What A Difference A Year Makes
Chapter 6
Hunter and Nick managed to avoid Debbie for quite some time, but as dinner was winding down, they knew their time was running out. They were sitting at a table with the Andersons and having a nice chat when suddenly everyone at the table went silent.
"Hunter," Debbie's voice said behind him.
"Um … hi, Deb."
"Don't 'Hi, Deb' me, you little shit!"
"Sorry," Hunter said contritely although he wasn't at all sure what he should be sorry for.
"Weren't you fucking going to introduce me to this fucking cute little morsel?" Debbie chucked Nick's cheek making the young man blush.
"Um, Deb, this is Nick. Nick, this is my grandma Debbie."
"Well, hello, Nick."
"Hello, Mrs. Novotny," Nick replied trying to smile but totally unsure which way this was going to go. Hunter had warned him about Debbie. Unconsciously Nick's hand found its way to his lap laying protectively over his cock and balls.
"Not Mrs. Novotny. Call me Debbie."
"Hi, Debbie."
"So where have you been hiding Nick?"
"Hunter and I go to the same college."
"And what are you studying?"
"I'm pre-med."
"A doctor? Michael almost snagged a fucking doctor," Debbie mused thinking back to Dr. Dave. "It would be nice to have one in the family."
"Deb, he's hardly in the family. We've just started seeing one another," Hunter protested.
"Does he know…?" Debbie let her words hang in the air. They all knew what she was talking about.
"I know that Hunter's positive. It was one of the first things that Hunter told me about himself. He's very honest. That's one of the things I like about him," Nick explained.
"Well, that's good then. You know that Ben's positive too?" Nick nodded. "He and Michael seem to have been able to work things out," Debbie added looking over to her son and his partner who were at another table.
"It was nice meeting you, Debbie," Nick said hoping the interrogation might be over.
"You too, sweetcakes. You're just cute as a button. Be nice to Hunter or I'll have to rip you a new one," Debbie added before she walked away.
"Sheesh!" Nick let out a long breath. "Is she always that intense?"
Hunter laughed. "Are you kidding? That was Debbie on her best behavior. If I have one piece of advice for you, it's never get on her bad side."
"Whose bad side?" Brian asked as he sauntered by.
"Debbie's."
"Yeah," Brian said rubbing his chin and thinking about where she had slapped him after Vic had died. "I can vouch for that from personal experience."
"You can?" Nick asked.
"She's a pit bull, but she'll also love you to death."
"I can hardly wait," Nick replied with a wry smile.
"Yes, you can. Put it off as long as possible. When she gets a hold of you, she never lets go." Brian chuckled and moved away.
"You have the weirdest family and friends," Nick said looking at Hunter with something akin to wonder.
"Tell me about it."
Justin and Brian took to the floor for a slow dance. A few others danced but most people were content to sit at their tables and watch. Nobody ever thought Brian was a great dancer, but when he and Justin were together it was magic. They could be sexy, they could be cool, they could be primal or they could be elegant. Befitting the event they chose to display elegant.
When the dance ended Brian dipped Justin backwards like he had done at that other dance, then pulled his lover up into a long, slow kiss. Everyone in the room was applauding when Justin opened his eyes after the kiss. He started to smile until he saw something across the room that made his mood change immediately.
Holding a broom and dustpan having just cleaned up someone's spilled dessert, Chris Hobbs glared at them. Brian followed Justin's gaze and soon spotted what had caused Justin's happiness to fade.
"I'm going to talk to management and have that asshole kicked out of here," Brian stated making a move to carry out his threat.
"No, don't," Justin said grabbing Brian's arm. "I'm not afraid of him anymore. It looks good on him to be cleaning up after us."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. The best revenge is to be the happy, successful one. You always say that. And we are. I am. I have everything I ever wanted and he has nothing. He has no power over me anymore."
Justin watched as Chris scowled at them and then quickly left the room, taking his mop, spilled dessert and bad attitude with him.
"Want another dance?" Brian asked.
"Go ask my mother to dance," Justin ordered. "We still have some fence mending to do with her."
Brian glanced over at Jennifer who was watching them, as were most people in the room. He wondered how many of them had made the connection with Chris Hobbs. "Your wish is my command."
"And be charming."
"Am I ever anything but?"
Justin grinned and shook his head. Brian was undoubtedly the most charming asshole in the whole fucking world.
The evening was a great success. Jennifer was pleased in spite of the rocky beginning. The congratulations to Justin flowed like the champagne that was served. Almost like a new bride, Justin's pockets overflowed with envelopes and cards, each containing a monetary gift that all his family and friends knew a starving, budding artist would need to start out in New York.
