The Family Dinner
On Sunday morning at the loft
Justin was first to wake up. He watched Brian sleeping and he felt he just had to sketch him. Justin didn't have his sketchbook with him so he decided to look for some paper and a pencil. He didn't really want to get out of bed but he wanted to capture Brian on paper. Justin went to Brian's desk and found a pencil and took a sheet of paper from the printer. It wasn't ideal for sketching but it was better than nothing. Justin grabbed also a folder that he could use for support when he drew.
Justin tried to sit very carefully on the end of the bed so he wouldn't wake Brian up. He started to draw and soon he was so into it he didn't notice Brian was waking up.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Brian asked sleepily.
"Good morning to you too. I'm sketching you so please don't move."
"Shouldn't I be posing for that?"
"Not necessarily. Besides you look very sexy when you're asleep." Justin grinned.
"Just when I'm asleep?" Brian asked innocently.
"Sorry, bad choice of words. Let me rephrase it: you look very sexy ALSO when you're asleep."
"That sounds better. Could you finish that later, it's not even eight yet." Brian said looking at the clock.
"Well I don't know, I'd had to be at this exact same spot again and so would you." Justin said smiling wickedly.
"I think that can be arranged."
Justin put his drawing things away and crawled closer to Brian and kissed him. Then Justin attacked Brian's neck with his lips and at the same time he moved his hand on Brian's cock and started stroking it.
"Christ, didn't you get enough last night?" Brian moaned.
Justin raised his brows at Brian and said: "There is no such thing as enough."
Brian just sighed.
"And you know, sketching you made me even hornier."
Brian rolled his eyes. "You're so bad."
"I know."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brian woke up to a loud banging at the door.
"What now?" Brian wailed.
"Brian Kinney, open this door! I know you're in there." Debbie shouted through the door.
Justin opened his eyes and asked: "What is it?"
"It's Debbie. I'd better answer 'cause she won't leave until I do." Brian answered and pulled his jeans on and headed to the door. Brian unlocked the door and slid it open.
"Finally, I thought you'd never open it." Debbie huffed and pushed past Brian to the kitchen.
"Well do you have to get over here so early in the morning?"
Debbie looked at Brian and said: "It's noon."
"Oh. Well it's morning to me." Brian said and grabbed Justin's clothes from the floor.
Debbie glanced at the clothes and saw some movement in the bedroom.
"Good morning Sunshine!"
"Hi Deb." Justin answered from the bedroom.
"Looking for these?" Brian asked throwing Justin's clothes to him.
"Yeah, thanks."
Brian went back to the kitchen.
"So what do you want?"
"I need to borrow a bowl. Ben and Mikey are coming for dinner and I don't have enough bowls for my foods."
"Okay, take anything you need." Brian said.
"Thanks, I knew I could trust your hospitality." Brian grinned.
"What are you making?" Justin asked coming from the bedroom.
"Trust Justin to think about food first thing in the morning." Brian said.
"Well it wasn't exactly the first thing I thought about when I woke up." Justin said smiling devilishly at Brian.
Brian just rolled his eyes.
Debbie emerged from the cupboard and saw the looks Brian and Justin were exchanging. "For God's sake, can't you two stop that for a moment?"
"No." Brian smirked.
"Sorry Deb." Justin said. "So, what are you making?"
"I'm making chicken Parmesan."
"Ooh, that's one of my favorites." Justin exclaimed. "You have to teach me how to make it just right. Every time I make it, something seems to be missing."
"You cook? That's wonderful! Maybe you could teach Brian too?"
"Ummm… I'm not a magician, you know."
"Hey!" Brian said and slapped Justin on his butt. "Don't you get witty on me!"
"I'm simply stating the fact." Justin smiled.
'Christ, they're doing it again.' Debbie thought.
"Okay, could I have your attention for a second here?"
Brian and Justin turned to Debbie.
"Thank you. So, do you have plans for next Saturday night?"
