February 26 – 25 weeks

Brian stood in the doorway to 'Justin's office,' watching his husband steadily work his way through the stack of files in front of him; he was bent over, his face a mask of concentration, with a pad of paper next to it for easy access as he jotted down notes on the potential interviewees that he was evaluating. Sadly, Brian and Justin were losing one of their best graphic artists because she and her husband were moving out of state to be closer to her sick mother, and Brian just couldn't take working with that idiot contractor again.

Justin sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck as he closed the file he'd been looking through without making one notation and tossed it onto a growing stack of rejections. Brian smirked while looking at the two stacks at the end of the desk, one considerably larger than the other. He could already tell which was which by the annoyed way that Justin threw the file onto the larger pile.

Everyone at Kinnetik thought that Brian was a picky bastard when it came to his standards for employment; what they didn't realize was that Justin Taylor-Kinney was twice the picky bastard that Brian was. The problem was, they took one look at his clean-cut, blond-haired, blue-eyed looks and thought he was a push over. That is, until Justin ripped them a new one and they left his office either completely shell-shocked or in tears, their belief crushed under the weight of Justin's very vocal displeasure.

Leaning against the doorway, he continued to watch his husband with a small smile on his face; while watching Justin work was a familiar sight to Brian, and a welcome respite to his busy day, that wasn't what caught his notice as he came into the office. No, the reason he couldn't stop staring was because Justin was wearing his glasses for once, something that he didn't often do.

Vain bastard that he is, Justin usually refused to even step foot out of the house with his glasses on, preferring to wear his contacts only. It was funny, but for the longest time, Brian himself didn't even know that Justin had to wear glasses. Even when he'd first come to live with Brian, Justin would wait to change them out when he went to school or after Brian would leave for the day if he was staying home.

In fact, it was only when Brian had unexpectedly come home one morning, as he'd forgotten a file that he needed for work, and found Justin standing in the bathroom with a pair of glasses on, that Brian even realized it. And what a funny morning that had been as Justin blushed and stammered his way through an explanation, before he quickly put his contacts in and left for the day.

The problem was, Justin had forgotten to place an order for a new batch of contacts this time, and he finally had to give up the ghost on his last pair and resign himself to glasses for the next two or three days. And his husband wasn't exactly happy about having to wear them; but it was either that or having to deal with a headache due to eyestrain, and he'd picked the lesser of the evils.

Brian honestly couldn't see what the big deal was; his husband was absolutely fucking sexy in his glasses and he wished that Justin would wear them much more often.

Pushing off the door jam, he walked over until he was standing behind Justin; he pressed a kiss onto his neck and whispered in his ear, "Have I ever told you how fucking drop-dead gorgeous you are when you're wearing your glasses?"

"You might have mentioned it a time or two," Justin smiled, but he didn't look up from the comment he was writing onto his pad; he did however, tip his head to the side in order to give Brian more access to his neck.

"You do," Brian said, pressing kisses along Justin's neck and jaw until he reached the lobe of his ear; he sucked it into his mouth and nibbled, delighting in the way Justin squirmed under his lips. Justin turned his head towards Brian and then sighed with contentment as Brian dropped a soft kiss onto his mouth. Brian lingered for a moment and the pulled away to nuzzle his nose against Justin's cheek.

"So, what are you doing in here?" Justin asked as Brian pulled away, running his hand over the back of Brian's head as he did so. "I figured I wouldn't see you until the end of the day given how packed your schedule is."

"I actually got through my paperwork faster than I expected and came to see if I could interest you in lunch." Brian said, running his hands over Justin's shoulders and kneading the knots at the base of his neck.

"Lunch?" Justin asked, a wicked smile touching his lips, making Brian snicker.

"An actual lunch, pervert," Brian clarified, laughing at Justin's look of mock disappointment. "Although, that does sound nice too. But I know you; we'll get started and then the beast that dwells in your belly will wake up and demand food and I'll be left hanging out to dry as you give in to its demands."

"Don't call our Sunbeam a beast," Justin huffed playfully, deliberately misconstruing Brian's words as he closed the file he'd been working on; and then, much to Brian's disappointment, he took off his glasses and set them in their case.

"Never," Brian huffed, still working out the knots in Justin's neck, eliciting a soft sigh of pleasure from Justin's lips. "I would never do that, and well you know it. I was talking about the one that growls loud enough that small children run from you in fear when it awakens."

"Ha ha…" Justin deadpanned; he rolled his eyes and slid his hand up, linking their fingers as he tipped his head back to look at Brian. "Such a comedian. Do us all a favor and don't give up your day job."

