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

Chapter 87

Michael sat forlornly at the counter in his comic book store. For once he was happy there were few customers. He was still focused on the argument he and Ben had last night. Michael couldn’t understand why no one else could see how Justin was taking advantage of Brian. He knew Ben hadn’t really known Brian before Justin wormed his way into his life but his mother seemed blind to Justin’s machinations. She had known Brian as long as Michael and could see how much Justin had made Brian change.

Ben told Michael that he accepted how Michael felt about Brian and Justin but he did not agree. Ben said that he would not stand by and let Michael poison JR’s mind against Justin. Ben said that Justin was always very nice to JR and there was no reason for her to have any bad feelings towards Justin.

Ben wanted Michael to promise not to make those unkind remarks about Justin to JR. Michael agreed but made up his mind to limit JR’s time with Justin as much as possible.

After he dropped JR at school this morning Michael stopped at the diner where his mother launched into a lecture almost identical to Ben’s tirade. Michael simply could not understand why no one could see what Justin was doing. Okay the guy has a nice smile but how can that fool everyone into thinking he is a nice person. Michael knows that one day Brian will figure out how Justin has used him and made him change who he was. When that happens he will realize how much Michael means to him and how Michael was the one person not to be fooled by Justin. Michael was sure Brian would be eternally grateful for Michael trying to look out for him.

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Justin didn’t daydream for long about a baby before getting to work measuring out the canvas. He even started some painting before his stomach insisted he stop for lunch. John & Peter came through the patio door after a tennis game, so the three of them had lunch together. Alice happily serving up sloppy Joe sandwiches with some homemade potato chips and pickles. Lunch conversation was mostly about the boys starting school on Monday and the grand opening of the art gallery tomorrow night.

John bemoaned the fact that they had to be at the gallery for the entire evening. Justin told them they could spend time in the conference room away from the attendees. He was also depending on them to keep their eye on Gus. Neither of those things reconciled John to spending another night at an art show.

Justin listened and sympathized before telling John there was no chance of a reprieve from attending the grand opening. Peter laughed which caused his brother to poke in in the side with his elbow. Alice told them to behave before things got too out of hand. She threatened no more homemade cookies if they continued to annoy her. Justin smiled at the instant obedience that resulted from her threat.

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Lindsay appeared at lunch time washed dressed and wearing makeup. She and her father chose to ignore their encounter earlier in the day. After lunch Lindsay asked to borrow her mother’s car. She drove to the credit union where she and Melanie had a joint bank account. The balance in that account was about half what Lindsay expected. She realized that meant that Melanie had already taken her share of their money. Lindsay closed the joint account, opened an account in just her name. She deposited her last paycheck from the Bloom Gallery and the proceeds from the closed account but kept five hundred dollar in cash.

She left the credit union and went to the nearest place that sold lottery tickets and bought a hundred dollars’ worth of tickets. Some tickets were for the drawing scheduled for tomorrow night and the rest were instant scratch off tickets. They all went into her purse. She went to a clothes shop she liked, and bought a couple new outfits. After a stop at a hardware store Lindsay drove back to her parents’ house.

Once inside the house Lindsay went immediately upstairs to her bedroom. She opened the bag from the hardware store. She took out a screwdriver and a surface bolt for the door. She used the enclosed screws to affix the bolt to the door jam and door.

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As Justin was finishing his lunch his cell phone rang. He glanced at the display before answering.

“Hi Mel. Can I call you back in a couple minutes?”

Justin went up to the studio and redialed Mel.

“So Mel, what’s up?”

“Unfortunately not much. I’ve left half a dozen messages for Lindsay on her cell phone but she never answers and she never calls back. I can’t bring myself to call the Petersen’s house.”

“Lindsay did call Brian yesterday just as we were parking at the courthouse. As you can imagine that call didn’t go well. When Brian told her we were going into a custody hearing she was afraid it was for custody of Gus.”

Melanie sighed. “I am afraid she is going to try for sole custody of Gus while she lives with her parents.”

