Chapter 27

Brian had finally managed to get Justin to pass out on the couch in their living room at around 5 that morning. Justin truly was the life of the party. After that, Brian had gotten him to forget about trying to turn Josh into a homosexual, Justin had turned on the music making everyone dance. Brian had surprised himself, that he actually liked dancing. Now, he always danced at Babylon. But that was with gay men surrounding him. This was different. This was something that he never bothered with before. Dancing in a room of straight people. And all these people were his family. They were related to him. They were his cousins.

That still amazed him. It was strange to have so much family. Family that actually was taking the time to get to know him. They'd ask him questions about his life. About his family. They took interest in his life. They laughed when he made gay jokes. Some of them even throwing some in themselves. They talked to Justin. The girls all ooh'd and awed at him. At how adorable he was. How cute they were together. Having a family that cared about him was still so new to him. But he was enjoying it.

They had both fallen asleep on the couch, and all over the house were different family members. He was sure the house was a mess, but it was a good mess he figured. He heard a voice that startled him awake.

"Did your mother raise you in a barn? Because I know she didn't. Genevieve raised you to be a respectable young man. And you have their brand new pillow on the floor. Get up Evan." Teresa bitched at him, slapping him on the head. Brian opened his eyes and looked around. "Did I wake you up?" she asked softly. Evan scoffed.

"You freaken bite my head off, and your all nicey nice to him. I see how your gonna be now and play favorites just because your long lost son showed back up." Evan grumbled. She hit him as he walked out of the room.

"Did my nieces and nephews keep you two up all night?" Teresa asked as she straightened the pillow up and sat down. Brian sat up and yawned.

"No Justin did. Sam got him drunk and stoned and he wouldn't stop dancing all night." Brian joked, making her chuckle. They heard Sam whining down the hall. Sawyer appeared in the room and pushed her inside.

"I'm up you asshole. Jesus." Sam said.

"Mom sent us over to wake you idiots up. Aren't you going for your dress fitting today?" Sawyer asked.

"It's not till 2:00 Justin said." Sam said as she sat down between Brian and Teresa, and snuggled up on Teresa's shoulder. "Make your husband fuck off." Sam said. Teresa laughed and slapped her shoulder.

"It's already 12:00." Sawyer told her. Sam groaned.

"I made blueberry and banana pancakes." Ben said as he walked into the living room

"We had blueberries and bananas?" Brian asked. Ben snorted.

"No. Me and Lindsay went shopping this morning. We made breakfast for all the drunks laying around the house." Ben joked as Michael walked in, all smiles.

"We made a lot of food. Better come eat it while it's hot." Michael said.

"How many of my nieces and nephews actually slept over?" Teresa asked him.

"From what I counted around 15. But then there's still the fiances and boyfriends and girlfriends." Ben joked.

"We're still learning who's who. But your families great." Michael said.

"I'm sure you're lying. Come on trouble maker. Let's feed you and get you ready for your bridesmaid fitting." Teresa said, pulling Sam up. Brian looked over at Justin. He hadn't moved once since he laid him on the couch hours earlier. Brian gently shook him awake as he opened his eyes. Justin looked around and then at Brian and yawned.

"What time is it?" Justin asked.

"Little after noon time." Brian told him.

"Shit we have to be at the dress shop at 2:00." Justin said as he sat up.

"We? WE don't have to be anywhere. YOU have to be there. I'm staying here." Brian said and smiled. Justin pouted, making Brian laugh. He pulled Justin up and led him into the kitchen. Family was sitting all around the huge kitchen island, and at the kitchen table. He noticed that Michael, Ben, Lindsay, Melanie, Emmett and Calvin were the ones that were cooking.

"Did you find everyone?" Teresa asked Emmett.

"Yes we did. They're all accounted for. No hetero hanky panky going on in this house." Emmett joked. Brian groaned loudly and covered his face.

"Oh God I'm scarred. Don't talk about hetero sex no no no." Brian cried, making his family laugh. He pulled his hands down from his face and turned and hugged Justin. "Make them stop." Brian cried. Justin laughed and rubbed his back.

"Are they scaring you Brian?" Justin joked. Brian nodded his head and turned around, and then shivered.

"God hetero sex." Brian groaned as he grabbed a cup of coffee.

