“You really should have tried some of that cheesecake,” Justin said, wrapping an arm around Brian’s waist as they made their way through the crowd at the Christmas Market. “It was fucking amazing.”

“I’ll take your word for it, Sunshine,” Brian laughed, before leaning down and adding in a low voice, “Though if the look on your face was any indication, I’d say it was positively orgasmic.”

“Brian!” Justin tried to look scandalized, but he knew that his husband’s observation wasn’t completely off base -- that cheesecake had been damn good. Every bit as good as he’d anticipated, and more.

“I just hope you’re saving some for later,” Brian murmured in Justin’s ear as his hand slid down Justin’s back, settling on his left ass cheek.

“Are you trying to set some sort of a record for the number of times we can have sex in someone else’s home?” Justin teased. “Or was this morning not enough for you?”

“No such thing as enough.” Brian leaned down and kissed Justin deeply, drawing more than a few curious glances and a handful of stares.

“Well, at least wait until we get back to the house,” Justin said, once he could speak again.

“Since when are you against sex in public places?” Brian gave Justin a teasing grin, his eyes sparkling in the golden light being cast by the thousands of tiny lights that surrounded them, adorning the front of each booth and strung over the walkway like a makeshift roof. They were walking through the market by themselves, since Gus had immediately dragged Jennifer in the direction of the ferris wheel, and Melanie and Lindsay had wandered off to do a little shopping. And as much as they loved their little nontraditional family and were happy to be spending the holiday with them, they were both grateful for a little “alone time,” even if it was in public.

“Oooh, crepes!” Justin gasped, as they rounded the last corner on their way to the beer garden.

“How in the hell are you still hungry?”

“I’m not, it’s just… They smell good, that’s all. And I like them.”

“Is there any food you don’t like?”

“Brussels sprouts.”

“Are those even a food?” Brian deadpanned, suppressing a smile.

“Touché.” Laughing, Justin pulled his wallet out of his pocket to show his ID to the security guard at the entrance to the beer garden, who didn’t even ask to see Brian’s. While there were a number of comments Justin could have made about that, he refrained, given that he did want to maintain the ability to be intimate with his husband later, and making smartassed comments about Brian’s age was definitely not the way to do that.

“Thank god this place is at least somewhat away from the fucking singing,” Brian groused, once they’d entered the age-restricted area.

“What, you mean you don’t want to sing Christmas carols along with Santa and his Elves?” Justin attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to stifle his grin as they both started to browse the selection of locally brewed craft beers that were available to them, before making their selections and taking their purchases over to a table.

“So, what did you and Sonny Boy talk about outside?” Brian asked, ready to satiate his growing curiosity over what had been discussed while his husband and son were gone from the restaurant’s dining room at lunch.

“Well, he was pretty pissed at Lindsay for not trusting him. And he was a little embarrassed that he’d let the whole situation get to him like that. But I really just talked him down, then encouraged him to be honest with his moms about why it bothered him that Lindsay had insisted on coming anyway.”

“And the parent of the year award goes to Justin Taylor.” Brian raised his glass in a mock toast, before turning it up and taking a big gulp. “As always, handling all the tough situations.”

“Hey, you handled this one all on your own back in New York, remember?”

“Yeah, with you pushing me.”

“All I did was give you a tiny little nudge. Literally. The rest, you did all on your own. Take some credit -- you’re a good dad. You talked him through it.”

“Clearly not all the way, if it was still bothering him that much.”

“Like I told you before, it hurts when someone you love has sex with someone else. For some of us, it’s not an easy thing to just get over or get past. It takes some time, but he’s getting there. You helped him see that it didn’t have anything to do with him -- now, he’s working on letting it all go.” Justin reached across the table and laid his hand over Brian’s. “So stop trying to give me the father of the year award; you’re a pretty damn good one yourself.”

