Blended

Chapter 24

********

Location: Michael and Ben’s House.

Day: Saturday Night.


“Where are you going?” Tyler asked.

“Um, to dinner and maybe a movie,” Ben answered as he stepped over Race who was being dragged along the floor by his brother. He walked into the kitchen and Michael looked over.

“Wow, you look hot,” Michael said. He put the milk back into the refrigerator and screwed the top onto Blue’s cup. “What do you say?” he signed.

Blue looked up at him, her eyes large and pouted. She sniffled, her small white shorts barely staying on her tiny waist and her pink shirt stained with the peanut butter and jelly from lunch. She held her arms up and flexed her fingers.

“Do we have to watch stupid Snow White, again?” Tyler asked as he flipped through the pages of one of Hunter’s skate magazines.

“I know you can say please and thank you,” Michael said. Blue stood up on the tips of her toes to try and reach the cup, a small soft whimper coming from her.

“No. You could always go to your room. There’s enough up there to entertain anyone,” Ben said as he tucked his wallet into his pocket and ruffled the hair on Tyler’s head, laughing when the hand was quickly brushed off.

Blue stood flat on her feet and brought her hands up slowly, signing, “Please.”

Michael handed her the cup and smiled. “See, that wasn’t too hard.” Blue tipped the cup up and drank. “Ready?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, I think so,” he said. Michael made his way out of the kitchen with Blue trailing behind him, her stuffed bumblebee in her hand, the brightly colored leg crushed in her fist as she drank. The front door opened and Hunter stumbled inside.

“Fuck,” he said mostly to himself as he tripped on the mat outside the door. “Every freakin’ time.” Riah and Molly were still out by the car doing whatever. He looked up into his fathers’ amused faces. “Hey.”

“How is it that you are the only person who trips on that?” Michael asked. Hunter shrugged and tossed his bag on the floor.

“I have no idea.”

Trek pushed into the house past Hunter. “I have arrived, small humans, bow to me,” Trek said. He scooped up Blue and kissed her on the cheek as she giggled and squirmed, milk falling from her mouth in thin lines.

“Yay, Trek,” Emily and Junior screamed at once as Trek settled between them on the couch and sat Blue on his lap. He accepted her offer of milk and took a long drink.

“Me ladies,” Trek said. “What’s the movie tonight?” Blue dropped her cup in the space between Trek’s legs and pulled at the black bands around his wrists, twisting them around her fingers.

Junior squirmed and pulled her socked feet under her body, her hair falling down and around her shoulders. “We watching Snow White,” she told him.

“And the seven dwarfs,” Emily added. She pulled her socks off and tossed them on the floor.

“Yeah,” Tyler said walking out of the kitchen, “for like the five-hundredth time.” He flopped down sideways in the lounge chair and rested his legs over the arm.

“Women,” Trek told him, as if that explained it all. Blue twisted out of his lap and toddled over to Tyler, pulling herself up into the chair next to him. She crossed her short legs and leaned back.

“We shouldn’t be too late. Try to put them in bed before the stroke of midnight,” Ben told Hunter. Molly and Riah made their way into the house and Molly made a straight line for the kitchen.

“Hey,” she greeted in passing as she walked. “What do you guys have to drink?” She rubbed her hand over her still rapidly growing belly. Pilot and Race followed her into the kitchen.

“Did you guys bring everyone?” Michael asked. Ben laughed as he listened to Emily tell Hunter something.

“We were bored,” Riah said as she plopped down on the couch next to Emily.

“We were out of food,” Trek told them as he pulled on the end of Junior’s hair. She brushed his hand away with a laugh and leaned back.

“I just bet you were,” Ben said. “Dinner is already ready. There’s enough for everyone. Make sure they actually get some of it into their mouths this time.”

Molly walked back out of the kitchen with a large glass of water in her hand. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got it under control,” she said. Michael and Ben said their goodbyes and left, shutting and locking the door behind them. Molly settled into the other lounge chair and drank down her glass of water. Hunter scooted in behind her and rubbed his hands on her belly.

“What was in there?” he asked her as he slipped the glass of water out of her hand and took a drink.

“Looked like spaghetti.” Pilot walked around the coffee table a few times before tiredly settling onto the carpet in front of the TV. He yawned and Race dropped an armload of toys next to him.

“You want dis and den you have lots dees cars,” Race said to his brother, his grey vintage tee wet around the collar from where he was constantly chewing on it, the word RAMONES made to look faded and cracked.

“M’kay,” Pilot answered. He took the car that Race was offering him and moved closer to the pile, his black cargo pants twisting around and exposing the band of his underwear, the miscellaneous limbs of multiple spider-men clearly visible. Brian was not a fan of the underwear. Blue caught their flurry of activity and quickly climbed down off the chair.

“Wanna play?” Race said with his eyes locked on hers. She watched his mouth and his small hands as he tried to sign ‘play’. She nodded and he moved around her quickly. “You can play. You sit here, m’kay?” He wrapped his arms around her and hefted her off the ground, barely, and forced her to her bottom. He almost fell over in the process before gaining his balance.

Blue grabbed a bunch of the cars and trucks and a few blocks that had made the journey from the toy box. “No, not that one,” Pilot said loudly. He reached over and snatched the long black muscle car out of her hands. He deposited a large passenger void school bus in her lap. Her tears started slowly, her right hand reaching up to twist inside her hair.

Molly leaned forward. “What happened?” she asked. Pilot turned his head to look at her. Race shrugged and ran back to the toy box for more supplies. Blue sobbed harder and leaned forward pressing her forehead to the floor.

Junior unfolded her legs and stood up. “She just always sometimes cries a lot,” she told her aunt. She snatched up something off the table nearby and walked back over, shoving Blue’s pacifier in her mouth. Junior crawled back onto the couch and leaned into Trek.

Minutes later Blue’s eyes were barely open and Pilot and Race were surprisingly quiet. Tyler’s face was buried inside his PSP. “I could eat,” Riah said as the menu screen for Madagascar started.

“Me too,” Molly said. “I can heat up the spaghetti.” Trek frowned and Hunter took a deep breath. Riah made a face.

“Pizza,” Trek suggested. They all nodded quickly.

“I’ll call,” Molly yelled as she got up and quickly moved towards the kitchen. Hunter, Riah and Trek all jumped up to follow, knowing that their dinner lay completely in the hands of her questionable pregnancy cravings. “Fuck you guys,” she said as they crowded around her.

“Pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms and extra cheese,” Trek rattled off.

“Chicken and olives,” Riah ordered as she turned to open the refrigerator and skim the beverage selection.

“I already know what you want,” Molly said before Hunter could open his mouth. She dialed the number for the pizza place and ordered, paying over the phone with her credit card. She made sure to get plain cheese for the kids.

.
...
…

“No!” Pilot screamed as Race tried to pick up his cup. “Dat mine,” he said.

Molly finished pouring Emily some juice and looked at the two boys. “No, he’s just using the cup you used this morning. It’s his cup now. You can use the green one.” Pilot pouted and glared at his brother. Hunter and Trek were outside wrestling with the garbage.

Junior ran back into the room, her hands still wet from her trip to the bathroom. “Can I have juice too?” Molly nodded and grabbed her cup to pour her some juice.

Riah walked into the kitchen and sat Blue in her highchair. “I didn’t know you could fit so much inside a diaper,” she told her best friend. Molly laughed and Hunter and Trek came back inside. Tyler gave them all plates and sat down as the food was dished up.

Twenty minutes later the boxes were all flipped open and the food was all but gone. Emily wiggled in her seat until Trek suggested she take a trip to the bathroom.

Blue licked sauce off her fingers and picked up another piece of her pizza. Pilot peeled the cheese off the top of his slice and dropped it on his plate, eating the crust first. Race ate his backwards and Emily and Junior took equally as small and slow bites.

“Are you gonna leave again?” Tyler asked Hunter. He took another bite of his pizza and picked up his cup with both hands. He took a long drink and sat the cup back on the table.

“Yeah, but not for too long this time,” Hunter said. “I’ll be gone for about a week, maybe two.” Tyler nodded. He hated when Hunter had to go away during the summer. Hunter took a bite of his pizza and wiped his mouth. “We could talk to The Dads, maybe you could come with me.”

“Really?” he perked up. “That’d be so cool.” Molly smiled at his enthusiasm and groaned as the baby decided to wake up. She patted the side of her stomach to try and ease the kicking.

“Yeah why not,” Hunter told him. Trek burped loudly and the girls giggled. Blue leaned over the side of her highchair and dropped a piece of cut up pizza to the ground. She banged her cup on the top of her tray and brought it to her mouth, tipping her head back and sucking hard.

********

 

Location: Justin’s Hotel Room.
Day: Saturday Night, Post Gallery Exhibition.


“Fuck,” Justin breathed as Brian thrust into him. The water was cold as he smiled against Brian’s neck, his legs barely working to hold him up. “We’re going to miss the plane.”

Brian opened his mouth but no words came out. He panted and swallowed, water rolling between them and magnifying every sensation. “We’ll make it.” Justin let out a loud gasp and he was almost sure the whimpers bouncing off the bathroom walls were coming from him. “This is payback,” Brian answered as Justin clenched around him.

Justin felt his head start to swim and pressed his lips to Brian’s, pulling his tongue into his mouth and feeling Brian’s fingers grip his hips even harder. “Uh… god….” Brian thrust in deep and paused, feeling Justin start to shake. “F-fucking you… twice… was worth it,” Justin whined. Brian smiled at the pitch of Justin’s voice.

“I’m glad you think so,” Brian panted and groaned as he came deep inside Justin, the thought of condoms gone with the passion. “Cause I’m nowhere near done.” Justin came all over his own hand, his mouth hanging open. The sound of the water in the shower came back to him and he ran his hand through Brian’s hair. He guided Brian’s mouth to his and clamped down on his lips hard, their teeth crashing together.

“I’m not going to be able to sit down for a week.” The bruises on Brian’s hand were vivid as he moved it over Justin’s arm. Brian grinned and pulled back. He turned off the shower and stepped out.

“It’s never stopped you before,” he commented as he grabbed a towel and tossed one to Justin as he stepped out of the shower, slowly. They both stepped up to the counter and Justin grabbed his toothbrush. Brian grabbed his razor. Justin relaxed into his routine and almost didn’t hear Brian talking to him.

“What?”

“That punch to the face knock something loose?” Brian asked with a smirk. He frowned slightly when he saw Justin touch the bruise. He flexed his own fingers and smiled around the memory of the sound of his fist hitting Jake. He stepped up behind Justin and kissed his neck, wiping at the shaving cream that he left behind.

“He is such an asshole,” Justin said as he pressed back into Brian.

“I can’t believe he had the nerve to show up at the gallery.” Justin leaned forward and spit into the sink. He rinsed his mouth out and stood back up.

“I did get some satisfaction from seeing his black eye though,” Justin admitted with a laugh. Brian laughed and spun Justin around.

“And I thought that smile on your face was from me jerking you off next to the Hendlin exhibit. The pamphlet said he works wonders with a brush but his true talent lies in sculpture.” Brian pressed into Justin and kissed him hard.

“I like it when you talk about art.”

Brian pulled them from the counter and out of the bathroom. “I know,” he said with a smirk. He pushed Justin backwards onto the bed, pulling his towel off and dropping it on the floor. Brian pressed his palm against Justin’s cock and he moaned deep and low in his chest. “The bellboy will be here in an hour.”

Justin pulled Brian down roughly and grunted when their bodies smacked together. He maneuvered them until he was straddling Brian and working his hand up and down his shaft. “Just enough time,” he smiled.

********

Justin zipped up his jeans and Brian pulled his shirt down. “I think you split my lip,” Brian noted. A knock at the door stopped the comment that Justin was about to make. He moved to zip up his bag. Brian opened the door and let the bellboy in.

“Good morning,” the bellboy tossed out mechanically with a smile.

“I’d say so,” Brian said with a long smirk at Justin. The bellboy was oblivious as he collected their bags and loaded them onto the luggage cart.

“Whenever you’re ready,” the bellboy said when he finished. They checked the room one more time and followed the younger man out of the room.

Justin walked slowly next to Brian, the burn in his ass and legs reminding him of all the things they’d done. They made their way through the hotel and down to the front desk. Brian pulled his credit card from his wallet and tossed it down on the counter. “Do you think we have time for breakfast?” Justin asked. He watched the woman behind the counter swipe the card and start checking them out.

Brian glanced down at his watch and back up at Justin. “What’s wrong, Sunshine, didn’t get enough protein already?” Justin laughed and noted the instant blush that crept into the woman’s cheeks. She handed Brian back his card and slid the checkout papers toward him. He signed and dropped the pen on the marble countertop.

“Thank you. I hope you had a nice stay and we hope to see you again.” Justin smiled and Brian slung his arm over his husband’s shoulders. The bellboy followed them outside where a cab was already waiting. The trunk was packed quickly and Justin tipped the bellboy.

“Airport,” Justin told the driver as they got in the cab. He nodded and set his meter to running. Brian slipped on a pair of sunglasses. Justin pushed his tongue inside his cheek and felt the pain from the bruise.

“I’m not letting you fuck me anymore,” Brian said flatly as he shifted on the seat. The cabbie glanced at them in the rearview mirror.

Justin looked up from his Blackberry and smiled. “Okay,” he answered unconcerned. “But one day you’ll miss it.”

“I doubt it.”

“And,” Justin continued without acknowledging Brian, “when you come crawling back I will deny you. You will be sad and there is a 50/50 chance that you will cry.” The cabbie shook his head and pulled up to the curb of the airport. “Besides, you like being my bitch.”

