confidently.  "All you have to do is help him out by pointing out the mouse crap all over the counter, okay?  I'll even do the honors and put it there myself so you won't have to let your dainty little hands touch it. What more can you ask?" 

Kaylee frowned, but finally nodded, wanting her sister's plan to work as much as she did.  "Okay."

Katie nodded back at her.  "Good.  Now we had better head back before one of them finds out that we're gone.  Let's go." 

"Yeah," her sister agreed.  "This had better work."

"It will," Katie assured her.  "We're pros here, remember?"

Kaylee grinned as they high-fived each other.  "Yeah.  Operation...Uh, what are we going to call this one?" 

Katie bit her lip in thought as they walked toward the door.  "How about we just call this one Operation Wedding?" 

Kaylee nodded with a dreamy smile.  "Yeah," he sighed.  "That sounds perfect to me. Well, then, may Operation Wedding now commence."

Same Time...

Justin grunted as Brian pounded into him on top of the smooth, white surface.  He was too caught up in his lust-filled haze to reflect on how ridiculous he must look, splayed naked on top of his baby grand while Brian fucked the life out of him, or how he figured he would have abrasion burns on his skin from the way Brian was aggressively pistoning in and out of him.  It simply felt way too good to worry about aesthetics or future discomfort at the moment. 

"Brian," he moaned out loudly, his head turning from side to side in almost unbearable pleasure.  "Oh, God..."  His legs linked tightly around Brian's waist, he felt his climax quickly approaching as he reached out to start stroking his cock in time with Brian's movements, knowing he, too, was about to come by the loud groans his partner was making. 

The sweat trickled down Brian's forehead as he smoothly thrust in and out, his fingers gripping Justin's thighs and turning them even whiter underneath his touch.  How he had missed making love to this man!  He decided it was an incurable illness; like taking 'E,' but without all the side effects.  It was mind numbingly extraordinary, and he just couldn't get enough; could NEVER get enough.

"Justin," he grunted out loudly in warning as he felt his body tightening like a coil.  "Fuck, I'm..." he didn't quite complete his thought as he promptly exploded into the condom with a guttural cry, throwing his head back as the quivers of pleasure rippled through him.  A couple more strokes of his cock, and that, along with Brian's climax, was enough to send Justin, too, over the edge as he promptly exploded all over their bodies. 

Brian promptly slumped over Justin's chest a few moments later as Justin's legs hung over the edge of the piano.  It took Brian several seconds before he was able to lift his head to peer into Justin's flushed one before he stated in a raspy voice, "Now THAT was a Grammy-winning performance!"

Justin reached up to smack him on the arm, his face red in embarrassment as Brian grinned down at him.  His partner reached down then o wipe some sweaty, blond hair away from his forehead as his face dissolved into something tenderer.  "That was...Amazing," he whispered. 

Justin smiled softly up at him.  "Yes, it was," he agreed.  "But you think we can move to the rug for our repeat performance?" he asked as he groaned, this time due to the stiffness in his back.  Despite the 'padding' in his ass, he was starting to feel the effects of being fucked on top of such a hard surface.

Brian leaned down to steal a brief kiss from him before pulling back with a smirk.  "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you? What makes you think there will BE an encore, Mr. Taylor?"

Justin rolled his eyes as Brian helped to pull him up to a sitting position.  He groaned again wondering how he had let Brian talk him into fucking him on his much-loved and greatly prized piano.  He wondered how easy it would be to clean up come stains from the surface of it as he smirked back at him.  "Oh, I don't know.  Maybe it was the entire box of condoms you brought in here with you before you locked the door?" 

Brian grinned as he pulled Justin off the piano to a standing position.  "You may have a point there," he conceded as he plucked one more kiss from the soft but swollen lips.  He cleared his throat as if he were about to speak to a large crowd.  "And now, ladies and gentleman, Justin Taylor will entertain you with his version of Moon over Miami - or in this case, West Virginia." 

