After the Fall

Chapter 10

“Daddy, me ‘n Patrick need snacks,” Bree stated, as she stood in front of the chaise where Justin was working on his laptop.

“Hm,” Justin said, continuing to work on the design he was playing around with.

“Daddy, snacks!” Bree repeated.

“There’s some carrot sticks in the fridge,” Justin said absently.

“Don’t want healthy snacks.”

“Well, that’s all you’re getting.”

“No!” Bree said forcefully.

“You heard me, young lady,” Justin replied looking up from the screen of his computer.

“Patrick wants cookies.”

“Patrick wants cookies?” Justin questioned.

“Yes,” Bree told him. “Patrick needs cookies to make his arm better.”

“Really?” Justin said with a smile.

Bree bobbed her head. “And chocklet milk for strong bones,” she added.

“What do you know about strong bones?”

“I learned it at school.”

Justin grinned. His daughter was too smart by half. “Okay, I think we can arrange for cookies and chocolate milk this one time,” Justin said giving in to the logic of Princess Bree.

“Yay!” Bree crowed.

Justin set down his laptop and got out of the chaise. “Come with me and we’ll see what we can find in the way of unhealthy snacks.”

Bree slipped her hand into her father’s and they walked to the kitchen. Justin pulled down a bag of Oreos that he kept for emergency purposes. He took out two cookies for each child. He knew there was chocolate milk in the fridge, so he grabbed the quart and poured it into two plastic glasses that had lids that could be snapped on. He placed everything in a bag and handed it to Bree.

“Enjoy!” he said.

“Thanks, Daddy, I love you,” Bree said batting her baby blues at her father.

“And you love me even more when I give you cookies and chocolate milk, right?”

“Yep,” Bree agreed as she ran out into the sun porch. She and Patrick were playing out in the Wendy house.

Justin shook his head and chuckled to himself.

“Where’s she going in such a hurry?” Brian asked as he came into the kitchen from the sun porch. He was wearing his gardening clothes and pulling off his gardening gloves.

Justin looked at his husband. He could see the little rings of sweat that peeked out under Brian’s armpits. There was also a patch of sweat on the front of his T-shirt. Justin knew there would be a matching one on Brian’s back. He imagined his tongue licking all over Brian’s chest.

“Earth to Justin,” Brian said, as he got no response from his spouse.

“Huh?”

“Where the fuck were you?” Brian asked. “I wanted to know where Bree was running off to.”

“Oh … um … she and Patrick are in the Wendy house.”

“And where were you?”

Justin felt his cheeks grow warm.

“You’re blushing,” Brian smirked. “Come on. Spill.”

“I was licking the sweat off your … chest.”

“Were you now?” Brian grinned. “I like the sound of that.”

“So do I,” Justin said. He picked up the bag of Oreos and took one out. “Cookie?” he asked Brian, holding out the bag.

“No thanks. Those things’ll kill ya.”

“Not today,” Justin replied around a mouthful of Oreo.

“If you finish your cookie, I could provide a sweaty chest chaser.”

Justin almost choked on his cookie. “Oh?”

“Have you got time? What about the kids?” Brian asked with a frown.

“Beau’s with them. They’re having their own milk and cookies.”

“Then let’s go for it,” Brian said grabbing Justin’s hand and pulling him towards their bedroom.

 

*****
 

Bree skipped into the Wendy house carrying her bag of goodies. “I got cookies and chocklet milk,” she said proudly. Beau raised his head and looked at the children. When everything seemed to be fine with them, he laid his head down and went back to sleep.

“Wow! Your dad let you?” Patrick asked in surprise.

“Yep,” Bree said bobbing her head.

She sat down beside Patrick and opened the bag. She pulled out one glass of milk and handed it to Patrick. He held it against his body and tried to remove the snap on lid with his good hand.

“I do it for you,” Bree said, setting the bag down and carefully removing the lid of Patrick’s milk. She handed the opened glass to Patrick.

“Yum, good,” Patrick said, taking a big gulp. “I didn’t think your dad would give us chocolate milk and cookies.”

“I told him it was good for fixing bones,” Bree said proudly as she handed Patrick a cookie.

“You did?” Patrick grinned.

Bree nodded her head and took a drink of her own milk. “Daddy said we should have carrot sticks, but I wanted cookies and milk.”

“You did good.”

“I know.”

