Brian Un-henged

Chapter 1


“Mmmm,” Brian sighed contentedly from his chaise in the sun porch.

It was mid June 2018. School was almost over for the Summer. Bree, Patrick and several of their classmates and friends were planning to go to day camp for a few weeks. The newlyweds, Jennifer and Seth, Emmett and Drew, were still in ‘honeymoon mode.’ Brian rolled his eyes at that thought. Gus was about to graduate high school and turn eighteen in a few short months. He still had no clue about college except that he wanted to take some time to work. With his experience at Kinnetik as an intern, Cynthia offered Gus a paying job for the summer. He'd be a glorified go-fer but it would put money in Gus’ pocket and he could still work weekends at Danny’s Bookstore. And little Taylor was flourishing!

In the late morning, Brian was taking the opportunity to read his favorite author’s latest mystery novel while the cottage was quiet.

“Aahh,” Brian exclaimed as he sipped his iced tea. “What the...?”

Over his tumbler Brian spied Beau running through the gardens toward the lane. A few minutes later Beau was back in the garden excitedly running and leaping over some of the smaller shrubbery. Brian shook his head and was about to return to his book when he caught a glimpse of bright blond hair bopping through the flowers. In Justin’s arms were several pieces of what looked like scrap metal. Justin was heading for the shed. As Brian picked up his book, Justin was heading back toward the lane with Beau following along.

Several trips later, Brian heard Beau bound through his doggy door then skid to a halt by his water bowl. Beau took a good long drink then walked over to Brian’s chaise.

“What’s the blond boy ass up to, Beau?” Brian asked the huge shepherd mix dog. Beau just looked up at Brian with big bright eyes and wagging tail. Brian reached down to give Beau’s ears a good scratch. “You keep an eye on him for me, okay, boy?”

Beau appeared to comprehend the enormity of the task Brian had charged him with. He took off back toward the Anderson-Morrison end of the cottage and out his doggy door.



*****



“Whatcha doing, Sunshine?” Brian asked as he quietly crept into the shed. Justin was standing in the middle of a pile of long pieces of metal.

“Shit, Bri, you scared me!” Justin said as he jumped then stumbled backward.

“Whoa!” Brian said as he caught Justin before he landed on his ass. “Justin, what the fuck is going on here?” Brian demanded to know.

“Um...”

“Out with it, Sunshine. Why does our nice orderly shed look like a scrap yard?”

“I’m ready to start my project.”

“Your project.”

“Yes, you know...” Justin waved his arm from somewhere near his knees and then moved his arm upwards.

“You mean growing your metal garden,” Brian said with a touch of sarcasm.

“Uh huh,” Justin confirmed with a smile.

Brian looked around at all the equipment that Justin had accumulated, which also included some safety equipment as well. Justin stood smiling sweetly, batting his long blond lashes at his spouse and lover.

“Come here.” Brian stood with his arms held open, and Justin moved into them. “You be careful, Sunshine. Van Gogh, you’re not. No sacrificing body parts for the sake of your love of art,” Brian said as he hugged the smaller man tightly. “I love all of you,” Brian whispered as he pushed Justin back to look into his eyes. “I will not be amused if you’re missing a pinky or something else. Do I make myself clear?”

Justin looked up into the hazel eyes he loved so much. He smiled his most loving and sunniest smile at Brian. “Yes, Brian,” Justin said sincerely. Justin knew by the tone of Brian's voice that the jokes and snide remarks were just Brian-speak for 'I'm scared you'll really hurt yourself.'

“Good.” Brian kissed Justin deeply. They both felt the kiss right down to their toes. Brian released Justin then turned to leave the shed. “Have fun with your erector set, Sunshine.” Brian heard Justin giggle as he walked out the door.



*****



“Hey, big bro, can you take a break for a minute?” Brian asked John. John was just down the lane supervising the construction of Molly’s dream cottage. The land had been leveled and the frame of the cottage was beginning to take shape.

“Yeah, I can. What’s up?”

“How much training did Justin get with that blow torch?”

“Arc welding, not a blow torch,” John corrected his brother.

“Whatever. The point is my little Sunshine is in the shed with a ton of sharp pointy things and things that can go ka-boom. I need to know that he’s been properly instructed on how to work all that stuff.”

“Brian, your little Sunshine has learned from the best welder on the east coast. He’ll be fine.”

“You’re sure about that?” Brian asked as he searched his brother’s eyes.

“I made sure Justin has a complete checklist of do’s and don’ts. He reviewed it with me numerous times. He’s been trained so well that if he wanted to, he could pass a certification test. Justin will be fine.”

“John...”

“Brian, I promise you. Justin’s not a child, he’s a responsible adult. He’ll use the equipment responsibly and appropriately. And if he doesn’t, I’ll hold him down while you wallop his behind.”

“That’ll never work,” Brian said as he turned to go back to the cottage. “He likes that too much,” Brian chuckled.

“TMI, little bro,” John said as he laughed then returned to Molly’s cottage.



*****



“Daddy, Dada!” Bree yelled as she came through the front door of the cottage from school.

“Out here, Squirt,” Brian called.

Bree and Patrick ran to the sun porch while Bobby dragged in their bags from school.

“Where’s Daddy?” Bree asked after she gave her father a hug.

“He’s out in the shed,” Brian explained.

“I get him,” Bree declared. She was about to take off to the large shed at the corner of the backyard when Brian grabbed the waistband of her pink shorts and held on.

“Whoa, Squirt!” Brian said authoritatively. “I need you to listen carefully to me. You too, Patrick. Okay?”

“Yes, Dada,” Bree said with a frown.

“Yes, Uncle Bri,” Patrick replied seriously.

Brian looked the children in the eye. “Justin has started a new project in the shed,” he began.

Bree heaved a sigh. “Is Daddy gonna be out there aaaaaaall the time?” she asked, dragging the word ‘all’ into at least eight syllables.

“No, Squirt, he’s not going to be out there all the time, but I don’t want either of you going into the shed for any reason.”

Bree stared at her father. It wasn’t often that he told her she couldn’t do something, and even less often that he was so serious about it. “Why not?” she asked with a frown.

“Justin is going to be making some metal sculptures.”

“Metal?” Bree asked. That didn’t sound like what her Daddy usually did. They painted together. She wasn’t at all sure what he would be doing with metal.

“You know what metal is, right?”

“It’s what cars and appliances and lots of stuff is made out of,” Patrick contributed.

“And magnets,” Bree said suddenly. They had been looking at magnets at school a few days earlier.

“Yes, magnets too,” Brian said wondering if he was actually getting anywhere with this convoluted explanation. “But what Justin is doing has nothing to do with magnets or cars or appliances.”

“What is he doing?” Patrick asked.

“He’s got pieces of scrap metal with sharp edges and points. He’s making them into things.”

“What kind of things, Dada?” Bree asked.

“Very large flowers.”

Bree’s eyes got huge and the violet color darkened as she realized what she had just been told. “Daddy’s doing gar-gar without me?” she demanded, hurt and angry.

Brian debated grabbing hold of her again. She looked like she was about to bolt out of the sun porch and race to the shed to see just what her father was doing out there. “No, Squirt,” Brian said calmly. “He’s not doing gar-gar. You do gar-gar with me. Your father’s making flowers out of metal and it could be dangerous for you children to go near his supplies.”

“Dangerous?” Patrick asked. “Why?”

“There are sharp pieces of metal. You could cut yourself or fall on them and cause injury,” Brian said hoping that explanation would deter them from going near the place.

“I be careful,” Bree said with a pout. She didn’t like this turn of events at all.

“I don’t want you to be careful, Bree,” Brian stated. “I want you to stay away from the shed until he’s finished with what he’s doing.”

“I want to see,” Bree said continuing to pout.

Brian was about to tell her no, when it occurred to him that he should just take the children out there and show them why the shed was now a dangerous place to be. “If I take you out there to see what Justin is doing, do you promise to hold my hand and not touch anything?”

“’Kay, Dada,” Bree said quickly.

“I promise,” Patrick said solemnly.

“Okay, but no nonsense,” Brian warned.

He got up from the chaise. Bobby had been standing in the doorway from the house to the sun porch listening to Brian’s explanation.

“You were a big help,” Brian said to him.

Bobby merely shrugged and smiled.

Brian headed for the sun porch door. Beau got up off his bed wagging his tail at the children.

“Hi, Beau,” Bree said as she passed the dog.

Patrick leaned down and patted Beau’s head. “Good dog,” he said to the massive beast.

“You can come too,” Brian said to Beau as he opened the door.

Everyone stepped out, Beau racing over to the shed where he stopped at the open door. They could hear metal banging around inside.

“What’s he doing?” Patrick asked.

“I told you he’s making huge metal flowers,” Brian repeated.

“Will they smell like flowers?” Bree asked.

Brian chuckled as they walked across the yard. “No, I don’t think there will be any smell.”

“Then what good are they?” Bree wanted to know.

“I haven’t the foggiest,” Brian laughed, “but don’t say that to your father.”

“Okay, Uncle Bri,” Patrick said amiably. They were almost to the shed. Beau had stopped outside the open door of the shed and was looking inside. He seemed not to want to cross the threshold.

“See, children, even Beau knows he should stay out.”

“Beau’s silly,” Bree said definitively as she approached the open doors.

Brian held out his hand and Bree stuck hers into it. Patrick did the same on the other side of Brian.

“Okay, rugrats, keep hold of my hands,” Brian warned.

“Daddy!” Bree called looking into the shed. It was like a foreign world in there. All their lawn furniture that wasn’t outside had been moved to one side of the small barn. Sheets of shiny metal leaned against one side of the shed. Justin had a large worktable on which he had a hunk of metal that he was hammering. “What are you doing, Daddy?” Bree shouted as Justin continued to work, not hearing them above his own banging on the metal.

Beau barked and finally Justin turned to see them all standing there.

“Hey,” he said with a big smile, laying down his hammer and taking off the goggles he had been wearing.

“What are you doing, Daddy?” Bree repeated. “I don’t see no flowers.”

“You told her?” Justin asked looking at Brian.

“She thinks you’re doing gar-gar without her,” Brian said tongue in cheek.

“What?” Justin chuckled.

“You heard me.”

“Did Dada tell you that you need to stay out of here while I’m working on this project?” Justin asked squatting down in front of the children so that he was at eye level with them.

“Yes,” Bree said, “but I don’t see why.”

“I’ll show you,” Justin said, standing back up. He went to the table and brought back the large piece of metal he had been hammering. “See how sharp the edge of this is?”

The children eyed the metal warily.

“Would it cut me if I touched it?” Patrick asked remembering what his uncle had said in the sun porch.

“You can touch it carefully,” Justin advised. Patrick placed his hand on the edge of the metal piece. “But you wouldn’t want to fall against it or go past it and jam your leg against it. It would cut you then.”

Patrick nodded and Justin looked at his daughter. She had been strangely silent. “Do you want to touch it?” Justin asked her.

“No!” Bree said forcefully. “I don’t see no flowers.”

Justin shook his head. “This is going to be a petal on a sunflower,” he explained gently.

“A petal?” Bree repeated. “But petals are only this big.” She held her hands close together, the fingers straight, so that her father could see the small space between then.

“This sunflower is going to be much, much bigger,” Justin said.

“How big, Uncle Justin?” Patrick asked.

“About as tall as the shed,” Justin responded.

“Wow!” Patrick said.

“It’s the wrong color,” Bree pouted. “Sunflowers are yellow.”

“Yes they are,” Justin chuckled, “but all my flowers are going to be metallic.”

“Why?” Bree demanded. “That’s silly.”

“Remember when you painted all the stones various shades of pink in one of your paintings?” Justin asked. “Were they actually pink?” he asked pointedly.

“Well … not exactly,” Bree admitted.

“It’s called artistic license,” Justin said.

“What does that mean, Uncle Justin?” Patrick asked.

“It means I can make my flowers whatever color I want them to be. Just like Bree made her stones pink.”

“But flowers are pretty the way they are,” Bree said with a frown.

“Why don’t you wait until I have one of my flowers ready, and then you can see whether you like them or not?”

“I always like your paintings,” Bree said. She didn’t want to be too critical of what her father was doing, even though she thought this was a stupid idea.

“And maybe you’ll like my flowers too,” Justin said with a wink at Brian. Brian had remained silent holding onto the children’s hands while Justin tried to explain what he was doing. He shrugged as Justin added, “And then again, maybe you won’t like them. That’s okay too. You don’t have to like everything I do.”

“’Kay, Daddy,” Bree said with a sigh. “I won’t go in here no more. Beau prolly wouldn’t let me anyway.”

Brian chuckled. “You got that right, Squirt.”

Beau gave a bark to show that he would be on guard duty if needed.

“Good boy, Beau,” Justin said with a nod.

“Dada, can Patrick and me have not healthy snacks?” Bree asked.

“Unhealthy?” Brian corrected with a chuckle.

“Yes,” Bree stated firmly. “All these metal flowers and artistic license and guard duty made me very hungry for cookies.” She managed to pronounce every word perfectly. She had obviously been listening carefully.

“Okay,” Brian laughed. “Tell Uncle Bobby you can have cookies. Two each.”

The children gave a collective “Yay!” and ran for the house. Beau barked and followed them.

“I don’t think our daughter is very impressed with what I’m doing,” Justin said with a scowl.

“I don’t think she understands what you’re doing, Sunshine,” Brian said pulling Justin into a hug and kissing his cheek. He didn’t want to say that he wasn’t exactly sure what Justin was doing either.

“I want her to like the flowers, you know?” Justin said scrunching up his nose.

“I know,” Brian said gently. “And she will once she sees the actual thing.”

“You think so?”

“Positive. Now get back to work, and be careful in there.”

“Yes, master.” Justin kissed Brian’s cheek and went back inside the shed.

After a minute Brian heard the hammering start up again. He headed for the house, shaking his head at the idea of ten or fifteen foot high metal flowers. Only Justin! And Brian was sure they’d be absolutely magnificent when they were done.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 2





“Hey Bri, what are you doing here? I thought you planned on running your empire from the cottage this summer,” Michael asked his longtime friend, as Brian came through the comic book store door. Brian had driven into Pittsburgh wearing his usual suave business attire. He sauntered over to the counter to give Michael a kiss, grabbed the latest issue of Rage then planted himself in the overstuffed chair.

“Okay, I see we’re the grumpy silent type today,” Michael teased, as he briefly disappeared into the back room then returned with a cup of coffee just how Brian liked it. Michael waited until Brian drank down a few sips and slowly became human again.

“Let’s try this again,” Michael began. “What’s up, Brian?”

“My life is for shit, Mikey,” Brian griped.

“Not that I believe that for one second, but how did your idyllic life turn to shit in just a couple of weeks? You seemed to be quite the happy king of all he could survey on Memorial Day. What’s changed?” Brian made a sour face that caused Michael to laugh out loud. Brian relaxed a bit.

“My little Mary Sunshine has started on his latest project,” Brian said with a long-suffering sigh.

“And I suppose it’s cutting into your play time with the boy wonder?”

“Not hardly, but this is very different from his other artistic endeavors.”

“So Justin wants to try something new, big deal. He did that with the fractal movie and the Rage cartoon and look how great they turned out.”

“I know, Mikey, but this is different and I blame it all on Debbie.”

“What does my mother have to do with this?”

“She had to show Justin all those pictures of ‘Truckhenge’. Now he’s in our shed hammering sheet metal and welding it together. He’s creating his own ‘henge’.” At that point Michael burst out into laughter. “Not funny, Michael. The boy could seriously hurt himself if he’s not careful. And you know the Squirt likes to imitate her Daddy’s art. She’s pissed that she’s banned from the shed and that Justin has the nerve to work in a medium she doesn’t like.”

“Poor thing,” Michael snarked.

“Listen, Mr. Novotny-Bruckner, dad with a reasonable daughter, you try explaining to the princess why it’s so important to allow for artistic freedoms. And why instead of very safe pencils and paint brushes, my Sunshine chooses to barricade himself inside an old shed and play with a blowtorch.”

“Arc welding.”

“Whatever,” Brian said doing a double take. “Have you been talking to my brother?” The best of friends began to laugh until their sides ached. Michael gave Brian a hug.

“Brian, it’ll be okay. Justin is the smartest person I know, besides you and Ben. He’ll work with the equipment safely. Don’t worry, Bri.”

“Easier said than done, Mikey,” Brian whispered as he held his friend close. “I gotta go,” he said as he gently pushed back from Michael.

“Got a hot date?” Michael smirked.

“Yeah, with one of Emm’s popovers.”

“Drowning your sorrows in carbs; this is serious.”

“Better a popover than in some trick. And I’m proud of you, Mikey, you’re actually developing a sense of humor.”

“Get out, and stop fondling the merchandise,” Michael groused good naturedly as he removed the comic from Brian’s hands to put back on the rack. “You’ll see, Bri. It’ll be fine,” Michael said as Brian left his shop.

“Excuse me, is this still the comic book store?” a handsome 30-ish gentleman asked Brian just outside the store.

“The one and only,” Brian quipped.

“Thank you,” the gentleman said as he opened the door.



*****



“Fuck!” Justin yelled as he attempted to touch a piece of metal that was too hot to handle.

“Hey, Justin, what’s up?” John asked as he heard the expletive when he came into the shed.

“Yike!” Justin yelped. “What’s with you Kinney men, always sneaking up on me and scaring the shit out of me?”

“Wasn’t my intent. You seem to be making a lot of progress,” John commented cautiously as he looked around the shed. There were several pieces of metal that resembled the petals of a flower. “A sunflower?” John ventured.

“Yes!” Justin replied enthusiastically. “You can see it already?” Justin asked grinning from ear to ear.

“Well it was either that or a black-eyed susan and I know your fondness for sunflowers. It was a logical assumption.” John noticed Justin flexing the fingers of his right hand. “How long have you been working out here today?”

“Not sure, but I was up before Brian.”

“Hmm,” John mumbled as he looked at his watch. It was after three; Brian was usually up by six. Justin had been handling the equipment for a very long time and probably without taking a long enough break to rest his hand. The kids would be coming home from school soon. John used it as an excuse.

“Justin, Rachel will be bringing the kids home soon. I still have a few more hours of work at Molly’s cottage and Bobby’s running late. Do you think you can give the kids their snacks then start dinner?”

John took a chance that Justin would agree. He knew when Justin got caught up in his art, he rarely wanted to stop. Justin flexed his hand a couple more times as he glanced at the metal on his workbench.

