PAR-TAY WITH BREE

Chapter 7


 

“Wait, wait,” Emmett begged.

“What the fuck have you forgotten now?” Brian demanded.

“I just want to buckle my seat belt,” Emmett said testily. “Give me a sec.” He carefully adjusted the cake on his lap before reaching for the seatbelt and pulling it gingerly around himself, making sure it didn’t touch the cake.

“We’re only going a few hundred feet up the fucking lane,” Brian reminded him.

“And I don’t want my cake splattered all over the windshield.”

“Sissy,” Brian said revving the engine.

“Don’t you dare.”

Brian chuckled. “It’s so tempting.”

“Bree will lock herself in her room and never speak to you again, if you destroy her beautiful Barbie birthday cake. And I wouldn’t blame her.”

Brian shook his head, eased the car into gear and drove slowly up the lane to Edna’s Treasures. As he pulled to a stop, Emmett let out a sigh of relief.

“We made it,” Emmett whispered.

“Christ, it wasn’t like we were driving in the fucking Daytona Five Hundred.”

“I just want my precious cake to stay in one piece, well, three pieces actually.”

“Three?”

“Yes, this is the centerpiece. The other two pieces are on the tray in the backseat,” Emmett explained.

“I thought it was too good to be true that you had made a reasonable sized cake.”

“I always make reasonable, but fabulous cakes,” Emmett responded.

Brian snorted. “Let’s get your masterpiece inside.”

“Can you bring the tray from the backseat?” Emmett requested.

“Still your fucking slave, I see,” Brian said as he got out of the SUV and went around to the back door of the vehicle.

“I wish,” Emmett said with a giggle, as he slowly and carefully released his seatbelt and got out of the car, holding his cake in front of him. “The other two parts of the cake are on the tray, so be very careful,” Emmett admonished.

“Yes, your highness,” Brian snarked.

Emmett giggled like a schoolgirl as he made his way to the front door of Edna’s Treasures. He pushed the doorbell with his elbow, realizing that he didn’t have a free hand to ring the bell or open the door.

Justin opened the door to admit Emmett, who fluttered through with a cheery “Hi”, and headed for the kitchen. Brian followed, carrying the cumbersome tray with its contents covered in aluminum foil.

“Still slugging the heavy stuff for our party planning queen,” Justin said with a laugh.

“When this party is over I’m going to have him murdered,” Brian snapped as he hurried into the kitchen and set the tray on the counter.

“Gently, gently,” Emmett warned.

“What the fuck is this?” Brian asked.

“The rest of the cake. I already told you that.”

“But that’s the Barbie cake in your hand. That’s more than enough cake for Bree’s party.”

“There’s no place for her name and candles and Happy Birthday on this one, so I made a couple of companion pieces.”

Brian groaned. “More sugar and carbs. These kids are going to be flying higher than kites,” Brian observed.

“Pfft,” Emmett responded. “Where is the little princess? I don’t want her to see this until the appropriate moment.”

“She, JR and Ashley are over at John and Bobby’s getting Beau settled in before the other guests arrive,” Justin explained.

“Poor Beau,” Emmett chuckled. “I’m glad he’ll have a safe haven during the coming princess storm.”

“I wish I had a safe haven,” Brian griped.

“Where can we put the cake to keep it safe and out of the view of little eyes?” Emmett persisted, ignoring Brian.

“Bring it into our bedroom,” Justin suggested.

“Our bedroom?” Brian asked.

“Yes, our bedroom,” Justin replied with his eyebrow raised a la Brian Kinney. “No one goes in there but us. It’ll be safe.”

“Perfect,” Emmett agreed, picking up the Barbie to carry it into the master bedroom.

Justin looked meaningfully at Brian who shrugged in concession and picked up the tray he had carried in from the car. He followed Justin to the master bedroom. Justin opened the door for the two men who placed the cake and tray on the long dresser that was always kept clutter free.

“This will work just fine,” Emmett said. “I can assemble it in here and bring it out when we’re going to sing Happy Birthday to the princess.”

“Don’t get any crumbs on the carpet and no wax drippings,” Brian ordered.

“Is he anal or what?” Emmett asked.

“Definitely anal,” Justin chuckled.

“Justin,” Brian said ominously.

Once Emmett was sure his cake was safe, he looked around the room. “I’ve never been in here before,” he said observing the meticulously arranged furnishings, fashionable, but nothing like those at the loft. The room was homey and cheerful yet elegant. “This is just beautiful.”

“Well, get an eyeful. You’ll never be in here again,” Brian warned.