Justin had to laugh before he squealed as Brian unexpectedly grabbed him to fling him over his shoulder, fireman style, slapping him on the butt for good measure as he carried him over to the rug.

Brian laid his partner down onto the soft surface with surprising gentleness as he reached for one of the towels nearby that he had brought in with them earlier.   Justin peered up at him silently as he gently cleaned off his belly and chest, his heart hammering over how tender Brian was being.  He had to admit that it was times like these that made his certainty over taking things more slowly waver just a bit.

Brian finished what he was doing and, laying the towel down he nudged Justin's knee as his partner spread his legs apart to accommodate Brian's lankier frame.  He stared into the darkened, blue eyes as he softly commanded, "Roll over," all pretense of kidding aside. 

Justin's heart pounded in expectation as he did as Brian asked, hearing his partner's soft breathing above him in the quietness of the room as he rolled onto his stomach.  He pillowed his head on his arms as he waited for Brian to proceed, feeling his body tingling in anticipation over the mere thought.

Brian took a moment to admire his partner's lithe form.  As always, the sight took his breath away as Justin lay there, so vulnerable but trusting.  It was such a beautiful package:  the light blond, fine hairs covering his pale legs, the expanse of unblemished skin, the smoothness of Justin's back, and his shaggy, silky strands of golden hair.  And that ass.  Good God; it should be a crime to have such a magnificent ass.  He couldn't wait any longer to touch and taste that ass again. 

Straddling the back of Justin's thighs, he trailed his fingers lightly down the middle of Justin's back, feeling his partner shiver slightly under his touch before he placed one hand on either buttock, squeezing the soft, warm flesh.  He heard Justin sigh in reaction as he began to knead the flesh briefly before honing in on his main target:  taking his thumbs, he spread the cheeks farther apart to behold the wrinkled pucker displayed for his pleasure. 

"Brian..."

"Shhh," his partner softly scolded over his lover's whine; now that the edge was taken off, he found that he wanted to prolong this particular round of lovemaking a little more.  Justin groaned beneath him in response as Brian smiled.  Before Justin could issue some other type of protest, Brian leaned down to bestow a brief kiss on each buttock before he straightened out his tongue and dove in for a taste.

Justin let out an even stronger groan as Brian began to aggressively tongue fuck him in between licks and nips of his ass; his partner keened in undisguised impatience.

"Brian, fuck...." he whimpered.  "Come on..."

Brian pulled his tongue back out to deeply inhale the combination scent of Justin and sex; he could tell by his partner's movements and his needy-sounding voice that he wouldn't last long, but he also knew Justin didn't want him to come without his cock buried deep in his ass.  "Okay," he murmured soothingly as he reached over to snag a condom.  He knew Justin was more than opened up and wouldn't need any lube this time.  "Turn back over," he commanded as he slid it on, his voice raspy with need.  "I want to look at you when you come." 

He raised himself up just enough for his beautiful partner to roll back over onto his back as they locked eyes on each other.  Brian nodded in satisfaction as he grasped Justin's thighs and, lining himself up with his partner's body, he plunged in all the way up to his balls a few seconds later, grunting in pleasure as he sat there, feeling the wondrous sensation fill him, before he began to thrust fluently in and out of the still amazingly tight space. 

"Yesssss," Justin hissed out in desire as the two of them started to rock in unison together like a well-oiled machine.  Brian reached down to steal another kiss as his tempo picked up speed and Justin's moans grew louder each time Brian pushed back into him.

"Brian...I, I..." Justin couldn't even formulate the words properly, but his lover easily understood how close he was.  He reached down to cover Justin's hand with his own as the two of them began to stroke his pulsating cock; it took only a few strokes before Justin exploded all over their hands, the warm, sticky fluid spilling out copiously as Brian continued to piston in and out of him.  A few more times and he felt his body tightening up in impending climax, just before he, too, came with a loud cry that reverberated throughout the cavernous space. 

Later that Night...

