Chapter 5

Both Brian and Justin had agreed to keep the news about Brian's pregnancy to themselves for a while longer, just not feeling ready yet to share the happy news with their family. They knew everyone would be happy for them, but for now they just wanted to be the only ones to enjoy the happiness they felt at the news that Brian was pregnant again.

At times Justin still felt amazed that Brian must have gotten pregnant within the very first weeks of them trying for the baby and Brian would joke more than once that it must have been Justin's super sperm, claiming that it had managed to get Brian pregnant with Luke despite a condom, so of course without a condom, it would have no problem getting Brian pregnant in no time at all.

Justin would only blush whenever he heard comments like that, but at the same time couldn't help but also feel some pride. He was only human after all. And he was still a man.

It didn't take long after the ultrasound for Brian to start showing and for his belly to grow. At first the change had only been minimal, but knowing Brian's body as well as he did, Justin had immediately noticed when his belly had started growing. And he had loved every second of it. Brian not so much and Brian had started bitching and moaning about bloating like a whale and having to carry around so much extra weight and then in 7-8 months having to lose all that extra weight again, but Justin knew that most of Brian's bitching and moaning was only for show and that the man himself was more than excited about his pregnancy.

Justin smiled to himself when he thought back to all the times Brian's hand would unconsciously wander to his stomach and rest on his belly, all the times Brian would refuse some shit he and the boys were eating and would instead go for a healthier choice. Not that that was much unlike Brian in general, but usually Brian would at least steal some of the unhealthy food from Justin's plate, claiming that bad food wasn't bad if it wasn't on his plate or some shit. All of that had stopped now and Brian had even given up his beloved coffee. Something that paired with his morning sickness which had lasted for another couple of weeks had made him very grumpy in the mornings.

Thankfully Gus and Luke hadn't noticed much of the changes as most of the morning sickness only seemed to appear once they had already left for school. As for Brian not drinking his usual morning coffee anymore, Brian had just claimed that he wanted to try something new and the boys had accepted that, not really questioning why their daddy would not be drinking coffee anymore in the mornings.

For the most part Brian and Justin had enjoyed those first weeks of Brian's pregnancy and had enjoyed being on this ride together, but of course there had also been some bumps along the road. Every once in a while neither of them could pretend not to remember what had happened the first time Brian had been pregnant with Luke and sometimes their past would rear its ugly head. Mostly they knew by now how to deal with those moments, thanks to the months they had been in therapy together, but still those had been moments Justin could have done without.

However he hadn't been naïve enough to think that they wouldn't also have hard times to face with this pregnancy, he had pretty much expected it and he was happy that so far they had mastered those hard times together. They had sat down together and had talked calmly about it and had then tried to move on together, trying not to let their past influence their present too much.

Justin knew that Brian especially had a hard time with the effects of his past actions on his current pregnancy and he would see it in Brian's faraway look every time Justin would lavish his growing belly with affection or would talk to their unborn baby. He knew that Brian was pulled back to when he had been pregnant with Luke and was thinking about the missed chances and what he had taken from Justin by keeping his pregnancy a secret back then, knowing how much Justin enjoyed being part of this pregnancy, but Justin just tried not to make a bigger deal out of it than it should be.

Of course this pregnancy wasn't only easy for him. Of course it also brought memories back to him, memories of all the pain when he had found out about Luke's existence and of course Justin couldn't help but think about the missed chances and missed time and couldn't help but think about how much he would have loved to do all the things he was doing for their baby now for Luke as well, but then he reminded himself that it was in the past and no matter how much either of them would like to change that past, they couldn't. Brian had made his choice back then and they had lived with the consequences for years now. There was no point bringing it all up again in Justin's opinion, because he knew it wouldn't do either of them any good.

They would just have to stick together and would have to make it through those times together and would have to learn to enjoy the happy moments of this pregnancy. And he knew that all things considered, they were doing pretty okay so far.

He smiled when he saw Brian appear in the mirror behind him and saw him walking over to him, just a small towel wrapped around his waist which showed his steadily growing belly.

“Hey, handsome,” Justin smiled into the reflection as he ran a hand through his still slightly wet hair and then turned around to allow Brian to kiss him. They had decided on separate showers, so that they wouldn't be tempted to have sex again. Another good thing about this pregnancy was that Brian seemed to be hornier than ever and seemed to want more sex than ever and Justin was only too happy to oblige, but at times even he needed a break and now had been such a time.