Just then the buzzer went off to indicate someone at the gate that led to Edna’s Treasures.

“I think our guests have arrived,” Justin said noting the car on the monitor and releasing the gate.

“We better get Bree,” Brian said with just a trace of panic in his voice. He was so not looking forward to this.

“I’ll get her,” Emmett said. “You go to the door and greet your guests.”

Emmett hurried out of the room and made his way through the sun porch. Brian and Justin headed to the front door where a car was just pulling up. Two little girls bailed out while the mother who was driving got out of her side of the car.

“Hello,” she called, “I’ve brought Brenda and Hannah. Can I help with anything?”

Brian was about to say, “Yes. Come in and take over,” when he felt an elbow to the ribs.

“Thanks, but we’ve got everything under control,” Justin called back.

“Okay, have fun, girls,” she said as she climbed back in the car and headed down the lane.

Bree and Ashley burst forth from the house, squealing and calling out the girls’ names. JR followed but stopped beside Brian and Justin to watch the girls hugging and bouncing up and down as they greeted each other.

“They’re so young,” JR observed earning a grin from Brian and Justin.

“I’m so glad you’re here to help, kiddo,” Brian said slinging his arm around JR’s shoulders. She smiled up at him.

Just then another car pulled up outside Edna’s Treasures. Brian recognized Winona and her mother. He let out a groan.

“This must be the infamous Winona,” JR said with a laugh.

“That would be correct.”

“Let the party begin,” Justin said as the young girl and her mother got out of the car. They marched towards the cottage.

“Mr. Kinney, lovely to see you again,” Winona’s mother gushed, ignoring Justin and JR.

“Hello,” Brian replied.

“I see we’re just on time,” the woman said.

“Very punctual,” Justin agreed.

“I debated being fashionably late, but decided that this was a little girl’s party, so we should be on time.”

“Thank you,” Justin replied not knowing what else to say to such a statement.

“You never know when something could come up,” Brian smirked.

Justin smothered a laugh.

“I suppose I can leave my little girl in your capable hands, Mr. Kinney?”

“Of course,” Justin said before Brian could make some caustic remark.

“I’ll be off then,” she said, kissing Winona’s cheek and heading for her car. Winona had stood silently beside her overpowering mother.

“Hi, Winona,” Bree said greeting her guest. “I’m glad you could come,” she added just as she had practiced with her Daddy. Justin smiled at her.

“Thanks,” Winona said with a smile as she looked at the other girls.

“Hi, Winona,” the other girls said together.

“Hi,” was Winona’s terse response.

“This is off to a great start,” Brian whispered in Justin’s ear.

JR heard the comment, and decided she should go into action. “Hi, everybody, I’m JR, Bree’s sister. If you have a gift for Bree, please bring it inside and I’ll show you where to put them.”

“Thanks,” Brian whispered before the girls lined up to follow JR. JR beamed at her uncle. The girls made their way into the house.

“I think I’m going to run away,” Brian said staring after them.

“Over my fucking dead body!” Justin retorted. He grabbed Brian’s hand and dragged him into the house.

 

*****
 

As Brenda and Hannah were oohing and aahing as they walked around the ‘princess palace’ sun porch, Brian and Justin were placing trays of healthy snacks on one of the wicker tables. Emmett had loaded up the CD player with the latest hits fit for the young princesses. JR was setting up Twister and then making sure the special DVD of the knight was ready to go. Winona quietly watched the proceedings from just inside the doorway.

Winona, being in the same grade as Patrick was older than Bree and her friends. Even though Bree was petite, Winona was still a head taller than the other girls, except for JR. Winona sighed, JR seemed to be getting along better with Brenda and Hannah than Winona did, and JR had only just met them. To top it all off, Winona was a bit self conscious about her appearance. While other girls were slim, JR was filling out in all the right places. Winona was neat and clean but she never lost her ‘baby fat.’ No matter how Winona tried, she never quite fit in.

The girls had paired off for the first round of Twister. JR was the spinner and referee, while Emmett was filming the game. With Gus’ computer equipment, Emmett was going to give copies of the sleepover DVD to each of the girls as party favors.

“Miss Winona, would you mind giving me a hand in the kitchen?” Brian casually asked as he finished ‘fussing’ with the table. “Justin has to run to the General Store. That’s if you can tear yourself away from the party.”

“Bri, I don’t...” Justin began then caught the Rageian glare. “Oh, yeah, the store, um, I’ll be right back,” Justin said as he went for his car keys and jacket. “What the fuck do I need from the store?” he mumbled to himself as he walked out the front door.