“I’ve never been anyone’s bitch.” Brian opened his door and stepped out. “And you can cross getting fucked again off your list.” Justin got out of the cab and grabbed his bag. They checked their bags and made their way through the airport and through security. Justin bought a bagel and a black coffee for himself and a latte for Brian.

“Is the flight on time?” he asked as he sat down and slid the latte over to Brian.

“Yeah. We’ve got about a forty-five minute wait,” Brian told him. Justin blew over the surface of his coffee and nodded before taking a sip. Brian flipped the page of the paper he was reading.

Ten minutes later Brian covered Justin’s mouth and willed himself to be quiet. Justin gripped the top of the stall door and bit at the skin on Brian’s palm. Brian thrust into Justin one more time and gasped as he came, pulling as much air into his lungs as he could. “Can I still cross it off my list?” Justin asked breathlessly.

“Yes,” Brian said as he took a deep breath and pulled out, stepping back to pull up his jeans. Justin straightened his clothes and they both walked out of the stall and washed their hands. They made it to the flight with five minutes to spare.

**

Time: Late.


Molly paced back and forth in Michael and Ben’s bedroom, patting Blue on the back. Her hearing aids were sitting on the dresser and her pacifier was looped around Molly’s index finger. Molly bounced her lightly and Blue’s eyes struggled to stay open. “She asleep yet?” Hunter asked softly. He walked into the room and sat down on the bed.

“I wish. Brian and Justin can usually get her to go to sleep pretty fast. I have no idea what they do.” Blue’s eyes slipped closed and she sucked on the side of her hand.

“Alcohol,” Hunter said matter-of-factly. Molly laughed, smoothed the hair off of Blue’s face and leaned over the crib to lay her down. Her eyes jerked open when her cheek hit the cool sheets and slid back closed when Molly started to pat her back.

Her breathing settled and Molly sat her pacifier inside the crib. She sat down next to Hunter when she was sure Blue wasn’t going to wake up.

“You’re going to be a great mom,” Hunter whispered. He rested his hand on her tummy and waited to feel something.

“You’re not going to be so bad yourself,” she countered. “You should have felt it trying to kick its way out earlier.” Hunter laughed, and when he finished recapping a scene from Mallrats, Molly laughed. “Is everyone else sleep?”

“Last I saw Pilot was still hanging on. But yeah, otherwise,” Hunter answered. He moved his hand up higher and brushed his hand over her bra. Blue sighed loudly and turned her head to the other side. Hunter let his hand trail over Molly's belly and down toward the button on her jeans.

Molly moaned and caught his hand. “I am not fucking you on your fathers’ bed.”

Hunter leaned over her and smiled. “Why not, it could be exciting.”

“Or sexually crippling,” Molly countered. Hunter seemed to think about it, kissed Molly quickly and jumped up. He extended his hand, the light from the street lighting up the tattoos on his skin, and helped her up off the bed. “I hope you’re this helpful when I really do need your help getting up.”

“I’d like to think so,” Hunter said as he steered them out of the bedroom, his hand on her shoulders. Riah and Trek were sprawled out on the couch with a huge bowl of popcorn. Molly maneuvered through the toys and abandoned pieces of clothing on the floor and shoved Riah over. Hunter started the movie they’d brought with them and turned off all the lights.

“Who’s gonna pick up all this shit?” Hunter asked as he plunked down next to his wife and took a handful of popcorn, tossing the DVD remote to Trek. They all gave a series of jumbled answers resulting in no one moving at all.

Twenty minutes in Molly was sleeping, the almost empty bowl of popcorn propped up on her stomach. “What the fuck are we watching?” Riah asked. The DVD box was over by the TV.

“No idea,” Hunter mumbled. Trek shrugged. “What time is it?”

********

 

“Almost three,” Ben said with a stretch. The music in the club was something loud and endless. Michael nodded and took another drink of his beer. “Maybe we should head home.”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed. He finished off his beer and Ben grabbed his bottle of water. They made their way through the thinning crowd to the front doors of Babylon.

********

 

Ben closed the door and locked it. The TV was on and the volume was low. Everyone was asleep, Molly and Hunter both curled up on the couch. Riah and Trek were sprawled on the floor and in the lounge chair respectively. Trek’s right arm was stretched straight out and his left was pressed against Blue’s back. “Should we wake them up?” Michael whispered.

“No. Just let them sleep.” Ben stepped over the toys on the floor and shook his head at the mess as he bent down and lifted Blue carefully from Trek’s chest, causing him to flinch before realizing who was taking her.

“She woke up,” he explained sleepily.

Ben gave a small nod of understanding. “I’ve got her.” Trek nodded once, turned over and went back to sleep.

Blue curled up against Ben’s shoulder, her hands hanging down limp and her mouth working frantically on the pacifier. Michael walked into the kitchen and Ben heard him moving some things around as he ascended the stairs. The pacifier was bright red, the handle clear plastic and Ben was surprised he caught it when she suddenly yawned.

Michael turned off the light in the kitchen and followed Ben up the stairs. He caught up with him as he checked into all the rooms. Tyler, as usually, was buried all the way under the covers with only his feet sticking out. Pilot and Race were breathing softly, their limbs tangled up with each other. Emily was on the bed and turned on her side. Junior had somehow made it to the floor, her blanket pulled and her one foot still propped up on the spare bed, her night shirt pulled almost off.

Michael fixed her clothes and put her back in the bed. He walked into their bedroom and shut the door. “Oh the quiet,” he said as he laid down flat on the bed. Ben put Blue down in the crib and covered her with her blanket. He moved to the closet and started to pull off his clothes.

“I have no idea how Brian and Justin do it; raise them all and still go clubbing,” Ben said. Michael pulled off his clothes and crawled in next to Ben. Sleep came quickly and was swiftly interrupted around 6 a.m. by Emily knocking at their door and whining out something close to the descriptions of a bad dream.

“Do you ever wish we could take it all back?” Ben asked quietly as Emily went back to sleep, curled up between them.

“Between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m.,” Michael said sleepily, “yes.”

********

 

Location: Pittsburgh International Airport. Long Term Parking Garage.

Day: Early, Sunday Morning


“It’s my car,” Justin said as Brian tossed the last of their bags into the back of the BMW and closed the trunk. The sun was barely up and people were just starting their Sunday. Brian opened the driver’s side door and got inside. He waited for Justin to get in.

“Yeah, and you can’t drive,” Brian told him as they pulled out of the airport parking lot.

Justin scoffed loudly and reached to turn on the radio. He settled on a station and Brian reached over and changed it. “Asshole. My car.”

“I’m the driver,” Brian said. Justin sat back, too tired to argue and listened to the DJ give an update of the news and weather. He slouched down further into the leather seat and pulled a pack of crackers from his pocket. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Justin looked over at him and smiled. “Eating a cracker,” he stated as if Brian was not the smartest of people.

“Were you planning on sharing?” Justin shook his head. Brian stopped at a red light and turned towards Justin.

“What?”

“Are you seriously not going to share?” Brian’s stomach was more than aware of when he’d last eaten. Justin ignored him, pushing another cracker into his mouth. Brian grabbed at the pack and Justin pulled away.

“No. You didn’t want any, were pretty adamant about it if I can recall back that far,” Justin grinned. Brian snatched the pack of crackers after a small struggle and three more traffic lights had come and gone. He ate two and tossed the crumpled package back at his husband.

“Thank you,” Brian said sarcastically.

“You’re welcome,” Justin said with a hiss as he rubbed at the nipple that had been his demise. Brian pulled to a stop across the street from the loft, turned off the car and pressed the button to release the trunk. He got out of the car and closed the door. Justin pulled off his seatbelt and followed. “Such a shit.”

Brian smiled and tossed Justin a bag. “I know. It’s why you love me.” Justin made a face and opened the backdoor to pull out his portfolio.

********

 

Trek, Hunter, Riah and Molly all woke early and cleaned up the mess that was the living room and kitchen. “I say Starbucks,” Trek said happily, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and stretching. Riah pulled her hair back into a ponytail and nodded.

“Yeah,” Hunter said. Molly walked out of the bathroom scratching her belly and tossed out her need for anything iced and a huge donut. Hunter grabbed his keys and they left without waking anyone up. An hour and a half later Michael came trudging down the stairs. He could hear Ben struggling with Blue as he tried to get her into a fresh diaper.

“No. Don’t move, don’t…” Ben yelled. “Shit!” Blue stood up with a grin and started to walk away, pausing when Ben grabbed onto her shirt with his free hand. “Oh, no you don’t.”

“Play,” she signed. Ben shook his head and maneuvered her back onto the floor on her back.

“No. Time to get your diaper on,” Ben told her slowly as he finished cleaning her up, slipping her diaper into a handy throwaway bag. “Playtime is later.” He strapped a new diaper on her bottom and didn’t bother putting her pants back on. He let her stand and watched as she left the bedroom, her stuffed bumblebee dangling from her mouth.

Ben went into his bathroom, tossed the diaper in the trash and washed his hands.

Tyler, Pilot and Race were all in the bathroom. “Ew, don’t touch that.” Tyler pulled Pilot’s hand away from the potty chair before he could touch the fresh pee. Race sat back watching them. When they were both sure they were finished Tyler helped them clean up and lifted them one by one up to the sink to wash their hands.

Ben looked into the bathroom on his way down the stairs. “Morning, Pal,” he greeted his son. “Everything okay?” Pilot was wiping his hands on a towel that Tyler had given him. Race was rinsing the soap off his hands with Tyler’s help.

“Yeah,” Tyler told him. “They both went, even though they already had peed in their pull-ups.” Tyler’s toothbrush was hanging out of his mouth, white paste foaming at the corners. Ben cleaned up the two potty chairs and washed his hands again. Pilot and Race took off for downstairs and Ben left Tyler to finish up in the bathroom.

Blue was making her way down the stairs with her bumblebee’s wing still in her mouth. Michael was already in the kitchen with Emily and Junior. They were both sitting at the table talking non-stop and giggling. “I see our babysitters bailed,” Ben said and poured himself a glass of milk.

“Yeah, but some of their stuff is still here,” Michael said. “So I assume they’re coming back.”

“Did they leave us anything?” Ben asked as he walked over to the table. Pilot and Race came bouncing in with their hair matted all over their head.

“I want eggs and pancakes,” Tyler announced as he walked into the kitchen in his boxers and an old yellow shirt. Pilot and Race pulled themselves into the chairs.

“Me too,” Emily and Junior added happily. Blue walked into the kitchen, her bare feet slapping across the floor. She dropped her bee and grabbed onto the bench next to her sister. Ben reached over, picked her up, sat her in her highchair and made sure she was buckled in. Michael drank some of his orange juice and pushed a box of cereal into Tyler’s hands.

“There you go,” Michael said with a smile.

“Thanks,” Tyler said with disappointment. He turned around and pulled out bowls and spoons, dishing up breakfast for everyone. Emily and Junior wiggled on the bench seat. Pilot and Race were already eating their cereal, milk trickling from their mouths. “Daddy and Dad are coming back today?” Junior asked before she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

Blue squirmed as Ben tried to help her scoop spoonfuls of oatmeal into her mouth. She signed quickly and shifted in her chair, clamping her mouth down tight and refusing to budge. “Yup,” Ben answered. Emily drank her juice down in one long gulp.

“Good, cause I want them to come here. But, I want them to come here right now,” Junior said. Pieces of soggy cereal fell from her mouth and she picked them off of her pajama top, the waist of her sleeping pants twisted from her morning trip to the bathroom.

“They’ll probably come after you eat dinner. I’m sure they can’t wait to see you,” Ben told her. He gave up on trying to get Blue to eat her breakfast and handed her a cup full of milk.

Michael finished drinking his juice, enjoying the rare moment of quiet as all you heard was laughing and spoons moving. “Can I go over to Matt’s house?” Tyler asked hopefully.

Ben wiped the remnants of oatmeal off of Blue’s mouth and looked over at his son. “Is all your homework done?”

“Most of it,” Tyler answered. Pilot sat up on his knees and pressed his mouth to the table to get a drop of milk that had fallen.

“Well, when you've finished all of it, and if Matt’s mom and dad don’t mind, then yeah,” Ben told him. Michael smiled around the rim of his cup at his son.

Tyler sat back and sighed. “Okay.”

The front door opened and Hunter, Molly, Riah and Trek all filtered back in. “Hey guys,” Ben and Michael called. A chorus of ‘hey’ and ‘good morning’ flooded towards them. They sat around the living room and dished out the donuts they’d bought. “Anything eventful happen last night?” Ben asked when Hunter made his way into the kitchen to get a napkin.

Hunter shrugged. “No. I mean… not really.” He turned to leave the kitchen and turned back towards them. “Oh, that one,” Hunter said pointing at Pilot, “took a piss in the corner. We made Trek clean it up.” He disappeared back into the living room.

“Dude, fuck you,” Trek mumbled around the food in his mouth.

********

 

Time: Mid-Morning.


“We don’t have to pick them up,” Brian reasoned. Justin moved around the kitchen and sat a cup of coffee in front of Brian when he sat down at the counter.

“I don’t think Ben and Michael, not to mention our kids, would like that very much,” Justin said. Brian huffed and took a long drink of his coffee. “Debbie wants us to come over for dinner.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Brian looked around the loft and took in the extreme quiet.

“Because while you were sleeping and showering and generally not doing anything important, I was,” Justin answered with a smile. Brian stared at Justin with his coffee cup pressed to his mouth. “She called and left a message.”