Brian really was working on his own feelings about his parenting skills -- trying to see himself the way Justin saw him, instead of through the not-good-enough lens that had been his default for so many years, despite the unflappable self confidence he’d projected to the public for his entire adult life. And it was getting easier, though Brian knew he still wasn’t quite all the way “there” when it came to feeling confident in said skills.

Once they’d finished a couple of beers -- enjoyed while talking about Kinnetik and Justin’s job at the gallery, catching up on all of the things that they didn’t often get much time to talk about in detail given their busy schedules -- the pair left the beer garden and joined up with Melanie and Lindsay, who both had arms full of shopping bags.

“Jesus, did you do any shopping before we came here, or is this all of it?” Brian joked, looking over Lindsay’s haul.

Lindsay’s cheeks flushed a little as she pulled one of the bags away from Brian’s prying eyes. “No peeking!” she exclaimed. “And yes, I did plenty of shopping before, but I saw a few things I wanted to pick up.”

“Just a few,” Melanie chuckled.

The group didn’t get much farther before Jennifer and Gus caught up with them as well, both holding paper cones that contained belgian waffle pieces covered in caramel syrup and topped with whipped cream.

“Oooh, that looks amazing!” Justin gushed, his eyes wide, reminding Brian of a little kid who was about to start begging for candy.

Brian rolled his eyes and gave Justin a gentle shove in the direction of the Wafel Bar booth. “Go ahead,” he said.

“I don’t recall asking your permission,” Justin smirked. “Just because you don’t enjoy good food doesn’t mean the rest of us have to suffer.”

“Who says I don’t enjoy good food?” Brian grumbled, as Justin walked away to fetch his carby, sugary concoction.

Gus waved his own cone in Brian’s face, nearly getting whipped cream on his nose before Brian swatted his arm away. “It’s really, really good,” Gus teased.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Oh, come on,” Melanie cut in, reaching out to steal a piece of waffle and popping it in her mouth.

“Hey!” Gus cried.

“You were offering.” Melanie shrugged before adding, “Damn, that is good.”

“Let me try some,” Lindsay said, freeing up a hand so she could take a piece of her own.

“Since when did this become a community waffle cone?” Gus protested, as Melanie snuck a second piece for herself.

“Since you waved it in my face.” Brian gave his son a self-satisfied smirk. “Serves you right.”

“Besides, we can get you another one,” Melanie added.

At that moment, Justin reappeared at Brian’s side, holding a cone of his own containing waffles slathered in Nutella.

“Christ, you are a bottomless pit,” Brian chuckled.

“Keep making fun of me and you might be bottomless tonight.” Justin said under his breath, giving Brian a smug smile.

“Ugh, god, can you please not talk about that here? Or at all?” Gus said, obviously having overheard Justin’s teasing comment. “I am trying to eat.”

Brian and Justin honored Gus’ request, although there were plenty of suggestive glances shared between the two of them as their group walked together through the rest of the market and back to their cars to head home.

Thankfully, Lindsay chose to skip serving dinner, instead offering up the leftovers from the dinner she’d served a couple of nights before to anyone who was still hungry, and they all spent another evening together in the Marcus-Peterson living room, watching television and generally just being all domestic and family-like. It surprised Brian how much he really enjoyed such things, given that he spent almost every single evening of his 20s and a good chunk of his 30s at Woody’s or Babylon, drinking and fucking. But it was kind of nice to just slow down sometimes, and to not be thinking of his next campaign or the multimillion-dollar account he was courting.

A few hours of TV later, the remainder of the leftovers and at least a dozen Christmas cookies had been collectively consumed by the group -- even Brian, who tried to be sneaky about his cookie consumption but wasn’t exactly successful, opening the door for some good-natured teasing from everyone else in the room. After the late night news concluded, Melanie and Lindsay were the first to head up to bed, followed soon after by Jennifer, leaving Gus and his dads alone in the living room.

“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Brian asked, raising an eyebrow at Gus as he tugged Justin’s body in closer to his, letting his hand slide down Justin’s side, settling on his ass once again.