“Sure, Mr. Kinney!” Winona enthusiastically replied. Brian caught himself before he rolled his eyes. It was very evident that Winona hadn’t gotten over her crush.

“Thank you. I appreciate your help,” Brian said as he walked and Winona skipped into the kitchen.

There was very little left to be done other than cooking and serving dinner. And then of course, serving the cake. However, since the party planner was playing host, and JR was gracefully acting as hostess, Brian was left being the grunt, again.

“What do you want me to do?” Winona asked batting her eyes.

“I’m going to bring out the punch and juice. Can you take the cups and napkins?” Brian was holding a pitcher of juice in one hand and in the other a pitcher of punch. Winona grabbed a handful of napkins and a sleeve of cups then followed Brian back out to the porch.

The first round of Twister appeared to be over. The girls were sitting on the Twister mat and giggling madly. Even JR and Emmett were laughing.

“It looks like it’s your turn,” Brian said as he turned to Winona.

“I don’t like games,” Winona said defiantly.

Brian leaned over to whisper into Winona’s ear. “I understand, I never liked playing games either but I would consider it a personal favor if you would play a round of Twister with JR. It’s hard being older around all these little girls.”

Winona appeared to be deliberating Brian’s suggestion. “Okay, Mr. Kinney, I’ll do it,” Winona said with a big smile.

“Thank you, little lady,” Brian said with a handsome smile. He walked over to where the game was set up to appropriate the spinner card from JR. He said a few words into JR’s ear then kissed the top of her head. JR rewarded her uncle with a beatific smile then took off her sneakers to play a round with Winona.

“Ready, Winona? Let’s show them how this game is played,” JR challenged.

“I’m ready,” Winona said as she took off her sneakers.

Within a half hour JR and Winona lay in a heap of arms and legs, laughing hysterically on the Twister mat. Bree, Ashley, Brenda and Hannah were also laughing and clapping at the great game the older girls had played. Even Brian graced them with a smile.

“Did you get that on tape?” Brian discreetly asked the party planner.

“Yes, I did, and you are still the master,” Emmett commented knowingly.

“I have no idea to what you’re referring,” Brian stated with innocence.

“Of course, you don’t. Go on, get out of here. I’ll take it from here.”

“You want coffee?”

“I could use a cup,” Emmett said then he quickly turned his attention back to the girls. “Who wants some punch?”

“Meeeee!” came the collective answer. Emmett herded the princesses to the table to serve up some snacks and punch.

 

*****
 

“How was your trip to the store?” Brian asked Justin. Justin had returned from his ‘errand’ and was putting away his purchases. Brian was making a fresh pot of coffee.

“You mean my wild goose chase?” Justin said as he pulled his head out of the freezer.

“Sorry about that but I...”

“Brian,” Justin began as he drew his spouse into an embrace. “I know what you were doing and I love you for it,” Justin stated quietly as he gave Brian a chaste kiss. “It’s not easy trying to fit in when you feel so different, is it?” Justin asked as he studied the hazel green eyes that he loved so much. “We know what that’s like, don’t we?” Justin whispered. Brian nodded. “I love you, Brian.”

Brian gave Justin a hug then gently pushed him back. “What did you buy?”

“Something for us later,” Justin said with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“Something I’ll like?” Brian said with a leer.

“Definitely!”

“Sounds intriguing,” Brian said as he swooped Justin up into his arms to plant a searing kiss.

“Princesses now,” Justin said when released. “Pleasing my prince later,” Justin said wisely.

A frown of disappointment replaced the leer on Brian’s face. There was even a slight pout that made Justin chuckle.

“Big baby,” Justin muttered as he began to fire up their indoor grill to start dinner.

“When did I start to take a back seat to a bunch of girls?” Brian said with an exaggerated sigh.

Before Justin could answer, a strawberry blond whirlwind skidded to a halt in front of Brian.

“Dada! Come and see my mid-i-evil knight!” Bree exclaimed as she grabbed Brian’s hand trying to tug him out to the sun porch.

“Lead the way, Princess Squirt,” Brian said cheerfully as he was led to the porch.

“Never a back seat,” Justin said to himself as he began dinner. "You are my prince."

 

*****
 

The mid-i-evil knight on the screen held the children’s attention. Emmett had found the perfect actor and attire for the video. The knight was currently telling the children that they should get ready to play Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey.

“What’s that?” Winona asked suspiciously.

“It’s a game, sweetie,” Emmett replied.

