Brian located the papers documenting his legal rights to Gus, made a copy of them placing it in his safe at work and placed the original in his briefcase.  After looking at his calendar for the next few days, he mentally determined the appointments he could reschedule, if needed and then shut down his computer. Turning on the alarm, he turned off the lights and went to his car, placing his briefcase in the back seat. He found the local Jazz station on his Sirius radio and listened to the soothing music as he drove home.

Parking his car in the garage 35 minutes later, he grabbed his briefcase and went inside where he found Gus and Chloe playing with Colin in the family room.  He placed his briefcase in his office and went to the family room where he greeted and kissed both of his children. 

"Daddy, I helped Justin stretch his canvas for his next painting and now Ms. Chloe and I are teaching Colin how to grab for his toys.  He's not really very good at it, but he tries really hard.  Come play with us," Gus said, his enthusiasm bubbling out of him.

"I'm going to change clothes and talk to Justin for a few minutes and then I'll join you.  Did you eat dinner?"

"Daddy Justin sat with me while I ate my dinner and Colin sat in his high chair too."

"Okay.  I'll be down in a little bit."  Brian turned to Chloe.  "Justin should be here any minute to relieve you."

"He came down about 10 minutes ago and asked if I could work a bit longer today and I told him that was fine," Chloe said as she moved the soft block just out of Colin's reach.

"Thank you.  We'll be down shortly."

Gus returned to playing with Colin, content to entertain the little boy.  Brian went to their bedroom and quickly changed clothes.  Justin was waiting for him in the sitting area.

"Hey, you're home," Justin said as he watched Brian step out of his pants and hang them up.

"You're observant," Brian said, tongue in cheek.  "I brought the custody papers home with me.  They're in my briefcase in the office," he said as he pulled on some jeans and a black t-shirt.  When he placed his shirt in the laundry, he walked over to Justin and gave him a welcome home kiss.  He never tired of kissing his partner and their embrace was always comforting.

"I thought about what you said this afternoon.  We could play this two ways: one, ignore the possibility that Linds or Mel would show up at school and hope for the best or two, let the school know about the new custody and tell Gus he shouldn't go with his moms,"  Brian said as he sat in the chair.

"I think we need to go with number two, but we don't want to scare Gus.  Brian, while Lindsay gave us the go ahead to keep him, she has as much legal right to him as we do. I don't want the four of us to get in a shouting match in front of Gus.  That is just why he wants to live with us; he's so tired of the fighting in his moms' house," Justin said as he shared some of his thoughts from earlier in the day.  Justin wrung his hands a few times before continuing.  "I think it will be a few days before anything happens.  Gus stays with us almost every weekend.  I think if Mel even notices that he's not there, Linds will most likely just brush it off as us helping out and Gus staying with us."

Brian nodded his head in agreement.  "Unfortunately, I think you're probably right.  They are so self-absorbed in their own little world that it will probably take them until sometime next week to realize he hasn't been home.  For now, let's go relieve Chloe and spend some time with our sons.  We can talk more later, after they go to bed."

"Okay.  I told Gus that he could sit with you while you ate dinner.  He's really enjoyed the time we've been spending with him at the loft and he was looking forward to spending time with his other dad."

They briefly shared a kiss and left the sanctuary of their bedroom.  They found Gus, Chloe and Colin where they left them a short time before.  Brian went to the kitchen where he pulled out the chicken, green beans and salad that Rosa had made earlier for dinner.  He heated up his food and grabbed a beer from the fridge. As he pulled out his chair, Gus came in to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

"Hi Daddy," Gus said as he watched Brian stab a green bean.  "I had fun playing with Colin tonight.  It's so cool that I can do that anytime and not have to wait till the weekend.  I'm going to be the best big brother ever."

"You're a great big brother."

"When he gets bigger, I'm going to show him all my trains and Legos and we're going to build huge cities.  I bet we can make a city as big as the one on the Star Wars' planet.  Do you think we could make a city that big?"

Brian smiled as his son described his favorite movie scene.  Gus may be his son, but he loved Star Wars like his Uncle Michael.  "Well, I don't know how many Legos it would take to build a city but you could certainly build a few buildings."

Gus looked dreamily at his father, thinking that building a city would be a great feat. "Would you and Justin help me build a city?  I mean, if you had time.  Where could we build it?  Could we build it in Justin's studio or your office? That way I could play there while you are working."

"You like being near us?"

