Fractalized

Chapter 11
 

“All done,” Aaron stated as he came into the main gallery from the utility room, wiping his hands on his towel. Not only were a few wires fried on the revolving display unit but a couple of breakers were tripped as well. “Mr. Bloom, I do suggest that you rewire your breaker box. It can’t handle much more of a load than what’s on there now,” Aaron explained. Sidney made an appointment for early Monday morning.

“But will it hold for tonight?” Justin asked as he looked at his watch. It was almost six; the opening was set for eight.

Aaron had all four display sections revolving for the past hour, not a spark was seen or a wire fried. All four wouldn’t be needed until the following Saturday.

“It’ll hold. Which section is going tonight?” Aaron asked. The show was going to start off with Winter. The other seasons would remain under wraps.

Lindsay showed Aaron the Winter section. He inspected the wiring and declared it sound. Much to the relief of everyone present.

“Aaron,” Brian began as he drew the master electrician aside. “Can we keep either you or one of your most trusted men on retainer for the duration of this event? It would make the whole lot of us much happier, especially the man of the hour. Emmett, the event planner, and I have something very special planned for the last night of this gala. I need reassurances that it’ll go off without a hitch. You will, of course, be compensated for your time.”

“Mr. Kinney....”

“Brian.”

“Brian, my wife is a fan and was fortunate to have won her bid on a small painting during the fundraiser. I was trying to get tickets...”

“Done! Consider yourselves my personal guests. However, I was serious about you being on call for the duration. Especially on the last night of the show.”

“You got it. I’ll be here on Monday to check things out more thoroughly.”

“Then come over to Kinnetik when you’re done so we can talk privately. I’ll explain more at that time.”

Brian and Aaron shook hands. Brian made sure Lindsay had Aaron and his wife on the guest list then Brian took Justin back to the loft.

 

*****
 

“Justin, eat,” Brian commanded. John had warmed up some of Debbie’s lasagna for themselves and the kids. Brian hoped that the delicious aroma would entice Justin to eat. But it seemed to be having just the opposite effect.

“I can’t. I’m too nervous to eat lasagna.”

“Then I’ll make you some eggs or a grilled cheese or a fucking peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But you WILL eat!” Brian growled, not going to take no for an answer.

Justin thought it prudent not to argue and sat at the table. Brian put a small hunk of lasagna on a plate then placed it in front of Justin. Justin picked up his knife and fork and began to eat.

 

*****
 

“Dada, when are we going?” The children had finished their dinners, gotten cleaned up, dressed and were ready to go. As were most of the adults.

“In a few minutes, Squirt. Just as soon as I can convince your father to stop hiding in the bathroom,” Brian said in frustration.

“Brian, why don’t we take the kids to the gallery? You and Justin can drive over when he’s ready to make the grand entrance,” Bobby wisely suggested. He also wanted to get the kids out of Brian’s line of fire.

Brian dramatically sighed but agreed. He had a quiet word with Bree as he gave her hair a touch up. Then Brian placed a brand new hair clip around the elastic band that held her ponytail in place. The clip was bright pink with sparkling beads. Brian realized he hadn’t gotten Bree a new outfit for this night so he did the next best thing.

“Pretty, Dada!” Bree said as she looked at herself in the mirror. “I love my new hair clip.”

“I do too, Squirt. Now you go with Uncle John and Uncle Bobby. Hold Patrick’s hand and we’ll see you soon,” Brian promised.

“Okay, Dada,” Bree said cheerfully then gave her Dada a kiss.

Brian thanked his brother and brother-in-law, ruffled Patrick’s hair then shut the door behind them. He then strode up to the bedroom, preparing to take on his stubborn Sunshine.

“Justin, are you ready to go?” Brian calmly asked the bathroom door.

“Yes, I am,” Justin said softly as he opened the door to step out into the bedroom. He was dressed smartly but not too formally, deciding to be true to his casual nature. This was his show, damn it, and Justin was going to be as comfortable as he possibly could.

He looked up at Brian’s face for reassurance.

“Beautiful, Sunshine,” Brian declared.

“You sure? I could put on a suit.”

“Nope! You’re perfect just the way you are. Let’s have a drink before we go,” Brian said as he poured them two small shots of Beam.

“Bri, I don’t...”

