Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction
Author's Chapter Notes:

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I did while writing it. I had a great time.

Brian's POV

My first day of work after Munchkin joining us wasn't supposed to be until December, the least. Of course, my dear, incompetent employees fucked up with a local company ad and I had to unfuck their mistake.

After dropping Justin off at college to finish his present for Molly in silence before his class, I drove to Kinnetik with Munchkin in his basket. Those who didn't know how I got around having a baby were surprised to see us, but I didn't give a fuck what they thought.

In my office, I found Cynthia and Ted surrounded by a mountain of papers.

"Hello, losers." I placed the basket with Munchkin on my desk, before taking off his baby jacket and hat. "What have you done?" I demanded. "I had the pastry place from downtown calling me yesterday because they didn't get their ad. The one I promised to be done by the beginning of October. It's November tomorrow."

"What are you doing here?" Ted asked, bewildered.

Cynthia picked Munchkin, cooing at him, making me roll my eyes.

"Look, I'm here to beat some sense into you, then I'm off. Put him down, and call Mark," I barked at Cynthia, extracting Munchkin from her. "And you, stop gawking at me. Do something." I glared at Ted.

Once they were gone, I slumped in my chair. "Welcome to my world, Munchkin."

Of course, he didn't seem interested in my business problems. His favorite pastime activity was to slap my cheek. That was when he wasn't distracted by one of his squeaky toys.

The next few hours were spent in between shouting at the Art Department and talking with the pastry place.

By lunch time I had everything under control.

Munchkin let me know it was time to eat, something I tended to forget. Thankfully, he had a schedule he liked and it helped me sleep or work around his own sleeping hours.

Dr. Hump had told me to not get used to feed him with my milk…not like I could possibly get used to that. It didn't last. About two weeks ago, we gleefully (on my side) and tearfully (on Munchkin's side) realized there was no more milk in me for him.

It took hours to get him used to the formula, but he eventually understood he had to accept that or he'd starve.

So formula it was.

At home, I usually started preparing it half an hour before his feeding time, but being at work and losing track of time, I was late. We were in the break room, and I was working on preparing his formula while keeping him distracted with one of his squeaky toys, when Ted appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, I didn't know you were here."

"Squeeze this." I handed him the toy. "You can shake it too. I need at least five more minutes to finish this."

"Weren't you feeding him…you know?"

"Yeah, but I can't anymore. By the way." I turned. "How do I look?"

His freaked look from having to keep Patrick entertained turned even more freaked. "Uh… good. Like usual?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't you see a change? I live on the treadmill!"

"Oh, that."

I glanced at my once again flat stomach. It was a far cry from what it used to be, and I still had at least ten pounds to lose, but I was on the right track. "That, yes. You seriously don't see any change, Theodore?"

"No offence, Bri…but the last time I saw you… When was that? Before you had this little guy."

"Oh." I realized he was right.

"I mean, I visited you in the hospital, but you were out of it."

That was a nice way to say I was in a coma. Ted always knew how to say it. "Keep squeezing that toy," I urged him when Munchkin started fussing.

Of course, he couldn't keep him from bursting in tears.

"Oh, for fuck's sake, Theodore!" I picked Munchkin, bouncing him in one arm, before testing the milk on my hand. It was the first time it wasn't scalding hot. "Here. Shh. Uncle Ted is an idiot, you'll have to forgive him."

"I'm not good around babies," he defended himself.

"Like I was born a genius." I started to the door. "Can you carry that basket to my office?"

He muttered something under his breath, but followed me with the basket.

"Do I have to fire you?" I joked, elbowing the door open. "Do you think you can help me run Kinnetik until I'm ready to return?" I slumped on the sofa, continuing to feed Munchkin.

"You can trust me, Brian."

"Then why the fuck did I have to leave my favorite spot—on the treadmill—to come unfuck what you fucked up?"

"Does Justin know how much you curse around Patrick?"

"Don't go telling him. At this rate, Munchkin will live a happy life, along with whatever family he'll make. These days, it's twenty bucks." I snorted. "Does he really think I can stop saying fuck so easy? I say it since I was about ten."

"Really? So young?" His eyes widened.