“At least there’s one good thing about having this cast. It got us good snacks.”

“Yeah,” Bree agreed. “Does it hurt?” she asked, looking at Patrick’s arm.

“Naw, it really doesn’t hurt anymore, but it’s hot and itchy.”

“I don’t want a broken arm,” Bree decided.

“I didn’t want one either.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t ride the horses anymore,” Bree said thoughtfully, as she munched on her Oreo.

“I like riding,” Patrick declared.

“But what if you broke your other arm?”

“I don’t care. I like riding.”

“I like it too,” Bree declared.

“But you shouldn’t try to show off when you’re riding,” Patrick told her.

“I shouldn’t?” Bree asked.

“No, that’s what I did, and then I fell off.”

“Oh,” Bree said with a frown. “Why were you showing off?”

“Because you were gone for weeks, and I wanted to show you that I could do something you couldn’t.”

Bree looked thoughtful. “I think there’s lots of things that you can do that I can’t. You shouldn’t show off anymore.”

“I know. I’m not going to. And you shouldn’t either,” Patrick warned her.

“I won’t,” Bree promised. “So, you want to go riding again?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“Um … I guess so.”

“Just think, Bree. When we get really good, we could ride the horses all by ourselves. We could go all over the farm.”

“I like that.”

“Me too,” Patrick said with a big smile.

“Just don’t break anything else,” Bree said solemnly.

“I won’t.”

“I love you, Patrick.”

“Love you too.”

“Here’s your other cookie,” Bree said holding out the other Oreo.

“Thanks,” Patrick said smiling from ear to ear. Maybe being in this cast wasn’t so bad after all.

 

*****
 

“Fuck, Brian. That was a good one.” Justin rolled onto his back and tried to breathe normally.

“It was you lapping up all my sweat that got me all horny.”

“I’ll have to remember to do that every time you come in from gardening,” Justin giggled.

“I could get used to that.”

“Me too.”

They lay on their backs looking up at the ceiling, letting the closeness of great sex wash over them.

“I guess I should have a shower,” Brian said after a bit.

“I’ll come with you,” Justin volunteered.

Brian sat up. “Sometimes I wish we could shut the rest of the world out, and just live here with no communication with the outside world.”

“That would be nice,” Justin agreed with a smile. “You’re worried about Gus, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Brian admitted as he took Justin’s hand and headed for the bathroom towing his husband behind him. “I thought somebody would have called with some information about Gus and that asshole Cole.”

“Maybe they’re cooling it,” Justin suggested as he adjusted the water temperature in the shower.

“Maybe, or they’re being really secretive.”

“I don’t think Gus is secretive.”

“Having a shithead for a boyfriend can make you that way,” Brian said knowingly.

“And what would you know about boyfriends?”

“I saw enough of them screw everything up for someone.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Justin said thinking back to what had happened with Ted and Blake and Michael and Dr. Dave and… “Maybe one of your spies will call soon.”

Brian glared at Justin for the use of the word spy, but he didn’t deny it as they got into the shower.

 

*****
 

“Sweetheart, we’re all here, except for the boys at the cottage, mind telling us why you called an emergency family meeting?” Debbie asked Hunter. The family had gathered at Debbie and Carl’s house at Hunter’s request. John, who had spent the day in Pittsburgh was there as well as Joan, Danny, the Munchers, the girls and more importantly, Gus.

“We’re not all here yet,” Hunter replied then jumped up to answer the doorbell. He greeted the guest then introduced him to the family. “Now, we’re all here.”

“What’s going on, son?” Ben asked.

“I think Brian and Justin have been victims of a crime,” Hunter started to explain. As everyone began to speak all at once, Gus attempted to shrink in his chair. Lindsay and Joan gravitated to the boy’s side in a show of support.

“Guys,” Gus began, very embarrassed about his part in it. Lindsay squeezed his shoulder. “Guys!” Gus said louder, commandeering the family’s attention. “I think this is all my fault.”

“How, honey?” Debbie asked.

“I met this guy in New York, and well, I like him a lot but he’s kinda giving me the ‘uh oh’ feeling,” Gus explained as he glanced toward his mother and Joan for encouragement. Finding it, Gus continued. “I snuck Cole into the loft a couple of times.”

“Oh shit!” came from Debbie and Michael.

“Oh boy!” was heard from Nick and Hunter.

