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Holiday Happenings
This story is a sequel to “Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad”. You don’t have to read that story first but this story will make more sense if you do.
Brian and Justin are established partners, sharing custody of Gus and raising Brian’s nephews. This is how they I think they would celebrate fall & winter holidays.
I don’t own the characters just the situations.
Chapter 25
Gus was happy to wake up in time to cuddle with his fathers. He snuggled with Brian while Justin hid under his pillow. Gus told his Daddy all about the fun he had with his trains. Kevin & Mark Simpson made good assistants and Gus was quick to let Brian know he shared and let them run the trains around the track a couple times. When Brian left to use the bathroom, brush his teeth and wash his face Gus talked to the now wide awake Justin.
Gus always wanted his Dad to be proud of him but he felt more at ease with Papa. He could ask his Papa anything and talk about any issues in his life. Sometimes when he told Daddy about things that bothered him in his life he could sense Daddy tensing and Gus knew he was trying to find a way to solve all of Gus’s problems. When he talked to Papa about problems he was always calm. Sometimes Papa would draw his lower lip between his teeth and lightly bite down on it. Gus knew that meant Papa was thinking really hard and adopted that same practice when he wanted to think seriously about something.
Papa would usually discuss options with Gus and would help him come up with a good solution to any issue. Sometime Papa would say he would discuss something with Daddy and they would get back to Gus. Gus trusted that his fathers would always be there for him and would help him with any problem in his life.
This morning Gus wanted to talk about something one of his classmates told him.
“Papa I want to talk about something one of the kids at school told me. I’m afraid it might make you angry or sad to talk about it?”
Justin put his arm around Gus and pulled him close.
“Gus you can always ask me anything. I may not always have the answer to every question but I will never be angry with you for asking me something.”
“Well Jeffrey is in my class at school. He heard me tell the art teacher that you showed me how to do shading. I told her your name and she said you were a very good artist. At recess Jeffrey said I was trying to be teacher’s pet. I told him that was stupid and just played with my friends. No one likes Jeffrey because sometimes he is a bully.
Anyway last week Jeffrey said he asked his parents about you and if you were really an artist. They said you were an artist but they told him that someone tried to kidnap you. Jeffrey said that John and Peter’s Mom helped the man that tried to kidnap you. So did that really happen?”
Gus looked up at Justin’s face as he waited for the answer. He didn’t notice that Brian had come back into the bedroom. Brian opened his mouth but Justin gave him a quick head shake.
“Gus remember when I had a sore arm and we told you a bad man had tried to hurt me?”
Gus nodded with a serious expression on his face.
“Well that man did try and kidnap me. He thought your Daddy would pay him a lot of money to get me back. He was not very smart and wasn’t able to kidnap me. There was another bad man who had hired him to do this. That man got John and Peter’s mother to tell him that Peter and I would be at the gallery that day.
Both the bad man who tried to kidnap me and Claire, John and Peter’s mother, went to jail for doing such a bad thing.”
Gus was quiet for a couple minutes.
“Were you angry with John and Peter because of what their Mom did?”
Brian came over and got back in bed. He moved close to Gus so that Gus was cradled between him and Justin. He answered Gus’s question.
“Of course we weren’t angry with them Sonny Boy. They didn’t do anything wrong. You know we all love John and Peter. They are part of our family.”
Gus smiled.
“I told that dumb Jeffrey that you weren’t going to send them to an orphanage to live.”
Justin smiled at Gus.
“That was the right thing to say. This is John and Peter’s home. Maybe we should have told you the whole story when it happened but we didn’t want you to be upset. I’m glad you asked me about it.
John and Peter feel bad about what their Mom did so we don’t want you to say anything to them about what happened. It is in the past and talking about it won’t change anything.”
Satisfied with the answers he got Gus suggested that this would be a good morning for Mickey Mouse pancakes and his Papa laughingly agreed. He sent Gus to put on his slippers. Justin got washed quickly and pulled on some sweats. When he came out of the bathroom Brian & Gus were gone.
Justin walked into the kitchen where Brian had the griddle out on the counter and was gathering the ingredients for pancakes while Gus set the table. Brian handed Justin a mug of coffee and gave him a kiss.
“Sonny Boy told me he is starving so I thought we’d get things ready for you.”
Justin laughed as he got to work making the batter. Brian sliced some sausage patties and placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet, ready to go in the oven which he had preheating.
A fully dressed Jennifer, Tucker and Molly walked into the kitchen. Gus ran over to give Grandmom Jen a hug.
“You all are just in time. Papa is making Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast.”
Jennifer stooped down to give Gus a kiss.