“Brian has a report from a private eye that would be helpful in any custody hearing that involves her parents plus the Petersens have their house for sale. I’m not sure they are really interested in any long term guests.”

“Well in the meantime we need to work out a schedule for Gus. I am hoping you guys can pick Gus up from school on Fridays and take him to school on Monday morning. I’ll keep him the rest of the week.”

“Whatever works best for you Mel. We have no problem having Gus for the weekends.”

Justin and Mel said good bye. Justin emailed Brian to tell him about his conversation about Gus’s custody. Brian immediately responded that he wasn’t happy that they were getting less time with Gus than Mel but they could address that later.

Justin was in the kitchen when Brian and Justin arrived home. He smiled at the expression on Brian’s face. Justin realized that Gus must have been in a questioning mood on the way home. Brian looked a little shell shocked by the experience. Gus ran over to give his Papa a hug and a kiss hello.

Justin walked over to Brian and put his arm around his waist. He suggested that Gus go up and change his clothes. Together Brian and Justin walked down to the study where they each had a shot of Beam.

“Oh my god, Sunshine he never shut up once on the drive home. He has you beat by a mile at talking. He asked about Lindsay, he asked about Mel, he asked if he was going to live with us all the time. He just never stopped!”

Justin gave his partner a kiss. “Do you think he was satisfied with your answers?”

“How the fuck would I know. The questions were just nonstop. I never had a chance to even figure out if he was okay with my answers or not.”

Justin managed to look sympathetic and not laugh but Brian looked so flustered it was very hard not to laugh.

“You should go up and change. Take your time and relax a little in our room.”

Brian gave Justin a kiss before he walked out of the study and went upstairs. Justin waited in the hall for Gus to make his way downstairs. Gus spotted him as soon as he came down the stairs.

“Papa can I talk to you?”

“Sure Little Man, I am always ready to have a talk with you. Let’s go out on the patio.”

Gus took Justin’s hand as they walked out onto the patio. Justin settled onto a lounger and Gus climbed on to sit in front of him.

“Papa how long am I going to stay here with you and Daddy?”

“Next Monday, after school, you go home with your Mama and JR to the loft. You’ll stay with them until after school on Friday and then you’ll come back here. I think that’s the way it will be for a while. Is that okay with you?”

Gus nodded. “I like staying here but I do kind of miss JR and Mama and my toys. When will Mommy come back to live with us?”

Justin hesitated for a moment and Gus turned to look at him. “I wish I could tell you when that will happen Gus. We told you that Mommy is very unhappy right now. She will come back when she is feeling better.”

“Maybe if I lived with her I could make her happy again?”

“You told me that Mommy has been unhappy for a while. I know she loves you very much but being with you wasn’t what she needed to be happy.”

Gus was quiet for a few minutes. Justin put his arms around Gus and pulled him back to lean against him.

“What will make Mommy happy?”

“I wish I knew! No one knows and that is the problem. Even Mommy doesn’t really know why she is unhappy. She needs to figure that out for herself, no one can help her right now. You know that Mama, Daddy and me would do anything we could to make your Mommy happy. We all feel sad that she is unhappy and it is okay for you to feel sad too.

Whenever you are feeling sad or have questions you can always talk to Daddy or me or Mama. We all love you very much. I know it is hard to understand but no one is responsible for Mommy’s unhappiness that is why none of us can make her happy again. She has to do that for herself.”

Gus was quiet again as he leaned back against Justin.

“Do you think I could talk to Mommy sometime? I wouldn’t want her to think I didn’t miss her.”

Justin thought fast about what his answer should be.

“Where’s your phone?”

“It’s in my backpack up in my room.”

“Why don’t you go get your phone and we’ll give Mommy a call right now.”

Gus was off like a shot with Justin calling after him to not run on the stairs.

When Gus returned he settled back on the lounger with Justin. He pushed the number 3 which was programmed to call Lindsay’s phone.

