The Fox in the Hen House

Chapter 9

Justin was pacing in the kitchen waiting for the sound of the gate buzzer that would signal the arrival of his father onto the lane.  It was way too early in the morning for Justin to be waiting, but he couldn’t help it nor could he go back to sleep.  Justin wasn’t sure if he was excited or dreading it.  He had little to no contact with Craig since Molly’s wedding other than the occasional family or business function that both Taylors were expected to attend and couldn’t afford to miss.  The few times Justin extended the olive branch and invited Craig to the lane seemed to backfire on them all.  Justin was advised by Brian, Alex, Glen, and every other responsible male on the lane to avoid Craig at all cost.  But it didn’t keep Justin from hoping.  After all these years there was still a little part of Justin that wished for a normal relationship with his father that was something like Brian and Gus shared.  Justin knew that Brian still harbored some regrets that he wasn’t involved in Gus’ life from day one but he more than made up for it.  And now Gus was poised to follow in Brian’s footsteps.

The lane residents had been given an additional day’s reprieve to prepare for Craig’s arrival.  Between his overall crankiness and non-compliance, Craig had developed a low grade fever.  That concerned Susan and she insisted that he stay in rehab until his temperature was back to normal.  It not only gave the lane inhabitants more time to prepare, it also gave Glen time to review Craig’s records.  The great Craig Taylor conspiracy was on with full participation and cooperation of Craig’s medical team.  Especially when they heard that Glen Wilder was going to be Craig’s therapist. 

Justin continued to pace.

*****

"Are you ready to go help Glen?" Debbie asked as she picked up Peter's empty cereal bowl.

"I'm not sure."

Debbie snorted.  "I have no idea what Glen thinks you can do with that son-of-a...asshole.  Craig Taylor is a homophobic bastard."

Peter smiled and stifled a chuckle.  No matter how much Debbie tried to be a prim and proper mother figure, her language always indicated otherwise.  "You know I don't mind if you swear," Peter said.  "It's more honest that way."

Debbie snorted again.  "You should know that fucking Craig Taylor had his own son arrested and the bastard has hated Brian since the day they met.  He thinks Brian Kinney is the scum of the earth."

"But ... can't he see how much Brian and Justin love each other?" Peter asked with a perplexed look on his face.

"He doesn't give a shit.  Brian corrupted his son and turned him into a fag, as far as Craig Taylor is concerned."

"But ... that's not how it works."

"You know that and I know that, but Craig Taylor thinks he's right."

"How does Justin stand it?" Peter asked with a frown.

"It hasn't been easy.  He's tried to reach out to his father several times, but it has never made a real difference.  If it wasn't for Bree, I don't think Craig would have anything to do with his son."

"And I thought I had it bad," Peter said shaking his head.

"You did have it bad, but Justin never let his father define who he was or who he would be, and you shouldn't either," Debbie advised.

Peter stared at Debbie, then he nodded and got up from the table ready to face the day and Craig Taylor.

*****

"Wake up," Bree commanded as she gave Ashley a jostle.

"Mmm," Ashley groaned as she rubbed at her eyes trying to make them open.  "What time is it?"

"Almost nine."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Bree giggled.

The two girls had shared Bree's big bed, staying up for hours talking and giggling and solving the world's problems.  No wonder they had slept in.

"I'm surprised your dads didn't wake us up ages ago," Ashley said with a big yawn.

"They probably knew we would stay up late," Bree said as she slid out of bed.  "Are you hungry?  I'm starving."

"Me too," Ashley agreed as she got out of bed too.

Garbed in their robes they headed for the kitchen.  Brian and Justin were sitting at the kitchen table finishing their coffees.

"Well, look who decided to get up," Brian exclaimed in mock surprise.

Bree made a face at her silly Dada, but Ashley felt compelled to explain.

"We talked for hours last night, Mr. Brian," she said.

"I know.  You two were still jabbering away when Justin and I went to bed."

