Chapter 10

 

 

After all the hard work the family did the previous day, they all took their time getting up. So instead of putting breakfast on the table, Brian decided that buffet style was more practical. And if things went well, they wouldn't be providing dinner later that night. If the roads were cleared and the plow guy could make it through, the cottage would be their own tonight. If not, Brian was planning on doing a lot of grilling later. Thanks to Emmett's ever preparedness, the cottage was well stocked in large chafing dishes. Breakfast was lined up on display on the counter and on the kitchen table. Everyone could help themselves.

"John, how do we dig out all these cars?" Brian asked his older and oh so wiser brother.

"I suggest we don't," John answered.

"What?"

"Rob is concerned that he'll plow into a car. We just need to mark out where the cars are so he doesn't hit any. Once the road is clear, he'll tow each car out and line them up one by one. Bri, we're tired, we're all tired. Every bone, every muscle in my body is screaming and I do a lot of manual labor. I do not want my mother or Steve to be digging out that old truck of theirs. Nor do I want Debbie and Carl digging any more than necessary. Make sense?"

"I suppose but how do we mark the cars?"

"Did I ever tell you I was an Eagle Scout when I was a kid?" John held up a large roll of bright hot pink crepe paper. "A leftover from one of Bree's parties. And I have plenty more where that came from. We do a little brushing to find the edges of the car, mark it and then move onto the next. If Rob gets here today, this lot will be gone by afternoon." John smiled as he made his last statement. The Kinney boys had no real objections to the family invasion.

"An Eagle Scout, huh?" Brian took off toward Rachel's house as quickly as he could given the snow and icy conditions.

"Hey, where ya going?" John called out after him. He had found the first car and armed with a car brush, was preparing to start cleaning.

"To find Claire!" Brian called over his shoulder, trying to move even faster.

"Claire," John mumbled. "What do you want with my mother?" John bellowed, receiving a most evil type laugh in return. "Hey!"

"Pictures, big bro! I want to see if she has pictures of you in your scout uniform in her wallet!"

"You....you....," John began.

"Forget it, sweetheart, just let him go," Jennifer said as she approached John. "Let him have his fun. I think this is my car, let me help." John nodded then Jennifer and John began to clean off her car. However, John began to plot his revenge.

Brian was looking rather smug as he returned to the road and began to dig out another car. It had to be Debbie and Carl's car; there was a rainbow colored antenna ball on it. As he began brushing off the edges, Carl and John came over. John handed Brian a roll of crepe paper. They made short work of marking off the car.

The sun was shining brilliantly and although it was still rather cold, some of the snow was melting. The family was all taking turns helping to clear more path, marking cars or handling domestic chores. There was laundry to do, lunch and other snacks to be made and lots and lots of dishes to be dealt with.

"John, I just got off the phone with Rob." Bobby was all smiles. He had run out of the cottage as John was marking off Steve's truck.

"I take it, it's good news?" John smiled back, giving his fiery red-head a sizzling kiss that warmed Bobby to the core.

"The best. The highways are clear. No snow is predicted for a while, although that means little after this storm. And Rob is on his way. He should be here in an hour. The only problem is where is he going to put all the snow?"

"I may have the answer to that one."

"Drew! Where did you come from?" John asked as he and Drew shook hands.

"From the path we dug," Drew said.

"So where do you think Rob can push all the snow?" Bobby asked.

"Remember when your crew was constructing our cottage, instead of storing the equipment on the lane, they made a clearing to hold it all. It's relatively flat, no trees to get in the way and it's far enough from our fence. The only problem is how to mark the spot so Rob sees it?"

"Broomsticks." The boys turned toward the voice as Brian stepped out from behind a drift. "Broomsticks with John's crepe paper tied to them. Stake them out far enough then Rob can aim his plow in between them," Brian said with confidence.

"Little brother, if I haven't said it before, I'll say it now. You're a genius!" John exclaimed.

"I know," Brian smirked.



*****

 

It was shortly after lunch when Rob showed up. Starting at Emmett's end of the lane, Rob began to clear the road. There was nothing anyone could do but just stay out of the way. With the cars all clearly marked as well as the edges of each property, Rob had a good idea of where to plow or not to plow. It took a few hours but the private lane was finally cleared.

