Midnight Whispers
QAF Brian and Justin Fanfiction

Soon, they were back in the car, headed toward Melanie and Lindsay's house. Brian let Jennifer sit in the front seat so she and Gus could talk a bit more easily, while he sat in the back and looked up the winter carnival Gus had mentioned to see what sorts of vendors they had. He was hoping to pick up a few more last-minute gifts, since he and Justin had to limit what they'd purchased at home to avoid any unpleasant surprises at the border. It looked like there was a fairly diverse offering, though there were nearly as many food vendors as there were those who were offering material goods, leaving Brian wondering, as always, why the holidays were always so centered on food. And not just food, but sugary, carby goodness, which he liked -- even though he often pretended he didn't -- but couldn't eat as much of as people seemed to want him to. Namely Lindsay. And sometimes Justin. But mostly Lindsay.

Brian was thankful that Lindsay's planned brunch didn't sound too terribly indulgent, given that it looked like there would be food trucks at the carnival, and he knew Justin and Gus would absolutely want to have dinner there too. Gus had already mentioned ice skating, so Brian knew that would be happening for sure. It wasn't his favorite activity, but it made Gus happy and it meant spending quality time with his son, so he'd do it. And it looked like there was a wine bar too, which would probably go a long way toward helping the skating be more enjoyable.

When they arrived back at the house and got through the front door with Jennifer's luggage in tow, Justin was coming down the stairs, still in his pajamas, obviously having just having woken up -- exactly as Brian had predicted. His eyes widened as he watched the crowd assembling in the foyer.

"Mom?" he said, almost as if he didn't believe what he was seeing, especially considering that she was surrounded by Brian and Gus, who were giving him matching grins and casting absolutely no doubt on their shared DNA.

"Hi Sweetheart," Jennifer said, smiling up at him and opening her arms for a hug.

Jennifer's hug felt particularly good to Justin, who'd had a stressful week of trying to prepare for a show that was scheduled for the start of the new year. Though Brian was always more than supportive and would do anything Justin needed or wanted him to do -- having come a very long way from the man he was in the early years of their relationship -- sometimes a boy just needed his mom.

"Shit," he said as he pulled away, "I feel underdressed. I thought I was just going downstairs to grab a cup of coffee. I guess I didn't realize how late it was."

"It's fine," Jennifer smiled. "I could care less what you're wearing, just as long as I get to see you."

Brian picked up Jennifer's suitcase and carry-on bag to take them upstairs, leaving his husband and mother-in-law to catch up, since they hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving. They talked on the phone often, but with the odd hours they both worked, Brian knew it was sometimes difficult for the two of them to catch each other. So he knew that being able to spend most of a week together was important to both of them.

Brian took the bags to Jenny Rebecca's room, which had been made up for Jennifer. Brian had only been in her room a handful of times over the years, since his primary focus when he visited was Gus. He hadn't been in there in at least a year or two, so he had to admit he was mildly curious to see if J.R. had any "passions" much like the one Michael held for comic books -- though he hoped he wouldn't find a shrine to himself in there. Thankfully, there was no shrine, and curiously, the only interest apparent from her decor was art. One entire wall was painted with the mural Brian remembered Justin helping her design the last time they were in Toronto. She might not have won the contest, but it appeared she'd somehow managed to convince her mothers to let her bring her design to fruition in her bedroom, and Brian had to admit it was good. Not that he had any technical expertise, but being married to an artist who also worked at a gallery meant Brian had been to a lot of art shows and seen a lot of things, many of which were not his cup of tea. But it looked like J.R. actually had some talent.

Brian placed both of Jennifer's bags by the closet so she could put them wherever she preferred them to be, and went back downstairs, where he found everyone had moved into the kitchen, with brunch apparently ready.

Lindsay had rounded out the quiche with a large bowl of fruit salad, keeping things much simpler than Brian had expected her to. Not that he was complaining. Mostly, the brunch was an opportunity for them to all catch up, now that Jennifer had arrived.

Once everyone's plates were empty or nearly so, Lindsay seemed to be back in hostess mode, clearing the table and loading the dishwasher and making absolutely certain that no one needed anything, in spite of Melanie urging her to sit down. The only thing that worked was Gus getting up and physically taking the dishes out of her hands and guiding her toward a chair before loading the dishwasher himself.

They spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon at the house -- Gus, Brian, Lindsay, and Melanie watching a holiday movie marathon on cable in the living room while Justin and Jennifer went upstairs to wrap gifts. Gus tried to beg Brian once again to let him drive the Porsche -- and Justin tried to plead his own case as well -- but both of their attempts were unsuccessful, and Brian was the one in the driver's seat when they headed to Nathans Phillips Square, with Lindsay and Melanie following in Melanie's car.

True-to-form, both Justin and Gus insisted on hitting up the food trucks first. As Brian perused the menus of the trucks in attendance, he quickly noticed that the overall theme seemed to be "everything you can imagine, served on carbs, topped with cheese or sugar." Of course that was right up his husband and son's alley, and the two of them were like kids in a candy store, having a hard time deciding what to get.