"We don't jabber," Bree informed him indignantly.

Brian snorted.  "What would you call it?"

"We were discussing things," Bree replied.

"Discussing, jabbering," Brian said weighing the two words in his hands.  "Pretty much the same thing."

"Before you two get into it," Justin interjected.  "Are you ladies hungry?"

"Very," Ashley stated before she could stop herself.  Then she blushed at her boldness.

"I thought so," Justin said.  "Brian?"  Justin gave his husband a knowing look.

"I'm not sure sleepyheads should get French toast," Brian said with an arched brow.

"French toast!" the girls squealed.  "Yay!"

Brian got up with a smile to retrieve his breakfast treat from the warming oven where it had been waiting for his daughter and her friend.

*****

Bree wiped the last drop of syrup from the edge of her mouth.  "Deeeelicious!" she declared.

"Very," Ashley agreed with a big grin.  "Thanks, Mr. Brian."

"You're very welcome, Miss Ashley," Brian replied with a slight bow.

The girls giggled at his antics.

Bree's face sobered up after a moment.  "Daddy, can I go see Grandpa Craig when he gets here today?" she asked.

Brian and Justin had explained to Bree that her grandfather was going to be moving into the B&B for rehab.  They had told her to stay away from there until Craig got settled in, and hopefully had an attitude adjustment.

"I think it would be better for you to wait a few days," Justin said gently.

"But why?  I could cheer him up."

"He may not be in the mood to be cheered up," Brian cautioned with a frown wrinkling his brow.  Brian didn't want Bree to suffer the wrath of an angry and hurting Craig Taylor.  He could be vicious enough when he was healthy and in a good mood.

Bree stared at her father.  "He would like to see me," she said confidently.

"He's in some pain right now, sweetheart," Justin advised her.  "I think it'll be better if you wait."

"Can I talk to Mr. Glen about it?" she asked.

Bree was nothing if not persistent, as her fathers knew all too well.

"Bree..." Justin began.

Brian touched his hand.  "I'll talk to Glen and let you know what he says about seeing Craig," Brian said.

"I should talk to Mr. Glen," Bree pushed.

"You heard me, Bree, and that's all there is to it," Brian replied sternly.

"Okaaaay," Bree said sighing heavily.

"No pouting," Justin advised her.

"Okay, Daddy, but what can Ashley and me do while we're waiting?"

"Ashley and I," Brian stated.

"You can't do anything with Ashley, Dada.  She's here to be with me."

Brian raised an eyebrow and Bree giggled.

"I know, Dada.  I said that on purpose."

Brian shook his head at his precocious daughter.  "I knew that."  Bree had her ways of getting what she wanted.

"I'm going to paint this morning so if you young ladies would care to join me...?"  Two heads nodded vigorously.  "Then go put on some painting clothes."

"Thanks, Daddy," Bree called as she ran down the hall to her room.

"Thanks from me too," Ashley said racing after her friend.

"Good one, Sunshine," Brian said kissing Justin's cheek.

"I didn't do anything," Justin objected.  "I was going to paint anyway.  Besides I need the distraction."

"I understand, but that doesn't really solve the Craig problem," Brian said.  "Should we just let her go and take him on?"

Justin frowned and thought about that.  "Bree is a strong girl.  And Craig wouldn't deliberately hurt her."

"Maybe not, but if he's in pain, and taking the good stuff who knows what he might do or say."

"We can't protect her from him forever," Justin said wisely.  "And she won't give up."

"No, she won't give up," Brian agreed.  "I'll talk to Glen and see what he says.  And I swear that if Craig hurts her, I'll break his other hip."

Justin chuckled.  "If only you were half the Neanderthal you pretend to be."

"You doubt me?" Brian asked looking like Justin had called him a bad name.

"Doubt you?  Never.  But you're more likely to get him kicked out of the country club than break his hip."

"Whatever!  Just know that there will be retribution."

"Let's not cross that bridge before we get to it."

"Okay, but I mean it."