“I’d hate to be you,” Lacy mumbled.

Danny tsked, tsked a few times.

“Hunter, what makes you think Brian and Justin have been victims of a crime. So far the only guilty party around here is Gus, and his only infraction is sneaking his boyfriend into the legendary love nest,” Ben said reasonably, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

“This.” Hunter motioned to Gene who opened a duffle bag and removed the contents to display them on Debbie’s kitchen table.

“Fuck!” most of the family exclaimed. Michael recognized the Metal Men statues and the lighter. John recognized the bronze paperweight since he had given it to Brian for a birthday present one year.

“I am so fucked,” Gus said pathetically.

Melanie scowled but decided to wait until all the evidence was in.

“Gus, what does Cole look like?” Carl asked. He had remembered the new faces and wondered if either one was Cole. Gus pulled out his cell-camera phone to show them all a picture he had taken of Cole at the July Fourth picnic. “I’ve seen this guy at the diner. Deb, this is the kid I told you about." Debbie took a peek at the picture as did everyone in the room.

“Gus, upload the picture onto your computer later tonight then send it to as many of us as you can,” Hunter suggested. “Gene, tell them the rest.”

“The guys who pawned this stuff were also asking about paintings. They gave me a sob story about an old uncle dying and they were helping to clear out the house. That sort of stuff. They weren’t too bright either. I recognized the lighter from, um, well, you know.” Apparently Gene was a former trick of Brian’s who had the privilege of actually seeing the inside of the loft. Plus, the lighter had a very distinctive flair to the monogram. Gene had seen it years ago and never forgot it. He had also remembered the Metal Men.

“Did the guys show you any ID?” Carl asked.

“Yeah, they did. One guy has a Pittsburgh license, the other New York. Carl, you know me and my Dad, we run a legit business. I made copies of their ID’s.” Gene handed over the copies to Carl.

“This Cole guy is twenty-two,” Carl remarked.

“Huh? He told me he was nineteen! I’m such an asshole. How can I be this stupid? I’m so sorry.” Gus slumped even more into Debbie’s soft chair.

“No, lambskin, you were just fooled by him. You have nothing to be sorry about. You made a mistake. We’ve all made mistakes, sweetheart. But you did the right thing by coming to me and your grandmother,” Lindsay consoled her son.

“Gus, your mother’s right,” John agreed. “Now we have to figure out how to catch these guys in the act and not let Brian find out until it’s over. I don’t relish having to visit my brother in prison.”

The family agreed with John. It was almost a given that if Brian caught wind of what was happening in his loft, Brian would eviscerate the culprits and no one would ever find the bodies.

“Babe, did you check out the loft yet to see if anything else was taken?” Nick asked his life partner.

“Not yet. I had planned on doing it today. Emmett goes up once a week when he knows no one's home. The guys have only been at the cottage for a few days. I know Emm checked out the place before they left. He probably didn’t notice anything missing.”

“Those statues have been in the bottom of Brian’s closet for years,” Michael explained. “He used to have them on the ledge in the bedroom then one day they disappeared into the closet. The lighter is for show since no one hardly smokes anymore.”

“The paperweight was on the computer table. I’ve seen him roll it around in his hand when he’s been working,” John added.

“So what are we going to do?” Gus asked with a dejected tone.

“First, young man, you are going to stop blaming yourself,” John said confidently.

“But Uncle John, I really blew it.”

“Gus, your Mom is right. We’ve all made some dumb mistakes in the past. All of us, but we know you’re a good kid. If you weren’t, you’d have never gone to your Mom or admitted your mistake. So get over it and move on.”

Just then Carl cleared his throat loudly to get everyone’s attention.

“Son, would you be willing to help us set up a sting?” Carl asked Gus.

“Now, wait a minute.” Melanie had held her tongue but no more. “As much as I dislike the asshole, his home has been violated and the guilty parties should be punished, but I don’t want my son involved any longer than necessary. Besides, if he was thinking with his brain instead of his gonads, none of this would have happened in the first place.”

“Melanie!” Lindsay exclaimed.

“Mel, that’s uncalled for. The boy feels guilty enough without you adding to it,” Ben defended the hapless teenager.

“Ben’s right, let’s not compound the situation. Gus is a responsible young man and with his help, with all of us, we’ll get these guys,” Carl stated. Then proceeded to explain his plan.

 

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