Testing, Testing ... 1,2,3

Chapter 11

“I just don’t get them,” Richard grumbled to Morgan as the couple slowly walked down the lane toward Emmett and Drew’s cottage.

“What’s not to get? They obviously love each other and have undying respect from the brother and brother-in-law. The kids seem healthy, very well mannered and extremely smart.”

“And that seems normal to you? Briana is what, five? What five year old knows what a perennial is? The boy is gay, you know. He thinks nothing of growing up with two mothers and two fathers and according to him, he has hundreds in his extended family.”

“Richie, if I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were homophobic. But I do know you, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt before I pound you into the ground.”

"Morg, they just don’t seem real. They’re filthy rich and yet they live in a ‘cottage’ smaller than our house. Kinney is his own gardener and Taylor serves coffee like a waiter. I just don’t understand.”

“Babe, just ask them.” The couple turned around to return to the cottage.

 

*****
 

“This is a test, right?” Brian grumbled as he put away the last of the cutlery.

Justin was sitting on top of the granite counter watching and listening to Brian rant. He wisely remained quiet.

“This is a test and I’m failing. What made me think that I could convince a pair of breeders that this is normal? That we like this type of normal. That after years of my own personal brand of pain management, I like living out in the middle of nowhere. That I love my nice quiet life with you and the Squirt and with them on the other side.” Brian pointed toward the Anderson-Morrison end of the cottage. “And that I even love it when our cwazy wittle family invades us on occasion. And if you ever repeat that to anyone I will hang you from the rafters like one of your paintings.” Brian warned his spouse who was innocently swinging his legs looking extremely sweet.

Justin held up his hands, shaking his head feigning complete innocence. Brian narrowed his gaze then walked into the ‘v’ of Justin’s legs.

“I thought if they saw us, got to know us, maybe they’d see that there’s no basis for all those rumors. And that you have to have space to go out and be Justin Taylor.” Brian sighed as Justin wrapped his arms around him.

“Can I make a suggestion?” Justin ventured.

“Sure. Can’t make things any worse.”

“You’ve been interviewed before, so have I, but it’s always been away from home, never this personal before. Why don’t we make it a little more formal? Let’s take them up to the attic office. You sit behind your desk. Let Richard conduct the interview like he normally would. Then when we all feel more at ease, we can bring it back down here again.”

“It’s worth a try. You’ll be with me?”

“Right where I belong. Let me put on a fresh pot of coffee and tea. Why don’t you bring up some fruit and muffins.”

“How did you get to be so smart?”

“Learned from the master,” Justin quipped as he jumped down off the counter to prepare for the interview.

 

*****
 

“So what made you want to live in a cottage? You both came from the city. Isn’t this a little mundane for you both?” Richard asked the couple as Morgan took pictures of them.

Brian was sitting at his desk and although very informally attired, his demeanor, none the less, spoke of authority in a businesslike way.

“When we met the Andersons, we both fell in love with their cottage. Claire, John’s mother, would rent it out for the summer.”

“That’s the cottage attached to the other end of the sun porch,” Richard confirmed.

“That’s right. Justin and I would stay there when we visited. When we decided to make our commitment, I wanted to be able to live somewhere that afforded us the privacy I knew we’d need as we started our new life together. Our family can be a little...”

“Overwhelming,” Justin supplied.

“He’s being polite. They’re a bunch of noisy busybodies with nothing better to do than to barge in at any moment. More than half of them have seen me naked.”

“Brian, that means nothing. At least half of Pittsburgh has seen you naked.”

“Only the gay half, Sunshine. Next question,” Brian stated as Richard and Morgan were trying to compose themselves.

“Um, ah, I assume you are referring to your portraits that Justin has painted over the years,” Richard said recovering from the Brian bomb.

“No,” Brian and Justin said in unison. Richard and Morgan leaned in closer.

“Let’s just say that amongst our community, Brian had a certain reputation and I’m not speaking about his business prowess,” Justin said with a twinkle.

“I don’t understand,” Richard said. Morgan broke out into giggles. “Morgan?”