"Are you forgetting I was brought up in an Irish family? Booze and violence ruled. Shit." I caught sight of the clock. "I've got to collect Justin in twenty minutes."

I bundled up Munchkin, donned my jacket, threw everything in his basket, picked him up in my arm, then left in a hurry. I made sure to threaten Ted once again, for good measure.

On my way to PIFA, I tried keeping Munchkin from a crying fit. To no avail.

"Come on. Shh." I shook one of his noisy toys, keeping my eyes on the road. "We'll see daddy in a few. How about that?" A louder wail came as an answer. "Okay, okay." I pulled the sucker from my bag and put it on his mouth. Quiet for a few moments.

When I parked in the lot, I turned to beam at Munchkin for staying quiet for one whole minute. I was rewarded with the most venomous look a baby could master. Next thing I knew, his sucker was spit in my face.

How the fuck did he do it…no clue.

And cue wails.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. What is it?" I picked him, hugging him. "There." I patted his back.

That seemed to do the trick, as he stopped fussing.

But a new problem arose when I looked out the window.

At first, I was sure I was seeing things, then a world of insecurities came crashing over me. Though, I pushed away the green eyed monster inside me.

Justin was crossing the parking lot on his way to me, with someone very insistent after him. Of course, that someone was none other than the fucking fiddler.

The more I watched, the more I understood he was bothering Justin.

I couldn't have that.

"Let's save daddy." I stepped out of the car, leaving the door open, before striding to Justin.

His eyes widened in panic when he saw me. He didn't have any reason to be worried.

"Hey, Sunshine." I stopped in front of him, giving him a kiss in greeting.

"Please don't make any scenarios in your head. He's been driving me crazy."

I pursed my lips and glared over his shoulder at Ethan who was now stopped a few feet away, gaping at us. "What the fuck does he want?"

"We have a class together. I just discovered that today, since I'd missed the last two," Justin explained. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Why would I be?" I focused on him. "Don't worry your pretty blond head." I pecked his cheek. "Let's go. We have to get to your sister's party."

We turned to walk to the car, Justin taking Munchkin from me, kissing him. "What did you do? He's fussy."

"I didn't do anything. Stop blaming me. You heard your mom—you were a fussy baby. He takes after you."

He laughed. "Oh yeah. Now it's my fault."

I moved Munchkin's stuff from the passenger seat to the backseat, but I could still hear when the fucker approached, still not getting the clue that Justin didn't want to talk to him. I whirled around, ready to break his hand—the one reaching for Munchkin, while saying he was cute.

Apparently, I'd passed my hatred for the fiddler to Munchkin, because he unceremoniously barfed with spectacular precision all over Ian. I'd never been more proud of him.

While Justin stammered an apology, while trying not to crack up, I picked Munchkin from him. "Baby five." I touched my hand to his, laughing. "Maybe this way you'd stop bugging Justin," I told Ian, venomously.

He had a disgusted look on his face, scrubbing at his jacket with a paper tissue. "We have a class together. And the professor had us work on a project together."

"How convenient," I muttered.

"It's true," Justin whispered. "But I talked to Professor Bennett. He said I can do it on my own. I've no clue how often I'll attend this class, since it's my only class on Friday."

"Well, that being cleared, can we get a move? We have places to be." I placed Munchkin back in his arms, rounding the car and getting behind the wheel.

Justin slid in the passenger's seat. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to leave that class the second I saw him. I didn't think for a second this could happen."

"Well, you both attend PIFA." I shrugged.

"Really. You okay?"

"F-f-abulous." I groaned.

"You're not mad about him, right?"

I glanced at Justin, shaking my head. "It has nothing to do with your ex-conquest. I'm seriously wondering if Ted and Cynthia are capable of taking care of Kinnetik for a few months. Next thing I know, Travis will call with fuck knows what issues at Babylon. I'm surrounded by incompetents."

"Lucky you have us." Justin chuckled, but kept his eyes on Munchkin, keeping him entertained. "Did he eat?"

"Yes. He might need a new diaper. I didn't have time to check, because I realized I had to come get you."