Lindsay saw the display on her phone read Gus but was still cautious as she answered. Gus was thrilled to hear his Mommy’s voice.

“Hi Mommy! It’s Gus. I wanted to talk to you so Papa said to get my phone and call you.”

Justin smiled at how pleased Gus sounded. He couldn’t hear anything Lindsay said but was able to follow the conversation from Gus’s responses.

“Yeah I'm still staying with Daddy and Papa. Papa said I will go stay with Mama and JR after school on Monday.”

“Are you starting to feel happier?”

“I miss you too but Daddy and Papa told me that you need to find out why you are unhappy yourself that no one could help you.”

Gus got an odd look on his face.

“Well they said they would help you if they could. Is there something they could do for you?”

“But you didn’t like that job. I told Papa you always complained about that job so I was glad you didn’t have to work there anymore.”

“Okay Mommy. I love you too. Bye.”

Justin hugged Gus against his chest. “So Gus did you have a good talk with Mommy?”

Gus shrugged. “I guess. She still sounds real unhappy and she said you were right that no one can make her happy.”

Justin nodded. John came out of the house. “Hey Gus Peter and I are going to kick around the soccer ball want to play with us.”

Phone conversation forgotten Gus ran over to join his cousins as Peter came out of the house. Justin got up and went inside. He noticed Gus’s phone charge was low so he plugged it into his charger. Brian had gotten the same phone for Gus as he and Justin had which simplified charging phones.

Brian walked into the kitchen and looked around. “Where’s Sonny Boy?”

Justin smiled. “He got invited to kick around a soccer ball with John and Peter.”

Brian smiled and nodded. “Do you think we need to talk to him about Lindsay?”

“Well he asked to talk to me and we did talk about her a little. I told him he would stay with Mel and JR next week and then come back here next weekend. He asked about Linds and we talked a little.
Gus asked if he could talk to his Mommy so I told him to get his phone and we could call her. She did answer and they talked for a while. I could just hear his end of the conversation but it seemed to go okay.”

Brian frowned. “Do you think that was a good idea?”

“Well he wanted to talk to her. I think it would have been worse to say no he couldn’t talk to her.”

“I guess. I just hope she didn’t say anything bad to him.”

Justin shrugged. “We can’t keep them apart forever.”

Brian nodded and wandered out back to watch the kids playing ball. Justin went up to the studio. Alice told him dinner would be ready in about half an hour.

At dinner Justin paid attention to Gus who seemed perfectly happy and normal. He helped Peter carry the dirty dishes over to John who loaded them into the dishwasher. While Justin put away the leftovers Brian took Gus downstairs to the game room for a pool lesson.

After Gus had his bath Justin went up to read him a bedtime story. Once Gus was asleep Justin went to the master bedroom where Brian was sitting in bed working on his laptop.

Brian looked up. “Gus and I chatted during his bath about his call with Linds.”

Justin sat on the bed. “What did he say?”

“Well, on the plus side, he said he was glad to talk to her. On the minus side, she said that you were one of the reasons she was unhappy and she hoped we weren’t saying bad things about her to Gus.”

Justin was wide eyed. “Fuck! He didn’t say anything to me. Was he really upset?”

“He is upset that she said mean things about you to him. He wasn’t sure whether he should tell her she was wrong or not. I told him not to worry about what Linds said about us. He just needed to remember we loved him and we loved his Mommy and hoped she gets better soon.”

Justin leaned over to kiss Brian. “That was a very good answer Dad. I feel bad Lindsay put him in the middle.”

Brian deepened their kiss, when he broke off the kiss he pulled off Justin’s shirt and went in for another kiss. A few minutes later both men were naked and Brian was working his way down Justin’s body with his tongue. A few minutes after that Justin was on his back with his legs resting on Brian’s shoulders.

Quite a few minutes later both men were in the shower and Justin was on his knees with Brian’s cock in his mouth. Brian’s fingers were entwined in Justin’s hair as he groaned with pleasure.

