Working My Way Back

Chapter 9 - Epilogue

The Thanksgiving dinner had only progressed a few minutes longer when the front door burst open and the sound of scurrying footsteps carried into the porch. 

“Hurry up!”  A loud whisper was heard.  “Your precious cake will be fine on the counter,” a voice commanded making Brian snicker.

“Behave,” admonished Justin.

“Moi?” Brian countered.  Justin glared.  Brian bussed his temple before greeting the latecomers.  “Padre, what the hell are you doing in my kitchen?” Brian loudly called out.  He got an elbow for that.

“Sorry, sorry,” Todd said as they slid into the porch.  John pointed to the empty place settings as everyone greeted Tom and Todd.  “The cake took a little longer to cool than we thought.”

“I’m sure it’s delicious,” Emmett gushed.

“One of your recipes, Honeycutt,” Brian asked with a smirk.  Emmett gave Brian a saccharine smile.

“Padre?”  Cabot leaned toward Alex for further explanation which he received with amusement.  “You certainly have an interesting bunch of friends,” Cabot remarked.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Alex said as he passed a huge platter of grilled vegetables down the table.  “Ask.”

“Hmm?”

“I said ask.  You’re dying to know, so ask.  Or would you like me to use my psychiatric powers of deduction?” said Alex.  Cabot blushed.  “It’s obvious that not everyone in Brian’s crazy family as he puts it, is gay.  What they are is a loving family of all sorts that are held together for a lot of reasons but mainly due to the love of those two men.  You can only imagine what each had to overcome to get to where they are today.  And like every successful relationship, they have ups and downs.  They work hard to get through it.  No pun intended,” Alex said with a wink.  Cabot rolled his eyes.

“Seriously, they’re just a family, a little odd at times and very exasperating most of the time.  But just a family,” Alex said with a smile.  Cabot nodded then concentrated on his wonderful dinner.

“Michael, I think we should say something,” Ben whispered to Michael.  They had overheard most of what Alex had said to Cabot.“I love you and I want everyone to know it.  Do you trust me?  I will do whatever it takes to work my way back home to you.  To us.  We made a commitment and I intend to keep it,” Ben declared.  Michael smiled back, his love for Ben shining in his eyes.  He nodded.

“Excuse me, everyone,” Ben called out as he gently clinked his knife against his wine glass.  “May I please have your attention for a moment?”  Everyone stopped to look up as Ben stood. 

“Thank you.  Most of you know that Michael and I have been going through a rough patch but with lots of help from many of you and lots of love, I’m happy to announce that we’re back together.”

The family loudly cheered and raised many glasses to the couple.

“Way to go, Mikey,” Brian called out.  “About fucking time, Professor,” he added.

“Oh, oh!” Emmett cried out as he applauded, bouncing wildly in his chair.  Drew gave Emm a kiss on the cheek to calm him.

“My baby!” Debbie shrieked as she stood up and hurried around the table to pull her son up from his chair and into a bone crushing hug.

“Ma!” Michael yelled with his last breath as the family laughed and cheered again.

“Deb, blue is not a good look on him,” Brian shouted as Ben helped to pry Michael out of Debbie’s grasp.  The family continued laughing.

“Is this normal?” Cabot asked Alex.

“Very normal,” Alex responded.

“Professor?”  Stephanie asked Glen who was seated next to her.

“Professor Ben Bruckner at Carnegie Mellon.  He teaches literature and is an accomplished author.  We’re not all just pretty faces around here,” Glen teased.

“And Michael?”

“Entrepreneur.  He owns a successful business on Liberty Avenue among other things.  Carl and Debbie are retired but when they lived in the city, they were the heart of Liberty.  Under that red wig is a woman who helped many young people and the staunchest supporter of the LBGTQ community.  Many people owe their lives to that lady,” Glen stated proudly.

“You have a very eclectic bunch of friends,” Stephanie commented.

“That we do,” Glen stated as he passed the potatoes.

“May I ask, John and Brian aren’t twins, are they,” Stephanie further enquired.

“No, but it’s an easy mistake.  As I understand it, John had a difficult time when he and Brian first met.  There were a number of gentlemen who confused the two.”

“And this was bad because?” Stephanie asked with a smirk.

“Now I see the attraction, you keep Cabby grounded,” Glen interjected before further explaining the twin-like brothers.  “Putting it politely, Brian had a bit of a reputation.  When John’s business expanded into Pittsburgh, there was some confusion at first distinguishing between the two of them.  But it’s all good now.”

