Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction
Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad

Chapter 33

Early in the morning of July 5th there was a knock on the Master Bedroom door. Justin groaned and pulled a pillow over his face; a smiling Brian asked who was there. “It’s me, Daddy. Can I come in?”

“Come on in Sonny Boy.” Gus rushed into the bedroom and climbed onto the bed. As usual he burrowed between his Daddy and his Papa. He loved being cocooned between the 2 men. Brian put his arm around his son and pulled him close.

Justin moved the pillow to expose about half of his face and looked over at Gus, who giggled. “Papa I think you should make Mickey Mouse pancakes this morning.”

Justin groaned in response and pulled the pillow back over his face which made Gus giggle even more. Brian laughed. “I think we better go downstairs and make Papa coffee if we want to get any pancakes out of him this morning.”

Gus was off the bed and halfway downstairs before Brian pulled on a T shirt. In the kitchen Brian let Gus grind the coffee beans. When the coffee was ready Brian poured some in a travel mug and fixed it for Justin. The travel mug would make it easier for Gus to deliver it without leaving a trail of coffee through the house.

Gus was delighted to be the delivery boy while Brian enjoyed his coffee and wheat toast. Gus placed the mug on Justin’s bedside table. He lifted the pillow off Justin’s face and gave him a kiss. “Tine to wake up Papa! I’m ready for pancakes.”

Justin sat up and took a swallow of coffee looking at a very impatient 7 years old standing beside his bed. After a few more swallows of coffee Justin got out of bed. “Okay Gus. Just let me go to the bathroom and then its pancake time.”

When Justin and Gus got down to the kitchen John, Peter and Emmett were all sitting at the kitchen table. They had forks and knives in their hands. Brian had the electric grill set up on the counter. Gus hurried over to take his place at the table.

Justin went over to Brian and gave him a kiss. “No time for romance Sunshine. All the boys are waiting for their Mickey Mouse pancakes. Emmett needs his strength to make sure the cleanup crew does a good job this morning.”

Justin got out a large mixing bowl and the ingredients for pancake batter. As he mixed the batter he heard whispering and laughing from the table area. “Just so you know the first time flatware gets banged on the table I stop making pancakes!”

Gus and Emmett’s guilty laughter told Justin he had guessed correctly on what was being plotted. Melanie and Lindsay appeared in the kitchen. Gus was excited to let them know what was happening. “Mommy and Mama get plates and stuff. Papa is making everybody Mickey Mouse pancakes!”

Justin had the first four MM pancakes on the griddle and told Brian to get sliced strawberries out of the refrigerator. Lindsay asked she could do and Justin said she could warm up the maple syrup in the microwave. For the next 20 minutes Justin made pancakes and Brian delivered them to the table. Finally everyone was full and Justin could enjoy his own pancakes.

John and Peter performed their normal cleanup. By the town Alice arrived from the cottage the kitchen was in perfect order. Brian, Justin and Gus were heading to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to see the dinosaurs today so after breakfast they went upstairs to get ready. Gus wanted to wear their matching shirts again but Brian was delighted to say they were too dirty and smelly from yesterday.

Melanie and Lindsay planned to hang around the house and relax before heading back to Toronto after Lindsay’s interview with Sidney the next morning. They needed to get back to Toronto to start to pack up their belongings and prepare for the move back to the USA.

Alice and Charlie were spending the afternoon at the farm along with Linda, Scott and children. They invited John and Peter to go along with them.

Emmett spent the early afternoon making sure that the yard and patio were restored to perfect order. When he was satisfied that everything was done he went to say good bye to Lindsay and Melanie, who were relaxing on the patio.

“Well ladies, I am heading back to town. It was great seeing both of you but I wish we could have spent some more time together.”

Melanie got up to give Emmett a hug. “You have had a busy few days. You did a fabulous job, everything was amazing. I hope Kinney pays you what you are worth.”

“Brian is always more than fair. I appreciate that he trusts me to handle so many of his personal and business functions.”

Lindsay also gave Emmett a hug. “Don’t worry too much about not spending time with us. You are going to have a lot more opportunities soon. We are moving back to Pittsburgh.”