John and Peter were having a snack in the kitchen when their uncles appeared wearing sweats and t-shirts. Brian shook his head as Justin joined the boys enjoying some of Alice’s chocolate chip cookies and big glasses of chocolate milk. Justin gave his lover a big open mouth smile with a mouth full of cookies. John and Peter burst out laughing at the look of disgust on Uncle Brian’s face.

Brian tuned and walked out of the room. “I’m going to bed. Be sure to rinse out your mouth before you come to bed Justin.”

Brian could hear the hoots of laughter as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. Gus was standing in his bedroom doorway.

“What’s wrong Sonny Boy? Having trouble sleeping?”

Gus nodded. “Can I sleep with you and Papa tonight?”

Brian smiled and picked up Gus and gave him a kiss. “Sure you can.”

He carried the giggling boy into the bedroom and threw him on the bed. Gus was delighted to burrow under the sheets in the middle of the bed. Brian went into the bathroom took off his clothes and put on a pair of boxers before getting into bed. Gus snuggled against his father’s side and quickly went back to sleep.

When Justin came into the bedroom Brian was reading. He quickly put his fingers to his lips and Justin spotted Gus curled up against Brian. Justin smiled and quickly changed replaced his sweatpants with boxers and got into bed.

Justin slid close to Gus as Brian switched off his light. Still asleep Gus shifted slightly to settle between his fathers.

The next morning when the alarm went off Gus stirred as Justin moaned. A smiling Brian gave Gus a kiss.

“You can sleep a little longer Gus. I’ll wake you when it is time to get ready for school.”

Gus rolled towards Justin who put an arm around him and pulled him close. Brian got out of bed and looked back at the two most important people in his life curled up together in bed. He stared at them for a few minutes wanting to save the image in his mind before heading into the bathroom for his shower.

When Brian was almost ready he came back in the bedroom. He saw the two heads sharing a pillow, one blonde and a smaller head with dark hair, and took out his cell phone to snap a picture. After he took the picture he gently shook Gus and told him it was time to get up.

Gus gave his Papa a good morning kiss and got a grunt in reply. A giggling Gus ran to his bedroom to get dressed for school. Brian was relieved on the trip to the city that Gus was back to his normal happy self. Amusing himself by looking out the window and singing silly songs which made Brian chuckle.

Brian realized that Gus must have been feeling anxious about all the changes in his life. Apparently talking to him and Justin and even the call with Lindsay made Gus feel more secure about the changes.

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Ted drove to Taylor Electronics, on Friday morning, to meet with Craig Taylor about the loan renewal. He smiled as he recalled Brian’s email instructions about the meeting.

“Do not take any shit from the son of a bitch. Remember we are in the power position, ne needs the loan and I don’t care if he defaults. Either he is indebted to us or he goes bankrupt, either alternative is fine by me. If there is any way to work into the discussion how rich we are or how successful Justin is with his art that would be good. I want the homophobic bastard to feel as bad as possible about abandoning Justin.”

Ted was still smiling as he parked and went into Craig’s store. He was looking forward to this meeting and was curious about Craig since he had never met him.

Once inside he was directed to Craig’s office where his assistant let Craig know that Ted had arrived. She got up from her desk to open the office door and motion for Ted to enter. Craig remained seated at his desk.

“Oh yes!” Ted thought. “I am going to enjoy this meeting.”

Ted walked over to the desk and handed Craig his business card. Craig pointed to a chair in front of the desk. “Have a seat Mr Schmidt.”

Ted sat in the chair and reached into his briefcase and took out two folders. He passed one across the desk to Craig and opened the second larger folder on the desk in front of him.

Craig examined the business card that Ted had handed him.

“So you are the CFO at Kinnetik?”

“Yes but actually I handle all Brian and Justin’s corporate and personal accounting.”

Craig shrugged. “So you handle Kinnetik and their persona stuff?”

Ted smiled. “Yes. Kinnetik, TayKin Art, which handles all the income from Justin’s art, and KT Properties which handles all Brian and Justin’s real estate holdings. There is also JB Foundation, a portion of the net profits from each corporation goes into their charity foundation. Of course I have a staff to assist me.”