Winona giggled. She liked being called sweetie. “I never heard of that game,” she added when her giggles subsided.

“It’s an oldie but a goodie,” Emmett told them.

“But Auntie Emm, we don’t have a donkey,” Bree piped up.

“Oh yes we do,” Emmett assured her.

“I don’t see a donkey.”

“It’s right here,” Emmett said with a flourish, extracting a foamcore board from behind a table in the sun porch. It revealed a picture of a large donkey minus its tail. “Now all we need is the tail, and voila!” Emmett gestured pulling a long tail complete with pin from the back of the foamcore.

“That’s a silly looking tail,” Brenda giggled. It was braided strands of multi-colored yarn with a large pompom on the tip.

“Yes it is,” Emmett agreed cheerfully. “And we’re going to see who can put this silly tail on this big old donkey.”

The girls giggled and Justin smiled at Emmett.

Brian raised an eyebrow. “Bet you can’t do it, Honeycutt?” he said wickedly.

“I’m not going to do it, the princesses are.”

“Bet ya can’t do it,” Brian taunted again.

“Of course I can. I’ll show you,” Emmett replied, taking the bait. He looked around for the necessary blindfold only to realize that he must have left it down at his cottage. “I seem to have forgotten the blindfold. May we borrow one of your ties, your majesty?” Emmett asked Brian.

“My ties are not blindfolds,” Brian reacted.

“Sometimes they are,” Justin whispered winking at his husband.

“I happen to have a real blindfold,” Brian stated before heading to the bedroom to get it.

“Oooh,” Emmett giggled making the children look at him quizzically.

“Why do you have a blindfold, Dada?” Bree asked.

“Um…”

“Sometimes I can’t sleep, and I put on the blindfold to block out light,” Justin said, rescuing Brian.

“Riiiight,” Emmett said as Brian placed the blindfold over Emmett’s eyes. The donkey had already been ensconced on one of Justin’s easels. “Now spin me around and put the tail in my hand,” he ordered.

Brian spun Emmett around several times and pointed him in the wrong direction. The girls giggled as Emmett stumbled across the sun porch. Brian put a finger to his lips to indicate they shouldn’t tell Emmett what he had done.

“You’re tricking me, Kinney,” Emmett stated when he bumped into one of the princess beds. “No fair.”

“All’s fair in love … and Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey,” Brian retorted.

“Will some fair maiden please point me in the correct direction?” Emmett pleaded.

“I will, Auntie Emm,” Bree volunteered. Brian scooped her up before she could assist her fairy godmother.

The other girls looked at Brian for permission.

“I’m waiting,” Emmett said tapping his foot.

“I’ll help you, Mr. Emmett,” Winona offered.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Emmett called as Winona ran across the porch and took Emmett’s hand.

“Follow me,” Winona said confidently, leading the man across to where the donkey was positioned on the easel.

“You are now my most favorite princess,” Emmett said as he felt the edge of the foamcore. Winona beamed with pleasure.

Emmett proceeded to stick the pin in the donkey’s eye. The girls roared with laughter. Emmett pulled off the blindfold and saw what he had done.

“Not bad,” he observed.

“But the tail goes at the other end, Auntie Emm,” Bree said.

“Yes, but at least I hit the donkey. That’s one point for me.”

That elicited more laughter.

“So, who thinks they can do better than me?” Emmett asked. “Would the birthday girl like to try?”

“Okay,” Bree said cheerfully. She was enjoying her party so far.

Bree managed to get the tail in the middle of the donkey. Brenda placed it under the donkey and Hannah on the donkey’s front leg. JR’s tail was near the top of the foamcore missing the donkey altogether. Ashley got it towards the back of the donkey and was closest at that point.

“That leaves you, sweetie,” Emmett said placing the blindfold on Winona who had hung back a little.

Emmett spun her around and pointed her towards the foamcore. The girls started yelling instructions and giggling as Winona tried to decide where to place the tail. She normally would have hated laughter at her expense, but this time Winona didn’t mind as she had witnessed the same thing happening with the other girls and with Emmett. She also liked that they were all trying to help her.

“There,” she said sticking the tail on the donkey, by far the closest to where it should be.

“And the winner is, Princess Winona,” Emmett announced lifting the blindfold from Winona’s eyes.

Winona smiled and took a mock bow as the girls clapped for her. This was something she had never experienced before. “Thank you,” she said genuinely meaning it.

“I think it’s time for dinner,” Brian announced, greatly pleased with himself and how the Winona situation was unfolding.

“I love this party,” Winona said as she followed the other girls into the kitchen.
 

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