“That sounds delicious Sweetheart but we are going to pass on pancakes. Tucker made reservation for us at the William Penn for brunch. I enjoyed spending this time with you. We’ll be spending New Year’s Eve together when your parents all go to their party at Babylon.”
Jennifer & Molly came over to give Justin & Brian hugs and kisses and to thank them for hosting them for Christmas. Justin walked over to give Tucker a hug good-bye which earned him another hug & kiss from his mother.
Breakfast preparations continued and when everything was ready Justin was about to ask Gus to go up and tell his cousins about breakfast when John & Peter appeared from the back stairs. The five of them sat down to breakfast. After cleanup Justin & Gus went to the studio. Brian headed to the study. John & Peter hurried to the media room to start trying out their new video games.
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As they walked into the restaurant at the William Penn Tucker gave his name to the hostess and Jennifer groaned softly. Tucker turned to her.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are Nancy and Ron Peterson at a table with Maria and Earl Goode. I wonder if their house finally sold and they are celebrating.”
Tucker frowned, disappointed that his treat for Jennifer & Molly might be ruined.
“I don’t think they saw us yet. Do you want to leave Honey?”
Jennifer shook her head and just then Maria Goode waved. Molly chuckled at the expression on the Petersons’ faces.
“Well Mom I think Mr and Mrs Peterson look way more unhappy than you about this meeting.”
Jennifer put a big, insincere smile on her face as she took Tucker’s hand and walked across the restaurant. Molly followed behind.
Earl & Ron stood up and Maria smiled at Jennifer. Nancy found the contents of her plate fascinating as she kept her eyes down.
Maria spoke first.
“Hello Jennifer, Tucker. Molly, my goodness, I haven’t seen you in a while. You’re all grown up!”
Molly smiled.
“Hi Mrs Goode. It has been a while. I’m a junior at Penn State. I don’t think I’ve seen you since I was in middle school. How is Jenna doing?”
The Goode’s daughter and Molly had gone to school together until Jennifer & Craig divorced and Jennifer moved to her townhouse with Molly.
“Jenna is studying at Pitt. What are you majoring in at Penn State?”
“My major is business and marketing.”
Earl smiled and joined the conversation.
“So are you planning on going into business with you Dad?”
Molly shook her head.
“No! I am going to intern this summer at Kinnetik. I would really like to work for Brian when I graduate. I know I could learn a lot from him.”
Earl wasn’t sure what to say but Ron chimed in.
“I’m surprised you wouldn’t want to take over the family business from your father.”
Molly smiled.
“Really? You are surprised that I would rather learn about a vital, growing company instead of my father’s waning business? They only reason he is still in business is the loan from Brian and Justin. The business consultant they made him hire has managed to give him a new profitable business line but I don’t see my future there.”
Ron couldn’t help but notice that Jennifer was giving him a disdainful look.
Maria turned her attention back to Jennifer.
“Jennifer, I know Craig is out of town for the holidays. Did you have Christmas at home?”
“We have been at Justin and Brian’s house for the last two days. We had a lovely Christmas with them and the boys. Last night they had an open house for family, friends and the Kinnetik and Gallery employees. I think everyone enjoyed themselves.”
“Who are the boys?”
“Of course Brian’s son Gus was there. Brian and Justin have legal custody of Brian’s nephews, John and Peter. They are wonderful boys. John is interested in cooking so he prepared a delicious Christmas dinner for us.”
Maria glanced at Nancy when Jennifer mentioned Gus but Nancy was still concentrating on the contents of her plate. She turned her attention back to Jennifer.
“My goodness; all those people in one house. You must have been on top of each other.”
Jennifer laughed.
“Their home is immense. I used to tease them about having all those extra bedrooms. The boys all have their own rooms and baths.
By the way Nancy, Gus had a wonderful Christmas. Brian had a room finished in their basement and put in an elaborate model train platform for Gus. He adored it! Lindsay was at the Open House. She is doing much better.”
Nancy finally looked up from her plate. She & Ron both tensed before he spoke.
“We haven’t heard anything from Lindsay.”
Jennifer looked from Ron to Nancy before she shrugged.
“Did you expect to hear from her? Have you expressed any interest in her or your grandson? I thought perhaps you had some interest in how they are doing. I guess I was wrong.
Looks like out table is ready. I hope you all have a happy new year.”
Maria & Earl were confused about the exchange between Jennifer and the Petersons but decided not to pursue the topic. They could all hear Tucker & Molly laughing at something Jennifer said. Nancy pleaded a sudden headache and said she and Ron really had to leave.
Once the Petersons left Earl turned to his wife.