"How you feeling today sweetie?" Emmett asked Justin. He smiled.

"I'm fine. Why?" Justin asked. Everyone just kind of looked at him. "What did I do?" Justin asked warily. Brian snorted as he sat at the island.

"You tried to convince my husband that he's gay and wants to get fucked in the ass." Sam said, laughing. Teresa covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, and Sawyer patted Josh's shoulder.

"I'm not surprised. I always did get a gay vibe from you." Sawyer said. Josh turned around and hit him, making Sawyer laugh.

"And you tried to take your clothes off and dance naked." Maggie laughed. Justin groaned.

"God Sammy what did you give that boy?" Teresa asked. Sam's eyes widened.

"Why are you always putting the blame on me?" Sam asked. Everyone just stared at her and she huffed and rolled her eyes. "It's the Jameson's." Sam clarified. Everyone nodded. They did have the best pot. Brian looked around at all the kitchen utensils. There were pots and pans, waffle makers, and a coffee pot.

"Where did all these things come from?" Brian asked.

"We just opened your presents and took them out." Melanie said dryly. Justin's face widened as he stared. Melanie covered her mouth. "Oh my God sweetie I'm just joking." Mel said and quickly ran over and hugged him. "Oh baby I wouldn't do that to you." Mel laughed, trying to comfort him.

"Leave it to a dyke to hurt poor Sunshine's feelings." Brian grumbled. Lindsay reached over and smacked him.

"Alright you kids eat your food, and then you clean this mess up that you've made. There better not be any vomit, drinks spilled, food or cigarette burns anywhere. Or any damages." Teresa threatened. Brian's eyes widened.

"Damages?" Brian asked. She smiled.

"They're animals. I warned you not to let them over stay their welcome." Teresa said. Luckily nothing was wrong. They had to make a few beds, because some of the cousins passed out on the beds, and they had to straighten things up. But the first party at the Taylor-Kinney house was a success. Teresa drove Justin, Sam, Emmett, Daphne and Lindsay to the bridal shop for Sam to try on her dress. Lindsay and Daphne were having there's altered, and were going to try them on. Jennifer was driving Molly over to try on hers as well. And of course, Emmett had to go because he was the party planner, and the most fashionable of the group. Besides Sam of course.

"Hi honey." Jennifer said as she kissed Justin's cheek when she walked in. "How'd the night go?" Jen asked.

"He tried to turn my husband gay." Sam said. Teresa smacked her shoulder, and Jen raised her eyebrows.

"I tried to convince him. Not turn him. She got me drunk." Justin said. Jen laughed. The four girls went into the dressing room, and Emmett pulled Teresa over to look at dresses to find her something, while Justin and Jennifer walked over to look at wedding dresses. "Why are we looking at these?" Justin asked warily. She chuckled.

"Molly's going to be wearing one of these someday." Jennifer said. Justin breathed a sigh of relief. He thought maybe she was looking at them for herself.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Justin asked. Jen looked at him.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Oh yeah everything's fine. It's just something that I've been thinking about. I talked it over with Brian, but the other day he said I should talk it over with you before I went and did it this week." Justin said. She raised her eyebrows. "Well...I want to get rid of my middle name." Justin said. Jen sucked in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out. She looked at him sadly.

"Really?" she asked.

"You think I should keep it?" he asked.

"No that's not why I said it like that. It makes me sad. Not for him. I feel sad how that makes you feel. You should be proud to have your fathers name. But after what he's done to you..." Jen trailed off, looking at another dress, and then back to Justin. "I don't blame you at all. It shouldn't be this way. But I actually think it's the right thing to do." Jen said. He smiled at her.

"Really? I thought I would have to convince you to like it so I could change my name." Justin joked. She just smiled.

"I love your name Justin. I named you. And when we decided that you'd take your fathers name as your middle name...I loved it then to. And I loved your last name, because it was our last name. It created my family. It bonded my family. But with what you've gone through, I'd want to change it to. So I will love your name, without a middle name." she said, and kissed his forehead. He smiled. Now for the big shocker.