"Sure.  When I'm at Britin, you or Justin are always with me.  When I was with my moms, I spent a lot of time watching Jenny or playing by myself." 

Brian ate some of his chicken and took a few swallows of his beer before responding.  Looking at his son and seeing the eager face and love there, he was torn between disappointing him and the reality that neither Justin nor him could spend time all their time with him.  He knew he would have to explain to Gus that they would spend the evenings together but the afternoons were for working.

Justin brought Colin into the kitchen, the baby sitting on his lap facing the table.  His fists were in his mouth, his latest discovery and he was gurgling happily.

"How's dinner?  Rosa tries to leave your food a little under cooked so when you heat it up it won't be overdone," Justin said as he bounced Colin.

"It's fine.  Gus was just telling me about his idea for a city of Legos based on the Star Wars city."

"That would be really cool to make, Gus.  There are some awesome landscapes in those movies.  Did you know that I originally wanted to do animation?"

"Like cartoon?"

"Yes.  You know that I love Yellow Submarine and I used to dream about drawing a movie just like it."

Gus nodded.  "That's the movie with all the music, right?  You sing to it?"

Justin smiled, "Yes, that's the one."

"Well, I'm going to build great cities.  I think I should build one in your studio and another one in Daddy's office. That way I can play while you work."

Justin looked at Brian, the deer in the headlights obvious in his eyes.  He knew that they needed to handle this carefully. 

"Gus, my studio and Daddy's office are places to work.  We can set up one of the extra bedrooms upstairs for your city.  Would that work for you?"

Frowning, Gus said, "If it's in the extra bedroom, then I'll be by myself.  I thought you wanted me here.  You're no different than my moms."  Tears started pooling down his face and he started to run out of the room.

"Gus Kinney!! Sit your bottom on that chair."

Gus stopped in his tracks as he heard his father call his name and returned to the table.

Brian took another drink from his beer, finishing the bottle. 

"Our offices need to be a place to work. I have important papers in my office and Justin has expensive paintings.  We want you to be able to be messy and noisy with your city.  When we are working, we can't have you playing with your city.  If you want to build your city in one of the guest rooms, Justin and I will come help you build it and we will gladly play with you."

"So you'll still play with me?" Gus asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course.  These last few months when you've had soccer practice, one of us came and picked you up from practice and then brought you to the loft.  But sometimes Grandma Jenn or Aunt Daphne had to pick you up because Daddy Justin or I had work to do."

Gus nodded his head, acknowledging Brian's words. 

"We promise that we will spend time with you every night.  Sometimes your Daddy has to entertain clients and he can't come home.  Sometimes I may have to meet up with Carol or go to an opening in the evening."

"What's an opening?"

"An opening is the first day of an art exhibit.  Remember when you came to the museum a few months ago and you got to dress up in your new suit?"

"Daddy took me shopping with him.  He bought me this big boy tie and fancy shoes," Gus said, remembering the shopping trip and his mothers' comments when his Dad brought the clothes home.

"Right.  Well when I have my pictures shown in a gallery I have to wear fancy clothes and meet all the people who want to buy the paintings.  Sometimes I go to other artists shows too.  Your Daddy comes with me when it is my paintings and if possible, you will come too.  But sometimes, the show is out of town or really far away and you won't be able to come."

"If I come, do I get to wear my fancy suit?  All the people said I looked just like my dad and I like looking like Daddy."

Brian smirked at this comment.  He remembered Justin chastising him when he insisted on buying the suit for Gus.  He stated that Gus was his son and had a reputation to uphold.  It wouldn't do to have Brian Kinney's son wear a suit from J.C. Penny's. Justin recognized when fighting wasn't to his advantage as this was a fight he would not win.  He allowed Brian to indulge his over-zealous fashion sense on their 10 year old son and he would have to admit Gus was adorable.  He was Brian's mini me in his Armani suit.

"Anyway, Gus..... My point is that you will have after school activities on some days and on other days, you may need to be with Chloe and Colin.  But I promise your dad and I will make every attempt to spend time playing with you and hanging out each day.  Chloe will be watching Colin, so that won't be your responsibility."

"I don't mind watching Colin.  He's fun to play with."

"I know he's fun to play with, but he's not your responsibility.  He may be fun now, but eventually he'll get bigger and you might not want to play with him."

"Gus, what do you say to going upstairs and picking a room for your new Lego City?"

