Emmett’s idea of a little snack turned out to be his idea of what the girls could have had if they had used his party planning business.  Mark, Vic, Ben, Hunter, and Teddy were there, and Ted had brought them up to speed on the girls' plans to have another child with Michael as the father.

“I can’t get over Mikey being a father,” Vic said shaking his head.  “Maybe it will be what it takes to make him a man.”

Justin shook his head.  “I think that he’ll use it to get closer to Brian.  He’ll be a father, like Brian.  Their children will be related, making Michael related to Brian.  He’ll want all the trappings that go with being a father, but will he be able to support a child, or will he just expect Brian to do it?”

Emmett nodded.  “Knowing Michael, the way I do, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.”

“But if the girls go along with you being the father…”  Brian said to Justin.

“What!”  Emmett shrieked.  “Is that what you and the girls were talking about in the bathroom?”

“Wait.  When did this happen?”  Ted wanted to know.

“That’s what you get for leaving the party early.”  Emmett snarked.

“Why did you suggest it?”  Justin wanted to know, he had been hoping to bring it up at a later time.  He was sure Melanie hadn’t wanted to be pregnant for another year.  He was going to have to check his notebook. 

“I didn’t hear you complaining,” Brian said tongue in cheek.  Then he got serious.  “I don’t see Mikey contributing much and Gus could suffer.  It just seemed the logical thing to do.”

“Why don’t you donate?”

“What?  Me and Mel, my sperm connecting with her… ? ”  Brian shuddered, garnering laughs from everyone.

“Tell me my sister doesn’t know about any of this?”  Vic asked.

“Well, she knows the girls asked Michael to donate his sperm,” Emmett said.

Vic shook his head.  “This is bad, really bad.  She’ll never let this go.  This is a chance for Michael to be the father he never had.  The father he doesn’t know how to be.   And he’s going to get you involved.”  He waved his hand pointing at Emmett, Ted, and Brian.  “What about all the money he’s borrowed over the years and never paid back because he was your ‘best friend’ and none of you would expect him to pay it back.”

“Justin, you haven’t said much,” Ben contributed.

“I wouldn’t mind giving Gus a little brother or sister.  But I agree with Vic.  Deb could be a problem.  If Mel thinks Michael won’t be involved, she’s crazy.  But then I’m not going to be exactly hands- off either.”  Justin said.

“We know how Deb is feeling about being a grandmother,” Emmett said passing around more hors d’oeuvres.  He slapped Hunter’s hand away as he grabbed some.  “How will your mother take being one?”

“Good question,” Justin answered.  “If we ever find her, I’ll be sure to ask.”

Packing up a care package for Daphne, Justin and Brian headed home. 

Daphne thanked them.  “That’s so nice of you, but I have a date.  You might want to save it for later, I’m sure Justin will find some way to put it away.” 

“Haha, Daph.  How was Gus?”

“He’s asleep in his room.  I can’t get over the difference the tubes are making.  He’s been talking my ears off.  How was the party?”

Brian checked on his son, then kissed Justin.  “I’m going to put this in the refrigerator.  You gonna come up?”

Justin smiled at Brian.  “I need to discuss something with Daphne first, then I’ll be over.”

Daphne went to her room to change while Justin retrieved his notebook.

“What do you want to talk about?”  Daphne asked as she put her hair up and turned for Justin to zip up her dress.

“The party was strange.  Mel and Linds announced that they were going to have a baby and Michael was going to be the sperm donor.”

“Wait.  Wasn’t that what happened last time?”  Daphne frowned.

“Yeah.  But it didn’t happen until later.”  Justin shook his head.  “Things are changing.  Brian suggested I be the father and offered financial help.”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?  Wasn’t that why there are two bedrooms next door?”

Justin nodded.  “But I thought I’d have to persuade Brian.  He brought it up all on his own.”

“Then I don’t see the problem.”

“Deb.  She could be a problem.  But guess who else was there.”

“Who?”

“Ethan.”

“Wow!  Now that is strange.”  Daphne gave him a peck on the cheek.  “See you later.”

Justin walked across the hall and entered the loft.  He looked all around, then went down the stairs thinking Brian was with his son.  No Brian. 

“Justin, come up to the roof.”  He heard through the baby monitor.  Justin went over to the fire escape and made his way up to the roof.  Brian lay on his side on a blanket naked as the day he was born.  There were candles strategically placed and two wine glasses as well as the platter of yummies that Emmett had sent back.

“You have too much clothing on,” Brian said seductively as he sipped on his wine.