Justin lay in bed, his bed, alone.  It had taken all of his self-discipline and willpower to remove himself from Brian's arms earlier and get dressed to walk back upstairs to say goodnight to Katie and retrieve their other daughter. Kaylee, instead of being upset as he feared she might be over having to go back to the carriage house, had been inexplicably cooperative instead, almost cheerful, over the whole idea.  She had walked downstairs with him to say goodbye to Brian in the study, and as he and his partner's eyes had met across the room, he had nodded at Brian somewhat regretfully before the two of them headed back to the carriage house.

He turned his head to peer over at the clock radio; 2:58 a.m.  What a surprise, he thought dryly. How many times in the past several years had he awakened right around 3:00 a.m., even though that silly rule he and Brian had devised so long ago was no longer in effect?  He sighed as he lay on top of the covers, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs.  Even scantily clad, however, he was sweating profusely.  He knew he had set the thermostat to 77 before he went to bed, so it shouldn't feel this sticky inside.  Was there something wrong with the air conditioner? The night had promised to be especially humid tonight, so he hated to open a window.  But what choice did he have?  It already felt like a furnace up here.

Resigned, he rose to walk over to one of the two bedroom windows and, unlocking the latch, gave it a shove upward, but nothing happened; the damn thing wouldn't even budge.  It was apparently stuck, no doubt due to the humidity warping the wooden frame.  "Shit," he growled in disgust.  Walking the few steps over to the adjoining window, he gave it a push as well, only to get the same result.  "What the fuck?" he huffed. He thought Brian had told him that he had had the windows replaced recently.  A soft noise behind him made him turn around to observe a familiar shadow in the doorway.  "Kaylee?  What are you doing up, Honey?"

"I couldn't sleep, Daddy," she lamented; she was clad in a lavender-colored, two-piece satin pajama outfit with a spaghetti-strap top and a matching pair of satin shorts.  "It's too hot. Can you turn down the air conditioning?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned for good effect as her father walked over to her.

"I was just about to check on that," Justin told her as rubbed her cheek tenderly.  "I could have sworn I turned it down to 77 earlier before I came up here.  Why don't you try to go back to bed and get some sleep?  I'll go check it out.  You can open a window in the meantime to get a little circulation going." 

But Kaylee shook her head.  "I want to come with you," she told him.  "I'm afraid up here by myself.  Besides, I tried to open the window and it wouldn't budge.  I think it's stuck."

Justin frowned; were ALL the windows stuck shut?  "Well, there's nothing to be afraid of," he told her. He guess he understood, though, how being in a new place would be intimidating to a young girl.  "Okay," he told her with a smile as he placed his arm around her shoulder.  "We'll go check it out together, then, since we're both awake." 

Kaylee had to fight to keep the smile off her face as she followed her father down the steps; she couldn't wait for her sister to start her performance.   "Are you going to check the temperature, Daddy?" she asked aloud as a signal. 

Justin nodded as he flipped on the light switch nearby that turned on both table lamps near the couch.  "Yeah, let me see what it's set on," he told her as he walked over to the thermostat situated next to the downstairs bathroom in the hallway.  As he turned his back to her, Kaylee glanced over at the closet door as her eyes grew wide; it was slowly being opened, just before Katie's head peeked out. Frantically waving her back inside, Katie grinned before she slowly closed the door back.  "What's it say, Daddy?" Kaylee called over to her father.

"That's odd," Justin told her.  "It's set on 77, all right; but the temperature says that it's 81.  No wonder it feels so hot upstairs; since heat rises, it's probably even hotter."  He wiped some sweat off his brow.  "I'd say we could maybe get by with sleeping on the couch and the loveseat down here for the night, but it already feels awfully humid."

Kaylee looked at her father frantically.  Surely he wasn't going to suggest they sleep downstairs!  Well, even if he did, once the next part of her and Katie's plan went into effect, that would surely put the kibosh on THAT idea.  Sure enough, right on cue, her sister began to crush the paper bags to produce a loud, crackling noise.

"What's that?" she asked loudly as her father turned around to peer over at her. 