“Yeah, I could probably use a cookie or two. I’ll clean up here then go into the cottage to organize dinner.”

“Thanks. I can stand a break from Brian’s grilling. Not that it isn’t delicious, but I’m in the mood for something different.” John was hoping for this reaction from Justin.

“Emmett brought me some fresh salmon and a new recipe to try. How about that?” Justin said with a smile.

“Perfect. I’ll get out of your way so you can stow your equipment. See you a little later.”

“Okay,” Justin replied as he began to put away his welding equipment.

As John walked down the lane toward the new cottage, he pulled out his cell phone.

“Hey Bri. Nothing’s wrong. He’s all in one piece. Jeez, you’re one big mother hen. Do you know that? But listen, he’s been at it for hours and his hand is acting up. Yeah, yeah, I know, but he’s one stubborn Sunshine. He’s finished up for the day and going to start dinner in a while. Yes, I did suggest the whale,” John said as he rolled his eyes at his phone. “He’s going to try out one of Emmett’s recipes. You coming home soon? Good. Just play it cool then do that thing you do to massage out the kinks in his hand. I know; you’re always cool. Gotta go now, Brian. See you later.”

Shaking his head, John cut the connection then returned to work.



*****



“Daddy, Dada, I’m home!” Bree called as she came through the front door of Edna’s Treasures.

“It’s just Daddy, sweetheart,” Justin said with a big smile. He bent down to give his daughter a hug, and then he touched fists with Patrick who appeared behind Bree. “Hi, buddy, did you have a good day at school?”

“Pretty good,” Patrick replied.

Bree studied her father. “How come you’re not in that shed?” she demanded.

“I’m not in there all the time,” Justin replied, a little disconcerted by Bree’s question.

“It sure seems like it,” Bree said crossing her arms on her chest and pouting. She was happy to see her father in the house, but she wanted him to know that she was not amused that he spent so much time out in the shed from which she had been banned.

“I … I’m sorry if you think I’m spending too much time working on my flowers,” Justin said, “but it’s my job.”

Bree frowned. “Where’s Dada?”

“He went into Pittsburgh for the day. Sit down and have some crackers and cheese,” Justin instructed the children. “I’ll pour you some milk.”

Bree studied her father and then went over to the table and sat down across from Patrick.

“Good,” Patrick said popping a cracker and a small piece of cheese into his mouth.

“It’s okay,” Bree stated, biting into a cracker and cheese of her own. She was still not prepared to be gracious where her father was concerned.

Justin shook his head and went to the fridge to get the milk. He pulled out the full jug of milk and almost dropped it as his right hand started to spasm. He quickly grabbed the jug with his other hand to support it. He set the jug on the counter and got out two glasses. When he tried to pour the milk into the first glass he found his hand shaking again. He quickly used his other hand to support the milk jug. He only spilled a bit of milk. He looked over at the children who didn’t seem to have noticed. The last thing he needed was for Brian to get wind of what was happening with his hand.

Justin carried one glass of milk over to the table and gave it to Patrick. He made sure to carry the milk with his left hand, not taking any chances of spilling the milk or dropping the glass if he used his right. He walked back to get the other glass of milk for Bree. When he brought it to the table, he saw Bree looking at him with a strange look on her face. He found it hard to look into her eyes. He set the glass down in front of her and quickly went back to the counter to finish preparing the salmon he was making for dinner.



*****



“Hi, Dad,” Molly said as she answered her phone.

“How are you and my grandchild?” Craig asked in a very pleasant voice.

Molly smiled. It was always nice to start a conversation with her father in a pleasant manner. That seemed to be happening more now that Taylor was in their lives. “I’m good and Taylor is positively blossoming.”

“Taylor’s not a bloody flower,” Craig protested.

Molly sighed. So much for the pleasantries. “What can I do for you, Dad?” she asked, deciding not to get into it once again with her father. She was too happy and contented to let anything upset her.

“Is Owen back at work?”

“Yes, he’s been going in for quite a while now.”

“Are you managing all right on your own?”

“Yes, we’re fine.”

“Susan wanted me to tell you that she’d be happy to babysit or come over for a visit if you feel lonely or trapped in the condo.”

Molly knew her father was trying to be helpful, but a part of her resented that he somehow thought she was incapable of looking after herself and her child without someone else’s help. Even if she had needed some help when Taylor wouldn’t sleep, that didn’t mean that she still needed it.

“Molly?” Craig’s voice called her out of her reverie.

“Sorry, Dad, guess I zoned out for a minute.”

“Is something wrong? You can tell me.”

Molly sighed. “Nothing’s wrong. Really! Tell you what, I’m going out to Edna’s Treasures tomorrow to see the progress on our cottage. Would you like to come with Taylor and me? Susan’s welcome to come too.”

“Tomorrow’s a workday,” Craig stated.

“I know, but I thought you might take the morning off and come with me,” Molly said, extending the olive branch once again.

“Well, maybe I could,” Craig replied.

“Get back to me when you decide. I thought I’d leave here about nine when most of the traffic is off the roads.”

“Okay, I’ll let you know.”

“Bye, Dad.” Molly cut the connection wondering if she had done the right thing by asking her father and his wife to accompany her out to the building site. She was tired always having to take the initiative and then her father refusing to give an inch. She debated if she should call Justin and tell him that their father might come with her tomorrow morning, but she decided against it. Craig would probably decide he was too busy to accompany her anyway.

Taylor gave a little squawk from the nursery and she went to see what the love of her life was up too. The blissful smile on her face when she looked at her baby was truly radiant. She refused to worry about her father when she had more important things to think about.



*****



“Excellent dinner, Justin!” Bobby crowed. The whole family had made short work of the baked salmon that Justin had prepared. While John and Bobby were performing k-p duty. Brian and Justin were helping the kids go over whatever homework they had. School was ending soon so homework was rather minimal.

By nine the kids had had their baths and were ready for bed. Beau was patrolling the lane as Edna’s Treasures was bedding down for the night.

“John said you’re making very good progress on your henge flowers,” Brian said smoothly. He had manipulated Justin into sharing a shower on the pretext that Brian was tired and wanted help washing his back. Justin loved sharing showers with Brian and the thought of gliding a warm slippery sponge over Brian’s skin was more than enough incentive.

“I have most of the petals done for the first flower,” Justin confirmed as he glided the bath sponge over Brian’s chest. Brian could see a slight tremble to Justin’s hand but didn’t mention it. When Justin was finished, Brian took the sponge and began to wash Justin.

“Mmm, feels goods,” Justin murmured. He was very tired, his hand was hurting and his back ached from hunching over his workbench the whole day.

Using Justin’s favorite shampoo, Brian began to wash Justin’s hair and massage his scalp. Justin groaned with appreciation. Brian could feel his sleepy Sunshine wavering as he stood.

“Come on, Sonny Boy, time for all good ad men and artists to hit the hay,” Brian murmured as he rinsed them both off, turned off the shower then dried them both with fluffy towels. Wrapping Justin in his thick robe, Brian led the sleepy man to their bed.

“I thought I was taking care of you,” Justin mumbled as Brian helped him into a pair of sleep pants then tucked him into bed.

“You did take care of me. You made a fantastic dinner and then washed my back. I was just returning the favor.”

“The salmon was good, wasn’t it? I should call Emmett to let him know his recipe was a hit.”

“Tomorrow, Jus, you can call him in the morning.”

“Okay,” Justin said with a huge yawn. “Ugh,” Justin groused when a small spasm cramped his hand.

“Give it here, Sunshine,” Brian demanded softly. Justin snuggled closer as Brian gently took Justin’s hand into his and began to massage the offending appendage.

“How did you know?” Justin asked after a while. Brian was diligently working on the muscles of his hand.

“I have spies everywhere.”

“John,” Justin confirmed.

“Mm hmm, and I have eyes, Justin. I can see you’re having trouble.”

“You’re not going to make me stop working on my project, are you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. But, Justin, you should factor sufficient breaks into your schedule. You’re in no rush; you don’t have a deadline. You don’t have to shoot your whole load all at once,” Brian said then slipped his tongue into his cheek.

“You would find some way of turning this conversation into sex,” Justin chuckled.

“Yes, well, this is the hand you usually use to fondle my balls. Now what would I do if you couldn’t fulfill your ‘spousely’ duties?”

“Take matters into your own hands?”

“I could but it’s so much fun when you do it for me.”

“Brian...”

“Justin, all I’m asking is that you pace yourself. You don’t have to be up with the birds nor must you work the whole day without a break. Think of how frustrated you’d be if you’re forced to stop because your hand is too tired to keep on working.”

“You know, sometimes your logic is annoying.”

“I try.”

“You’ve succeeded. And you’re right; I’d be pretty pissed if I had to stop now. I’m just getting the hang of working the metal. I don’t want to stop.”

“Then take it slower and you won’t have to.”

“Okay.”

“For now, it’s time for your physical therapy,” Brian said suggestively.

“And what therapy is that?” Justin had a good idea.

“This therapy,” Brian said as he took Justin’s now relaxed hand and wrapped it around his cock. Brian guided Justin’s hand up and down his length.

Justin enthusiastically participated in his therapy for the next hour.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 3





“Here we are,” Molly said as she pulled her car off to the side of the lane at Edna’s Treasures.

“I still don’t see why you want to live out here,” Craig griped.

Molly heaved a sigh. They had actually had an enjoyable ride out to the site, chatting about memories from Molly’s childhood and things they’d have to remember to tell Taylor when he was older. Susan had had a luncheon date with a friend and had decided not to accompany them. Taylor had slept all the way there.

“Can we just have a look around without any snide comments?” Molly requested.

“Snide!” Craig started to protest.

“Dad, this is our new home, just let me enjoy it,” Molly stated firmly as she unbuckled Taylor.

“I’ll carry the baby,” Craig offered.

Molly handed her father the travel carrier with Taylor inside. The baby was starting to wake up, but he looked around with seeming interest, showing no sign of crying. “Thanks,” she said tersely. “John,” she called as she saw John Anderson come out of the frame of her soon to be cottage.

“Hi, Molly,” John called back as he headed over to them. “How are you?”

“It looks so … real,” Molly said staring at the frame of her dream cottage.

“It is pretty real,” John laughed, as they all stood and stared at the growing structure. “Nice to see you, Mr. Taylor,” he added when he looked over at Craig after a minute. Craig gave a perfunctory nod. “And how’s the little one?” John reached in and chucked Taylor’s chin.

“He’s great. We all are,” Molly said. “Can I have a tour?”

“You certainly can,” John said. “But I wouldn’t advise that we take Taylor inside. This is a construction site.”

“I could stay out here with the baby,” Craig volunteered.

“Or Beau and I could watch Taylor,” Brian said having come down the lane after he had seen Molly’s car pulling in. The big dog gave a woof.

“Thanks, Brian,” Molly laughed. “I know Beau will look after my child very effectively."

Brian raised a brow, but then grinned and reached for the carrier that held Taylor. Craig pulled it back. Brian frowned and glared at Justin’s father.

“I don’t bite,” Brian growled. Beau gave another woof. “See, even Beau vouches for me.”

“I’ll stay with the baby,” Craig stated again.

“Dad, hand Taylor to Brian. You haven’t seen my house and I want you to see it … now!” she declared. The look on her face told Craig he better do as she commanded.

Craig reluctantly extended the carrier. Taylor was gurgling and looking around.

“Good baby,” Brian said as he took the carrier and smiled down at Taylor. “I’ll take him up to the house.”

“Is Justin there?” Craig asked.

“Yes, and he’s working.”

“We’ll be there in just a minute,” Craig said.

“Take your time,” Brian replied.

“We’ll be there when I’m finished looking around,” Molly stated. “Come on, Dad.”

Craig followed his daughter and John Anderson towards the house. He couldn’t keep himself from looking back at his grandchild and Brian Kinney. He didn’t know why Molly would allow the child to be alone with that pervert. He wanted to go back and get Taylor away from that man, but he knew Molly would never forgive him if he did.

“So, Taylor,” Brian said looking at the little face. “Your grandfather thinks I’m going to molest you, but then he doesn’t know shit.” Taylor looked up into the handsome face and gurgled contentedly. “You know better, don’t you?”

“Woof,” Beau contributed.

“Thanks, Beau. We’ll show Craig Taylor how to manage a baby.” Brian started up the lane with Beau leading the way.



*****



About a half hour later Molly opened the door to Edna’s Treasures and called Brian’s name. There was no answer.

“Where is he?” Craig said with a worried look on his face.

“Calm down, Dad,” Molly said evenly. “Brian’s probably out in the garden or with Justin.”

“How can you be so sure? He could be doing anything to Taylor.”

“What would he do to Taylor other than change his diaper?”

“You are so bloody naïve, Molly. The man’s a pervert.”

“Brian is my brother-in-law, and he’s a fine man, so shut the fuck up! If you can’t say anything nicer than that, go back to the car and wait for me there.”

“I will not! I want my grandchild.”

Molly glared at her father. She wanted to tell him what an ass he was being. “Let’s go out back and find them,” she said instead. She headed through the sun porch and out the door. There was no sign of Brian anywhere.

“He’s not here,” Craig bellowed. “What has he done with Taylor?”

Molly stopped and thought for a moment. Then she heard the sound of metal being banged around in the shed. “That sounds like Justin working.”

“Who the fuck cares if Justin is working! Where’s Taylor?”

Molly didn’t deign to reply to her father’s asinine worries. She headed for the shed. At the entrance she called Justin’s name.

Justin took off his goggles and headset. “Hey, Mol, Brian took Taylor down to the stream.”

“Thanks, Justin,” Molly called as Craig turned and started down the path with Molly trying to keep up. “Dad, Dad! Slow down.”

Craig stopped as they were almost to the clearing. “We need to get Taylor,” he said, a bit out of breath with worry and exertion.

“Dad, look.” Molly pointed out into the area by the stream. “Listen.”

“And that’s a frog,” Brian was saying. He was down on his knees holding Taylor in his arms. He pointed to something in the grass. “Frogs are not so bad. They all think I’m afraid of frogs, and I let them believe that. It’s good entertainment for everyone. But you and I will know the truth. I just pretend to be afraid. But you won’t tell anyone that, will you?”

Molly smiled and looked at her father. Craig Taylor looked puzzled, like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Brian Kinney sounded like any normal father playing a little game for his child, pretending that frogs freaked him out. And he was so gentle in the way he was talking to Taylor. The baby seemed to be taking it all in.

“Brian,” Molly said letting Brian know they were there.

“Oh?” Brian said in surprise. He quickly stood up. “Taylor and I were just communing with nature.”

“I see,” Molly said, not letting on what they had heard.

“Can I have Taylor?” Craig asked extending his arms.

“Sure,” Brian said handing the baby to Craig. “I’ll just grab his carrier.” Brian walked over to the big rock where he had first set the baby down. “Would you like to stay for lunch? I want to get Justin away from that fucking sculpture. He works at it too hard and too long.”

“I’m game to be a distraction,” Molly laughed.

“Good girl,” Brian said as he headed for the house, his arm linked through Molly’s.

Craig followed wondering who this strange man was with his daughter.



*****



“Hey, Sunshine!” Brian called out loudly into the shed. Beau barked a few times to help draw Justin’s attention away from his welding. Justin saw Beau jumping by the door and his spouse’s smiling face. He stopped his welding and raised his protective mask.

“Think you can manage a little lunch?” Brian asked. Justin looked at the metal in his gloved hand and at Brian’s face. Molly stepped closer to the door and pleaded with her eyes.

“Sure, I can eat,” Justin smiled, as he safely stowed his equipment then locked up the shed.

“Good, because some of us are hungry,” Brian admitted as he grabbed Justin’s hand. As they walked toward the cottage, Brian massaged Justin’s hand, successfully forestalling any kinks and cramps.

Everyone took turns washing up then brother and sister proceeded to make lunch.

“Can I help?” Craig offered in a very civil moment. Molly and Justin were setting out various cold cuts and salad fixings onto the counter.

“I think we have it under control,” Justin said as Taylor let out a short wail.

“Whoops! I know that sound,” Brian exclaimed with a chuckle. “I’ll take Taylor into Bree’s room to get cleaned up. Can you get a bottle ready?” Craig stared as Molly nodded and Brian took Taylor with diaper bag into Briana’s room.

“How does he know Taylor needs to be changed?” Craig had left most of the baby feeding and diaper changing to Jennifer when Justin and Molly were infants. Both Molly and Justin gave Craig an incredulous look. “What?” Craig asked his kids. Molly just rolled her eyes, as she took out a pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator.

“Dad, contrary to popular belief, it was Brian who changed Bree’s diapers and handled most of her feedings, especially in the middle of the night.”

“You’re kidding me?”

“No, I’m not. His patience never wavered even when she was miserable while teething.” Craig didn’t believe it but the look on Justin’s face told him not to argue. Giggling baby noises brought Craig to Bree’s bedroom door.

Craig peered into Brian’s pristine room. Brian had Taylor on Bree’s bed and was replacing Taylor’s soiled sleeper with a fresh one. Before slipping the tiny feet into each leg of the sleeper, Brian blew a gentle raspberry to the bottom of the foot. Taylor giggled with glee.

“You are an angel, aren’t you?” Brian murmured. Taylor looked up into Brian’s eyes. “Just like your mommy and your uncle.” Craig crept back to the kitchen.

“Come and get it,” Justin called out so that everyone could help themselves to making their sandwiches and choosing their salads.

Brian, still carrying Taylor, rummaged around the diaper bag to take out the ‘spit towel’ that all parents carried with them. He deftly placed it on his left shoulder as he checked the temperature of the bottle that was waiting for him on the kitchen table. Brian sat at the table then offered the bottle to the baby. Taylor latched onto the nipple to suck.

“Thank you, Sunshine,” Brian said politely as Justin put a turkey sandwich on whole wheat in front of him. Brian could wait until Taylor was finished before eating his sandwich. They all made pleasant small talk during lunch.

“Justin, tell me a little more about this project you’re working on now,” Craig asked his son.

“It’s really rather straightforward. I saw those pictures Debbie took of “Trunkhenge” and the idea of working with metal began to appeal to me. It’s a medium I’ve never tried. I’ve done some small sculptures but nothing on a scale this large,” Justin happily explained.