As the guests filed out, Debbie secured promises from the gang to meet at the diner the next morning for brunch. That promise included the Anderson clan. John had the forethought to make sure everyone packed an overnight bag. John and Bobby would stay at the loft, Claire was going home with Debbie; with Michael behaving, Hunter and Nick would spend the night with Mikey and Ben. Sunday at the diner would be the family's last chance to officially say goodbye to the fledgling artist. The day would promise to be bittersweet.
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"They're going to be late," Emmett said with a matter of fact air.
"No, they won't, not with John and Bobby there," Ted countered as his friend cuddled close to Sam in their booth. "They'll make the grand entrance a few minutes after they know everyone else has arrived but they won't be late."
"Care to put your money where your mouth is?" Hunter questioned from another booth he shared with Nick, Ben and Michael.
"Accountants never bet. I have better things to do with my money," Ted quipped.
"Don't you mean, with MY money, Theodore," Brian snarked as the four men appeared right on time, as on time as they could be when it included Brian and Justin. The diner cheered as their royal couple made their appearance. Brian gave a perfunctory nod to the masses as he slid his long frame into a nearby booth opposite his brother and Bobby. Justin slid in next to Brian and smiled at his reception.
"Well it's about fucking time you got here!" Debbie shrieked above the diner noise.
"Everyone's ordered. Your usual, your majesty?" Debbie glared at Brian. Brian nodded back. "You boys gonna do me proud and order a real breakfast?" Debbie asked John, Bobby, and Justin. A collective nod and a "yes ma'am" brought a smile to Debbie's lips and she went off to put in three large breakfasts with everything and one order of dry whole wheat toast.
Brian started fiddling with his empty coffee mug, sighing dramatically. They had left the loft without his morning brew and he was not happy. Seeing many of the mugs unfilled and Debbie and Kiki running their support hose off, Justin caught Hunter's eye and nodded toward the coffee pots. The ex-waiter/busboys got up, went around the counter to grab the pots and started filling everyone's mug starting with Brian's. Brian poured a half a pound of sugar in and gingerly took a sip. With a contented smile on his face, Brian leaned back into his seat.
As Justin got to Teddy's mug, the accountant attempted humor. "Mr. Kinney appears to be handling your imminent departure well. Have you given him your permission to prowl the darkened halls of the backrooms and the baths?" No one but Debbie, John, Bobby and Claire knew of Brian's commitment to Justin. The family assumed Brian would immediately go back to his former ways once Justin was out of sight.
Brian was about to cut Ted a new one when Justin spoke up.
"Ted, if I were you, I'd be very careful about what I said about my partner while I'm holding a hot pot of coffee in my not so good hand near your crotch," Justin remarked.
"Point taken," Ted replied as Brian beamed at Justin with pride. Justin winked at his partner and then finished off by filling his mug before returning the pot to the counter.
"Thank you, Sunshine, thank you, Hunter. At least there are still some of you who know how to treat a lady," Debbie said as she had the first load of plates in her arms.
When breakfast was over everyone gave Hunter and Justin a hug. The family knew that it might be some time before both would be back in Pittsburgh. No one wanted the boys to go but they knew they would be back for the holidays or depending on the weather, they'd all go to the Andersons. When it was Debbie's turn to say goodbye. She grabbed both her boys in a massive hug and hung on for dear life. Before Justin and Hunter turned blue, Michael and Brian helped to pry them out of the woman's arms.
"I'm going to miss you boys. The diner isn't the same without you," Debbie sniffled and reluctantly let the boys go.
Once outside the diner, the Anderson clan piled into the Navigator and the family waved as they drove off.
"Come on, Sunshine. Let's go work off breakfast," Brian whispered into Justin's ear as they went home to the loft.
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"Justin, my boy, so good to see you!" Sidney Bloom exclaimed as Justin, with Brian in tow entered the gallery precisely at ten as promised. "Please come to my office," he said as he ushered the two men into his office. Lindsay was already there and made the men comfortable before Sidney put forth his proposal.
"Justin, I know you and Brian have been considering many offers of representation and I applaud your caution. I know each of the agents personally and any one of them would do you justice. But before you come to a decision I'd like to throw one more name in the hat."
"Who?" Justin asked.
"Me," Sidney replied.
"You?" Brian and Justin said in unison.
"Do you have the time it takes to spend on Justin?" Brian began. "I know you would have only Justin's best interests in mind but you're a very busy man with the gallery. It would be to Justin's advantage having a representative who knows him so well and that appreciates his talents, but it would mean you'd have to spend a lot of time in New York."
"I realize that, Brian, and you're right. I'd have to spend a lot of time there and I'm well prepared to do just that. I started out there what seems like another life time ago when I thought I had the talent to make it as an artist. I quickly found out that my talents were better suited to the buying and selling of objets d'art rather than producing it. I have many contacts there and I keep a small apartment in the Village. Justin would be more than welcome to stay there as a flat mate. He would be right in the center of the art world, close to galleries and studios."
