Post Fractalization

Chapter 4

“Sweetheart!”

“Gamma Deb!” Bree screeched as she ran into Debbie’s arms. “You all better, Gamma?” Brian and Justin had brought Bree to visit Debbie and Carl on January 6th as promised, to celebrate a belated Christmas.

“All better, honey. How was Christmas?”

“Good, but I missed you and Auntie Molly has a baby in her belly and Unca John is gonna have a oporashun and I be flower girl for Gamma Jenn and Gampa Seth and I’m gonna be six,” Bree said all in one breath as she held up her hands to demonstrate six to Debbie.

Debbie looked up at Brian, who was wearing his patented smirk and Justin, who merely innocently shrugged.

“Well, I guess we can go home now,” Brian snarked. “That about sums up our lives for the next few months. See ya, Deb!” Taking Justin’s hand, Brian pretended to leave Debbie’s house.

“Hold it right there, mister,” Debbie commanded. Brian turned, still smiling. “Now sit, both of you, and tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Brian and Justin sat, making themselves comfortable while Carl brought over a tray of beverages and snacks.

“First, thank you, both of you, for the fruit baskets and the food deliveries and anything else you had your elves do for me and Carl these past couple of weeks.”

Brian maintained his neutral expression.

“Don’t even try it, kiddo. This has the hand of the master written all over it.”

Justin snorted.

“And you, Sunshine, don’t think I didn’t know about your involvement too. Sending over those twin bookends of yours to shovel and clean up the front walk. So don’t even try that oh so innocent look on me. I’m wise to you both. Now, what’s this about John?”

“He hasn’t been feeling very well for a few months and he finally took his stubborn ass to the doctor,” Brian explained.

“And?”

“Gall stones,” Brian confirmed.

“Is that all?”

“Yes, but you know all about those macho stoic types, Deb,” Justin quipped as he bit into a cracker with cheese. “He thought it would go away on its own.”

“Which it won’t, according to Doctor Dan,” Brian added. “John is being scheduled for surgery on the 11th. He’ll come home the next day.”

“But that’s next week! So soon?”

“Dan said it’s best to take it out before any real trouble starts. He says John is one healthy hunk of man, and he should come out of this with flying colors.”

“Do you want me to come to the cottage? I can stay for a few days to help,” Debbie offered.

“Thank you, Deb, but between Claire, Rachel and Emily, I think we have it covered.”

“Are you sure, Brian? I don’t mind.”

Brian reached over the coffee table to touch Debbie’s hand. “I’m sure, Maw. You know how John gets. He wouldn’t want a bunch of people hovering. It took a lot for him to agree to having his own mother stay with us let alone anybody else. The stubborn son of a bitch.”

“Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black, kiddo,” Debbie said smugly and Justin nodded in agreement.

“Be that as it may,” Carl interjected, “I think you should just concentrate on getting better before you offer to take care of anyone else.” Carl shot Debbie a pointed look.

“Is there something you’re not telling us, Debbie?” Brian glared at his surrogate mother.

“No,” Debbie squeaked then shoved a slice of apple in her mouth.

“Carl?” Brian turned his gaze onto the retired officer and current manager of Babylon. Carl sighed then took a seat next to his wife.

“Brian, Debbie is healing very nicely, according to her doctor.”

“But?”

“But, he did recommend that Debbie hang up her apron for good. She could have been hurt a lot worse than a bruised back and pulled muscles.” Before Debbie could protest, Carl continued. “Of course, the lady in question has other ideas. And I, for one, think it’s time. We want to travel, see some sights that this country of ours has to offer and never got around to seeing.”

“We,” Brian knew what was coming next.

“Yes, Brian, we. Look, you gave me a purpose, something to do with myself while Debbie was still out there being Earth Mother to Liberty Avenue. But in case you haven’t noticed, we’re getting old.”

“No, you’re not,” Brian said softly, “you’re some of the youngest people I know.” There was a hitch in Brian’s voice that he couldn’t conceal. “What will I do without you?” Brian arose from his seat.

“Oh sweetheart, it’ll be okay. I promise,” Debbie said she got up off the sofa. Debbie drew Brian into a hug and hung on for dear life.

Just then Michael and Ben with JR came into the house. The two girls immediately ran off to sit near the Christmas tree, giggling as girls would do and began to seek out the gifts that were there waiting for Bree.

“He knows,” Ben whispered to Michael as they greeted Carl.

“You knew about this?” Justin asked as he greeted the two men.

“We had an idea,” Michael began. “Ma gets a real loose tongue when she takes the good drugs.” Justin giggled. “It’ll be hard going into the diner knowing Ma’s not there anymore but...”

“But, Carl and Debbie should be enjoying life at this point in time, not worrying about the lunch rush,” Ben said.

“Or what color glitter should rain down on the dance floor,” Michael added.