"Wasn't planning on it," Brian said as he dropped a kiss onto Justin's nose; and then he pulled away and stepped back, allowing Justin the space to slide his chair out and get up. "So, lunch?"

"I could eat," Justin quipped, smirking when Brian rolled his eyes at the typical answer.

"Well, like there was ever any doubt about that," Brian snorted as he headed for the door with Justin on his heels. He stepped through and waited, wrapping his arm around Justin's waist as he came out of the office. "I'm guessing you'll want to go to the diner for your daily ration of grease."

"You know me so well," Justin beamed, giggling as Brian groused about all the extra time he would have to spend on the treadmill from just walking into that place. "We should remember to bring something back for Cynthia. She was bitching about forgetting her lunch this morning and saying that she wasn't going to have time to go get something."

"She should just break down and send her assistant," Brian huffed as they walked out the front door and into the pale winter sunlight. "That's what they are there for – to assist you in any manner that you need."

"Would you send Yasmeen?" Justin asked knowingly, arching his brow in a very Kinney-esque manner. He really needed to stop stealing Brian's expressions.

"No, I would not," Brian said, a small shudder coursing through his body at the look he knew he'd get if he ever demanded such a thing. "But that is an entirely different matter; Julia is as sweet as can be, while Yasmeen would likely have my liver for lunch if I said anything like that. Luckily, I have you to make sure I'm fed on a daily basis. Don't think that I'm not fully aware of the pact you made with Emmylou to make sure I'm watered and fed when you aren't around."

"It was necessary," Justin huffed as they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, forcing people to walk around them. "You can't survive on coffee and sheer stubbornness alone, Brian."

"I beg to differ," Brian smirked, pulling Justin close to avoid the woman running towards, and then past, them. "I managed without you for years if I remember correctly."

"Barely," Justin snorted, wrapping his arm around Brian's waist. "I still have no idea you survived considering that every time I came over, you had nothing but beer, water and poppers in your refrigerator."

"Take out is my king," Brian snickered, pressing a kiss on Justin's temple. "Or at least it was before you came along; I had all the best restaurants on speed dial and someone willing to deliver at each and every one of them for the right price."

"Yeah, and I'll bet I know what that price was," Justin snickered, rolling his eyes.

And Brian really couldn't refute his husband's words as that had happened on more than one occasion; it gave a whole new meaning to delivery service.

"But luckily, I don't have to worry about that now, as I have the little woman at home to see to all of my needs," Brian quipped, laughing and dodging when Justin squawked and lashed out to hit him upside the head for his description of him.

"Oh, you are so going to pay for that tonight," Justin warned, shaking a finger at him.

"Looking forward to it, Sunshine," Brian said, his tongue pressed firmly into his cheek and eyes dancing with laughter as Justin just glared at him.

Sometimes, when Brian thought back to those first rocky years between the two of them, Brian couldn't believe how far they'd come. He would have never been able to tease Justin like this. Hell, he would have never wanted to tease Justin like this. The whole idea of commitment and marriage had made him shudder and he would never have referred to Justin as his wife, teasing or otherwise, because he didn't do relationships.

He had to really wonder what the fuck he'd been thinking then; and why the idea of it and growing older scared him so badly. Because the idea of not doing this, of not being with this man all these years later made him want to puke these days. And it very well could have happened if Justin had been even the slightest bit less stubborn or resilient.

Brian grabbed Justin's hand and tugged him into his arms, snickering when Justin continued to grumble at his words and vow his vengeance when Brian least expected it. And Brian didn't doubt for a minute that his Sunshine would succeed in that venture. He leaned down and kissed Justin on the cheek, which his husband only grudgingly allowed; and then he opened his mouth to comment that Justin's ideas of punishment usually weren't much of a punishment in the end, but he was cut off by a loud voice calling over to them.

"Justin!" the queen called, waving her hand as she tried to hurry over to them in her four-inch heels; and how anyone could walk in those things, he had no idea. They looked beyond uncomfortable. "Brian!"

"Do we know her?" Justin whispered, watching the struggling queen with a confused look on his face. Brian snickered because he knew exactly why Justin didn't recognize her. And damn, what a night that had been.

"She was a last minute replacement when Sheba broke her ankle that one time," Brian informed him with a grin, snickering when Justin grimaced.

"Oh, right," Justin said, his cheeks coloring as he too recalled that night. Or, well what he'd been told of that night. "I think I vaguely remember that."

"I'm surprised you remember anything considering how plastered you and your little entourage were that night," Brian snorted, shaking his head disparagingly at his husband. Justin stuck his tongue out at him. "That was the night Ted, Drew and I bonded for life despairing at our partners antics."

