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

Justin prepares for his bundle of joy's arrival. Brian prepares to go out of his mind. 


Hope there aren't too many errors in this chapter; I'm flying solo on this one without my beta, and it's past my bedtime.;)

 

 

Two Days Later...

 

Brian stared at the piece of furniture sitting prominently in the room down the hall from his and Justin's master bedroom, his hands perched on his hips in disbelief; since he had given his not-so-enthusiastic permission for his fiancé to have a dog (fuck, he couldn't believe he had actually agreed to it!), Justin had wasted no time preparing for its imminent arrival in a few days.

 

couch

 

 

"Justin, that is NOT a dog bed; it's a fucking couch!"  Brian growled. His mouth hung open in astonishment; he didn't even know they made dog beds that opulent.  It was almost...obscene, and not in a good way.  He walked closer to the structure to examine it in more detail.  "Tell me that's not leather." 

 

Gnawing on his thumbnail, Justin shook his head.  "No, it's a vinyl material.  Leather wouldn't be very durable - and it would be a bitch to clean."  He glanced anxiously over at his thunderstruck fiancé.  "I might have gone a little overboard," he admitted.  "But I wanted her to be comfortable."

 

Brian snorted. "A little overboard?  No, this is more like buying an extra-large sized bed for a fucking Chihuahua! Justin, I've stayed in hotel rooms that had a smaller bed than this!"  His eyes strayed downward as he noticed something for the first time: a name woven into the fabric near the bottom.  "Xena?  That's an odd name for a furniture manufacturer." 

 

His fiancé shuffled awkwardly on his feet.  "Uh...That's because it's not. It's...well...Sandra...she named all the puppies when they were born based on their personalities.  One was called Thumper..."

 

"Humper?"

 

Justin laughed.  "No, you dirty, old man..."

 

"Hey...!

 

Justin grinned.  "As I was saying, she called one of them THUMPER," he accentuated the word this time in case Brian had become hard of hearing in addition to needing reading glasses, "...because he liked to thump his tail on the floor when he wagged it; then there was Sleepy Boy - because he always seemed to be sleeping; Nipper - that was one of the girls - because she liked to nip at you with her baby teeth..."

 

"Please tell me you did NOT choose that one," Brian warned him. I do NOT want puppy hickies."

 

Justin shook his head, but he didn't smile, which, for some reason, made Brian uneasy.  "And...?"

 

Justin hesitated before adding finally, "Well, then there was...Xena."

 

"Huh?"  Brian frowned in confusion as he glanced once more at the name woven into the bed; his mouth hung open as realization set in, however, and he had a chance to digest what his partner had just said.  "You're telling me you picked out a dog with the name of Xena?"  

 

Justin studied his fiancé intently before he nodded. "Yeah...You know; the Warrior Princess."

 

Brian stared at him as if he had gone mad before he guffawed. "You've got to be kidding! I knew that woman was a nut case. Who would call a dog Xena, the Warrior Princess?  Oh, Mikey will love that!" he commented dryly.  He brushed his hand through his hair before adding, "I know I'm going to regret this. But tell me why you picked THAT one?  Something tells me it's not because they both look good in brown."  He noticed no quick answer forthcoming, making him just a bit more apprehensive.  He knew that look...and it did not bode well.  "Justin?" he pressed, an eyebrow raised questioningly.  "Answer the question, Sunshine." There was no hesitation in his voice to indicate Justin had a choice, and his fiancé knew that. 

 

"Well...I knew you wouldn't want some froufrou dog," Justin began sensibly.  "You know, with pink bows and painted toenails." 

 

Brian's face contorted with disgust at the mere thought.  "Why the fuck would I want a dog that looks like Emmy Lou?  No, I certainly would NOT," he had to agree. "But there's a vast difference between prissy poodles and manly mutts." 

 

Justin snickered then over Brian's description, unable to help himself and eliciting a heavy sigh of impatience from his partner.  He cleared his throat and tried to get his smile under control.  "True," he agreed at last.

 

"I'm waiting..." Brian reminded him, foot tapping as he watched Justin sashay up to him with those big, baby-blue eyes, knowing it had to be bad if he was resorting to that tactic.  Trying his damnedest not to be affected by the mournful expression on Justin's face, or the smell of his lover's body as he pressed himself against him, his arms sliding up to rest behind his neck, he strove to not be affected.  Control, Kinney.  Must show control...