The next task was to pull out each car. The Liberty Avenue contingent got first priority. They wanted to get back before it got too dark. Ted was anxious to get back to Kinnetik and Allen had a few concerts coming up. Hunter needed to get back to the clinic. The center had a special New Year's celebration planned. And although Claire, Steve, Dan and Emily had no objection to prolonging their visit, the family did not want to impose any longer than necessary on Edna's Treasures' hospitality.

As each vehicle was cleared and towed into the center of the lane, the family continued their preparations to leave. Jennifer and Justin took that time to spend together. She helped Justin sort through all the sketches he had made, rolling them up then tying them with ribbon and a label.

John finally got his opportunity for revenge for the 'John-boy' incident. Brian was going from car to car making sure they started up and wipers were operational. As he exited Seth's car, Brian was smacked in the back of the head with a snowball.

"What the...!" Brian exclaimed as another snowball sailed past his head and hit the side of Seth's car. Brian quickly ducked down then a few seconds later shot back up throwing a barrage of small snowballs at John. Two connected to John's chest.

"Damn you, Kinney!" John laughed as he sprinted toward the cottage, ducking behind a drift then pitching several snowballs back at Brian.

"Can't get me, old man!" Brian goaded John then answered the assault with a few more snowballs.

As the boys continued their game of war, Joan was gathering up her belongings. She placed her bag by the cottage door, and spied the boys at play. Claire had come by to say her goodbyes. She was sitting at the table sipping tea. She was also gifted with a Justin Taylor sketch.

"Claire, would you join me please?" Joan motioned for Claire to join her by the large front window.

John and Brian were still playing their war games when Brian slipped and landed in a snow bank. John was laughing uncontrollably but extended his hand to Brian. Brian firmly clasped John's hand, seemingly accepting John's aid. With a jerk of his hand, Brian pulled John down into the snow.

Jack Kinney's boys were lying in the snow, laughing wildly and making snow angels.

Claire smiled warmly at Joan, shaking her head at the brothers' antics. It wasn't all that long ago when tension between the two women ran high, having nothing in common other than having borne Jack's sons. While not fast friends, they shared something very important, their love for the sons of Jack Kinney.

"Boys will be boys," Claire said.

"Yes, I suppose they always will," Joan confirmed. "We are very blessed."

"Yes we are and in so many ways," Claire reaffirmed as a bundled up Briana and Patrick ran out the front door to their daddies.

The brothers Kinney played in the snow with their children.



*****

 

The Pittsburgh contingent was about ready to leave. All the cars had been cleaned off and warmed up. They had all decided to travel back in convoy just in case anyone had any problems. The roads were reported as satisfactory with some snowy and maybe slippery sections, but once they got on the interstate they would be fine.

Justin was handing out his rolled up sketches as everyone had their hats, coats and boots ready to be donned. People started unrolling the sketches and gasping at the moments that Justin had captured for them. His sketches were as meticulous as ever, and everyone gushed with praise for his work. They all said they would have them framed and placed somewhere that would honor the person who had drawn the pictures. Justin beamed with pride, as did Brian who was standing right beside him.

"Thanks, sweetie," Debbie said giving Justin a kiss. "This was quite the fucking Christmas!"

"It sure was," Michael concurred giving Brian a hug. Ben nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," Justin chuckled as he shook Carl's hand pulling him into a hug.

"You were the hero of the moment, kiddo," Debbie told Brian.

"Everybody pitched in," Brian replied. He didn't like being singled out when the whole group had worked so hard during and after the storm.

"Yeah, everybody did," Owen Sr. said, shaking hands all round.

"I love the sketch, Justin," Sharon gushed. "Thank you so much. And thanks for putting us up for the couple of days. I can't imagine being stuck some place on the road. It was much cozier and nicer here."

"You're welcome," Brian smirked, knowing that they had been crowded, but had got along surprisingly well.

"I'd say 'let's do this again'," Dr. Raph laughed, "but I'm sure nobody wants to do it again anytime soon." He shook hands with their hosts.

"You were most generous, Brian, Justin, John and Bobby. You made us feel very welcome," Hector explained.

"No problem," everyone replied.

"See you at Kinnetik soon," Ted said as he gave Brian a perfunctory hug.

"Count on it, Schmidt, but not for a week or two."

Ted and Allen headed for their car along with Hunter and Nick.

Melanie and Lindsay gave kisses all around, even Melanie condescending to buss Brian's cheek. With a "thanks for everything", they made their way to their car with JR and Danny. Gus was staying with his father for a few days more.

