Changes

Chapter 17

By the time John got the boys back to Muncherville, it was rather late. John took off immediately for Edna’s Treasures. The boys walked into the house to the tantalizing aroma of Debbie’s lasagna. Their freezer always had an extra pan of lasagna waiting to be defrosted and then reheated. JR was becoming quite the cook with some assistance from Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Danny. Even Joan would, on occasion, drop by with a cake or a whole roasted chicken. The growing teenagers and their busy moms never went hungry.

The boys were helping to prepare the salad when the moms drove up.

“Something smells heavenly!” Lindsay said as she came through the door, kicking off her high heels.

“Somebody please tell me that’s ready to eat!” Melanie exclaimed.

“It’s ready,” JR said out loud.

“Yes,” Mel said as she pumped the air with her fist then gave her daughter a loving kiss and hug. “Thank you,” she whispered appreciatively, making her daughter smile. Lindsay gave JR a kiss then hugged Gus.

“Hi, Ms. Peterson, Ms. Marcus. Thank you for letting me stay over,” Raymond said politely, blushing as he said the words.

“It’s good to see you again, Raymond,” Lindsay said sweetly, shaking the boy’s hand.

“Yeah, good. Why don’t you help me set the table, Raymond,” Melanie said sternly and with a slight growl to her voice. Melanie was several inches shorter than Ray but there was a warning in her tone that made her appear eight feet tall.

“Of course, Ms. Marcus,” Ray agreed. As Ray reached up for the dishes in the cupboard, he assured his boyfriend’s mother, “I like Gus a lot. I promise to be honest with him.”

Mel nodded as she looked into Raymond’s sincere brown eyes. “Make sure that you are. And stay safe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ray said as he helped to set the table.

Dinner was leisurely with the kids talking about school, their assignments and the new friends they’d made. Mel discussed the types of cases she was working on, and Lindsay told them all about the Emerging Artists show. It was close to midnight when they all went to bed.

“Uh, moms?” Gus asked as he picked up Ray’s overnight bag. Lindsay and Mel exchanged a look. Mel nodded.

“Go on,” Lindsay said.

“Thank you!” Gus said as he hugged both of his mothers, lifting them off their feet. JR giggled as Gus and Ray sprinted down the hall to Gus’ room then slammed the door shut.

“Boys!” JR lamented as she rolled her eyes then giggled again.

“Yeah, boys!” Lindsay and Mel repeated as they kissed their daughter goodnight and went to bed.

 

*****
 

“Ray, I really don’t want to do anything here with the moms right down the hall,” Gus whispered as he stripped down to his underwear and t-shirt.

“Me either,” Ray agreed as he took off his clothes too. “But we can just hold each other.”

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Gus agreed as he yawned wide. The anxiety of the day combined with the heavy meal had made Gus very sleepy. Raymond repeated the yawn. “Let’s go to sleep. We’re going to need our rest for tomorrow.”

“Yeah? Sounds like you have some plans.”

“I do but only if you want to.”

“What do you have in mind?” Ray asked as they snuggled close in Gus’ bed.

“I kinda got permission to take you to Babylon after the party. Only Dad made it clear that drinking anything harder than soda was a no-no and the back room is off limits. But we can dance all we want,” Gus said, hoping that was good enough.

“I’d like that. I’d like that a whole lot,” Ray said as he yawned again. “I must be more tired than I thought.”

“Then sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning,” Gus said as Ray cuddled closer. Gus could smell the soft scent of Ray’s shampoo and the spicy scent of his cologne. He couldn’t help but touch Ray’s hair; it felt so good in his fingers. Gus had often seen his father caress Justin’s hair and skin. Now Gus knew why.

Gus melded his longer frame to his boyfriend’s then drifted off to sleep.

 

*****
 

“Wake up, sleepyheads, breakfast!” JR shouted as she pounded on Gus’ bedroom door.

“What?” Gus said in confusion through his sleep foggy brain.

“Be thankful it’s not Jeffrey waking us up. He’d have hit us with a couple of pillows,” Ray groaned as he stretched his solid muscular body. As Gus joined Ray in stretching, Gus became acutely aware of a mutual problem.

“Um, what are we going to do about these?” Gus asked as he gingerly lifted the sheet that covered them both. The boys took a peek under the sheet. They were both sporting wood which was tenting their respective underwear.

“Uh, I vote we try to piss them away for now, because I think I smell pancakes and bacon,” Raymond suggested as he giggled nervously. In spite of having eaten their heavy dinner the previous night, the boys were hungry again.

“So voted,” Gus agreed as both boys leapt out of bed.

Gus found sweat pants for them both then they made a beeline for the bathroom, where they indeed were able to successfully piss away their problems. Much to their immense relief. The boys were washing up, as they heard JR bellow in her best ‘Debbie’ shout.

“What? Do you guys need a special invitation? Breakfast is getting cold!” JR shouted from the bottom of the stairs then joined the moms at the table. A loud rumble of heavy teenage footsteps was heard scrambling down the hall and down the stairs.