“I’ll explain it to you later, Richie. I remember going to a club with my girlfriends. We were just starting college, and well, we liked to watch,” Morgan blushed. She and Richard were about Justin’s age. And while Richard had no reason to hang out on Liberty Avenue, apparently Morgan found at least one.

“Morgan?!” Richard looked aghast. Brian tried to look sympathetic as Justin and Morgan found they had something in common.

“I know the club well. My best friend Daphne and I would go there to watch too. Until...”

“Until he became my stalker,” Brian interjected. “Next question.”

“The rumors implied an impending break up,” Richard stated.

“Made by a bitter old queen who wouldn’t know the real thing even if it bit him on the ass,” Brian spat. Justin laid his hand on Brian’s arm, successfully releasing the tension that Brian harbored. “We fight like any other couple that’s shared a long and sometimes difficult history. But Justin has been my partner from almost the moment we met. Without him I’d be some drugged out old club queen. With him, I like to think I’m a decent human being.”

Justin stood behind Brian, placed his hand on Brian’s shoulder and squeezed.

“Next question.”

“What about monogamy?”

“What about it?”

“It’s been written that monogamy between same sex couples, especially male couples, is almost impossible to achieve.”

“And who wrote that?” Brian snarked. “No doubt some hetero hypocrite who wouldn’t know a committed couple when he saw them. I won’t speak for the gay community, I have no right to, but Justin and I made our commitment seven years ago in a ceremony with hundreds of witnesses. We haven’t broken our vows.”

“Dada!” Briana called up to the balcony.

“She who must be obeyed,” Brian murmured as Justin and Morgan giggled again.

“Yes, Squirt,” Brian answered as he looked over the balcony rail.

“Are we going riding tomorrow?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Can I call Ashley and Sheldon?”

“May I.”

“Yes you may, Dada!”

“No, you … damn,” Brian said as his chin hit his chest. “Sonny Boy!”

“Yeah, Pop?”

“Help the Squirt make her calls, please.”

“Sure thing, Pop.” Brian turned to see three very amused faces smiling at him.

“When did I lose control?” he grumbled then sat back down at his desk.

 

*****
 

“Look at the color of that sky,” Emmett observed as he came out of Emmett’s Place.

Drew looked off to the east. “It is kind of ominous. I’m glad you’re done for the day.”

“And the wind’s really picking up. Let’s head to the cottage before it hits,” Emmett said as they climbed into Drew’s Hummer.

“Yeah.” Drew gave a last look at the sky before he got inside the vehicle and started the engine.

 

*****
 

“Brian,” John called up to the office.

“Yes, John,” Brian said coming out to the balcony.

“We need to get the grills stowed away and the lawn furniture in the shed.”

“Why?”

“Nor’easter,” was all John said.

Brian glanced out at the sky. It looked gray. The wind was picking up as the trees were being buffeted around. “I’ll be right down.”

“Is something wrong?” Morgan asked as Brian stuck his head back in the office.

“Storm coming.”

“I’ll see to the kids,” Justin said.

Brian nodded and turned to go down the stairs.

“Can I help?” Richard asked, as he noted the worried look on Brian’s face.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind helping us stow some of the lawn furniture.”

“Not at all,” Richard said as he followed Brian down the stairs.

“Can I do anything, Justin?” Morgan asked.

“Let’s find the kids and see if there’s anything out by the Wendy house that needs to be put away,” Justin told her.

While Brian and John were wrangling the grills into the shed, Richard started rounding up the lawn furniture and cushions. Justin and Morgan found the kids in the playhouse.

“We need to put everything away and go inside,” Justin told them. “There’s a storm coming.”

“Okay, Daddy,” Bree said. She quickly collected her dolls from the porch. JR pulled the two chairs inside. Justin started closing the shutters on one of the windows. When Morgan saw what he was doing, she took the other window and latched the shutters on it.

“Thanks,” Justin said. “It looks like a Nor’easter. They can be bad.”

“All done, Daddy,” Bree said.

“Good girl, let’s get inside,” Justin said as the two girls exited the playhouse. Justin closed the door behind them and made sure that it had caught securely. He took Bree’s hand and they hustled across the lawn.

Gus and Bobby had joined the others. The last of the lawn furniture was being carried to the shed. Patrick and Beau were watching from the sun porch where Bobby had told them to stay. He opened the door for Justin and the girls. The wind immediately whipped it out of his hand.