“What was that whole Lindsay, Gus conversation? Ron seemed upset Jennifer even mentioned their daughter and grandson. There must be more to that story than Nancy and Ron are sharing.”
“I was hoping to talk about the price of their house. Barbara has decided that real estate sales is not for her. No one else is interested in taking on the Peterson listing. They refuse to lower the price or update anything in the house.”
Earl took a big swallow of his mimosa.
“Dump the listing and I think we need to see less of Nancy and Ron. There is something very odd and a little creepy about their attitude to their daughter and grandson.”
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Debbie worked the lunch shift at the diner. Joe came in near the end of her shift. As usual he took a seat at the counter. Debbie took his order but was busy with the lunch rush and didn’t have any time to talk with him.
When things slowed down, Debbie saw Joe still sitting at the counter sipping on a chocolate milkshake. She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down next to him. Joe handed her an envelope.
“This is a thank you note for Gus. You said it was his idea for his fathers to pay for my room and let me eat here. He also gave me some nice Christmas gifts. The only ones I got this year.”
Debbie took the envelope.
“That’s nice of you. Gus will be thrilled. I’ll see him New Year’s Eve.”
Joe smiled and nodded. He was quiet for a few minutes before turning to face Debbie.
“My Mom died a little over a month ago. She got a really bad kind of cancer and died within a couple months. Her husband is a bastard. I’m pretty sure he was abusive to her but she would never admit that to me. After the funeral he told me that he was in charge of me. I told him that he wasn’t my father and I didn’t care what he said.
That pissed him off. He’s a pretty big guy and I tried to fight him but let’s just say we are mismatched. I mostly stayed in my room for a couple days and then I took off. My Mom had a lot of money, she inherited the money from her family. My Dad died in a car accident when I was a baby.”
Debbie sipped at her coffee and watched Joe over the rim of the cup.
“So no siblings?”
Joe shook his head.
“Any close relatives?”
“My Mom has a brother. He’s a reporter and he travels a lot. He would visit a few times a year. He and Harry hated each other. Harry is my Mom’s husband or I guess was her husband.”
Debbie took his hand.
“Why did you decide to trust me?”
Joe gave a short bitter laugh.
“I realize I can’t make it on my own. Lots of people around here seem to think you’re a good person. I don’t have a lot of options. When your friends stop paying for my room I’m going to be homeless again.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m fifteen. I can’t live with Harry for the next three years.”
Debbie smiled.
“I have a friend who is a lawyer. She is one of Gus’s Moms. You can trust her, she handles a lot of family stuff like this. We’ll need her help with this.”
“NO! Lawyers have all kinds of ethics they have to follow. If your friend is a good lawyer she would have to do everything according to the law. I cannot go back and live with Harry, even for a short time. I just can’t!”
Debbie squeezed Joe’s hand.
“Okay no Melanie. I guess the next best thing is to ask Brian to have his fucking private eye look into this for us. We’ll have to give him your real name and all your info.”
Joe was quiet as he thought about revealing all his information to Debbie and her friend Brian. He didn’t like doing it but realized it was inevitable that he trust someone. Debbie seemed like the best choice.
Debbie and her friends had certainly taken care of the Nico situation. Even though he denied it Joe was frightened by Nico. He felt better when Nico was obviously intimidated by Justin. Joe wasn’t sure what else was done but now Nico crossed to the other side if the street if he saw Joe coming.
“Okay Debbie. If there is a pad of paper and pen I can write down all the info the investigator should need.”
Debbie smiled and got the paper and pen for Joe. Once Joe wrote down the information; Debbie made him promise not to disappear. She promised to help him not be sent back to his stepfather. Debbie gave him one of her bone crushing hugs and sent him on his way.
Once she got home she called Brian’s cell phone and left him a message with Joe’s information. Debbie was sure that Brian wouldn’t disappoint her. Her main concern was that Joe might get nervous about revealing his story to her and leave town.
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Justin and Gus had a good morning in the studio. Gus read some stories while Justin painted; he did some finger painting and watched Justin paint. Justin had some CD’s playing on random and he and Gus sang along with their favorites.
When Justin’s stomach let out a loud growl Gus giggled before he stated the obvious.
“I guess that means it is time for lunch, right Papa?”
“That is one hundred percent correct Little Man. Let’s go check out the leftovers from last night to see what we want for lunch.”
When they got down to the kitchen Justin sent Gus down to the study to let his Daddy know it was time for lunch. A few minutes later Brian appeared with a laughing Gus riding on his shoulders. John & Peter saw them passing the media room door and followed behind.
Justin was a fast worker and had leftovers spread out on the kitchen counter. Brian fixed a plate for Gus under his son’s close supervision. Justin and the boys loaded their own plates. Justin put his plate on the table and then worked on getting drinks for Gus and the nephews.
