A ST. PATRICK'S DAY SURPRISE

The guys had just placed themselves into position on the floor facing their legendary fireplace. Justin took a look at Brian's face and was not sure what he read there.

"Did I do something wrong, Bri?" he asked.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, Baby," Brian came back, "But do you remember a few months back when I was supposed to have an 'I want to tell Justin something' look on my face?"

"Vaguely," Justin replied.

"Well you must figure that you lost that one or you'd remember every bit of it," Brian laughed.

"No," Justin disagreed. "I won that one. But I don't see what you're driving at now."

"Well, I'd like you to get an 'I have something I'm going to tell Brian' look on your face," Brian told him, "And then I want you to tell me what it is that you haven't told me."

"About what, Honey?" Justin seemed bewildered. "Can you give me a clue?"

"So you have a lot of secrets you haven't told me," Brian conjectured, "So you don't know which one I mean, eh? OK, I'll give you a clue. St. Patrick's Day."

"Gee, Bri," Justin protested. "That's over a week away. I still have plenty of time to talk to you about St. Patrick's Day. You can't accuse me of keeping secrets about that. There was still plenty of time to tell you. I'm still a little bit confused."

"Welcome to the club, Kiddo," Brian laughed. "It's just that I was over at the store talking to Mikey this afternoon when Hunter and Malcolm came through. Mikey called Malcolm 'St. Patrick', and when they left he asked me what I thought about the plans for the celebration up at Gino's. I told him I thought things were great and then he said he wondered how I'd take the news but he was glad I was pleased with the plans. Now, Twink, just what the hell are the plans I'm so pleased with? Since everybody else already knows, it ought to be time now to clue me in."

"Darn it, Brian," Justin complained. "You're making it sound like I'm keeping big important secrets from you and you ought to know better than that. It's just that Gino decided he wanted to have St. Patrick in person up there this year and Malcolm's going to be St. Patrick."

"No leprechauns this year then?" Brian surmised.

"Oh there are going to be leprechauns, Bri," Justin corrected him. "What would St. Patrick's Day be like without leprechauns?"

"And you're going to be a leprechaun?" Brian concluded. "OK, you've done sillier things."

"I am not going to be a leprechaun, Mr. Kinney," Justin corrected him again. "I am way too mature to play a leprechaun."

"Well, what is it that Mikey was wondering if I would be OK with then?" Brian wondered. "You don't expect me to play a leprechaun, I hope."

"Never, Brian." It was Justin's turn to laugh. "You're also way too mature to play a leprechaun. You're almost as mature as I am."

"Twinky, Honey," Brian demanded. "There is something else to tell and you aren't telling it, but you're going to, so you may as well just do it and get it over with."

"OK," Justin surrendered. "I was over at Mel's a couple of Saturdays ago. They weren't home and Johnny was babysitting Gus. That's when Malcolm and Hunter stopped by and mentioned that Gino wanted a little more stuff for St. Patrick's Day. When Malcolm said he was going to be St. Patrick, Hunter said they would need another leprechaun."

"And you didn't volunteer?" Brian seemed surprised.

"No, I did not volunteer, Kinney," Justin told him. "But Johnny did, and so Johnny is going to be a leprechaun at Gino's for St. Patrick's Day.."

"Our nephew, Johnny, is going to be a leprechaun," Brian had to smile. "I used to think he was going to be a juvenile delinquent and then maybe an adult delinquent, but never did I think he was going to become a leprechaun."

"Johnny is a different kid since you began to take an interest in him, Bri," Justin went on. "He asked me if I thought you'd like the idea of him being a leprechaun."

"And you told him that mean old Uncle Brian wouldn't like it," Brian mocked, "But that you'd wrap Uncle Brian around your little finger and make him like it. Right?"

"Cut it out, Brian," Justin protested. "You're always trying to make it like I'm some kind of manipulator or something, and you know darn well I'm not."

"Guilty as charged," Brian admitted. "But the truth is that I think it's kinda cute that Johnny's going to be a leprechaun. And by the way, I think you deserve most of the credit for the change in Johnny and his brother. You're the one who decided we needed to get interested in those kids and then you wrapped me around your little finger and made me see the light."

Justin nestled in closer to Brian for one of those quiet periods that punctuated their fireside chats and both the guys seemed completely contented.

It was a good while later when Brian broke the silence. "OK, Baby," he told the kid. "Now that you think you've got me wrapped around your little finger, you can tell me the rest of it."

"You think there's more?" Justin seemed surprised. "How come you didn't say so before?"

"And miss the opportunity to have you try to wrap me around your little finger?" Brian responded. "Not a chance."

"Well there is just a little bit more," Justin admitted. "We thought that if Johnny was going to be a leprechaun, maybe Clare would like to see him in action. You know Clare is not so bad now either."

"So you invited Clare to come to Gino's on St. Patrick's Day and sit with us?" Brian summed up the situation. "We're going to have Clare with us on St. Patrick's Day."

"And your mother too," Justin filled in the gap in Brian's summation.

"And you were going to tell ma about all this, when?" Brian wanted to know.

"Real soon, Bri," Justin replied. "Maybe even tonight. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No," Brian answered. "I'm not mad at you. Getting mad at you doesn't help. Anyhow, most of the stuff you pull turns out pretty well. This will too. But I don't think I'm going to let you get away with it completely. I think I'll get Gino to limit you to one refill on your spaghetti. Just as a show of power on my part."

"You beast," Justin feigned horror. "You can't do that. Only one refill. It would hardly be worth going to Gino's for just one refill. I'm going to have to try to wrap you around my little finger and change your mind."

"That was," Brian smiled at him, "Exactly what I was thinking."

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