"Well...I still wanted to have a middle name." he said slowly. She raised her eyebrows. "I was thinking to switch Taylor to my middle name. When I marry Brian...I want Kinney to be my last name." Justin said. Jennifer was surprised by that. "I know that it's totally unconventional. Women are the one's to change their last names. And when gay men get married, they usually just hyphenate their last names. But I don't want to do that. And me and Brian aren't conventional. We're not even a conventional gay couple." Justin joked, making his mother laugh. "I want to get rid of my middle name, because it's tainted by dad. He wants nothing to do with me or my life. And I'm embarrassed and ashamed of him. I want his first name gone. But my last name...Taylor is who I am. I can't just get rid of that. It's one of the things that make you me and Molly a family. And if you and Molly ever get married...I know you both will lose that last name, but I'll still have it. It will just be my middle name. It will still be there. But...I want to have Kinney as my last name because I love him. I want to be a real family with him." Justin said. Jennifer leaned forward and hugged him.

"You don't have to sell me on this idea Justin." Jen said and pulled back. "You're an amazing man. I'm always going to call you Justin Taylor. I'll just be adding Kinney to the end of it. I think your reasonings are perfect. I'm going to love your new name." Jen said, getting emotional. He laughed and hugged her again.

"Thank you." Justin said. The girls came out, and they looked amazing. Daphne's dress was officially done. There was still a few things needed to be done to Lindsay and Molly's dress. And Sam's dress hadn't even been touched. Later that day, Emmett did give Sam a crash course in the best blow job ever, and the next day, while Brian and Justin went to go say goodbye before they left for the airport, Brian and Justin pulled Sam and Josh aside. She looked proud of herself.

"Alright. What's the verdict?" Brian asked.

"We're so going to Italy." Sam said proudly. Josh smiled.

"Well. I can honestly say it was the best blow job ever." Josh said. Sam eyed him carefully.

"So. Did Emmy Lou here teach her something new?" Brian asked. Josh just stared at Sam apologetically and she gasped and hit him.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sam demanded. Derek started laughing, having overheard the conversation.

"HA HA SAM LOST THE BET! SHE'S DRESSING IN DRAG!" Derek yelled and laughed loudly.

"Wait, wait, wait. We need to hear the words from young Joshua here." Brian said.

"Well she did something with her tongue that she never did before." Josh said. Sam huffed again and pushed passed Derek, who followed her back inside the house, teasing her the whole way. Brian patted Josh's arm.

"Good man." Brian joked. Brian and Justin had driven Ali back to Teresa's house, and had taken Gus along for the ride to say goodbye. They we're going to take Gus to pre-school afterwards, letting him be late. He was sad to see Ali and his grandpa leaving. Sam picked him up.

"Listen buddy. We're having my birthday party in the beginning of May this year. And as long as your daddies come, you can come to ok." Sam said. Gus looked back at Brian and Justin.

"Can we go daddy? Pleease?" Gus begged. Justin chuckled as he hugged Sam tightly.

"I just have to make sure with Cynthia and Ted that it's ok Sonny Boy. But I promise, if we go, you can go to." Brian said, making Gus cheer and hug her tightly.

"It was a really quick weekend. But I'm glad we were able to come. Thank you for inviting me." Sawyer told Brian. A couple of Brian's uncles drove them to airport, while Justin led Gus back to his SUV.

"What are you boys up to today?" Teresa asked Brian.

"I gotta head back into work. I have a meeting this morning. And then the Center is having a meeting tonight. They're working on what to do about getting votes for legalize gay marriages." Brian said as he and Teresa walked towards the car. Justin was helping buckle Gus in. "What about you?" Brian asked.

"Oh I have the day off." Teresa said. Brian and Justin had been surprised to learn a few weeks ago what Teresa did for a living. She sold Mary Kay, and had been doing it since she was 18 years old, and was quite good at it. When she had found out about Brian, she had been taking some time off. She went into detail with them one night at dinner, that all her parties she had been dove-tailing them over to her own recruits. Which meant, that they did the parties, and they received all the sales, bookings and recruits from the party, but Teresa made 15% of the profit. And then she had been taking some time off from her own Unit.