"What?"

"That noise!  Don't you hear it?"

Justin frowned.  "Yeah...What the hell is that?"

Kaylee looked horrified as an apparent 'epiphany' struck her.  "It sounds like a mouse, Daddy!  I HATE mice!"

Katie bit back a giggle as she scrunched the paper again right on cue.

Justin grimaced in disgust.  "A mouse?  Why would you think that? We never had mice back in Chicago, Kaylee.  How would you know what a mouse sounds like, then?"

Thinking furiously, Kaylee prayed her former neighbor would forgive her as she told her father a boldfaced lie.  "Well, please don't get mad at her, Daddy! But when I used to spend the night with Mrs. Bailey, she used to ask me to bring the cats over, not because she liked them so much but because she hoped they would be good mousers." 

"What?!  Are you saying that she had mice in her condo next door to ours? And she let you spend the night with her knowing that?" 

Forgive me, Mrs. Bailey... "Well...As long as the cats were there, I never had a problem with them. But I used to hear them all the time under her kitchen sink. She used to put a live trap under there and bait it with Cheez Whiz and Pringles. They loved it!  They'd go in and out of that trap like a revolving door!  She'd catch one and release it outside, and then fifteen minutes later another one would appear just like magic!"

"Great," Justin muttered in disbelief.  "I don't believe this." 

"Well, she got tired of trying to do that, though, so whenever you were out of town, she always wanted me to bring Dali and Picasso over with me, because she thought they could catch all the mice.  But they didn't; they were more interested in playing with their fake mice than the real ones."

"Well, I don't want to 'play' with either one," Justin decided as he slowly crept toward the closet door.  "Surely it's not that," he hoped.   He wrinkled up his nose in disgust as he walked closer.

Afraid that her sister would be discovered, Kaylee cried out suddenly, "Don't open the door, Daddy!  They might escape out into the living room!" 

"Kaylee, I need to find out if that's what it is or not," Justin told her. But unbeknownst to him, his brief hesitation gave Katie just enough time to quietly open the trap door and escape through it, moments before Justin slowly opened the door and peered inside, fully expecting at least one pair of beady eyes to be staring back at him from down on the floor. To his relief, though, he saw nothing but some suits hanging in the closet and a couple pairs of neglected shoes.  "Well, I don't see anything," he told her as Kaylee sighed in relief; only not for the reason that her father thought.

He closed the door back, wiping his forehead.  That little exertion made him even more uncomfortable now.  "I'm not convinced that's what it was," he told her, not sure if he was trying to reassure him or his daughter. 

"That HAS to be it, Daddy!" Kaylee insisted as she 'just happened' to glance over at the kitchen counter.  "Oh, my God! Look!" she cried out as she hurried over to the counter between the sink and the stove.  "it's mouse poop!  I told you!  Look at all of it! There must be an entire nest of them!"

Justin sighed as he walked over to the counter to look at the tiny, rice-sized, black specks sprinkled on top of the surface.  "Well, it certainly looks like it," he told her as she walked over to him.  He watched her squat down to pull out the drawer at the bottom that held their cooking pans.  "What are you doing?" he asked her curiously.  "Surely you're not hungry right now."

"Eww, gross!" she exclaimed in disgust as she immediately rose to her feet to turn and face her father.  "Look at that!"  She pointed down at the pan.  "Just as I thought! They've been in there, too!  Now we can't even cook anything!"

Justin peered down at his favorite Teflon skillet lying face up in the open drawer; there were more mouse feces there as well.  He grimaced.  "Great," he muttered.  "There goes my favorite pan I just brought down here.  Well, I guess that seals the deal, then.  We definitely will need to get an exterminator out here right away."  He sighed. What else could go wrong?

Kaylee nodded, biting her lip to keep from smiling.  She moved in for the kill.  "Daddy, I can't face sleeping here in this hot, old house with mice running around everywhere.  Can't we go back up to the house and sleep there for the night?" 

