And Never Brought to Mind
Chapter 2
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John Patrick Taylor woke up in the cheesy
little bed that he had flopped down on only a few hours prior. After his
unsuccessful encounter with, with, with what? His uncle, a long lost cousin? He
had no idea how he was related to Craig Taylor or if he was truly related to
the rude man he had met the previous day. JP had ridden around for hours in his
small rented car. He hadn't been ready to go back to the hotel and face his
sister. JP was disappointed. He had expected hesitancy and possibly fright. He
was aware that Craig Taylor was rich and that the artist Justin Taylor was
richer, perhaps all Americans were suspicious. But JP wasn't prepared for all
the anger. And he was chastising himself for not being prepared.
JP and his sister had lost their father
only months before their trip to
JP had decided to take up his father's
cause. He scrimped and saved for a ticket to
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Brian woke up with a start, his hand
searching the expanse of cool sheets, looking for Justin.
"Justin?"
"Out here." Justin called from
the porch. Brian got up, grabbing the quilt from their bed to wrap around his
naked body as he padded through the open glass door to the porch.
"Why are you out here all by
yourself? You'll get a chill." Brian noted that the temperature had dipped
with the cold Autumn rain that was sheeting down the sides of the glass porch.
"Couldn't sleep," Justin
whispered. He was wearing only sweat pants and he was beginning to shiver as he
stared out into the dark night. Brian drew closer, wrapping them both in the
quilt.
"Your gerbil's on overtime,"
Brian gently snarked into the blond hair as he tightened his hug. Justin sighed
loudly as he nodded. "If I have to watch the rain with the most beautiful
and most stubborn man in the state of
Brian guided Justin toward the bed and
they climbed in. Settling themselves onto the bed, they faced the windows and
watched the rain until the din lulled them back to sleep.
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Tuesday morning and the summer was
officially over. Patrick was starting his first day at school. John and Bobby
were driving everyone crazy with their incessant worry about the boy's backpack
and lunch, how he would get along with the other children and their overall
separation anxiety. However Patrick was excitedly chattering away, looking
forward to being a big boy and finally going to school. Bobby had plans to
recover from the stress of leaving his child at the school by burying himself
in Justin's contracts to make sure there were no loopholes. While John was
planning to personally tear down an old warehouse brick by brick and start on a
new project. Brian was on his way to Kinnetik with Briana and Justin in tow to
escape the madness for the peaceful
"Bri, leave me here," Justin
said as they pulled up in front of the gallery.
"Later, Sunshine," Brian called
out as he pulled away from the curb.
"La-er, Daddy," Bree mimicked.
"Later," Justin called back with
his full wattage smile for his family. Then he entered the gallery.
"Justin, my lad! So good to see you,"
"I'm not sure." Justin said with
a loud sigh.
"Whatever you decide is fine with me.
We have time. I'm thinking about a small show in a loft gallery in
"I like that idea. I don't want to stay
away for long."
"I understand. Let's look over your
portfolio and choose a few Justin Taylor originals, shall we?" Justin
nodded and followed
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Bobby held Patrick's hand as they walked
up to the main entrance of the elementary school. He wondered if Patrick felt
half the trepidation that he was feeling. He looked down at the red head
walking confidently beside him and let out a long sigh. His little boy was
growing up. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed open the door.
At the main desk he gave his name and
Patrick's. The secretary directed them to one of the classrooms. Slowly Bobby
led his son down the hallway to the kindergarten. There was a mass of mothers
at the door all seemingly dropping off their children just like he was.
Bobby and Patrick got into line and waited
their turn. Patrick looked at the other children, smiling at some and looking
sadly at the ones who were crying.
"Why are they crying, Daddy?" he
asked Bobby. "They're not going to be hurt, are they?"
"Of course not," Bobby chuckled.
"Some of the mommies are going to be sad to see their children be away
from them all day long."
"Will you miss me, Daddy?"
"You bet I will, but we know that you
can do this. You'll like school."
"I think so too," Patrick said
confidently.
Bobby smiled as the mother ahead of him in
line walked her son over to the little group sitting quietly on the carpet in
the classroom. She hugged her son before he sat down, and then wiped away a
tear as she went to join the other mothers at the back of the room.
"Mr. Morrison, nice to see you
again," said the kindergarten teacher. "And Patrick, are you all ready
for school?"
"Yep," Patrick stated.
"That's great. Perhaps you are ready
to join the other children for our story circle."
Patrick nodded and started to walk away.
Bobby still held his hand. Patrick turned back to his father. "You can go
now, Daddy. I'll be fine."