 

"I had to take her, Brian," Justin explained then as he played with his fiance's hair at the nape of his neck.  "She was the last one left, and if no one took her, they...they were going to take her to the animal shelter!  I couldn't let that happen to her.  And she really IS sweet," he added hastily, as Brian moved to speak.  "She's just...rambunctious.  But she'll grow out of it; she's just in that puppy stage.  Besides, it's just furniture."

 

"Just furniture? What do you mean...just furniture?  We weren't talking about furniture here."  Reaching up to grasp both of Justin's hands in his, Brian slid them down to rest between their bodies as he captured them against his chest.  "Justin?" 

 

The blond sighed.  "Well...She has this taste for furniture...well, at least, the legs, anyway.  But only maple furniture; at least, that's all they have over at Sandra's house that's made out of wood.  She doesn't like Formica, either. She hasn't touched that." 

 

Brian harrumphed.  "Oh, thank goodness.  A dog with expensive tastes. Well, that should only affect our entire furniture collection, then!  Justin!" 

 

"Brian, calm down!  I've been doing some research...and you can buy this stuff that deters dogs from chewing on furniture.  And I'll take her to training right away...or better yet, I'll arrange to have a trainer come out HERE!  That way, she can be taught right in her own home what to stay away from.  It'll work out; you'll see.   Surely you'd rather have a puppy with spunk, than one that lies around and sleeps all day long."  He smirked at his fiancé.  "I know how much you love spunk, so the two of you should get along quite nicely."

 

"Not THAT kind of spunk," Brian muttered.  He was fervently trying to maintain his ‘irritated' look, but he found that it was quite difficult with the warm, soft body currently plastered against his.  He sighed.  "I'm not going to win this battle, am I?" he murmured. 

 

Justin shrugged, not wanting to press his luck. 

 

"At least please reassure me that you will not allow this...this inconvenience to sleep in our bedroom.  That was part of our agreement, remember?  And you will NEVER buy any dog toy that utters anything remotely resembling a mooing sound."

 

Justin chuckled at the remembrance of one of Tricky's toys as he grinned back at him.  "Got it. No mooing. And she will not need to sleep with us.  That's what this room is for.  This will be HER room, and we will have OUR room. And never the twain shall meet."

 

Brian snorted, not quite sure he believed that. "Can the Shakespeare, Sunshine.  A simple ‘I promise' will suffice." 

 

"It was Rudyard Kipling." 

 

"Huh?"

 

"Never the twain shall...Oh, never mind." 

 

Brian rolled his eyes.  "Whatever.  You catch my drift, though.  Promise me," he commanded, wondering how he wound up in these predicaments.  Before Justin came along, the hardest decision he ever had to make was which designer suit to wear to work - or which trick at Babylon to bring back to the loft.  Boy, had things changed since then! 

 

"I did promise!" Justin reminded him, unable to keep from smiling now that he had emerged as the victor.  "It'll be fine," he insisted. 

 

"Uh, huh. And while you're making promises, don't forget our previous agreement about who's going to take care of this Cujo spawn.  I'll have Ted draw up a contract to ensure adherence."

 

Justin's mouth fell open in disbelief...until he saw the roll of Brian's lips afterward, telling him just how ‘serious' he was about a written agreement.  "If that will make you feel better."

 

"Well, I know something else that will make me feel better." 

 

Justin grinned.  "Oh?  Tell me more." 

 

Brian smirked.  "Why don't I show you?  Xena's not the only one who does it doggie style."

 

Justin giggled; one minute later, the two of them were naked and on the simulated leather bed to properly christen it...and check out its wear ability factor. 

 


 

The Following Weekend...One Month before the Wedding...Saturday

 

"Well, if it isn't the Big, Bad Wolf." 

 

Brian glanced up from his mug of coffee, the latest edition of The Wall Street Journal lying on the counter in front of him.  "And it's Little Red Riding Hood."  He smirked, noticing Emmett's ensemble of a bright red tee-shirt and yellow and red checkered pants.  "My, what bad taste you have."  Emmett scowled as Brian advised, "If you're looking for Goldilocks, he's upstairs in the Warrior Princess's room." 

 

"Excuse me?"  Emmett frowned.  He had spoken with Justin about an hour ago in regards to him coming out to review the final details for his and Brian's wedding reception, and Justin had told him to just come on in when he arrived, since he would be expecting him.  Not finding anyone near the front foyer - or Justin in his outdoor studio - he had wandered back toward the kitchen located in the rear of the house. 