Justin eyed his daughter with mixed emotions.  He hated to march back up to the house after he had just made a big deal earlier about needing space from Brian to think and get re-acclimated.  But on the other hand, he knew Kaylee would not be comfortable either sleeping upstairs in the stifling heat or sleeping down here on the loveseat where there could be mice crawling around. And truth be told, he wasn't crazy about that idea, either.  It wasn't as if there wasn't plenty of room back at Britin anyway; just because he needed to sleep there didn't mean that he and Brian had to wind up in the same bedroom.

So he finally nodded in agreement.  "Okay," he told her with a smile.  "Let's go up and grab a few things, and we'll go back to the house for the night."  He sighed.  "Looks like we'll need to call a repairman to fix the air conditioner tomorrow, too.  Good thing Brian gave me a key to the house, or we would have had to wake him up to get in."  Justin was at least thankful that he didn't have to do that; the less obtrusive they were, the less likely that Brian would find out that he and Kaylee were back up at the main house. 

"Yeah," Kaylee replied solemnly as she turned around.  "We'd better go get our stuff."  As she began to head upstairs with her back toward her father, her face broke out into a smile of triumph.  Way to go, Katie! she silently crowed as she practically floated up the steps on a cloud.  "Daddy, are you coming?" she called down to her father eagerly, finding it hard to mask her impatience.

"I'll be right there," Justin told her as he shook his head, wondering if Fate was somehow conspiring against him.  Sighing once more, he turned to slowly head up the steps toward the bedrooms.  "And Kaylee, no makeup case!"

"Aww....Daddy..."

Justin rolled his eyes.  "We're just spending one night, Honey, not moving back in!" 

"Okay," Kaylee grumbled reluctantly. 

Justin smiled as he turned to walk into his bedroom to begin collecting what he would need for the night and tomorrow morning.  He actually didn't own pajamas, so he settled on a pair of sweats to sleep in.  Somehow he figured no amount of sleepwear would be sufficient to keep his thoughts from dwelling on a certain, sexy man who would now be sleeping in the same house as he was. 

Several seconds later, Katie cautiously opened the closet door and peered outside; smiling to herself, she quietly crept over to the front door and quickly slipped back outside. 

Next Morning...

"Hi, Dad," Katie and Kaylee greeted their father in unison as Brian came shuffling into the kitchen, smiling at the image of both his twin girls sitting side by side on counter stools at the kitchen bar as he walked over and poured himself a mug of coffee.  It was so reminiscent of when they were a lot younger and used to sit in those exact same spots while he and Justin helped feed them.

Suddenly, he turned around and looked over at both daughters as something occurred to him.   Wait a minute.  "Kaylee?"

His daughter nodded with a smile.  "Yeah, Dad?" 

"Don't take this the wrong way, Princess, but what are you doing here?" 

Kaylee stabbed at her whole-wheat waffle and sliced peaches as she told him matter-of-factly, "Eating breakfast."

"Don't be dense, Kaylee Marie," he scolded her softly.  "You know what I mean."

Kaylee stole a quick glance at her sister before she explained matter-of-factly, "I slept here last night."

"Why?  Don't you like your room at the carriage house?"

"It's okay," she responded.   "But the air conditioner wasn't working last night and then...there were the mice."  She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Air conditioner?  MICE?"  Brian walked over and leaned against the kitchen bar, facing his two daughters as he held his mug in his hand, the coffee temporarily forgotten.

She nodded.  "Yeah...the air conditioner wasn't working last night, and when Daddy and I went downstairs to check it out, we heard mouse noises."

Brian frowned.  "Coming from where?"

"The front closet," Katie helpfully supplied from next to her sister.  "Uh...That's what she told me," Katie explained.  "No way I could have slept with mice running around!  Even if the air conditioner had been working.  I don't blame Kaylee one bit."

Brian shook his head.  "I don't understand. I had everything checked out from top to bottom before you and your father moved back here.   Are you sure it wasn't working?"