“Hey,” Brian whispered huskily into the kiss, then pulled Justin closer, running his hand through his partner's hair, effectively messing up the hairstyle Justin had just been working on.

“You seem happy to see me,” Justin grinned into the kiss, then slowly pulled away, smiling at Brian.

“Always,” Brian smirked, standing next to Justin at the sink, grabbing his toothbrush and starting to brush his teeth.

“I'll remind you of that the next time you're cursing me and my dick to what was it? Neptune? Because it's the planet that's furthest away from Earth?” Justin chuckled, remembering how Brian had cursed him a couple of weeks ago for ever having gotten him pregnant to begin with.

“Well, you can't blame a man for suffering from pregnancy hormones, can you?” Brian tried to look innocent, but the mischievous glint in his eyes betrayed any such intention.

“Of course not,” Justin agreed as he walked behind Brian and wrapped his hands around the older man's middle, resting them on his by now clearly visible belly.

He loved running his hands over the belly, rubbing it and just touching it and just as he had imagined, the glow of pregnancy and the belly only made Brian more sexy than he had ever been. Not that he wasn't usually sexy, but something about pregnant Brian got Justin even more attracted to Brian and he had a hard time keeping his fingers from the older man.

“If I wasn't so sure that you loved me and the boys as well, I would be worried that you're only with me because I am pregnant,” Brian joked as he watched and felt Justin's hand glide up and down his growing belly.

“Well, what can I say... you're irresistable like this,” Justin whispered, before he nibbled on Brian's earlobe. This time it was Brian who pulled away and gave Justin a regretful smile. “If we weren't expecting the whole family within the next 20 minutes, I would say, go for it, Sunshine, but seeing as we are, I'll have to ask you to stop doing that or your mom and Debbie might see something they weren't expecting.”

“Wouldn't be the first time,” Justin snorted, but stopped when he heard Luke's voice behind him.

“Are you ready? Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Carl are here.”

“Early as usual,” Brian winked, before he walked over into the bedroom, picking up the clothes that were laid out on the bed. He ruffled Luke's hair and smiled at his son. “Remember what we said? It's a surprise, we won't mention the baby to anyone yet. We'll do it together later, okay?”

Luke nodded eagerly, remembering how his parents had sat him and Gus down earlier and had told them about the new baby that would be with them in a couple of months. And how it would be a surprise for the rest of the family and they would tell them all together later on.

He was so excited about this new baby. Finally he would have a younger brother or sister as well and he wouldn't be the youngest anymore. He wouldn't be the baby of the family anymore and he could finally be a big brother like Gus was. Yeah, he was looking forward to this new baby.

Brian watched as Justin and Luke left the bedroom and made their way downstairs just as the doorbell rang. He could hear Debbie's loud voice even upstairs in the master bedroom and wondered if Justin's and Luke's eardrums were still alive or had been shattered by that enthusiastic greeting.

As Brian got dressed, he thought back to earlier that afternoon and how they had told Gus and Luke about the new baby.

They sat at the kitchen table and were eating lunch when Justin cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Your Daddy and I have to tell you something and... we know it might be a surprise for both of you, but we hope that in the end you'll be as excited as we are.”

Brian picked up then, looking at the expectant faces of his two sons. “In a couple of months, you'll have a small baby brother or baby sister. I am pregnant,” he said with a smile on his face.

Justin had to laugh when Luke's eyes nearly fell out of his head, they had grown that big it seemed. “A baby brother or baby sister?”

“Pregnant?” Gus had asked at the same time, looking from Brian to Justin for confirmation.

Both men nodded, holding each other's hands as they saw the expressions on their sons faces. Luke immediately got up from his chair and ran around the table, throwing himself at Justin and then Brian afterwards. “I am soooooo excited. That is sooo cool. I always wanted a baby brother or baby sister. I won't be the smallest then any longer,” he exclaimed enthusiastically and both men could only laugh at his reaction.

“Yeah sonny boy, you'll finally have someone smaller and younger than yourself that you can spoil,” Brian drawled, feeling happy that Luke seemed more than excited at the news. Though he hadn't really expected anything else. Luke had always been open and welcoming in that way and had welcomed any new addition to their family with open arms. Be it a new partner for one of his uncles or be it a new pet or Daphne's baby when she had been pregnant. Luke just loved everyone and seemed to live by the motto: the more the merrier. No, neither Brian nor Justin had been worried about Luke's reaction and Luke just proved that they had been right not to worry.

After looking at Brian from wide eyes, he asked if he could see the new baby, remembering how Daphne's belly had been all big and round before she had given birth.

