Should Old Acquaintance
Chapter 17
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The week before the baptism was a hectic
one around the Kinney-Taylor estate. Brian had arranged for Emmett to cater the
affair. The number of guests seemed to be growing by the day. Nick had arranged
to come with Hunter. Daphne and her latest beau were going to make the trek to
the cottage.
The only one who hadn't committed to
coming was Justin's father. Justin didn't really expect his father to attend,
but as always, there was that small glimmer of hope that ran through Justin.
Justin had learned the hard way that a relationship with his father was about
as likely as a relationship between Brian and his mother. And yet, Joan was
planning to attend. Claire even said that she had taken Joan shopping for a new
dress for the occasion. The universe seemed to be unfolding in a very bizarre
way.
On the Friday before the baptism, Gus
arrived with his mothers and Jenny Rebecca. Brian had been going to go pick up
his son, but the munchers had other ideas. They had brought Gus as soon as
Melanie had been able to get off work. They told Brian they were planning to
stay for dinner and would bring dessert with them. Brian had tried to get them
to change their plans but they wouldn't hear of it. Brian knew something else
was definitely up, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what might
have caused them to get their knickers in a knot.
Brian watched the car pull into the
driveway with some apprehension.
"Hi, Dad," Gus said giving his
father a hug as he came through the door.
"Sonny Boy," Brian said.
"Where's Bree?"
"In the sun porch
with Justin."
"Can I take her outside? I want to
show her how to catch the new nerf ball I got for her."
Brian smiled. He loved the fact that Gus
wanted to play with Briana, and usually came with some little gift for her.
Briana loved her older brother with all her heart. "Of course you can. Go
get her."
"Hi, Brian," Lindsay said coming
into the house and giving Brian a peck on the cheek. "I brought
dessert."
"Greeaaat!"
"Brian," Melanie said abruptly
coming along behind her wife. She had a firm hold on JR's hand.
"Hi, Uncle Brian," the little
girl said.
"Hello, my beauty," Brian said
using his best flattering voice. JR giggled.
"You are so full of
" Melanie
began.
"Mel," Lindsay stopped her. She
gave Mel a funny look and Mel closed her mouth tightly making her way into the
kitchen.
Brian and Justin had planned to barbeque
because the weather was great, and the kids would love
it. Brian was in the middle of making salad when the girls arrived.
"Go play with Gus and Bree,"
Melanie ordered giving her daughter a push towards the doorway to the sun
porch.
JR looked at Brian who gave the slightest
nod to the little girl, followed by a smile. JR skipped out the door. Brian
always felt the poor child had been hampered by her unlucky choice of parents.
Brian began chopping more vegetables while
Lindsay put on a pot of coffee and exchanged knowing looks with her wife. Brian
groaned inwardly. If they had something to say to him, he wished they'd just
fucking say it. But he would never be that lucky.
They'd make him sit through a long, tedious and digestion wrecking dinner
before they bombarded him with some new cruelty or twisted piece of logic about
how he was handling his life. It was going to be a long evening.
And tomorrow would be even longer. It was
supposed to be a good day, a joyous day, but Brian suddenly had such a feeling
of foreboding that he felt his stomach tighten and clench. He felt like he
might be sick to his stomach.
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Meanwhile back in
"You're not going to go, are
you?" she demanded.
"Of course not," Craig Taylor
replied as if it was the most natural response in the world.
"You son of a
bitch! This is your
granddaughter's baptism, your only grandchild. It's a major event in her
life."
"We're not fucking Catholics and what
kind of a baptism is held at the home of homosexuals instead of in a
church?"
"Your granddaughter's baptism, that's
whose!" Jennifer couldn't believe the arrogance
and stupidity of her former husband. She wondered how she could have ever loved
him.
"Who is this Father Tom that is
overseeing this farce?"
"He's the priest at Joan Kinney's
church," Jennifer replied trying to be reasonable and keep her voice
level. She really did want Craig to attend for Justin
and most of all for
Bree.
"That old bat must be turning over in
her grave," Craig sneered.
"She's not dead and she will be
attending the ceremony."
"Well, fuck me!" Craig said.
"I thought the old biddy hated her son."
"Maybe she's willing to put aside her
feelings in order to attend the baptism of her granddaughter."
"It's not even her fucking
granddaughter from what I hear."
"Brian has adopted her. Justin and
Brian are the legal parents."
Craig snorted. "What kind of a fucked
up society do we live in, where the state allows two fags to adopt a little
girl?"
