And Never Brought to Mind

Chapter 7

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Justin, JP and his sister drove into Pittsburgh and parked near the alley that led to Kinnetik. JP was leery bringing his sister but she insisted that she would be fine. This end of Liberty still retained the look of the former trade that was popular several years prior. JP thought he had made a terrible mistake bringing his young, innocent sister to this part of town. Justin sensed JP's nervousness.

"JP, don't worry. Look," Justin pointed to Brian's SUV, "there's Brian's car. We're safe here." JP nodded but he was still worried for his sister's safety.

That morning Brian, Justin, JP, and Briana had driven into Pittsburgh. Brian dropped Justin and JP at his hotel. They wanted to go through the journals again and organize them so they could make copies to exchange. JP would drive Justin into the city after they had lunch. The three walked up the alley to Kinnetik.

"I'm sorry, Justin, but I cannot bring my sister into this place." JP looked at Justin in horror.

"Why?" Justin didn't understand.

"That is why!" JP pointed to the 'men only' sign.

"Oh that. It means nothing. This place used to be a bathhouse but it hasn't been that in ages."

"But can women go in there?" JP quietly and rapidly translated the conversation for his sister.

"There are lots of women in there. Matter of fact, this branch is run by a woman. It'll be okay. I promise," Justin reassured JP as he held open the door.

JP and his sister were amazed at the modern cleanliness of Kinnetik's interior; the exterior of the building did not prepare them for it. Justin waved at all the familiar faces and led them into Brian's inner sanctum.

"Hey, Sunshine! What are you guys up to?"

"We came here to make copies of the journals to exchange. I thought we could save some money by doing it here instead of Kinkos."

"You do know, the last time I caught you making copies at work, we both got fired, and you were suspended from school for making politically subversive posters." Brian smirked at the memory of the Stockwell fiasco.

"Please, Justin. I don't wish you to get in trouble. We can go to Kinkos. We have the money." Brian and Justin realized that JP was really frightened.

"JP, don't worry. I know the owner of the business." Justin smiled serenely.

"Intimately!" Brian added.

"I don't understand. You said this office is run by a woman." At that moment, the woman in question breezed into Brian's office with a tray of coffee and tea. No matter how successful Cynthia became, she would always bring her boss and long time friend, his coffee.

"And I do one hell of a job! Hi, I'm Cynthia Morgan. It's nice to meet you. Brian, Joseph and Scott are video conferenced in the board room. They're ready when you are." Cynthia then breezed out.

"I'll be there in a moment. Justin, take your journals upstairs into the art department. Take whatever you need." Brian got up to go to the boardroom for his meeting. He paused to give his spouse a tender kiss and then stood in front of the petite dark haired beauty that reminded Brian a lot of Molly. "And who is this?" Brian waited for an introduction.

"Forgive me, Brian, I am so rude. Please allow me to introduce my sister." JP translated to his sister.

"Hello, Mr. Brian. How are you?" JP's sister said with a heavily accented shy voice.

"I'm very well, little lady." Brian brought the dainty hand to his lips and made a gallant bow. "And you may call me, Brian."

"I am Katerina."

Brian smiled sweetly at the girl. "I'm very pleased to meet you Katerina." Brian winked at the girl who blushed immediately. "Jus, I gotta go earn my keep."

"Okay, Bri, but dinner later with my mom and Molly. They want to meet Katerina."

Brian mouthed 'later,' then went to work.

"Justin, are you sure you won't get into trouble using the equipment here?"

"JP, I don't think you understand. This is Kinnetik, an advertising agency."

"Si, I understand but..."

"Look!" Justin pointed to the Kinnetik logo on a plaque that was on the wall. "Brian Kinney is Kinnetik."

"You mean?"

"Yes, Brian owns the company. And our branch in Harrisburg, and we're partners with a branch in Los Angeles. That's what I meant when I said I know the owner of the business. I'm married to him." Justin beamed.

JP quickly translated for Katerina and they all shared the laugh. The trio finished their coffee, gathered their papers and went to the art department for some serious copying.

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"Daddy!" Briana came to a screeching halt as she crashed into Justin's legs as they waited for Brian to finish his day. Brian had retrieved Bree from 'school.'

"Hi, baby! How was school?"

"Chool! Good! Hom-werk!"

"You have homework?" Justin looked down at his very excited daughter who appeared to crave homework. Then Justin looked up at Brian. "Homework?" Justin asked Brian.