“Was that so hard? And I don’t recall you complaining when you were inside that shower with me,” Brian said. He pushed off of the stool and walked back up the stairs and into the bedroom to get dressed, pulling the towel from around his waist and tossing it on the bed. Justin moved around the kitchen, finally finding a bagel in the cabinet.

“Why don’t we have any food, we were gone for like a day,” Justin said loudy, He pulled a knife out of the drawer and spread some jelly on the bagel. Brian came back down the stairs dressed in dark jeans and a black shirt. “Remember that day when I said ‘Hey, Brian, it’d be nice if you got some groceries’?”

Brian frowned slightly with the thought. “It seems vaguely familiar.”

“Yeah,” Justin nodded. “Did you ever do that?”

Brian snatched the other half of Justin’s bagel off the counter and took a bite, moving to boot up the computer and check some things. “No.” Justin didn’t bother commenting. It was exactly what he’d expected. He took a drink of his coffee and moved to check his messages on the studio line.

“I’m gonna call Michael and Ben; tell them we’ll be there in like an hour,” Justin called back down the hall to Brian. It was almost one o’clock in the afternoon. They’d slept for the better part of five hours, minus the half attempted hand job somewhere around 10:24. Justin didn’t hear an answer so he assumed Brian was concentrating on whatever he had pulled up on the screen.

********

“Hey, Justin,” Ben said. He pressed the phone closer to his ear and crossed his right leg overtop of his left.

“Ben, hey,” Justin replied as he moved around some paints in his studio, making room on his drafting tables for the contents of his portfolio. He was amazed he didn’t hear any screaming in the background.

“They’re all asleep,” Ben said, seeming to read Justin’s mind. “Naps.”

Justin laughed. “I hope I didn’t wake anyone up. I just wanted to let you know that we’ll be there in about an hour to pick up our spawns, as Brian likes to call them.” Ben laughed and Justin unzipped his portfolio with a smile on his face.

“Take your time,” Ben said. They talked for a few more minutes until Ben heard someone start to scamper around and disconnected the call.

********

Time: Two Hours and Forty-five Minutes Past 1 p.m.


“Set the alarm,” Brian said. Justin closed the loft door and pushed his keys into his pocket.

“I did,” Justin said. Brian walked out of the lift elevator and opened the loft door. He checked the alarm, closed the loft door, locked it and got back on the elevator. Justin leaned back against the back wall.

“What?” Brian asked as he lowered the gate. Justin shook his head.

“I told you I did it,” Justin said calmly.

Brian pressed the button to take them down. “You don’t always do it right. Or at all,” Brian added. The elevator stopped and they stepped off, walking towards the front door and out onto the street.

“That was one time,” Justin said as they walked down the street to Brian’s SUV. “One time, and I was getting the mail not even a hundred feet away. I’m pretty sure it was safe.” Brian unlocked the doors and they both climbed inside.

“Not the point,” Brian said as he pulled into traffic. Justin watched out the window at the people walking up and down the sidewalks.

“You just want to control everything.”

“I just want to keep the things in my loft inside of the loft,” Brian told Justin as they maneuvered through back roads.

Justin laughed. “I was seventeen and distraught.”

“You were a stupid little shit,” Brian corrected. Justin smiled and leaned back further into his seat. Brian paused briefly at a stop sign before moving through it and across the road.

“You loved me,” Justin stated smugly. Brian huffed out a laugh and pulled into Michael and Ben’s driveway.

“You’re a good fuck. Everything else was coincidental,” Brian said as he got out of the car and closed the door. Justin followed suit, trailing him up to the front door and ringing the bell.

“So sweet, you should tell the kids that. You probably will,” Justin said as an afterthought. Brian opened his mouth to say something, thought that Justin was probably right, and closed it.

Molly opened the front door, her hand propped up on her stomach and rubbing circles around it. “Hey guys.”

“Hey,” Justin said to his sister.

“You’re certainly getting big fast,” Brian said as he let his eyes linger on Molly’s belly. She promptly punched him in the arm, very hard.

“Don’t be a dick. I’m hungry and fat and tired, asshole,” Molly told her brother-in-law. Brian moved past her into the house. He watched the swirling bodies on the floor with Justin standing next to him. “They watched wrestling,” Molly explained before disappearing into the kitchen.

“That’s great,” Brian said with a glance of dread at Justin who was sharing the same thoughts. Junior heard Brian’s voice and couldn’t get to him fast enough. Her efforts to move sped up when she noticed Justin standing there too.

“Daddy!” Junior yelled as she made her way over the tangle of bodies and limbs. Hunter ducked before he could be kicked in the face by a flying foot. “Dad!” Pilot giggled as he squirmed under Tyler, his shirt pulled up and showing his tummy.

“Hey,” Justin said happily as they moved into the house. Brian pushed the door closed behind him and caught Junior almost before Justin could fully release her. Race ran over to Brian and Justin and latched onto Justin’s legs. Tyler laughed as Hunter grabbed him up and Pilot ran towards the front door. “Did you miss us?”

Pilot nodded. “Yes,” Race said loudly, his shirt collar in his mouth getting soaked. Brian kissed Junior on the cheek and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Justin pulled the collar out of Race's mouth and twisted around looking for his baby girl.

“We did miss you. You were gone for almost all the days, and we’re going to go see the animals,” Junior said as she started to ramble. Brian nodded and lifted Pilot up with his other hand, Race pulling Justin across the living room to see his barely standing fort.

“Where are Michael and Ben?” Justin asked. He took the toys that Race pushed into his hand and smiled enthusiastically.

“They went… somewhere. You know, I wasn’t really paying that much attention,” Hunter said. He sat up and pushed his hair out of his face. Tyler rolled onto his side and pushed himself up off the floor.

“Probably fucking,” Brian answered flatly. Junior squirmed out of Brian’s arms and nestled onto the couch next to Trek.

“That’d be my bet,” Hunter agreed. “Heard you got in a fight,” he tossed in Justin’s general direction. Emily came bounding down the hall and crashing into the couch.

“Heard you got your fucking ass kicked,” Trek supplied calmly, his eyes fixed on the TV screen. Riah pushed her legs up on the coffee table and flipped open her laptop.

Justin groaned. It was bad enough that he’d had to answer questions from everyone at the Chicago gallery. And not mention take pictures. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to answer too many from everyone else. “How is it that you manage to know everything?” Justin asked.

Trek shrugged and tapped his fingers against the back of the couch, his arms outstretched. Junior laughed as the dwarfs on the screen started to wash their hands in the tub. “Oh man, this is the best part. And you should know by now that I have friends in high and low places.”

“Nice to know,” Brian said with no emotion. “Where’s my daughter?” Hunter, Riah and Trek all pointed to the kitchen without looking.

“It was in the arts section of the Times,” Riah told Justin. She rummaged in her bag and pulled out a rumpled copy. Justin took the paper and sat down on the chair in the corner. He listened as Pilot and Race babbled to him about toys and cars and things he could barely make out or understand as he read.

“Why the fuck do you even have that?” Brian asked.

Riah looked insulted and touched her hand to her chest. “We like art and culture. We can be refined.” Brian gave a quick smirk.

“Movie listing,” Brian said.

Riah smiled. “Movie listing,” she admitted.

“Great,” Justin said as Pilot crawled into his lap and then promptly crawled back out. “What?” he asked, looking up when he felt Trek’s eyes on him.

“You know,” Trek said lazily, a visor with the logo for a local woman’s day spa on the front turned sideways on his head and half a sandwich in his hand, “if it wasn’t for that huge fucking bruise there-“ he pointed, “you’d never know someone hit you in the face.”

Riah looked up from her laptop. “I have a friend who can do special effects makeup, if you’re interested. I mean, she’s not very good at all but she could make it look… uh, less painful,” she frowned. Molly came out of the kitchen and smiled at her brother, her eyes catching on the bruise on his face for the first time. Her gaze shifted quickly to Brian’s hand and the bruised knuckles.

“What the hell happened to you two?” Blue was trailing her aunt, her pacifier, cup and bumblebee all jumbled in her arms. A smile lit up her face when she saw Brian and Justin. She ran unsteadily over to Brian.

“Art,” Brian answered before Justin could open his mouth. “Hey bug,” he signed as Blue reached him. He picked her up and hugged her close, pressing a kiss to her lips when she prompted it.

“Who knew it was such a contact sport,” Trek said with sarcastic wonder. Brian sat down across from Justin and Blue snuggled into his chest.

“It’s a long short story,” Justin told them all. “God, he is so full of shit,” Justin said in reference to the article in the paper, tossing it towards Brian and smiling at his daughter. He held out his arms and Brian helped her down from his lap as she wiggled to get to her Daddy.

“’The artists’ image is almost as shockingly beautiful as his work, too innocent features set against experience and dark backdrops. Showing up at his opening with a bruise that…’” Brian paused in his reading. “Wow, Sunshine, shocking and beautiful.” Justin shifted Blue in his arms.

“Fuck off.”

“Artists,” Brian said, “always so sensitive.” Trek and Hunter laughed. Justin turned Blue around and sat her on his lap facing him.

“Did you have fun?” he signed and said, his mouth moving evenly and normal. Blue smiled and nodded, grinning around her pacifier and frowning when Justin reached up and took it out of her mouth. He looped it around his pinky finger and leaned forward to place a kiss on her forehead.

She signed, “Bee,” and held it up for him to see. Brian had bought the Bee with the textured limbs and appendages when she first started teething and she hadn’t parted with it since. “We play at park and in big water,” she edged out with her skittering sign language. She was getting good and clearer as she got older.

Justin brought his hands up and said and signed, “We played at the park and in the big water,” he corrected her, signing out the words that she’d left out. Blue grabbed his hands and leaned forward against his chest, giggling.

Almost two hours later Michael and Ben were back and Justin was explaining the state of his face again. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Fine,” Justin told Ben. Molly and Hunter had disappeared. Trek and Riah were gone, citing the need for something dangerous and unscripted; which meant they were going to hang out at the Flats, an expanse of asphalt where anything and everything could be expected to happen.

Tyler made fast work of his homework and headed for the front door and Matt’s house. All the rest of the kids filed outside to play. Brian watched his youngest daughter shadow the other kids out the door. He stood up and slipped an arm around Michael’s shoulders. “Where’d you go, Mikey?”

Michael turned to walk into the kitchen with Brian following behind him, keeping an eye out the window at his children. “Why do you want to know?”

“Simple curiosity, Mikey,” Brian shrugged. He reached over and took the cookie out of Brian’s hand.

“Yeah, right,” Michael said, “like you are really that concerned.” Brian thought about that, decided it was true and sat down at the counter. “How badly did you hurt him?” Michael asked with a knowing smile.

Brian took another bite of the stolen cookie and stared at his best friend. “Who?”

“Oh cut the bullshit, Brian. Jake.”

“Black eye, busted lip, and maybe a mild concussion,” Brian said evenly.

Michael processed the information, popped a cookie in his mouth and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

********

 

“Stop it!” Junior screamed as Pilot ran past her again and hit her with a stick, his clothes abandoned somewhere near the bushes. Race was sitting under a tree digging a sizable hole in the ground.

Emily walked around the slide and climbed back up the ladder. Blue was standing on the small platform with the plastic mirror, her face pressed in close. Junior pulled her bucket across the grass full of dirt. She felt added weight on the bucket and turned to see her brother pulling on the other side of the bucket with a huge smile on his face. She pulled the bucket harder to shake him off. “Get off,” she told him. Her pants were weighed down with toys and various other “tools”.

“Dis is my bucket,” Pilot told her, his hair falling over his ears. Junior sat the bucket on the ground, walked around it and pulled her brother’s hands off. Pilot smacked at her hands and pushed her. She pushed him back, hard, and he fell.

“Gonna tell Daddy,” Pilot said, biting on his bottom lip. Race flung a shovel full of dirt in his own face and dropped his tool to rub in his eyes.

Junior shrugged, her white shirt smeared with dirt and her smoke grey cargo capris covered in something as of yet unidentified. “So, I don’t care. Tell.”

Pilot stomped away. His attention diverted, he climbed up the stairs on the play set, sitting next to his sister. Blue handed him a flower she’d been holding and a block that she’d found. She signed, “Look,” and pressed her mouth to the plastic mirror.

“You not s’pose to puts your mouth on dere,” Pilot told her and signed. Race abandoned his efforts of digging a hole.

********

“How’d you get all this dirt in your hair?” Brian asked Race, brushing the dirt off fruitlessly. Junior pulled her shoes on and tied them, loosely.

“Cause I made a hole outside,” Race said, pointing outside to the space under the tree. Brian brushed at the dirt some more before giving up and letting his son walk to his Daddy.

“They’re covered in dirt… and what I really hope is mud,” Justin said as Race reached him. Brian caught Pilot in mid-run, his clothes back on. Junior slung her small backpack on her back, stuffed with her crayons and other miscellaneous items that she deemed highly important.

“Daddy, can you make noodles today?” Junior asked absently. She held onto the stair railing twisting her feet and standing on the sides of her shoes. Justin pulled Blue’s pacifier out of her mouth and pushed it into his pocket. Blue pouted and moved to worm her way into Brian’s arms as he tied her brother’s shoes.

“I think so, yeah,” Justin answered her. He looked up from Race’s shoe and frowned, reaching over his son to pull his oldest daughter's foot off the spaces in between the railings. “Don’t put your foot up there.” Junior let her leg drop down to the floor and sat heavily.

Emily sat down next to her cousin and bit her lip. “Can we just stay here?” Junior asked with her hands looped in the straps of her backpack. Brian was headlong into a conversation with Pilot, Blue wiggling around between them.