“How old do you think I am?” Gus laughed. “I haven’t had a bedtime since I was, like, ten or eleven.”

Brian shrugged as if to say, “Suit yourself,” before turning to Justin and kissing him deeply. It only took about three seconds before Gus declared them “gross,” gathered up his dishes, deposited them in the kitchen sink, and went up to his bedroom, looking over his shoulder to cast them one more disgusted look as he climbed the stairs.

“Was that really necessary?” Justin chuckled.

“It got him to go upstairs, didn’t it?” Brian pressed his lips against Justin’s again, allowing his hands to wander over his husband’s body. “I’ve been wanting to do this all night.”

Any objections Justin might have had were soon forgotten, once Brian’s hand found its way inside the waistband of Justin’s jeans, his fingers starting to stroke the length of Justin’s quickly-hardening cock.

“Always at the ready,” Brian murmured.

Justin bit back a moan as Brian’s thumb grazed the tip of his cock. As much as he wanted to give in to his baser desires and continue to allow things to happen exactly as they were, the last thing he wanted to do was push the boundaries of Melanie and Lindsay’s hospitality by fucking on their couch, in their living room. Still, it was hard to keep his wits about him as he grabbed Brian’s wrist to stop the motion of his husband’s hand against his crotch.

“We can’t do this here,” he said, his voice much breathier and less forceful than he would have liked.

“We can do whatever we want.” Brian paused to kiss Justin again, though he did slide his hand back out of Justin’s pants, moving instead to slip it inside Justin’s shirt.

“Brian, I mean it.” This time, Justin managed at least a slightly more assertive tone, even though he was still distracted by what his lover’s fingers were doing to his nipples. “Do you really want Gus -- or anyone else -- to come down here and see us fucking?”

“I always did love having an audience.” Brian kept right on doing what he was doing, sliding his palm across Justin’s pecs, pausing occasionally to play with Justin’s nipples and loving the reaction he was getting, despite Justin’s best efforts to maintain full control over his words and actions.

“Well, I don’t want my mother to come down here and get an eye full.” Justin pushed Brian’s arm away and stood up, then grabbed Brian’s hand and tugged on it. “So come on, let’s go upstairs, and then you can have your way with me.”

Certainly not one to resist such an offer, Brian rose to his feet and followed Justin up the stairs, where they closed out their evening with a slow, gentle fuck, followed by a shared shower that soon turned into round two.

“Wonder what Lindsay has planned for Christmas Eve?” Justin asked, as he lay against Brian in bed, the older man’s arms wrapped around him.

Brian laughed. “Let’s hope it’s something low key, though I’m sure it’ll probably be the exact opposite.”

“She has calmed down a little.”

“A little. But I know Lindsay, and I know her holiday traditions. Let’s just say that I don’t think any of us will be bored tomorrow.”

Justin sighed contentedly, settling back even further into his lover’s arms. “You know, it doesn’t really matter what we do… as long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”

“Me too,” Brian said, his voice soft in the darkness, pulling Justin’s body in closer to his as he let his eyes close and let out a contented sigh of his own. “Me too.”

The next morning, Brian and Justin awoke to the smell of cinnamon and vanilla wafting up the stairs, and soon went downstairs to find Lindsay in the kitchen, filling a platter with french toast. Melanie was setting the table, while Jennifer sat in one of the dining room chairs, sipping a cup of coffee.

“It’s Gus’ favorite,” Lindsay said over her shoulder, once she’d noticed Brian and Justin had joined them. “I know it’s not exactly your preference, Brian, but--”

“It’s fine,” Brian cut her off, mostly because he didn’t want consummate-hostess Lindsay to launch into rattling off the entire contents of the refrigerator in an attempt to offer him something else. He really wanted a quiet day, with nothing to do and nowhere to be, and no drama about anything, food or otherwise. He just hoped he’d be able to get it.