Kaylee nodded.  "The thermostat was set on 77, but Daddy said the temperature said it was 81."

Brian furrowed his brow; that didn't make sense.  "Well, I don't see any way there could be mice in that house, either.  We just thoroughly cleaned it, remember?"

Kaylee shrugged.  "I know. But there were mouse droppings on top of the kitchen counter and in the pan drawer under the stove," she told him.

"Humph," Brian replied.  "I don't get it."  He shook his head, mystified.  "Guess I'll need to call a repairman this morning, then.  Does your father know you're up here with us?"  He laughed.  "He doesn't like it if it's too hot."  At least when it came to the temperature, he couldn't help thinking.  Justin loved nothing more than to crank up the AC and snuggle under the covers, preferably with him as an additional body warmer.  He bit his lip, thinking he'd better dwell on something else. The thought of a naked Justin under the covers with his warm body spooned up against his was almost too much to bear at the moment.  What his daughter said next, however, promptly put that thought back into his mind.

"He knows; he's upstairs asleep.  We didn't get here until after three."

Brian's eyes lit up; he was unable to hide his delight as he answered in surprise," he is?"  Three a.m.  Just a coincidence? He wondered.

Kaylee nodded as her father couldn't help smiling over that interesting bit of information.  "Uh...Which bedroom is he in?" he asked nonchalantly, trying to sound casual.

Kaylee and Katie bit back a laugh as Kaylee told him, "The last bedroom down the hall, near the attic stairs."

Little shit; he WOULD pick the bedroom farthest away from my...OUR bedroom...

Brian put his coffee mug down as he proclaimed, "Well, maybe I'd better go make that call to the repairman and the exterminator.  You girls go ahead and finish your breakfast."  The twins nodded as he smiled at them before walking out of the room toward the stairs, bypassing both the landline kitchen phone and his cellphone lying on the counter nearby.

The two girls waited several seconds for their father to have time to reach the stairs before they looked at each other and burst out laughing.  "He is sooooo transparent," Katie cried out in glee as Kaylee giggled.  "Oh, this is working perfectly so far!"

Kaylee grinned, her eyes growing wide as she exclaimed, "You think Dad will try to catch a little beauty sleep with Daddy?"

Katie bit her lower lip before grinning back at her.  "I would bet on it."  The two girls laughed as they resumed eating their breakfast, both wishing they were flies on the wall at the moment but realizing their fathers needed some privacy to help move their plan along.

Brian reached the landing in record time, stopping at the top of the steps to slow his breathing down.  It wouldn't be seemly to appear too overeager, but just the thought of his partner lying in a bed just down the hall made it hard to exude patience.   Taking a deep breath, he quietly trod down toward the last guest bedroom on the left and paused by the doorway, noticing it was slightly ajar.  Pushing the door open wider, he stopped to stare over at the sight he thought he would never see:  his beautiful partner, nestled under the light brown comforter, his hair splayed out on the pillow like a golden cloud. 

His heart pounded as he walked and toward the bed, watching the soft rise and fall of Justin's chest under the bedspread.  He was lying on his side with his back to him, totally unaware of his presence.  What Brian wouldn't have given at that moment to have Justin lying in their bed down the hall, waking up with him holding him in his arms.  Perhaps he could come close, however; the opportunity that had just presented itself was too tempting to resist.

Tugging his jeans down his long legs, he pulled his sweater over his head and, clad only in his briefs, he walked over to the side of the bed to gingerly slide in under the cover.  He could smell Justin's intriguing scent now as he inhaled deeply, and it filled him instantly with desire and even a bit of protectiveness, just like it always had, as he scooted closer to the pale, slender body and snaked his arm around Justin's waist.  He closed his eyes in pleasure as the memories washed over him of so many times they had lain just like this together.  How long would it be before they woke up every morning again like this?  He was determined to abide by Justin's wishes, but damn, was it going to be one of the hardest things he had ever done.  Hard didn't even begin to describe it, he thought painfully as he felt his hard-on throbbing.  Breathing out slowly, he closed his eyes and tried furiously not to think about that as gradually he let the feeling of contentment overtake him and he fell asleep.