"I don't think I have anything." Justin replied.
Brian just shrugged nonchalantly.
"Good. I'm throwing a family dinner and you both are invited."
"But I'm not family." Justin said.
"Bullshit, you're as much family as the rest of the guest list. I'm not very strict about the blood relation."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure."
"Okay, then I'd love to come."
"Great! I'll see you both on Saturday then!"
"Do I have any say in this?" Brian asked.
"No." Justin and Debbie said in unison. Brian shook his head and settled for his destiny.
"So, do you have plans for today?" Justin asked.
"No, I don't think so. Why?"
"I just thought maybe I should leave if you have places to go, people to meet."
"Well I don't." Brian said and pulled Justin to the sofa and into his lap for a kiss.
They kissed deeply and all of a sudden Justin's stomach grumbled. Justin broke the kiss and looked a bit sheepish.
"Sorry about that."
"It's okay, maybe we should order in something. I don't want to starve you."
"Or I could make something." Justin offered.
"No you couldn't."
"Why? I thought you liked my cooking."
"I do but you just can't cook from nothing, can you? And believe me, there's just beer and water in the fridge."
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you're the 'I-don't-do-grocery-shopping' type of guy."
Brian grinned. "So you like Thai?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Okay, I'll call and order then." Brian said and headed for the phone.
When Brian had placed the order, he was just about to join Justin on the sofa when he got an idea.
"Where are you going?" Justin asked but Brian didn't answer.
Brian found what he was looking for and sat on the sofa beside Justin.
"Here." he said giving a copy of "Adam's Adventure" to Justin. "I'd like you to sign it for me."
Justin looked a bit surprised but then said: "Yeah, sure."
Brian gave him a pen and Justin opened the book but then stopped.
"Forgot your name?" Brian asked grinning.
"No, I just don't know what to write."
"For God's sake, it doesn't have to be a novel or anything - just write 'to Brian from Justin Taylor' or something like that."
"No, it has to be something special. I have to think about it." Justin said and closed the book. "I'll get back to you on that one."
Brian rolled his eyes. "You're such a perfectionist."
"And you're not?"
"This isn't about me."
Justin raised his brows. "Yeah well, I'm gonna give it some thought anyway, okay?"
"Yeah, fine. So, you wanna watch TV?"
"Sure if there's something good on."
"Okay, let's surf." Brian said and took the remote. "Basketball?"
"No sports if you don't mind. Unless swimming of course." Justin grinned.
"And why would you like to watch swimming?"
"Purely educational purposes; I need to study the human form so I can draw it better."
"I bet. What do we have next? Aah, "Gay as Blazes"."
"God no! It's so sleek."
"Oh, don't say that, it's Emmett's favorite program. Quote the actors are dreamy unquote."
"Well I'm not Emmett. Next please."
""Everybody Loves Raymond". Well I don't, I hate the show. I can't understand why it gets so many awards."
"Me neither, it's so… I don't know… American. What else is there?"
"Let's see. "Friends". That's not too bad."
"Yeah, let's watch that." Justin said and settled on Brian's lap so his back was against Brian's chest. Brian wrapped his arms around Justin and just relaxed.
"If you'd have to sleep with one of the Friends, who would get the honor?" Justin asked.
"Well, let's see. Definitely not Ross 'cause he's too geeky. Joey is a bit clueless so I guess I'd go for Chandler. What about you?"
"I think I'd take Chandler too. I liked Rachel's assistant too - was it Tag? He was cute. Oh, you know who'd be nice too?"
"Who?"
"Brad Pitt."
"Yeah, I could try him." Brian said tongue-in-cheek.
"Do you think Jennifer would mind?"
"Jennifer doesn't need to know."
Just then there was a knock on the door.
"It's the food, I get it." Brian said and got up from the sofa.
Brian paid the food and he and Justin ate it sitting on the sofa and talking about their favorite and most hated TV-programs.
On Tuesday at the diner
Jennifer walked into the diner and sat at the counter.