She was the director of her Unit, but had explained that she was always training girls to become a Director, or just had so many girls that were willing to step up for her, and take over her duties for awhile. It wasn't too much for them, because they all just took turns in all the tasks at hand, that Teresa usually did herself. In her unit, she had an on-going challenge, to perform different tasks, and they would earn something called Mary Kay bucks. And at the end of each quarter, they'd be able to go on a fun shopping spree that Teresa laid out for them. She had shown pictures of some of the things they could buy with their MK bucks, like different products, or things to help them with their business from Mary Kay. Or fun things, like a Coach purse.

So her Unit was more then willing, even jumping at chances, to run a meeting, or take a call for her. Because they got MK bucks for doing it. So Teresa was taking some much needed time off, and enjoying herself with her family. Brian had been surprised the first time she showed up at the loft in her Pink SUV. Emmett had been more then thrilled when he saw it, and was always begging her to drive him around in it.

"You wanna go out to lunch with me? I was just gonna take it easy today." Justin said.

"How about I bring something over in a little bit to the house. I want to see that house without my nieces and nephews bodies draped over all the surfaces." Teresa joked, making them chuckle.

"Sounds good." Justin said. Driving Gus to pre-school was fun for Justin. It made him feel like he had a real family. His soon to be husband, and his soon to be son. Because they were bringing Gus in late, they weren't going to be bringing him into the classroom. One of the women in the front office explained that it was Story-time, and didn't want to disturb them, so she would bring Gus in. He gave both of them a hug and kiss, calling them both daddy, and walked off with her. One of the ladies behind the desk was giving them a strange look.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Brian asked. She glared at him, and then at Justin. "Let me guess. You have a problem with gay men?" Brian asked. Justin had turned to see who he was talking to, and then put his hand on his shoulder

"Come on Brian. Don't worry about her." Justin said, glaring at her and walking away. Brian stopped him suddenly and put his finger to his mouth to quiet him.

"God that is so goose. They have no idea how much damage they're instilling into their child. A child needs and mother and a father, not two fathers, no matter how feminine one of them may be. You're setting your kid up to be tortured by kids his whole life. And it's so disgusting." the girl said. Before Justin could stop him, Brian went back in there and slammed his hand on the counter.

"Where the fuck do you get off telling me how to raise my son?" Brian demanded, scaring the three women behind the counter. "You have no idea what we teach our son. And by the way, he does have a mother. He has two you fucking cunt." Brian said, making the women gasp.

"What is going on here?" someone asked. Justin and Brian turned and saw Gus' teacher, Lucy, Brian's cousin's fiance. She was holding a present in her hand. "What happened?" Lucy asked.

"Ask that bitch over there." Brian said, pointing to the girl.

"You can't cuss here. This is a school full of children. What lessons are you teaching him by cussing?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip. Brian's eyes widened, and Lucy stopped him before he could say anything.

"I am sure you have something to do besides stand there and argue with a parent Janelle." Lucy told her. She handed the present to Justin. "Bruno left this on the counter the other night. It's yours and Brian's housewarming present." Lucy said, and looked at Janelle. "I'm sorry, let me introduce you to Gus' parents. This is Justin and Brian. Brian happens to be my fiance's cousin." Lucy told her. She rolled her eyes, grabbed a stack of files and walked away. Lucy looked at the other two women. "I really hope neither of of you had anything to do with what just happened?" Lucy asked. They both shook their heads.

"That girl gets her own self into trouble, and needs no help from anyone else. We're really sorry about her." the woman sitting at a desk said. Lucy ushered them outside to their car.

"What happened?" Lucy asked.

"The little cunt was talking about what damage we were putting on Gus by being gay." Brian said. She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Listen I have to get back to my class. But I want to drop off an incident report to you later. Stuff like that just isn't tolerated here. I've personally had enough of her mouth, and I can't stand how condescending she is. She has a four year old herself, and he is the most unbalanced child I have ever met. She has no right to be talking about how parents raise their kids." Lucy said rolling her eyes.

"We make a splash wherever we go." Justin grumbled, making her chuckle.

"Well let me run back in, and I'll drop that off later." Lucy said.

"Thank you for the present. You didn't have to." Justin said, holding it up. But she just smiled and walked away. They got into the car in silence and drove off. "We really do make a scene wherever we go." Justin joked. When they got back to Britin, Brian changed into his clothes for work, while Justin started bringing the presents into the living room "You wanna open these when you get back from work? We should be able to get most of them open before the meeting." Justin asked excitedly, making Brian chuckle.