“I agree, Debbie should have retired years ago, but Brian is not going to want to let you go. You’ve been invaluable to Brian since you took over Babylon,” Justin said to Carl.

“I’m sure Schmidt will have some ideas, Sunshine,” Brian growled as he gave Debbie a kiss then went to shake Carl’s hand. “What the fuck am I going to do without you, officer?”

“Brian, you have a good bunch of people at the club. There are several who can take over, but I do have a couple of ideas of my own. But this is a party, no business talk at a party.”

“I agree, Monday will be soon enough,” Brian affirmed. “Now who wants presents?” Brian asked loudly as he whipped out his Santa hat and plopped it on his head.

“YAY!” JR, Debbie and Michael called out as Justin retrieved a large shopping bag from near the front door.

 

*****
 

By the end of the evening, Debbie’s house was all cleaned up. The ornaments and Christmas decorations were boxed up and stowed away in the attic for next year. Ben and Michael were leaving to take JR back to Muncherville. Brian was sipping a cup of coffee in the kitchen as Debbie was spreading her kisses and lipstick on the departing family.

“I never liked Little Christmas,” Brian grumbled.

“Bite your tongue, Brian,” Debbie admonished Brian sharply then cuffed his ear. “This is the Epiphany,” Debbie said as if that explanation would mollify Brian.

“I don’t understand,” Justin said as he looked back and forth from Debbie to Brian.

“The Epiphany...” Debbie was about to go into her explanation regarding the meaning of the day. Brian stopped her.

“I’m sure there’s some religious mumbo jumbo surrounding this day, Sunshine.”

“Brian, one of these days...”

“I know, I’m going straight to hell. Probably the only straight thing I’ll ever do. But to me this day means the end of Christmas. From the first time I met Debbie and Mikey, I got roped into helping them decorate this house for Christmas. I always hated the holidays at my house. Back then Jack and Joanie did nothing to mark the day or the season. Jack usually drank away his holiday bonus money and Joan, well, she had her reasons. The point is...”

“The point is,” Debbie took over. “When Brian became a part of my family, I tried to make Christmas even more special. And since I tried to have a real tree each year, we put it up as close to Christmas as we could to keep it fresh and always took it down on Little Christmas.”

“So that’s why you hate Little Christmas,” Justin said with new understanding into his spouse’s psyche. Brian shrugged then opened his arms for Justin. “I love you,” Justin whispered.

“I know,” Brian said softly into Justin’s ear. Brian gently kissed Justin then pushed him back. “Come on, Sunshine, time to take our elf home. We have our own undecorating to do. Deb, we’ll take the tree to the curb on our way out. And I’ll see you both on Monday to discuss our options.”

“All right, kiddo. You be careful driving home.”

“Yes, Maw,” Brian sing-songed as he got his own sloppy, lipsticky kiss.

With hugs and kisses all around, the Kinney-Taylors drove back to Edna’s Treasures.

 

*****
 

“What’s all this?” Brian asked as they entered the sun porch which miraculously was in its pre-holiday state, minus any signs of Christmas.

“A set of elves descended on the cottage not long after you left this morning,” John explained.

“I imagine the head elf was in fact a tall skinny fairy?” Brian snarked. John and Bobby nodded. “Hmm,” Brian mumbled. “I think I need a drink,” he grumbled then went to pour himself a small glass of brandy.

“What’s up with him?” Bobby asked.

“He found out that Debbie and Carl are planning to retire and do a bit of traveling. He’s experiencing separation anxiety,” Justin said.

“Ah,” John said then went to seek out his brother who he found making a fire. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just feeling...”

“A little lost?”

“Yes. This had to happen sometime. Debbie and Carl are not getting any younger, but I just wasn’t ready for it to happen now.”

“I understand. When Gordon wanted to pull up stakes and move to the Village, I thought I was going to lose him. They’re not moving away, Bri, and they deserve this time together.”

“I know. I’m just being selfish.”

“No, you’re not. And from what I can see, there’ll be a lot of men and women out there feeling the same way. Debbie and Carl, especially Debbie, have been fixtures on Liberty Avenue for a lot of years. And for most of your life, that woman has been a mother to you. No one can blame you for feeling lost. You’ll get through this, I promise.”

John crossed the room to give his brother a hug. Brian readily accepted the love and support.

“John, you’ll do what the doctor says, won’t you?” Brian murmured as he hung on to his brother.

“I will, I promise. You can’t get rid on me that easily.”

“Bite your tongue,” Brian growled. “Can you join me in a drink?”

“Just a small one.” Brian poured his brother a small snifter of brandy. The brothers settled in front of the fire to silently count their blessings.

 

*****
 

“Hey, Gus, got a minute?” Curtis called over to Gus who was walking down the hall of the high school.

“Yeah, I was heading to the cafeteria. Are you on lunch? Want to join me?”

“Sure.”