“So he chooses to turn my shed into a scrap heap,” Brian groused good-naturedly as he placed the empty bottle on the table then lifted the baby to his towel covered shoulder waiting for a good burp. He smiled to himself. At one time small towels like the one on his shoulder were good to be used as his ‘cum towel.’ Now the former stud of Liberty was an expert at using the ‘spit towel.’

“Better in the shed than in your garden,” Justin scolded with a wink.

They all cheered when Taylor gave up a mighty burp. Brian wiped off any baby spew from around Taylor’s tiny mouth then watched as the contented child’s eyes began to close. Cradling the baby in one arm, Brian began to eat his lunch with his free hand. Craig stopped himself from shaking his head in amazement.

“Molly, we should get going,” Craig said after a while. “I’d like to make it through the city before rush hour.” Molly nodded in agreement. She and Craig began to pack up the baby’s belongings.

“I’ll say goodbye here,” Justin began as they walked through the garden. “I can get in a few more hours of work.”

“Okay, son,” Craig said politely as he shook his son’s extended hand.

“I love you, Jester,” Molly said as she gave her brother a hug.

“Love you too, Mollusk. Drive safely,” Justin said and he turned to walk to the shed.

“You be safe too, Sunshine,” Brian called out after him. Justin turned, looking over his shoulder at his lover then smiled his most brilliant Sunshine smile. Brian lovingly smiled back then walked Molly, Craig and Taylor down the lane to their car.

“Thank you, Brian,” Molly said as she gave her brother-in-law a kiss. “We’ll be back soon to check on the progress.”

“Is that a promise or a threat?” Brian snarked.

“Whatever!” Molly laughed. “Thanks for lunch,” she said as she got into the car after securing Taylor’s carrier. She gave her father a little nudge.

“Yeah, thanks,” Craig conceded at he slipped into the car. Brian chuckled as they drove away.

As they turned onto the highway, Molly sensed that her father was about to explode.

“What is it, Dad?”

“All that handholding, doesn’t it bother you?”

“What handholding?”

“When Justin came out of the shed. Brian grabbed his hand so forcefully, I thought I saw pain in Justin’s eyes.”

“He probably was in some pain,” Molly said softly.

“What?” Craig said as his ire was rising.

“It’s not what you think, Dad.”

“Explain it to me then.”

“Dad, after Justin was hurt, he was damaged in so many ways.”

“I remember.”

“No, I don’t think you do. You weren’t as involved with Justin’s life at that time.”

“Molly...”

“Dad, I’m not making a judgment call; it was what it was. Some of Justin’s physical injuries took a very long time to heal. Even now he still has problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

“When he does too much with that hand, it begins to cramp up and it hurts.”

Craig cringed. Brian may have ‘stolen’ his son but Chris Hobbs tried to kill him and almost succeeded. Even though Justin lived, Hobbs had nearly stolen the one thing that made Justin, Justin; his art.

“What you saw or thought you saw wasn’t Brian holding Justin’s hand, he was massaging it. Brian has learned throughout the years they’ve been together to read the signs when Justin’s hand is hurting. We’ve all learned to read them. However, Brian is the only one to get through to my stubborn brother. Justin would never admit his hand was bothering him. Brian just does what he needs to do.”

Craig sat quietly trying to absorb what his daughter had confided to him. When Justin shook his father’s hand goodbye, he had extended out his left hand. Justin was right-handed. He didn’t want to further hurt his hand by giving Craig the firm handshake Justin knew his father expected. Justin’s left hand was very strong. He had learned to compensate.

“What about that ‘Sunshine’ thing? Isn’t it a little condescending for a grown man to be called Sunshine?” Molly laughed at her father’s quandary.

“Perhaps, but we can’t blame Brian for that one either. Debbie was the one who came up with that nickname and it stuck. She and Brian are the only ones who really call him by it. The guys may refer to Justin as their little sunshine but they never would say it to his face.”

“But where did the name come from?”

“Oh Dad, are you really that blind?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Daddy, his smile!” Molly said as though it was so very obvious. And maybe it was but not to her stubborn, pig-headed father. “Think, Dad. Use your imagination. You saw it just like I did, when Brian told Justin to be safe. That’s Justin’s sunshine smile!”

Craig thought back to the smile Justin gave to Brian. It reminded him of Jennifer’s smile when she was a young teenager and they began dating. Molly had a bit of that smile too. And Taylor, but all you could see now was a toothless grin. He remembered that Justin only smiled that brilliantly when he was truly happy.

“Now do you understand?” Molly asked.

“I think so, honey,” Craig murmured as he settled back into his seat. Cottages built in the middle of nowhere. Gay men raising children. Notorious ‘perverts’ experts on diaper changing and burping babies. Sunny smiles and so much time wasted on stupid prejudices.

Craig reached over to pat his daughter’s hand. “I love you, Sweetheart.”

“Love you too, Dad.” And maybe her father finally got it.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 4





“Dada, do I have to go to camp?” Bree asked as she crawled up into Brian’s lap. It was the weekend and there was only one more week of school left.

“I thought you wanted to go to day camp,” Brian said as he wrapped his arm around his daughter. He felt her relax against his body on the chaise.

“Un unh,” she replied.

“But last week we had it all worked out.”

Bree shook her head. “Auntie Molly will be coming out here all the time to see her house, and I want to be here when she comes.”

“Who told you that?” Brian asked.

“Daddy was talking to her on the phone.”

“He was, was he?” Brian asked raising a brow and looking at the little girl. He’d have to remember to tell Justin to be careful in the future what he said around Bree. “Patrick’s going to day camp,” Brian reminded her, hoping that might make her rethink her choice not to go.

“I know,” Bree sighed, “but I want to play with Auntie Molly.”

“Auntie Molly won’t have time to play,” Brian stated. “She will be coming out here to check on the house, and she’ll have Taylor to look after.”

Bree made a face. “I want to play with Auntie Molly,” she repeated, making it seem like the repetition of that statement would make it so.

“Squirt, that’s not going to happen. If you go to day camp, there will be lots of girls there for you to play with.”

“Ashley won’t be there,” Bree pouted.

“She won’t?”

“No, she said her mother didn’t have the money to send her to camp. I don’t want to go without Ashley.”

“But you see her almost every weekend when we go riding.”

“I don’t care,” Bree pouted again. “I don’t want to go to camp without Ashley.”

Brian heaved a sigh. “Maybe you should sleep on this and we can talk about it more tomorrow.” ‘That’ll give me some time to think up some more arguments about why you should go,’ Brian said to himself.

“Not going,” Bree repeated.

“Justin!” Brian called.

“He’s out in that stupid shed,” Bree told her father.

“How did he get out there?” Brian asked looking out the sun porch windows and seeing the door to the shed standing open. He had thought Justin was resting in their bedroom. That’s what Justin had told him he was going to do.

“Go play with Patrick for a while, Squirt,” Brian said, getting up off the chaise.

“Why?”

“Um … just do it,” Brian said as he headed for the door to the sun porch. He pushed the door open and headed for the shed. “What the fuck are you doing in here?” Brian demanded as he walked into Justin’s work area.

“I’m just looking at my flowers. I had an idea I wanted to think about,” Justin said.

“You’re not hammering or welding?”

“No, I’m not hammering or welding,” Justin repeated.

“I … thought you were working.”

“I guess I am working, but with my brain.”

“That’s a good kind of working,” Brian said coming up behind Justin and wrapping his arms around Justin’s chest.

“Glad you think so,” Justin said.

“I don’t want you overdoing it. You know your hand is acting up.”

“I’m fine,” Justin tried to protest.

Brian squeezed him a little harder. “Take it easy with this stuff,” Brian said looking around the shed. “You don’t have a deadline to meet.”

“I know, but when inspiration strikes…”

Brian drew in a breath, debating whether to argue with his husband about how much work he was doing. Instead he decided to move on to the other part of the reason he had come looking for his husband. “Bree says she’s not going to day camp.”

“What the fuck?” Justin asked turning to look into Brian’s eyes. “Why not?”

“Let’s see. She wants to play with Auntie Molly when she comes out here to see the house, she doesn’t care that Patrick’s going and she refuses to go if Ashley isn’t going.”

“Can we pay for Ashley to go to camp?” Justin asked.

“I’m not going to suggest that to Ashley’s mother.”

“Why not? I thought you could sell anything.”

“Anything that’s not insulting to the person I’m trying to sell it to. And Ashley’s mother would not be happy if we offered to pay for her daughter’s trip to camp.”

Justin sighed. “Maybe we could order Bree to go.”

“Order her? Fine,” Brian said flatly. “You take her to the bus, and deal with the tantrum that will ensue. I want no part of it.”

“Coward.”

“You got that right.”

“Well, what else can we do?” Justin asked with resignation.

“You could try talking to her.”

“Me? But if you can’t convince her, what makes you think I can?”

“I’m grasping at straws,” Brian admitted.

“Maybe Patrick could tell her he’d be lonely and doesn’t want to go without her,” Justin suggested.

“Great! Then we’ll have two kids at home all summer.”

“Well then I don’t know what to suggest,” Justin stated.

“I’ll go,” Bree said from the doorway of the shed. She stood on the outside of the shed looking in. She knew she was banned from the interior, and so made sure not to step across the threshold.

“How long have you been standing there?” Brian asked surprised to see their daughter observing them.

“Since you came out here,” Bree said smugly. “If it’s that important to you, I’ll go to camp,” she repeated.

“You will?” Brian asked with a frown.

“I want to play with Auntie Molly, but I guess I have to share her with Taylor … and the house.”

“It’s a good thing we taught her to share,” Justin whispered to Brian.

Brian nodded in agreement. He couldn’t believe that Bree had come to that conclusion all by herself, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. “I appreciate that you’re willing to go to camp, Bree.”

“It’s okay, Dada.”

“I’ll try to get Auntie Molly to come spend some time on the weekend with you. Won’t we, Justin?” Brian suggested, grateful for Bree’s change of heart.

“Yes, yes we will,” Justin concurred quickly.

“Close your mouth,” Brian whispered. Justin had been standing gawking in amazement at what was coming out of their daughter’s mouth.

“I still wish Ashley could come to camp too, but I guess there will be other girls there to play with,” Bree sighed. “I suppose they’ll have to do.”

“I bet you’ll have fun once you’re there, sweetheart,” Justin said trying to make Bree’s sudden agreeable nature seem like a good thing.

“Maybe,” Bree said. “I’m going to go put my pajamas on,” she added. “I’d like a story when I’m ready.”

“Okay…sure…Squirt,” Brian said in continuing amazement.

Bree gave a little smile and then ran back to the house.

“Who the fuck was that?” Brian demanded. “Surely it wasn’t our Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor.”

“I don’t know,” Justin said shaking his head. “Has there been an invasion of pod people?”

“Worse than pod people,” Brian said. “She’s growing up on us.”

“I thought you were going to prevent that.”

“I’ve staved it off as long as I could,” Brian admitted.

“Fuck! I don’t like this one little bit. I want my little girl back, temper tantrums and all.”

“I know. So do I. But we should be thankful that at least she’s decided to go to camp.”

“Thank goodness for small mercies,” Justin replied.

Brian took Justin’s hand and dragged him out of the shed.

“What’s your hurry?” Justin asked as Brian locked up the shed.

“We have to go read her a bedtime story, before she wants to have us read her War and Peace instead.”

“Shit! And I was just learning to like Winnie the Pooh.”

“Me too,” Brian said with a chuckle as they headed for the house.



*****



“Mr. Kinney, what brings you here? I believe Briana and Patrick’s camp fees are all paid up already,” Miss Feldman, the camp director exclaimed as she scrambled for her enrolment log.

“They are. I’m here on another matter.”

“All right. How can I help you?”

“First, answer a question for me. Have you reached your maximum enrollment for the summer?”

“No, we have plenty of openings. Unfortunately, we’ve had to raise tuition this season and it’s forced many of our previous campers to either cut down on how many weeks they’ll be with us or not return at all.”

“What’s changed?”

“Several things. Our landlord raised the rent on us and we’ve had to make a number of repairs to the grounds. It all cost money,” Miss Feldman said sadly.

“I’d like to help.”

“How?”

“A camp scholarship fund. My partner and I will make a donation. A sizable donation which you may use as you see fit for repairs or to increase the salaries of your counselors to attract a higher caliber of applicant. But I’d also like some of the money to sponsor the children who can’t afford the tuition. Maybe to make up the difference, or if a child is very needy, pay for it outright.”

“This is so fantastic! We have a number of children that would qualify. Their parents would love to thank you.”

“No. This is to be anonymous and I do insist on that. Bobby Morrison, Patrick’s dad is our family lawyer. He’ll contact you with the details but I do have one condition.”

“Which is?” Miss Feldman asked suspiciously.

“Ashley St. John. I understand her parents weren’t able to afford the tuition.”

“That’s correct. Ashley was very disappointed.”

“Let them know about the scholarship, see if they’ll reconsider sending Ashley. I’d be very appreciative.”

“I’ll contact them first after we formalize your donation. But Mr. Kinney, if you don’t mind me asking, why? Why go to all the trouble?”

“It’s no trouble; Justin and I can well afford it. Let’s just say that a certain young lady was very upset and almost refused to go to camp when she learned her best friend wasn’t going to attend.”

“I understand.”

“One more thing, you said you pay rent on this?” Brian waved his hand indicating the converted barn that had become the camp’s headquarters and main gym.

“Yes. This was an old farm. The farmer no longer works it and our rent gives him an income so he and his wife can remain in Florida. Our hope was to eventually buy it outright and make this into a real camp. We want a day camp and maybe a ‘sleep away camp’ for city kids. But now I’m not so sure.”

“Don’t lose hope. Let me consult with my family. It may not happen for this season, but maybe we can help fulfill your dreams for next season.”

“I always have hope, Mr. Kinney.” Brian got up to shake the camp director’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Kinney,” Miss Feldman said softly with tears in her eyes. “I’ve never married and never had children. Our camp isn’t big or fancy but it serves the needs for the children in our community. I’ve been doing this for some time now. I’ve watched the children grow and become fine young citizens. I couldn’t be any prouder of them if they were mine.”

Brian nodded solemnly then left the camp.

“Hey, Big Red,” Brian said into his cell phone as he started up his Jeep. “Can you squeeze me in today? Yeah, the camp director took the deal but I want to expand on it. Okay, I’ll be there within the hour.”

Brian closed his cell phone then drove off toward Harrisburg.



*****



“What the fuck was that?!” Brian yelled as what sounded like a small explosion vibrated his peaceful cottage. He sprinted down the spiral staircase and out the sun porch door. He ran towards the construction site with Beau fast on his heels.

“Easy, Brian,” John said as he greeted his brother.

“John, what the fuck is going on? And is everyone all right?”

“We’re all fine. We just did a little blasting to remove some stubborn old stumps. We’re done.”

“Warn a guy next time, will ya? I thought the cottage was going to come down.”

“No chance of that. The landscaper was here and asked us to help remove the dead wood.”

“Landscaper, already?” Brian asked as he looked over his brother’s shoulder at the cottage. “Are you that far along?”

“Want a tour?”

The brothers approached the cottage. John took a spare protective helmet and sat it on top of Brian’s head. “The main structure is done. Most of the wiring is complete.”

“You guys work fast,” Brian said very impressed at his brother’s progress.

“Molly chose a very simple design. A sitting room porch when you first walk in. Kitchen and small dining area on this end. Bedrooms and bathroom on the other end. She didn’t specify it, but I left space for a small half bathroom just off the kitchen area. I figure with a baby the extra bathroom might come in handy.” Brian agreed.

“What about a fireplace? She likes the ones at our house.”

“We discussed that and Owen admitted he’s not the fireplace type so we decided on a potbelly stove in the sitting room. They don’t plan on being here through the winter. The cottage will have a furnace but a small one. On those cool nights they can supplement the heating with the stove.”

“Makes sense. So they’re not going to help us shovel our way out during the next blizzard?”

“Ah, that would be a no,” John laughed.

“Damn! So when do you think it’ll be finished?”

“We’re really moving fast. I’m thinking some time in August. The grounds would take shape faster if you’d help.”

“Me? What do I have to do with it?”

“Come on, Bri. Your garden is magnificent. You know that reporter friend of yours wanted to send the home and garden editor to look at it but I told him to ask you first.”

“Connolly never asked me about it.”

“Well, the wedding did turn into a baby shower. My point is the landscaper has also seen what you’ve done and at Emmett’s. He’d like to consult with you.”

“I guess I could talk to him.”

“How magnanimous of you,” John snarked as he led his brother back outside.

“John, later after the kids go to bed, I’d like to discuss a proposal with you and Bobby.”

“Of course. Now, scram, and I promise no more ka-booms for the day.”

“Thanks. Later, big bro!”

"Later, little bro.”



*****



“So you want to make it possible for the “Little Flowers Day Camp” to be self sufficient?” John asked Brian later on that night.

The kids had gone to bed and the four men were relaxing in the sun porch. Brian and Justin were sharing the chaise making it convenient for Brian to massage Justin’s hand.

“Miss Feldman, the camp director accepted the donation and it will assist a lot of kids,” Brian explained.

“Including Ashley?” John asked.

“Yes,” Bobby answered for Brian. “John, Brian came to me earlier today. I think we can take on the camp as a family project. They’ve been running with the bare minimums for years. They’re the only camp for young kids for miles. But they could use some backing and financial advice.”

“I agree,” Brian added, “and I nominate Albert Harmon!”

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 5





“Hey, where are you going?”

Justin froze in his tracks. He had been trying to get through the sun porch to the bedroom without being seen. No such luck.

“Have to go to the bathroom,” Justin called and started forward again.

“Hold it right there,” Brian said from the balcony outside his attic office.

“What?” Justin asked, but he stopped moving.

“What’s wrong?” Brian asked.

“What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“You’re standing down there with your back to me, refusing to look at me. Something’s wrong.”

Justin felt his heart sink. He kept his eyes on the floor and tried one more time. “Brian, I have to pee.”

“Tell me,” was the command that came from above.

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Bullshit!”

Justin heard Brian start down the metal stairs from his office. The jig was up.

“Brian…” Justin said turning finally to face his husband.

“What the fuck!” Brian gasped as he stopped at the bottom of the stairs and got a good look at Justin.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Justin began.

“The fuck it’s not! What the fuck have you done?”

“I … I had a little accident.”

“No shit! Come here and let me have a look at you.”

Justin reluctantly walked over to Brian. He knew he was going to be royally reamed by his irate husband, as soon as Brian figured out what had happened.