Gus smiled widely and hopped out of his chair.  "Daddy, can you finish dinner by yourself?  I want to go pick out a room for my Lego's."

Brian smiled and mouthed ‘Thank you' to Justin.  Justin and the boys went upstairs to pick out a room for the new city.

As Brian finished his dinner he thought of all the changes in his life in the last 10 years and he smiled.  Meeting Justin under the street light on Liberty Avenue was not unexpected, but the hook up was never meant to change his life.  He should have known that picking up a trick that looked nothing like his "typical" prey would result in a life changing connection.  Looking back on that fateful night, he never imagined his life today; father of two boys and married, essentially the life of a breeder.  Brian Kinney, married man and father of two.  The statement made him shake his head, but he loved his life and wouldn't change anything about it.  He had a job he loved, a partner that was devoted to him and two beautiful children; a very well rounded life. He needed to think about the situation with Gus and how best to handle Lindsay and Melanie should they protest Gus' living with them full time.  While he tried never leaving important matters to chance, he felt that specific intervention might do more harm than good.  Placing his dishes in the dishwasher and cleaning the table, he ventured upstairs to check on Gus' progress.

Gus took the task of finding a room for his new city very seriously.  The home was huge: five bedrooms, a studio for Justin, an office for Brian and a suite of rooms for Chloe.  Brian and Justin had the master bedroom while Colin and Gus each had their own room.  This left two rooms for Gus to choose from.  Brian and Justin had bought a house with five bedrooms since they were sure that they would have family and friends visiting and spending the night on a regular basis.  They held several large family gatherings and Jennifer and Tucker often spent the night rather than drive back into the city at such a late hour. Daphne occasionally stayed over as well.  Also there was room in the basement area for a blow up mattress, if needed.  Brian wondered if inviting Mel and Linds to stay here occasionally would placate their need to feel that they didn't basically abandon their son, but quickly dismissed that idea as a very bad one.  He was fairly certain that it they were encouraged to come and stay here there would be jabs about how he bribed Gus to live here as he had such an opulent lifestyle.

He could speculate on the words out of Lindsay and or Melanie's mouth when they deduced that he was living here, ‘Of course, Gus wants to live here.  He has a room for his Lego's, a playroom, a huge backyard that includes horses and a tennis court, not including the pool.  You have a live in babysitter and a cook. He's not even required to do any chores.  What 10 year old would turn that down?'  Just the thought of that imaginary conversation gave him chills.  He was not trying to bribe his son in leaving his mothers' home, but rather he was interested in his son's welfare; something his mothers' seemed to ignore.  It was more important for them to attend some hair appointment to look good for an evening with a donor than to attend Gus' soccer game.  No, having his mothers' stay at Britin was definitely not in the plan at this point in time. 

Gus opened the door of the first empty room.  It faced the backyard and had a large window on the back wall.  There was a closet with a sliding door on the right wall and wood floors.  He walked around the room, looked out the window and opened the door to the closets.  Gus didn't say anything but walked out and went to the second empty room.  Justin and Colin stood in the doorway, allowing Gus to form his own opinions regarding the appropriateness of the room for his "city". 

Justin held Colin facing forward and they watched Gus.  "Colin, see your brother, Gus,' he said in a quiet voice.  "He is investigating the two empty bedrooms and determining which one would be better for a Lego City.  While I don't remember building Lego cities, I would have loved to have a designated room to paint and do my art."  Colin gurgled as his father talked to him, even though he did not understand anything that was said.

He repeated his investigation in the second room, walking around and looking at the space.  The closet was on the back wall and the window was facing the side yard.  Gus looked out the side window.  He turned toward Justin, seeing his father had joined him while he was looking at the room.

 "Daddy, I think the first room is better.  The floor in this one is cold and hard.  I like the other one better.  I could build my city in the first room but I need some tables.  A city has different heights. Can I have some tables to build on?"

Justin smiled and tried to hide his laugh.  He had told Brian the same thing when they were designing the room, but Brian was adamant that tile was the right choice.  Justin had insisted that wood was easier to move things on and it was such a beautiful addition to the room.  Brian wasn't certain about wood in the room as he wanted Italian tile, but they compromised and one room had a deep Cherry wood while the other bedroom had gray Italian tile.

Colin was squirming and showed signs that he wanted to get down and explore.  Justin placed him on the floor of the room with the wooden floor.  "Sure, Sonny Boy.  What kind of tables do you think you would need?"  Brian said as he gave Justin a look that included a raised eye brow.