Brian dutifully lifted his shirt and showed his small belly to his son and after a questioning gaze from Luke and a smile and nod from Brian, both Justin and Brian watched as Luke touched Brian's belly gently.

“Hey baby... I can't wait to meet you,” he whispered to Brian's belly, gently running his small hands over it. The scene was so cute that both Brian and Justin had tears in their eyes when their gazes met.

They then turned their attention to Gus, who hadn't said much yet. They hadn't really been worried about Gus' reaction, but they both knew that Gus was now a teenager which was a difficult time in itself and in addition to that, had more trouble accepting new members in their family than Luke had, due to his past and his abandoment issues.

Gus eyed the display in front of him from wide eyes that were glued to Brian's belly. He then met his father's questioning gaze and a smile spread on his face. Both Brian and Justin felt relief wash through them when they heard Gus' words.

“Cool! Another baby to spoil and play with,” he just said, then came over and gave both Brian and Justin a hug. “I am happy for you.” He then also hugged Luke and grinned at him evilly. “And you, baby brother.”

“Hey, I am not a baby anymore,” Luke immediately protested.

“Yes, you'll still be my baby brother. At least until this new baby gets born,” Gus grinned and then placed his hand on Brian's abdomen as well.

All in all the boys had pretty much reacted in the way that Brian and Justin had expected and Brian had sat down with Gus a while later, asking him if he was really okay with the new baby. With Gus being 13 now, he couldn't blame him if he would be annoyed by a new baby. He was at an age now where he could possibly be annoyed by anything, so that wouldn't have been a big surprise to either man.

Thankfully Gus had seemed really excited about the baby though and had seemed really happy and had even offered his help and babysitting services for when the baby was born. Paid of course. So he would have more money to spend with his friends. Of course.

Brian couldn't help but smile when he thought back to that conversation and his hand wandered down to his small belly, gently stroking it. “You'll be fine. And most of all you'll be loved. You'll have a loving family around you and you'll never have to worry about anything,” he said quietly, before he made his way out of the room and joined his family downstairs.

Two hours later, after they had enjoyed a nice dinner together, everyone was ready to move away from the table and to move into smaller groups to talk about this or that when Brian raised his voice and made them all stop. “Before you all run off to talk to the people you actually like about the things that actually interest you,” Brian threw a glance at Carl and Drew, knowing that those two couldn't wait to get away from the table so they could talk about football, “Justin and I have an announcement to make.”

“An announcement?” Debbie asked, looking at them from confused eyes. “What kind of announcement?”

“If you'd let me finish, Ma, you'd find out,” Brian chastised good-naturedly and winked at her. Debbie just snorted and looked at both Brian and Justin expectantly.

Brian nodded at Luke and Gus, who quickly left the room and then came back with what looked like small canvasses in their hands. When Justin gave them a sign, they turned the canvasses around, so that everyone around the table could see what was on them.

An updated, enlarged image of their latest ultrasound image where the form of a baby was now clearly recognisable.

There were a lot of gasps and surprised exclamations around the table and a loud “I knew it!” from Ted which made Brian frown at him.

“You don't normally get sick and when you didn't come into the office for weeks and then only came in the afternoons, but never the mornings... well, it just reminded me of when you were pregnant with Luke and had your morning sickness. So of course I wondered,” the older man explained and everyone at the table could just nod. That made sense.

“Well, you were right, Theodore,” Brian drawled. “Justin and I are 14 weeks pregnant and are expecting our new son or daughter by the end of next March.”

At that point everyone got up from the table and engulfed the two men in hugs and drowned them in congratulations. Gus and Luke got a lot of congratulations as well, congratulating them on becoming big brothers (again in Gus' case) and the two of them just loved the attention.

There had been tears from Debbie and Jen who had been beyond excited at the prospect of becoming grandmothers again and Emmett, when Brian and Justin had asked him if he'd like to be the godfather of their unborn child. Brian and Justin had talked about that earlier and with Ted and Blake already being Luke's and Gus' godfathers, it only felt right that Auntie Em would finally get that honour as well and would become a godparent to one of their children as well. He would have to share that honour with Daphne, though that was alright with Emmett. He loved Daphne and they would spoil the baby like crazy. That statement only made Brian groan and Justin hitting him in his side playfully.

“Hey, no hitting the pregnant man,” Brian complained and smiled happily when Justin made up for the hit by kissing him breathless.

All in all the family had taken the news exceptionally well and everyone had been beyond happy for them and their family.