“What happened?” Brian asked as he finished looking Justin up and down. Justin’s face was rather red, his T-shirt was all black on the front looking like it had been singed and Justin smelled like burnt shit.

“I was welding a piece of my flower together and I set down the blowtorch … just for a second … and I guess it went out. When I tried to relight it, it sort of blew up in my face.”

“Fuck! Does it hurt?”

“Not really, but I singed my eyebrows and my hair. It stinks to high heaven.”

“I wasn’t going to mention the stench,” Brian said stifling a chuckle now that he knew Justin wasn’t seriously injured.

“Shit! Is it that bad? Can you smell it all over me?”

“Yes,” Brian said simply. “But are you sure you’re not burnt anywhere?”

“My face is a little hot but I think it’s all right. I checked all over myself before I came in here.”

“Did you check the essentials?” Brian asked looking at Justin’s crotch.

“Asshole!” Justin said swiping Brian’s chest and laughing in spite of his predicament.

“Come on, stinky, let’s get you in the shower.”

“Brian, you’re not too mad at me, are you?” Justin asked.

Brian’s arm was around his shoulders as he guided Justin towards their bedroom. “No, I’m not mad, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about you working out in that shed with all that potentially dangerous crap.” Brian gently lifted Justin’s T-shirt over his head and then examined his chest. “I don’t think you got burned.”

“Good, I didn’t think so either, or I would have been in pain.”

“I’ll start the shower on lukewarm. Come in when you get the rest of your clothes off.”

Justin watched Brian disappear into their bathroom before starting to take off his jeans. He knew he was lucky that he hadn’t been more seriously hurt. He’d have to be more careful in the future. When he was naked, he walked into the bathroom wondering why Brian hadn’t come to get him. He noticed that there was no sign of Brian in the room, but there was a distinctive silhouette visible through the steamy shower door.

“Hey,” Brian said as Justin opened the door and stepped inside.

“I thought I was the one who needed the shower,” Justin said softly.

“I thought you could use some company after your trauma.”

Justin looked at Brian’s face, expecting to see a smirk, but his husband appeared to be serious. “I’m not hurt, Brian, really I’m fine,” Justin said trying to reassure Brian.

“You better not be hurt, but I’ll just check things out for myself if it’s all the same to you.”

“You will, huh?”

“Yep,” Brian said running his hand over Justin’s chest. “You’re sure you’re not really burned anywhere?”

“I’m not, although my face feels a bit like a sunburn.”

“We’ll put some lotion on it when we’re done.”

“Could you wash my hair?” Justin asked. “I don’t know what to do with it. It’s kind of melted together. I can’t even get my fingers through it.”

“Maybe we’ll have to get it buzzed like you did in your Pink Posse days.”

“Don’t remind me about that.” Justin screwed up his face at the thought of the stupid things he had done when he had belonged to the Pink Posse.

“Your buzz cut was kind of hot,” Brian said as he worked up a lather on Justin’s scalp.

Justin giggled. “You liked to rub your hands across it.”

“I’m a very tactile person,” Brian said smugly. “And I also like to wrap my fingers in your longer locks, Goldie.”

“Ow,” Justin said when Brian’s fingers got caught in a matted section of his hair.

“I see what you mean about it being melted together. Let’s take you to the barber after we finish our shower.”

“I’m finished,” Justin said.

“Oh no you’re not.”

Justin found his lips locked to Brian’s in a passionate kiss that took his breath away. “Brian,” he moaned.

“Sh, I need to take care of you.”

Brian dropped to his knees and took Justin’s burgeoning cock into his mouth. He worked his magic with his tongue, lips and fingers until Justin cried out and shot his load into Brian’s mouth. Brian immediately stood up and wrapped his arms around his husband to steady him. He kissed Justin so they could each share his essence.

“I love you,” Brian said, “and we’re hiring someone to do the welding for you. No more accidents.”

Brian opened the door of the shower and stepped out. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his hips. He took another one off the rack and waited for Justin to shut off the shower and come out.

It took Justin a moment to realize what Brian had said. In his post orgasmic haze, he wasn’t sure he had heard correctly. He should have known that Brian wouldn’t let him off so easily after almost frying himself.

“Brian…”

“Don’t argue with me,” Brian said as he started drying Justin off.

“But this is my project. I want to do it.”

“No.”

“What the fuck do you mean, NO?”

“Just what it sounds like.”

“Brian, I’m not a baby. I’m doing this myself.”

“You are a baby where welding is concerned.”

“Are you fucking shitting me?” Justin demanded, sounding a lot like Brian in his best drama queen mode. “You can’t make that kind of decision for me.”

“I can and I am.”

“You are not.”

“Get dressed and we’ll go get you a haircut,” Brian said.

“Brian, I’m not going to be bossed around.”

“This is not negotiable.”

Justin sat down on the end of the bed. “I’m not going anywhere,” he stated firmly.

Brian looked at the stubborn face before him. He pulled on some clothes and headed for the door of the bedroom. “Fine, do whatever you want, but don’t expect any further support for this nonsense from me.”

Justin heard the front door slam and Brian’s car started. There was a roar of the engine as Brian peeled away from the cottage.

“Fuck!” Justin exclaimed. He threw on some fresh clothing then went back out to the shed to properly stow away his equipment for the day. As he locked up the shed, John was walking through the garden.

“Why did my brother just drive out of here like a bat out of hell?” John asked before he took a good look at Justin. Before Justin could explain, John took a guess.

“Had a little accident, have we?” John said as he raised that Kinney eyebrow of his. Justin nodded. John had always given off paternal vibes at Justin, so this was no different.

“Are you hurt?” Justin shook his head. “A little singed around the edges?” Justin nodded. “And I imagine my brother suggested something that you didn’t agree with.”

Justin nodded again. A bit of welded hair fell into his eyes. John sighed loudly.

“What am I going to do?” Justin asked softly.

“First off, let’s give your hair a little trim to remove the evidence of your faux pas. I’ll have one of my men recheck your equipment to make sure there’s nothing malfunctioning that could have caused your mishap.” John guided Justin back into the Anderson-Morrison end of the house.

“What about Brian?” Justin asked as John planted him on a stool in the kitchen and began to take out a comb and small scissors.

“Leave him to calm down and then I’ll speak with him later.”

“You shouldn’t have to fight my battles for me. I’m not a baby.”

“No, you’re not, but Brian’s going to want to hear cold hard facts about your training and the equipment. After my guy checks out the welding equipment and reviews the instructions with you, I can approach Brian with those facts. Now sit still while I fix your hair.”

“You cut hair too?” Justin asked with fascination. His brother-in-law’s talents never ceased to amaze Justin. John was busy snipping away bits of Justin’s hair.

“How do you think I managed to come home from work and not have my mother go ape shit on my ass? Having minor accidents is normal in my business. We don’t sweat the small things but make sure they don’t turn into big things. Most of my men have taken first aid courses and we’re all adept at trimming hair. Ever try getting dried plaster or cement out of hair?”

“Um, no. But I have had to wait weeks before I outgrew some blue oil paint that got into my hair,” Justin admitted.

“Well, there you go. Same with us. It went a little easier on the spouses too, when the guys would go home and answer that age old question.”

“What age old question?”

“And how was your day, honey?” John replied. Justin giggled without moving his head. “There, all done and you don’t look scalped,” John said smugly as he held out a small mirror for Justin to look into. “It’ll be a while for that eyebrow to grow back but yours get so blond in the summer that you can’t tell that you have any to begin with. Brian will get over it soon enough. Now, let’s go get my man to look over the arc welder.”

Justin hopped down off the stool feeling a whole lot better. John was right, Brian needed facts, and that’s just what he was going to get.



*****



“Brian, what brings you here?” Claire asked as Brian burst through her screen door. He looked just like John did when he was angry and frustrated over some relationship that went wrong. But that was before John discovered Bobby.

“He is going to be the death of me!” Brian spat then cursed every which way till Sunday.

“Who?”

“That blond little boy of mine who thinks he’s an adult,” Brian raged on, then immediately regretted his words. Justin was always more of an adult than he had ever been.

“Brian, I think it would help if you began at the beginning.” Claire took out a batch of homemade cookies from her cupboard and put on a fresh pot of coffee. She had a feeling this was going to take a while.



*****



“Can I let you in on a little secret?” Claire ventured when Brian eventually talked it all out. Brian nodded as he nibbled on a cookie.

“When John was learning his craft, I knew he wasn’t going to be a typical architect, sitting behind a drafting table and wearing a suit. He always loved working with his hands, even as a boy. A typical farm boy and jack of all trades. He could ride like a cowboy, harvest corn like a farmer and repair the tractor like a mechanic.”

“He’s a smart man, my brother,” Brian said proudly.

“Yes, he is. So I knew from the beginning that he’d not only want to design buildings and homes but take an active part in building them. I lived with him coming home slightly bruised and battered, and singed at times as well. He hardly ever went to a barber because he got good at trimming his own hair. Gordon too! One time John had slipped and fallen onto newly smoothed out cement. He felt awful about ruining that section so he immediately helped to smooth it out again. It was a warm summer day and he never noticed the cement on his arms drying. He had to shave most of the hair off his arm and trim his hair.”

Brian cracked up. John had more body hair than Brian. He could totally imagine John having to shave.

“John never thought I noticed but I did. We were always very close. I noticed every bump and wherever a hair was out of place.”

“How did you stand it?”

“I almost didn’t, but he was an adult and I had to trust that he would make the right decisions. I learned not to sweat the minor things. He knows how to work safely and what steps to take when something big does happen. Thank goodness nothing really big has ever happened and that’s because he works safe. Now, if he had one of his men teach Justin how to weld, then chances are Justin will be fine. And if I know my Jackie he probably saw you drive away in a snit and is with Justin right now.”

Claire gazed at Brian pointedly.

“More coffee?” Claire asked having made her point.

“Yes, ma’am,” Brian replied contritely as Claire refreshed Brian’s mug and handed him another cookie.



*****



“Well?” John questioned his master welder, Jackson. John was back at Molly’s cottage. The construction crew was cleaning up for the night.

“Some metal shavings got stuck in the trigger assembly. I think that may have been the trouble. I gave it a good cleaning and instructed Justin on how to keep it that way. It was a fluke. We bang things around to knock off the dirt but he treats the stuff like it’s a baby. I showed him what to do; he’ll be fine.”

“Thank the lord and whatever else is holy. I do not want to hear my brother rant about this later.”

“You want me to explain it to Brian?”

“No, I’ll do it, but I may need you as back up.”

“No, problem, man. I know how protective Brian is. I wouldn’t want to mess with him when he’s in big daddy mode.” John and Jackson had a good laugh then joined the rest of the men cleaning up.



*****



“Hey,” Brian said as he stepped through the sun porch door holding a single daisy behind his back.

“Hey,” Justin replied.

The family was just about ready to sit down for dinner. Justin was open and honest about his accident and stressed that he didn’t want to foster a continuation of the argument he and Brian had earlier. The family agreed not to mention the mishap.

“You hungry?” Justin asked pensively.

“I could eat,” Brian answered. He had stopped just inside the porch door not knowing what kind of reception he was going to receive. Justin walked closer but then stopped a couple of feet away. The family held their breath.

“I’m sorry,” Brian and Justin said at once. Brian held open his arms as Justin moved immediately into them. They kissed sweetly then hungrily, forgetting about the audience at the table.

John loudly cleared his throat then waited for the desired response. The lovers cooled their ardor. Justin blushed as Brian ran his fingers through Justin’s hair that was now perfectly trimmed but remarkably didn’t look much shorter. He held the daisy out in front of Justin. Justin smiled, appreciating the gesture and realizing they would be all right.

Justin placed the flower in a bud vase then situated it in the middle of the table. Dinner could now commence.

Later that night, Brian and Beau were strolling the lane towards Molly’s cottage. The night air was cool and the moonlight lit their way. But like so many things Brian had memorized, such as the curve of Justin’s hips, swell of his ass, the long veins in his cock, Brian didn’t need light to walk the lane.

He thought about what Claire had said about trust and knowing her son so thoroughly. Brian could recite the location of every freckle on Bree’s perfect body. The crunch of John’s work boots made Brian turn around.

“Jackson said there was a bit of dirt...”

Brian cut his brother off before he could finish his explanation. “Just tell me he’ll be all right.”

“He will be all right,” John repeated.

“That’s all I need to know.”

“Well, that went a lot easier than I expected. Here, I came armed with facts to plead Justin’s case.”

“No need.”

“So, you’re all right with this then?”

“Not really, but I trust Justin so I will just have to be.”

“What changed your mind?” John asked in awe of his brother’s maturity regarding the whole incident.

“You know, your mother is one remarkable woman,” was all that Brian would say on the matter. Brian kissed his brother’s cheek then continued his stroll down the lane. Beau stayed by John’s side.

“There’s no one in the world like Brian Kinney,” John said out loud to no one in particular.

“Woof!” Beau agreed as he ran to join Brian. John turned then walked back to Edna’s Treasures.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 6





“Brian?” Justin began in between panting breaths.

“Mmm,” Brian mumbled around one of Justin’s balls that he currently had in his mouth.

“Oh yeah,” Justin murmured as a spit slick finger entered him. His ball was still in Brian’s mouth. “My sunflower is almost finissshhhed,” Justin hissed as he was finger fucked. He spread his legs wider and arched up to allow for more access.

“That’s nice,” Brian whispered as he allowed Justin’s ball to slip out of his mouth before attacking its twin.

“I’m readyyy to plant it to...to...tomorrow,” Justin stammered as Brian rolled him over, shoved pillows under his hips then stuck his tongue into Justin’s pucker. Brian continued to lave the tight bud as Justin attempted to tell Brian his plans for planting his first metal flower. Brian had other things in mind to plant but he let Justin ramble on.

“I’m so excited,” Justin moaned. Brian tugged on Justin’s hard dick.

“I can tell,” Brian murmured as he licked the length of Justin’s cock then ended at Justin’s hole.

“Brian!” Justin cried out. His dick was dripping, so very hard, and he wanted to be fucked. Justin pushed his ass back onto Brian’s face.

“Trying to tell me something, Sunshine?” Brian drawled in a sultry tone.

“Want more,” Justin begged.

Brian took a few last licks at the tight bud then kissed the warm globes of Justin’s full ass. He slicked up his dick then gave Justin what he wanted.

“Oh god!” Justin moaned as he was filled then pounded into the mattress. “More, Brian, more!”

Brian held Justin tightly around his waist, drawing him back onto himself, impaling his dick deeply into Justin. Brian used all his strength to keep them upright as Brian thrust and Justin pushed back. Justin fisted his own cock as the lovers came within seconds of each other before collapsing in a heap of arms and legs.

Eventually they moved, straightening themselves out on their bed and covering their cooling bodies with a sheet.

“Justin,” Brian began as he drew Justin close to his heart.

“I know, Brian, and I promise to be more careful,” Justin whispered as he kissed Brian’s lips and then his chest, feeling the steady beat of his lover's heart. “I love you, Brian.”

“I know,” Brian whispered as they fell asleep.



*****



“Wake up, Daddy, Dada,” Bree called as she shoved open the door of their bedroom.

“Huh?” Brian said raising his head.

“I hafta go to school,” Bree stated.

“What time is it?” Justin asked turning over and stretching.

“Shit! It’s after eight o’clock,” Brian said looking at the clock on the nightstand.

“How come you didn’t wake me up?” Bree asked accusingly.

“We must have slept through the fucking alarm,” Brian groaned.

“Well, if you would stop putting your dick in me every hour or so we would have had some decent sleep and woken up on time.”

“Hey, it was make-up sex. I had to.”

Justin snorted a la Brian Kinney. “You are so full of shit.”

“Daddy, got to go to school,” Bree informed them impatiently.

“We overslept, sweetheart,” Justin said throwing back the sheet and reaching for his underwear.

Bree giggled seeing her father’s bare butt. “Where’s your jamas, Daddy?”

“They … um … must have fallen off while I was sleeping.”

Brian snorted. “Go see if Patrick is ready for school while we get organized, Squirt.”

“’Kay, Dada,” Bree said as she headed out the door and over to Patrick’s side of the cottage.

“Maybe they’ll feed her,” Brian said rolling onto his back and covering his eyes with his forearm.

“Get up,” Justin ordered. “I need your help today.”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes.”

“Bossy little bitch, aren’t you?”

“Listen, all the gratuitous sex privileges you take advantage of have a price.”

“And you’re collecting?”

“Yep, come on.” Justin grabbed Brian’s wrist and pulled him up into a sitting position. “We need a shower.”

“You’re going to risk showering with me? I might try some of my gratuitous sex privileges on your ass in the shower.”

“I’m counting on it,” Justin giggled, as he ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on. Brian was right behind him.



*****



“Are you gurgling, Taylor?” Molly asked as she glanced into the baby’s carrier.

Taylor blew a little bubble and seemed to smile at Molly. Molly grinned. She had the best baby in the world. She pushed open the door of Emmett’s Place and stepped inside.

“Miss Molly!” Emmett exclaimed. “My new and best neighbor!”

Molly laughed. “Don’t let Brian and Justin hear that. Or John and Bobby for that matter.”

“Oh, pshaw! Come right on in, and sit in my booth. I’ll join you and the little one.”

Molly took a seat in Emmett’s booth. She got Taylor situated so that the baby would have a view of his mother and Emmett as they talked, and also a look out at the hustle and bustle of the café.

“Here we go,” Emmett said as he set a tray down in front of Molly and slid into the booth. “I didn’t bring Taylor a coffee. I assume you’ll take care of the baby’s beverage.”

Molly laughed. “I can do that.” She gave Taylor a bottle of juice. The baby sucked happily.

“Taylor is the cutie of the century.” Emmett took Taylor’s little hand and played with the tiny fingers.

“I would have to agree with you,” Molly said with a smile as she took an appreciative sip of Emmett’s coffee. “Mm, this is heavenly.”

“Thank you very much. Have a popover to go with it.”

Molly fished a warm popover out of the basket Emmett had on the tray. She bit into it greedily. “These are positively sinful. I should take a half dozen with me out to Edna’s Treasures. A certain brother-in-law of mine would be most ecstatic.”

Emmett chuckled. “Brian Kinney doesn’t do ecstatic. The most you will get is a ‘not bad’ in response.”

“Have you seen the way he looks at my brother?” Molly asked pointedly. “He does ecstatic.”