“Thank goodness we only had one son. Can you imagine the noise if we had more?” Lindsay commented as she passed the platter of pancakes to JR.

“I don’t know how Ken and Simon do it,” Mel added as she poured a small amount of syrup onto her pancakes.

“They lend us out to the neighbors,” Raymond said casually, as the boys joined the ladies at the table. “Most of our neighbors don’t have kids,” Ray continued as he and Gus sat down and began to load up their plates. “My brother and I help out with lifting things or light repairs and we work for food!” Ray said nonchalantly as he shoveled a forkful of pancake into his mouth. “Mmm, this is good. Thank you,” Ray said politely.

Gus nodded, his mouth too full to add his thanks.

The moms and JR stared at the boys for a moment then chuckled. “Boys!” all three said at the same time.

Breakfast continued at a leisurely pace.

 

*****
 

“Dada, where is Gus’ party gonna be?” Bree asked her older father as she was daintily eating her breakfast.

“At the Plaza, Squirt.” Brian had made breakfast for the whole Edna Treasures family.

“Do I have a new dress for the party?” Bree asked hesitantly. She had learned that not all special occasions warranted a new outfit. And that sometimes she should just make do with the nice things she had in her closet.

“As a matter of fact, you do,” Brian replied. “Your brother doesn’t turn eighteen every day, so your daddy and I thought you deserved a new dress for the occasion. It’s hanging in the hall closet.”

Briana’s smile lit up the sun porch.

“Oh thank you, Dada!” Bree shouted as she jumped up from seat to give her father a hug. Brian blushed and smiled coyly. Justin knew that Brian had been trying to show some restraint when it came to buying everything and anything for their daughter. But this was a very special occasion.

“Brian, what time do you think the party will wind down?” Bobby asked.

“I’m not sure. We’re starting this soiree a little earlier than our usual ‘get-togethers’ in deference to the elders of the family. And I do believe the young man of the hour has some birthday plans of his own he’d like to execute with a certain young man from New York,” Brian said with an arch of his infamous eyebrow.

“However, I have retained my suite at the Plaza for our use tonight.”

“No visit to the loft?” John asked subtly.

“Not by us, anyway,” Brian snarked as John winked at his hapless brother then snickered. Brian then grabbed Justin by the wrist and pretended to look at his watch. “Tick tock, brother dearest. Nine more years and counting,” Brian deadpanned while giving John a poignant look.

John’s eyes widened at the realization that in nine short years his own son would be turning eighteen and possibly planning his own party with his own special mate. John coughed several times then remained quiet for the rest of breakfast.

“What are we counting, Dada?” Bree asked in all innocence.

John paled as Brian snickered.

 

*****
 

“Who’s coming to this party?” Ray asked as they were helping to clean up after breakfast.

“Everybody,” Gus sighed. “I think half of Pittsburgh will be there and not just the gay half.”

“You do seem to have a big extended family,” Ray admitted. His own family was rather small, limited to his own immediate family and his fathers’ sisters.

“Yeah, well, you and Jeff and your dads are part of that family too,” Gus said slightly disappointed that Jeff, Simon and Ken couldn’t make it.

“They wanted to come, but the dads really had to work and Jeff has this big project for school he’s working on, but they send their love and presents.”

“And they sent you,” Gus said shyly as he batted his lashes at Ray. His changeable hazel eyes were shining a bright green, at the moment.

“Yeah,” Ray whispered. His own eyes were like pools of smooth chocolate sauce. They stood at the kitchen sink wishing they were alone as their lips moved closer and closer.

“Gag!” JR said loudly making the boys jump apart. “Are you two gonna start acting like Uncle Brian and Uncle Justin, cause if you are then I’m outta here. I’d rather hang with Dad at the comic book store.”

“JR,” Gus grumbled.

His sister laughed. “Gus and Ray sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!” JR singsonged, as Gus chased her out of the kitchen and up to her room.

“What’s going on?” Mel asked as she heard the noise and JR’s screams.

“A brother and sister moment?” Ray said with a shrug of his shoulders and flashing his pretty smile. He and Mel heard the siblings laugh.

“Cole hurt him,” Mel admitted out of the blue.

“I know; we talked about it a lot. He thinks he let you down,” Ray confided.

“But he didn’t, and in the end he helped to bring that creep to justice,” Melanie said proudly of Gus’ involvement.

“You know that and I know that, but Gus still feels responsible. He’s still afraid to trust his instincts.”

“What makes you such an expert? You’re not much older than Gus,” Mel snapped back.

“I’ve been out for a lot longer than he has and been dating guys. I’m not an expert and I know we’re both very young but I care a lot about Gus. Our friendship is very important to me.”

“Mama?” Gus said as he walked back into the room. He could feel the tension.

“It’s nothing, sweetheart. Ray and I were just discussing one of our favorite subjects.”