“A small one, Justin. Just a little Dutch courage then we’ll go. You’ll arrive fashionably late, looking fabulous. Sidney will do his thing and your public will be wowed.”

“It sounds so simple when you put it that way,” Justin said as he took a small sip of his drink.

“It is simple.”

“I wish I had your confidence.”

“I have enough for the both of us. Now, you ready to meet your public?”

“I’m ready.”

“Then let’s go.” Brian guided Justin out of the loft, locked up and took his artist to meet his destiny.

 

*****
 

“Are you sure I look all right?” Curtis asked, as Raph and Hector headed towards the door of their house.

“You look fine,” Raph replied. “We’re going to be late if we don’t get moving.”

“But you have nice suits and I don’t,” Curtis stated.

“Your shirt and tie look fine,” Hector told the boy.

“I … I’ve never been to something like this before. Maybe I should stay home.”

“You are coming with us,” Raph said firmly. “You look fine, and this is for friends of ours. Let’s go.”

They made their way out to the car, Curtis trailing behind. When they were all strapped in, Hector started the car and they headed out into traffic. Raph turned and looked at his newly minted son. He realized they should have talked more about this before they left. He always forgot about Curtis’ insecurities and inexperience, especially now that the boy was their son. That legal action didn’t automatically solve all the problems.

“Curtis,” Raph said gently. “Are you worried about how to act at Justin’s opening?”

Curtis nodded his head silently. Raph thought he could see tears forming in the dark eyes.

“We know that you didn’t get a chance to go to functions like this when you were with those people.” Raph refused to say the name Hardigan aloud.

“We never went anywhere. And when I lived with my Grandpa, we didn’t have money for fancy things like this. I’m going to make a fool of myself … and of you.” Curtis felt the first tear roll down his face. He swiped it away and sucked in a breath.

“Pull over, Hector,” Raph said.

Hector looked at his partner who nodded at him. Hector pulled the car into a parking lot of a strip mall. He found a space and shut off the car.

Raph unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face his son. “Do you want to go home?” Curtis nodded. “Then we will, but I think you should understand something first.”

“What?” Curtis asked when Raph stopped there.

“You had a very bad time for many years, Curtis. Hector and I both know that.”

“We do,” Hector agreed.

“However, when we adopted you, when you came to live with us, we both resolved to give you every opportunity to have a good life,” Raph explained. “If you are to grow to your full potential, you need to experience everything. We may be rushing you a bit taking you to this opening, but you will find that all social events are pretty much the same. You go in, you meet your hosts, you mingle and make small talk with people, you have a drink or some food and then you thank them for having you and leave.”

“That’s it?” Curtis asked looking at Raph.

“That’s it,” Raph replied and Hector nodded in agreement.

“They’re all like that?” Curtis asked.

“With variations. At dinner parties you sit down to eat. At birthday parties, you sing that birthday song and watch the person cut the cake, like at Bree’s birthday.”

“Will there be a frog cake?” Curtis asked mischievously.

Hector and Raph laughed out loud. “God, I hope not,” Hector said. “But with Emmett catering you never know.”

“You just did a good thing,” Raph said knowingly. “If you can see the humor in the situation it makes it so much easier. You can always pretend everyone’s naked and you’re not. It gives one a sense of confidence.”

Curtis giggled. “Maybe I can do this.”

“Curtis, I know you can do it, even if you don’t,” Raph said confidently. “You’re a smart lad with a good sense of humor. That will take you far in life. But you need to experience things. This opening will be a social gathering that you can try on for size while you’re young. No one expects you to be perfect. It will provide you with a bank of knowledge and understanding that you can apply to every social situation you’ll face later in your life. It gets easier as you practise.”

“Just like practising basketball?” Curtis asked with a twinkle in his eye. The tears had been banished.

“Kind of,” Hector said. “Practice makes perfect.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Raph said. “We’ll be there with you the whole time. If you’re not sure about something, ask us, or watch what we do.”

“Okay,” Curtis said, his demeanor much brighter now.

“So is it the opening … or home?” Hector asked, starting the car.

“I guess we should go to the opening,” Curtis said. “I have a lot to learn.”

“I think you’ve learned all the essentials of life that you really need,” Raph replied gently. “All this is just window dressing. I’m proud of you, son.”

Curtis leaned back in his seat as Hector pulled into traffic. He felt much better about this whole opening thing now.

 

*****
 

“Where are my daddies?” Bree asked her uncles.

