Sins of the Father
Chapter 17
The last few days of their stay in
He had enjoyed spending time with Briana
and Patrick. It was great to see the children experiencing new and wonderful
things, even if that did lead to Bree's desire to have the redwood treehouse
for herself. Brian smiled at the memory. He loved his children and he loved
Justin, more than he had ever thought possible.
This time spent with John and Bobby had
been great too. He loved shopping with John, and their conversations had been
insightful. He could learn a lot from his big brother and he felt like he had.
But he also knew he would be glad to go
home. He loved the cottage and their life there. He loved seeing Kinnetik grow
and prosper. He was proud of the clinic and what Hunter had accomplished. He
was also pleased that
Chuckling out loud, Brian shook his head.
Who would have ever imagined that Brian fucking Kinney would be sitting on the
porch of a B and B in
What was that old movie, "It's a
Wonderful Life"? Lately for Brian it was a wonderful life. He must really
be getting old, he thought to himself. You didn't think like this until your
life was almost over. That is, unless you had a great life like he did. Unless
you could feel proud and happy about yourself and what you had done with your
life so far. Then, he supposed, it was okay to feel this way.
"Bri?"
"Hey, Sunshine," Brian said
looking at his husband who had stuck his head out the door of the B&B.
"Did you have a good sleep?"
"Yeah, Bree's still out like a light.
She's done so much this week. Here," Justin said handing Brian a glass of
lemonade. "Seamus said you could probably use this."
"Thanks," Brian said and took a
long drink. He hadn't realized how thirsty he was or how long he had been
sitting on the porch.
"Have you been sitting here the whole
time I was asleep?" Justin asked as he dropped into the rocker next to
Brian's. Brian nodded. "You seemed lost in thought when I first saw you. I
have a penny if you want to spill."
Brian chuckled. "You don't have to
pay for these thoughts."
"Oh?" Justin questioned.
"I was thinking about you."
"Me? That's sweet."
"I know. I'm just the sweetest thing
on the face of the earth," Brian snarked.
"You are, you know," Justin
smiled affectionately. Brian shook his head. "You're in a funny
mood," Justin observed.
"Am I?"
"Yes, you are. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I was just thinking."
"That's not like you."
"Not like me?" Brian frowned.
"You think I never think?" Brian asked testily.
"Of course not, but you don't usually
do it like this."
"Aren't vacations usually a time for
reflection?" Brian asked.
"Reflection? I don't think I've ever
heard you use that word before."
"Well, now you have."
Justin stared at his husband. "Are
you sure everything's all right?"
Brian sighed. "Yes, everything's
fine."
"You have enjoyed our vacation,
haven't you?"
"Almost entirely."
"Almost? What didn't you like?"
"I didn't like Bree getting all upset
about that fucking treehouse, and also how that asshole manager treated us in
that restaurant, and that fucking singer the other night, and all the lesbians,
and driving a minivan…"
"Whoa!" Justin cut him off.
"That was definitely the wrong question. I should have asked what you
liked about the vacation."
"I liked … loved spending all the
time with you, and fucking you senseless, and you fucking me senseless, and
seeing the Squirt experience all kinds of new things, and spending more time
with John and Bobby, and meeting Seamus and Simon and Ken and even Myrna and
Jane."
"Holy shit! That's some list. Am I to
believe that you actually did enjoy yourself?"
"I did," Brian said
emphatically. "I never thought I would, but I did."
"I love you a whole bunch,"
Justin said with a smile.
"I know, and I love you right
back." They leaned together to exchange a kiss.
"And we have a couple of days
left," Justin chuckled. "What do you want to do?"
"I'd like to take it easy. I think
we've done enough sightseeing. I want to do a bit more shopping too."
"You do? What for?"
"Something."
"That's very informative,"
Justin chuckled.
"Come here," Brian said softly
and he leaned in for another kiss.
"Dada!" a little voice said.
Seamus pushed open the screen door and
holding Bree's hand he steered her out onto the verandah. "I found this
little lady looking for her daddies," Seamus said with a smile.
"Would you like some lemonade, Bree?"