"I better go get my painting clothes on," Justin said.  "I've got two beautiful women to entertain."  He kissed Brian's cheek and headed for the bedroom.

Brian watched him go still wondering what to do about Craig Taylor.  He decided that speaking to Glen was the place to start.  He walked through the sun porch and headed out the back to the meadow that would take him to the new cottage.  As he walked across the meadow, he wondered how he ever agreed to Craig Taylor ending up on his lane.  He was the last person they needed there.  The lane was supposed to be a sanctuary, a place of peace, their own private world.  With Craig Taylor in it, how could it be any of those things?

Brian knocked on the cottage door and called out, "You guys decent?"

"Yeah, come in if you must," Glen replied.

Brian entered the cottage to find the two men finishing breakfast.  "Late start for you too, I see," Brian observed.

"This moving business is tiring," Alex said.

"And we had to christen the new bed," Glen said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"He thinks we should do that every night," Alex said.  "The fresh air out here is having very unexpected effects on a certain person."

"Unexpected but not unwelcome," Glen said with a chuckle.

"Definitely not unwelcome," Alex replied with a slow sexy grin.

"TMI," Brian reacted with a gagging noise.

"I think we made him blush," Glen joked.

"Enough.  What can we do for you, Brian?" Alex asked.

"Bree wants to see her grandfather."

"And that's a problem, because?" Glen asked.

"I don't want her hurt," Brian replied.

"He's her grandfather, why would he hurt her?" Alex asked.

"You don't know him,” Brian snapped.

"I read his records yesterday," Glen informed him.  "I also spoke to Susan, and she said that Craig truly loves Bree.  And I understand it's been a while since he's seen her."

"He doesn't show a lot of interest when Justin and I are involved."

 “Glen, you’re forgetting that Craig is basically being kidnapped and going to be kept captive here.  Under normal circumstances the beauty of this place would more than compensate for the inconvenience.  However, throw in the fact that Craig doesn’t even know he’s on his way here, and I’d suggest you wait a few days until Craig gets used to these arrangements before Bree sees him,” Alex stated.

“God, you’re still so fucking hot when you get all shrinky on me,” Glen said with a sigh as he gazed with love at his spouse.  Brian rolled his eyes.  Alex winked at Glen then became serious again.  “Okay, I get what you’re saying and by the way, how do you know so much about Craig Taylor’s state of mind?”  Glen narrowed his eyes at Alex.

“You’re not the only one asked to consult.  I do have a reputation of being pretty good at my job,” Alex said coyly as he looked down at his fingernails.

“Uh huh,” Glen muttered.  “What else?” Glen asked with a certain amount of suspicion.  Brian smirked, finding the relationship between these two strong men very amusing.

“I read those same records.  We know that Craig experienced some complications and in spite of his ulcers he had a brief course of steroid therapy.  Unfortunately reacted badly to it,” Alex explained.

“Damn,” Glen said.

“Wait,” Brian said as he looked at both men, trying to fully understand what was going on.  Then something clicked.  “Oh fuck!  'Roid rage?  There’s no fucking way I’m letting Bree anywhere near that bastard.”

“He’s also going to be lightly sedated for the trip here.  Susan will have to drive very carefully to get him here,” Alex said.

“A man of his age, height, weight,” Glen mumbled, making calculations in head.  “It could take up to two weeks before all the drugs finally work their way out of his system.  Oh, this is going to be fun!”

“Certainly a challenge,” Alex agreed.

“And Bree?” Brian asked with trepidation. 

"Give it a few days, but if he seems interested in maintaining a relationship with her, I'd let her see him.  She's a bright girl.  She'll know how to handle him," Glen said.

"I hope you're right about that.  And for your information I never blush," Brian said with a growl as he stalked out of the meadow cottage.

"I'm always right," Glen said with a laugh.

*****

Justin was pacing again.  He had painted for as long as he could before all the colors ran together into a large messy brown blob.  It was so unappealing that Justin scraped off all the paint with a palette knife then hid the canvas high up in the sun porch rafters.