Justin couldn’t help grinning.  He couldn’t believe that he was getting the picnic under the stars that he’d dreamed of.  He quickly shed all his clothing and knelt next to his lover.  “I can’t believe you thought to have a picnic under the stars.

“Actually, it was Molly’s idea,” he said as he passed the other glass of wine over.  “She attacked the goodies and then suggested that she thought you’d be a sucker for something like this.  The lack of clothing was my idea.”

Justin leaned over to capture Brian’s lips in a tender kiss.  “I must do something nice to thank her for this.”

“You might want to turn off the monitor,” Molly’s voice sounded.

Brian reached over and switched off the speaker, before pulling Justin back in for another kiss.  “I can’t believe how different my life is since I’ve met you.  I’d probably be fucking and sucking my life away and still working for Ryder and Gardner.  I’d be a father in name only.  And I wouldn’t be as happy as I am.”

Justin’s heart swell, as well as his cock. 

“Who would have thought that I would enjoy having a picnic under the stars?”

The boys woke up to the sun shining down on them and Gus shouting through the monitor.  “I’z hungy.”

Grabbing their clothing, they hurriedly packed up what was left of the picnic and made their way down the fire escape.

Gus was sitting at the table banging his spoon against it.  Daphne was fixing him a bowl of cereal, still dressed in her evenings’ finery and yawning.  Molly was sitting at the table with Gus reading Justin’s notebook.

Justin’s breathing stopped.  Daphne’s eyes went to the white notebook that Molly was browsing.  “Oh, dear.  I was wondering where that went.”  She said as she gently took the notebook from Justin’s sister and stashed it away out of sight.

Molly took the confiscation well, just shrugging as she continued to eat her cereal.  She sighed and asked, “Is Mr. Ted okay?”

Brian and Justin stopped on their way to the upper level. 

“Why would you ask that?”  Daphne wanted to know.

“He seems so sad.”

“He does?”  Justin asked.  As far as he knew Ted and his sister didn’t have a lot of interaction.

“Mr. Ted has been great about helping me with math.  My grades have improved.”  She finished her cereal, taking the bowl to the sink to rinse before putting it in the dishwasher.  “Hey, Jus?  Can I homeschool?”

Gus began banging his spoon on the table.  “Kool.  Kool.”

Molly giggled as she took Gus’s bowl and spoon to be rinsed before putting them into the dishwasher.

Justin wiped off the mess that Gus made and exchanged a look with Brian.  Brian was chewing on his lower lip, which meant he was thinking about what Molly had said about Ted. 

“Daph, you go get some sleep.  Mol, you get ready for school.  Gus, what is cool?”  Justin gave out orders.

“Me go kool.  Mego, too,” Gus said.  His sentences, while not perfect had improved.

“Hmmm, maybe I’ll look into it,” Brian said to his son.  “I need to shower then I’ll drop Molly off.  Justin needs to help daddy shower.  You think you can play by yourself for a while?”

“Watch Disney,” demanded Gus.

Justin set Gus in front of the TV upstairs before joining Brian in the shower.  They didn’t have time for fooling around.   Brian reminded Justin that they were running out of shampoo as he went out the door to go to work and drop Molly off at school.  Things seemed so normal and that was strange.

He settled on the sofa next to Gus who was singing along with the video.  It bothered him that he had missed something.  He started at the beginning.  So he’d helped named Gus, or should he say kept him from being labeled with Abraham. Check.  He hadn’t been able to avoid Michael, but Brian wasn’t as swayed by him as he had before. 

He managed to avoid being thrown out of his home and running off to New York. He’d missed out on living with Deb but considering the way Deb had turned on Vic he didn’t regret it.  He’d avoided the whole Ethan phase, but he still kept showing up. 

They managed to avoid the prom.  Check.

Ben had avoided getting entangled with Michael but still managed to be there for Hunter.

Brian managed to start up Kinnetik early.  The only mention of Ted around this time was when he and Emmett had decided to be a couple.  Justin nose squinched at that, he’d been working at the diner at the time and vaguely remembered the pet names they kept tossing around.  It reminded him of Michael and Doctor Dave.  It hadn’t lasted if he remembered correctly.

Arghh, things were so complicated.

“A – B – C – Deee,” Gus was singing.  “E – F – Geee.”

“Where did you learn that?”  Justin laughed.

“Mo – leeee,” Gus sang.

That was new.  The phone rang and Justin picked it up.  “Kinney residence.”

“Mr. Taylor?  This is St. James Academy.”

“Is Molly okay?”

“Molly is fine.  But we need you to come down here.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Good.  And Mr. Taylor?  You might want to bring a lawyer.”