 

"Just go on upstairs, and listen for the whining and the goo-goo baby talk; you'll find him." 

 

"O...kay," Emmett replied, confused.  Opening his mouth to say something else, he thought better of it as Brian glanced back down at his magazine in seeming dismissal before he turned and headed back down the hallway toward the steps. 

 

As soon as he reached the upstairs landing, however, he could hear it:  a soft whining noise and then a sharp, yipping sound, followed by his friend's voice filtering down the hallway.  "No...sit, Xena!  No, you can't have that until you do what I say!  Put that down! Aargh!"  Intrigued, Emmett walked further down the hallway toward his friend's voice until he came to an open door on his right, a few doors down from Brian and Justin's master bedroom suite.  Peering in through the door, he couldn't help grinning as he noticed a chocolate Labrador puppy facing Justin, whose back was to him.  He took a moment to look around the room in awe, noting the large-sized bed (a dog bed?!), along with a folding baby gate leaning against a wall, various dog toys strewn about, and a mural painted in meticulous detail on the opposite wall, no doubt drawn by a certain, extremely talented artist.  He recognized Gus's dog, Tricky, in the montage, along with Gus himself, who was throwing a stick for his dog in the painting, which illustrated the entire landscape surrounding Britin, along with the house itself.  Just like everything Justin created, it was an amazing depiction.  "Wow, I should be this lucky," he couldn't help murmuring.  All he had at HIS apartment in the way of a mural was a souvenir tapestry hanging over his couch that he had obtained at some tacky gift shop in Tijuana, depicting some bullfighter.   At the sound of his voice, both man and beast turned to study him, the puppy taking off in a lumbering sort of beeline straight towards him.

 

puppy

 

"No, Xena!  Heel!  Heel!"  Justin exclaimed as Xena promptly squatted in preparation to leave a watery ‘calling card' on the floor.  "No!  Shit! Not again!" he cried.  Sighing heavily, he crouched down to wipe up the urine from the hardwood floor with a some paper towels, throwing them in a container that suspiciously resembled a Diaper Genie.  Enormously relieved that it was Emmett instead of Brian, he huffed in frustrated exasperation as he rushed over to scoop the puppy up into his arms, seconds before she could launch herself against Emmett's legs. At the present age, that was as far as she could reach, even standing on her hind legs, but Justin had quickly found out that Xena possessed a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. At least with Tricky, the dog had outgrown that stage and had already obtained his permanent teeth before he and Brian had even met him. But Xena still had a hardy set of puppy teeth, and seemed to relish chewing on everything presently, including legs...table type as well as human.  "Sorry about that, Em," Justin apologized.  "She's a bundle of energy; an incorrigible bundle of energy."  He flinched in surprise as the dog reached up and promptly licked him right in the mouth, causing him to shrink back just enough so the dog couldn't lick him again. 

 

Emmett laughed at Justin's 'I just ate a lemon' expression, watching as his friend wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  "Well!  I'm not sure what to say about this newest addition to your family," he told his friend.  "I think you've almost left me speechless. Not an easy thing to do with me," he quipped.  He smiled down at the squirming bundle in Justin's arms.  "And just who have we here?" he cooed, as he lifted his gaze to look at his friend.  He frowned.  "Did I just hear you call this petite little lady Xena?" 

 

Justin nodded with a grin.  "You heard right."  He pointed over at the dog bed located front and center in the room, the dog's name embroidered regally across the front.  "And trust me; it fits."  He shook his head.  "I should have known there was more to my neighbor Sandra naming her that just because she liked to play a little rough with her siblings."  This particular animal definitely had Tricky's genes in abundance.  Her predilection for getting into trouble - and her case of selective hearing when Justin was trying to get her to behave - was surpassed only by her legendary father.  Even with the trainer coming in twice a week to work with her, Justin had been forced to conduct some additional remedial instruction with his pupil - with limited success.  He sighed heavily as he peered down at the puppy, who seemed to be getting bigger by the day, if not the hour.  "She is so stubborn.  She will NOT do what I want. If I tell her to sit, she rolls over and wants me to rub her belly.  If I ask her to heel, she seems to think that's a command to rush over and pick up the heel of a shoe instead!  She's chewed up a couple pairs of my sneakers already.  And her answer to my placing her leash on her is to grab it by the teeth and play tug-of-war with it."  He brushed his hand through his hair in frustration.  "Maybe I should have taken Brian's advice."