Emmett gave a shriek and grabbed both woman for another hug. “That is so great!”

Melanie smiled. “Things haven’t worked out as we hoped in Toronto so we are both looking forward to coming back home.”

“Are you going to be staying here with Brian and Justin until you find a permanent place?”

Lindsay shook he head. “That isn’t really an option. We will be staying in Brian’s loft. Apparently Jennifer is having someone put up some temporary walls to make bedrooms for the kids. It will be tight quarters for a while but that’s what’s been offered to us.”

Emmett didn’t really understand Lindsay aggrieved tone of voice. “Well Brian and Justin are two of my very best friends. They are both so honorable, kind and generous that I love and respect them so much so I’m sure they are doing what is best for everyone.”

Lindsay was more accustomed to people not being so very pro Brian, she was feeling somewhat unsure of old friendships.

Emmett was anxious not to get in the middle of anything so he said good bye and quickly left.

As soon as Emmett left Melanie turned to her wife. “Linds, I think you need to watch yourself. You are really starting to come off as an ingrate. Brian and Justin are really providing a lot of assistance to us and we both know we could be in serious trouble without their help.”

“Mel, I know Brian is helping us but I am just getting a little tired of being expected to be so grateful for the crumbs that are being given us. Brian buys Justin an art gallery. He spends a fortune on nephews that he hardly even knows and the best he can do for his son is his old loft.”

“I think you need to take a step back and realize how much help we are getting and just be grateful.”

“I’m going to go iron the outfit I want to wear tomorrow for my interview.”

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Gus had a great time with his fathers at the museum. On their way out they made a stop at the gift shop where Gus got dinosaur puzzles, a story book and a coloring book. A happy Gus skipped back to car holding on to his fathers’ hands. When they swung him up in the air he laughed delightedly.

Afterwards they went to the diner for lunch. Of course Debbie made a huge fuss over Gus who had his favorite cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake. Justin had the same lunch as Gus while Brian stuck with his regular turkey sandwich, although he did steal some fries from both Gus’s & Justin’s plates.

Gus fell asleep on the car ride back home. When they pulled into the garage Gus woke up and announced he was ready to go swimming. Brian laughingly agreed to go in the pool with his son.

Melanie and Lindsay were in the media room watching a DVD of one of the many black & white classic movies in Brian’s collection. Gus shouted hello as he hurried up to his room to change, Brian following close behind. Justin went in to say hello to the two women and let them know what Gus’s plans were. He told them about the museum trip and lunch at the diner before he headed up to his studio.

A couple hours later he heard John & Peter talking with Brian and Gus so he knew the farm outing was over. He cleaned his brushes and washed the paint off his hands before going down to the kitchen to scout out what might be available for dinner.

He got to the kitchen just in time to see Alice come out of the pantry carrying 2 silver pans. “Hi Justin. I hope you don’t mind but I invited Chuck, Nancy and the kids over here for dinner. This is frozen chicken casserole. Nancy is bringing a vegetable salad with her.”

Justin smiled. “Not a problem, you know that. I’ll see if Brian wants to go out for dinner. He may not be ready for two days of multiple children running rampant.”

“If you have to go out, you can deduct the dinner check from my pay.” Justin just laughed.

Justin went out on the patio where Brian was reclining on a lounger. Gus was still in the pool, now joined by 3 Simpson grandchildren & his 2 cousins along with Charlie and his son in law, Scott. Linda was observing things from the hot tub.

Justin went over and sat in a chair next to Brian. “More guests are due to arrive soon. We can sneak out to dinner just the two us if you want.”

Brian turned towards Justin who was amazed to see a smile on his partner’s face. Brian gestured towards the pool. Gus had a huge smile on his face and was apparently participating in some sort of game whose rules and objectives seemed impossible to understand to Brian. “Look at how happy Gus is. I’m sure he doesn’t really understand what the fuck he is doing but he is just happy to be part of the group. He is just so fucking happy. How can I object to that Sunshine?”

