Surprises for Christmas

It was early evening on Christmas day.  The guys were back at the loft with the fireplace lit and blazing away.

"It was another successful Christmas, Bri," Justin said.  "You get better every year as Santa Claus.  I think you are now as big a legend at Childrens' Hospital as the famous doctors there.  And to think I, little Justin Taylor, am responsible for it."

"I thought it was Daphne's sorority who got us involved out there," Brian remembered.

"But it might have been me who figured out how to get you to be Santa Claus," Justin told him.

"I thought that was the result of an accident.  Daphne brought the wrong size suit so you couldn't be Santa Claus like you promised, and I had to fill in for you.  Wasn't that the way it happened?" Brian pointed out suspiciously.  "An accident?"

"Oh yeah," Justin smiled.  "It was all a big accident."

"You know what, Baby," Brian cautioned the kid.  "It might be better if you quit while you're ahead on this one.  You might not want to go out later to build our Christmas snowman with me mad about anything.  There's plenty of snow out there – and I bet it's good for making snowballs.  Need I say more?"

"I can't believe that you would start a snowball fight with me, Kinney," Justin challenged him.  "When all I want to do is build a neat Christmas snowman with the guy I love."

"Well you know," Brian grinned.  "I can see why you'd be surprised if I started a snowball fight – since I've never done that before.  But it seems to me we've had a snowball fight every year.  Who do you think started those?"

"Maybe it was a preemptive strike, Brian," Justin posited.  "Sometimes peace-loving people need to make a preemptive strike.  That must be what happened.  Anyhow you ate an awful lot over at Debbie's today.  Way more than you usually eat.  You're in no shape for a snowball fight."

"Yeah, I did," Brian admitted.  "Even your mother said I must be trying to keep up my strength.  I guess she knows you pretty well.  I did eat way too much though – about half as much as you ate.  Way too much."

"Efficient metabolism, Bri," Justin laughed.  "I could be ready for a snowball fight if I had to be – not that there's going to be any such thing.  I certainly wouldn't start one, that's for sure."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," Brian laughed back at him.  "But there's another thing I need to talk to you about."

"I didn't do it," Justin responded in the true spirit of the season.

"Maybe you didn't," Brian replied, "And maybe you did.  Remember when you were baking those cookies yesterday and I went out for the mail.  There was one item I didn't show you.  I was waiting for tonight when we would have time to talk about it."

"You opened my mail?" Justin seemed shocked.

"Nope," Brian answered.  "It was addressed to both of us so it was my mail too.  It was from Penelope."

"Shit," Justin exclaimed.  "A thank-you note, I guess.  That damn Penelope is efficient.  I didn't expect it to come before Christmas or I wouldn't have allowed you to bring in the mail.  Shit."

"You sent Penelope a Christmas gift from us," Brian accused the kid.  "She said she was happy to have two new good friends like us.  You also sent a gift for the damn dog, I think.  Henrietta the Eighth signed the card too.  Talk, Twink."

"Well, Penelope liked us a lot when she was here at Kennywood last summer," Justin reminded Brian.  "She especially liked how nice you were to her."

"Yeah," Brian thought back.  "I said 'Hello' to her and 'Don't fall off the coaster.'  That's all I ever said to her, but, since she's Penelope, that may be the nicest thing anybody ever said to her.  I wanted to say 'Fall off the coaster' but I didn’t want to have to deal with you afterwards.  So you went and sent her a present.  Maybe next time she's in Pittsburgh she'll want to stay with us – her great new friends."

"I don't think so, Brian," Justin objected.  "You are definitely over-reacting.  Penny likes Mel and Linz and that's where she'd stay."

"Yeah," Brian grinned.  "Penny likes them.  She even sent them gifts – and Gus too.  Hand-knitted scarves with a damn picture of the damn dog embroidered on them.  Ugliest things I ever saw.  At least she didn't send us gifts – so maybe there's hope yet."  One look at Justin and Brian saw the end of that hope.  "She did, didn't she?" Brian gulped, "She sent us scarves too – and you hid them.  Was I ever going to find out?"

"Tomorrow, Brian," Justin told him.  "I thought it would be better to talk about this whole thing tomorrow."

"After the snowball fight," Brian was laughing.

"What snowball fight?" Justin laughed back at him.  The discussion paused for a short while at this point, but not for long.

"I guess I'll go and bring you your new scarf, Bri," Justin finally said.  "It's really well done.  Penelope is so good at everything.  A Rhodes scholar who knits with the best of them.   Mine is blue and yours is orange."

"With the dog?" Brian wanted to know.

"With the dog," Justin confirmed.  "We can wear them later when we go outside to build our Christmas night snowman.  What do you think, BK?"

"I can see the headlines now," Brian came back "'Blond twink strangled with hideous scarf.  Only suspect is a beautifully executed snowman found standing over the body."

"Cut it out, Bri," Justin told him.  "I bet you're secretly glad I did what I did.  You're not the mean guy you pretend to be either.  You won't even start any snowball fight.  I know you love me – and you love me especially at Christmas."

Brian smiled as he wrapped his new orange scarf around his own neck.  "Baby," he asked the kid, who was doing the same thing with his blue scarf, "Remember when you left a while ago to deliver your Christmas cookies to all the other people in this building that we don't even know – and you wouldn't let me go with you cause you said I'd just hold you up – and then you were gone over an hour."

"Well maybe you don't know them but I know everybody who lives here and it's hard to get away during the holidays," Justin defended himself.  "So maybe it did take more time than I expected."

"Well anyhow, after you were gone about a half-hour, I went outside to scout out a good place to build our snowman – there's a lot of snow out there and I thought I better check it out, " Brian told him.  "Well you'll never guess what I found out by the garages - a huge stockpile of very well-made snowballs, that's what I found."

"Well, that's strange," Justin replied.  "What did you do with them?"

"I destroyed them all," Brian told him.  "A preemptive strike.  Sometime peace-loving people need to make a preemptive strike."

"You don't think those snowballs were mine?" Justin asked incredulously.

"In the spirit of holiday fellowship, I make no accusations, " Brian smiled at him.  "I was just afraid you'd expect to find some snowballs lying around ready made  – like you did last year – and I didn't want you to start anything and then get surprised."

"Because you love me, Brian Kinney," Justin teased.  "Because you love me."

"OK, Twink," Brian concluded, ignoring the tease.  "Let's go out and build the best snowman ever.  Remember to keep your new scarf snug around your neck.  If you need me to help, I can fix it around your neck for you – like I do with your ties.  I'll be glad to make sure it's snug."

"I'll let you know if I need your help, Sweetheart," Justin cooed at Brian.  "I really do love you, Bri – always remember that."

Justin figured that Brian had found only one of the snowball stashes.

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