"You can open them while I'm at work. I don't care." Brian said. But Justin's mouth fell.

"That's not any fun opening them by myself though." Justin whined. Brian chuckled and kissed his cheek.

"Fine you big baby. I'll see if I can leave after my meeting. Being the boss does have it's privileges of not having to punch a time clock." Brian said. Justin smiled and leaned up and kissed him. Brian wrapped his arms around Justin's waist, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss, when the doorbell rang.

"That would be your mother." Justin said.

"She's already acting like one by interrupting a perfectly good make out session." Brian grumbled. Justin laughed and hit his shoulder, and ran over to the door to let her in. Brian had grabbed his brief case and walked over to the front door.

"I brought over Panera's. I had a craving for the potato soup." Teresa joked as she handed Justin the bag. Brian groaned.

"Did you really park the pepto bismal on wheels in my driveway?" Brian joked. Teresa's eyes widened.

"Don't you dare make fun of my pink car. I earned that baby. And it's free. And the registration is free, and 89% of my car insurance is free. Can you say that about your car?" Teresa asked, smiling at Brian, making Justin laugh.

"We're sending out the wrong message to the neighbors about what kind of gay men live here." Brian told her, making her chuckle. She held up a bag for him.

"Here I got you a sandwich for lunch. Turkey, no mayo." Teresa said. He smiled and took it.

"Thank you." he sang and kissed her on the cheek, surprising her a little. Then he leaned down and kissed Justin on the lips. "I'll get back as soon as I can so you can rip into those presents. Later." Brian said, turning to go towards the garage.

"Have a great day at work honey." Justin sang out. Brian just rolled his eyes. Justin and Teresa went into the kitchen and pulled their food out.

"I can't get over how beautiful this house is." Teresa said. Justin just smiled at her.

"Oh I know me either. I keep thinking this is a dream, and I'm gonna wake up and be back in New York. I have to keep pinching myself." Justin joked.

"It was a lovely house warming party. I'm surprised my family behaved themselves. It seems it was just you and Sammy getting into trouble." Teresa joked. Justin just rubbed his face.

"It's definitely a party I'll never forget." Justin joked.

"Brian's warming up to me and Sawyer." Teresa commented, making Justin's eyes widen with excitement.

"Oh I know I've totally noticed. He's really coming around. I knew he would. Your family doesn't ever give him a chance not to. It really is everything I wanted for him. You all are amazing." Justin said, smiling.

"I feel like my life is a dream to. Being able to be apart of my sons life. This was more then I ever could have hoped for. Going to my sons house warming party. Bringing lunch over to my son in law. These are the moments I've been waiting for for 35 years." Teresa told him. She chuckled. "I feel like I've gained a whole new family. Not just my son, but you and Gus. I feel like I have kids now. With you boys, and with Lindsay and Melanie. And then with your mother and Debbie...I feel like I gained two new friends. Like sisters. And my sons friends...it's this amazing feeling, that I literally can't get over it." she said, laughing.

"Yeah I know what you mean."

"I want to ask you something. And I hate to put you into this position. But I don't want to ask Brian this. And I couldn't even tell Sawyer, because I knew he'd kill me." Teresa said.

"What? What's the matter?" Justin asked. She took a deep breath.

"I want to go visit Joan." Teresa told him. Justin's eyes widened. "Today if I could. Right now." she told him.

"Why?"

"I gave her the most precious thing I've ever had. I gave her the most precious gift that anyone could give a person. I gave her my son. To love him. To protect him. To take care of him. And she failed. I gave her my son to raise, and she did a horrible job. She let Jack beat him up. And she didn't love him. She hurt him. She said horrible things to him because he was gay. She didn't love my son. And I can't go and hit Jack in the face like I did with your father. But I can tell her off. That I know how she treated my son. I need to say that to her before she dies. She has to pay for what she did to my son." Teresa said, as tears fell down her face. How could Justin say no to her. He couldn't. And 10 minutes later, found himself driving Teresa to the hospital in Pittsburgh, and up to Joan Kinney's room. Brian was going to kill him. Like really, REALLY kill him for this. They didn't speak a word once then got inside the hospital, and got to the nurse's station to find out where she was. If she was still in the same room. Apparently they had found her a new liver, and was in a different wing of the hospital now. They stopped outside her door, and Justin stepped back.