Sometime earlier in the day he had gotten calls from his mother and Molly.  They had packed up enough stuff to stay for several weeks.  Jennifer and Seth were staying in the B&B.  Molly, Owen, and seven year old Taylor would stay in their own little cottage.

The lane was about to get crowded.

The gate buzzer went off making Justin jump.

“Hello?” Justin said into the intercom. 

“Justin, sweetie, it’s Mom,” Jennifer said.

“Come in,” he said as he pushed the gate buzzer.  About fifteen minutes later Justin repeated the same process when his sister pulled up to the gate.  As soon as things settled down, all the guests would get their own gate code.

“Justin?” John called out as he came into the kitchen.  “Was that the gate?”

“Yeah, my Mom and Molly are here.  Why?”

“Well, you’re not going to believe this.  Actually, yes you are.  My mother and Steve just called, they should be here…”  The gate buzzer went off.  “...soon.”  John shrugged his shoulders with a silly grin.

“Where are they going to stay?  Lindsay and Charles are planning to stay at the B&B in a couple of weeks,” said Justin.

“With Rachel and George.  They have plenty of room, since the B&B is filling up,” John said.

Just then Bobby and Brian joined them in the kitchen.  Brian made a fresh pot of coffee while Justin put the kettle on.  No one wanted to talk about the pink elephant in the room called Craig Taylor.  And that there seemed to be dozens of people all ready to help out with Craig, but they couldn’t.  The boys were feeling useless.

“How did this happen?” Justin asked as he quietly sipped his tea.

“Not a clue, Sunshine.  One minute I was looking forward to continuing our honeymoon and fucking you all over the lane.  The next minute we’re confined to quarters,” Brian said as he indicated the cottage with his hand.

“But this shouldn’t affect you guys,” Justin said to John and Bobby.

“Patrick and I won’t have any problem,” Bobby began.  “But John and Gus will have to be discreet.  They look too much like you,” he said to Brian.  “The point of all of this is to get Craig up and going with as little stress and aggravation as possible.  Unfortunately Brian and Justin breathing the same air as Craig tends to aggravate him,” Bobby said.

The boys all nodded.

“When will my father ever stop being a shit?” Justin asked looking disappointed.  Brian draped an arm across Justin’s shoulders.

“Justin, some people will never change.  In this situation the best we can hope for is tolerance,” Bobby said as his grey blue eyes faced Justin’s ocean blues.    

“That, and Glen working a minor miracle by getting the bastard up on his own two feet and walking his ass off my lane as soon as possible,” Brian grumbled.

The boys nodded in agreement.

*****

“Where are you going?” Michael asked Ben.  Ben had just gotten off his cell phone and was heading for the door.

“Just across the lane to the B&B.  Glen called; Susan and Craig should be here soon.  They’re going to need help getting Craig out of the car and into his bed,” Ben explained.

“What’s wrong with Justin or Brian helping?” Michael wanted to know.

“Glen and Alex think its best that they stay out of the way for a while.  Craig is going to be angry enough for being brought here against his will.  He doesn’t need to be antagonized by Brian and Justin,” Ben said.

“Oh.  But why do they need you?”  Michael still didn’t understand.  Ben made a well defined and very large muscle with one bicep.  “Oh.”  No further explanation was necessary.

*****

“Drewsie, honey, who was that on the phone?” Emmett asked.

“Alex.  He was calling for Glen.  Craig Taylor should be here any minute.  It might take a few of us to get the man from his car into the B&B and into his bed,” Drew explained to Emmett.

“Maybe I should get with Debbie and cook up some easy meals for Susan.  She’s going to have her hands full,” Emmett said with a smile.

Drew stopped before he left their quaint cottage surrounded by their white picket fence to hug his husband.  “Do you know how much I love you?  You are the most generous loving man I know,” Drew declared as he gave Emmett a loving kiss.