When it was time for everyone to head back to Pittsburgh, Debbie hung around a bit longer, claiming to help with cleaning up. While Justin was outside saying goodbye to his mother and her boyfriend, she turned to Brian.

“You look happy,” she said, looking him up and down.

“I am,” he just replied, meeting her gaze head on.

“I am glad for you and Sunshine. You both deserve this,” she said, before she took him into one of her crushing hugs. “He must be over the moon.”

“He is,” Brian nodded, allowing her to hug him some more. “We both are.”

“Why now?” Debbie asked as she pulled back from the hug, continuing to put away leftovers.

Brian shrugged. “It didn't really come up before and... the time just feels right now.”

“Are you sure?” Debbie asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, why not? We didn't rush into this when we got back together, we took the time to make sure we would work as a couple and as a family and now we're ready to take the next step and to add to that family. We both want this,” Brian said seriously, not quite sure what Debbie was aiming at.

“It's just... it seems like such bad timing.”

“Bad timing? Why?” Brian frowned, not sure that he followed.

“With Michael getting out of prison and everything,” she said quietly, as if unwilling to even mention his name.

“Michael?” Brian frowned, his face immediately darkening. If he was honest with himself, he hadn't thought about Michael in years. Definitely not at all since Justin had been back. His life had been busy with his partner, his sons, his family, his job and company and he didn't have any time left to spare on his former best friend. Not that he even wanted to think about him. Michael had died to him the day he had helped Lindsay kidnap his son.

“It's been eight years now, Brian. He's getting out soon,” Debbie said quietly.

When Brian thought about it, he knew that Debbie was right. Luke had been six months when Lindsay had abducted him and he had been around a year when the trial had been over that had judged Michael to eight years in prison. Luke had just turned nine a couple of weeks ago. He knew that Debbie was right, but he hadn't thought about Michael in years and hadn't given him or his sentence any attention at all.

“Well, he'll know better than to contact me. Both Justin and I have restraining orders in place to protect ourselves and the boys. If he contacts us, he'll pay for it,” Brian said darkly, making a mental note to check in with his lawyer to make sure everything was still in place and Michael couldn't contact them.

“I know, I am just saying... You know him,” Debbie muttered darkly, not meeting Brian's gaze. Brian knew that Michael's sentence and everything that had followed afterwards had been hard for Debbie and he knew that Debbie hadn't been in contact with him for years, at least that was the last information he had had years ago.

“Has he been in contact with you?” He asked, trying not to make his voice sound too hostile. After all Michael was still her son and he knew how he would feel if one of his sons had done what he had done. He would still love them because they were his sons and he knew that on some level, despite all the pain Michael had caused her, Debbie still loved him.

She shook her head. “No, not in years, but... he always had an unhealthy obsession with you and... I just fear that he will come back here and will try to weasel his way back into your good graces.”

“Well, he won't succeed,” they suddenly heard Justin's voice from behind them. They hadn't noticed him coming back into the house, even less the kitchen and were both surprised that he had heard part of or even their whole conversation.

“Debbie,” Brian started, looking from her to Justin and back. He knew that what he would say next, was something they both had to hear. “He died to me when he helped Lindsay take away my baby. He is dead to me. There is no way for him to weasel his way back into my good graces. If he comes close to me or anyone else in my family, he will pay for it. There is nothing he can do or say that will make me forgive him for what he did that day or in the months prior. I won't forget what he said about Luke or Justin...”

When Justin walked over to his side and leaned into him, Brian wrapped his arms around his younger lover. “We have a family, Debbie. A new baby on the way. Michael is not even a blip on our radar and he won't be.”

Debbie nodded when she saw the determined expressions on both their faces. “I... I guess I just worry too much.”

“Since you worry about us and our family, we'll forgive you,” Brian winked, then pulled her close and into a hug as well. “Don't let him get to you, Ma. You've got a family that loves you and needs you. There's a new baby on its way that needs to be smothered in love by his or her grandmother,” Brian said quietly when he took her hand and rested it on his abdomen.

She nodded with tears in her eyes, leaving big lipstick kisses on both their foreheads. “I love you, boys. You have no idea.”

After a couple of more minutes of conversation in which they focused on the new baby and tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of Michael, Debbie and Carl bid them goodbye and got on their way back to Pittsburgh as well.

Before they left, Carl promised Brian that he would take care of Debbie and would look out for her and would make sure that she was okay in the coming weeks. No matter what might happen or might not.