"I know you will," Bobby said
choking back a tear.
"Don't cry, Daddy."
"I won't and I'll be here to pick you
up after school," Bobby promised.
Patrick nodded and went to sit with the
other children.
"He's very grown up," Mrs.
Kinsella, the teacher, said with a smile. "Do you want to stay for a
bit?" she asked. "Some of the others want to be sure their children
don't start crying. I usually find that the children forget all about what's
going on as soon as we get started with a story."
Bobby nodded and moved to the back of the
room. He watched Patrick talking to the little boy who had sat down just before
him. They seemed to be imparting some kind of kindergarten wisdom to each
other.
Mrs. Kinsella started the story and the
children were immediately drawn in. No one cried or looked back at their
parent. They were absorbed in the story. The parents began to drift out of the
room feeling that their children would be safe with Mrs. Kinsella.
Bobby went with them stopping by his car
and taking out his cell phone. He punched in a number and waited.
"I did it," he said into the
phone when it was answered.
"How did it go?" John asked.
"He was braver than me," Bobby
admitted. "Not even one tear. Well, not from him anyway."
"Are you okay?"
"He's growing up, John. The next
thing we know he'll be heading off to university or getting married."
"Jesus, Bobby, give him a couple of
years before that happens."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"You'll be fine," John said
reassuringly. "And Patrick will be great from what you tell me."
"I know."
"I'll see you tonight. Try not to
miss him too much."
"I'll try," Bobby said ending
the call. He climbed into his vehicle letting out a big sigh. He would find
things to keep him busy while his son experienced his first day of school.
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About twenty minutes after he went into
Justin felt a twinge of fear. He stepped
back and reached for the knob of the door, ready to retreat back into the
safety of
"Justin Taylor?" the blue eyed
man asked.
"Yes?" Justin replied
hesitantly.
"I … I think we may be related."
"What?"
"My name is John Patrick Taylor. I've
come all the way from
Justin stared at the eyes so much like his
own. He knew this had to be the man who had cornered his father. "What do
you want?"
"I want to find members of my family.
I know there are
"I bet you do," Justin muttered.
"I understand you met my father a couple of days ago," Justin said
wanting to be sure this was the man he thought it was.
"Yes, yes, I did. He was very …
unpleasant."
"That would be Craig," Justin
snorted. At least they had a mutual dislike for Craig Taylor in common.
"So, what do you want from me?"
"Just a bit of your time. I wondered
if we could perhaps get a coffee and talk."
"I don't think that's such a good
idea," Justin said.
"But why? I merely want to talk and
find out a few things."
Justin hesitated. "Okay, I guess we
could go across the road. There's a Starbucks there."
"There's a Starbucks everywhere.
"Yes, I guess it is." Justin
hoped he wasn't making a huge mistake as he led this long lost
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"Brian, you have a visitor,"
Cynthia said as she entered Brian's office with Joan Kinney. She showed Joan in
and settled her on the sofa. Cynthia left but quickly returned with a tray with
coffee and fixings, knowing Brian was going to need it. Brian and Ted were
going over all the special trust fund accounts that Brian had set up for the
children of his family and other family members. They were conferencing with
Bobby as Cynthia came in.
"Bri, switch Bobby to my desk. I can
finish up," Ted suggested then he gathered up the documents and excused
himself.
"Hey, Big Guy, I can finish this with
Ted. It'll be fine. I'll see you later at home." Brian nodded then spoke
into the speaker.
"Yeah, later, Red." Brian
pressed a few buttons and cut the connection. Brian had that 'deer in the
headlight look' for a moment before his face became the hardened mask that Joan
and the rest of the world knew as Brian Kinney. He quietly sauntered to the
sofa and sat. He poured the coffee as he addressed his mother.
"Why are you here, Mother?" Joan
was slightly taken aback at Brian's cool tone but decided to ignore it.
"I never really got the chance to say
thank you for inviting me to Briana's baptism and your warm reception for me.
Frankly I was surprised how warmly I was received by your entire family. Most
of them are complete strangers to me. They...were very polite." Joan
gratefully accepted a cup of coffee from her son and carefully sipped the hot
brew.
"That they are, most of the
time," Brian snarked, thinking back over the many times when he wanted to
throttle half of them, but he was also so lucky to have each of them.
"They, we, were very happy that you joined us." Brian paused; he
wasn't sure what to say.
"If you have time, do you think we
can have lunch together today? I realize it's short notice." Joan was
beginning to have doubts regarding her decision to come to Kinnetik.