“Which is?”

“You, honey. Your mother is going to the gallery for a couple of hours then we’ll all head to the Plaza at about five,” Mel said, leaving the boys to their own devices.

“Okay, Mama,” Gus said then turned toward Ray.

“We were just coming to an understanding,” Ray said with a smirk, raising his hands in surrender.

“Which is?”

“I don’t hurt you, and your mother doesn’t rip off my balls,” Ray said with a straight face.

“Oh, okay,” Gus replied matter-of-factly. Very few people messed with his mother Mel. “Wanna take a look at my latest project for PIFA?”

“Sure!” Ray said with a big smile. The boys ran up the stairs then slammed the door as they went into Gus’ room.

“Boys,” JR grumbled with a snort from her room as the slamming door shook her bed.

 

*****
 

Justin studied the pieces of metal lying in the box. He pushed the tissue paper aside, before picking up the two sections and fitting them together. He chuckled to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Brian asked as he came into the sun porch.

“This,” Justin replied as he held the two pieces, one in each hand, and waved them in front of Brian.

“That’s Gus’ car. Take it easy flashing them around like that.”

“They’re metal. Nothing’s going to happen to them.”

“You might scratch them.”

Justin glared at Brian. “I’m not going to scratch them, unless… Oh fuck! Brian, you’re not going to buy Gus a Ferrari, are you?” Justin asked with worry in his eyes.

“I’m not buying Gus anything until his next birthday.”

“But this model car you had cut in half. It’s a Ferrari.”

“I know.”

“Gus is going to think…”

“I’ll make it clear that he will be getting something a little more practical and … less ostentatious,” Brian assured his husband. “But a Ferrari is a dream…”

“You are not buying him a Ferrari,” Justin stated firmly.

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Brian raised an eyebrow obviously not pleased with Justin’s reaction.

“But it sounded like…”

“There’s no reason that we can’t dream a little.”

“Like father, like son,” Justin said relaxing a little bit.

“Bite your tongue. I’m nothing like my father.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Justin said quickly. “I meant you and Gus.”

“Most young men want a fast car. Didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah, anything other than my mother’s station wagon,” Justin laughed. “And then I came to live with you and there was that sexy black Jeep.”

“Did you think it was sexy?” Brian asked with a funny little grin.

“Everything about you was sexy.”

“And now?” Brian felt compelled to ask.

“Still sexy,” Justin said with one of his sunshine smiles.

“I think someone may get lucky later tonight.”

“I’m lucky every night,” Justin replied. And he meant every word of that.

“Daddy, Dada, when can I put on my new dress?” Bree asked from the entrance to the sun porch.

“I’m wrapping Gus’ present,” Justin said. “Then we’ll get ready.”

“While Daddy’s wrapping the present, let’s get you a bath,” Brian said. “And we can discuss what you will say when you give the present to Gus.”

Justin looked at Brian wondering what he was going to coach Bree to say. “Brian?” he asked with a frown.

“Don’t worry, I have it all under control,” Brian said as he took Bree’s hand and they headed for her bathroom.

Justin watched them disappear into the house. He knew Brian was up to something, but he wasn’t sure what it was. He weighed the two pieces of the car in his hands. He wondered if he should give Gus the driver’s side piece or the passenger side. He supposed it didn’t really make much difference, but he also wanted to send Gus the right message by what was in his present, or more accurately not send him the wrong message.

Justin decided he would use the passenger side of the car for the present, since Gus wouldn’t be driving any vehicle of his own until his following birthday. He hoped Gus would understand. With a sigh Justin pulled out the gift bag and tissue paper he was going to use for the present. He also picked up Bree’s card with her distinctive rainbow on the front. It was beautifully laminated and shiny. He was sure Gus would love it, because he loved his sister so much.

He placed everything in the bag and made sure the tissue paper stuck out just right. Once that was done, he decided he better get ready for the party too. He headed for his bedroom.

 

*****
 

“Okay, Squirt, you understand what to say?” Brian asked.

“Yes, Dada,” Bree replied as Brian finished drying her off. He was sitting on the toilet in her bathroom as he handed her underwear to put on.

“It’s really important to get it right.”

“I will.”

“Good girl.”

“I can do it, Dada,” Bree said firmly. “Don’t worry.”

“I never worry,” Brian replied.

“Yes you do,” Bree informed him as she came over to him and placed her arms around his neck.

“I do?”

Bree nodded her head. “You worry a lot, but you don’t like us to know.”

Brian shook his head. “How do you know that?”

“I know lots of things,” she informed him.

“Yes, I’m painfully aware that you do.”

“I’ll do good, Dada. I know what to say.”

“Okay, Squirt. I’ll leave it in your capable hands.”

“Can I put on my new dress now? I want to see what I look like.”

“You’ll look beautiful, Squirt. Like a princess.”

Bree smiled the same smile that her father used when he was truly happy. Brian’s heart melted all over again.
 

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