Bree nodded and Seamus went off to get her
a glass of lemonade.
"I couldn't find you," Bree
said.
"We would never leave you all
alone," Justin assured her.
"I know, but I didn't know where you
were."
"Well, you do now," Brian said.
"What would you like to do for the rest of the afternoon?"
"Swim," she said remembering the
fun she had had playing in the water with Patrick.
"Swim it is," Brian replied.
"Only this time we'll have to find a public beach."
Just then Seamus returned with a little
plastic glass of lemonade for Bree.
"We have a job for you, Seamus. We
need directions to the best public beach in
Aside from making the best lemonade in
John, the strongest swimmer of the
parents, played lifeguard. Bobby and Justin were vigilant with the sunscreen,
for the children and themselves. Neither man wanted to risk the skin of their
children, nor risk the wrath of their partners so they became very good at
policing themselves. Brian was the keeper of the lounge chairs and umbrellas.
The afternoon was passing pleasantly.
"Brian?"
"Hmm?"
"There's a carnival up the beach,
Bobby and I are going to take the kids to check it out and also look for the
b-a-t-h-r-o-o-m. Okay?"
"Okay, Sunshine. Be care..."
"Bri-ian."
"Um, have fun. We'll be right
here."
"Okay, behave yourselves. And no more
making friends with lesbians." They cracked up at Justin's remark, then
with kisses all around, Justin and Bobby and the kids were off while Brian and
John relaxed under the umbrellas.
"Brian?"
"Hmm?"
"Just how does one make friends with
lesbians?" John said drowsily.
"Wouldn't you like to know,"
Brian snarked then closed his eyes.
*****
"Dada." Briana was holding a
very large stuffed frog. It was so big that it almost toppled her over. With
her daddy's help, the tip of the frog's long tongue was tickling her dada's
nose. "Dada!" Bree giggled as she flicked the felt tongue against
Brian's nose again. His nose twitched.
"What the...?" Brian's eyes grew
as wide as the frog's eyes. He jumped from his chair then went running in mock
horror into the surf. Briana was doing her best to follow, dragging the huge
frog behind her and giggling all the way. She stopped just at the water's edge,
not wanting to get the frog wet. Justin, who was following close behind Bree,
picked up the frog.
"Go on, baby. Dada will take you in
the water." Brian came back out of the water toward Bree and she ran
straight into his arms.
"Did the fwog scare you, Dada?"
Bree asked but she knew better.
"Are you going to save me from the
big bad frog?" Brian countered.
"I save you, Dada," Bree said as
she wrapped her little arms around Brian's neck.
"That's my girl!"
Justin watched as his two most beloved
people in the whole wide world played in the ocean.
As the sun started to lower in the sky,
the brothers, lovers and children packed up the van to head back to the B and
B. On the way back, they came across the local McDonalds and as promised, Brian
pulled into the parking lot. The men all turned to look at Brian.
"What? I did promise Patrick we could
go and he was good enough to defer the trip the other day. Let it not be said
that Brian Kinney isn't a man of his word." Brian unbuckled Bree as the
three other men took turns pinching themselves. Brian Kinney voluntarily took
them to McDonalds; surely it was the first sign of the apocalypse.
The meal went well at McDonalds; everyone
was able to find something to their liking. They decided to go back to the
B&B to change and then make plans from there. Their vacation was waning,
and they wanted to go over the trip to the airport and what to do about all the
gifts they had purchased. It would take two suitcases to hold all the stuff.
In the common room Seamus supplied the
family with coffee, lemonade, chocolate milk and homemade cookies.
"Justin, I think it would be best to
Fedex all the stuff to Kinnetik or to Claire. We can't possibly carry
everything. If we take the frog as carry-on I may have to buy it its own seat.
This thing is huge. Where did you get it?"
"Um, that was me." Bobby
blushed. "I won it at the carnival."
"Way to go, Big Red!" Brian
gushed. "How?"
"They had one of those booths where
you have to throw a baseball and knock down all the bottles." Bobby
shrugged.