 

"I can guess what THAT was.  Don't bring her home at all...right?"  Justin nodded wearily.  "Well, Baby, if that dog is as pigheaded as you say she is, your man must really be in love with you, then, because Brian is NOT a dog person. Well, at least he wasn't until now."  He smiled.  "You seemed to have tamed him, though."

 

Justin peered down at the latest edition to their family, who gazed up at him with a guileless, innocent expression on her face.  It was hard to stay mad at someone who was so adorable and totally clueless as to how incorrigible she was.  "Well, I'm glad I could tame someone." He shook his head.  "I'm not sure this one will EVER be domesticated."  He grinned over at Emmett.  "And don't let Brian ever hear you say that I ‘tamed' him.  He might be a little more...tolerant now. But tamed?  I don't think you can ever tame a tiger; nor would I want to."  Emmett agreed by grinning back at him with a nod.  "What was I thinking?  This is one of Tricky's offspring! I should have known better!   But they were talking about taking her to the shelter...and...well...Tricky did save my life. And Gus's.  So I guess I owe it to him to at least try and get Xena under control.  I suspect this is going to take a fortune, though. Most puppies can be trained in six weeks.  OUR trainer told me yesterday she'd give it about six MONTHS.  Em, I don't have six months!  Brian and I are getting married soon!  And Brian doesn't know this yet...but Gus is planning on bringing Tricky with him when he and his moms come for the wedding.  Brian thinks he's leaving him with a friend while they're here. But Gus was so upset over having to be separated from him that he called here in tears the other day when Brian was out of town on business, bawling his eyes out and telling me how much he would miss Tricky if he couldn't come, too."

 

Emmett's eyes grew wide.  "Well, there you have it," he told him mysteriously.

 

"Have what?"

 

"Your first marital spat...before the marital part.  Someone is NOT going to be happy about his biggest fan coming to visit...and with another little troublemaker to boot."

 

Justin nodded helplessly.  "I know.  But what could I do, Em?  I couldn't say no to him.  Tricky HAS mellowed out somewhat since his last visit - at least, according to Lindsay and Mel.  So maybe he'll actually be a good role model for Xena."  Silently, however, he didn't really believe that.  Quite the contrary; something told him that Tricky would not be a good influence on the impressionable Xena at all.

 

Emmett eyed him skeptically.  "Do you really believe that?" 

 

"No," Justin answered truthfully, grimacing.  "But I can always hope." 

 

Emmett stared at the doe-eyed puppy in Justin's arms that seemed to be continually in motion; she obviously didn't like being confined.  Justin finally gave up and lowered the dog to the ground...retrieving a tennis ball he had stuffed in his pocket.  He threw the ball toward the corner of the room, and the puppy charged after it, just like Justin knew she would.  Em hoped Justin was right, and that perhaps having some other canine company would be a settling influence on Xena.  But in reality he feared that putting father and daughter in the same household - especially during an outdoor wedding - was going to be a recipe for disaster.  "Uh...Sweetie?  Will you have them restricted somewhere during your wedding?  That might be wise."  He didn't want to tell Justin what to do...but even HE could see the sense in being cautious.

 

"Oh, don't worry," Justin assured him.  "Are you kidding? I'm not going to let either one of them within a hundred feet of MY wedding; I've waited too long for this, and I'm not about to give Brian an excuse to back out at the last minute."

 

Emmett's eyes widened. "Do you think he would do that?  I mean...I know he loves you, but it IS Brian we're talking about."

 

"No, but I'm not taking any chances, Em."  He watched as Xena proudly trotted back to him with the lime green tennis ball stuffed in her mouth, all gangly body and oversized paws; Emmett chuckled as he watched Justin lean down to try and pull the ball out of the animal's mouth, only to flinch and utter an "Ow!" when the dog's puppy teeth bit down on his finger by mistake.  "That hurt!" He growled as he sucked on the tip of his index finger. He glared down at her, receiving a wagging tail in response.  "Okay, then. Have it your way!" Justin retorted with a scowl, as the dog cocked its head to the side curiously.  "JI said just forget it." As if on cue, as soon as Justin gave up, the animal promptly dropped the ball at his feet and yipped impatiently as it rolled toward him.