"Jennifer!" Debbie exclaimed when she saw Jennifer. "So good to see you. Where have you been?"
"Hi Deb, nice to see you too. I've been so busy at work that I haven't had a chance to come and see you. How are you?"
"I'm fine thanks. You?"
"A little tired but otherwise I'm fine. Have you seen Justin around? I haven't seen him in a while."
"Yeah, I've seen him. I think he was here just yesterday… yeah it was yesterday, he told me about some big project he's working on."
"Well I guess we both have been busy; I have to call him now when it's not so hectic at work anymore."
"Tell you what Jennifer, are you busy on Saturday evening?"
"Ummm, I guess not."
"Good. I'm having a family dinner at our house and I'd like you to come too. Oh, and Molly too of course."
"Oh I couldn't. I don't want to intrude, I'm not family."
"Bullshit, you're not intruding. In this case, 'a family' is a loose definition - practically it's a bunch of people who love each other. Besides, Brian and Justin are coming too."
"Brian?"
"Oh you haven't met him?"
"No. Who is this Brian? Is he Justin's boyfriend or something?"
"Well I wouldn't say boyfriend… at least not yet but they've been seeing each other."
"Oh. Do you know him? Can you tell me something about him? Is he good enough for my son?"
"I don't know if anyone's ever good enough for your own son. Anyway, I've known Brian Kinney for about fifteen years and sometimes I think I know too much about him. Let's see… he's an ad exec - quite successful I might add - lives on Tremont, handsome, has a three-year-old son…"
"WHAT? A son?" Jennifer almost choked on her tea.
"Yeah you know, like Justin, just smaller."
Jennifer rolled her eyes at Debbie. "Just how old is this Brian?"
"Thirty-two."
"Thirty-two? God, he's like twelve years older than Justin."
"Yeah well, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, I think Justin is quite mature for his age."
"He is but I don't know… twelve years…"
"Jen honey, there's more important things than just the age difference. Tell you what, let's make a deal: you come to dinner and meet Brian and give him a chance before you judge him. Okay?"
Jennifer thought for a moment. "I guess I can do that."
Debbie smiled. "Great! I'll see you and Molly on Saturday then?"
"Oh, Molly can't come, she's with her dad this weekend but I'll come."
"Okay. This is the address." Debbie said and handed a piece of paper to Jennifer. "See you at seven!" Debbie said and went to serve a client.
"Yeah, see you!" Jennifer answered and left the diner.
On Saturday night at the Novotny residence
The gang sat in the living room and talked about their week and what was new on Liberty. Debbie was still finishing up the dinner and she refused any help as usual. All of a sudden the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." Debbie said.
"I thought everybody were here already." Emmett said.
Debbie went to open the door. "Welcome honey, I'm so glad you could make it."
"I'm delighted that you invited me." Jennifer said hugging Debbie and giving her a bottle of wine.
"Thank you, you didn't have to bring anything. Please come in and I'll introduce you to everybody."
"Mom!" Justin exclaimed when he saw Jennifer coming into the living room.
Everybody looked first at Justin, then at Jennifer.
"What are you doing here?" Justin asked.
"Hi honey. Debbie invited me for dinner and I couldn't refuse. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course I don't mind, it's good to see you." Justin said and went to hug his mother.
"Okay, let me introduce you to everyone." Debbie started. "So everyone, this is Jennifer, Justin's mother." Then Debbie gave Jennifer "a guided tour" among the gang.
"So Mrs. Taylor, what do you do for a living?" Brian asked when he and Jennifer were talking together.
"Please call me Jennifer. I'm a realtor at The Williams-Taylor Estates. You're an ad exec, right?"
"Yeah, at Ryder Advertising. You know, I made an ad campaign for your office last year. I think it was quite a success."
"Yeah, it got us a lot of new clients. You are good at what you do. And I'm sure you can charm everyone you want - both women and men. At least our assistant was mesmerized by you, all she could talk about for a week was - and I quote - that hunky ad man."