By the time we reached Jen's house, Justin managed to worsen the situation with all the bouncing. Every time Jen visited us, she'd ended up at a bad time when Munchkin was trying for Baby American Idol. Now that we were at her house for Molly's birthday, he was wailing again.

From the moment we stepped inside her house, she collected her grandson, narrowing her eyes at us.

"I haven't been happier to attend one of her birthdays," Justin admitted. "A few hours of peace and quiet."

As we made our way to the living room, I stopped right outside the door. "How old is she, again?"

"Uh…wait. I'm twenty-two in December…she's twelve."

I snorted. "You had to do it backwards?"

"There are ten years between us. I always do that." He shrugged, taking my hand. "Come on."

oOo

My phone ringing loudly from the kitchen drew me a little closer to an insane urge to throw myself down the stairs.

I'd only managed to calm Munchkin after his visit to Dr. Hump and his mean needle. It only took a couple of hours to get him settled. And now the phone woke him from a fitful sleep and sent him into a new round of wailing.

Collecting him from the crib on my way downstairs, I decided I'd kill whoever was calling in the middle of the afternoon.

I glowered at the caller ID. "Mikey!" I barked, keeping Munchkin close to my chest and swaying from side to side to get him to fucking quiet.

"Is it a bad time?"

"It's always a bad time. What do you want?"

"What are you doing tomorrow? Any plans?"

I could use a break. It was Saturday, which meant no school for Justin. He could spend the whole day listening to Munchkin's concerts. Though, the little shit never cried around Justin.

"Not particularly. Why?" I slumped on the couch, sighing in relief when Munchkin went back to sleep.

"Good. Then you can come to my surprise birthday party, right?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "That's a new one. The birthday boy inviting me to his surprise birthday party."

"Ben can't keep secrets to save his life. I was supposed to be asleep earlier this morning when he was screaming at Hunter to get me that special cake he'd ordered, no matter what. Wanna bet it has Captain Astro as the hero on top of it?"

I sighed loudly. I'd helped Ben with Mikey's surprise, though it seemed he knew all about it. "Why should I know? Besides, how could I miss your birthday?"

"You can't," he said seriously. "So around five, be there."

Before I could confirm we'd be there, he sneezed. Five times in a row.

"Are you sick?" I hissed. How fucking irresponsible to invite us over while he was sick.

"It's just a cold."

"Now I know why Mel said you won't see your daughter on your big day. You won't see us, either. I'm sorry, Mikey."

"But it's only a cold. I don't have the fucking flu!"

"Munchkin turned two months old a few days ago. Please, understand I can't come if you're sick."

He huffed. "Fine. I'll pretend to enjoy my birthday party without my best friend. Bye, Brian."

"Wait!" He hung up. "Fuck."

The front door closing announced that Justin was home. I went to greet him, placing Munchkin in his arms, after he took his coat off.

"Hey, Sunshine. Here. Careful, he just fell asleep. His arm might still hurt, no idea. You should have been there when Dr. Hump gave him the shot. For a second, we were both relieved Munchkin wasn't going to cry then he exploded in the loudest cry I heard him let out. And didn't stop until about an hour ago."

"Aww. Why didn't you call? You know I hate this Friday class. I really don't care much about History of Art."

"Now, it's your moment of glory. He's all yours. I'm going to Mikey's for a little while."

"We'll see him tomorrow," Justin tried to reason with me.

"He's sick. I'm not taking Munchkin anywhere near his sick ass."

Without leaving him room to argue, I rushed upstairs to get changed for outside. I was buttoning up my shirt when Justin made it to our room, baby monitor in hand.

He shook it at me. "I have a painting to finish by Monday."

"I know. While Munchkin sleeps, you can work on that."

"Brian, tell me this is a joke."

"I'll be gone for two hours. Tops." I kissed him long and deep, before leaving the room with him hot on my heels. "You're wasting precious time, Sunshine. Get painting, before Munchkin wakes."

"It will be the first time I'll be completely alone with him," he mumbled, fear lacing his voice.

"You'll be fine. You took care of Gus when he was a baby. You can do it."

"Brian, what if I fuck up?"