The two boys walked down the hall towards the cafeteria where they would be having lunch. When they had each got their meal, they found a table to sit at.

“Did you just get back?” Gus asked. He knew that Curtis and his new parents had gone to St. Augustine over the Christmas break.

“Yesterday,” Curtis grinned. “My dads decided to stay a little longer. They didn’t think missing a few days of school would make too much difference.”

“By the look on your face, I’d say you had a good time.”

“It was … great.”

“So, what did you do?”

“We had Christmas with Seamus Griffin who owns the B & B that we stayed at. He was great and the B & B was great too. He took us to midnight mass and I got an iPod and some new clothes. It was … great!”

“You’ve used the word great at least fifteen times,” Gus chuckled.

“Have not,” Curtis countered good-naturedly. “But it was … great!”

“I got that,” Gus assured him. “What else did you do?”

“We walked around a lot and ate out and saw the lighthouse and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and a whole bunch of stuff. The weather was nice and warm, but not really warm enough to swim.”

“That’s too bad. After all your swimming lessons,” Gus commiserated.

“That’s okay. I can swim pretty good, but I’m not sure I’m ready for the ocean yet.”

“I’m sure you will be the next time you go there.”

“What makes you think there will be a next time?” Curtis asked.

“My Pop and Justin really liked it there, and then he sent my moms to the same B & B, and now you and your dads.”

“Did you go to St. Augustine with your father?”

Gus frowned. “No, they took Bree and Uncle John and Bobby and Patrick.”

“Oh!” Curtis replied in surprise. “I thought you would have gone too.”

“Pop took me to New York right after they came back. I guess he felt a little guilty about leaving me behind,” Gus said thoughtfully.

“I’d like to go to New York someday,” Curtis observed.

“I’m sure you’ll get to go there. Talk to your dads about it,” Gus advised. “There’s a million things to do there.”

“Maybe I will,” Curtis said thoughtfully. “Where would you like to go if you could pick a place anywhere in the world?”

“Hm,” Gus replied thinking about all the possibilities that he might choose. “Hawaii would be great,” he said finally.

“Oh, yeah! I never thought of that.”

“But I think I’d really like to go to Europe,” Gus admitted. “There’s so much history there. And the art! It would be great if my Pop and Justin could go too. Justin knows a lot about art history.”

“Maybe that’s what you should ask for when you graduate,” Curtis suggested.

“You may have a good idea there,” Gus laughed. He decided to file that away for future consideration.

 

*****
 

“Brian, where are you?” Justin shouted.

“Up here,” Brian said looking down from his attic office.

“How come when I was in Pittsburgh all the time, you were grumping around here and bemoaning that I wasn’t here? And now that I’m here, you hide away up in your office.”

“Is that what you think I’m doing?” Brian asked with a bemused smile.

“Yep.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come up here and see.”

“What are you up to?” Justin asked as he started up the steps.

“Just a little something I whipped up,” Brian chuckled.

“What? What is it?” Justin asked eagerly as he entered the office.

Brian turned his computer screen for Justin to see. There on the screen was a huge bouquet of beautiful long stemmed yellow roses.

“They’re beautiful,” Justin said softly. “Is this part of an advertising campaign?”

“I guess you could say that,” Brian smirked.

Justin frowned. There seemed to be something that he wasn’t getting. “What’s the product?” Justin asked.

“I’m looking at it.”

Justin turned towards Brian only to find himself staring into the gold flecked eyes that he loved so much. He frowned and grinned and shuffled a foot. Usually he was onto Brian as soon as anything happened, but there was definitely something happening here that he wasn’t cluing into. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“Push F5,” Brian instructed.

Justin leaned over the computer and did as instructed. The white bow on the bouquet of yellow roses untied and revealed a message.

For my Sunshine, since real roses make him sneeze. I’m so happy to have you here with me.

“Do you like it?” Brian asked. Justin could almost feel Brian’s shyness at asking that question.

“I love it,” Justin said turning back to his husband. “You made it for me!” His smile was radiant.

“I did,” Brian grinned. “I may not be as computer savvy as your twins, but I can do a few things.”

“It’s wonderful, Brian. Thank you so much. I love my flowers.”

“I almost bought you roses a long time ago,” Brian said wistfully.

“When?” Justin asked in surprise.

“I … I changed my mind and didn’t get them for you. I wish now that I had.”

“What happened to ‘No apologies, no regrets’?” Justin asked.

“More of my bullshit,” Brian admitted. “Do you really like your virtual bouquet?”

“I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Brian smiled warmly and found himself with his arms full of Sunshine.

“Do you think my mother and Seth would mind if I ravished you on the futon they so recently vacated?” Justin asked huskily.

“With apologies to your lovely mother, but who gives a fuck what she thinks about it?” Brian laughed. “Go for it, Sunshine.”

And Sunshine did.

 

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