“No. You can’t stay here,” Justin said as he held onto Race’s ankle. “I’m sure Michael and Ben would like to get their house back to normal.” He twisted the small shoe onto his son’s foot and tied it. Junior was sitting on the bottom stair with Blue’s bumblebee twisting in her hands.

Brian double tied Pilot’s shoes and released him. “Why?” Junior asked. She leaned her head back and rested it on the stair above her.

“Because Uncle Michael and Uncle Ben want to fuck in their own bedroom,” Brian said bluntly. Justin stared at him and waited to hear if any of the kids were going to repeat him. Brian grabbed Blue, sat her down on the floor and picked up her shoes, putting them on quickly and double tying them too. He secured the plastic bow biters over her laces, bought after two shoes were lost out the back window of the car.

Blue noticed the knots meant to keep her shoes on her feet and started to protest. She flopped backwards on the hardwood and scooted across the floor a little. She slumped against the back of Michael and Ben’s couch kicking her legs vigorously. “Off,” she signed.

“No,” Brian signed back. He ignored her tantrum. He picked up the bags and made his way out the front door.

Justin reached over Race and pulled Blue’s diaper bag over to him. He stuffed the shirts and blankets back into the bag, glancing around the living room and making sure they didn’t leave anything important. Ben came down the stairs and handed him a pink pacifier with a purple handle. “Don’t want to forget that,” Justin said. He stuffed the pacifier into the bag before Blue could see it.

“I wouldn’t think so,” Ben said with a laugh. Justin stood up and held the front door open. Race took off towards his brother and the car. Junior hopped up off the step and made her way outside quickly.

“Thanks so much, you guys, for watching them,” Justin said as he slung the black diaper bag over his shoulder. “If you ever need us to return the favor just ask.”

“I think you just about have your hands full enough,” Michael said. Emily was making her way into the kitchen to get a glass of water. They heard the slamming of a car door, Brian scream and a loud piercing wail. Justin glanced out the door with a frown on his face. He could see Race standing off to the side looking pained. Brian had the door back open and Pilot was crying hard, his hand in Brian’s being inspected.

“Holy shit,” Michael said.

“Fuck,” Justin said as he adjusted the diaper bag. “I better go. Thanks again.” Justin said his goodbyes and walked out to the car. Ben and Michael closed the door, content to just sit in the quiet. “Is he okay?” Justin slid into the front seat and put the diaper bag at his feet.

Brian got in the car and shut his door. He turned the key and the engine roared to life. “His fingers are going to be a little bruised but he’ll live,” Brian said as he pulled out of the driveway. Pilot was sniffing, his head resting on the side of his booster chair. They were all quiet.

“I think we might have turned Michael and Ben off on the idea of having more kids,” Justin said.

“It took them this long to figure that out? Fuck, I thought they were smarter than that.” Justin laughed and let his eyes trail close, his hand idly touching the bruise on his face. A couple of more days and then it would be gone; hopefully faded away into nothing but the glimpse of a memory.

“”Looks almost sexy, you know, if you like that sort of thing,” Brian said with sarcasm and a lewd smirk. Justin scoffed and let his eyes rake over the edges of the paper that he’d stuffed into Blue’s diaper bag.

“Tell that to that asshole,” Justin said with an angry gesture towards the paper. “Can you buy the paper and fire him?” He looked lovingly over at Brian and blinked sweetly.

Brian pulled to a stop in front of the loft and threw the car into park. “I’m surprised at you Sunshine,” Brian said. They both got out of the car and opened the back doors to let the kids out. “Don’t you know that money doesn’t solve everything?”

********

Location: Kinnetik Inc. Brian’s office.
Time: 10:17 a.m. Monday


“Brian,” Cynthia said, falling into stride with her longtime friend and boss. “How was Chicago?” she smiled up at him, a large clipboard pressed to her chest. Brian pulled the sunglasses from his face and opened the door to his office. She followed him inside and he tossed the designer shades onto his desk.

He glanced at her and switched on his computer. “I take it you saw the arts and leisure section of the paper,” Brian said only slightly irritated. He sat down and started weeding through the messages that had been left on his desk.

“I might have glanced at it,” she said, leaning over the desk to see his bruised knuckles. Brian looked at her and smirked. “What?”

She stood up straight and cleared her throat. “Remson is waiting for a call from you, and he’s getting impatient. Patrick Freeman had the papers for the finalization of sale sent over. Morgan in the art department finished the art for Stowe; they’re waiting for your approval.”

Brian nodded as he took in all the information. “Get Remson on the phone and send Shaun in,” Brian said as he hit the speaker button on his phone. Cynthia nodded, put down some more messages and left. He hit the speed dial and listened to it ring before directing him to leave a message. He hung up the phone and looked up when Shaun walked in.

“You asked to see me, Mr. Kinney,” Shaun said nervously. He was dressed casually in black pants and a white shirt with the collar open.

Brian looked up at the younger man and smiled. “Mrs. Dogall was very impressed with your design. It was simple yet edgy, and very sexually charged.” Shaun smiled and let his arms relax a little.

“Wow,” Shaun said happily. “Thank you for….”

Brian cut him off and stood. He moved from his space behind the desk, his chair spinning. “Save the compliments and gestures of thanks.” Brian sat down on the couch in his office. “These are the design ideas for the new Mialle company. They want something that screams futuristic and fresh.”

Shaun stared at the papers that Brian had handed him. “You can’t be serious.”

“Very, actually,” Brian said as he walked around the conference room table. “Unless you don’t think you can handle it.”

“No!” Shaun shouted and then calmed himself. “No, I can handle it.” Brian nodded, his eyes trained on what he was holding.

“Good,” Brian said, finally looking up. “I’m gonna need preliminary drafts by the beginning of next week.” Shaun nodded and waited for Brian to give him some other clue as to what the client might want for their campaign.

Cynthia buzzed the office, announcing that Remson was waiting on line one. “You can go now. Ask Cynthia to show you where your space is. Rich is going to answer the phones for a while.” Shaun opened his mouth to say something when Brian picked up the phone, pressed it to his ear and listened.

“Mr. Remson,” Brian said smoothly, standing and making his way back into his office through the connected conference room. Shaun took that as his cue to leave. He went to Cynthia and was promptly shown his new space. He took a moment to take it all in before thinking about all the research he needed to do.

********

Location: Justin’s Downtown Studio.


Justin pointed the remote in the direction of the stereo and turned the volume down. “I have no idea how you work with that in the background,” Julian said, stepping over some outlines on the floor. Justin brushed the hair out of his face with his forearm and smiled.

“I have four kids under the age of six, this is nothing. Plus, it helps me concentrate,” Justin said simply. Julian was dressed in a suit, a folder held tightly in his hands.

“I’ll take your word for it. You artists and the things you use to keep you focused,” Julian said with a shake of his head. Justin moved away from the painting he was working on. He dropped his paint brush into an empty paint can full of water. His shirt was covered in swipes of black paint, his pants covered in fingerprint smudges of charcoal and graphite. Julian leaned in closer to the unfinished work and frowned. “What in the hell is that anyway?”

Justin walked over and moved Julian away from the canvas. “Am I right to assume that there is some valid reason that you’re here?” Justin walked over to the kitchen area and opened the refrigerator. Julian followed and slid onto a stool. Justin handed him a beer and leaned against the counter.

“I have the check from the gallery opening in Chicago. I think you’ll find it more than agreeable,” he said and opened the folder that he’d sat on the counter in front of him. He handed Justin the check.

“Holy shit,” Justin said as he looked at the check. He glanced up at Julian and then back at the check.

“And that is after my percentage,” Julian pointed out. Justin smiled at him.

“This is almost double what I made on the other show. Fuck.” Justin took another long drink of his beer.

“I upped your prices,” Julian explained. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the counter. “We’ll talk about that later though.”

Justin smirked. “Of course,” he said.

“I have offers for more bookings; some are actually in the Pittsburgh area, I know you said you didn’t want to have to travel for a while,” Julian said and Justin nodded. “The Parsons gallery wants you to submit some work for their exhibit this summer, and they are willing to take old pieces.”

Justin listened and nodded. Julian laid out the paperwork detailing everything he was going over. “Ugh, Parsons last summer was so time consuming for almost no benefit,” he moaned. Julian agreed.

“Marcus said the same thing. Although I think he was more pissed about the five burns he sustained,” Julian said. Justin laughed, took a drink and sat his beer bottle on the counter. He took the letter of invitation from Julian and read it over.

“Yeah, well, I told him it was a bad idea to try welding those pieces together,” Justin said about the other artist that Julian represented.

“So I wasn’t the only one that tried to talk him out of it.” Julian checked his watch and closed his folder, leaving the information on the counter for Justin. “Speaking of which I have to go meet him; he’s experimenting with water,” Julian said unevenly.

“Water?” Justin questioned, walking behind Julian to the door.

“Don’t ask.” Julian slipped on his sunglasses and rolled the door open. “Between you and the photography and him with the water I think I’ve lost five pounds. I’ll need an answer on the Parsons exhibit. You know, you and Marcus should do something together. I think it would be good.” Justin opened his mouth to say something and Julian held up his hand. “Think about it. I’ll talk to Marcus. I’ll call you next week,” Julian said. He disappeared inside the elevator and Justin shut the loft door.

********

 

Time: 1:54 p.m.


Brian hung up the phone and sat back, pushing down the feeling of vertigo that came over him with the sudden movement. He approved the designs for the art department and started sorting through pictures of possible models for an upcoming shoot. He didn’t even tear his eyes away from the stack as his door was rapidly flung open.

Ted made his way over to Brian’s desk, his forehead slightly damp with sweat. “To what do I owe your sudden appearance? He looks like he could sell a hell of a lot of clothing,” Brian said, holding up a picture for Ted to see. Ted glanced briefly at the picture, paused to take a second look and waved off the distraction, stepping closer to the desk.

Ted looked down at the papers in his hand and blinked rapidly. “You can’t just… just… fling money at a problem and make it go away,” he screeched.

Brian stood up with the pictures and moved around his office with his face buried in the set of applicants. “Theodore,” Brian said, opening the door to his office, “of course you can.” Brian stopped in the hall to sign some papers that were thrust at him. Ted waited while he signed, rubbing his fingers over his forehead.

“Brian.”

“I want everything locked down on this before the end of the week.” Ted opened his mouth and then closed it. Brian turned and put a hand on his shoulder. “You can do it. You’re great, you’re the best. And your job depends on it.”

“Of course,” Ted reasoned as the door to Brian’s office closed in his face. He turned and made it back to his own office. He dropped the papers down on his desk and picked up the phone.

********

 

Jake paced across the floor in his boss' office. “This is bullshit. I’ve worked for this company for over seven years. What in the fuck am I supposed to do? Why wasn’t I warned?”

Patrick Freeman stood up and walked across his office. He unscrewed the cap on his favorite bottle of whiskey and poured himself and Jake a drink.

“There wasn’t time. I’ve been thinking about selling for a while now. The offer that Mr. Kinney tossed on the table was more than agreeable,” Patrick said with a smile. He tipped the glass up to his lips and took a generous drink. Jake stopped walking and turned to face his boss.

“Mr. Kinney. As in Mr. Brian Kinney, the owner of Kinnetik Inc.?”

Patrick nodded and took another drink, crossing the room and sitting back behind his desk. “That would be the one,” he said. Jake waved away the glass that Patrick held up for him.

“That son of a fucking bitch,” Jake said, more to himself than to Patrick. The phone rang and Patrick sat down to answer it. Jake’s heart was beating rapidly. He tried to process the fact that he’d just lost his job.

“If you’d excuse me,” Patrick said. Jake looked at him. “I need to take this.” Jake made his way to the door and turned the knob. “Try and have all the things out your office by tomorrow at the latest, okay. Thanks.” Jake moved through the door and resisted the urge to slam it too hard.

********

 

Junior reached across the table and grabbed the hunk of red and white clay. She adjusted the plastic knife in her hand and cut the ball of clay in half, dropping the knife to pound the clay flat with her fist. She wiggled in place, suppressing the need to go to the bathroom. “Okay guys,” Ms. Lisa said as she walked around the room, “it’s time to start cleaning up our things.”

The room disappeared behind a curtain of noise and moving bodies. “Did you get all of it off?” Mr. Calvin asked as he helped Junior wash her hands. The summer day camp was generously staffed, the rooms and activities broken down by age and ability. Pilot and Race were down the hall in the large building, and Blue was in the toddler room.

Junior nodded as she dried her hands on a paper towel. “Yup, all of it,” she said. “See.” She held up her hands with a smile, and for once her shirt wasn’t covered in anything.

********

 

Justin held the phone up to his ear and pressed the down button on the elevator. “I’ve been calling you all day,” Brian said with only slight irritation.

Justin heard the heavy door close and lock behind him as he walked to his car. “Aw, did you miss me?” Justin smiled and opened his car door. He got inside and closed the door behind him, starting the engine.

“Only certain parts,” Brian said. Justin laughed and pulled out into traffic when a space was available.

“Really?” Justin asked. “Which parts?”

Brian didn’t take the bait. He sifted through the papers on his desk until he found what he was looking for. “Are you on your way to pick them up?”

“You can say ‘the kids’, Brian. I am almost certain it won’t cause you bodily harm to refer to them that way,” Justin said as he turned a corner, taking the time to yell obscenities at another driver.

“It might. I’ve got to go. I have a meeting that’s about to start. Later,” Brian said.

Justin made a few stops before he pulled into the parking lot of the day camp and into a parking space. Justin slipped out of the car, stuffing his keys and his phone into his pocket and making his way into the building. He passed workers and lines of kids. Parents were weaving through the halls, picking up kids and talking to each other.