“And Patrick.  I see the strong resemblance; he looks just like John and Brian except for that fiery red hair.”  Glen explained Patrick’s origins.  “That’s beautiful.  Briana and Justin?”  Glen confirmed with a nod.  “Come for one of their barbecues, meet all of them, all of us.  You’ll fall in love with them just as I did,” Glen said as he glanced around the table.

“I’d be honored to,” Stephanie stated as she raised her glass.

Dinner was progressing nicely, the conversation was light, joyful and with the occasional good natured teasing as expected when sitting at the Edna’s Treasures table.  Bree was behaving, deciding she enjoyed Ryan’s lighthearted attentions.  Patrick wasn’t happy about it and couldn’t wait until the weekend was over.  On the other hand, Peter was enjoying his conversation with Joe.

Bree was passing a large bowl of salad down the table when all of a sudden she stopped, her focus taken away.

“Bree?” Ryan asked with concern.  The family turned toward the teens.  Brian couldn’t hold back a grin as the heavy bowl hit the table with a clunk and Bree shot up from the table.

“What’s happening,” Stephanie asked with total confusion.

“Gus-dar,” the boys of the conjoined cottage said.

“Gus-dar?  Wilder, what kind of insane asylum have you brought me to,” Cabot growled.

“Wait for it,” Brian pronounced as he, John and Patrick arose with Bobby and Justin not far behind.

“GUSSSSS!” Bree yelled as she ran toward the front of the cottage, out the front door and down the graveled path.  The family laughed.

“Who’s Gus?” Ryan asked.

“The fourth Kinney look alike,” Tom explained.

Sauntering into the sun porch, with his petite blond sister in his arms was Gus with Ray in tow.

“Hey, Pop, did you save us any food, we’re starving!” Gus announced.

“Are there any more of them?” Steph asked Glen.

“Nope, that’s all of them.  I hope.  It’s all very confusing,” Glen snickered.

The family watched as Bree slid down off her brother before the Kinney men could crush her with their enthusiasm.  Justin and Bobby got their hugs in too.

“Dada,” Bree began with a stamp of her foot.  “Why didn’t you tell me Gus and Ray were coming?” Bree asked with hands on hips.

“Bree, don’t be mad at Pop, he wasn’t sure,” Gus replied.  “We were at Perspectives; we weren’t sure we were going to make it,” Gus explained.  “Joseph Reilly says hello by the way.  And told me to tell you he likes that idea of yours,” Gus told Bree with adman pride.  She smiled her own sunny smile up at her brother who gathered her up into his arms again.

More room at the table was made for Ray and Gus while plates laden with all sorts of Thanksgiving delights appeared in front of them.

“Did you know?” Justin asked Brian when they settled back down at the table.  Brian shook his head.

“I hoped they’d make it here in time but I doubted it.  All they could get was standby and it was a connecting flight.  Then they had to pick up the Fur-harry at Lindz’.  Gus begged me not to say anything to her,” Brian said.

“He didn’t want Bree to be disappointed,” Justin realized.  Brian nodded.  “He’s a good brother.”

“He’s a good man,” Brian said with pride.  Justin leaned in to give Brian a chaste kiss.

“Get a room!” a few people shouted.  The boys grinned at each other,waggling their eyebrows.  Dinner continued in earnest.

“I’m so stuffed,” Ryan exclaimed as he rubbed his full tummy.  The main dinner course was done; everyone had second and third helpings of the superb fare.  Several family members stood to help clear, Ryan included himself.  He grabbed several empty dishes then followed the crowd into the kitchen.  Stephanie beamed with pride at her courteous son.  Joe and Peter were also helping.

“Where else did you go?” Bree asked as she moved closer to her brother.  Brian and Bobby scooted closer as Gus and Ray outlined their business trip and their successes.  They had traveled first to North with Melanie where she stayed for a week before returning to Pittsburgh.  The boys then went onto Isles, using London as home base, taking day trips as needed to Rose.  Then they headed to Perspectives.

“Bree, this is for you from Shane,” Ray said as he handed a binder to Bree.  Her face lit up with her own sunny smile as she quickly scanned through it.

“Just how old is Briana?” Steph asked Glen rather sternly.  She had overhead most of the Kinnetik conversation.  Not so difficult to do when she was sitting so close.  What concerned her was how business savvy Bree was at such a young age.

“I think she’s fourteen.  Why?”

“Why?  When I was fourteen all I wanted to talk about was how cute the latest rock star was, not carry on a business conference,” Steph said in a huff.  Glen chuckled. 