Seth, Jennifer, Katerina and Joan were about to leave. Jennifer hugged her son and then Bree who seemed a little lost by everyone going away. She had had so much fun with all her family there that she didn't like the idea of them all going home.

Seth shook hands and gave Brian a knowing nod. Brian wondered how long it would be before the man made his move on Jennifer. Joan kissed her family and pulled on her boots with a little help from Briana who hugged her Gamma Joan again and again, much to Joan's delight.

They finally headed for Seth's car which would bring up the rear of the convoy. All the remaining guests watched the cars start down the freshly plowed lane.

"It's so sad," Emmett said wiping at his eyes.

"What's sad, Honeycutt?" Brian demanded.

"We'll be all alone in the cottage," Emmett sniffed.

"Well, don't be coming up here to keep us company. Justin and I have some serious fucking to do. We've been on our best behavior for days now," Brian snarked.

"Two measly days," Emmett reacted.

"Take him home and show him what I've been missing," Brian ordered Drew.

"We'll catch a ride down the lane with you, Dr. Morrison, if that's all right," Drew grinned. "I have my marching orders and I need to get started right away."

"Eiw," Gus said. "You guys are so gross."

"Let's get going," Dr. Morrison said as he headed for his car.

Claire and Steve were right behind. They waved to the remaining group as they got in Steve's truck. Rachel and her family headed for home as Dr. Morrison's car started down the lane.

Brian and Justin, John and Bobby, Bree and Patrick and Gus stood at the front door of Edna's Treasures and waved to Claire and Steve as their truck, being the last vehicle of the impromptu guests, headed down the lane through the freshly plowed track that Rob had created. Aside from the massive snowbanks on each side of the lane, the roadway was clear and easy to negotiate. Rob had done a wonderful job of clearing the snow and moving the huge amounts of snow into the area Drew had marked off.

Brian let out a sigh. "They're finally gone," he said.

"And you enjoyed every minute of having them here," Justin said kissing Brian's cheek.

"Yeah, Pop," Gus laughed. "I haven't seen you have so much fun in a long time."

"Yeah," Brian snarked. "I just love shoveling snow twelve hours a day."

"So what are you going to do now?" Bobby asked.

"I think I need a nap," Brian replied immediately, waggling his eyebrows at Justin.

Justin grinned knowing what that nap would entail. "I could join you in one of those."

"My thoughts exactly," Brian replied.

"I'll get a snack for the kids and we can play video games," Gus volunteered. "We'll get you up for dinner."

"Good boy," Brian said with a big smile.

"If you're looking after the kids, Gus, I think we could use a nap too," John said. "It's been a hard couple of days."

"Very hard," Brian replied thrusting his hips forward to make his point.

"Come on, guys," Gus said to the children. "We need to find snacks."

"Not healthy ones?" Bree asked hopefully.

"Whatever you want, right, Pop?"

"This time, yeah, whatever you want, Squirt."

"Me too," Patrick piped in. He got an approving nod from his fathers as the kids headed for the kitchen.

"Bedroom, now!" Brian ordered.

With an angelic smile Justin followed his husband.

"Let's get going," Bobby said taking John's hand and leading him towards their end of Edna's Treasures.

Some time later Brian and Justin lay in their four poster on nice clean sheets wrapped in each other's arms.

"That was a ten," Justin said sleepily.

"At least," Brian smirked. "And I think I have another ten left in me."

"I thought we were going to nap," Justin yawned. Brian had worn him out.

"That was just a euphemism for fucking."

"I really do need a nap."

"All right," Brian sighed. "Youngsters, built for speed not stamina."

Justin chuckled. "You really are amazing, Brian. Your sex drive is as strong as ever."

"Especially when I've been deprived."

"You'll never be deprived as long as I'm around."

"And there aren't four million guests in the house," Brian added.

Justin chuckled. "But we did get along very well. Everyone pitched in. It was nice to have Sharon and Owen become part of the family. And Raph and Hector…"

"I don't think they knew what to make of us," Brian snarked. "Especially Hector."

"You can't blame him when you've fucked his partner."

"It's not my fault if I fucked him way back when."

"Of course not," Justin said keeping a straight face.

"But then again there probably aren't too many gay men in Pittsburgh who fall into the unfucked by Brian Kinney category."

"Except for Hector," Justin said making a face, "and Mikey."

"Let's not go there," Brian replied.

"It was a fun couple of days though," Justin said with another yawn.

"Yeah, it could have been worse."

Justin smiled. It could have been a lot worse.

 

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