“I don’t want to leave yet,” a red headed girl said to her father.

“And Daddy doesn’t want to feel like every nerve in his brain is about to burst. Life is tough,” her Daddy replied with a smile as he kissed her cheek. Justin moved past the father and daughter, making his way to his oldest daughter’s classroom.

Justin walked into Junior’s room and looked around. He didn’t see his daughter anywhere. “She’s in the bathroom,” Lisa said quickly.

Justin nodded at the girl who was no more than nineteen years old. “Thanks,” he said. Junior came walking out of the bathroom with her hands still slightly wet. “Hey you,” Justin called.

Junior looked up and broke into a run. She reached Justin and he scooped her up. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and tickled her. She giggled and squirmed as he stood her on her feet. “Ms. Lisa said I am very good at reading a lot of words,” Junior explained as Justin held her backpack while she turned in a circle to put it on. She had recently started to learn how to read. It was high on her list of accomplishments; second only to learning to tie her shoes.

“She’s right,” Justin agreed. “You are very good at it, and soon you’ll be reading everything.” Justin grabbed her lunchbox out of her cubby.

Junior made her way to the door with Justin close behind her after signing her out. He tossed a wave at the young girl and made his way down the hall to Pilot and Race’s room. Junior pushed on the door and Justin gave it a shove, moving most, if not all, of its weight. Just like yesterday and the day before Pilot and Race were sitting in the time-out chairs.

“Again?” Justin asked when their teacher, Mr. Lee walked up to him.

“Yeah,” Lee said with a small smile. He watched the two boys over in the corner. “Today it was biting; got the other kid pretty good too. I don’t think they’ll be satisfied until we have to call the ambulance.”

“Jesus,” Justin sighed. Junior was standing next to him waving at her brothers. “This one was a biter,” he said, resting his hand on top of Junior’s head, “but nothing this bad. I’m hoping they grow out of it by the time they’re three.”

“Good luck with that,” Lee smiled. He was about to say something else when he noticed one of his other adventurous charges attempting to climb the highest bookshelf. “Next year I’m taking the school aged room,” he laughed. He moved quickly to grab the would-be spider-man.

Junior beat Justin over to the time-out chairs where he knelt down in front of his boys. “Biting?” he said. Pilot twisted in his chair and bit his bottom lip.

Race huffed and brushed both arms over his head making his hair stick up. “No biting,” he sighed softly.

“Biting isn’t not very good,” Pilot added and pulled on his bottom lip.

“Dad and Daddy told you about biting. You keep your mouths to yourselves, right?” They both nodded quickly.

“Sor’y,’” they said in unison. Justin stood up and glanced around for his now missing daughter. “J? Junior, come back over here. Don’t pull on…” He stopped mid-sentence and watched as the bookshelf went toppling over, despite his attempt to catch it. Junior jumped back and watched as some of the books and other things that had been placed on the shelf scattered across the floor.

Junior looked up at Justin and held in the urge to cry as she looked at his face. He sighed deeply, the dried paint on his skin suddenly seeming to itch. “I’m sorry,” she said.

Twenty minutes later the bookshelf mess was cleaned up and Justin had given his promise that he’d replace it. He quickly signed the boys out and left.

“Don’t run in the hallway,” Justin called to Pilot and Race. He hitched Blue up higher in his arms and adjusted the strap of her diaper bag on his shoulder. She was usually the easiest to pick up. They made their way to the car and Justin unlocked the doors. Junior crawled in and Justin sat Blue in her seat, turning to pick up Pilot and Race. He strapped them all in and put the diaper bag on the passenger seat next to him.

********

 

“You can have one and… NO! Don’t touch that,” Justin said as he grabbed Pilot’s hand before it could disappear inside the paper shredder. Junior pulled one slice of cheese out of the fridge and pulled the wrapper off, tossing it in the trash.

Race was sitting in front of the TV with his eyes trained on the colorful dragons as they flew around. Blue was sitting next to him happily eating her cookies. Junior crawled back up into her space on the couch to eat her piece of cheese.

“Make it do dat noise,” Pilot said as Justin led him away from the machine.

“Dad can make it do the noise later. Sit with your brother and watch the dinosaurs,” Justin said. He turned up the volume on the TV and moved back towards the kitchen. He tossed some chicken breasts on the counter and moved towards the stairs. “I’m going to take a shower. Don’t touch anything.”

Justin knew he’d been heard. He also knew he was taking a huge risk leaving them unsupervised but he chanced it. He moved up the stairs and into the master bathroom. He turned on the shower and moved into the room to get out of his clothes.

********

 

Brian opened the door to the loft and shut it closed behind him. “Dad,” he heard all three voices say at once. They all ran over and wrapped their arms around his legs.

“Hey,” Brian greeted. He picked Race up and tickled him, repeating the action with Junior and Pilot. “Where’s your sister?”

“She was on the blanket with Race,” Junior said. They all abandoned Brian and moved back to their cartoon. Brian heard papers shuffling and turned quickly. Blue was sitting under his desk with a wad of paper in her mouth and four pens clutched in her hands, the pencil holder overturned and the contents littered under and around the desk.

“What are you doing?” Brian signed and asked.

“Draw,” Blue signed back, the pens dropping to the hardwood. Her legs were dotted in pen marks and scratches. Brian reached under the desk and pulled her out. He picked up all the pens and pencils and printer paper, with her helping.

“No. You know you don’t draw with Dad’s things,” Brian said. He knew his youngest daughter could understand him. She smiled and giggled as he climbed the stairs with her tucked under his arm.

Justin was just stepping out of the shower and drying his hair. “Hey,” Brian called as he walked into the room. He dropped Blue down in the middle of the bed and tossed his keys and his wallet on the dresser.

“Hey. I didn’t hear you come in,” Justin said as he walked into the bedroom. Brian stopped him, looked him up and down with a lewd smile and pressed their lips together. “Mm.”

“I wouldn’t think so,” Brian said, twirling a strand of Justin’s hair around his finger. “Your daughter was under my desk eating paper when I came in.” Justin grinned and moved away to grab a pair of jeans.

“And your daughter brought a bookcase to its knees. We have to buy them a new one,” Justin informed him. Brian shrugged and tossed his shirt on the bed next to Blue as he walked into the bathroom. “Pilot and Race were in time-out again; this time for biting.”

“That sounds about right.” Justin pulled his jeans on and Brian flushed the toilet. “Christ, I can’t stop going to the bathroom.”

“Maybe you should get your prostate checked out,” Justin said with little concern.

“Are you offering?” Justin slipped on a worn shirt and let Brian wrap his arms around him, melting his crotch into his ass.

“Maybe.”

********

 

Brian pulled Blue out of the soapy water and dried her off. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes as he fastened on a new diaper and put lotion on her. “Hopefully you will fall quickly into the land of dreams,” he said as he bent down to kiss her nose. He pulled her arms through the holes of her t-shirt and fastened it between her legs, slipping a pair of socks on her feet.

Brian hitched her up on his shoulder and rubbed her back as he made his way across the room and deposited her in her crib. He covered her with her blanket and made sure her bumblebee was next to her. They were trying to ease her off of the pacifier so he left it on the dresser.

Junior was already in the bed and sleeping, her face buried in her pillows. Justin was down the hall putting Pilot and Race down. He turned off the light in his daughters’ room and made sure the night light was working before closing the door, leaving only a small crack. He turned to walk down the stairs. Justin found him almost an hour later, hovering at the table over some work he’d brought home.

Justin walked into the kitchen, grabbed a beer and tossed the top onto the counter. “You want one?”

Brian shook his head. “What are you working on?” he asked Brian, falling into the seat next to him.

Brian eyed the papers thoughtfully before turning to Justin and sighing. “The Malone account. They want a new campaign to launch their new international branch.”

Justin nodded slowly. “This is huge. It could open up a whole new market for you.” He let his eyes trail over some of the concepts that were assembled.

“Not to mention the challenges. Nothing can kill an advertising business faster than boredom.” Brian picked up his can of ginger ale and took a slow sip. Justin eyed his every movement, his gaze lingering on the can.

Brian noticed and sat the can down with a clunk. “I’m fine; stomach just feels a little uneven.”

“If you say so,” Justin said and pulled his leg up into the chair and rested his chin on his knee.

“I do.”

Justin backed away from the topic. Brian leaned back and they both watched the papers in a comfortable silence. Almost ten minutes later Justin dropped his leg back to the floor, sat forward, and started rearranging the sample board and making notes along the sides. Brian watched him, ignoring the butterflies he was feeling in his stomach.

The hours passed quickly. The board samples had been moved to the floor. Justin was on his knees leaning over the main board and making notes and crossing things out with a black sharpie. “You can’t move this down,” Brian said with his eyes on the third board.

“Why not?” Justin looked up at him.

“When you move it down it pops out more,” Brian said. Justin looked down at the board.

“No it doesn’t. Plus, if you leave it where you had it then it looks too artificial. I like it,” Justin replied, leaving it where he’d put it.

They worked on the boards until Brian was satisfied enough with the changes. They sat on the floor with Justin’s head in Brian’s lap. “Julian thinks I should do a piece with Marcus. He might be onto something,” Justin said.

“And what do you think?” Brian looked down at Justin.

“I think I might do it,” Justin said with his eyes closed. Brian leaned down and pressed a kiss to Justin’s lips. Justin deepened it when Brian tried to pull away. “He dropped off the check from the Chicago exhibition.” Brian nodded. Justin opened his eyes and looked at him. He turned Brian’s head until he was breathing softly in his ear and whispered how much the check was for.

“Holy shit,” Brian said. “Almost makes the punch to the face pale in comparison.” Justin laughed and sat up with an exaggerated moan.

“Almost being the key word.” Brian huffed out a laugh and glanced at the clock. It was almost 5 o’clock in the morning. They cleaned up, climbed the stairs and fell into bed. Brian fell asleep quickly with Justin curled up next to him.

********

 

Justin yawned and poured Junior, Pilot and Race cups of milk. “What do you want for lunch?” he asked.

Junior took a bite of her toaster pastry and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Justin adjusted Blue on his hip and drank down another gulp of coffee. “Peanut butter and jelly,” Junior answered, “with bananas.”

“Me too,” Pilot said as he scooped cheerios into his mouth.

“Me too,” Race said into his cup, blowing air into the cup and making bubbles. Justin took out the jelly, strawberry for Junior and grape for Pilot and Race. He tossed a loaf of bread onto the counter and went to put Blue in her highchair.

“Okay,” Justin said, “peanut butter and jelly for everybody.” He reached over and took the cup away from Race’s mouth. “No more bubbles.”

“No,” Race stretched out, “more bub’les.”

“With bananas on mine, remember Daddy,” Junior said with a mouth full of pastry and milk. He nodded and moved back to the counter. He made and packed three lunchboxes, leaving them open on the counter. He turned his attention to the microwave and pulled out the bowl of hot water, adding a packet of oatmeal and stirring it together. He sat down and pulled Blue’s highchair in front of him.

Junior jumped up, her mouth covered in crumbs. Her hair was hanging down over her shoulders, held out of her face by four strategically placed barrettes. “Put your shoes on and then you and your brothers can pick out a juice box. One juice box,” he clarified. Junior nodded and helped Pilot and Race carry their bowls to the sink. She snatched her paper towel off the table and crumpled it up before tossing it in the trash.

“Okay,” she said happily. She skipped over to the front door and grabbed her abandoned yellow and white double-tongued Converse, slipping them on and tying them as quickly as she could. Her shirt was pink with a skateboard in the center and her cargo skirt was short with more pockets than Justin thought it should be able to have.

Justin scooped a spoonful of oatmeal into Blue’s mouth. She protested and reached for the spoon to feed herself. “Oh no,” Justin said. Her eyes focused on his mouth as he talked. “I don’t have time for you to make a mess. Come on,” he prompted and moved her hand away from the spoon. She let him feed her, taking pauses in between to drink from her cup.

Junior pulled the refrigerator door open and moved it back. Pilot and Race pushed into the space next to their sister and they all shifted through the juice boxes to get the ones they wanted. “Don’t fight,” Justin said as he heard the voices getting louder. “Get one and close the door… Junior, don’t pull things out of his hand.” Justin pushed another spoonful of oatmeal into his daughter’s mouth.

Pilot moved back first with a box of apple juice in his hand, Big Bird on the front. Blue shook her head and signed, “No.” Justin nodded and stood up, cleaned up her mouth and moved her tray back. He stood her on the floor and moved over to the sink. He wiped Junior’s mouth and took the juice boxes from them.

He put the juice in their respective lunchboxes, Pilot’s shaped like a racecar and Race’s shaped like a dump truck; Junior’s made to look like a ladybug. Pilot and Race were both wearing board shorts, Pilot’s black and Race’s dark navy blue. Pilot’s shirt was dark grey and emblazoned with a skull and crossbones, Race’s shirt with a Superman logo.

“Is it time to go now?” Junior asked. They were all eager to get to camp. Justin packed Blue a quick lunch and zipped all the bags closed. He packed Blue’s lunch into her diaper bag, made sure it had enough diapers and wipes and sat it by the door.

“Yeah, almost,” he answered as he made sure they had everything. He turned around and reached into the refrigerator. He pulled out two juice boxes and handed them to Junior. “Can you put those in Blue’s bag, on the side?”

“M’kay,” Junior answered, taking the boxes. Blue stopped next to Justin and reached up towards the counter.