"Hey, you're the one who got 1500 on his SATs. We can't help it if we have another genius in the family," Brian snarked, just a little.

"But homework? What kind of homework does a two year old get?"

"Leaves!" Briana and Brian said in unison then broke out into giggles.

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Justin drove to Jennifer's house with JP and Katerina. Brian and Bree followed in the Cherokee. As they got out of their cars, they failed to notice the dark BMW that was parked across the street. Jennifer opened her door and ushered the family inside.

Jennifer had made sure Molly would be there. She wanted Molly to meet these long lost relatives, and the girl had studied Spanish in school, so Jennifer thought she might be helpful with any language problems.

"My name is Katerina," the dark haired young lady said.

"And that's about as much English as she knows," JP explained.

"Gamma Jenn," Bree called not getting the usual amount of attention that she was used to.

"How's my girl?" Jennifer asked bending down to pick up her granddaughter.

"I good. I go to chool," Bree stated proudly.

Jennifer looked from Brian to Justin. "We'll explain later," Justin said quickly.

Molly had pulled Katerina aside and started speaking to her in Spanish. By the smile on Katerina's face Molly couldn't have done anything better for her.

Jennifer served drinks and they all sat in the living room until everything was ready in the kitchen. Molly and Katerina continued to chatter to each other. Brian was watching them carefully.

"Brian, you're staring," Justin said giving his partner a nudge.

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You haven't taken your eyes off Molly and Katerina since we sat down."

"Don't you see it?"

"See what?"

Brian sighed. "For an artist I don't know how you can be so unobservant."

"Asshole! What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Imagine Molly with black hair or Katerina with strawberry blonde hair."

"Oh, my fucking God!" Justin exclaimed as he did as Brian told him.

"Now you know what I'm staring at."

"They … they could be sisters," Justin said doing his own share of staring. "Do you see it, JP?" JP nodded having followed Brian's instructions too. "How could that be after so many generations and different parents?"

"How come you still look so much like Patrick?" Brian asked making Justin think once again.

"I just assumed that it was meant to be since you looked so much like Kinney."

"You know what you get when you assume," Brian chuckled.

"Asshole!"

"No, just an ass," Brian laughed as Jennifer called them into the dining room for dinner.

Dinner went by quickly with some banter and conversation that Molly did her best to translate for Katerina. She seemed to have the most trouble with Brian's snark, and periodically JP had to help her out. Katerina seemed to enjoy herself and seemed much more at home with the group by the end of the evening.

As they were all saying their goodbyes while standing in the open doorway, Molly initiated a hug with Katerina. That led to more hugs as Jennifer embraced JP. She was about to let go of the young man when this figure came running up the sidewalk and yanked Jennifer's arms from around JP.

"Get your hands off that fucking gold digger," Craig screamed. The veins in his temples were standing out.

"Craig," Jennifer cried. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Saving you from these South American moochers. They'll drain you dry." He reached out and shoved JP farther away from his ex-wife.

"Craig, you have no right to be here," Jennifer stated loudly. "Kindly leave JP alone."

"Oh, so now you're on a first name basis with these … these … people!" Craig shouted.

"Dad," Justin said. "Calm down."

"Shut the fuck up, and don't call me dad. I have no son."

Brian stepped forward. "Your ex-wife politely asked you to leave. You've pushed enough people around for one night. Now get your sanctimonious ass out of here before I kick it so hard you'll be able to shit through your mouth."

Craig opened his mouth to say something but Brian stood on the step above him and loomed very large. "Tell this fag to mind his own business," Craig bellowed at Jennifer.

"She doesn't have to tell me anything, and she already told you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere," Craig stated but he backed up a step when Brian took a step forward.

"Perhaps you need some help," Brian said as he grabbed Craig's arm and turned him around. Before anyone knew what was happening Brian had planted his size 12 in Craig's ass and gave him an almighty shove. Craig went running down the front lawn trying to maintain his balance and not fall flat on his face. He crashed into the Cherokee which was parked on the street. That was what saved him from going ass over tea kettle into the road.

"You'll all be sorry you didn't listen to me," Craig shouted as he regained his footing. "Fucking assholes!" he practically screamed as he made his way to his BMW and peeled off down the street.

"Thank you, Brian," Jennifer said. "He frightened me. I haven't had to deal with his temper for a long time."