"It's not after seven yet," Justin said, teasing his husband for his long-held food rule.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I want to gain five pounds tonight alone," Brian said.

"You'll survive," Lindsay said from behind them. "Besides, it's the holidays."

"If only every time someone said that amounted to an extra hour at the gym," Brian muttered.

Melanie laughed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. Live a little," she said.

"Yeah, Dad -- live a little," Gus chimed in, throwing his arm around Brian's shoulders.

"Christ, what is this, some sort of Christmas intervention?" Brian grumbled. Jennifer was smiling next to Justin, but she didn't say a word.

"You'll be fine," Justin said. "I promise I'll still love you even if you gain a few pounds."

"You'd fucking better," Brian grumbled, ignoring the look he got from Lindsay for swearing in front of their son -- though he wasn't sure why she was surprised, given that she'd known him and his mouth for close to three decades.

"Come on," Gus said, grabbing Brian's arm and pulling him toward a truck that apparently featured gourmet grilled cheese, which Brian knew would be right up Justin's alley, with two of his favorite things: carbs and cheese.

Ten minutes later, everyone had their choice of street food, and Justin and Gus each appeared to have enough to feed three people. Brian had found a vegan food truck with primarily Indian dishes, which appeared to be the healthiest thing available. Thankfully, the peanut gallery left him alone to eat his curry in peace.

Brian tried to do some shopping, but it was difficult since the people he was buying gifts for were with him, and even with the crowd, it was impossible to not be spotted by at least one person -- usually the wrong one. That said, he did manage to pick up a few things and stash them back in the Porsche without ruining any surprises.

While everyone else was shopping, Gus alternated between finding various confections to buy and eat, and trying to push everyone in the direction of the skating rink. He was finally successful just as the sun was starting to set, and their entire party was soon donning rental skates and attempting to look like they knew what they were doing on the ice.

Brian hadn't skated since the previous year when Gus had begged to go to Rockefeller Center, and it showed in how long it took him to get his footing, which remained more precarious than he would like, as always. He'd made a stop by the wine bar before renting his skates, though the jury was still out on whether the wine was helping or hurting when it came to Brian's skating skills. Everyone else was about the same, save for Jennifer, who, after only a few minutes on the ice, was soon twirling and turning and otherwise skating literal and figurative circles around their entire group.

She was just coming out of a spin when she realized that the others were all watching her.

"What?" she said, laughing.

"Do you have some secret life I didn't know about?" Justin grinned. "The one where you were an Olympic figure skater?"

"Well, I was never that good," Jennifer said. "But I did skate when I was a teenager, and I even competed a little bit. I haven't skated in nearly forty years, though, so I'm a little surprised with how easily it all came back. Like riding a bike I guess."

"Did you do, like… jumps and stuff?" Gus asked, his eyes wide with wonder that made him look a lot younger than he was.

"I did," Jennifer said. "But, like I said, I haven't done it a long time, so I'm not sure--"

"You've gotta try it!" Gus exclaimed, cutting her off.

"Oh, I don't know…" Jennifer tried to object, but soon the others were all joining in, encouraging her to try, and the next thing she knew, she was skating around the rink, picking up speed as she tried to psych herself up for trying her first toe loop in four decades, while the rest of her family looked on. It took her a couple of laps to work up the courage, but she finally initiated the takeoff, and was more than a bit surprised when she successfully landed the jump. Maybe it really was just like riding a bike -- once her muscles learned how to do it, they'd never really forgotten.

"Holy shit, Gigi!" Gus' jaw was hanging open and his eyes were now full of surprise as Jennifer skated back toward the group.

"Gus..." Lindsay cast her son a warning look. "Language."

Gus chose not to argue with his mother, even though he'd heard her use that word -- and others -- on more than one occasion. Instead, he smirked at Brian as if to say, "Yeah, see what I deal with?" before changing the subject and begging Jennifer to show him how to do a few tricks. The two of them skated off together to the other side of the rink, where they worked on spins and jumps and even a partner trick or two. Brian loved watching them -- both of them smiling and laughing, even when things didn't go as planned and one or both of them ended up falling. He continued skating idly around the rink, holding Justin's hand -- thankful that he could do that and no one appeared to be giving them a second glance. He had to admit that skating was pretty romantic, particularly as sunset gave way into twilight and thousands of tiny Christmas lights twinkled around them. Not that romance was Brian's thing, but he had to admit that sometimes it wasn't bad.

Several yards ahead, Lindsay and Melanie were doing the same -- skating and holding hands, and sharing an occasional kiss. Brian was totally absorbed in watching Gus celebrate his most successful jump attempt yet, when Justin leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"What was that for?" Brian asked.

"Just because I love you." Justin smiled and squeezed Brian's hand. "I love being with you, no matter what we do. And I'm so glad we're all here."

"Me too, Sunshine." Brian squeezed Justin's hand and gave him a small smile in return.