“I think I’ll turn that over to you,” Glen said as he waved Justin over.  Justin had been helping Emmett set up a few round tables that would hold coffee, tea and all manner of desserts.

“What’s the problem?” Justin asked when he noticed Stephanie’s expression.

“I thin’ you have some esplainin’ to do, Lucy,” Glen said with a very bad Ricky Ricardo accent then he quickly wheeled himself out of the line of fire.

“I don’t mean to be rude but how does a teenager like Bree understand the advertising business?” Steph asked as politely as possible.  “My sons barely understand the concept of credit cards, let alone contracts.” 

Justin giggled; he was used to questions like this.  “Here, let me show you,” he said.  He scurried off then came back with a photo album.  “Brian has been updating this album for years.  It’s chronicling Kinnetik and all the different branches,” Justin explained as he turned the pages.  “This one should explain everything,” he said as he handed the album to Steph.

“Is that Briana?”  Stephanie asked.  The photo was of infant Bree strapped to Brian’s chest during a staff meeting.  As Steph turned the pages, it was obvious that Bree had grown up in Kinnetik.

“Kinnetik school?”  Steph pointed to a sign on the wall.  Justin explained about Kinnetik’s day care which was run almost like pre-school.

“It still exists today and there’s one in every branch.  The parents love it,” said Justin with pride.

“So Bree really works for Kinnetik,” Steph stated.

“Not in a legal sense,” Brian commented as he grabbed an empty chair to join the conversation.  “Bree takes after her father in many ways including his artist sense.  Most of the gardens on the lane have Bree’s input too.  When Gus was a teen and interning at Kinnetik, Bree felt left out.  She begged to go to work.”

“And you let her?” Steph said in shock.

“Try stopping her,” Brian said with exasperation.  “She interned.  We carefully watched the clock and when her suggestions led to actual contracts, Bobby and my CFO placed her commissions in a special trust account.  We still do.  She has quite a client list,” Brian further explained.

“She’ll use the money for college,” Justin said.  Stephanie was not convinced.

“I’m surrounded by lawyers, all of which would string me up by my one good ball if I violated any child labor laws,” Brian declared before he walked away to help bring out dessert.

“His one good ball?” Steph asked, leaning toward Justin.  In a whisper, Justin explained.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please help yourselves to dessert,” Emmett announced as he rang a small bell.

The Cabots along with the lane family and friends enjoyed a leisurely dessert and more interesting conversations.

At the end of the evening everyone left the family of the conjoined cottage to their quiet solitude.  Since one and all were invited to the morning after breakfast, all the non-lane residents stayed overnight on the lane.  Between the B&B and the other homes, there was plenty of room for everyone.  The boys enjoyed their favorite brandy before retiring for the night.

“Did you have a good time today, Sunshine?  Your throat doesn’t hurt, does it?” Brian asked his spouse as they showered off the day and got ready for bed.

“I had a great time. And nothing hurts,” Justin assured Brian. “I’m so glad Gus and Ray were able to make it.  I was surprised they didn’t fall asleep in the mashed potatoes,” Justin said with a laugh.

“They’ll be fine after a good night’s sleep,” Brian pronounced.  The boys were due for some down time after their long trip.  Part of it would be spent on the lane.

“Will we be fine after a good night’s sleep?” Justin asked in a serious tone as he snuggled next to Brian.

“What do you mean?”  Brian turned to face Justin.

“I mean we haven’t really made love since before I got sick.”  Justin gave Brian a poignant look.  Brian arched a brow but the look in Justin’s eyes never wavered.

Brian sighed.

“I…” Brian began; Justin interrupted.

“I know what you’re going to say and I love you for it but I’m all better and I want my husband back.  I want Brian fucking Kinney back.”

Brian studied the unlined face.  The years had been very kind to Justin.  He was still as beautiful as the boy he met under the street lamp all those years ago.  Brian kissed the sweet, demanding face before him.  And he kept on kissing Justin until they were both out of breath.

Kiss swollen lips and hooded eyes looked up at Brian, waiting for his next move.

“Like the first time, Sunshine,” Brian murmured as he kissed a path down Justin’s chest.

“Yesss,” Justin hissed as he arched his back.

That’s when Justin knew that Brian fucking Kinney was back.

-tbc-

Dear Sunshine Files Fans,

Working My Way Back is our 80^th story in our Sunshine Files journey.  As QAF fans celebrate 20 years since the first show, Thyme and I celebrate 15 years of our collaboration.

We hope to be around for a long, long time.

Thank you for reading and all your wonderful feedback,

Thyme and Sabina

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