Brian chuckled. "Yeah, I guess that would be me."
"I can't wait to see her face when I tell her about this, I got to spend the whole evening with you."
"Are you going to mention that other people were here too or the fact that I'm gay?" Brian asked.
"And spoil all the fun? I don't think she has to know everything, does she?" Jennifer said grinning.
"I think you're a little wicked." Brian said smiling.
Justin stood in the kitchen watching his mother and Brian talking. Emmett came to stand beside him.
"Justin sweetie, are you okay?"
"Yeah I guess. I don't know. What do you think they are talking about?"
"I don't know but they seem to be getting along just fine, don't worry about it."
"Justin, could I talk to you?" Jennifer asked.
"Sure mom." Justin said sitting on the couch. "I'm sorry I haven't called, I've just been so busy."
"That's okay, I've been busy myself. So, Debbie told me you're doing some big project. Is it going okay?"
"Yeah, I've almost finished it."
"What is it exactly?"
"It's a painting, a portrait."
"Who's in it?"
"Brian and Gus." Justin said warily.
"Really? That's nice, like a father and son -portrait. How did you actually do it? Don't tell me you got that little whirlwind to sit down for posing?"
"No, I got a picture of him and Brian from Lindsay and I painted it from there."
"I can't wait to see it. Is it going to be in some show?"
"I don't know yet, we'll see."
"I was very disappointed I couldn't be at the GLC the opening night. You do know I'm very proud of you, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. That's not a big deal. You know, most of this gang was there. Lindsay is kind of like a big sister to me. I love to talk about art with her and she has helped me a lot. So, what do you think about him?"
"I take it you mean Brian."
Justin rolled his eyes.
"Actually I like him."
Justin raised his brows in disbelief.
"What? Isn't that a good thing?"
"Yeah, I guess. Although I was expecting some sort of lecture."
"I must admit I was a bit skeptical at first about the age difference but you're an adult and you can make your own decisions and I trust you. Besides, my little talk with Brian showed me he's quite an intelligent and nice man."
"You know mom, I really like him." Justin glanced at Brian who was on the other side of the room. "More than anyone else before. I hope this will go somewhere and I think that if the age difference doesn't bother us, why should it bother other people."
"I believe you're right. Oh honey, I'm so pleased that you're happy."
"Me too." Justin smiled. "I'm so lucky you've accepted me for who I am."
"I think you have Debbie to thank for that."
"Yeah, Deb is awesome. What do you think about the rest of the gang?"
"They seem very loving and genuine people. It's definitely not 'the country club crowd' but I think I like this better. And Gus is absolutely adorable."
"It's good to hear you say that, mom."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Lindz, have you seen Justin?"
"Yeah, he's in the backyard."
"Thanks." Brian said and went out of the backdoor. He saw Justin standing at the end of the steps. Brian went to Justin and put his arms around Justin's waist and his head on Justin's shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine. I just didn't imagine this night to be like this. My mother was the last person I expected to meet here."
"Well you can expect almost anything from Deb. But everything went okay, didn't it? Or did your mother say something awful about me?"
Justin smiled. "No, actually she liked you." Justin said and turned to face Brian.
"She did?"
"Yeah. But then again, who wouldn't?"
Brian smiled at Justin and pulled him into a long kiss. The kiss wasn't so much sexual as it was tender and loving. When they broke the kiss, Justin sighed and put his head on Brian's chest.
"I'm really glad you're here." Justin said.
"I'm really glad you're here too."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Jen, come here."
"What is it Deb?" Jennifer asked when she went to the kitchen.
Debbie pointed out the window that gave a clear view to the backyard. "Look, don't they look adorable? You can't see the age difference, can you?"
Jennifer saw Brian and Justin kissing and embracing each other and she felt happy for them. "They look almost like they're… in love."
"They look like it don't they? And tell you what Jen, in my opinion, they truly are."
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