Brian arrived at Justin’s a little early. From the moment he let it slip to Gus that they we’re going to hang out with Justin and Gracin, the little man had done nothing but beg, plead and cry to go over to Justin's.

The second that Justin answered the door with the phone to his ear, Brian could tell that whomever was on the phone had royally pissed him off. Justin made a come in motion with his hand, with the signal to be quiet. His face was contorted in an angry expression, his blue eyes ablaze as he listened with rapt attention to the person on the other line.

Brian decided to follow Gus, who had let go of his hand and made a bee-line for the family room. Apparently his child had been here before. Brian watched as Gus opened the toy box in the corner of the room where Gracin's baby paraphernalia was kept, and pulled out some puzzles to play with.

"Gus, Daddy's going to talk to Justin, keep playing sonny boy." Brian instructed so the boy wouldn’t be scared if he looked up and noticed his Daddy gone.

"Otay" Gus said, busy with his puzzle.

Brian stepped into the kitchen and watched Justin pace as he tried to hold his tongue; his blue eyes had darkened with anger.

"Where the fuck will you be for three damn weeks Craig?" Justin spat angrily as he restrained himself from tossing the phone across the room.

"None of your goddamn business! Now do you want Molly for the holidays or do I send her to your aunt for Christmas?" Craig swore before he gave Justin the ultimatum.

"I’ll take her," Justin snapped, clearly pissed at his worthless father. "Are you at least going to send her gifts with her?"

"I’ll drop a check by, get her whatever you think will make her happy." Craig said, uninterested.

"For the record, this tops the fucking cake of shitty things you’ve done as a father. She lost her mom not even five months ago and you're ditching her at Christmas and leaving her with your faggot son whom you claim to be ashamed of, to go get fucked." Justin ranted. He now knew that no matter how angry he made him, Craig wouldn’t keep Molly from him, he was just that selfish. "Have a Merry Fucking Christmas! Drop Molly off on Tuesday before break begins. Make sure she packs everything she needs. Don’t forget she needs a gift for Brice for Secret Santa."

"My, you two sound happily married." Brian teased, pecking Justin on the forehead as the teen struggled to get his temper in check. They walked back into the family room where Gus was at play.

"Gus-in" Gus cried happily as he looked up from his toddler puzzle, melting Justin's temper with one tiny smile.

"Gus my big guy" Justin sang as he scooped up Gus from the floor to give him a hug.

"Gus-in Dada is here" Gus said as he pointed proudly to his father.

"I see that your Dada is here."

"Baby Gacin at?" Gus asked much to Brian's surprise.

"That silly little monkey is napping." Justin explained making the toddler laugh.

"You watch Gus often?" Brian asked once Gus was distracted with the kiddie show and puzzle.

"Occasionally a night here and there, and Molly watches him every other Sunday for a couple hours in the afternoon while Lindsay and Melanie do their shopping." Justin explained, slightly rattled that Brian wasn’t aware of his arrangement with the girls. "It’s not a problem is it?"

"No...I," Brian said, then he cut himself off as his facial expression went blank.

Justin sighed deeply before he spoke. "You’re not a bad father, you care, you love him. It’s not your fault they keep you out of the loop. If you want more time just stand your ground; you're a good father." Justin said as he checked the diaper bag.

Brian nodded, thinking over Justin's words as he watched him make Gus a snack of grapes and baby carrots. "I'll be right back; go put Gus' car seat in my car while I get Gracin ready."

"Your car?" Brian whined as he cast a dirty look out the window at Justin's old Ford Taurus.

"Yes my car, I have to pick Molly up later today and your Jeep isn’t really made for a backseat full of youngsters. Besides, we can park closer to the door at the mall instead of way out in the boondocks so no one scratches your baby." Justin reasoned teasingly.

"I’m going to buy a damn SUV" Brian said jokingly to Justin's retreating form only to receive a chuckle in return.

o-o-o-o

Brian couldn’t figure out how Justin kept that damn smile on his face because he was about to have a class four melt down. He griped, "Who goes to the fucking mall in December?"

"Brian, quit being a drama queen and pick something." Justin snapped with a laugh as he bounced a tired Gus on his hip. Gracin had given up the battle long ago and decided to sleep through this noisey experience.

"Yeah Dada" Gus said seriously as he nodded his head in agreement with Justin.

"I’m going with the Friday’s gift card." Brian said picking up the card and heading to the checkout. "It’s not nice enough to warrant a thank you card and it’s not horrible enough to receive a bitch out."

"About time, we’re going to starve aren’t we Gus?" Justin whined playfully as he lifted the toddler in the air, making the miniature Kinney squeal with laughter.

"I never said a word while you spent forty-five minutes in a girl tween store and you dare to whine while I pick out a simple gift card." Brian said quirking an eyebrow.

"Point," Justin nodded his head as he conceded Brian's statement.

"arving Dada" Gus said mirroring Justin's pout, which sent Justin into a wave of laughter when Brian rolled his eyes, amused with his boys. The bond that Justin and Gus shared amazed him.

"So when are Lindsay and Mel picking up Gus?" Justin asked as they headed to the parking lot.

"Not until past ten tonight."

"If you want you can stick around, we’re going to put up the Christmas tree." Justin offered. He knew the loft didn’t have many activities for a two and a half year old.

"Tree Dada tree" Gus pleaded as he gave his father a hopeful smile.

"Tree it is sonny boy" Brian said to Gus as he buckled the toddler into his seat.

o-o-o-o

Brian watched as Justin took the last storage container down from the attic.

"So what now?" Brian asked completely lost.

"Molly will untangle lights and you and I are going to put the tree together and fluff it," Justin explained.

"What Gus do?" Gus asked, his hazel eyes wide and excited.

"You get to pick out what you want to put on the tree." Justin said handing him a box of plastic and unbreakable ornaments.

"Fluff it?" Brian questioned.

"It’s been packed away in storage all year in a box, we put it together then spread out the branches to make it authentic looking."

"Oh," was Brian's quiet response. As Justin set to work, Brian awkwardly followed his lead, spreading out the branches. It wasn’t until they had the tree put together that Justin realized Brian had never decorated a Christmas tree before.

Justin pretended not to notice the emotions on Brian's face as father and son hung ornaments. It was a precious moment that Justin couldn’t wait to put on canvas.

Molly poked Justin's ribs to get his attention. He was engrossed in watching Brian and Gus' facial expressions as they looked at the completed tree.

"They're kinda cute, Brian’s never done this before has he?" Molly said quietly as if she instinctively knew that she was witnessing something special.

"No, he hasn’t" Justin whispered back.

"Can we keep him?" Molly asked playfully, her blue eyes twinkling.

"Maybe"

"He needs a family" Molly said seriously before she walked over to Brian. She handed him a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream and then stared him down until he took a sip.