One Hour Later...

Almost subconsciously, Justin snuggled deeper into the body behind him, knowing instinctively that it was Brian.  He smiled, his eyes still closed, as he reached down to place his hand over Brian's and lead them down to his quite impressive woody, burrowing even deeper into Brian's body that was molded against his backside, feeling his partner's own bulging hard-on pressed against his ass. 

"Good Morning, Sunshine," he heard Brian huskily whisper in his ear, his warm breath ghosting against his cheek.  He groaned as Brian squeezed his cock, his hand hot and strong under his.  As always, it felt indescribable.  The feelings Brian engendered always had made him feel that way, though.

"Brian..." he moaned out his partner's name as Brian began to stroke his cock with sure, strong movements, Justin's hand joining his.  In his highly aroused but still half-asleep state, it took Justin several seconds until he realized where he was - and whom he was with - before his eyes quickly flew open and he hastily scooted away from his partner.  He whirled around to face Brian, his eyes flashing.

"Brian! What are you doing in my bed?" 

Brian grinned.  "I was going to ask you the same question...Goldilocks.  What happened to sleeping at the carriage house?" 

"The carriage house has no air conditioning!" Justin replied, fuming.  "It was fucking burning up in there!  You know I can't sleep when it's that hot!"

Brian leered at him, his honey-colored, bare chest making Justin's body tingle.  Justin had to restrain himself from reaching out and running his hand down that muscled, flat chest as he clenched the cover in his hand, almost to the point of cutting off his circulation, as Brian advised him huskily, "Well, it's pretty damn hot in here right now, too."

Justin harrumphed over the cheesy line.  "Well, if you had stayed in YOUR bed, you wouldn't be suffering right now from heat exhaustion."  Brian chuckled over that to Justin's consternation as he reminded him, "Brian, I thought we had agreed to take things slowly this time."

"It wasn't ME that wound up sneaking back into the house," he pointed out helpfully.

"I didn't 'sneak back into the house,' as you so eloquently put it.  I told you; it was too hot there!  And I didn't 'sneak' back into your bed; I'm in one of the guest rooms...or did you get up in the middle of the night sleepwalking, get lost, and just happen to wander in here by mistake?"

"Oh, I got up, all right," Brian quipped as Justin rolled his eyes.  "Just as soon as the girls downstairs told me that you were up here."  He rolled his tongue into his cheek and gave Justin his best, innocent, 'little boy' look.

"Blabbermouths," Justin muttered; there was no sting in his voice, though.  "I should have guessed."  He sighed as he stared into Brian's eyes.  "You, however, are the so-called adult and should know better.  And did you know there're mice out there?  It sounded like a whole nest of them in that hall closet!"  He shuddered at the thought.  "And there was mouse shit everywhere, even on top of my best cooking pan."

Brian couldn't help it then; despite his painful condition at the moment, the look of indignation on Justin's face about his skillet was just too priceless as he burst out laughing. 

Justin glared at him for several seconds.  "This isn't funny, Brian!  How would YOU like it?"  He stared over at the twinkling, hazel eyes before eventually he couldn't resist returning the smile with one of his own as he contemplated how ridiculous the whole thing sounded.  "Well, it isn't," he persisted.  "It...It was hot...and I kept thinking about all these beady, little eyes peering up at me when I opened the closet door..."

Brian grinned.  "A whole nest of them, huh?  Were they all wearing little Mickey Mouse ears, Sunshine?"

"You asshole!  I didn't see any when I opened the door!" Justin was fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon the point of view) within striking distance of his partner as he reached over with the intent of delivering a sound smack on the taut chest, but Brian was too fast for him. 

His partner reached out to grasp his wrist and pulled on him so forcefully that he wound up conveniently draped across Brian's body.  Even with the snug briefs on, Justin had no problem detecting Brian's desire for him as they lay skin-on-skin, their faces within inches of each other's. 