"Oh, but what fun it was!" Justin smirked, his eyes dancing with deviltry.

As they should be considering the amount of trouble he, Blake and Emmett had caused. Bailing them out that night had been a blast; especially when Justin kept arguing with the officer that the dildo had only improved that travesty that City Hall called art.

Don't ask. No, seriously don't ask. He still didn't know how on Earth the three of them had gotten out of Babylon and down to City Hall, without being seen, in the first place.

"It's not every day that you get the chance to celebrate your first solo show," Justin finished, a smirk firmly planted on his face. "That only happens once in a lifetime, and I decided I was going to go all out. God, I hated life the next morning, but it was so worth it."

Brian was about to comment, but by then the queen had made it to them, slightly out of breath do to having to haul ass in those torture devices she called shoes. Brian turned to her and tried to recall her name, but was having trouble with it; although, he was pretty sure it was something like Annie Depressant or Charity Case or Leia Way, or something equally tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating.

"Justin," the queen gushed, rushing up to his husband. Justin smiled at her uncertainly; mostly because he didn't remember climbing up onto the stage with her and belting out a Gloria Gaynor medley, and doing a surprisingly good job of it. "My have you grown; the last time I saw you, you weren't even showing yet. And now look at you."

Justin continued to smile and nod as she gushed on and on and even laughed when she mentioned his medley and some of the antics that he and the other boys had gotten up to the night she'd hosted…well, whatever competition it had been that night. They all sort of blended together after awhile and he couldn't remember a damned one of them. Well, except for the King of Babylon contest that Justin had competed in when he was seventeen; but Brian still refused to talk about it to this day.

His husband laughed again, and seemed to be relaxing, when she leaned in and made the biggest blunder that she could have made with Justin. Without thinking, or asking, she reached out and tried to touch his baby bump; which was a strict no-no in Justin's book. He'd always been notoriously picky about people touching him since the bashing as it was; but the baby bump was strictly off limits to everyone except Brian, unless he invited you to touch it. And if you dared, it brought on a queen out of epic proportions.

Like right now.

"What are you doing?" Justin demanded, going from warmth and laughter to glacial in a split second, his hands coming up to cover his baby bump.

Oh, yeah, this was about to get ugly.

"I was just…" the queen stuttered, shrinking back when Justin glared at her.

"Just what?" he demanded, his eyes frosting over and turning into two little blue ice chips as he began to rant. "Fuck, I barely even know you; why would you think it's acceptable to touch me without my permission? Would you like it if I ran up to you out of the blue and started fondling your breasts or grabbing your junk without permission?"

The queen flushed as she realized just how rude her actions had been; she shook her head and had the grace to look ashamed and apologetic for her actions, but Justin was hardly appeased by the gesture. Brian sighed and decided that  he'd better step in and nip this in the bud before Justin completely obliterated her.

"Then why the fuck would you think it's acceptable to touch my stomach without my permission?" Justin demanded again, his cheeks red with anger. "It is just as personal, as intimate, as if I were to grab your junk."

"Okay, settle down, tiger," Brian said, pulling his shaken husband away from the equally shaken queen. He tucked Justin under his arm and forcefully ushered him down the street, nodding to the queen as they passed. "I think she got the picture; time to go and feed the demon growling in your belly. And no, I'm not talking about Sunbeam, but whatever is growling in there at the moment."

Justin huffed and glared at the queen over his shoulder, but allowed Brian to guide him towards the diner without much protest. He turned back around and looked at Brian. "What the hell is wrong with people? Why the fuck would anyone…"

"They're just all a bunch of excited queens that want to celebrate the new Prince or Princess of Liberty Avenue's arrival, Sunshine," Brian carefully said, being sure to not mention anything that would give away the gender as the Avenue was full of nosy assholes, and also cutting of what he knew would be an hour long tirade if he hadn't have done so.

Really, there were only so many times he could listen to this particular rant before he wanted to pull his hair out. He really should just get Justin a t-shirt that instructed people to stay the fuck away from the belly if they wanted to live. Actually, that wasn't such a bad idea, and Justin would love it.

"They can't help themselves," Brian continued, pressing a kiss to Justin's temple.

"Well they can celebrate by staying the fuck out of my fucking personal space," Justin growled as they walked into the diner, storming over to their usual table in a high dudgeon.

Brian just rolled his eyes and nodded as he sat across from his fuming husband and prayed for patience; maybe if he fed him one of his fucking Twinkies, he'd lighten up. One could hope, at least.