“Oh my yes, but perhaps I should rephrase that. Brian Kinney doesn’t do ecstatic vocally.”

“Have you been listening at their bedroom window?”

“Miss Molly, you are so naughty.”

“That’s me, Miss Potty Mind.”

“And I love it,” Emmett laughed sipping his own coffee. “So, you’re heading out there today?”

“Yep, after I finish this lovely treat for myself.” Molly polished off her popover and washed it down with another sip of coffee.

“How’s the cottage coming?”

“John is really moving things along. I can’t believe how well it’s going.”

“That’s great. John’s company is so reliable.”

“That’s because John is reliable,” Molly affirmed. “And he makes sure everything is built to the highest quality.”

Emmett nodded. “I can’t wait to see what they’ve got done. I haven’t been out to our cottage this week.”

“You’ll be impressed.”

“I hope Justin hasn’t burned off his fingers or blown up the shed.”

“Why … why do you say that?” Molly asked with a worried look on her face.

“Well, you know he’s making those metal sculptures using a welding torch. He’s cutting metal pieces with some sort of dangerous thingie. It’s all too macho for me.”

“Justin, macho?” Molly giggled.

“So he’d have you believe.”

“Hm, I’ll have to check how he’s doing.”

“I’ll get your popovers for the troops out there. Maybe you should take a couple of dozen for the workers at your cottage too.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea. Please.”

“Come on, Taylor, let’s get you changed and then we can go check up on the house and your Uncle Justin.”



*****



“Hey Brian!” Justin waved cheerfully from the top of a twenty foot step ladder.

After they finally got the kids off to school, Justin began to haul the parts of his sunflower out into the adjoining field. He hammered in the base pole then secured it with tethers like a tent. Each stem section was slotted into the next. Justin positioned his ladder when the stem became too tall for him to reach the end section. And that’s how Brian found him, cheerfully up the ladder, sliding in stem and leaf sections all without the benefit of a safety net.

“Hey,” Brian waved back, careful to keep up the facade of the supportive spouse. He resisted tearing apart their bedrooms and dragging out the mattresses to surround the ladder.

“This is killing you, isn’t it?” John asked as he sidled up to his brother. It was mid morning and the work crew was taking a coffee break. Several of the men had heard Justin banging the main piece into the ground and stood fascinated by the side of the road.

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“We heard most of it last night,” John quipped.

“Yes, well, I did overreact, again, and I had to make it up to the lad.”

“I’m surprised the ‘lad’ can walk.”

“He’s a lot tougher than you think.”

“Yes, he is,” John affirmed as the brothers watched Justin lean over a little too much to attach the great head of the sunflower to the stem. Brian sucked in a huge breath when he saw the ladder teeter.

“You can open your eyes now,” John chuckled and placed a supportive hand on his brother’s shoulder. “He’s all right.”

“Fuck! I don’t know how much more I can take. First, he’s the Human Torch and now he thinks he’s Spiderman. John, if I don’t wind up with a stroke, it’ll be sheer luck. My heart is pounding a mile a minute.”

“Stop exaggerating; this too shall pass. But I’d lay off the coffee for a while. His balancing act is stimulating enough.” With that John patted Brian’s back, waved at his brother-in-law who teetered a little as he waved back, then turned to go back to work. John laughed as he heard Brian muttering curses, all along with a smile plastered to his face.

“Brian, do you think you could help me?” Justin called out. He was climbing down the ladder to pick up the first petal that would be attached to the head of the flower. Brian immediately walked toward Justin.

“Sure, Sunshine, what can I do?”

“Um, it would go a lot quicker if you could hand me the pieces so I don’t have to climb up and down.”

“I kind of like it when you climb up and down,” Brian said with a suggestive leer.

“That’s only on your cock,” Justin replied as he waggled his eyebrows. “I mean up and down the ladder.”

“I know what you mean, and I’d be honored to be your assistant.”

“Really?”

“Of course, Jus. I know how important this is to you. I’d really like to help.”

“Thank you,” Justin said as he gave Brian a kiss. As Justin began to climb back up the ladder, he started to give Brian instructions. “All the pieces are coded with numbers so I know what piece goes where. I’ll call out a number and you can hand it up to me. I’ll slide it into place then secure it with the clamps.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Brian said as he looked around him. On the ground laid out in a very orderly fashion were all of Justin’s flower pieces. He had never realized how truly organized Justin was when it came to his art.

Like fitting a large puzzle together, Justin called out the number of the desired piece. Brian retrieved it then handed it up to Justin. Brian was shocked to find the pieces were rather heavy.

“Jeez, Sunshine, have you been taking weight lifting lessons from the Professor? These pieces weigh a ton!”

“Yeah, I know. But I’ve been dragging them around rather than lifting.”

“But doesn’t that ruin the paint?” Brian asked, truly curious about Justin’s artistic process.

“Nah, I only used a small amount of paint for just a hint of color. I’m going for the distressed look and dragging the pieces around just adds to it,” Justin said cheerfully.

“Hmm,” Brian murmured as he handed another piece up to his husband.

A few hours later, Justin attached the last leaf section, clamped it down and then descended the ladder for the last time for the day. Brian helped Justin fold the ladder then they hauled it over to one side so that they could get an unobstructed view of the flower.

“Wow,” Brian said. “That thing is fucking huge,” he said in awe.

“Yeah, I didn’t think it was that big.”

“Well, you built it.”

“Yeah, but it looks smaller when it’s in pieces and scattered on the ground.”

“How does it feel to have your own ‘henge’?”

“Bri, one metal flower does not a henge make.”

“True, but I imagine you’re not done in that shed of yours.”

“Nope! I have a few more flowers to make.”

“I thought so. But tomorrow?” Brian asked hopefully. It was late in the afternoon. Rachel would be bringing the children home soon and Brian was sure that Justin’s hand was tired.

“Yeah, tomorrow,” Justin said with a nod and a sigh. He was tired, thirsty and hungry.

“Let’s go back to the house. We’ll clean up and I’ll begin dinner. We missed lunch so we can eat now and then have something light later if need be.”

Justin packed up the tools he used for the day in a canvas bag then picked up the top part of the ladder. “I won’t argue with that,” he said.

“That’ll be a first,” Brian snarked as he picked up the other end of the ladder. With ladder in hand, they marched off towards the cottage.



*****



“Wow! Justin’s really serious about this metal garden of his,” Molly exclaimed as she stood by the road. She had come up shortly after lunch time. Her treats were well received. Since the interior walls of the cottage were almost done, she decided to take some measurements and pictures to help her get a sense of how to decorate. John and his crew were taking breaks to babysit Taylor.

“Yes, he is,” John said as he handed Taylor back to Molly. “You have all the measurements you need?”

“Yes, and I have an idea of how I’d like to decorate. But can you recommend a good painter? I intend to do most of it myself and maybe I can get Justin to do a mural in the main area, but I’d like a base coat of pale sage.”

“How about you get us samples of the color you’d like. We’ll have it made up and we can paint the walls as the last thing we do. That way you can do your accents and move in your furniture.”

“You’d do that?”

“All part of the service, ma’am,” John said with a handsome smile.

“There’s just something about you Kinney men,” Molly said with a sigh.

With business concluded, client and contractor parted ways.



*****



“Oh man, what smells so good?” Bobby asked as he came through the cottage doors. Rachel had just come home with the kids. Justin was making a large salad while Brian was grilling to his heart's content.

“You’re home early,” Justin said as he looked up from his cutting board.

“Yeah, I had court and didn’t have to go back to the office. So I decided why waste the rest of this beautiful day indoors, when I could come home and pig out! Damn, that smells good. I wasn’t hungry but I’m getting there,” the red-head stated enthusiastically.

“We worked through lunch, so Brian’s making dinner and of course there’s plenty.”

“Let me go change and I’ll help the big guy outside. And Justin, good work on your henge,” Bobby said with a smile as he slipped down the hallway toward his end of the cottage to change.

Justin smiled proudly to himself as he tossed the salad into a large bowl.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 7





“What are you doing?” Owen Jr. asked as he sat down beside his wife on the sofa.

“Just going through the pictures I took out at the cottage today.”

“Let’s see.”

The two sat for the next while as Molly clicked through all the pictures of their house. They viewed them on the small screen at the back of Molly’s digital camera. Owen was amazed at how far along the house was already.

“And John says he will have his crew put a base coat on the walls before they finish up and leave,” Molly explained as they looked at a picture of the interior of the house. “I think I know how I’m going to decorate. I’m so excited.”

Owen groaned. “Shit! More money,” he sighed. “I forgot about the decorating part of this whole plan.”

“We can afford it, can’t we?” Molly asked with a frown. “If not, it can wait. We can gradually decorate, maybe start with the living room…”

Her words were muffled as Owen’s mouth found hers and kissed her in such a way that she felt her toes curl.

“What was that for?” Molly asked breathlessly when Owen finally let her come up for air.

“That was because I want you to decorate that house exactly how you envision it.”

“You do?”

Owen nodded. “I do.”

“Did we just get married all over again?” Molly giggled.

“I’d marry you every day of the week if you wanted me too.”

“You are a lovely man, Owen Brenner.”

“And you’re the love of my life, Molly Brenner.”

“And you’re okay with me spending money on decorating the cottage?”

“It’s fine,” Owen reassured her. “We can afford it.”

“Really and truly? Because if it’s a problem, I’ll…” These words met the same fate as her previous protestation about not spending money.

“Now, no more discussion about decorating,” Owen said smugly as Molly’s mouth hung open and her chest heaved. “Do what you want and don’t worry about the cost.”

“That’s a statement that could really cost you,” Molly threatened in a teasing voice.

“Oh, I should have added … within reason.”

“That’s the man I know and love.”

Owen smiled genuinely at his beautiful wife. “I love you so much … you and Taylor.”

Molly smiled in return. “I love you right back,” she said, hauling her digital camera out from behind her, since somehow she had ended up sitting on it during Owen’s passionate kiss. “Oh, look at this,” she said clicking onto the next picture in the viewer of the camera.

“What is it?” Owen asked, as he took the camera from her and looked at the image in the view screen. “It looks like a faded sunflower.”

“It’s the beginning of Justin’s henge. He put the sunflower together today.”

“Wow! So how did it look?” Owen asked.

“Awesome!”

“How big is it?”

“Click through a couple more pictures and there’s one with Taylor in his carrier beside the stem of the sunflower.”

Owen did as directed. “Omigod, Taylor looks like a pea,” he gasped. “How tall is that thing?”

“It must be over fifteen feet high,” Molly said with a smile.

“Let’s go out there on the weekend. I’d love to see it.”

“Hey, what about the house? Don’t you want to see it too?”

“Well, sure, yeah. But this looks incredible.” Owen stared at the picture.

“It is pretty incredible.”

“We should send a copy of this to Stacey. She’ll get a kick out of it, since she knows Justin.”

“Okay, let’s download to the computer, and we can send it to her,” Molly suggested.

“Maybe we should send it to the Connolly’s too. Richard would probably like to put something in the paper about it.”

“I doubt Justin wants it in the paper when he’s hardly started.”

“I bet a lot of people would like to see the progress as he adds other flowers. It will be really something to see.”

“I guess it is on public display,” Molly said thoughtfully. “It’s right out in the field for anyone to view.”

“Okay, then let’s send it to Stacey and a copy to Richard Connolly.”

“I took a little movie of it too. I walked around it and got it from all sides and right from below it so you can see how tall it is.”

“Maybe we should put it on Youtube. I bet people would love it.”

“Um … I don’t know,” Molly said, but she went to get her laptop.



*****



“One more day of school, Dada,” Bree said as she finished her dinner.

“That’s right, Squirt.”

“When does camp start?”

“Right after July the Fourth.”

“Oh.”

“You’re okay with going, aren’t you?’

“Yes,” Bree sighed, “but it would be so much better if Ashley was going too.”

Brian shook his head. Sometimes his daughter sounded like a world weary twenty year old. “Maybe Ashley will get a chance to go. You never know.”

Bree frowned and looked at her father. At that moment the phone rang. Justin reached back and lifted the receiver of the wall phone off its base.

“Hello,” Justin said. “Yes, just a minute. It’s Ashley, Bree. She sounds really excited about something.”

Brian tried not to smirk as Bree hopped down off her chair and took the phone.

“Hello,” Bree said formally. She listened for a minute and then her voice changed dramatically. “Oh! Oh, Okay! … Are you sure? … Neat! … That’s great, Ashley. See you tomorrow at school.” Bree handed the phone back to her father.

“What was that all about?” Justin asked, as he hung up the phone.

“Ashley’s going to camp,” Bree declared. She stared at her Dada who refused to look at her. He had a sudden interest in stirring his coffee.

“How did that happen?” Justin asked carefully.

“Somebody gave collar-chips for kids to go to camp.”

“Collar-chips?” Brian asked. “Do you mean scholarships?”

Bree frowned. “Maybe. Do you know what those are, Dada?”

“Yes, Squirt, I know what they are.”

Bree looked like she wanted to say something more, but then she reconsidered. “I’m going to go play with Beau till bedtime.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” Justin said.

Bree headed out through the sun porch.

“She knows, doesn’t she?” Justin asked as he started to clear the dinner dishes.

“I think so,” Brian grudgingly admitted.

“Why didn’t she ask us?”

“She looked like she wanted to,” Brian said. “But maybe she thought it was better if she didn’t know where the collar-chip came from when she and Ashley go to camp.”

Justin shook his head. “What’s she going to be like when she’s eighteen?”

“Hopefully she’ll be some poor schmuck’s responsibility and not ours,” Brian said tongue in cheek.

“I thought you weren’t going to let her date till she was thirty.”

“Forty, but I don’t think I’m going to have much say in what she does by the look of things.”

“You think so? How soon is that going to happen?”

“Tomorrow,” Brian replied, and they both feared he was right.



*****



“Dada?” Brian was tucking Briana into bed. Justin was planning to read her a bedtime story when Brian was done.

“What is it, Squirt?” Brian kissed the top of Bree’s head as she snuggled back onto her pillow.

“The camp scholarship, you did that, didn’t you?” Bree asked seriously, clearly enunciating every word.

“Your Daddy and I both made the decision to sponsor the camp. Uncle John and Uncle Bobby are also involved. We plan to help the camp renovate in time for next season,” Brian stated, speaking to Bree almost as an adult. He was confident that if Bree required clarification, she would ask.

“Why?” Bree asked looking up into her father’s eyes with the big wide violet blue ones of her own.

“Several reasons, Squirt. The camp had to raise their tuition this year. They didn’t want to do it, but the cost of keeping a camp like that running is high. And kids like Ashley deserve to have a place to go to in the summer for some fun. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do. But, Dada, what’s the real reason?” Bree was so onto him. Brian reached down to draw the petite child into his arms. Bree went readily, wrapping her tiny arms around her Dada’s neck.

“For you, Squirt, for you,” Brian whispered.

“Thank you, Dada. I love you.” Bree had no doubt that her Dada loved her.

“Love you too, Squirt,” Brian said as he gave her a little squeeze. “Time to go to sleep. Your Daddy’s waiting to read you a story,” Brian said as he eased her back down onto the bed. He tucked her in, smoothed out the bedclothes then gently swiped away the pale strawberry blond wisps of hair from Bree’s face before leaving her for the night.

“She’s waiting for you,” Brian said to Justin as they met in the hall.

“Bri, you okay?” Justin asked his lover as he noticed the unshed tears in Brian’s eyes. Justin reached up to caress Brian’s cheek.

“Did you know we have an amazing daughter?” Brian answered the question with a question. He drew the smaller man close to kiss the blond head.

“I know,” Justin whispered.

“Go, she’s waiting for her Daddy to read her a story,” Brian said as he gently pushed Justin toward Bree’s bedroom door.

“I wonder what book she chose?” Justin chuckled.

“I have it on good authority it is not War and Peace. However, Anna Karenina…” Brian laughed as he went to the kitchen.



*****



“What’s he planting now?” Gordon asked as he and John were standing by the road watching Justin work.

“The green thing is a frog,” John replied.

“Has Brian seen it yet?” Brian’s ‘fondness’ for frogs was widely known.

“Not sure, but considering the thing is about five feet tall, he will eventually.” Both John and Gordon laughed.

“Does Justin intend to plant this whole field? No one will see it.” Gordon was very curious about the point to all of it.

“Good point. I’m not sure if Justin has thought it completely through. He just wanted to work with new material.”

“Well, I have seen many metal sculptures and while his are a bit primitive they are skillfully crafted,” Gordon stated with the confidence of an art critic. John gaped at his friend and business partner. “What? I’m a city boy now. I know art when I see it.”

The friends cracked up with laughter.

“You have a point, though. I don’t think even Sidney knows what he’s doing here,” John said when he caught his breath.

“Well, apparently someone does,” Gordon said as a strange sedan slowly pulled up and parked not too far from where they were standing. An elderly couple got out of the car then proceeded to take pictures of Justin’s henge.

“Excuse me, young man,” the woman addressed John.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Is this where Mr. Taylor is exhibiting?” the woman asked hopefully.

“Exhibiting?” John asked, not sure what she meant.

Trying not to get frustrated, the woman went on. “Yes, exhibiting. We’ve read that Justin Taylor is creating his version of Stonehenge and of course, we wanted to see it.”

“Of course,” John said tentatively. “Um, I...” John had no idea what to say.

“Ma’am, what you’re seeing now is a work in progress. Mr. Taylor has just begun working in this medium and is not quite ready to show it yet,” Gordon explained with an authoritative air. The couple was visibly saddened. “However,” Gordon stepped closer as if to confide in them. “If you leave me your name and address, I will get you on Sidney Bloom’s, of the Bloom Gallery, exclusive list. You’ll be one of the first to be notified when Mr. Taylor’s ready to exhibit.”

The couple was ecstatic. The woman nudged her husband and he fished out an old business card.

“I’m semi-retired but I can be reached through my firm,” the man said as he handed the card over to Gordon. Gordon safely pocketed the card then reassured the couple that as soon as the ‘henge’ was complete, they would receive an invitation to view it. Mollified the couple drove away but not before snapping a few more pictures of the work in progress.

Just then Brian came stomping down the lane.

“Uh oh,” John began, finally finding his voice. “Houston, we have a problem,” he quipped as they saw the rage burning in Brian’s eyes.

“Is that the lunch truck I hear? Gotta go,” Gordon said as he quickly turned on his heels to sprint back to the construction site.