"Justin is her biological parent,
Craig. I would think you would want to meet her and be there."
"Well, you thought wrong!"
"Then
then
go fuck yourself, you
stupid asshole!" Jennifer slammed the receiver down hearing her blood
pound in her ears. Craig still had the power to upset her unlike almost anyone
else.
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Dinner was winding down. Justin and Brian
had barbequed hamburgers for the kids and steaks for the adults. John, Bobby
and Patrick had joined them. Brian had hoped if they had more people it might
make the dinner go faster. He had picked at his food waiting for the bomb to
drop.
When Justin and John took the kids outside
for a little walk before dessert, Bobby went into the kitchen to make coffee
and get the dessert dished up. Brian looked at the two women sitting at his
table in the sun porch. He had had this drag on long enough. His last nerve was
wearing very thin.
"Tell me what the fuck is going
on!" he demanded.
Lindsay looked at Melanie and Melanie
looked at her. Finally Mel shrugged and took the bull by the horns.
"What provisions have you made for
Gus now that you have this daughter?" Melanie asked trying to keep the
sarcasm out of her voice.
"This daughter? Her name is Briana, and it's none of your fucking
business what I do or don't do for Gus."
"It most certainly is my business,
Brian," Lindsay said in an accusatory voice.
"I've told you that Gus will be well
looked after."
"He's in high school, and we need to
know where he stands with regards to college," Melanie stated bluntly.
"If Gus wants to go to university,
I'll make sure that happens," Brian stated.
"And what about
your will?" Melanie
continued.
"What about it?" Brian snapped.
"Does Gus get anything?"
"I'm not fucking dead yet! You'll
find out when that joyous occasion comes about." Brian shoved back his
chair ready to get out of there. He should have gone on the walk with the kids.
"Brian, sit still," Lindsay
asked placing her hand over Brian's. "We're just trying to make sure Gus
is treated fairly."
"And why the fuck would you think I
wouldn't treat him fairly."
"With you, who knows," Melanie
sniped.
"Well, fuck you!" Brian said
vehemently and stood up.
"There's something else, Brian,"
Lindsay said in her softest voice.
Brian groaned. "Haven't you caused
enough shit to fly already?"
"This is important," Lindsay
said. "It's about JR."
"What about her?"
"We
Mel and I don't want her to
feel like a second class citizen if her siblings suddenly have these trust
funds, and she has nothing."
"I'm not JR's father," Brian
declared. "Get Michael to look after that."
"He doesn't have the resources that
you do," Melanie stated.
"Then maybe you should have chosen me
as her father," Brian glared and stomped out of the sun porch. He wanted
to go find Bree and Gus and hug them, and maybe even JR to make up for her
bitch of a mother.
Bobby walked into the sun porch carrying
coffee and mugs. "You two are something else," he observed as he set
down the tray. He had heard everything from the kitchen.
"Kindly keep your opinions to
yourself," Melanie told him in no uncertain terms.
"Normally I would, but you've upset
Brian on what should be one of the happiest days for him and Justin. So, I'm
going to tell you something that never gets spoken of again. Understood?"
Melanie and Lindsay stared at the redhead
wondering what he was going to tell them.
"Brian has set up trust funds for all
the children. They will be well provided for."
"But what about
JR?" Melanie asked.
"There's one for her too. I drew up
all the paperwork."
"Well, fuck me!" Melanie said.
"Why couldn't he have just told us that?"
"You know Brian never volunteers
information like that. He keeps his cards close to his vest."
"Thank you for telling us that,
Bobby," Lindsay said. "Melanie, let's go find the kids and make nice
with Brian. We owe him an apology even though we can't actually
apologize." She yanked Melanie's wrist hard and they headed out the door.
Bobby had to smile to himself. Brian would kill him if he ever found out what
he had told the women, but it was worth it to see Mel have to eat humble pie.
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The rest of the evening passed
congenially. The girls decided to use the brass bed in the porch. The night air
was still warm enough to sleep with just the screen door in place. Gus and JR
took the bunk beds in Gus' room. Sensing that his cousin was a little 'not
right,' Patrick decided to sleep with her. Briana settled down immediately with
her older cousin there to protect her. It was all rather hushed at 'Edna's
Treasures.'
The one advantage of having a sun porch
was the ability to see the sun rise. One disadvantage was the ability to
experience the sunrise. As the sun began to peek through the trees, its first
rays hit Lindsay right in her eye. Melanie, asleep on her stomach, merely drew
the sheet over her head to further block out the sun's annoying way of waking
one up. Lindsay, on the other hand, was now wide awake. And she thought it best
to get up and try to make up for last night's drama by putting the coffee on
and starting breakfast. It was the least she could do.