“No,” Justin signed and said as he made sure the lid on the cup she’d been drinking from was screwed on tightly. He walked it over to her bag and pushed it into the other side pocket. “No more juice right now.” Blue started to pout. “No temper tantrums. No cup,” Justin said as he signed, leaning down to make himself eye level with her.

She sucked in her lip and made her way to the stairs, climbing them slowly on her hands and knees. Justin reached down and picked up his own shoes, putting them on quickly. “Okay, everyone go to the bathroom and then we can leave.” Junior took off for the bathroom and almost ran face first into a support beam. Justin followed his sons to make sure they actually did go to the bathroom and that it actually went into the potty chairs.

Blue made it to the top of the stairs and pushed herself up. She rubbed at her eyes, her hair longer and curling around the base of her neck. She made her way to the master bedroom and pushed open the partially closed door. She walked over to the bed and pulled herself up carefully, tucking herself under Brian as best as she could.

Brian absently ran his hand over her back. She popped her thumb in her mouth and watched him. “I smell oatmeal,” Brian said softly, his voice filled with sleep. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked against the brightness in the room. He smiled at his daughter and the pout on her face. “Daddy must have told you no.” He reached up and pulled her thumb from her mouth, throwing the covers off and padding across the room into the bathroom.

Blue looked up when she saw Justin enter the room with his keys in his hand. Brian flushed the toilet and washed his hands. He moved back into the bedroom and planted a kiss on Justin. “You must have said something she didn’t agree with,” Brian said as he got back on the bed and propped his back up against the headboard.

“I don’t want her walking around with that cup hanging out her mouth all the time. It’s not good for her teeth and it’ll just make it harder when we try to take it.” Brian lifted Blue up and nuzzled his face into her neck. She folded in on herself and giggled. Justin walked over and took her from Brian. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re not looking too hot.”

“Thanks,” Brian said with a ‘fuck you’ smile.

Blue leaned forward and Justin secured his hold on her. “Okay,” he said and let it go. “I’m going to drop them off at camp. When I get back maybe I can make you feel better before you leave.”

Brian stood up and kissed Blue smack on the lips. She reached out her arms for him but Justin held onto her. He turned his attention to Justin and kissed him hard, promisingly. Justin turned and left the bedroom. He gathered his small bunch and led them out the door and over to his car.

********

 

Location: Brian and Justin’s Bedroom.
Day: Friday, 9:00 a.m.


Justin sat up and wiped his hand over his mouth, flipping onto his back and staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face. “That’s not usually the reaction I expect, or get, from one of my blowjobs,” Justin said loud enough for Brian to hear him over his retching. He heard the toilet flush and suppressed the urge to laugh.

He heard the water turn on and the top of the toothpaste drop to the counter. Brian rinsed and came out of the bathroom still looking less than his normal color. “Fuck you,” Brian said without any feeling as he crawled back into bed and closed his eyes.

Justin turned on his side and ran his hand up and down Brian’s arm, letting it settle on his chest. “Seriously Brian, I think you should call the doctor just to get a check-up. It can’t hurt anything. Besides, early detection is the key and I need you around to help me take care of all these beings you helped create.”

Brian smiled up under the arm he’d flopped over his eyes. “Yeah,” he breathed. Justin leaned forward and kissed him along his jaw, rubbing his hand over Brian’s chest and over his neck. “I’ll call today.”

“Good,” Justin said as he groaned and rolled away from Brian. “I’ve got to go. I’m having lunch with Emmett and then meeting Julian. You’re picking the kids up today and you and Michael are taking them to the movies.”

“I can’t wait,” Brian said and choked down the urge to throw-up at the thought of popcorn covered in movie butter. Justin started the shower, stripped and stepped under the hot water.

********

 

Daphne scribbled her signature on a patient's release form and waited for her call to connect. “Hello?”

“Justin, hey,” she said. “It’s Daphne.” Justin laughed as he walked down the sidewalk, leaving the restaurant where he’d met Emmett.

“I know who you are, Daph,” he said. He had a meeting scheduled with Julian in a little less than an hour.

“Right, I know that,” she said. “I’m just frustrated as shit.” She grabbed another chart and moved down the hall, her pen clicked open and ready to use. She found an empty space to write and sat down. “I have to pull an extra shift and Damien is getting out of summer school soon. Cedric was supposed to pick him up but now he’s talking like he might not be able to.”

“And you called your best friend to see if he’d do you a tremendous favor and come and get your son and watch him until you, or Cedric, picked him up?”

Daphne smiled and said, “Something like that.”

Justin laughed and turned down another street. “You don’t have to beg. I’ll pick him up after my meeting with Julian. He wants me to work with Marcus.”

“The welding guy?” Daphne asked as she made notes on the chart. Justin adjusted his bag across his shoulders and flexed the hand that was holding his phone.

“Yeah,” Justin answered.

“Wow, okay,” Daphne said. They talked as Justin unlocked the front door of the building, took the elevator up, and unlocked the studio door. Justin closed the door behind him and armed the alarm. “Okay, work calls. Thanks.”

“No problem,” Justin said. He pushed his phone closed and slid it into his pocket. Julian showed up twenty minutes later in relaxed jeans and a blue t-shirt.

********

 

Lisa made sure all of the children were sitting quietly before signaling for the visiting storytelling group to begin. The lights dimmed and the lights on the small stage lit up, shining down on the elaborately decorated stage. Junior watched the play in silence, the puppets moving around seemingly by themselves.

“I want to curl up in a warm bath and sleep,” Jenny said very quietly.

Lisa smiled. “That sounds good.”

Jenny leaned into Lisa and bumped her with her shoulder. “I’ll trade my afternoon with you,” she offered. “You can deal with the Taylor-Kinney boys,” she rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Oh no fucking way,” Lisa said, gesturing for one of her kids to stop talking and pay attention. “I thought Lee was dealing with them.”

Jenny popped a piece of gum into her mouth. “He’s the co-director, he delegated,” she laughed. Everyone in the camp had been working together for years. They were more like family than anything. When summer was over the staff would switch the program back to before and after school.

The play ended and the children decided that that was their cue to make as much noise as possible. “Back to work,” Jenny said, moving to gather her group together. Lisa gathered hers and moved them back to the room for afternoon snack.

********

 

Time: 4:27 p.m.


Justin sat on the floor with his back against the wall, his hand moving quickly over the paper. He looked up when the studio door started to slide open. Knowing only two people, Brian and his mom, had keys he wasn’t too worried. He wasn’t surprised to see Brian appear in the doorway. “I have no idea how you work in here,” Brian said as he walked into the studio, leaving the door open.

“Everyone says that. What are you doing here? I thought you were going out with Michael.” Blue ran as quickly as she could over to Justin. He put his sketch to the side and caught her, kissing her neck and making her laugh. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Downstairs in the car with Michael,” Brian said. “I’m leaving bug with you. I don’t know when we’ll be back. Not too late. You want to go out after?” Brian pulled Justin up and stepped in close. “It’s been a long time since we’ve fucked in public.”

Justin melted against Brian and breathed him in. “Sounds good. You sure you’re up to it?”

Brian nodded. “Always,” he said. “I have an appointment on Monday. Stop worrying.” He dropped Blue’s bag to the floor and turned to walk back over to the door.

“I’ll call Chrissy and see if she can watch the kids.”

********

 

Blue wiggled against Justin, twisting and pushing against him as she tried to get him to release her. “No,” he said and signed with his free hand. He pulled her shirt back down and smoothed a hand over her rebellious hair.

“Hey.” Justin turned at the sound of Daphne’s voice and stood. Her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, stray pieces catching around her ears. She rolled up the long sleeves of the shirt under her scrubs and huffed tiredly as she came to a stop in front of him and flashed him a smile. “And hello to you,” Daphne signed and spoke loudly, taking Blue from his arms and thrusting the clipboard she was holding into his chest.

Blue’s fingers flew, happy with the new person to talk to. “She’s getting almost too good,” Justin said as Daphne tried to figure out all that she was trying to say. “She’s not even two yet and her vocabulary is crazy.”

“She has a lot of things to say,” Daphne said as she nuzzled Blue’s neck, making her laugh and press her face into Daphne’s shoulder. Daphne rubbed on her back and turned her gaze to Justin. “Thanks for coming to pick him up. I’ve got another shift and I know he’d be bored out of his mind. Cedric is supposed to come and pick him up, but…”

“Yeah,” Justin said as she sat back in the hard plastic chair. They both knew how unpredictable Cedric could be. Justin checked his watch, “Where is he anyway? Did you lose him?”

“Asshole, he’s in the bathroom,” Daphne said just as the door to the bathroom a little ways down the hall flung open. Damien walked over, still wiping his hand on his jeans, and smiled at his honorary Uncle.

“Hi,” Damien said quickly as all his attention flew to Blue. She smiled brightly when she saw him, struggling again to get free. Damien meant fun. “Hello,” Damien signed very slowly. He was still learning and was very proud of all the words he managed to remember.

“You ready to go?” Justin asked. He still had to call Chrissy. Damien nodded and Justin and Daphne stood. Daphne handed Blue back to Justin and picked up her clipboard while Damien turned to gather his things that he’d spread around the doctor’s lounge.

“He has a little more homework to do,” Daphne told Justin as they walked to the door. Blue was content to be moving, mesmerized by the sight of her pink shoe covered foot swinging behind Justin’s back.

“No Mom, I did do it all,” Damien said as he pulled the straps of his backpack up his arms.

“Yeah, right,” Daphne answered as she leaned down to give him a kiss. He kissed her back and gave her a quick hug. “Daddy is supposed to pick you up. If not then I’ll come and get you, okay?” Damien nodded and made his way out the lounge. “He is getting too big too fast.”

“Have another one,” Justin said simply.

“Yeah, sure,” she laughed. “I’ll get right on that.” Justin picked up Blue’s pacifier and her cup, moving the pacifier out of her reach when she made a grab for it. “You know what, we haven’t had an ‘us’ night in a while. I’m off on Sunday. We should do something.” Daphne looked down to check the pager clipped to her pants.

Justin hitched Blue up on his hip and nodded. “The kids are going to my mom’s house, so yeah,” Justin said. They both glanced down the hall to make sure Damien was still waiting.

“Great. And I get to pick the place this time,” Daphne said as she kissed him on the cheek. Her pager went off again and she rolled her eyes. “My God, what would they do without me? Thanks for this,” she gestured to her son who was rubbing something off of his hand.

“Almost anything for you,” he smiled. Her pager went off again and she pulled it off her pants.

“Okay, jeez,” she said as she gave a quick ‘bye’ and took off down the hall. Justin pulled the door to the lounge closed behind him and started walking to where Damien was waiting by the elevators.

“Are we going to get Pilot and Race and J?” Damien asked as the elevator doors slid open and then closed. Blue stared at her reflection in the metal. Justin watched her play peek-a-boo with herself. He checked his watch.

“No. They’re with Brian and Michael. It’s just you and me and Blue,” he answered. They walked out of the hospital and out towards the parking lot. Damien hopped along beside him, his hands wrapped around the straps of his backpack, the small silver bracelet around his wrist shining in the sun.

“Can we get a pizza?” Justin opened the back door and Damien climbed inside.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not.”

********

 

Brian and Michael sat with Pilot and Race between them, Junior and Emily on Michael’s left and Tyler on Brian’s right. They all clutched a small tub of popcorn and bags of candy, their drinks sitting in the cup holders. Brian slouched down in his seat and watched the movie, remembering back to when his Friday nights were filled with fucking and sucking as much as possible. Race looked over at him and patted his arm. “I have to go potty,” he said.

Brian smiled and moved the bucket of popcorn, handing it to Tyler. He checked and made sure no one else had to go, taking Pilot even though he said he definitely did not have to pee. All thoughts of anonymous fucking and sucking were pushed out of his mind as he grabbed their hands and led them out of the theatre.

Friday nights now weren’t bad, just different.

********

 

“Sure Mr. Taylor, I can sit for you tonight,” Chrissy said. She flopped back on her bed and tapped her pen against her thigh. “What time did you need me to come over?”

Justin looked across the room at Damien and Blue who were busy playing some game that they’d made up. “Let’s say around eleven.”

“Okay, I’ll be there,” Chrissy said before hanging up.

********

 

Location: Molly and Hunter’s Apartment


Molly frowned and made a face, her legs spread wide, pieces of baby furniture around her. “Oh, oh, okay, wait. I’m holding the directions upside down,” she said with a laugh. Hunter dropped the sides of the crib with a smile.

“I fucking told you that almost ten minutes ago,” Hunter said with a laugh. Molly fell backwards and laughed. Ollie and J.D. were weaving through the mess and barking as they laughed.

“The picture looked right side up,” Molly said as she wiped away tears of laughter. She struggled back into a sitting position and made herself as comfortable as she could.

“That’s why I said read the instructions. Not look at the pictures.” Hunter’s shirt was off and his tattoos were making his skin look tanner. Molly scratched at her belly and coughed.

“We should have had them put it together at the store. We paid enough for it,” she said, pulling at the waist band of her sweats, her tank top barely stretching over her stomach. “I have to pee again, and the bathroom seems so far away. Help me up?” She held her arms up and Hunter moved over to help her up.

“I think I just pulled something.” Molly’s mouth dropped open as Hunter let her arm go.

“Oh you asshole,” she said. “Oh you are paying for that one.” She waddled through the apartment and into the bathroom.

********

 

Justin changed all the kids into their pajamas while Brian took a shower and changed. “I take it they had fun,” Justin said as Brian walked out of the closet with his shoes in his hand.

“You would guess right,” Brian said. “Punctuated by Junior throwing up outside the car. Incidentally, movie popcorn smells the same coming back up.”