“Coward,” John mumbled after him as he stood to face the fire while Justin worked to plant his frog, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding in the lane.



*****



“Emmett, what’s it like to be stalked,” Michael asked his friend. Michael had come into the bistro for a snack.

“I don’t know and why are you asking me?”

“Well, didn’t Drew stalk you way back when?”

“No he didn’t, and that was a long time ago. And what makes you think you’re being stalked?” Emmett asked as he removed a tray of fruit tarts from one of the ovens.

“Some guy keeps coming into the shop and buying comics.”

“Michael, honey, you own a comic book store. If people didn’t come in to buy comics, then I’d start to worry, not when they do.”

Michael crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. “Well, he just gives me the creeps. He’s not gay and he looks kinda familiar, but I just can’t place him.”

“What does he look like?”

“He’s good looking, I suppose, about six feet and young like Justin.”

“Sweetie, Justin’s not all that young.”

“I know but he still looks like he’s twenty. This guy looks maybe twenty-five or thirty-ish. I just don’t want any trouble. Do you think he’s an inspector?”

“Inspector of what? Newsprint? Michael, you’re sounding crazy and I have buns to warm,” Emmett said with a straight face.

“TMI, Emm.”

“Michael, if the guy comes into the store again, just ask him who he is.”

“Yeah, okay, maybe I will.”

“Good, now leave me with my buns!” Michael stole a peek at one of Pittsburgh’s most infamous and ‘fetching’ apron covered buns of all time before he went back to his shop.



*****



“Now Brian, you need to remain calm,” John began.

“No, I don’t. Look at this!”

“I know, they just wanted to take...look at what?” John stopped in mid sentence as his brother was waving a piece of paper in front of his face. John grabbed the flailing arm to take a better look at the paper. It was a picture of Justin’s sunflower that Brian had gotten off of a ‘Myspace’ site.

“How did you find this?” John asked.

“I went over to Gus’ Myspace. He found it.”

“How did that happen?”

“I don’t know but I’m going to find out before our nice quiet lane becomes a tourist attraction.”
“Um, about that....”

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 8





Brian walked into Woody’s. It had been a long time since he had been there. He looked around and didn’t see one familiar face. He wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not. He frowned and debated whether he should just walk out. A man walked by and deliberately brushed against him. He knew that trick very well, the action not the man, and he didn’t like either.

“Brian, over here,” Michael called.

Brian looked up and saw Michael craning his neck out of the alcove where they had sometimes sat during the good old days, or the bad old days, or the best forgotten days, when Woody’s was a daily habit.

“Mikey,” Brian said sitting down beside his longtime friend. “What the fuck are we meeting here for?”

“I just thought it would be interesting to have a drink and see what the gay scene of Pittsburgh is like these days.”

“You realize that we look like a couple of over the hill bar boys,” Brian sneered.

“Speak for yourself.”

“I was, and I’ve already been cruised since I came in,” Brian said proudly.

“Fuck! How do you do it?”

“Talent,” Brian said smugly.

Michael shook his head, but Brian’s statement only added to his admiration for his friend. Brian Kinney would never change, at least not in his eyes. He was as young and beautiful as ever. “Want a beer or something stronger?” Michael asked.

“A beer. I have to drive home when we’re done.”

Michael got up and went to the bar to get their drinks. Brian glanced around. All the men looked so young. He must really be getting old when every guy he saw looked like a twink. Why the fuck had he agreed to meet Michael here. They should have gone to the diner or fucking Starbucks. He wouldn’t feel so old in those places.

“Here you go,” Michael said as he sat back down, handing Brian a beer, and taking a drink from his own bottle.

Brian gulped down some of his beer hoping that would put him in a better frame of mind, but it didn’t. “What do you want, Mikey?” he asked bluntly hoping they could get this over with quickly and he could get the fuck out of the life he had left behind so many years ago.

“What’s your problem? Can’t you have a nice drink with your best friend?”

“What are we doing here?” Brian repeated, irritation clear in his voice.

“I thought it would be a blast.”

“Yeah, I’m having a peachy time.”

“Brian, what’s wrong with you? Why are you in a bad mood?”

“Let’s see, I hate being the oldest fucking guy in the place, especially when it’s a gay bar.”

“You’re not the oldest. I’m a few months older than you, remember.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

Michael shook his head. He looked up and saw some guy across the room studying Brian. “You have an admirer,” Michael said nodding in the direction of the man.

“I always have admirers, but that doesn’t mean I want to be here.” Brian turned to look, as nonchalantly as he could. “Fuck! He’s almost as old as we are.”

“He is not,” Michael protested, “although he hasn’t taken very good care of himself.”

“I think that’s a toupee,” Brian said turning back around so he didn’t have to look directly at the guy.

“You think so?” Michael asked perking up. He always liked the way Brian pegged people. “Why would anyone wear one of those?”

“Because he’s fucking bald. I will never wear one of those things. If my hair falls out, kill me immediately.”

Michael chuckled. “Losing your hair would be enough to off yourself?”

“Of course it would. How can you even ask?”

“That guy is smiling at you,” Michael said still studying the man across the room.

“Stop looking at him. You’re encouraging him.”

“Am not,” Michael protested. “Although, he does look slightly familiar.”

“If you hang out with guys wearing toupees, consider our friendship officially over,” Brian said taking a drink of his beer. “Why did you call me to this mecca of gay Pittsburgh, Mikey. Can we get to the point?”

“Um … I was talking to Emmett…”

“That’s your first mistake. Whatever he told you, forget it immediately.”

“He told me I should confront the guy.”

“What guy?”

“The one who keeps coming into my shop and buying comics.”

“Isn’t that called a customer?”

Michael chuckled. “You and Emmett aren’t so different after all.”

“Bite your tongue,” Brian said. “What does this guy have to do with the price of beans?”

“He’s kind of creepy.”

“In what way?”

“I’d never seen him before until a couple of weeks ago. He comes in and spends a lot of time looking through the comics, but every time I look up, he’s looking at me. You know, kind of studying me.”

“Maybe he recognizes you as Zephyr and wants an autograph, but is too shy to ask,” Brian suggested sarcastically.

“You think?” Michael said with a little smile. He obviously didn’t get the sarcasm.

“No, I don’t fucking think! If he’s a man, he would just ask for an autograph.”

“See, that’s what I mean. There’s no reason for him to be looking at me all the time. It’s kind of creepy.”

“Like my admirer over there,” Brian said referring to the guy with the toupee.

“No, he’s nothing like that,” Michael said. “He’s kind of good looking, maybe thirty, seems to have money.”

“Then let him spend it in your shop and pay no attention to him,” Brian advised.

“He’s been back a couple of times, doing the same thing, looking at me and buying comics.”

“That’s called a good customer, Mikey. I don’t see the problem.”

“It’s more than that,” Michael replied. “I just can’t put my finger on it.”

Brian finished off his beer. “Ask him what he wants the next time he comes in,” Brian stated.

“I … I don’t know how to broach the subject. What do I say?”

“Hey, why do you keep looking at me?” Brian asked.

“I’m not looking at you,” Michael said.

“No, twat, that’s what you say … to him … your imaginary stalker.”

“He’s not imaginary,” Michael protested.

“He may not be imaginary, but the stalking part is in your head.”

“It is not. There’s something about him.”

“Yeah, like you think that loser over there is after me. He’s grinning like a fucking hyena.” Brian indicated the toupee man who continued to study them. “Time for me to go.”

“Brian, wait.” Michael placed his hand on Brian’s arm.

“What, Mikey? I need to hit the road.”

“Thanks for meeting me today.”

“You know I’m always available where you’re concerned,” Brian said leaning down and giving Michael a brief kiss on the lips.

“Yeah, and then you tell me how stupid I am.”

“Well, if the shoe fits…”

Michael shook his head. “I’ll walk out with you.”

“Thanks but I can find my way to the door. I only had one beer,” Brian said facetiously.

“I know,” Michael chuckled. “But old habits die hard. It was always my job to get you safely in the Jeep and on your way.”

“And a fine job you did, Mikey,” Brian said as they headed for the exit.

“Brian Kinney,” a voice called.

Brian stopped and turned to see toupee guy grinning at him and waving. “Shit! Let’s get the fuck out of here. That guy’s probably someone I fucked a thousand years ago, and he wants a repeat.”

Michael laughed as they ran out the door. “Your ego is still as big as Pittsburgh.”

“What do you mean, Pittsburgh? It’s as big as the whole fucking U.S. of A.,” Brian declared as he climbed into his present version of the black Jeep he drove for so long. “See ya, Mikey,” he called as he headed down Liberty, all too ready to be going home. Woody’s was from another time, another dimension, and he had so moved on.



*****



The week of July 4th had brought most of the family back to Edna’s Treasures including Father Tom. Since Molly’s wedding was pre-empted by the birth of Taylor, and Gus had just graduated from high school with honors, the whole family wanted to get together for one big celebration.

In deference to their hosts, each member of the family brought a dish or two or three. They all helped to set up tables and chairs in the garden. Out in the next field, Justin’s garden had grown to three large flowers and the frog.

“Deb, did you really have to drive up here in that monster?” Brian asked as he looked out into the lane to see the tail end of Debbie and Carl’s Winnebago looming back at him.

“Listen, kiddo, I know how these parties can get. You and the boys are always putting us up for the night. Same with Rachel and George and Emm and Drew. That monster sleeps eight and it has a sizable bathroom. So get over it,” Debbie said sternly, as she gave Brian’s head a good cuff then kissed his cheek.

“Yes, Maw,” he sighed then rejoined the family.



*****



Molly, Owen Jr. and John strolled up the lane to the new cottage. The sage walls were going to get another coat later on in the week and the landscaping was almost complete. All Molly and Owen had to do was have the furniture delivered and then fine tune the interior. They were in no rush, and due to the efficiency of the Anderson Construction crew, the cottage was finished almost a month ahead of schedule. They would be able to enjoy part of the summer in their getaway home.

“It’s beautiful, John, so much more than I originally thought. I love how the front doors and entryway look like your sun porch. It’s a day room and it opens onto the front garden. I’m so happy!” Molly’s face lit up. At that moment seeing Molly’s bright face, Owen fell in love with her all over again and was convinced that their getaway cottage was a wise investment, if only for the sole reason that it made his wife happy. John left the happy couple to their private celebration.

“They like?” Brian asked as he met his brother in the lane.

“They like,” John replied wearing a grin.

“As if there was any doubt,” Brian quipped, wearing his own matching grin. “My brother, the miracle worker,” Brian said as he slapped John on the back. The twin-like brothers stood tall, the sun lighting up the auburn highlights in their hair with fire.

“Must run in the family,” John said proudly, as a small caravan of five cars slowly drove toward Edna’s Treasures.

“Friends of yours?” the brothers said in unison as they stared at the newcomers and then each other. “Shit!” they both exclaimed then hurried to follow the cars.

“May we take a closer look?” A young woman hung her head out of her car window to ask Brian and John’s permission to look at Justin’s henge.

“This is private land; we’d appreciate it if you’d just look from here.” Brian tried to be as polite as possible.

The brothers were pleasant and cordial to their unknown guests. They figured if the tourists got a nice look at the henge, they’d leave peacefully. And they were right. The brothers smiled and waved at the cars as they each turned around then proceeded to drive out of the lane.

“Okay, this shit ends here!” Brian growled as he marched himself back into his own garden.

“Justin!” Brian roared as he spotted his spouse across the garden adding more munchies into a large bowl.

“Yes, Brian.” Justin smiled brightly at his husband.

“Shit,” Brian muttered under his breath as John caught up with him. “Damn that Taylor smile,” he cursed.

“Brian, if we have to, we can hire that security firm that stayed here after the fire. But let the family have the day before you lay down the law,” John suggested. John heard Brian sigh and knew his brother would contain himself until the family had gone home.



*****



“Hey, Pop, can Curtis and I go to the stream? It’s getting really hot,” Gus, who now stood as tall as his father and his Uncle John, asked to his father’s matching hazel eyes.

“Sure. The water should be warm enough to take a dip. Why don’t you take JR?”

“Me too, Dada! And Patrick wants to go too!” Bree said as she tugged Patrick over to the adults hearing someone mention the stream.

“I want to go where?” Patrick asked with a confused look on his face.

“To the streeeeaaamm,” Bree said, spreading out the word as far as she could and glaring at her cousin. Patrick sighed.

“Yeah, Uncle Bri, can we go too?” Patrick looked up and pleaded with his eyes.

“Yes, you may. And you have my sympathies, Sonny Boy,” Brian said as he ruffled the fiery red hair. Patrick wasn’t altogether sure what his uncle meant but he got the general idea. Bree was the princess, after all and must be obeyed. “We need some other adults to go down there with you,” Brian muttered to himself.

“I’ll go, Bri,” Dr. Nick said as he was passing by and overheard the drama. Brian smiled with gratitude at Hunter’s handsome doctor partner.

“We’ll go too,” Hector chimed in. “Curtis has never been in a stream before,” Hector explained. “We’ll keep an eye on the little ones.”

“Thank you,” Brian said to all the volunteers. “Bree, Patrick, go get the towels and blankets we use for the stream and then you all can go.”

“Yay!” Bree and Patrick cried out then scurried off. Within minutes, a line of happy children and adults meandered through the garden toward the path to the stream.

“Brian?”

“Yeah, Lindz.”

“Does Justin have any idea about what he’s going to do with his sculptures?”

“You mean besides tormenting me and causing a crowd to gather in my lane.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lindsay,” Brian began sternly, “strange people have been driving into our lane to gawk at the henge. I don’t appreciate that.” Then Brian went into a mini rant about Justin’s hand and his mishap with the welder. Naturally, Lindsay was just as concerned. “Lindz, does Sidney know what Justin’s up to?”

“Not that I’m aware of. Believe me if he did, he’d be up here.”

“We have to convince Justin that his henge needs to be planted somewhere else,” Brian said with frustration in his voice.

“May I make a suggestion?” Hunter said as he offered a beer to Brian.

“Well, if it isn’t the Master of Social Work,” Brian said with a smirk. Brian gratefully accepted the cold brew and took several gulps. Hot July sun notwithstanding, Brian’s dilemma was making him hot under the collar. “Any logical suggestion will be welcomed at this point.”

“Why don’t you suggest to Justin that he replant his henge in the Village garden? We have enough room and thanks to John and his security cameras and gates, the place is very secure. Plus the tenants of the apartment house will all keep an eye on the flowers. It’ll get the tourists away from here and into our Village. It’ll bring more business to our community as well.”

“The Bloom Gallery can make an announcement,” Lindsay started to say.

“With a PR campaign from yours truly,” Brian added.

“Problem solved!” Hunter concluded with a big smile. He playfully bumped Brian's hip.

“Problem solved!” Lindsay and Brian said together. And suddenly the day got a whole lot better for the king.

“Hey, Emm, turn up the music, I feel like dancing!” Brian shouted across the garden as he grabbed his lover up from his chair and swung him around. Justin laughed at Brian’s playfulness.

“Well, all right!” Emmett shouted back then scurried off to turn up the music which had been playing softly in the background. With a couple of quick changes of the CD’s, the thumpa thumpa music was pounding and everyone, young, old and in between began to dance.

“What brought this on?” Justin asked above the music. Brian was holding him close as they swayed slowly together, oblivious to the beat of the song.

“I just realized that I have the best family in the whole wide world and you, Justin Taylor, are responsible for it.”

“Not hardly.”

“Yeah, you are, at least a large portion of it. So, shut up, take the compliment and let’s show these fuckers how to dance,” Brian said with a leer and waggle of his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” Justin answered with his brightest smile and waggle of his own eyebrows which were growing back.

And so began the Brian and Justin show!

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 9





“So have you spoken to your parents about it? You don’t have much time,” Curtis asked Gus. They had waded through a shallow part of the stream so they were across from the family to speak in private. Jennifer and Seth had joined the family at the stream. Even Molly had dipped little Taylor’s toes in the cool water.

“Not yet, which is really stupid since I start in two months. I really want my MBA like my Pop, but they accepted me into PIFA! It’s not easy to get in there.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s really an honor to be accepted there.”

“I really want to learn the business so I can work for Kinnetik full time. I really love that stuff. I’ve watched my Dad when he was closing some big deals; it’s amazing. I mean, I’ve always known he’s some sort of big shot but damn, he’s good. He’s like a different person when he’s pitching a campaign.”

“You’re really proud of him, aren’t you?” Curtis asked.

“Yeah, I am and I want him to be proud of me too,” Gus answered.

“There’s something else, isn’t there,” Curtis said suspecting something by the tone of Gus’ voice.

“How’d ya know?”

“I can hear it in your voice.”

“I know you want to be a vet like Dr. Raph, but maybe you should consider being a Social Worker like Hunter. I think you’d be good at it. Yeah, there’s something else, but the Moms are not going to be happy,” Gus admitted.

“Why, what is it?”

“I want to officially change my name.”

“To what? You already have a lot of them.” The boys laughed.

“I know, Gus Peterson-Marcus at your service. And you should talk, Curtis Samuels-Sanchez-Angles. I want to add my Dad’s name in there too. I don’t think my mother will have a problem with it. She really loves my dad, but mama Mel is not going to be happy.”

“Is she ever happy?”

“Yeah, she got a lot better since they came back from Florida last year. The Moms get a lot more mushy now,” Gus said then added an exaggerated shudder to emphasize the point.

Curtis laughed at the drama. “Now I know you’re gay,” Curtis laughed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a drama queen like the rest of them!” Gus tried to be insulted but couldn’t. The boys laughed until their sides ached.

“If you want to see a drama queen, let’s go find a frog and bring it back to my Pop. Now there’s a real drama queen!”

The boys fell over backwards on the warm grass as they laughed by the side of the stream.

“I bet you can do some sort of dual program thing,” Curtis said after a while when he caught his breath.

“What do you mean?” Gus asked as he sat up.

“There are lots of programs where you can attend two colleges at the same time. Does Penn have an art school?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Then maybe you can work something out with PIFA. You said you wanted to concentrate on computer graphic art.”

“Yeah.”

“So, what’s the main thing you need for that?”

“Like, duh, a computer,” Gus snarked.

“So you don’t have to physically be at two colleges at the same time. You study at Penn for your business degree, then remotely take the computer courses and submit your assignments to PIFA.”

“Shit! You should be a guidance counselor; you’re a genius.”