Eventually they were all sitting at the kitchen table and enjoying lunch. Gus suddenly yelled “Snow!” and pointed out the patio doors. Big fluffy flakes of snow were falling. The snow quickly covered the patio.
When Gus was finished his lunch he had his nose pressed to the patio doors watching the snow rapidly falling. Justin decided they needed to have a fire in the family room hearth just in case the power went out.
Brian and John got to work laying the fire and getting it started. Gus watched, fascinated by the process. Justin and Peter put on jackets and went out to the wood pile and piled a bunch of wood on the covered part of the patio near the doors.
When they came back in Justin gathered some candles and battery operated lights. He gave everyone a small flashlight to put in their pockets.
Brian rolled his eyes when Justin stuck the flashlight in his jeans pocket.
“Sunshine why are you so concerned about losing electric?”
“This is a heavy snow and there’s a good chance it could bring down some power lines. I just believe in being prepared. Luckily we have tons of leftover food from last night and we will still be able to use the gas cooktop to warm things. Everyone should put their cell phones on the chargers.”
Brian chuckled.
“I can hardly believe you were never a boy scout since you are so into preparedness.”
Justin just stuck out his tongue which made John, Peter and Gus collapse onto the couch while laughing. Brian just grabbed Justin into a hug and gave him a kiss which made the boys laugh harder.
The snow was really coming down and covering the ground quickly. Justin suggested they all get some warm clothes & boots on and head outside. Gus cheered and ran towards the stairs. Brian & Justin both called for him not to run on the stairs.
Once they were all outside Gus and his cousins started rolling balls of snow to make a snowman. Brian lobbed a couple snowballs at Justin and was surprised when his Sunshine turned out to have a pretty accurate aim when he retaliated.
Justin and Brian helped the boys get the snowman assembled and John went in to get a carrot for a nose. Gus enjoyed making snowballs. He didn’t have a lot of luck hitting anyone with his snowballs but that didn’t seem to effect his enjoyment.
Justin went in the house to get a camera to capture images of the trees covered in white snow. He would want to paint that later. Before going back in the house everyone got busy making snow angels. Even a reluctant Brian had to join in when Gus asked why Daddy wasn’t making any angels.
When they got inside Justin said they should all take warm showers and put on dry clothing. After Gus got his shower Brian sent him down to the media room to watch TV with his cousins. Justin and Brian took advantage of their alone time and saved water by showering together. Justin happily found himself pushed against the tile wall while Brian fucked him from behind. That was followed by Brian going down on his knees to deliver a blowjob to his partner.
They went downstairs arm in arm. John had just made a big bowl of popcorn and they all settled down on the sectional sofa to watch a movie. Gus nestled against one side of Brian and Justin nestled against his other side. Brian pulled a fleece cover over the three of them and soon Gus was dozing while leaning against his Daddy.
About halfway through the movie the lights and the TV blinked off. Brian, John & Peter all looked toward a smug looking Justin. The sudden quiet woke up Gus who immediately spoke up.
“Papa was right the electricity went off.”
Brian shook his head.
“Sonny Boy there is no sense adding to your Papa’s conceit. I’m sure he’ll be reminding us often enough without your help.”
Justin just smiled.
“I don’t think there is any need for me to point out that being prepared is a good thing. No need for you all to thank me. I am just happy to be taking care of my family.”
Brian groaned and all three boys laughed. Justin had more to say.
“John and Peter please put on your coats and boots and go out to the pool house and bring some cushions into the family room. We may all have to sleep in there tonight if the power doesn’t come back on.
Gus you come with me and we’ll throw some pillows and blankets down the stairs for Daddy to take in the family room.”
Gus thought it was great fun to throw pillows and blankets over the railing to the entrance hall below. He was disappointed when Justin told him they had thrown enough downstairs.
They helped Brian carry everything into the family room. Brian and Justin moved one of the sofas closer to the fireplace. John and Peter came in with their arms full of cushion which they arranged between the sofa and the fireplace.
Justin lit some candles and Brian added wood to the fire. The boys settled onto the cushions and started a card game. Brian announced he wanted to check his cell phone and Justin went to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate. Gus has a smile from ear to ear; this was a tremendous adventure and he was enjoying every minute of it.
Brian listened to his message from Debbie and took some notes. He had to listen a couple times to get all of Joe’s particulars. He called the investigator he always used and explained the situation to him and relayed Joe’s information. The investigator said he would look into the situation and get back to Brian with what he found out in a few days.