“Thanks for the visual,” Justin said as he left the bedroom. Brian put his shoes on and followed Justin out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “Okay, Daphne should be here sometime tonight, but I’m not sure when.”

“Okay,” Chrissy said. Damien was curled up asleep on the futon cushion with a blanket over him.

“They had a pretty long day so they shouldn’t give you any trouble,” he told her. Brian moved behind Justin and ghosted a hand over his neck. “And we’re trying to use the pacifier as little as possible.”

“Hi, Mr. Kinney,” Chrissy said as she moved so they could walk out the door.

“Hello Chrissy,” Brian said. “You look as beautiful as ever.” Justin walked out the door and Brian followed, his hand still holding onto Justin’s neck. Chrissy slid the door closed behind them with a smile, made her way to the couch and flipped through the channels.

********

Brian’s eyes were glossed over as he leaned against the wall of the backroom. Justin was on his knees, Brian’s cock buried down his throat. He grunted and laced his fingers tighter into Justin’s hair as he came. He could feel the muscles in Justin’s throat as he swallowed. “Fuck that was good.” Justin stood up and kissed Brian deep and hard.

“You’re not going to go running for the nearest bathroom are you?” Justin asked, his voice tainted with lust. Brian felt life coming back into his legs and inched himself up higher on the wall with his fingers moving to tuck himself back in and button his jeans.

He glared at Justin through the haze of alcohol and ignored the question. They left the club, the sudden rush of cooled summer air washing away the veil of alcohol. They made their way back to the loft and Justin waited by the door while Brian paid the cab driver.

Chrissy slipped her shoes on. Justin paid her and she left. Damien was still curled up on the floor sleeping. A quick survey of the bedrooms revealed four kids still sleeping. Justin took in a deep breath as Brian’s hips crashed into his and guided him quickly to the bed. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

********

 

The rest of the weekend passed in a blur of tiny voices, dirty clothes, trips to the park, a particularly bloody nose from Pilot after Junior threw a toy across the playroom and hit him in the face, and Blue overcoming the obstacle of bow biters.

Justin stood leaning against the washing machine on Sunday night, tired from his afternoon with Daphne, and searching for socks and underwear for the kids. He made a mental note to put the laundry away.

********

 

Time: Monday, 8:11 a.m.


Brian walked into his doctor’s office and sat down on the examination table. Patrick Manning walked in with a smile on his face. “Brian, what brings you here?”

“I missed you,” Brian said flatly.

Patrick laughed as he scanned the form that Brian had filled out. “It was almost believable,” he said. “Says here that you’ve been nauseous and having frequent urinations.”

“That sounds about right,” Brian said.

Patrick stood up with a smile and sat the charts on the counter. “First things first, we’ll have you change into this.” Patrick dug a gown out of one of the drawers on the metal cart and handed it to Brian. “Then we’ll do a full exam.”

Brian stood up and started to undo his shirt. “Great.”

Brian changed out of his clothes and Patrick slipped on a pair of gloves. He examined Brian thoroughly before sitting down on the rolling stool next to the examination table. He pulled off the gloves and tossed them in the trash. “Everything looks normal,” Patrick said. He turned around and grabbed a specimen cup out of the top drawer of the cart. “Think you can give us a sample?”

“I can certainly try,” Brian said. He snatched the specimen cup from his longtime doctor and friend and went into the bathroom. He came back out a few minutes later with a full cup. He handed it to Patrick with a smile.

“Okay, I’ll run this down to the lab and have them put a rush on it,” he said. “You can go ahead and put your clothes back on.” Brian ripped the gown off and balled it up. He sat in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come back. He checked his watch, sighed and was about to leave when there was a knock on the door.

Patrick came in and sat back down. He went through the papers in his hand. “I hope it didn’t take too long.”

“I was about to fucking leave,” Brian said with clear irritation at being made to wait for longer than five minutes. Patrick smiled up at him and looked back down at the papers.

“I’m glad you found it in your heart to stay,” he said. “According to the results I got back from the lab, you’re pregnant. Judging from how fast we got a positive I’d say that you’re pretty far along. We won’t know for sure until we do an ultrasound.” Patrick stopped talking and looked up at Brian.

Brian swallowed once and blinked. “What? How? I mean… I fucking know how, but… Are you sure?”

“I had them check it four times. I take it this wasn’t planned,” Patrick said. He took note of Brian’s suddenly quiet demeanor. “Do you want to do the ultrasound and see how far along you are?” The only time Brian could remember not using a condom was while they were in Chicago. That he could remember.

“Yeah,” he almost whispered. A thousand things were swirling through his head. Patrick nodded and moved to prep the ultrasound machine. He instructed Brian to lay back and pull up his shirt. Brian complied and when the screen of the machine came into focus he saw the clear outline of not one but two babies.

Patrick focused the image and snapped pictures. “You look to be about three and a half months along. As small as you are it’s no wonder you couldn’t tell. I’m sure you don’t need me to point it out, but that right there is baby 1 and that is baby 2. Congratulations,” Patrick said.

“I’ll kill him.”

********

 

Brian walked into Kinnetik and headed straight for his office. The employees knew enough to stay out of his way. “Cynthia,” Brian buzzed. He pulled off his sunglasses and tossed them on the desk. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes,

“Yes Brian,” she answered through the intercom.

“Get Justin on the phone and if you don’t get through keep calling.”

“You got it,” she said and cut the connection.

Justin picked up the phone after the third call, throwing his paintbrush into the cooling water and suppressing the urge to scream. “What the fuck do you want, Brian?”

“Hello to you too, Justin,” Cynthia said.

“Cynthia, hi,” Justin said with just enough embarrassment.

“Let me connect you with Brian. He seemed pretty eager to talk to you. He’s in one of his moods.” Cynthia buzzed Brian’s office. “Justin is on line one.”

“Thanks,” Brian said as she connected the calls.

“Brian?”

“Hey.”

“What the hell is so important that you have Cynthia calling me repeatedly? You know I have work to do. When you interrupt me I lose the flow. Oh god, did something happen at the doctor's? Are you okay? Brian…”

“I’m pregnant,” Brian interjected. Justin’s mouth slammed shut around what he’d been about to say.

“What did you say?”

“You heard me,” Brian said. “I don’t know why I didn’t notice the signs. I didn’t even give being pregnant a possibility. The last time was a pretty long fucking time ago,” he said.

“But… but… how. I mean, I know how but… what.” Justin leaned across the counter and sighed as he ran a hand over his face. He took a couple of calming breaths. “We’re always careful.”

“Not always,” Brian said quickly. Justin nodded. He knew Brian was telling the truth. They weren’t always careful, sometimes too eager and wrapped up in the moment to worry about using anything. Justin was seemingly out of his studio and at the offices of Kinnetik before Brian could think to take his next breath.

He walked into Brian’s office and flicked the switch on the wall that rendered the glass opaque. Brian looked up at him and shook his head. “All I keep thinking is that we have four kids,” Justin said. “What the hell are we going to do with another baby?”

“Two,” Brian said. Justin leaned forward in his chair. “Yeah, two babies, not one. We’ll have to move,” Brian said absently.

“We’re okay. We’ll be okay. We can do this,” Justin reasoned. He ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

Brian nodded and leaned on the top of his desk. “We need a new place, but we’re not selling the loft,” Brian said.

“Okay,”

“I’m not telling your mother,” Brian said.

Justin opened his mouth and then closed it. “Fine,” he said and crossed his arms. Brian stood up quickly and moved around his desk, grabbing Justin’s arm.

“We’re fucking, now. Come on.” Justin stood up and followed Brian into the bathroom, pulling off his clothes as they walked.

********

 

Location: Petsmart.

Molly waited next to her car as the young boy picked up one of the large bags of dog food. Ollie and J.D. were walking around inside the trunk of the SUV. “I just don’t see why it doesn’t come with a handle on it, ya know,” she said to him.

“You’d think they would think of that,” he told her as he situated the first bag in the car. Molly’s cell phone rang and she answered it quickly. She absently rubbed her belly, thinking about the bag of chips she had at home.

She held the phone up to her ear and a smile spread over her face. “Hey asshole,” she said to her husband. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, Babe,” Hunter said. He covered his hand over his other ear to block out the noise of the crowds. His left wrist was bandaged from a hard fall. Charlie and Rick were up on the ramps. Trey was repairing the wheels on his bike. “Good. I’m up in a few minutes, and I’m a little banged up, but basically good.”

“How banged up?” Molly asked as the boy started on the other bag of dog food. She shifted her weight to the other leg.

“Not much. Just a wrist so far,” he said and Molly nodded. “How’re my babies?”

“They’ve been moving around a bit for the last day or so. Are you still…” Molly stopped talking and the boy closed the trunk of the car, making sure the cart was empty.

“Hey, oh man, you’re umm… leaking,” he managed to say as he pointed at the clear liquid dripping down Molly’s legs and wetting the denim of her jeans.

“Molly, you okay?” Hunter asked.

“… Coming home tomorrow?” she finished asking. “Fuck me. I think my water just broke.” The boy looked confused and excited. Molly tightened her grip on the phone. “I don’t even feel anything. I thought I was supposed to feel something.”

“Molly,” Hunter said. “You need to call someone. Where are you?”

“Petsmart, with Ollie and J.D.,” she answered flatly. “I’ll just drive myself home. I’m fine, really.”

“I’d feel better if you called your mom or someone to come and pick you up. I’ll catch the first flight out as soon as I can leave.”

“Yeah, finish the show first. I’ll be fine. Get here as soon as you can okay,” she said. “I’m gonna call my mom.”

“Okay. I love you,” Hunter said.

Molly looked down at the growing puddle and took a step forward. “You fucking better,” she said and disconnected the call.

********

 

Location: Pittsburgh Hospital Center.


Molly brushed Jennifer’s hand off her shoulder and took a stuttered breath. “Mom, please,” she said with thick irritation. Jennifer moved her hands away from her daughter with a smile. “Where the fuck is the doctor?”

“The nurse said he was on his way.”

“Oh bullshit…” Molly sat up and tried to breathe like Jennifer prompted. Tucker walked back into the room.

“Hunter called again for an update,” he said. Molly let out all the air she had inside as the contraction passed.

“Where in the hell is he?” Molly yelled. Jennifer moved the damp hair out of Molly’s face. “This is nothing like on TV,” she said with a weak smile.

“He’s on standby at the New York airport. He should be here soon,” Tucker said. Molly blinked back a tear and sniffed.

“He better be. Oh this hurts. I’m pretty sure this hurts,” Molly said as an extremely potent contraction hit. She grabbed onto the handrail and Jennifer’s hand, suppressing the urge to scream.

********

 

“Okay,” Justin said as they pulled into the parking lot at the grocery store. “Call us when you get more news. Is Hunter there yet?” Brian parked the car and turned off the engine.

“No,” Jennifer said into the phone. “Tucker’s on his way to pick him up; he just touched down at the airport. She’s having another contraction, I better go.” Jennifer cut the connection and Justin got out of the car, pushing his phone back into his pocket.

“Molly’s in labor,” Justin told Brian.

“That is definitely not something I’m looking forward to again,” Brian said. Justin laughed and held Junior’s hand as she jumped out of the car.

“It’s not so bad,” Justin said. “And the drugs are a bonus.” Brian thought about that. That was something to put on the checklist.

He closed the back door, Blue in his arms, and walked around the car. He took Pilot’s hand and Justin held onto Race. “I’m not pushing a cart,” Brian said. Junior walked ahead of them with her shoelaces untied. They walked through the doors of the grocery store and Brian took a deep breath. “Junior, tie your shoe.”

Junior stooped down to pull at her laces and Justin pulled a cart out of the rack. He fastened Blue’s cart cover onto the cart. Brian lowered his daughter into the cart and pulled off his sunglasses, tucking them into his pocket. “You have to push a cart because I’m putting the boys in one.” Brian pulled another cart out of the rack. “If you behave I’ll give you something,” Justin said in Brian’s ear.

“I think you’ve given me enough,” Brian said, wrapping his hands around the handle of the cart. Justin smiled and started toward the aisles.

It didn’t take too long for Blue to start crying, Pilot and Race to start fighting, and Junior to start pouting. Justin put another box of juice boxes under the cart Pilot and Race were sitting in. He’d lost Brian two aisles back, and he was slowly catching up. He’d put more shit into the cart than Justin had.

“Enough,” Justin said to the boys as he pulled Blue’s pacifier from his pocket and popped it in her mouth. He picked Race up out of the cart and stood him on the floor next to his sister. “Stop whining,” he said to Junior. “Here, help me. Take your brother and this juice to your Dad. He’s right over there. See?”

“Yes,” Junior nodded and wrapped her hand around Race’s. “Come on,” Junior said as she pulled him down the aisle. Justin watched her until he was sure Brian saw them coming. He turned back to his cart. Blue was playing with a toy attached to her cart cover and Pilot was crinkling the wrapper on the bag of individually boxed raisins.

Brian picked up his son when they reached him and deposited him in the front seat of his cart. “Are you driving Daddy crazy?” Race smiled.

“I not dwiv’in him cwazy,” Race said loudly, swinging his legs back and forth. Junior leaned into Brian’s legs.

“How long do we have to stay here?” she asked.

Brian picked up a box of condoms and tossed them in the cart. He picked up another box and turned them over. “Long enough for Dad to want to kill someone,” he told her.

“Who?” Junior asked with wonder. Brian didn’t answer. Junior huffed and walked back over to where Justin was standing at the end of the aisle.

“Put your hands back in the cart,” Justin said to Pilot.