Justin took Brian’s hand. “So I guess we stay here in chaos central for dinner.”

Brian just continue to smile and nodded his head. Justin went back into the kitchen. Alice had the frozen casseroles in the oven and had water on to boil for pasta and homemade tomato sauce was warming in another pot.

“Alice, what can I do to help?” “Not going out for dinner?”

Justin laughed. “Gus is having too much fun and Brian doesn’t want to miss that.”

“You can set up a buffet table on the patio with plates, bowls and flatware.”

An hour later, everyone was eating and talking and shouting and laughing. When dinner was over the Simpson siblings and their spouses insisted on taking care of clean-up.

Once the company departed, Brian took Gus up for his bath and bedtime story. Justin relaxed in the hot tub with Melanie and Lindsay while John and Peter played pool ring toss. Justin suddenly remembered that no one had told John about Jennifer and Cynthia’s plans for the soccer game.

“Hey John. Cynthia and my mother are going to serve refreshments for both teams at your soccer game on Saturday.”

“Why are they going to go to all that trouble?”

“Cynthia thought that since Kinnetik is the team sponsor that it would be a nice thing to do and my Mom was happy to help. Kinnetik will pay for the refreshments.”

Lindsay stepped out of the hot tub. “I’ve had enough. I’m going to go up and finish packing.” Melanie thanked Justin for all trouble he had gone to for their visit and followed her wife into the house.

John looked at Justin. “That was weird.”
Justin shook his head. “Lindsay is having issues that have nothing to do with you. She feels that Uncle Brian is not treating her fairly. Just try your best to ignore her antics, which is what I plan to do.”

“I still feel kind of funny about the trouble Cynthia and Grandmom Jen are going to. It’s just a soccer game, we might not even win. There’s no obligation for everyone to come to the game.”

“Mom and Tucker were coming to the game anyway and Cynthia came up with the idea for the refreshments so I think you need to just go with the flow and not worry. No one expects anything special from you or your team.”

Claire had never attended one of John’s soccer games. He was having a hard time accepting that people were interested enough in him to come to the game.

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The next morning Brian was up early to get ready to go into the office. Once he was dressed, he stopped by Gus’s room and they went down and had breakfast together. As Brian was leaving he filled the travel mug with coffee for Justin and had Gus take it upstairs, telling him he didn’t need to knock he could go right in the bedroom.

Gus placed the mug on the bedside table and lifted the pillow off Justin’s face. “Papa it is time for you to wake up.”

Justin was already awake and he grabbed Gus, pulled him onto the bed and tickled him while Gus squealed in delight. “So Little Man what are we going to do with ourselves today?”

Gus caught his breath after the tickling stopped. “Daddy said that you need to paint in your studio and that I can read to you and help you paint.”

Justin laughed but agreed to Gus’s plan.

At the office Brian was meeting with Ted to go over month end financials for June when Michael burst into the office. Carole was close behind him. “I’m sorry Brian, he just rushed past me.”

“Don’t worry about it Carole. Michael can’t help it, pushy is an inherited trait.”

Carole went back to her desk closing the office door on the way out. She wondered, not for the first time, how Brian ever got to be friends with Michael Novotny.

“So Mikey what is so vitally important that you had to interrupt my meeting with Ted.”

“I was talking to Lindsay at the party on Wednesday and she told me you want her Mel and the kids to live in your loft. I can’t believe you can be so selfish.”

Brian sat back in his chair and stared at his childhood friend. “So offering the munchers a completely free place to live while they try to dig out of their financial hole is selfish?”

“You have plenty of money, you can afford to get them a better place. They are going to be really cramped in the loft.”

“Michael you, of all people, know that no one gave me any money. The money that Justin and I have we have earned. I work with people that I often dislike to show them how to sell shit that I would never buy. Justin often paints until his hand cramps up and the pain forces him to stop. We earned every dollar that we have.

No one gave me any money to start Kinnetik but it seems to me that I selfishly gave you a loan to open your comic book store. A loan that you have made no effort to repay.”

“Brian, I can’t believe you would make Gus stay in a tiny room in the loft. He is your son, I would think you would want something better for him. This has nothing to do with any money you've given me.”