When Brian got back to the family room, Justin had joined the card game and offered to get him a cup of hot chocolate. Brian decided he would rather have some brandy which he heated slightly over one of the candles. He declined the invitation to join the card game.
The snow continued to fall and the wind started to pick up. The card game broke up so the boys could check what was going on outside with their flashlights. Brian brought some wood inside so they wouldn’t have to open the door since the temperature was dropping.
Justin sent John & Peter upstairs to turn the faucets on in the bathrooms enough to let the water drip to keep the pipes from freezing. Gus suggested that he & Daddy go down and play with the trains for a while. Brian reminded his son that the trains needed electric to run which made Gus laugh.
Justin had taken some vegetable soup out of the pantry freezer and warmed that for dinner. He also put out some of the leftovers that they could eat cold. They ate at the kitchen table but didn’t linger long over the meal since the only warm space was near the fire.
They owned plenty of dishes so Brian nixed Justin’s idea to wash the dishes by hand. Brian told John & Peter to rinse things as usual and load the dishwasher. He said the electric would come back on sometime.
John & Peter settled in to play games on their iPads. There was enough light for Justin to read a book to Gus and Brian worked on his laptop for a while. Even though it was still kind of early they all started to think about going to sleep. They pushed the other sofa over by the fireplace. Justin made sure the back of the sofa was facing the patio doors to help block any cold air coming off the glass doors.
John & Peter got assigned the sofas to sleep on. Justin used the cushions and pillows to make a kind of nest for him, Brian & Gus to sleep on. Gus thrilled to be sleeping with his Daddy & Papa. Once they got changed into pajamas Justin blew out the candles and Brian put a couple extra logs on the fire.
Gus found the howling of the wind scary so he was happy to curl up next to Papa who molded himself against Brian. Gus also found the flickering light from the fire just a little spooky but felt perfectly safe here with his fathers.
Gus, Justin, John & Peter all fell asleep quickly but Brian lay awake for a while watching the fire. He glanced at the gorgeous blonde man next to him and smiled. Brian could see Gus next to Justin with his Teddy Bear clutched in one arm and his other arm resting on Justin. Brian drifted off to sleep feeling like he was the luckiest person in the world.
The next morning the family room was filled with light. It was a sunny day and the light reflected off the snow. Bright didn’t mean warm. Brian reluctantly got out from others the covers to put some logs on the fire and get it going strong again.
Gus got up to look outside but hurried back to burrow in next to his Papa. Justin shivered.
“Gus you feel like a popsicle.”
“I feel kind of frozen Papa. It is really cold out of the covers.”
Justin pulled Gus into a hug.
“Daddy is getting the fire going again. Once it warms up a little I make us some hot chocolate and maybe we can get John to make us all his special scrambled eggs.”
John spoke up from under the covers on his sofa.
“When the fire gets going I’ll get up and make breakfast.”
Brian climbed back under the covers and put his hand on Justin to get them warm. Justin squealed which made everyone laugh.
“Brian! Your hands are like ice.”
“Well that’s why I let you stay under the covers so you could warm me back up after I put more wood on the fire.”
Brian leaned over and gave his Sunshine a kiss which had him moaning in pleasure which made the nephews laugh even more. Peter spoke up.
“Uncle Justin you are so easy. All Uncle Brian has to do is kiss you and you forget all about his icy hands.”
“Well when Uncle Brian kisses me I feel warm all over. So I can ignore those icy hands.”
Peter and John groaned but Gus had something to add.
“You must be warm all the time Papa because Daddy kisses you all the time.”
Brian laughed and reached over Justin to tickle his son.
“Who asked you Sonny Boy? Your Papa is just very kissable; I can’t help myself.”
Justin laughed and lightly slapped Brian’s hand.
‘Stop tickling him. All his squirming is letting cold air under the covers. Gus you know that Daddy kisses me so much because he sooooooo adores me.”
Even Brian laughed at that comment. Justin’s stomach chose that moment to growl and suddenly the lights came back on.
Brian leaned over for another kiss.
“Sunshine your stomach has magical powers. It gets hungry and makes the electric come back on.”
John, Peter & Gus all cheered for Justin’s magic stomach. They could all feel the warm air start to come out of the heat vents. Once the room got to be somewhat comfortable John went into the kitchen to start breakfast.
Peter and Gus followed John’s lead and went out to help with breakfast. Brian and Justin stayed under the covers and made out a little and watched the fire. Brian whispered into Justin’s ear.
“Any chance of us sneaking upstairs for some adult activity?”
Justin glanced out towards the kitchen and saw all three boys looking their way.
“Nope! They are all watching us plus I really am hungry.”
Brian groaned as John announced breakfast was almost ready.