"I don't want to go in and see her. I want nothing to do with her anymore." Justin told her. Teresa nodded and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for taking me here." Teresa said. He shrugged his shoulders

"Yeah well, if you could just not tell Brian that we came here today, I would totally appreciate that. He's going to kill me that I brought you here." Justin said. She chuckled.

"He won't get upset. I'll take the blame for it." she said, and took a deep breath. "Well, here goes. Wish me luck." Teresa said.

"She's kind of a bitch. Don't take it personal" he advised her. She smiled and opened the door without knocking. Justin sat outside the room to wait for her. Joan was sitting up in bed reading a magazine.

"Can I help you?" Joan asked, startled by the woman Teresa walked towards her.

"Are you Joan Kinney?" Teresa asked. Joan nodded.

"And who are you?" Joan demanded. Teresa sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"I'm Teresa Marazzo." Teresa told her. Joan stared at her, not knowing who she was. "I gave you something once." she said. Joan still didn't know. "I gave you my son." she said. Joan's eyes widened, and she looked away, and crossed her arms.

"So. He found you." Joan said dryly. Teresa nodded.

"Justin found me." Teresa told her. Joan scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I was 13 years old. And I was scared. And emotional. And I gave you my baby. To love and protect. And you lied to me." Teresa choked out. Joan looked at her. "You promised me that you would take care of him. And you lied. You let Jack beat him. That was my baby. How could you do that to him?" Teresa struggled to say. She was trying not to cry. She wouldn't let this woman see her cry. But she was talking about her son.

"I'm not going to sit here and defend my actions. You were a stupid 13 year old who got yourself knocked up by another 13 year old. I raised that boy. That boy that you couldn't take care of. So you can point the finger at me, but know that you have four pointing back at you." Joan seethed out. She looked at her door. "Now get out."

"No. I won't. I was 13 years old. But you were an adult. You knew better. And I paid for my actions. I spent 35 years away from him. And I didn't get him back when our parents went after him. Why didn't you let us have him back if you hated him so much? If your husband hated him so much. Why didn't you just give him back to me?" Teresa cried.

"The punishment was having to raise that ungrateful, selfish boy." Joan said. Teresa's eyes widened. "I raised him in a Catholic home. And how does he repay me? By telling me he'd rather go to hell, then spend eternity in Heaven in with me." Joan said. She was getting agitated "I go there to comfort him. To tell him I forgive him. To help him. To explain why God gave him a second chance after his cancer. So he could save himself from spending eternity in hell." Joan cried out. She covered her mouth. "I care about that boys soul. I loved him. And how does he repay me? By throwing me away." Joan said, covering her face.

"You threw him away first...if you really loved him, you wouldn't have let your husband beat him. You would have loved him. Cared for him. Hugged him for God's sakes. And you wouldn't have said God was punishing him. You would have loved him even if he is gay." Teresa cried, tears spilling down her cheeks. "You'll have to answer to God when you die Joan Kinney. For everything you did to that boy. What you did was a sin. And God may not be so forgiving. Because if God was punishing Brian for being gay, then he's punishing you right now with your liver. For being a cruel human being." Teresa cried and stormed out, stomping passed Justin. She was trying not to cry.

"Teresa what happened?" Justin asked as he sped up to her. She walked fast to the car. Letting out a sob here and there. "Whatever she said is crap. I knew this was a bad idea. I never should have taken you here." Justin said. When they got to the car, Teresa stopped to take a breath. "What did she say?" Justin asked. Teresa just shook her head, and started crying. Justin reached forward to hug her, and let her cry on his shoulder.

"That's my son. My baby. And she didn't take care of my baby. Why." she cried.

"I'm so sorry Teresa." Justin whispered into her ear. They stood there for a few minutes before they got into the car. The car was silent for a few minutes.

"What kind of cancer does he have?" Teresa asked. It startled Justin, and he whipped his head over to look at her.

"Oh Jesus. She told you?" Justin asked. Brian was really going to kill him now. He didn't want them to know. "He's fine. He's cancer free. It was testicular. But he's been in remission. They caught it really early on." Justin said. She nodded and wiped her face with a tissue from her purse.

