It's All Relatives
 

It seemed that there was at least a minor argument going on as the guys settled down in front of their fake fireplace late one evening. There also seemed to be some hope for a quick resolution. Brian had his arm around the kid who was resting his head on Brian’s shoulder as the flames flickered away in front of them.

“I don’t see how you can blame me for something you did yourself, Brian,” Justin was maintaining. “I didn’t ask you to do it. It never even occurred to me that you would do anything like that. I was really surprised – so it couldn’t have been my fault at all.”

“Well you wanted me to do it, Kiddo,” Brian maintained back at him. “I could see it on your face. Yep, you definitely wanted me to do it so it is your fault. If it wasn’t for you, I’d never have done it.”

“Well now that just might be a kind of compliment, Honey,” Justin had to smile. “And maybe it’s true too – but that doesn’t make it my fault…..”

“Well, whoever’s to blame, I guess we’re stuck with it now,” Brian decided. “Are you going to make all the arrangements? You’re good at that kind of stuff.”

“If you order me to make the arrangements I’ll be glad to do your bidding – as always, Sweetheart,” Justin replied. “It’s really no big thing. I’ll just have to check with Mel and then call Gino’s. Yeah, I’ll do it if you want me to.”

“OK, Baby,” Brian accepted the offer. “I’ll leave it all up to you so that, if anything goes wrong, it’ll be your fault and I’ll be off the hook.”

“Like as if anything ever goes wrong it’s not my fault?” Justin laughed. “When exactly are they gonna be in town? I’ll check with Melanie and clear a date. Then I’ll call and arrange things with Gino. We’ll get the private room.”

“Why the hell do you figure Mel’s parents are coming up from Florida anyhow?” Brian wanted to know. “I’ve known Mel for a long time and I never even heard about her parents till now. And all of a sudden they’re gonna be here for a week.”

“They’re celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary, Bri,” Justin explained superfluously. “You heard Mel as well as I did. They’re renewing their vows in the same temple before the same rabbi who did the wedding. Sounds neat to me. And they’ve been up here before too. Guess you didn’t used to be friendly enough with Melanie to know that – or maybe you just conveniently forgot.”

“I’m not that much friendlier with Melanie than I ever was,” Brian semi-grouched. “I just put up with her because of Gus – and maybe because I don’t want to have to deal with you.”

“Hey, Kinney,” Justin was still laughing. “You deal with me every day of your life and I don’t think you mind all that much either. At least I hope you don’t.”

“Well there’s dealing with you and then there’s dealing with you, Baby,” Brian differentiated clearly. “And they’re not the same thing at all. And I think you know what I mean too.”

“So that’s why you had to offer to host a dinner for them during their visit?” Justin wondered. “We get invited to Mel’s reception after the vow renewal and you have to say you’d like to have a small dinner party in their honor. And you weren’t drunk either, Kinney, but you weren’t in your right mind either. So I was really surprised – but I don’t see how that was my fault – not that I’m surprised that you’re blaming me.”

“Do you think for even one minute,” Brian challenged him, “that I’d ever have made such an offer before I got tied up with you? Do you?”

“Well probably not,” Justin had to admit. “But….”

“Nuff said then,” Brian crowed. “Subject closed. It’s all your fault.”

Justin decided to abandon a clearly useless cause. “OK, Sweetheart,” he proceeded. “We’ll have to get a date from Mel and let Gino know. I’ll check with Mel about what kind of menu to plan – and then I’ll check it out with you. Who do you want to invite to this shindig? Besides the usual suspects that is. We’ll have to include Mel’s brother from New York and his family.”

“Geez, Baby,” Brian anticipated. “What if Sidney is as big a pain as Melanie? I didn’t know there was a brother till today either.”

“But you did know there was a brother before you decided to have this intimate dinner party, Brian,” Justin remonstrated. “You knew and you issued your invitation anyway.”

“Your fault,” Brian reminded him. “What about Linz’ parents?”

“I guess I should check with Linz about that,” Justin decided. “I’m not sure they’d come. And there’s that crazy sister of Linz’ too. She’s on the fifth husband, I think. I guess we have to include them if they’ll come. We’ll just have to clear all these details with Mel and Linz. That’ll be the hard part. Once we get the guest list compiled, we’ll need to check about what we serve.”

“I hope Lindsay’s family won’t come, Kiddo,” Brian decided. “They are awful people. This whole thing may turn out to be a big mess.”

“What can I say, Bri?” Justin seemed vaguely amused. “Not that I can’t think of something to say – which I won’t say because – unlike some people - I think before I talk.”

“OK, Baby,” Brian ignored any proffered provocation. “It’s all in your capable hands. You work out the details and I’ll just have to suffer through this. It won’t be easy but I’ll do it – for your sake.”

“Thanks, Bri,” Justin told him snuggling in closer. “I appreciate that. It’s good to know I have your support.”

That brought about a pause in the discussion – a break which both of them appreciated for a lot of reasons.

“I’ll bet Mel’s parents don’t like her very much either,” Brian eventually returned to the subject of the evening.

“Well she wouldn’t be the only one who had parent problems, Bri,” Justin offered. “Even us two….”

“Don’t change the subject, Baby,” Brian admonished him. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“OK, Brian,” Justin smiled gently at him. “We’ll get through this – together – like we always do. It’ll work out fine. You’ll see.”

“Together,” Brian echoed with a smile. “Yeah, we can get through anything – together – even if some of the stuff we have to get through, like this business with Mel’s parents, wouldn’t ever have happened if …..”

Brian’s voice tailed off and it was another little while till the conversation resumed – as the guys celebrated their togetherness.

“Hey, Baby,” Brian finally broke the silence. “Do you think maybe we ought to renew our vows? I don’t think I want you to get away. I need somebody to blame when I do something dumb. Maybe it’s time for us to renew our vows? What do you think?”

“Gee whiz, Kinney,” Justin brushed his hair against Brian’s face. “I’m not going anywhere – ever - and that is entirely your fault. And neither are you – ever - and I’ll accept the blame for that. But don’t we kind of renew our vows every time we’re together? That’s the way I see it. Still, if you think we need to….”

Brian quickly responded to that suggestion - non-verbally - in a way that Justin took to be agreement that no vow renewal was necessary for them.
 

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