Ted could not believe his ears. “Michael! Brian has paid out thousands of dollars in support for Gus. How much support have you ever paid for your daughter? Brian is paying for the girls’ move back to Pittsburgh and you have the nerve to come here and say he is selfish.”

“I don’t have the kind of money that Brian has. He can afford to send support. Ben and I have a lot of expenses with Hunter, teenagers are expensive. I don’t make a lot at the comic book store. Melanie understands, she never wanted me to pay support.”

Brian laughed. “So Mikey, according to you, since I am successful I am obligated to give other people money. I have a teenager and an almost teenager living with me so I know how expensive they are. I remember hearing about how you had a winning bid on eBay for some mint condition action figure. One could think that maybe you should have sent that money to help support your daughter instead of selfishly buying yourself a toy.”
Michael flushed with embarrassment. “None of that changes that you could afford a better place for the girls to live. You have money for whatever Justin wants and you pay Jennifer for doing stuff for you that other employees could do. You take in your nephews, that you never even cared about, but you won’t spend money on a nice place for your son to live. I don’t understand you. I would do anything for JR.”

Brian’s eyes narrowed. “You would do anything for her except get a job that pays you some money so you could afford support. You do understand that all the clothes your daughter is wearing have been purchased with money from Justin and me. Despite the thousands I paid in support my son and your daughter arrived here with no summer clothes that fit them. So selfish Brian and Justin bought both children a complete summer wardrobe.

Tay-Kin Art purchased the Bloom Gallery not Brian Kinney or Kinnetik. You have no idea what Jennifer does to be paid by KT Properties and you have no idea how many thousands of dollars I have paid to Lindsay and Melanie.

You do nothing for nobody and you have the fucking nerve to come here and tell me I am selfish. Lindsay tells you some one-sided bullshit story and you are all ready to believe that I am the villain. You always say you are my best friend. I always thought friends were people who thought the best of you, not people who automatically believe you are behaving badly.

Michael, you have no idea how much money I have or what I do with that money. I will tell you this, I give more money away in a year than you earn in your stupid ass comic book store. Now get the fuck out of my office or I will call security to have you thrown out.”

“But Brian…”

Brian stood up and screamed at Michael. “Get the fuck out of this office and out of this building and if you think the loft is an inadequate home for your daughter get a job and pay the rent on a better place.”

Ted went to the office door and opened it. “Michael leave or I am going to call security.”

Michael came over to the door. “I guess we know who pays your salary.”

Ted laughed. “I guess we know who is a stupid, immature asshole.”

Brian laughed as Michael stormed out of the office.

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Meanwhile Lindsay was meeting with Sidney Bloom about the Gallery Manager position. Sidney was honest with Lindsay about his ethics concerns because of her past actions with Sam Auerbach. Lindsay assured him she had learned her lesson and realized that her past actions were inappropriate. She overflowed with ideas about improving the gallery.

They did have one area of disagreement when Lindsay discussed Justin’s role with the gallery. “I think you and I could really do great things Sidney. That is as long as we can keep Justin as a silent partner.”

“Lindsay I am delighted to have Justin as a partner. I feel he has a lot to contribute. You need to understand that he owns a majority share of the gallery. You and I would really be working for Justin.”

“I know Brian has bankrolled this purchase and I’m sure I can convince him to make sure you and I have a free hand to do what is best for Bloom Galleries.”

Sidney was not happy. “My dear I’m afraid you have an incorrect idea about how things will operate here. I expect Justin to be involved in every major decision. My understanding is that the gallery purchase was funded from Justin’s earnings from his art. I am surprised and disappointed by your attitude. I also doubt that anyone has more influence over Brian then Justin.”

Lindsay quickly backtracked. “I didn’t realize that Justin wanted to play an active role here. Of course that is no problem for me. Justin and I have been friends for years and no one respects his talent more than I do.”

Sidney brought the meeting to an end. He thanked Lindsay for coming in and told her he would be getting back to her after he and Justin discussed all the candidates for the position.
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