“Wow!” Patrick said as they all hurried inside and Justin managed to pull the door closed.

“Woof,” Beau added.

“It’s okay, Beau,” Justin told the big dog. “They’ll be inside in a minute.”

Brian opened the door to the sun porch and braced his weight against it while the others got inside. He followed them in and pulled the door shut.

“It’s going to be a nasty one,” John said.

Brian nodded. Morgan and Richard looked at Brian’s brother.

“How does he know?” Richard asked.

“Look at it outside,” Brian chuckled. “The sky’s black now, and ominous, and it’s windy as hell. Plus, John has a sixth sense about these things.”

“Maybe we should head back to town,” Richard said looking at Morgan uncertainly.

“I wouldn’t recommend going anywhere,” John stated. “You’re safe and warm here with us, so stay put.”

“I agree,” Brian said. “These storms can be dangerous.”

“Should I get the candles, Dada?” Bree asked.

“That’s a good idea, Squirt.”

“I’ll help,” Patrick volunteered.

The two youngsters ran into the house to collect candles.

“How do they know to do that?” Morgan asked.

“They’ve grown up here,” Bobby said. “They know these kinds of storms can knock out the electricity. There’s so many trees around, and one usually seems to take out a line somewhere in the vicinity.”

“And the phone too,” Justin added.

“Woof,” Beau contributed.

“Make yourselves comfortable and I’ll see what we can rustle up for dinner,” Bobby said. “We might as well have something warm while we still have power.”

“You guys sound like this is nothing to worry about,” Richard observed as the wind howled around the sun porch.

“John overbuilt this place,” Brian stated. “I think it could withstand a tornado.”

“I don’t think we need to test that out,” John laughed, but he was obviously pleased with Brian’s endorsement of his building prowess.

“Would you like to stay in the porch and watch the storm, or we could put on a fire in the living room?” Justin asked.

“I really think we should leave. Who knows how long this may last,” Richard stated.

“And then we’ll be responsible when a tree falls on your car,” Bobby said with a smile. “I don’t think so.”

“We had the whole family stuck here for days at Christmas time last year,” Justin informed them, “and we managed all right. Don’t worry about it.”

“I agree,” Morgan said. “I don’t want to be out in this storm. And a fire sounds lovely.”

“A fire it is,” Brian said.

“I’ll get some more wood in case we need it,” Gus offered.

“Okay, but if there’s any lightning, get your butt back in here immediately,” Brian ordered.

“Right, Pop.”

“I’ll come with you, Gus. That door will be impossible with an armload of wood,” John said. The two left the sun porch.

The sky was darker still and the wind had started to roar.

“Let’s go start some dinner,” Bobby said. Justin and Morgan followed him to the kitchen while Brian headed for the living room to start a fire.

Bree and Patrick were in the kitchen setting candles on the counter and table.

“I did the living room, Daddy,” Bree said.

“We put a candle in each bedroom too,” Patrick said. “These are for the sun porch.” Patrick still had three or four candles in his arms.

“Patrick, can you and Bree go get the candles ready on our side of the house?” Bobby asked.

“We can do that,” Bree said, and the two ran off to the sun porch.

“Are they always so agreeable?” Richard asked with a smile.

“Hardly,” Justin said. “They have their moments, especially the princess.”

“But they seem to know just what to do, and they don’t argue,” Morgan said.

“They know when the situation is serious,” Bobby explained. “We’ve had storms before.”

“I can’t get over how cooperative they are,” Morgan chuckled. “You have to include this in your article, Richard.”

“I intend to,” her husband replied.

Justin smiled as he pulled some hamburger out of the fridge. “How does spaghetti and meatballs sound?”

“Heavenly,” Morgan laughed.

“Then spaghetti it will be,” Justin agreed.

They quickly made dinner and sat out in the sun porch to eat it. The lightning began and the rain poured down. They were just finishing dinner and about to have coffee and dessert when the lights went out. Brian and John quickly lit the candles and they all moved to the living room and sat around the fire. It was very cozy. The flickering candlelight was soft and comforting as the storm howled outside.