I put my hands on his shoulders. "Have a little faith in yourself, will you? Munchkin is your son too. You've done everything I have numerous times. The only difference now is that I won't be here. And hypothetically speaking, something happens, call me." I pecked his forehead.

"Okay. I can do it." He nodded, squeezing the baby monitor. "Piece of cake."

"That's the right attitude." I grabbed Michael's present from the sunroom, kissed Justin again, then left.

I'd missed driving the 'vette.

Justin was right. It was his first time alone with Munchkin, but it also was my first time away from Munchkin for longer than ten minutes. He'd always been within walking distance. I had to check on him ever so often, just to hear him breathing.

It was going to be hard for me too. I knew it.

By the time I pulled up in front of the comic book store, my fingers were itching to call Justin and make sure they were okay. As much as Munchkin had driven me up the wall with his crying after his shot, I even missed that.

It was near closing time when I stepped into the store. The bell chimed above the door, and Michael hollered from the back room he'd be right with me. I switched the sign to CLOSED then locked up.

"Hi. Sorry 'bout that, we're… Brian!" He sprinted to me, wrapping his arms around my neck.

"Hello to you too." I laughed.

"I haven't seen you in weeks. I see Justin's been right about you living on the treadmill."

"I'm back to a decent 170." I beamed, proud of my hard workout sessions. I led him to the small sofa in the corner of the store, sinking in it. "What about you?"

"Hunter is trying to turn us prematurely grey. He wants to quit school after the incident at the pool."

"Haven't you told him he has to face his peers with pride?"

"Did I forget to mention he's not queer anymore? That freaked us out."

I rolled my eyes. "Mikey, you're pathetic."

"I didn't have anyone calling me that in too long," he joked, elbowing me.

"That's why I'm here." I winked. "Speaking of. This is for you." I handed him the present.

"So you're not coming tomorrow?"

"What do you think? I'm here, aren't I?"

I watched entertained as he pulled the Hugo Boss cologne, cutting his eyes to me and grinning. "Thank you, Brian."

I pulled the shirt from his bag. "There's this too. I told Justin it was lame, but he insisted."

Michael unfolded the t-shirt reading "The Best Godfather in the World" and gasped. "You mean it?" Tears sprang into his eyes.

"Who else would be a better godfather for Patrick?"

"Thank you so much, Brian." He hugged me tightly. "This means so much."

"Of course, your husband is Patrick's other godfather," I added, stroking his hair.

"How is he, anyway?" He pulled away after a while.

I shrugged. "Crying, sleeping, and pooping."

"You can do better than that, dad," he chided me softly.

"I'm going out of my mind with worry as we speak. I've never been away from him for so long. I never thought I could get attached to another human being quite this way, or love someone so much. And he's so tiny."

Michael smiled warmly. "That's what babies do—they turn us, adults, into marshmallows. I feel exactly the same about JR."

"I have to call Justin," I decided. I couldn't wait until I got home.

On the fifth ring, Justin's hushed voice answered. "Hey."

"What took you so long to answer?"

"I have the phone on the lowest ringing noise. I was working on my painting and had to wipe my hands before picking the phone. We're okay, don't worry."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Great. Mikey likes your present."

"I told you, he would. Oh, we do have a tiny problem," he said quietly.

"What's that?"

"We're out of diapers."

"You're joking, right? I bought a new pack last weekend."

"What can I say? He goes through them, like we go through condoms."

"Okay. I'll stop by the store. Anything else? You know I hate being there for long periods of time."

"Some baby formula and I want bananas. Don't start your dirty jokes."

"I wasn't going to." I chuckled, musing on how well he knew me.

"Tell Michael Happy Birthday from me, too. Bye."

"Sure. Later." I hung up, catching Michael's eye. "Not a word about my Stepford husband conversation. I need to go shopping."

"It's funny and unbelievable, at the same time."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Anyway, off I go." I got up, stretching. "Happy Birthday, Mikey." I took his face in my hands, kissing him on the lips.

"Careful now. You're a married man," he teased, smiling.

"Not quite."

"Same principles applies. Thank you for dropping by."

"Later." I waved over my shoulder, letting myself out.

Chapter End Notes:

With my other multi-chapters story completed, I might update often, but no promises

Until next time :)

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