“Drewsie, I know we were thinking about going back to Pittsburgh with the kids, but…”

“You want to stay,” Drew said knowing what was on Emmett’s mind.

“Yes.  They’re going to need us.”

“Brian and Justin,” Drew confirmed.

“Yes.  They’re always ready to help everyone else, it’s time we back them up,” Emmett stated with conviction.

“You got it, Babe.  I’ll take the kids back when they’re ready but we’ll stay as long as you say so,” Drew agreed.

“I love you,” Emmett said giving Drew a passionate kiss.  The lovers left their little piece of the lane; Drew went to the B&B while Emmett went to the thatched cottage.

*****

“Carl?  Who was that on the phone?”

“It was Glen.  Susan called, they’re at the general store.  They should be here soon.  I’m going to go with Peter just in case Craig makes trouble,” Carl stated.

“Should I frisk you for concealed weapons?” Debbie teased.

“Babe, you can frisk me anytime you like but I solemnly swear that I’m not carrying.  Not now anyway.  But if that bastard says something to hurt any one of these good people on this lane I am not averse to shooting off a toe or two,” Carl said with a straight face.

“My macho man,” Debbie declared as she threw her arms around him to give Carl’s cheek a sloppy kiss before he and Peter left the cottage.  Peter wasn’t all that sure if Carl was joking or not.

*****

“Babe, it’s almost time.  We should drive over to the boys’ cottage to wait,” Alex suggested to Glen.  Glen agreed.  Within minutes they were out the door and in their special van driving over to the conjoined cottages to await Craig’s arrival.

*****

“Hey,” Gus said when Ray answered his phone.

“What’s wrong?”

“What makes you think something’s wrong?” Gus protested weakly.

“I can hear it in your voice,” Ray said.

“I miss you,” Gus said with a little pout.

“Aw, I miss you too but guess what?”

“What?” Gus asked with hope.

“I arranged with Stacey to work remotely for a while,” Ray said happily.

“What does that mean exactly?”

“That means, that I’ll be there by lunchtime tomorrow.  However, it will be a working vacation for us.  I’m bringing several contracts and proposals for you and Brian to look over.  Brian okayed for us to stay for most of the summer.  We’ll need to go back to New York in August before we go to Canada but we’ll have a nice long visit on the lane.  How does that sound to you?”

“Are you shitting me?”

“Nope,” Ray said.  “Since you have the Jeep you’re going to have to pick me up at the airport.”

“You got it.  Email me the details.  I’ve missed you,” Gus whispered.

“Missed you too.”

“Ray, I have to warn you there’s something going on here.”

“I heard all about it, your dad filled me in.  Don’t worry about it.  I get the impression Brian wants us to keep your sister occupied until soccer camp and then we may have a few meetings in Pittsburgh.  By then, Bree’s grandfather should be human again.  His words not mine,” Ray said.

“Pop has this whole thing worked out,” Gus grumbled.

“Not really.  I get the impression he and Justin are making it up as they go but it’s the best solution for now,” Ray said.

The boys murmured words of love for a while before making plans for the next day then hanging up.

*****

The kitchen of the conjoined cottage was unnaturally quiet as six men sipped their beverages waiting for the buzzer.  Gus felt the tension and decided the best place for him and the girls was down by the stream.  Beau and his pack thought so too.

Brian was just about to employ his surefire method of distracting Justin when the gate buzzer went off.  Justin jumped up to get the intercom.

“Yes?”

“Justin?  It’s Susan, we’re here.”

“Follow the road around until you reach the large cottage,” Justin said.

“I need help,” Susan said quietly.

“Don’t worry, you’ll have it,” Justin promised as he hit the gate release button.

“It’s show time!” Glen said with a gleam in his eyes as he quickly maneuvered his wheelchair out of the cottage with Alex and Bobby sprinting behind him to catch up.

John, Brian, and Justin stared at each other for a few seconds then continued to drink their beverages.

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