"Daddy was awesome! He kept throwing
the ball and he knocked down the whole row. He kept winning all the little
toys." Patrick was so proud of his daddy's talents.
"Bobby must have won about a dozen
small stuffed animals, so the guy gave us a choice. Take the twelve smaller
ones or one big one," Justin added.
"Uncle Bobby got me a fwog!"
Bree was beaming and clapping with glee.
By the time they were all ready for bed,
they decided to spend their last full day in
*****
"Wakey, wakey, Sunshine."
"What time is it?" asked a
sleepy Sunshine.
"About eight."
"In the morning?"
"Yes, sleepy-head, in the morning.
I'm just following the plan you all agreed upon last night. Seamus gave me the
directions to the nearest Fedex and I'm about to take the majority of our loot
there. I promised Bree that if she let me ship her frog, Gamma Claire would
take it to the cottage and it'll be there when we get home. So I have to go
now. You and Bree can sleep some more."
Justin yawned widely. "Mmm, thanks,
I'll see you later." Justin succeeded in planting a kiss somewhere in the
vicinity of Brian's lips then he rolled over and went back to sleep.
"Typical man," Brian 'tsked,
tsked' then grabbed his bags of loot and went out the door.
"Bri," Bobby met Brian in the
hall. "I'll come with you. There's too much stuff for one man. John and
Patrick are still asleep but I left them a note."
"Thanks, Red. I thought I'd have to
make several trips."
"What did you buy?"
"I have no idea, but there's a lot of
it. Come on, I want to be able to overnight this stuff."
"Right behind you, big guy,"
Bobby said with a smirk.
"In your dreams," Brian snarked.
They picked up all the bags and headed out.
At FedEx, Brian and Bobby organized the
gifts for shipping. They called Claire to let her know the tracking numbers and
then went back to the B and B.
"All done?" John called out from
his room through the connecting door.
"Yup, your mother should be getting
four boxes about ten tomorrow morning," Brian answered as he was getting
Bree dressed for the day.
"Four!? What the heck did you guys
buy?"
"Stuff! Besides, Bree's frog took up
one whole box. That's one expensive frog, Miss Squirt." Brian addressed
his daughter who did a good job at looking coy. Brian shook his head. "You
are your daddy's daughter, Squirt. Let's go see what Seamus has cooked up
today."
After breakfast the group separated again.
John wanted to take a last look at some of the historical buildings and old
architecture. Patrick, who inherited his father's interest in buildings, went
with him. Brian decided to make a fast trip to the San Sebastian winery. Briana
went with him. Justin and Bobby wanted to check out some of the more touristy
shops and get some St. Augustine t-shirts. They decided to meet for lunch at
the Ale House.
"Craig, look, I think that's the
van."
"What van, and why are you
whispering?"
"I think that's Brian's van. That's
why I'm whispering. Put your hat on and your sunglasses. He must be inside the
winery."
"Susan, we have every right to be
here. You're the one who wanted to come back. I have no intention of hiding
from Kinney."
"I'm not telling you to hide but this
is a public place. You want to be in private if you intend to confront
him."
"Oh, I intend to confront him, all
right. I want to know why he's fucking around on my son and what happened to
Patrick Taylor's estate!"
Inside the winery, Brian sampled a few
types of wine, made his selection and arranged to have the case shipped home.
It was getting close to lunchtime so he purchased a box of crackers and some
bottles of water and juice, just in case.
"Pretty, Dada." Bree pointed up
at a display of fancy bottles that held various sauces and flavored cooking
oils all made with wine products.
"Careful there, Squirt. That's a
crash waiting to happen."
"Crash?"
"Yes, crash, they all fall down and
crash."
"Oooh. No crash, Dada." Bree
moved closer to her dada .
"No, crash, sweetheart. Time for
lunch, Squirt. Let's get you in the van."
"You hungy, Dada?"
"Hungry, and yes, I could eat."
"Dada, eat good." Briana made a
little scowl like her daddy Justin when he was worried that Brian wasn't eating
enough.
"You're just like your daddy,"
Brian chuckled and thanked the gods.
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