 

"Sure...NOW you drop it," he replied.  Letting out a deep breath to quell his anxiety, he reached down and once more threw the ball as far into the corner as he could. 

 

Emmett chuckled over her antics.  "She definitely has Tricky's genes in her, all right," he observed dryly as the dog lumbered toward the ball, skidding on the smooth, polished surface and her toenails clicking on the wood as she righted herself and rushed toward the tennis ball, her tail wagging in a circle pattern as she snared it like a tiger stalking its prey.  "I suspect you'll have to register that tail as a deadly weapon before too long."

 

"Shhh," Justin admonished him. "Don't say that too loudly; it was hard enough getting Brian to agree to it. He's already stressed out as it is with all this wedding shit without reminding him that one of Tricky's ‘Satan's spawns,' as he calls her, is living with us." 

 

Emmett chuckled.  "I bet it was hard," he commented as Justin blushed.  "I can just imagine how hard it was.  I'm sure he was quick to refresh your memory, too.  But you always DID know the true way to that man's heart...and it isn't food." 

 

Justin grinned.  "Yeah, it still works, too; usually," he confirmed. "But even great sex doesn't always work when I need to persuade him about something this challenging."  He peered down at the bundle of energetic fluff presently gazing back up at him, noticing how huge the puppy's feet already were.  He sighed.  "Part of the way I was able to persuade Brian to let her come here was by telling him how small she was. What I neglected to mention is that normally you can look at the size of their paws when they're young to help figure out how large they'll be when they're full grown."

 

"But...her paws are huge!"

 

"I know." Justin nodded.  "Don't tell Brian what I just said, though, or he'll have a shit fit, and that's the LAST thing we need with the wedding coming up.  I promised him no involvement in the details, and as little stress as possible."

 

Emmett made a zipping motion across his mouth.  "My lips are sealed, baby," he assured him.  "As far as the wedding, anyway; what I do with them in my spare time, though, is totally different."

 

Justin laughed.  "You've got a deal, Em."  He bit his lip in contemplation.  "Now all I have to do is figure out a way to tell Brian about our visitors coming.  I guess it wouldn't be wise to wait until Tricky's actually here with Gus, even though he can never say no to his son."  He smiled. "But it IS tempting." 

 

Emmett grinned.  "Well, Baby, all I can say is...break out the booze, and put your sluttiest moves on him, ‘cause you're going to need both, I suspect."  His eyes twinkled.  "Now who wants cake? I have samples downstairs."

 

"Let me give Xena a Busy Bone®, and I'll be right down."

 

"A Busy Bone®?" 

 

Justin nodded.  "Believe me, it's a new dog owner's best friend..."  He walked over to a small nightstand and pulled out a small package; Xena's ears immediately perked up at the familiar sound of the top being opened, and promptly lost all interest - at least temporarily - in her tennis ball as she bounded over to Justin, turning around excitedly in circles in eager anticipation. 

 

"Oh, yeah...NOW you sit," Justin told her as the dog sat up in front of him, anxiously eying everything that he did. The puppy barely waited until Justin had the granola roll out of the package before he held it down to her and she promptly grabbed it to trot over to her dog bed, jumping up to land in the middle, where she began to munch happily on her treat, her front paws deftly holding the object in place as she began to gnaw on it. 

 

"That will hold her for a little while, at least," Justin told him as they walked over to the door and he quietly closed it behind him.  "As long as I come back in a few minutes, she'll be content with that.  Believe me, though; I'll know as soon as she's done eating it, because let's just say she'll quite vocally voice her displeasure at being left alone."  He smiled excitedly at his friend.  "Now what was this about cake?" 

 

"Come with me, Sweetie.  I have all kinds of samples downstairs.  They're in the kitchen, where the Big, Bad Wolf is reading the paper."

 

Justin nodded, chuckling at his friend's description.  "Well, he'll move as soon as we start mentioning anything about the wedding," he assured him.  "He hates being involved with that stuff! Let's go see what you have.  I can't wait to taste all of them!" 

 

"Then come with me...and experience the wonders of my Aunt Lula's delights!" Emmett told him, gently grasping his friend by the shoulder and steering him out the door and down the hallway before Xena could notice they were gone.

 

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

 

A big thank you of gratitude to all of you who read the first chapter, and especially those who took the time to leave me your thoughts. It really lifted my spirits to know that readers are still enjoying what I write.  I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of this story. Thank you again for the support; it is most appreciated.

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