Bobby excused himself for a minute, and returned to say that the light was on at George and Rachel’s house, and there appeared to be one at Drew and Emmett’s as well.

“They must have returned just before the storm broke,” Justin said. “We should call and see how the roads are.” He walked to the kitchen only to find the phone line out too. He tried his cell but it was down too. “No luck,” he said. “Did you put a light in the window for us, Bobby?”

“Yes, everybody’s okay,” Bobby replied.

“What are these lights?” Richard asked.

“It’s a system John devised so that we can tell if everything’s okay in each house. If we’re all right, we place a flashlight in a certain window. Then everybody knows everything’s fine,” Brian explained. “If it’s not we place it on blink. That means they could use some help. We can find out how everyone is without venturing into the storm, and it works when the phones are out.”

“Very clever,” Morgan responded.

“Thanks,” John said proudly. It had been his idea.

They all settled into the living room to enjoy their dessert. Morgan and Richard leaned against each other, while Brian and Justin shared an overstuffed armchair, as did Bobby and John. The children sat on the floor where they had cookies and soft drinks. The adults had coffee or tea and some cookies of their own. Luckily they had just made it before the power went out.

“Tell us a story, Unca John,” Bree asked after a bit.

“Which one would you like?”

Bree thought about it for a minute. “Tell us the weddings.”

“Weddings?” Morgan asked.

“The squirt likes to hear about Bobby and John’s wedding,” Brian said with his patented smirk.

“Followed by yours and Justin’s,” Bobby added.

“Weddings it is,” John pronounced. He proceeded to take most of the next hour, with many and sundry interruptions by all present, to tell the story of his own wedding and the near catastrophes they had endured before it could take place. There were lots of jokes and smart remarks too. Everybody laughed and enjoyed the tale. This was followed by the story of Brian and Justin’s wedding at Babylon. It also elicited many comments and much teasing.

At the end of the tales, Brian looked at Justin.

“Time for bed, squirt,” Brian said.

“You too, Patrick,” Bobby added.

This elicited huge groans from both children.

“Can JR sleep with me tonight?” Bree asked.

“That’s up to JR,” Justin said.

“Okay,” JR replied. “I’m kind of tired anyway. Let’s go, Bree.”

The two girls stood up and got ready to go to Bree’s room.

“Tuck me in, Daddy and Dada?” Bree asked.

“You got it, squirt. Go get ready.”

“We should try to get out of here,” Richard said.

“No way,” Justin declared. “You’re staying overnight. It’s not fit out there for man or beast.”

“Woof,” Beau said.

“See,” Justin giggled.

“Have you got room?” Morgan asked.

“You can have the sun porch or our bedroom,” Brian offered.

“The sun porch?”

“I bet you didn’t even see the bed,” Justin laughed. “Come and I’ll show you.”

“And we’ll say good night,” John said as he, Bobby and Patrick headed to their side of the cottages.

“Here’s the bed,” Justin said as he led their guests to the porch and pulled back the screen.

“Wow!” Morgan said. “I’d love to sleep here … with the storm all around us.”

“It’s pretty great,” Justin admitted. “I have some sweats you can wear to bed … or not,” he said with a big smile.

“Thanks,” Richard replied. “This is so not what I expected when I came for this interview.”

“You always have to be prepared for the unexpected,” Brian said as he brought in the sweats. “We’re going to turn in soon too. Feel free to stay up as long as you like. Just make sure all the candles are out before you go to sleep.”

“Thanks so much,” Morgan said.

“You know where the bathroom is,” Justin said.

“Got it. Thanks again,” Richard said. Justin and Brian headed for the house to tuck in the girls and make sure Gus was settled.

“Who would have thought we’d be doing this tonight?” Richard observed.

“I think it’s kind of romantic,” Morgan said with a smile.

“You would.”

“And so do you, if you would admit it.”

“Maybe a little romantic,” Richard said with an affectionate smile. He pulled on some sweat pants and climbed into the big brass bed. “This is so comfortable. I have so much to write down, but I think it can wait till morning.”

“I think so too,” Morgan agreed as she climbed in beside him. She leaned back against her husband and they watched the storm for a while before snuffing out the candle and falling asleep.

 

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