"You're welcome, Mother Taylor," Brian said with his patented smirk.

"My hero," Justin cooed giving Brian a kiss on the cheek.

Somehow Bree had managed to sleep through all of this, safe in Justin's arms. He carried her down to the Cherokee and set her in her car seat.

"Are you sure you know how to get back to your hotel?" Justin asked JP.

"I memorized the route," the young man said as he and Katerina got into his rental car. "Thank you for a lovely dinner, Mrs. Taylor," he added.

"I'm sorry that it ended on such a bad note, but you're very welcome."

"Call me in the morning," Justin instructed them as the car pulled away.

"Time we got the Squirt home and in bed. She has chool tomorrow," Brian grinned.

"Thank you, Brian. I'm glad you were here to deal with Craig," Jennifer said.

"So am I," Brian said kissing her cheek. "Make sure your doors are locked when you go inside." Jennifer nodded and took Molly's arm as they started back to the house.

"Why does my father have to be such a dick?" Justin asked as he fastened his seatbelt.

"Thank God that's one thing that doesn't run in your family," Brian said as he started the car.

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Brian sported a smug, self satisfied grin on his face for most of their drive home. He half listened as Justin called JP at the hotel to make sure they got there okay and promised to meet JP and Katerina in the Pitts the next day to do some sightseeing and to see the Kinney/Patrick art at the Bloom gallery. Justin then called his mother to make sure they were safe and secure and that Craig hadn't returned to harass them further. As it turned out, seeing the large boot print on Craig's pants and getting his end of the story, Susan called Jennifer and apologized for her idiot husband. There would be no joy in Muddville or in Craig's bedroom for some time to come or not come.

The smug look suddenly vanished and was replaced by a frown as reality set in. Brian had literally kicked Justin's father's ass.

"Shit, I shouldn't have done that," Brian mumbled as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"What?" Justin asked as he flipped his cell phone shut.

"I'm sorry, Justin, I should have never hit your father."

"Brian Aidan Kinney! You have nothing to apologize for. And Craig ceased being my father a long time ago. He deserved everything he got. Besides, I love it when you get all guard doggy and caveman on me. You can do that any time you want. You were protecting your family and I love you for it."

The smug look instantly reappeared.

They made it home to the cottage in record time; the traffic was very light at that time of the night. With Bree settled into her bed and her hom-werk secure in her backpack for the next day, the boys took a quick shower then settled into bed for the night.

Justin pounced. Brian's caveman behavior had turned Justin on so much that he fucked Brian into the mattress and then some. After their loving they cuddled close to recover.

"Wow, Sunshine, if I had known you'd react that way to me getting all caveman, I would have done that years ago. You were quite masterful."

The smug look immediately appeared on Justin's face. "Bri, I never got the chance to ask about your day."

"I had a good day. Bree loved school."

"You never fully explained that one."

"Cynthia had the art department put a new sign on the daycare door. It reads, 'Kinnetik Pre-school and Daycare Center.' The ladies who run the place are certified teachers and they were happy to do it. The parents are pretty happy about it too. The kids may get a little jump on kindergarten. I've been told the children are sucking it all up like sponges."

"Way cool."

"Yup, and I had lunch with my mother today."

"You what!?"

"I took Joan to lunch."

"Not at the diner. I don't think she was very comfortable there."

"You're right. I shouldn't have done that. I took her to Pappaganos. She looked real smart in her new frock and we had a nice genteel lunch."

"Um, the wait staff behaved, right?"

"Jus, it's been years since I fucked any of them and those waiters are probably long gone."

"Yeah, but the legend lives on."

"Alberto was there. He made Joan feel like a princess. We had a good time. I think I need to go slow with her. She needs to see that there's more to me than being gay."

"Brian, you shouldn't have to change for her, for anyone."

"I'm not, Sunshine. But she needs time to get used to me. And I need to take the time to show her the real me. Not what Joan assumes is me."

Brian laid his head on Justin's chest and kissed a dusky pink nipple. Justin hugged him close and began to slowly rake his fingers through the soft brunet hair.

"Besides," Brian whispered, "I want my own mother. I'm tired of borrowing everyone else's." Justin heard Brian sigh and felt him begin to relax. The even little wheeze told Justin that Brian was falling asleep. Justin continued to gently massage Brian's scalp until Brian was asleep. Justin kissed the top of Brian's head.

"My hero," Justin whispered as sleep took him too.

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