"But what about your gallery?" Justin chimed in.
"Oh, didn't I explain? No, I didn't. Lindsay will have complete management of the gallery in my stead. She's more than qualified and has proven herself time and time again. And of course, New York in not the other end of the world. We'll be in constant communication. So, what do you think about my proposal?"
Brian and Justin looked at each other then at Lindsay who wore an ear to ear smile and then back at Sidney who was bubbling with anticipation. Justin turned to Brian with a gleam in his eye. Brian made almost an imperceptible nod and had the same gleam as Justin. Extending his hand, Justin confirmed, "I accept your proposal!"
Sidney clapped as Lindsay gushed. "It must be after five somewhere in the world," Sidney exclaimed as he produced a bottle of champagne and orange juice. "Let's drink to our partnership!" Under the watchful eye of Brian, they all toasted the new rep and client with mimosas.
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John and Bobby hesitantly entered the adoption center in Harrisburg. They had both agreed that they would give this a shot, but neither of them held out much hope that they could actually adopt a baby through the government organizations. They knew that heterosexual couples had a lot of trouble adopting babies, and they really wanted a baby. The fact that they were a homosexual couple was one strike against them, they were sure. They wondered what kind of a reception they would get from the adoption counselor.
The woman who came to the door to greet them took them both by surprise. She was black with graying hair and a soft smile on her face. "Come in," she said gently.
The age of the woman immediately set off alarm bells with Bobby. Most middle aged people were the ones who supported the current administration in Washington and were often as homophobic as the man who ran that government.
"I'm Bobby Morrison," Bobby said holding out his hand. She took it and shook firmly. That was a good sign. Bobby relaxed a little. "This is my partner John Anderson."
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Angela Jefferson. Please, have a seat."
The two men sat down across the desk from the lady and they all studied each other for a minute.
"So," Angela began. "Why don't you tell me why you came here today?"
John swallowed and looked at Bobby.
"We're here to see if we have a snowball's chance in hell of adopting a baby," Bobby said bluntly. He thought their chances were slim to non-existent, so he might as well tell it as it was.
"A baby?" Angela asked.
Bobby nodded. "I know they're hard to come by but we're exhausting every avenue."
"You're right. If you wanted an older child, we might be able to help you."
"Even if we're gay?" John asked suddenly finding his voice.
"You're gay?" Angela smiled.
John had to smile back. He could see the humor in her eyes but also the compassion.
Bobby felt he needed to explain. "We're investigating surrogacy at the moment but as I said, we wanted to look into every method of getting a child."
"Surrogacy isn't all that simple either," Angela counseled them.
"We've already found that out," Bobby replied.
"As I said before, if you wanted an older child, I think we might be able to help you."
"We really want a baby, but we don't know if that will ever happen."
"You both have excellent jobs and you've been in a stable relationship for a couple of years," Angela said looking at the questionnaire they had filled out. "You should be able to pull this off. But, if for some reason it doesn't happen, we have many older children who could use a good home."
"What do you mean by older?" John asked.
"Once they start school most people don't want to adopt them."
"Really? Why is that?"
"I think it's a combination of things. By that age many of them have noticeable problems and are acting out. They often feel unloved by anyone, and being in a foster home often doesn't cut it. A lot of first time parents want a child who will be home with them at first, not off to school every day."
"I see," John said thoughtfully. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take a child like that if they couldn't get a baby.
"Basically you're telling us that we have no hope of getting a baby from you?" Bobby asked although he already knew the answer.
Angela looked at them somewhat sadly. "I'm afraid that's the case."
"Could we be put on some kind of list for an older child?" John asked. Bobby gave him a strange look.
"Why certainly you can," Angela said with a smile, "but maybe you should wait until you find out about the surrogacy."
"Okay," John said but he knew what he wanted to do if they didn't get their baby.
"Well, it was nice meeting both of you," Angela said standing up. She shook their hands, hers lingering a little longer on John's. "I hope you'll keep us in mind if you decide you might want an older child."
John smiled. They understood each other. He followed Bobby out of the office.
"What was that all about?" Bobby asked as they walked to the car.
"Just keeping our options open."
"I thought we agreed that we want a baby."
"We did, but we both know that that might never happen."
Bobby grimaced. He didn't like to think about that. "Would you be happy with an older child?"
"I just want a child to love and provide a home for. I don't see anything wrong with taking an older child."
"I love you, John Anderson," Bobby said pulling his partner into a kiss.
"And I love you right back, and I know we have plenty of love left over for our child whoever that turns out to be."