"Take me over to his work." Teresa said. Justin wasn't so sure that was a great idea. "If you don't take me, I'll drive over there myself." Teresa said. He took a deep breath and let it out. He drove over to Kinnetik, despite his gut instinct.

"Hey Justin." Cynthia called out as she walked over to him.

"Hey Cynthia. This is Brian's mother Teresa." Justin introduced. They said hello, and he looked around to see Brian.

"He's in his meeting. They're just wrapping up." she said.

"Let him know I'm in his office." Justin said. She smiled and nodded, and Teresa followed him in.

"This place is gorgeous" Teresa said. She looked at the floor. "Why is there a drain?" she asked, making him chuckle as he sat at Brian's desk.

"This used to be the Liberty Baths. For gay men. This was the shower room." Justin told her. Teresa just chuckled. She paced the room as she waited for Brian.

"Hey what are you two doing here?" Brian asked. His smiled faltered when he saw the two of them. "What's wrong?" he asked. Teresa walked up to him, and took a deep breath.

"Justin drove me over to see Joan today." Teresa said. His eyes widened and he looked over at Justin.

"Why the fuck would you do that?" Brian demanded.

"Don't be upset with him. I asked him. I would have gone if he had said no. So don't blame him." Teresa said. Brian looked down at her and ran his hands through his hair.

"Look. She's a frigate old bitch. Don't listen to a word she says. I don't know why you would get upset over anything she said." Brian said as he started walking towards his desk, glaring at Justin.

"She said you had cancer." Teresa said. Justin covered his face with his hands. He didn't want to keep looking at Brian. The face he made when he heard his mother say that. It reminded him of when he first came back to the loft with movies to watch. And he threw him out because he found out Brian had cancer. Brian turned around and looked at her. Brian for once, was at a loss for words. "She said that God was punishing you. He gave you cancer because you're gay...did she really say that to you?" Teresa whispered.

"In this very room." Brian told her. Teresa walked closer to him.

"After Sawyer got married for a third time, he called me up." Teresa said. Brian had no idea why she was bringing up Sawyer. "He was getting a third divorce, and he called me, totally drunk out of his mind. And he said he blamed me. That three failed marriages were my fault. Everything that went wrong in his life was my fault. The reason that he wasn't happy, was my fault." she said, and wiped her tears. "I was devastated I laid in my bed for a couple of days, and then suddenly I was angry. I was so angry had him, that he blamed me. That he let everything be my fault. So I got on a plane and went to his house. It was trashed. And he was still drunk. He was passed out on the floor...so I kicked him in the balls." Teresa said. Justin chuckled, not being able to stop himself. "He woke up of course. I made him stand up, and then I grabbed him by the balls. Squeezing them so hard he was crying in pain. And I just let him have it. I really laid into him...he fell and couldn't move. So I ended up taking him to the hospital. I told the nurses what happened, and then I left him there. And came back home." Teresa told them.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't hear from him for a few months. It wasn't like him. We never went long without talking. And the guilt of just leaving him in the hospital was killing me. So I went back. He didn't answer the door so I walked in. everything had been cleaned up, and when I came in he was sleeping in his bed. I was going to wake him up, but he look awful. He was sweating, and in sweats...he looked like he had the flu. So I decided to let him sleep and I'd make him soup. I went into the kitchen...and on his counter he had all these medication. And directions. I looked at them and didn't know what they were. So I googled them..." she trailed off and wiped her face as the tears started pouring down. Justin got up and handed her a tissue, and stood next to Brian.

"He had cancer. Testicular cancer." Teresa said. Justin gasped and covered his mouth, while Brian just stared at her. Not knowing what to say. "He woke up and he was furious with me that I was there. That I just barged in, and that I went snooping through his things. He hadn't told anyone he had cancer. And he was going through Chemo. He told me had I not grabbed him by the balls and brought him to the hospital...they found it that day." Teresa said, wiping her face with the tissue. "So he gained a little strength back after I fed him something. Then he walked up to me and..." she trailed off and covered her face from embarrassment. "He grabbed my breast and squeezed it. Really hard." she laughed and covered her face.

"Why would he grab your breast like that?" Justin asked, somehow finding his voice.