Brian's face turned serious as he stared intently into the expressive, blue eyes.  "Justin...Quit fighting me, fighting this," Brian pleaded earnestly.  "Come back to the house, Sunshine; come back to our bed." 

"Brian..."

"You want time to think everything through?  You want time to find out if we can make a go of this permanently this time? Okay.  But it's not going to matter if you're back there in that carriage house or here at Britin.  You know you and I are like two fires that are constantly smoldering.   You can't stay away from me, and I can't stay away from you.  We're certainly not going to be some celibate martyrs while we work through all this; admit it.  We've already proven that."

Justin bit his lower lip thoughtfully; he had to admit that Brian was right. 

Brian held onto his lover by his upper arms, their legs tangled together as he whispered, "Justin, the girls need to bond some more; they need to be together.  WE need to be together.  I'll do whatever you say - hell, I'll even take you out on dates!  Just..." he took a deep breath.  "Just please.  No more scenes out of It Happened One Night.  No more imaginary curtains separating your side of the bed from mine."

Justin let out a deep breath.  "Brian...Even if I did move back in here, there's plenty of other bedrooms besides yours..."

"Our bedroom," Brian quickly corrected him.  Justin grudgingly nodded.  "Yeah, there're more bedrooms here than some hotels have.  But even if you DID use one of the guest bedrooms, we both know you wouldn't stay there; not permanently, anyway.  We both know we would wind up together, more times than not."  It wasn't said arrogantly, just as a simple fact.

Justin opened his mouth to protest, but he knew it was pointless.  Brian was right; he had only been home a short while now, and they had made love more times than he wanted to count.  And that's what it was.  Their love for each other had never been in question. 

He finally smiled down at him wryly.  "Dates, huh? What kind of dates?" 

Brian rolled his eyes.  "Well, I'm not sure. But I'm sure it would have to involve food; plenty and plenty of food."

Justin grinned.  "And plenty of condoms, too, no doubt."  To his surprise, though, Brian shook his head.  He frowned.  "Oh, come on," he replied skeptically before another thought crossed his mind.  "Brian, I already told you, I'm not ready to..."

"I know that," Brian replied just a little defensively.  He took in a deep breath and let it out.  "What I mean is, that's not why I would take you out on dates.  I would do it so we could get to know each other again and make you comfortable with the idea of us being together permanently."  He paused for a few seconds.  "Would you like that?  Just you and me, doing things together?  Maybe taking the girls with us occasionally, too?  There's an amazing zip line not too far from here that Katie loves to go to; maybe Kaylee would like that, too."

Justin laughed as he stared into Brian's eyes.  "A zip line after she just fell off a horse recently?  I'm not so sure that's a great idea, Brian."  He noticed a slight hint of disappointment cross Brian's face as he clarified, "What I mean is, I think it's a wonderful idea for us to go out on dates - and take the girls with us on occasion, too."  He added softly, "We've never really been out on dates before." 

Brian nodded, suddenly feeling like a first-class shit.  Justin was right; in all the years they had known each other, he could probably count on one hand the number of times he had even taken Justin out somewhere on what could be termed a date.  Eating meals at the diner or dancing at Babylon wasn't quite the same thing.  They didn't even go out to movies; they always brought one home to watch or ate a carry-in meal.  How many times had he actually 'courted' Justin like you would a boyfriend or a partner?  Back then, the idea would have seemed ludicrous. Right now, though, it sounded quite appealing to him - and from the sound of Justin's voice, he felt the same way. 

"No, we haven't," Brian admitted softly.  "But I'd like to change that...If you'll let me."  He reached to lightly caress Justin's face.  "So what do you say, Sunshine?"

Justin reached up to clasp Brian's hand under his.  "I'd like that, Brian," Justin told him softly.  "I'd like that a lot." 

"Which part?" Brian finally ventured to ask as he held his breath in anticipation. 

Justin's smile seemed to warm the room as he replied simply, "Both."