“Thank you,” Curtis said smugly then his stomach growled loudly. “I’m a hungry genius. You think your Dad started cooking yet?”

“Even if he didn't, there’s plenty of food. Everyone brought something. And if you give my Pop the old puppy dog eyes, you’ll be stuffed with burgers and dogs in no time.”

“Then let’s go; this genius wants to be fed.”

“After you!” Gus playfully slapped Curtis on the back as they got up off the grass and waded back to the other side of the stream.



*****



“Hey Pop, you have starving children here,” Gus yelled over the music at his father. “And that’s so gross,” he said as he watched his dad grind himself into Justin.

“You’re just jealous that you don’t have your own hot twink,” Brian said. Gus and Justin rolled their eyes. Curtis blushed but couldn’t help giggling. Curtis caught Justin’s eyes as he remembered what Gus had said about the puppy dog look.

“Bri, I think some hungry kids are giving us a hint,” Justin said as he winked at Curtis and Gus. Brian turned them around so he could dance with his spouse and spy at the boys at the same time. Both boys turned up the puppy dog look.

“Whoops, that is some serious eye action going on over there, Sunshine. Okay, enough with acting like an over the hill club queen, time to grill the burgers,” Brian said as he pulled a big white chef’s hat out of his back pocket and plopped it on his head. The boys and Justin cracked up with laughter.

“I get no respect,” Brian groused good-naturedly as he went to tend to his grilling. His hat flopped around in the breeze as he walked away. Justin and the boys laughed heartily.



*****



“Excuse me,” a voice said at the corner of Edna’s Treasures.

Brian turned from the grill and looked at the man and woman who were standing there. “Can I help you?” Brian asked imperiously.

“Oh, um, I, um, I thought this was a concession stand.”

“A what?” Brian asked as he came out from behind the barbecue and advanced towards the hapless couple.

“We could smell the food and wondered if we could buy a burger or hotdog or something,” the woman managed to get out. She looked up at the regal, tall and extremely handsome man that stood in front of her.

“This is a private residence and we’re having a Fourth of July celebration. Please leave,” Brian stated.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. It’s just that there’s a bunch of cars down the lane. We were looking at those fabulous flowers and we’re all hungry and I got chosen to come and find out if you were selling food and…”

“Hey, Bri, sell the poor woman a burger,” Ted called.

“Yeah, you could use a little extra income,” Hunter felt compelled to throw in.

“You’ve got plenty of food, so make a few extra bucks,” Debbie said with a laugh. “I’ll even waitress for you. I kind of miss my old job.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Brian ordered his smartass guests. “This is a private party, and I’m not selling food,” he told the woman.

The man stood behind her and looked slightly terrified. “Let’s go, Eunice,” he said pulling on the woman’s arm.

Eunice took a last look at the beautiful man in the short shorts and muttered, “I’m really sorry to have disturbed you.” She and the man hustled around the end of the house.

“And tell the others to fuck off too,” Brian yelled.

“Pop,” Gus said coming up to his father.

“What?” Brian snapped.

“Pop, calm down. They’re gone.”

“Shit, fuck and double crap!” Brian bellowed. “Can’t we have any fucking privacy?”

“Brian, I’m going down the lane to send the cars away,” John said, coming up to his brother and hoping to ease the anger he saw reflected in Brian’s eyes.

“Why the fuck should you have to go down there? Bloody fucking idiots wandering around our property making fucking nuisances of themselves! Can’t have a fucking minute’s peace!”

“Pop…”

“Brian…”

“Dada!”

“What, Squirt?” Brian asked, finally allowing Bree’s voice to get through to him. She sounded worried.

“Daddy’s going to cry,” Bree said looking like she was about to do the same.

Brian glanced over at Justin who looked thoroughly crushed by Brian’s tirade. “I’m sorry, Squirt,” Brian said squatting down in front of his daughter. “I got upset.”

“I know, Dada. I’m okay. Talk to Daddy.” Bree kissed Brian’s cheek to convince him that she was all right. She was much more worried about her Daddy than anything else.

“Okay,” Brian said heaving a sigh as he stood up. He looked at Justin and knew he had really fucked up. “Bobby, can you take over the grill?”

“Sure, Brian,” Bobby said heading towards the grill and the food that was still cooking on it.

“And I’m going down the lane,” John said again. “You go take care of Justin.”

“I’ll look after Bree, Pop,” Gus volunteered.

“Thanks,” Brian muttered as he started in the direction of his husband. When he stopped beside Justin, he found he didn’t really know what to say.

“Get me out of here, Brian,” Justin whispered.

Brian nodded and took Justin’s arm. He steered them by the shortest route possible to head towards the stream. If anyone looked in their direction Brian scowled and shook his head. Everyone immediately backed off.



*****



“Do you think Justin will be all right?” Debbie asked as she watched the two men disappear down the path to the stream.

“I think Brian will fix things,” Carl tried to reassure her.

Debbie shook her head. “He fucking better. His words hurt Sunshine.”



*****



“I wonder if I should go after Brian,” Michael said to Ben. “I know he didn’t mean to hurt Justin’s feelings. I could tell Justin that.”

Ben sighed. “Stay out of it, Michael. It’s between the two of them.”

“You think I shouldn’t say anything?” Michael asked with a surprised look.

“I know you’re Brian’s best friend, but this is not your concern.”

“Okay,” Michael said slowly, but his eyes said he wanted to follow the path to the stream.



*****



“I should have kept my fucking mouth shut about Brian needing extra income,” Hunter told Nick. He felt like he had contributed to the meltdown they had just witnessed.

“It’s not your fault Brian went ballistic.”

“But I knew it bugged the shit out of him that people were invading his lane. I should have been more considerate,” Hunter said shaking his head.

“They’ll sort it out,” Nick said gently. He hoped that’s what Brian and Justin were doing at that very moment. He leaned over and kissed Hunter’s cheek.



*****



“Do you think Justin will be all right?” Lindsay asked Melanie.

“That fucking asshole always opens his mouth before he thinks about what he’s saying,” Melanie ranted.

“Mel, don’t!”

“Well, it’s the fucking truth. He needs someone to slap him upside the head.”

“Mama, Uncle Brian didn’t mean to upset Uncle Justin,” JR said trying to placate her mother.

“What do you know about anything?” Melanie snapped back.

JR blanched and then decided she did know something. “Uncle Brian is a nice man. He’s just upset about all the strangers coming out here, and you shouldn’t be mean to him … or to anyone.”

Melanie opened her mouth to cut her impudent daughter down to size.

“Mel, don’t,” Lindsay said firmly. “Just don’t! JR’s right, and you’re not making matters any better.”

“I … I’m sorry, honey,” Melanie said to her daughter. Her anger subsided when she realized she was in the wrong. “I didn’t mean to add to the problem.”

“That’s okay, Mama. You were just upset like Uncle Brian,” JR said knowingly.

“Out of the mouths of babes,” Lindsay said.

“Me and my big mouth,” Melanie muttered shaking her head.



*****



“There’s sure a lot of head shaking going on,” Emmett observed to Drew.

“And well there should be,” Drew responded. “Sometimes these people don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

“Nobody said anything that would be a problem if Brian hadn’t already been fuming inside,” Emmett replied.

“Brian … fuming?” Drew asked.

“This isn’t the first time that people have invaded Brian’s turf looking at Justin’s henge. Brian was already worked up about it.”

“Maybe Justin should just take down the damn henge and be done with it,” Drew suggested.

“Don’t think that’s about to happen,” Emmett said.

“You never know.”

Emmett looked at his husband and wondered what was going on inside the handsome head.



*****



“Justin…” Brian began as they emerged into the clearing by the stream.

“No, Brian, it’s my fault. I should never have started that stupid henge out there.” He gestured in the direction of the lane.

“Come. Sit on the rock with me,” Brian said gently. He took Justin’s hand and led him over to the big rock. They both sat down side by side.

“I really am sorry,” Justin repeated tears in his eyes.

“I know, but I don’t want you to be sorry. I love your art. You know that. But, all this turmoil with strangers gets to me.”

“And I should have thought about that before I started this project,” Justin said sincerely. “I just never thought about people coming all the way out here to see it … and it’s not even finished.”

“You’re famous, Justin, if you haven’t figured that out. Anything you do, people take notice.”

“I’m not sure I want to be famous then,” Justin said making a face.

“Too late,” Brian said with a smile.

Justin leaned against Brian and felt his husband’s arm come around his back and pull him close. “Are we okay, Brian?”

“Better than okay,” Brian said honestly. “And I shouldn’t have blown my stack back there.”

“You had every right. Who did that woman think she was, coming right into our backyard like that?”

“You remember Deb telling us about visiting Truckhenge? The guy who made it had it right in the field next to his house. He was happy to collect the proceeds from people visiting his creation.” Brian shook his head. “I guess we both should have realized what might happen.”

“What are we going to do?” Justin asked with a sigh. “I don’t want to destroy my work, but I will if these people keep coming and bothering us.”

“We could open up the concession stand that woman was looking for,” Brian said tongue in cheek.

Justin chuckled. “I can just see you flipping burgers and selling cotton candy to screaming kids.”

“Bite your tongue.”

“I’d rather bite something else,” Justin giggled.

“Me too,” Brian replied as his lips found Justin’s.

After a lengthy bout of face sucking, Justin and Brian finally broke apart.

“Do you think we could sneak into the house and fuck?” Justin whispered.

“We have about as much chance of that as Melanie has of winning Dyke of the Year.”

“Brian,” Justin cautioned. “Mel might do that someday. You never know.”

“Bite your tongue!”

“I thought that’s what we just did,” Justin laughed.

“Are you feeling better?” Brian asked, his face serious.

“Much,” Justin replied, “but I still don’t know what we’re going to do about the henge.”

“Hunter had a possible idea,” Brian said deciding it was time to broach the subject of moving the huge flowers.

“He did?”

“Yeah, he suggested that we should move them to the Village and put them in the garden there. It would be a secure place for them and would make more people come to the Village.”

“Wow! That was Hunter’s idea?”

“He does have a head on his shoulders in spite of his obsession with me,” Brian smirked.

Justin laughed again and smacked Brian’s hand where it wrapped around him. “You and your ego! But seriously that is a great idea. I can already visualize the flowers there. And what’s more perfect than putting them in a garden?”

“You really like the idea?” Brian asked.

“I really do.”

“Then let’s do it.”

“Right now?” Justin laughed.

“No, after our party and after we fuck the night away.”

“Now that’s my idea of a plan.”

Arm in arm they headed back to their friends and family.

When they emerged from the path everyone turned to see the state of their kings of Babylon. The smiles on their faces told all assembled that everything was all right in their world. A round of applause and many smiling faces greeted them. Like real kings they nodded to their subjects as they made their way over to the barbecue. Bree and Gus joined them, relieved that their fathers seemed to have returned to their usual demeanor. Justin picked up his daughter and kissed her cheek, eliciting a big smile. Brian threw his arm around his son and they smiled at each other.

“Everything okay, Pop?’

“Just great,” Brian said as he took the spatula from Bobby and resumed his place as barbecue chef extraordinaire.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 10





As Brian resumed grilling, John came back into the backyard.

“All clear down there?” Brian asked his brother.

“Yeah, they were packing up to leave. Some of them had to, um, you know,” John said with a shrug and a lopsided grin. “So I offered them the use of our port-a-potties at the construction site. And I pointed them in the direction of that small diner that’s near the general store. I know they’re open today.”

“Fuck, I was a real bastard, wasn’t I?” Brian said with regret. “Man, if one of them was a reporter, I just blew that whole image that the Connolly’s portrayed about us.”

“No, you didn’t. I made nice-nice and they apologized profusely. They had no idea this was private land. I took down their names and addresses and told them I’d get them on Sidney’s mailing list. They were overjoyed.”

“Thank the gods you have a level head on your shoulders.”

“That’s what older brothers are for. What’s Justin going to do?”

“He’s decided to replant his henge in the Village garden. Hunter made that suggestion.”

“And Justin went for it?”

“Yup. So I guess we’ll have to put up with uninvited guests until he’s done with his henge.”

“I might have a solution to that. But we’ll discuss it later. I think we have hungry mouths to feed,” John said as he looked out at the family. Several of them were holding empty plates and looking toward the grill.” Brian nodded. Just before he was about to start serving, he clanged his large spatula against the grill.

“Can I have everyone’s attention, please!” Brian announced loudly to get everyone to listen to him. All eyes turned to him. “I just wanted to apologize for my outburst before. It was really uncalled for and I’m sorry for upsetting everyone, especially you, Sunshine.”

Justin stopped what he was doing and immediately moved to his husband’s side.

“I love you,” Justin murmured as he gave his spouse a sweet kiss. “Now let’s eat!” Justin said loudly to the crowd. The family cheered then began to line up for their burgers and hotdogs.

“Will wonders never cease,” Melanie mumbled to herself. She couldn’t believe that Brian apologized in front of the whole family and he did it with dignity.

“What did you say?” Lindsay asked her mate.

“Um, I said I hope there’s no grease,” Melanie said quickly as she moved up the line toward the grill.

“Hmm, of course,” Lindsay murmured knowingly as she moved up too.

The rest of the afternoon went pleasantly without any more unannounced guests dropping by to disrupt the day.



*****



When just about everyone had gone home, John asked that the families of Edna’s Treasures Lane meet in the sun porch. It was very late so Molly, Owen and baby Taylor were invited to sleep over.

“Ooo, I feel like we’re having a home owner’s meeting,” Emmett gushed. He was passing around more drinks and treats to the assembled family.

“Well, in a way, we are,” John said as he accepted a tall glass of iced tea from the tall queen. “First, let me propose a toast.” John raised his glass of tea. The family all did the same. “To the families of Edna’s Treasures, long may we prosper and grow.”

"To the families of Edna’s Treasures!” the family repeated before taking a sip of their drinks.

“So, what’s this all about?” Drew asked, voicing the same question they all were thinking.

“The incident today got me thinking. For the most part, our kids play in the yard but as the kids grow and invite friends over I imagine they’ll be taking over the lane as well. And now we have little Taylor who’ll be spending time up here. We’re not planning on having more children but what if Cindy or Michelle decide to marry, live here and have kids. We have enough land to build many more homes and you have to admit, uninvited guests aside, this place is beautiful to raise children.”

The family all agreed.

“So what do you propose?” George asked.

“A gate,” John said.

“A gate?” Emmett asked.

“Yes, just inside the drive onto our lane. The space will be long enough to hold a car or two as the driver keys in a code to open the gate. A gate with a key pad, an intercom hooked to each house with maybe a security camera. Let’s say, Michael comes up for a visit. He can hit the intercom for our cottage and we can buzz the gate open. The gate will deter unwanted visitors,” John explained.

“It sounds like a good idea, Babe,” Bobby said in support of his spouse. “What do you think, Brian?” All eyes again fell upon the unofficial head of the family. Brian remained silent.

“Brian, I’m not saying we gate up each house or put a fence up around the meadow. Just a gate at the end of the lane. We know and the family is aware to drive slowly on our lane. They all know to look out for the kids, but strangers won’t. I’d feel better knowing the gate will prevent anyone from just randomly driving through here.” Brian closed his eyes then pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Bri?” Justin began as he heard a sigh escape Brian’s throat.

“Do you all agree?” Brian asked his family. He turned to scan each face. One by one each member of Edna’s Treasures nodded in agreement. “Do it, John.”

“You’re all right with this?” John asked Brian.

“I’m not sure, but it is the best solution. And it’s not like I have to look at the gate all the time. We do have that upgraded security system at Tremont. I know you’ll do it tastefully. I just wish we didn’t have to do it at all. But you are right about the children. Patrick has his father’s pitching arm and Bree still loves to play soccer. The gods only know what little Taylor’s choice of sport will be. Some day our nice quiet lane will be overrun with children!” Brian said dramatically.

The family laughed breaking the tension just as Brian had hoped.

“I’ll get on it after the holiday. We have most of the materials here already and I’ll contact the security firm we work with. By the time Molly’s cottage is done, the gate will be finished too,” John confirmed.

“What about the intercom system?” Rachel asked.

“We can run the lines near the phone lines so we can have units attached close to the main phone in each home. That way they’ll blend in. And they’re very easy to operate. Press a button to say hello, press a button to open the gate.”

“Well, I’m for it!” Emmett said enthusiastically.

“So am I,” Drew agreed.

“Owen?” Molly asked.

“No sweat. I felt secure before, but this is a plus, especially if Molly and Taylor are up here without me.” Molly glared at Owen. “Not that Molly can’t take care of herself,” Owen quickly added. The family snickered but Molly was satisfied.

“I think it’s a wonderful idea. And I know John will do a great job with it,” Molly stated.

“We have the Molly Taylor-Brenner seal of approval,” Brian quipped. “I think this calls for something harder than iced tea. “Wine anyone?” Brian asked as he got up from his seat seeing nods of consent.

“I’ll help,” Emmett volunteered as they both walked into Brian’s kitchen and over to the wine refrigerator. “You feel better now?” Emmett asked Brian. “I know those strangers got to you today.”

“Yeah, I’m better now. But I feel like a fucking asshole losing it like that.”

“It’s understandable, Brian. You barely tolerate us encroaching on your space, but total strangers, that’s a hanging offense.”

“Depends on what’s hanging.”

“Oh you! Come on let’s bring the wine out. A nice glass of wine is just what the doctor ordered.”

The two friends brought out several bottles of a crisp summer wine to serve to the families of Edna’s Treasures.



*****



The day after the July Fourth party dawned bright and clear and not too hot. Gradually everyone at Edna’s Treasures started to stir. Molly and Owen had slept on the big brass bed in the sun porch and Taylor’s little cry for breakfast woke them. Bree came barreling out of her bedroom to get Gus up so he could play with her before she went to day camp. Debbie and Carl came through the front door and started breakfast, soon to be joined by Emmett and Drew who came up to help out. Bobby and John along with Patrick came from their end of Edna’s Treasures to help with breakfast as well.

Justin opened an eye and looked over at his husband. Brian was on his back staring at the ceiling of their bedroom.

“You awake?” Justin asked.

“Yeah, have been for a while. Our busy little bees are buzzing around out there getting breakfast ready.”

“I smell coffee,” Justin said with a yawn and stretch.

“Yeah.”

Justin glanced over at Brian. “You okay?”

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About how things change.”

“Oh, like how?”