“Daddy, Dad said he’s gonna kill someone,” she said as she climbed up onto the side of the cart. Justin held it steady as she jarred it. “Can we get pudding?”

“Uh,” Justin moved around the cart and picked up some cans of food from the bottom shelf, “yeah. And as long as it’s not us we don’t have to worry.” He picked up a box of cereal and gave it to Junior. “Go and put this in Dad’s cart.” Junior took off down the aisle towards where Brian was standing with the cart.

“Here,” Junior said as she reached over the edge of the cart and dropped the box. Race craned his head to see what she was adding to their things, clinging tightly to the box of condoms Brian had given him. Brian looked over at her briefly. He reached for the bottle of lube he was inspecting and gave it to his daughter.

“Take this to Daddy,” Brian said. Junior took a dramatic intake of breath and turned to run back to Justin. “Don’t run.”

Junior came to a halt in front of Justin, dropping the bottle of lube and accidentally kicking it as she bent down to pick it up. Justin looked down and pushed his cart a little further up the aisle, ignoring the stares of some of the other customers. She finally wrapped her hands around the bottle and stood up. “Dad said to give this to you,” she said and pulled at her underwear.

“Don’t do that,” Justin said as he took the bottle.

“But, my panties are in my butt,” Junior reasoned. Justin sighed and read the bottle.

Pilot sat slumped up against the side of the basket and without his twin brother next to him was fast asleep. Justin gave her the bottle back. “Tell Dad I said ‘no’.”

“Okay,” Junior said. She took the bottle back and turned on her heels. She walked down the aisle she’d last seen Brian in. When she didn’t see him she turned a corner and almost ran into a woman in a wheelchair. Brian was standing in front of the apples when she found him three aisles over. “Daddy said to tell you ‘no’.”

Brian took the bottle of lube from her and tossed it in the basket anyway. Race was happily eating from a stem of grapes Brian had given him. “Can I have some?” Brian broke her off a stem and she ran off in search of Justin.

“Are you hungry?” Justin asked Blue as she sat in the cart. It was getting close to dinner time. Justin checked his watch. They’d been in the store for over an hour. He opened up the door where the milk was kept and put two gallons into the cart.

“Hungry,” Blue signed and tried to say. She’d been getting more vocal, and at just over a year old was right on track according to her doctor. Junior walked up to the cart and Blue smiled down at her. Junior held up a grape for her and Blue pushed the pacifier out of her mouth, grabbing the large seedless grape from her sister.

“Can we get chocolate milk too?” Justin frowned at the unwashed fruit they were eating. He reached back into the refrigerator and got a box of chocolate milk.

“Okay, just a few more things and then we can go,” Justin said. He pushed his cart away from the milk. Blue reached out for another grape and Junior followed the cart. Justin picked up all the rest of the things they needed quickly. He made his way back around the store until he met up with Brian who was flirting with some guy.

Justin watched them for a minute with a smirk on his face. Junior gave Blue another grape and popped one into her own mouth. “Justin?”

Justin turned and came face to face with a girl he’d gone to school with. “Camille,” Justin said. “Hey.” Blue blinked at the woman and chewed on her grape, juice and saliva dripping down her chin.

“Oh my god, I thought it was you. I haven’t seen you in forever. How’ve you been?” Junior patted Justin on the hip and thrust her empty grape stem up at him. He took it and smiled at Camille.

“Pregnant,” he said as she took note of the two kids in his cart, the older girl, and the second toddler in the cart where the girl was heading. “You?”

“Wow, they’re adorable. And that must be Brian over there, he’s still gorgeous,” she said. She’d met Brian once in passing when he’d dropped Justin off at class one day. “Me? Nothing as interesting as you, I’m afraid. I’ve been taking freelance pictures for the paper.”

“Really,” Justin said. “I just started working photography into my art. Maybe we could do something together.”

“Wow, are you serious? I mean, you’re a huge name now in the art world. You’d be willing to work with me?” A huge smile was spread across her face.

Justin shrugged. “Not that huge, but thanks, and yeah,” he told her. He pulled a card out of his back pocket and handed it to her. “Give me a call and we’ll get together at my studio, see what we can do.”

“Wow. Thanks, I’ll definitely do that. It was so nice talking to you again.” She hugged him and waved at Blue as she walked away. Justin pushed his cart over to Brian, taking note that the man he’d been flirting with was gone.

“Losing your touch?” Justin asked with a smile. Junior was turning Brian’s cart around with his help. Justin walked next to Brian as they headed for the checkout lanes.

“Never,” Brian said and showed Justin the number in his hand.

Checkout was relatively easy. Getting the bags into the car, the kids into the car, the kids out of the car, and the groceries out of the car and up to the loft was a slightly more difficult task. One that they’d come to master over time. To anyone passing by it all appeared seamless.

Junior helped drag the large container of Tide out of the elevator and across the floor. Brian all but slammed the loft door shut behind them. Justin unloaded the last bag and picked up the Tide. “Thank you.”

Junior moved to climb the stairs to her room and take off her shoes. “That,” Brian said as they both sat down heavily on the couch, “is why there are shopping services.”

“I’d rather go. I never know what I want,” Justin said. They heard the sound before it could even completely register in their minds. Brian looked over first and then Justin. Pilot was standing in the middle of the floor with his legs crossed and a growing puddle of pee around his feet.

“Rock, paper, scissors,” Brian said, holding his hand up.

Justin smiled. “Best two out of three.”

********

 

Hunter rounded the corner and ran down the hall, looking for the room number that Tucker had given him. He found it quickly and pushed the door open just as Molly was pushing for the fourth time. “Okay Molly,” the doctor said from between her legs. Jennifer waved him in and Tucker followed not shortly after.

“Hey,” Hunter said. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, strands sticking to her face.

“Fuck,” Molly said as she grabbed onto his uninjured hand and pushed as hard as she could while Jennifer, the doctor, and the nurse counted down. The contraction passed and Molly gave out a small whimper, her legs shaking.

“How long have you been pushing?” Molly waved his question off as the nurse wiped her forehead. Hunter turned his attention to Jennifer.

“A little over thirty-five minutes, give or take,” she said. Molly’s grip on his hand tightened and the doctor moved in a little closer, reaching onto the tray behind him and grabbing a few things.

“Okay Molly, let's make this one really count. Push as hard as you can,” he said. Molly pushed and felt the burn as the babies head started to come. “Very good,” he told her. Hunter held onto her hand and moved so that he could see what the doctor was looking at. The doctor moved his gloved fingers around the head of the baby. “Come on, push.”

“Holy shit,” Hunter said.

“Holy shit,” Tucker repeated. Jennifer rolled her eyes. Five more big pushes and Molly and Hunter were the proud parents of a healthy sized baby boy. The nurse weighed him and took his foot and handprints. They handed him back to her wrapped in a blanket and wearing a blue hat.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Hunter said quietly as he sat on the bed next to her looking down at his son.

“Me either,” Molly said. She turned her head and kissed him. He pressed another kiss to the side of her head when she moved away. Tucker took pictures after staring down at what was effectively his grandson.

“Molly, he is so cute,” Jennifer gushed. They stayed until Molly was moved into her permanent room and the baby was taken to get cleaned up. She kissed Molly on the cheek and then Hunter. “Congratulations, you guys. I’ll make sure to call your brother and tell him. Do you want me to call your father?”

Molly shook her head. “No, I will.”

“Okay,” Jennifer said as Tucker hugged Hunter and gave Molly a kiss. “Try and get some sleep.” They left and Hunter eased onto the bed next to his wife.

“I love you so much,” Hunter said as he kissed her slowly. He rested his forehead against hers. “And I am never eating you out again.”

Molly laughed and eased back further into the bed.

********

 

“They’re all down. Did I beat your record?” Justin asked as he sat down next to Brian, their legs touching. Brian drank some of his water and shook his head.

“I’m afraid not, Sunshine. I still hold the record at fifteen minutes. You clocked in at 19:07,” Brian informed him with a satisfied smile. Justin laughed and moved to straddle Brian’s legs. “When I’m all fat and can’t move will you still think I’m sexy?” Brian leaned back onto the futon cushion.

Justin thought about it. “Probably not,” he said with a smile. Justin brought their lips together and didn’t resist when Brian’s tongue found its way into his mouth. Justin sat up with a smile on his face and pulled his shirt over his head. “What did the elusive Mr. Patrick Freeman say when you offered to buy his company?”

Brian smiled and ran his hands down Justin’s chest and over his stomach. “He said,” he stopped and pulled Justin in close. “He said he would be more than happy to sell.” Justin smiled and crashed his lips into Brian’s.

“I wish I could have seen Jake’s face when he told him,” Justin said. Brian moaned as Justin moved his hips against him. Justin moved his hands under Brian’s shirt and pulled it over his husband’s head.

“Knowing he is sitting at home right now updating his resume is enough for me,” Brian said. Justin nodded as Brian marked the skin on his neck. Justin moved down, licking and biting a trail down Brian’s body, rubbing his hand slowly over Brian’s stomach before reaching to undo his jeans.

********

 

Location: Molly and Hunter’s Apartment.
Time: Three Days Later.


Molly sat on the bed with her legs crossed. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she reluctantly had her glasses on. She took a slow deep breath and ran her hand over her mouth, rolling the back of her ring against her lips. Her shirt was a v-neck and her sleeping pants were old and too long, black with small pictures of condoms and lube, the words ‘FUCK ME’ emblazoned across the ass.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do now?” Molly asked slowly. She looked over at Hunter. He was similarly dressed, his pants covered in skateboards rather than sexual paraphernalia. They locked eyes and then both trained their gaze back to the middle of the bed where their three day old son, Oz, was sleeping comfortably on his side.

“I’m assuming we raise him,” Hunter replied with a shrug.

“How are we supposed to do that, exactly?” Molly sat up sharply when he took a deep breath and moved his hand over his mouth, sucking on the skin.

Hunter leaned back against the pillows and crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll start small. We’ll be kick ass at this,” he said with confidence.

Molly nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “We’ve just got to try not to drop him.”

“Again.”

“Again,” Molly agreed.

Hunter waved at the mess across the room. “Maybe we should start by putting together some of the furniture.” Molly nodded.

“Yeah, that would seem logical.”

Time: Day Four.

“The water is too hot, Hunter.” Molly pulled the small hat off of her son’s head and tossed it on the counter. He wiggled against her shoulder, not appreciating the cold. His hair was dingy blonde and short. Molly pressed her hand against his back.

“No it’s not, I checked it,” Hunter said. “Come on.” Molly unfastened his diaper and let Hunter take him. She rolled the diaper up and tossed it in the trash, their attempt to figure out how to use the diaper genie abandoned.

Hunter lowered Oz down into the water and watched his face scrunch up, his eyes still trying to focus. Molly handed Hunter the baby soap and he pumped some out onto a small towel. Oz did not appreciate the towel or the water. He took two deep breaths, opened his mouth and started to cry at the same time that he started to pee. “He’s peeing on me,” Hunter said with panic.

Molly moved around Hunter to block the stream with her hand. Hunter held him up and Molly used a cup to rinse him off. “I think that went fairly well,” she said as Hunter handed him to her and she wrapped him in a hooded towel.

“I feel dirty.”

Time: Afternoon, Day Four.

“What the fuck is that for?” Hunter asked, gesturing to the jar of Vaseline and Q-tips that Molly had sitting beside her.

“The doctor said to put it all around the head of his penis when we change his diaper,” she said as she stuck a Q-tip into the jar and smoothed the Vaseline on. “It’s supposed to aid in healing or something.”

“Okay,” he said, focusing his attention back to the bassinet.

Time: Day Nine.

“What are you doing?” Molly asked. Hunter looked up at her and moved over on the couch so she could sit down.

“This is the coolest thing. Check it out.” He placed his hand under Oz’s chest and held him up in front of them, his small legs hanging on either side of his arm and his little blue onesie stretched around his diaper. Hunter ran his finger down one side of his spine and then the other and his butt shifted from side to side.

Molly smacked him in the arm with the blanket she was holding. “Don’t do that,” she said.

“It doesn’t hurt him. I asked the doctor at his check-up,” Hunter said. Molly shook her head and undid the clasp on her bra. Hunter did it again.

“Give him to me,” she said and took him, positioning him at her breast and urging him to latch on, wincing when he did.

Time: Day Ten. 4:00 a.m.

Molly smacked Hunter upside the head as she crawled back into bed, Oz slowly falling back into a deep sleep inside his bassinet. Her nipples hurt and she longed for a long uninterrupted day of doing nothing. And he was asleep. She hit him one more time.

********

 

Time: Day Ten. 4:00 a.m.


Brian sat up staring out the large window in the living room and wanting desperately to smoke a cigarette. His back hurt. He’d gained what felt like thirty pounds in less than a few days and he’d ended up having to tell Jennifer after all. She was thrilled. Worried for their sanity, but thrilled.

He couldn’t sleep. He’d been the same way when he was pregnant with Junior, staying up all night and sleeping in patches throughout the day. He put his hand on his stomach. Since he’d found out he was pregnant it seemed like he’d started to show.

“Great,” he thought as he patted his stomach, sat down and turned the television on with the volume down low. Maybe he’d fall into some type of sleep.

********

 

Justin woke up earlier than usual and made his way to the kitchen. He started the coffeemaker and pulled out a mug. He heard the toilet flush and smiled at Brian as he walked out of the playroom. “You didn’t come to bed,” Justin said.

Brian walked into the kitchen and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I found some pretty decent properties online though. I figure we can give the list to Jennifer and have her check them out.” Justin nodded.

“Sounds like a plan.”
 

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