A few hours later, they were back at the house, and Brian's gift purchases were safely hidden away for later wrapping. That was another part of Christmas that wasn't Brian's favorite thing -- so much so that he'd been known to just hand people gifts unwrapped in years past -- but he knew he'd have to do it, or otherwise endure a good bit of ribbing and teasing from Justin and Lindsay, which he wasn't in the mood for.

This time of year was always a struggle for Brian, because everyone else seemed to have all of these positive, warm memories that made them look forward to the holidays and reliving those times and those feelings -- usually flashbacks of their childhood. Flashbacks of Brian's childhood, on the other hand, were almost never a good thing, and even though it sounded absurdly sentimental, Brian felt like he was maybe just a little jealous of the positive recollections other people had, wishing he had the same things to look back on fondly, instead of constantly trying to keep himself from being reminded of not-so-great holidays past.

Justin always helped him with that, and Lindsay did too, and Brian appreciated their efforts, but it was still a difficult time to get through, even when he tried his best to keep his focus on enjoying the time with his chosen family.

Brian was looking at his phone, scrolling through the pictures he'd taken of Gus and Jennifer at the skating rink, when Justin came to bed, his hair still damp from the shower.

"This was a pretty good night, I think," Justin said, as he pulled the covers back and climbed into bed alongside his husband, settling onto his side and propping himself up on his elbow. His other hand started to wander idly over Brian's torso as they both looked at the pictures. "I can't believe I never knew that about Mom."

"Guess you never asked." Brian leaned over and plugged his phone in to charge on the nightstand, then laid back down next to his husband, pulling the blankets back up over both of them.

"I guess. But when do you ask things like that, anyway? Maybe over dinner? 'Hey, Mom, any hidden talents you haven't told me about?'"

Brian snorted. "Wonder what Joanie's hidden talent is? I mean, besides sneaking in alcohol to high school soccer games that she didn't want to be attending in the first place? Naturally, she had to look like the perfect mother in front of her church friends. Little did they know."

"I'm pretty sure her hidden talent was making the human that turned out to be the best husband in the entire world. But I don't wanna talk about her," Justin said, snuggling up to Brian's side and tugging their bodies closer together, then starting to plant tiny, light kisses down Brian's jawline. "I just want to enjoy being with you." He paused and kissed Brian on the lips, then continued. "Appreciating how sexy you are."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Sunshine." Brian pressed his lips against Justin's and rolled over, positioning himself on top of Justin as he reversed their roles, this time kissing his own way down Justin's jaw and neck, then pushing Justin's shirt up and over his head as he prepared to repay his husband for the immense pleasure Justin had given him the night before.

Just as Brian was about to lower the waistband on Justin's flannel sleep pants, Justin spoke up as if Brian had interrupted him mid-thought, his voice full of awe. "I still can't believe Gus actually landed two jumps tonight."

"I thought we had shifted gears," Brian grumbled, moving back up to the head of the bed. He definitely didn't want to have a conversation about his son while he was face-to-face with his lover's dick.

Justin laughed. "Sorry. I just realized that I meant to say that before, and got distracted."

Brian smiled in spite of himself. "I guess your mom is a good teacher. I was more surprised that he managed to land a salchow." He noticed Justin giving him a surprised look. "What?"

"How do you even know the different skating jumps? I didn't think you even enjoyed it. I couldn't tell you the ones they were doing."

Brian smirked. "I had a lot of time on my hands as a kid. And Mikey and I were obsessed with Brian Boitano, so we spent most of the 1988 Olympics glued to the TV during figure skating."

"I'm just surprised you understand so much about it… I mean, I guess I shouldn't be, knowing you and how intently you learn about things that matter to you, even when you act like you don't care… But, it's just impressive."

Feeling a little uncomfortable with the praise associated with that specific memory, Brian decided to revert to their previous course of action, climbing back on top of Justin and grinding their pelvises together. "You know what else is impressive?" he teased, relieved to feel that Justin's erection was stirring.

Brian kissed his way back down Justin's body, finally making his way to his intended target. As he really started to put effort into driving Justin wild, he felt Justin place a hand on his shoulder to stop him, so he looked up questioningly.

Justin simply greeted him with a smile, his eyes glazed over with arousal, and murmured, "I want to come with you inside me."

Brian smiled back, completely in agreement with that proposal, and gave Justin's cock a stroke before making the necessary adjustments to accommodate his request.

When they curled under the covers a little while later, bodies heavy with satiation, Brian found himself listening to Justin's soft breaths and reflecting on the day as a whole. There had not been a single argument, nor, really, a true negative word spoken, and they'd all spent time together as they pleased -- enjoying laughs, good food, and fun experiences. Now, Brian was under the roof of a warm and cozy home with his son on the other side of the wall, his son's mothers (and one of his very best friends) just down the hall, and his beloved mother-in-law across the hall. Not the mention the love of his life was in his arms. If this was what the holidays were supposed to be about, Brian thought to himself, maybe he'd be able to find a way on board after all.

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