Emmett would be arriving around ten with
his delicacies, and his minions to serve them up.
Bobby would be heading for
Lindsay threw on her robe and carefully
padded through the porch toward the kitchen. As she passed the master bedroom,
she couldn't help but notice the door was slightly ajar. Unable to quell her
curiosity, Lindsay took a peek inside. Justin was slightly propped up on the
pillows with Brian's head on his chest. Justin's arm was around Brian and one
hand was gently combing through the brunet hair. Justin looked up and
acknowledged Lindsay who began to blush at her intrusion. Justin brought his
finger to his lips and then mouthed, 'I'll be out in a minute.' Lindsay nodded
then continued to the kitchen. When Justin came out the kettle was on the stove
and the coffee maker was bubbling.
"I'm sorry, Justinl it was rude of me
to have looked in your room," Lindsay said contritely.
"It's okay but don't let the big guy
know; he's been jumpy for days. It might throw him over the edge."
"Last night didn't help either."
"No, it didn't."
"He told you."
"Yes, he did. Lindz, he's not the
same man who keeps everything to himself. Well, not everything."
"Bobby told me that Brian provided
for everyone, including JR."
"Yes, I imagine Brian did."
"Imagine? He didn't tell you?"
"Not the specifics, he hinted. And I
really don't want to know. All that I want to know, that I need to know, is
that he loves me and that he's happy and above all, that he's healthy. That's
all I really care about. The rest of it will work itself out."
Justin poured some hot water into mugs and
offered Lindsay a choice of teas.
"You surprised me," Lindsay said
as she blew into the hot mug.
"How?"
"The way he was laying in your arms.
I always imagined it the other way around. With big bad Brian
protecting his little Sunshine." There was no malice or sarcasm in
Lindsay's voice, just a statement of fact.
"Eighty percent of the time, you'd be
right. I always sleep better when I'm in his arms. I do feel protected by him.
He cares so deeply about things, about people, about us. It hurts him when
those he loves forget that he has feelings. We all forget. I'm just as guilty,
and he easily forgives."
"But does he forget?"
"No, he never forgets. And sometimes
it becomes too much for him."
"And then he needs your
strength."
"Yes. And I give him whatever he
needs, whenever he needs it," Justin said solemnly. Just then Brian
breezed into the room.
"What I need is coffee. Plenty of
coffee, black, with..."
"I know, your majesty, with a pound
and a half of sugar. Coming right up," Justin said with a flash of his
smile and a kiss to Brian's lips.
"Where is the star of this show? I'd
thought she'd be out here with you?" Brian asked as he looked around for
Briana.
"She and Patrick were still asleep
when I came out," Justin replied, just as curious as Brian.
"Here they are!" John announced
as he and Bobby walked into the kitchen. John had Patrick over his shoulder
like he was carrying a sack. The boy was laughing loudly. Bobby had Bree under
his arm.
Handing her over to Brian, Bobby
acknowledged the ownership. "I do believe this one belongs to you."
"Squirt, did you pounce on your
uncles with Patrick?" Brian raised the child so that they were nose to
nose, Briana giggling madly.
"Yes, Dada," Bree answered
softly.
"And was it a big pounce?"
"Yes, Dada."
"That's my girl!" Brian kissed
the child on her nose and gave her a wet raspberry to her cheek,
then sat down with Bree in his lap. "So what's for breakfast,
Sunshine?" Justin rolled his eyes as he threw a dish towel at Brian and
Bree, landing it on their heads. Under their tiny towel tent, father and
daughter cracked up into giggles.
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"Bobby, where are you?" John
asked into his phone.
"I'm still at the airport,"
Bobby replied, just as frustrated as his husband. It was eleven,
the plane carrying Juan, Miguel, Edna's Miguel and Marta should have landed an
hour ago.
"Bobby, I really want you here."
"I know. I'm going to arrange a car
and a driver for them and leave specific directions for Juan. If the plane
lands anytime soon, Juan will be able to get them here in time."
"Okay. Father Tom won't mind starting
a little late. And God only knows if and when Joan will get here. I'm sure
they'll get here in plenty of time. Come home, Bobby. If all his pacing is any
indication, I think Brian needs all the support he can get." Bobby smirked
at the thought of Brian needing anyone but Justin but he agreed with John.
"I'll be home soon," Bobby made
his arrangements and then high tailed it back home.
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Old Acquaintance