"He was just trying to get back at me for hurting his balls. And he was bitching at me...and then just stopped. He looked down at his hand...I'll never forget his face as he moved his hand around. I slapped him of course because I told him he was just trying to cop a feel, but he started freaking out, saying he felt a lump. And I just thought, he's being crazy and paranoid. He made me go to the doctors the next day and...found out that I had a lump in my breast." Teresa said. Justin covered his mouth. Both Brian's parents had cancer?

"Your father had testicular cancer, and I had breast cancer. They were both caught early on and...your father had it removed, and I had mine removed. So we both have plastic and silicone there now." Teresa said, staring at Brian. She stepped forward and put her hands on his face. "God didn't give you cancer to punish you Brian. Me and your father gave you cancer. It's hereditary" Teresa said as she started crying. "Me and your father gave you cancer. Don't let that woman make you think that God was punishing you." Teresa cried. Justin wiped at his face. He hadn't expected her to say any of that. "If God was punishing you, then he was punishing us to. For giving you away. So don't ever let that bitch make you think otherwise." Teresa said. Brian cleared his throat and pulled back. He glanced at Justin quickly, and then straightened himself out.

"I'd like it if you kept this to yourself." Brian said. Teresa looked at Justin, stunned by Brian's reaction. "There was a reason I didn't tell you before that I had cancer. And I'd like it if you kept it between us. I don't want anyone else knowing." Brian told her. She wiped at her face.

"Brian-" Justin tried to say, but Brian kept talking.

"I don't want anyone else knowing." Brian said firmly. Teresa nodded her head.

"I promise I won't say a word." Teresa whispered. Brian nodded his head.

"Would you mind giving me and Justin a moment?" Brian asked. She nodded her head, and walked out of his office. The second the door shut, he turned on Justin. "How the fuck could you bring her there?" Brian demanded.

"She wanted to go. I couldn't stop her, she would have gone even if I hadn't driven her. I didn't know Joan was going to say anything about the cancer-"

"Well she fucking did. Now Teresa's going to tell her whole fucking family, and they're gonna be all over me. Oh poor Brian Kinney. He had cancer." Brian mocked. Justin took a step forward.

"Brian you know they won't do that. And Teresa said she wouldn't say anything." Justin said, as he tried to put his hands on Brian's shoulder, but he shoved them off. Justin stood there stunned that Brian wouldn't let him touch him.

"Get the fuck out of my office." Brian told him. Justin's eyes widened as he remembered Brian telling him to get the fuck out of his loft when he found out that Justin knew he had cancer.

"Brian please don't-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Brian screamed at him. Brian didn't throw him out this time. He wouldn't even touch him. Justin couldn't stop the tears from filling his eyes as he turned and ran towards the door to throw them open and walk out. Teresa tried to stop him, and ran after him. He ran over to the car and jerked open the door, and getting in. Teresa got into the passenger seat.

"Justin what happened?" Teresa asked. Justin just shook his head as he pulled out of his parking spot. "Justin I'm so sorry. I never should have dragged you into this. I didn't know Brian was going to react like that."

"I should have known. I should have known better." Justin said. He should have known better. Brian had changed a lot yes. But some things never would change. His reaction to his cancer would never change. He didn't want people to know about it. Why did he think this time around would be any different? And the only person that Brian got angry with last time, was Justin. He told Ted and Debbie himself that he had cancer. He didn't get angry with Michael that he knew. But he threw Justin out on his ass when he found out he knew. God what was Brian going to do this time? Kick him out of Britin? Sell it? His hands were shaking as he drove back to Britin. He parked his car in the garage and went inside the house, with Teresa following him.

"Is there anything I can do? This is all my fault." Teresa said. But Justin shook his head.

"No. This wasn't your fault. It was mine. I never should have taken you to see her." Justin said as he scrubbed his face. "I have a few errands to run. So I'm just gonna get out of here." Justin lied to her. Teresa must have known she was trying to get rid of her, and nodded her head and turned towards the front door.

"I promise I won't say anything Justin. And I'm so sorry that this turned out like this." Teresa said. He nodded as she left. He walked up the stairs into their bedroom and laid down on the bed. He wondered if Brian would come home and kick him out.