"I have an idea what I need, but maybe we could go shopping for some stuff.  All my Lego's are at the other house and if I'm going to build a city, I need lots of stuff."

The word shopping brought a smile to his face even if it meant going to a toy store with his son.  Shopping for furniture would be interesting as he was certain Justin would not agree with his choices, but he admitted to himself that in this situation Justin's idea of appropriate furniture for a child's play room might be more in tune with reality than his own.

"You do?" Brian said, tongue in cheek.  He watched Colin crawl on the floor and was amazed at how good he was at that skill.

Gus did not quite recognize the teasing manner of his father's response and said, "Yes, Daddy.  I need at least 10 boxes of Lego's and the little people that go in them.  And I need a big flat Lego to build the city and..."

Brian held up his hand to stop Gus' list of required items.  "Gus let's start with getting your Lego's from your house.  Maybe later this week you and Justin could go there after school and pick them up."

Justin looked at Brian, not asking the question out loud, but wondering if this was a wise thing to do.

"You were going home every night and bringing toys with you each day.  It will seem perfectly normal to your moms that you want to play with your Lego's," Brian said in response to the unasked question.

"But he has a lot of Lego's Brian.  Won't that raise a red flag?"

"Not really.  If they ask, tell them that Gus wants to build a Lego City at our house. Since it would take a lot of space in their house and they don't have a place where Gus could do this without moving the city every day, we offered to let him build it here."

Justin nodded his head in agreement with Brian's assessment of the situation. "Sounds like a plan." Colin had crawled around the entire room and crawled back to his fathers.

"So can we go tomorrow, Justin?  I can't wait to start building my city," Gus said, the smile on his face, lighting it up.

"I can't take you tomorrow Gus.  I have a meeting in the afternoon with my agent and I've postponed it several times.  But, we can go on Thursday.  After we pick up the Lego's, we can look on line at some tables for the room," Justin said as he picked up Colin to bring him back down stairs.

"Thursday? That's three days from now.  Can you take me Daddy?" Gus asked, disappointed in the delay.

"I'm not free to take you either.  I know you are disappointed, Sonny Boy, but remember what we talked about earlier.  Daddy and Justin have to work in the afternoons, but we will always spend time with you in the evenings.  Sometimes Justin or I might be free in the afternoon to do something special, but like other parents who work, we just can't be with you in the afternoons. It's almost time for us to feed Colin.  Why don't we go downstairs and get his bottle ready.  Do you want to feed him his last bottle?"

Gus smiled.  "Sure.  Colin smiles at me and reaches out to my fingers when I feed him.  I think he knows who I am."

"Babies learn fast.  People who give them what they need like food and clean diapers become important to them.  You've become an important person to him."

"I'm important to him?" Gus asked in amazement. 

"Sure you are.  You spend time with him and even though he can't tell you, I'm sure he recognizes you.  Notice how he smiles when you sing to him and how he reaches out to you?"

Gus nodded in agreement.  "That's neat.  So if I can't spend afternoons with my daddies, I can spend it with my brother.  I'm going to be the best big brother ever."  He beamed and went over to kiss Colin. 

Gus quickly went downstairs locating the bottle that was in the fridge, placed it in the microwave and pushed the timer. Justin turned toward Brian, giving him a kiss on the cheeks. 

"It will work out.  I know you're worried about Gus but actions speak louder than words.  You, of all people, should understand that concept," he said as he gave his partner a huge sunshine smile.  "We just need to be sure that we spend time with him every day, make him feel welcome.  It may mean that we can't do as much work in the evening, but we were already cutting back since Colin arrived."

Brian returned the quick kiss and reached for Colin.  "Come here, son.  Time for your dinner and then it's time for bed.  Your brother is going to feed you and then Justin and I are going to spend some time with him," Brian said to the little boy, talking to him as if he really understood the words. 

Justin gave Colin to Brian and quickly followed Gus to the kitchen.  After testing the bottle for temperature, he gave it to Gus who was already seated in the recliner waiting for his brother.  "You're a great big brother, Gus.  I know you will always watch out for Colin."

Brian came down the stairs with Colin and handed him to Gus.  "He's hungry so we better not wait to feed him."

"Colin, time to eat and then go to bed.  Daddy and Justin are the best parents ever."  He popped the bottle in Colin's mouth and started singing to him.

Justin and Brian looked at their sons, beaming at their little family.

TBC