"I have the time but we may have
company for lunch."
"Oh?"
"Justin and Briana may join us."
"Are they here?"
"Briana is in daycare. Justin went to
the gallery this morning."
"Daycare? Isn't she a bit too young
for daycare?" Joan didn't approve of daycare. If Brian had a wife, it
would be her job to care for the child until she was of school age.
Brian ignored his mother's disapproval and
removed the empty coffee cup from her hand. "Come with me," Brian
said in a tone that brooked no refusal.
Joan carefully followed Brian down the
halls of Kinnetik. She marveled at the sight of all his employees hard at work.
Somehow Joan envisioned that orgies and other perversions took place in this
building. But while the atmosphere was jovial and relaxed, she could see that
everyone was doing his or her job.
"You employ women?" Joan
mumbled.
"I'm an equal opportunity fag,"
Brian said before he realized what had spewed from his lips. He saw Joan cringe
at the word fag. Brian debated whether to apologize but they had reached the
daycare door. "Here we are," Brian said as he opened the door.
"Oh my!" Joan exclaimed at the
sight of the half dozen children at play and the two child minders busy reading
or drawing with their charges. "Is this the daycare?"
Brian grinned. "It was Justin's
suggestion. He knew as we grew and matured that many of my employees would have
children. It just seemed right. And it comes in handy. I like having the Squirt
with me." Just then the Squirt in question came running up to them.
"Dada!" Briana squealed with
delight as she threw herself into Brian's legs.
"How's my little girl? You being
good?" Brian asked his daughter as he scooped her up into his arms.
"Say hello to Grandma Joan."
"Hi, Gamma Doan," Bree said
sweetly and with her own sunny smile.
"Hello, Briana. How are you
today?"
"Fine. We have party?"
"No dear, I'm here to have lunch with
you and your father, if that's all right."
"Hungy, Dada," Bree patted
Brian's face.
"Okay, ladies, I see I'm outvoted.
Let's find out if your Daddy can join us and we can go to the diner." It
dawned on Brian that Joan might not like the diner. "Or we can go
somewhere else." Brian looked at his mother.
"The diner will be fine."
Brian cracked a small smile. He made sure
daycare knew that Briana was going to be with him for lunch then escorted Joan
back to his office. Punching Justin's number, he waited for his husband to
answer.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself. I have two hungry
ladies here ready to go to lunch. I was wondering if you can join us."
"Two?"
"Yes, Bree and my mother."
"Your mother?"
"Yes, Sunshine, we're about to go to
the diner. Are you free for lunch?"
"Um, give me about thirty minutes and
I'll meet you there."
"Justin, is everything okay?"
Brian could hear the hesitancy in Justin's voice and was beginning to worry.
"Stop it, Bri, no need to worry. I'll
see you at the diner. Later."
"Later, Sunshine." Brian hung up
the phone. "We'll meet him there. Mother, I'm going to take Bree to the
bathroom then we'll be ready. We'll only be a minute."
Joan nodded and sat on the sofa while
Brian took Bree into his private bathroom.
"Come on, Squirt, time to preen so we
can wow them at the diner."
"'Kay, Dada."
Joan couldn't help but smile.
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Justin snapped his cell phone shut.
"You have to go?" JP Taylor
asked. They had been sipping lattes at Starbucks sitting at a small table in a
quiet corner of the store. Justin still wasn't sure if he had made the right
decision to confront this stranger that very well might be intent on destroying
his family. He learned very little other than that JP and his sister found out
about the American
"I'm joining my partner for lunch.
Look, John, I'm still not sure what you want of me but I need to know. Are you
here to hurt my family?" Justin did his damnedest to appear stern and
menacing. He knew he couldn't pull it off like Brian but he had to try. Even
though Justin had about ten years on JP, his innocent good looks still made
Justin appear eighteen.
"I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just
want to know if it's true that we have relations here. Take this, I have plenty
of copies." JP handed Justin the envelope that he had tried to give Craig,
but Craig was too frightened to take. "There's a copy of my passport so
you know I'm not an illegal. I've written the phone number of my hotel on the
envelope. Please, Mr. Taylor, I'm just here for information. My sister and I go
home next week. I don't have much time." Justin took the packet and
slipped it into his messenger bag.
"Okay, I'll look this over and
contact you tomorrow." Justin got up to leave then he turned to look at
JP. "Can you find your way back to the hotel?"
"Yes. Thank you. Until tomorrow
then?" JP said with hope. Justin smiled weakly then walked away.
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