Craig looked a little confused. “Justin’s art requires its own corporation?”

“Of course. Justin makes quite a lot of money from his art. Did you read about his commission for the renovated lobbies at PPG Place? There were a couple articles in the Pittsburg Press. Justin just had a very successful one man show in San Francisco and got a nice commission for a large canvas for a financial firm’s lobby.

Tonight is the grand reopening for the Bloom Gallery. TayKin Art acquired a controlling interest in the gallery a couple of months ago. Again there was an article about that in the newspaper. KT Properties acquired the gallery building and it has been completely renovated from basement to attic. Your ex-wife’s real estate firm handles all of our property management.”

“I assumed Kinney used Kinnetik profits to acquire that art gallery for my son.”

Ted chuckled and shook his head. “No all of their corporations are completely separate and all of them are profitable. Of course Kinnetik generates the most profit. Brian is an advertising genius.
Now to get to the purpose of this meeting. I know you were emailed the recommendations of the business consultant and the accountant hired by Brian and Justin. That folder I passed you has printed copies in case you have any questions.”

“Well I have spoken to my lawyer and my accountant and they assured me that Kinney has no right to force me to sell my condo...”

Ted held up a hand.

“Brian and Justin have every right to set terms for your loan renewal. I know your accountant and I suspect he has advised you that you are taking too much cash out of your business. Taylor Electronics simply cannot afford to keep paying you the amount of cash you have been drawing.

It is very simple. If you draw a more appropriate amount from your business you cannot afford to continue to live at that condo. The monthly fee is enormous. I am sure you can survive quite nicely without 24 hour concierge service and valet parking. You can join a very nice gym for a fraction of your condo fee.”

Craig pushed the folder aside.

“I refuse to sell my residence. I am willing to go along with the consultant’s suggestions for the business but I am not going to change my personal life on Kinney’s say so.”

Ted shrugged and started to put his papers back in his briefcase. Craig looked surprised.

“What are you doing? I’m just trying to negotiate here.”

Ted put the papers down and settled back in the chair as he stared across the desk.

“I am afraid you are confused. I am not here to negotiate. I am here to get a yes or no from you on the terms of the loan renewal from Sunshine Associates. I am sure that if any other entity is willing to loan you money it would require personal guarantees. That is, you would have to pledge your personal property as collateral for the loan.

Brian and Justin are not requiring personal guarantees but they are insisting that you start to live within your means. It is certainly your right to not accept their terms but in that case there will be no loan renewal. Justin has already told your accountant that there will be no negotiations on the terms of the loan renewal. I am not at all sure why you are confused about this.”

Craig wasn’t quite ready to give up the fight.

“I know that Kinney said that if I can’t repay the loan it will not cause any major financial issue for them but I’m sure he would prefer not to lose the full amount of the loan.”

Ted smirked.

“You reneging on repayment of the loan will not create even a minor financial issue for Brian and Justin. Brian made the loan out of some mad money that neither Justin nor me knew anything about. The money is gone and it not being repaid is a non-issue. Brian and Justin are millionaires, the amount of your loan means nothing to them. It was simply Brian’s way of making sure you could meet your financial obligation to Jennifer and Molly.”

Craig took a deep breath and nodded his head.

“Fine I accept Kinney’s terms.”

Ted shrugged and passed some papers to Craig.

“Here is the renewal agreement you need to sign. Take a few moments and look it over. I’ll answer any questions you have but I am a busy man so we need to get through this as quickly as possible!”
Ted wished he could take a picture of Craig’s face to show Brian how annoyed Craig was by the whole situation.

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Shortly after Brian and Gus left Justin got up and dressed. After a quick breakfast he drove to the city. He wanted to be on hand for the final preparations for tonight’s grand reopening. Once he was sure things were under control he would head back home.

Brian had arranged for the car service to pick them all up at the house and drive them to the gallery tonight.
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