‘Oh my God.  What to do first’ Justin thought.  He called Marcus even as he began dressing Gus to go outside.  Marcus was wonderful.  He didn’t ask any questions, just said he’d be there in fifteen minutes.

Justin wrote a quick note to Daphne and left it in their apartment as he and Gus headed down the lift.

“Where go?” asked Gus.

“Molly’s school,” Justin said.

Gus started jumping up and down in his arms.  “Kool, kool,” he shouted excitedly.  Who knew that kool mean school?

Justin dialed Brian as he pushed through the front door just as a limo pulled up.  Emmett was out and had Gus in his arms ready to sit with him in the backseat much to Gus’ delight.

“Kinney.”

Justin explained what was going on.

“What the fuck.  I just left her there not too long ago.  What’s the problem?”

Justin had to admit he didn’t know but the person had said he should bring a lawyer.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.  Do you need me there?”

“No.  Not until I learn more.”

“Call me if you need me.”

“Absolutely.”

He turned off his phone just as they pulled up at Molly’s school.  Justin led the way with Marcus following close behind.  Emmett brought up the rear, pointing out things to Gus.

When they had first found out that Molly had been abandoned, they had spent a lot of time getting things legal so that Child Protection Service wouldn’t have to be involved and had to deal with her school so finding their way to the principal’s office was no problem.

Molly was sitting outside the door playing a video game.  Once she saw Justin she jumped up, ran over to him, and hugged his tightly.  At the same time, the principal came out of his office with their mother.

“Hello, Justin,” Jennifer said as if she’d only seen him yesterday and not been out of sight for almost six months.  “Why are you here?”

“I’d have to say that is my question.” Justin did a Kinney brow lift.

Jennifer laughed that WASPish laugh.  “I’m here to pick up my daughter and this gentleman refuses to let me take her.”  She turned a glare at the principal.

Ezra stepped up and handed her a folder.  She went through the folder then tore up all the sheets, dropping it all to the floor.  “Fuck this, I am her mother and if I say she comes with me that’s what will happen.”

“Oh, no.  You can’t forget her and not contact her for months and just walk back into her life.”  Justin looked at the principal.  “You’ll understand why I’m going to check her out.”

The principal nodded and talked to his secretary to get the ball rolling.

Molly looked around Justin her eyes wide.   Emmett touched her shoulder and whispered in her ear.  “Come on, honey.  I think we should wait elsewhere.”  As they walked off Gus looked over Emmett’s shoulder, took his thumb out of his mouth, and blew a razzberry at Jennifer.

“You’ll regret this when people find out how you’ve treated me,” Jennifer said with her nose in the air.

“Just supposing you managed to get rights to Molly back,” Ezra asked. “Where are you going to keep her?”

“At the house, of course.”

Justin choked.  He’d forgotten about the house.  He glanced at his lawyer and it was obvious that he too hadn’t thought of the house, but he planned on checking on it as soon as possible.

“So how is Craig?”  Ezra asked.

The skin around Justin’s mom’s mouth tightened.  “That is none of your business,” she snapped angrily.

Justin remembered that his mom had come around to supporting him and was fiercely loyal.  This time she’d place her support with her husband and that hurt.

The principal came over and handed Justin a copy of the filled-out paperwork needed to check Molly out.  Justin smiled and side by side with his lawyer walked out of the school.

Brian was at the loft when they arrived, and Molly ran over to him hugging him tightly as her tears ran down her face.

“What happened did you get expelled?” Brian asked, making Molly laugh which turned into hiccups.

“Mol, why don’t you see if Daphne’s up?”  Justin said.  Then he walked over to Brian and wrapped his arms around him as his sister skipped out the door.  “My mom showed up.  She was planning on taking Molly.”

“What the fuck?  Did she say where she’s been all this time?”

Justin shook his head rubbing his face into Brian’s chest.  “What are you doing back here?”

Brian sighed as he laid his head atop Justin’s.  “I couldn’t stay after your call.  Ted would have thought I lost my mind.”

Justin backed away.  “What on earth are you talking about?”

“Molly was correct.  Ted is sad.  He’s lonely and misses Emmett.  Which is funny since Emmett misses Ted.”

Goodness, gracious.  Last time Ted and Emmett had been lovers and it was really bad from what Justin remembered.  “Do you think we could find them someone special?”  Justin asked.

“I am not a yenta,” Brian said firmly. 

Justin giggled.  “You’ve spent too much time with Melanie.”  Then his expression changed, “Whatever happened to Blake?”