“They’ll be here shortly,” John told her.

“Your Dada likes to be fashionably late,” Bobby explained.

“What’s passionably late?” Bree asked.

John and Bobby choked back laughs. “Out of the mouths of babes,” Bobby chuckled.

“They better not be…” John stated.

“What better way would Brian have to calm down a tense Justin?”

“I don’t want to think about it,” John scowled.

Just then Raph, Hector and Curtis walked in.

“Curtis!” Bree called. She was happy to see someone she knew.

The three men made their way over to Bree and her uncles.

“Hi, Bree,” Curtis said with a smile. “I didn’t think you would remember me.”

“I member you,” Bree said. “I made you a card and you came to my party.”

“Right,” Curtis said. “And I hope you’ll come to my party in a while.”

“Is it your birthday?” Bree asked.

“No, no, it’s my adoption party,” Curtis said proudly. “Raph and Hector have officially adopted me.”

“Good,” Bree stated giving her seal of approval.

“That’s great,” John and Bobby said shaking Raph and Hector’s hands.

“What’s going on?” Gus asked as he walked up. He, JR and Melanie had been running late, and had just arrived.

“Curtis got ‘dopted,” Bree told him.

“Wow! That’s great, Curtis,” Gus said hugging his friend.

“Thanks,” Curtis said shyly, but he was pleased at everyone’s congratulations.

“Gus … thirsty,” Bree said tugging at Gus’ hand.

“Yeah, I am,” Gus replied teasing his little sister.

“Me thirsty,” Bree pouted.

“Okay, Squirt,” Gus said. “Come on, Curtis, let’s go get some punch.”

Curtis looked at his fathers who nodded. All the children made their way over to the punch table where Gus snaffled drinks for all of them.

“He’s doing great,” John said to Hector and Raph as they all kept an eye on the children.

“Yes, we’re very proud of him,” Hector said.

“He was reluctant to come tonight,” Raph informed them. “I hope you’ll keep an eye on him and help him if he seems out of his element.”

“We certainly will,” Bobby volunteered. “But he seems to be having a good time.”

They watched Curtis talking animatedly with the children. They were all laughing and everything seemed to be fine.

“Did Brian tell you that he invited us to attend the closing party for Justin’s show? I understand it will also be Gus’ birthday party? We had wanted to have a celebration of Curtis’ adoption that night, but everyone will be at Brian’s party,” Raph explained.

“That’s too bad,” Bobby said.

“Brian wants to have Curtis be part of the celebration that night,” Hector clarified. “It was nice of him to invite us.”

“Yes, it was. I hope Curtis doesn’t mind sharing the moment.”

Hector grinned. “We have a little surprise for Curtis, with Brian’s help.”

“That’s good,” John said.

“We think we’ll have a party for Curtis later when midterms are over,” Raph explained.

“That’s a nice idea,” John agreed.

“He wants to invite Bree, because she invited him to her party,” Raph laughed.

“I know Bree seems older and wiser than she actually is, but isn’t she a little young for a teenage party?”

“I thought the same thing, but Curtis doesn’t have many friends yet, and he really wanted her to be there. Would Patrick maybe come too, then she’d have someone more her own age to be with.”

“Sounds like a plan,” John said. “I’ll mention it to Patrick.”

“Thanks,” Raph said feeling better about the closing night party and their own future party.

Sidney hustled up beside John. He was looking at his watch. “Where is that brother of yours?” he demanded of John. “He promised to have Justin back here on time. They’re already ten minutes late. What has he done to my artist?”

John and Bobby looked at each other and shook their heads, wondering themselves what the two men might be up to.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” John said trying to mollify the gallery owner.

“They better be. We should have started already,” Sidney griped.

Just then there was a ruffle of noise that passed through the gallery. They all turned to look. Brian Kinney and Justin Taylor were in the building. They stood inside the main door looking very handsome and debonair. Justin clung to Brian’s hand, but his smile radiated across the room. A round of applause started up and everyone showed their appreciation for the artist, even though they had yet to see the new collection of work.

When the applause died down, Sidney stepped forward. “Ladies and gentlemen, now that our artist has arrived, we may begin.”

Justin glanced at Brian who squeezed his hand and leaned his shoulder against his husband. “It’s going to be fine,” he whispered.

Justin nodded and held his breath.
 

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