Dinner For Four

Justin had eaten lunch with his mother. Jennifer had called Brian later in the afternoon, so Brian knew what was bothering the kid all through dinner that evening. Brian was glad she had. He would have known that something was wrong, but since Jennifer had provided the specifics, he had time to think through the problem in advance. He promised Jennifer he would try to help.

Later in the evening, when they lit the fireplace, Justin cuddled up even closer to Brian than usual. He didn't say anything for a while and Brian decided to wait until Justin opened the discussion.

"I had lunch with my mother," Justin told him finally.

"I knew that, Sunshine, and something must have gone wrong because you are not yourself tonight," Brian responded. "Wanna tell me what the problem is?"

"You know I always tell you everything," Justin reminded him, "But this is really awful, Bri. My mother is dating some guy."

"Who did you think she'd be dating?" Brian smiled at him.

"Brian," Justin complained, "Cut it out. My mother is dating this guy, Walter, and she wants me to meet him, so it must be serious. What if they decide to get married?"

"Your mother is a good-looking, smart woman, and she's still young, Baby," Brian reasoned. "Your dad has been gone a while now and they were divorced before that, so what's the problem with her dating, or even getting married. It's how life goes on. You ought to be glad for her."

"If anything happened to you, I wouldn't go looking for somebody else," Justin told Brian.

"But you might just meet somebody that you liked," Brian answered, "And being with him might be what you need and what you want. I hope you don't think I would want you to be lonely."

"I guess I wouldn't want you to be lonely either, Bri. But you're not going anywhere," Justin insisted.

"That we can't know. There's cancer and heart attacks and accidents," Brian told him. "I don't want to be morbid but those things do happen."

"Forget that, Brian," Justin cut him off, "We should go together when we go."

"Well that attitude explains your driving," Brian responded. "I have been wondering about that."

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Bri," Justin smiled at him, "But I still have a problem with Walter. Tell me what I should do."

"You should do what your mother wants you to do," Brian advised him. "You should meet Walter. He's probably as afraid to meet you as you are to meet him. If your mother likes him, he has to be a pretty nice guy. You'll probably like him too. He's not going to replace your dad. There's a lot of Craig in you and he did a good job. Your mother was not wild about me, remember, but she stuck with you when you needed her, and I think she likes me a little now."

"Sometimes I think she likes you better than she likes me," Justin faked a complaint.

"Well, I'm sure my mother likes you better than she likes me," Brian countered, "So it was a good idea for them to get to know us. What if your mother had never met me, and my mother had never met you?"

"But what if Walter doesn't like us?" Justin wondered.

"He's sure to like you," Brian opined. "Everybody likes you. Maybe he'll like me. Some people do."

"You know that's not what I mean, Brian," Justin moaned, "I mean what if he doesn't like 'us'?"

"Then we'll have to deal with that, Kiddo," Brian assured him, "And we will if we have to, but if your mother likes him, that's the important thing. We'll get him to come around if we need to."

"What if Mollie doesn't like him, Bri?" Justin wondered. "She'll have to put up with Walter more than I would. She's still at home."

"Honey, the wedding invitations are not going out yet," Brian reasoned. "So maybe you are getting just a little bit ahead of yourself on this. Anyhow, Mollie likes Walter."

"Wait a minute, Brian," Justin countered, his face showing some surprise, "I didn't tell you Mollie likes Walter. I didn't even know Mollie had met Walter. I think you have some explaining to do yourself. Did my mother talk to you? I always knew she trusted you more than me."

"OK, Baby, she did talk to me," Brian admitted, "She called me this afternoon. She was upset after your lunch too because she didn't think you took the news too well. She wondered what to do. She even mentioned giving up on Walter if you were so much against it."

"What did you tell her?" Justin asked with anxiety showing in his voice.

"I told her that I figured that you were just surprised by the news," Brian told him. "That you would want her to be happy and that you would not want to come between her and anybody she was interested in."

"Did you tell her I'd meet Walter?" Justin wanted to know.

"I did," Brian answered, "Because I knew you would want to. Baby, she asked me to come along when you meet him, and I told her I would if you wanted me to."

Justin did not answer immediately, but Brian was sure he knew what the kid would say because he knew the kid better than anybody else in the world. And he was right.

"You told her exactly the right thing, Brian," Justin finally said, "You know me so well that it scares me sometimes. I think you know me better than I know myself. Thanks for fixing this mess for me. I don't know what I was thinking. And of course I want you to come along when I meet Walter. Anything I have to do is easier if you're there too. So how do we handle this from here?"

"You just dial up your mother," Brian replied," And tell her that we checked your schedule and you are free next Tuesday so we will meet her and Walter at Gino's as planned."

"Geez, Brian, you handled everything. Can I call her a little later though?" Justin asked. "I just want to sit here for a while with you, if you don't mind."

Brian didn't mind. He never minded.

And they did sit there for a while until Justin broke the silence. "Tuesday is all-you-can-eat spaghetti night at Gino's, Bri," he said, "How am I going to make a good impression on Walter on all-you-can-eat spaghetti night?"

"You could show a little restraint," Brian laughed. "But that's just a suggestion."

And there was another period of silence with the guys happy to be snuggling together.

"Guess what Brian," Justin finally decided, "I'm going to be myself at Gino's next week. I'm going to eat as much as I want to. I want Walter to get to know the real me. Betcha you didn't figure on that."

"Betcha I did," Brian told him.

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