Sins of the Father

Chapter 17

The last few days of their stay in St. Augustine were winding down. Brian had to admit that it had been an interesting few days. Gay Days in Orlando was certainly exciting, with all the sex that either he or Justin could handle, but St, Augustine had offered a whole new perspective on their life together.

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 Babylon was doing so well. Carl had proven to be a very capable manager. Yes, Brian loved his life.

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 St. Augustine, Florida, mentally inventorying all the things he "loved" about his life? And yet here he was, doing just that. Bree was taking an afternoon nap and Justin had lain down with her. And that was the reason he could make his very satisfying list. Justin Taylor was the reason for everything wonderful that he had in his life.

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 St. Augustine," Justin informed the man.

Aside from making the best lemonade in St. Augustine, Seamus had a knack with old fashioned picnic baskets. First he showed Justin and Bobby on their map, where the nearest beach was that wouldn't be too crowded and then he retreated to the kitchen to perform one of his culinary minor miracles. Brian and John were packing up the van. Fortunately, Seamus also had a supply of beach umbrellas, chairs and enough huge towels for all of St. Augustine. Within the hour they were off on another adventure to Vilano Beach.

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 St. Augustine by doing some last minute shopping and shipping out their souvenirs.

*****

"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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