“Bree’s growing up. She’s going to day camp and then it’ll be overnight camp and then she’ll be gone for the whole summer.”

“Let’s give her a year or two before that happens,” Justin chuckled.

“And there’s the gate. Are we barricading ourselves off from the world?”

“Maybe … a little bit.”

“So what’s next – palisades around the property, armed guards, tanks in the lane?”

“Jesus, Brian, what are you talking about?”

Brian heaved a sigh. “I bought this property so we could have a peaceful, private existence out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“And I ruined that with my henge,” Justin muttered half to himself and half to Brian. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not blaming you, Justin,” Brian said looking into his husband’s eyes. “It had started to change before your henge. Look at all the houses we have out here now. And I do hate that we need the gate, but John’s right. It will be safer for the kids with it at the bottom of the lane … and maybe it will stop me from going off on perfect strangers.”

“You had every right. Those people should never have been roaming around our property.”

“No, they shouldn’t, but I was in the wrong too. I thought I’d got past that kind of reaction.”

“Not quite,” Justin giggled. “It’s part of what makes you Brian Kinney.”

“What! The asshole part,” Brian said rolling his eyes.

“I love every part of you; you know that. But we all lose it sometimes.”

“I don’t think I do well with change. Couldn’t we have things stop changing?”

“Sure, right after we make Bree stop growing up.”

Brian sighed even more heavily. “Fuck! Let’s just stay in our bedroom and let the world go by without us.”

“Okay,” Justin agreed, “but we’ll miss Bree heading off for her first time at day camp.”

“Fuck! I guess I better get up.”

“Brian,” Justin said seriously, “change is a good thing. Without it we stagnate. But unfortunately change doesn’t always take the direction we want it too. Sometimes, though, adversity is good for us. It makes us reevaluate and go in new directions. The gate … and everything that’s happening can be a good thing.”

“Thank you for the PSA.”

Justin chuckled. “Remember the first time you said that to me?”

“Yeah. You always spout all that good citizen, good karma crap.”

“Seems to me you buy into it,” Justin said with a gentle smile.

“I believe every fucking thing you say, Sunshine,” Brian said pulling Justin over for a kiss.

“That’s good to know. And I say we go fuck in the shower and then help our little girl to get ready for her first day of camp.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Justin watched Brian get up and head into the bathroom. He heard the shower start, before getting out of bed himself. He loved Brian so much and he loved Bree and he loved their life … gate or no gate. He went to join Brian in the shower.



*****



“Where the fuck is the damn thing?” Brian demanded gazing down the lane.

“It’ll be here soon … I’m sure.”

“If they say 8:45, they should be here at 8:45.” Brian paced back and forth.

“It’s just an approximate time,” Justin replied placing his hand on Brian’s arm to stop the pacing.

“If I was running this fucking thing, they’d be here when they said they’d be here … or else.”

“I know, kiddo, but you can’t run everything,” Debbie said with a chuckle.

“He’d like to,” John threw in with a laugh of his own. Brian scowled at both of them.

“They’re dealing with kids,” Carl added as if that explained everything.

“Yeah, there’s probably some poor waif they’re trying to pry off his mother’s leg as we speak,” Molly joked.

“Want me to hold onto your leg, Dada?” Bree asked looking up at her father with her violet eyes.

“I always want you to hold onto me, Squirt,” Brian said with a genuine smile.

“I’ll come back this afternoon … right?” Bree asked looking at her Daddy for validation.

“Absolutely,” Justin said as he leaned down to adjust Bree’s Dora the Explorer backpack.

“I’ll make sure they bring us back,” Patrick said confidently, as John adjusted the Spiderman backpack on his son.

“I think I see a bus coming,” Emmett called.

All the remaining guests and residents from the Fourth of July party had assembled in the lane with Bree and Patrick to see the two children off on their first day of day camp. Along with the parents were Carl and Debbie who had decided to stay overnight in their Winnebago, Drew and Emmett, Rachel and George, and Owen, Molly and little Taylor. It was quite a crowd waiting at the top of the lane.

Finally the orange school bus pulled to a stop in front of them. A large banner was taped along the side of the bus, proclaiming it to be from Camp Little Flowers. The door opened and a pretty girl who might have reached the advanced age of twenty stepped out.

“Morning,” she said cheerfully. She glanced at her clipboard and said, “I’m looking for Briana Kinney-Taylor and Patrick Morrison-Anderson. I bet that’s you two cutie-pies.” She smiled at Bree and Patrick.

“I’m Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor,” Bree said formally.

“I’m Patrick,” Patrick chimed in.

“Are you both ready for a fun day at camp?” the girl asked.

“Yes,” the two youngsters replied.

The girl smiled. “I’m Cassie,” the girl said, extending her hand to Brian who appeared to be the main figure at the front of the rather large group of people assembled there.

Brian shook the extended hand. “Brian Kinney,” he said. “And this is Bree’s other father, Justin Taylor.”

Cassie had a moment’s hesitation like she hadn’t realized she’d be dealing with a same sex couple. Then her smile beamed brightly and she shook Justin’s hand. “Are Patrick’s parents here?” she asked.

Bobby and John stepped forward and introduced themselves, shaking hands with the personable young woman.

“I just want to assure you that your children are in good hands. We have a great day planned for them. That’s Greg on the bus.” A dark haired young man waved from inside the bus. He was tending the children already aboard. “We’ll both be working with the kids at the camp.”

“Great,” Brian said.

“Are you ready, Briana and Patrick?” Cassie asked.

Bree held up her arms for a hug from each of her fathers. Patrick got hugs from his dads too. Others started to step forward for hugs, but Brian held up his hand.

“Say goodbye to everyone, Bree and Patrick. If you start hugging we’ll be here till noon,” Brian advised.

Cassie smiled a thank you to Brian. “The first day of camp is a little like the first day of school,” Cassie said to him. “Parents are a little reluctant to let the kids go. That’s why we’re a trifle behind schedule.”

“Our kids don’t seem to be having any problem with that,” Brian said as Bree and Patrick had already climbed aboard the bus, and Greg had got them situated in a seat together.

“We’ll take good care of them,” Cassie said as she clutched her clipboard to her chest.

“You better,” Brian replied.

Cassie realized that the look on Brian’s face meant that she better do just that. “Have a good day … everyone,” she called as she got back on the bus.

The bus pulled away and all the people from Edna’s Treasures watched it till it disappeared at the end of the lane.

“She’ll be fine, kiddo,” Debbie said gently to Brian. He nodded.

“Patrick will watch out for her,” Bobby told Justin.

“Yeah, they’re good kids. They’ll have loads of fun,” Justin agreed, trying to convince himself of that as much as Brian.

“Let’s go have some coffee and muffins,” Emmett said turning to start back into Edna’s Treasures.

“Food is always the answer to everything, isn’t it?” Brian griped.

Debbie slipped her arm through Brian’s as they started walking. “Of course it is,” she said with a laugh.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 11





Bree sat next to the window as she, Patrick and the rest of the kids were being carefully driven to the camp. Being the farthest from the camp, they were the last ones to be picked up. But they would be the first ones dropped off home. Both kids had looked around when they had boarded and were happy to see so many familiar faces. The Little Flowers Camp was centrally located to many of the neighboring towns and schools, so it serviced most of them. Bree was a little worried when she didn’t see her best friend in the whole world, besides Patrick, on the bus.

“I bet her mom is dropping her off,” Patrick said knowingly, reassuring his cousin. Bree looked up into the eyes that matched her Dada’s, her big brother and her Uncle John’s. She gave Patrick a pensive nod then turned her head to look out of the window.

Neither child had much experience on a school bus. They were always dropped off and picked up to and from school by their families. The only time they were ever on a school bus was during a school trip and that only happened once or twice a year. Bree was a little nervous.

As Bree continued to stare, Patrick reached out and slowly took a petite hand into his. At almost nine, girls were still icky and sometimes stupid but this was Briana and she held a very special place in Patrick’s heart. Bree turned her head, a small smile began to curl up the sides of her mouth and her violet blue eyes became very large. As her smile grew, it lit up Patrick’s heart and he was beginning to understand what his Uncle Brian meant with his laments about that Taylor smile. They held hands all the way to the camp.



*****



“Ashley!” Bree cried out as she saw her best friend climb out of her mom’s car. Bree and Patrick were patiently waiting off to one side while they were being assigned to their individual groups. Patrick had seen several of his friends already in his group but he decided to wait until Bree was assigned as well.

“Bree!” the little girl called out. The two friends hugged, bouncing up and down as if they hadn’t seen each other in ages.

“I hope we’re in the same group,” Bree said and Ashley nodded as they watched a camp counselor approach them.

“Ashley St. John?” the young woman asked. Ashley held up her hand.

“Briana Kinney-Taylor?” the counselor asked looking at Bree. Bree nodded. “This way, girls. You both are assigned to Carol’s group.”

“Yay!” the girls happily exclaimed, jumping up and down again then joining their assigned group. Patrick went to his group once he knew the girls were together and happy.

Each group was comprised of six to eight children, all about the same age, a counselor and a junior counselor or counselor in training (CIT). The day began with introductions within each group and with the CIT’s collecting the lunches to be refrigerated. The highlight was when each child received two camp shirts with matching shorts, a camp baseball cap and a camp tote bag. Bree was a little disappointed that the t-shirt wasn’t purple or pink but she decided to rise above it.

“We’ll be taking many trips so it’s important that you wear your camp shirts. The camp’s name and phone number is printed inside just in case you get separated from the group.

“Where will we be going, Miss Carol?” Bree raised her hand to ask.

“Very good question, Briana. We’ve been very fortunate that a generous benefactor has made a donation to our camp, so we’ll be able to take several trips each week. We’ll be going to Harrisburg tomorrow to visit one of the museums. So make sure you get here on time and wear your camp outfits,” Carol informed them all.

The day proceeded rather quickly with the children learning the schedules and the rules of the camp.



*****



“Where the fuck is the damn thing?” Brian demanded gazing up the road. He was pacing nervously on the lane just outside of the cottage.

“It’ll be here soon … I’m sure,” Justin said with a feeling of déjà vu. “Brian, I don’t have to remind you that this is the first day. They have to get used to the route.”

“Thank you, Justin Taylor, for yet again another PSA,” Brian snarked but then quickly kissed Justin’s temple taking away the sting of his words.

“I know you’re nervous, Bri, so am I, but just try to stay calm. If Bree thinks you’re upset, she won’t want to go back tomorrow.”

“I know,” Brian sighed. “I’m being an asshole again. It’s bad enough that Gus is heading off to college but now Bree and Patrick are jet setting all over Pennsylvania!”

“Brian, I don’t think camp day trips qualify as jet setting.”

“You know what I mean. If they do half of what’s on the camp’s itinerary, they’ll be seeing ten times the amount of things I experienced at their age. I never went to camp, day or otherwise. Did you go?”

“Yeah, Mom made me go although I was happier to stay home and draw. She thought it would help me to socialize more if I went to camp. I guess it worked, but every day when I got home I tried to draw the places we had gone to.”

“Always the artist, weren’t you, Sunshine?”

“I guess,” Justin said softly. “Hey, there’s the bus. Bri, what are we going to do when the gate is completed?”

“I’ll work it out. We can always meet the bus at the gate with the kids. That’s if they’re on time,” Brian grumbled. “Or just buzz them in when they get here.”

“Dada! Daddy!” Bree shouted as the bus doors opened after the bus came to a full stop by the curb. Bree flew down the steps and into Justin’s arms. Patrick came down and was greeted by Brian.

“See you in the morning!” the driver and bus counselor said with a smile and a wave. The kids waved as the bus turned itself around then drove back out of the lane.

“Did you have a good time today?” Justin asked both children as they went into the cottage. Brian and Justin were bombarded and regaled with the day’s events by both children, as their afternoon snacks were served.



*****



“Hey, Mol, Owen, come on in,” Justin said as he answered the front doorbell.

Molly, Owen and Taylor were coming to dinner after having checked out the latest additions to their cottage down the lane.

“Hi, big brother,” Molly said as she kissed Justin’s cheek.

“Auntie Molly!” Bree screeched as she came running in from the screen porch. “I’m glad you’re here ‘cause I went to camp and I swam and I played horseshoes and we hiked and I spent the whole day with Ashley and it was great.”

Molly laughed as she squatted down and gave her niece a warm hug. “Sounds like you had a very good day, peanut.”

Bree leaned back and looked into her aunt’s eyes. “I’m not a peanut,” she declared rather indignantly.

“I didn’t mean that you were an actual peanut, Bree,” Molly chuckled. “Peanut is just a term of affection, like your Dada calls your Daddy Sunshine and your Dada calls you Squirt.”

“Oh,” Bree said her face thoughtful. “And like Gus calls me Short Stuff.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay,” Bree said agreeably.

“How’s my favorite sister-in-law?” Brian asked as he came in from the porch too.

“Just great,” Molly said.

Owen was standing holding Taylor in his car seat. He cleared his throat. “I’m here too, in case anyone’s interested.”

“Hello, Owen,” Brian said as he looked down at the sleeping baby in the carrier.

“I’m just fine,” Owen replied. “Want to take Taylor out of his carrier?”

“Yeah, if that’s okay,” Brian said, starting to unbuckle the little one. He lifted the sleeping baby out of his nest and cradled him in his arms.

Bree watched all this. “Doesn’t Taylor do anything but sleep?”

“Not much,” Molly laughed. “Eat, sleep, poop, that’s about it.”

“Gross,” Bree said but she moved over beside her father to have a closer look at the baby. “Can I touch him?”

“Of course you can,” Owen replied.

“Come with me, Bree,” Brian said as he headed for the living room. He sat down on the sofa and Bree climbed up beside him. “See Taylor’s little fingers,” he said to his daughter. “You could hold onto them.”

Bree took the little hand carefully in hers. She felt Taylor’s fingers close around one of her fingers. That made her smile. “He’s pretty cute,” she said looking at her Dada.

“Yeah, he is,” Brian agreed.

“But why wasn’t he a girl?” Bree asked. “I asked for a girl.”

Brian snorted. “There are some things in this world that you don’t have control over, Squirt.”

Bree frowned. She didn’t like the sound of that. “Can you and Daddy get a baby sister for me?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?” Bree demanded.

“It’s not that easy to get a baby.”

“You got me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, we did. After a lot of soul searching and finding the right person to carry you and…”

“Was I heavy?” Bree asked.

“Huh?”

“You said you had to find someone to carry me. Was I heavy?”

Brian chuckled. “No, Squirt. We had to find someone to carry you in their belly like Auntie Molly carried Taylor.”

Bree stared at her father. “Who did that?”

“A very nice lady.”

“Couldn’t she carry a baby sister for me?”

“I don’t think so,” Brian said slowly not liking the direction this conversation was taking. “Would you go ask Auntie Molly if Taylor needs to be fed? I could do that before we all eat.” Brian hoped this misdirection would put an end to the topic of a baby sister.

“’Kay, Dada,” Bree said as she slid off the sofa. “But I really, really, really want a baby sister.”

Brian heaved a sigh as Bree ran out to the kitchen where Molly, Owen and Justin were talking.



*****



A little while later they were all sitting around the table in the sun porch. Bobby, John and Patrick had joined them for dinner. Justin had done the cooking. They were enjoying a roast of pork with baked potatoes and salad while Taylor slept in the middle of the big brass bed, having been fed by Brian. The baby was surrounded by pillows to ensure that he couldn’t roll off.

“How are your sculptures coming, Justin?” Owen asked.

“Um…”

Owen looked from Brian to Justin and back again trying to decide what was going on. “Care to explain that ‘um’?” Owen asked.

“I’m still working on the henge, but I’ve cut back,” Justin said carefully.

“Till you start setting up at the Village?”

“Sort of.”

“Am I missing something?” Owen asked with a frown.

“Well, some of the equipment I’m using is kind of dangerous,” Justin said.

Brian’s eyebrows shot up. “You know you can do whatever you need to do,” he said emphatically.

“I know,” Justin replied.

“But…?” Brian asked.

“But I don’t want to worry you.”

“I worry when you leave our bedroom.” Justin chuckled. “I want you to continue with your henge. It will look beautiful in the Village.”

“Are you sure?” Justin asked looking into Brian’s eyes. He had promised not to spend so many hours out in the shed working on the henge, but he had privately decided that he didn’t want Brian to worry about him. He had done little on his henge in the last few days, since the incident of the intruders at the July Fourth party.

“I’m positive. Just don’t cut off anything essential.”

“And we all know what he means by that,” Molly laughed. Owen’s mouth dropped open at Molly’s comment. His wife always amazed him.

“I don’t know what it means,” Bree said innocently.

“Later, peanut, much later,” Molly told her.



*****



“Dada, but why can’t I have a baby sister?” Bree asked again as Brian was tucking her into bed for the night. Brian thought they had finally closed the door on that subject but apparently he was wrong. He briefly thought about making some lame excuse but Brian knew their daughter was very smart and very perceptive. Briana Victoria Kinney-Taylor required logical reasoning. Brian steeled himself before answering.

“Squirt, there are several reasons why your father and I have chosen not to have more children.”

“Tell me, Dada.”

“Well, we think you and Gus are more than enough for us. And then there’s Patrick and JR and now Taylor. That’s a lot of children in our family. Auntie Molly and Uncle Owen will most likely have more. Not right away but probably in a year or two. Another reason is that having a baby is a 24/7 job. What does Taylor do?”

“He only eats and poops and cries sometimes and burps and he likes to bounce in your lap.”

“But not much else right now, right?”

“Right.”

“And when we get tired of bouncing Taylor in our laps, what do we do?”

“Give him back to Auntie Molly or Uncle Owen.”

“That’s right. If we had our own baby there would be no one to give her back to. She’d be ours 24/7 to clean and feed and burp and bounce.”

“Oh.”

“And there’s something else I’d like you to think about. Your Daddy is a famous artist and he needs to be able to paint and draw and make his metal flowers and anything else he wants to do. He spends a lot of time making his art and then the rest of the time he spends with us. If we had another baby, one of two things might happen. Your Daddy would stop making his art to spend time with the baby or I would spend more time with the baby and less with you and your Daddy. Now I’m sure we would all work out some sort of schedule, but frankly, Squirt, I don’t want to. I love spending time with you, taking trips to New York and other places, and your Daddy needs to have the freedom to work on his art.”

“Artistic freedom?”

“Something like that. And there’s one more very important reason. Your Daddy is still very young and has plenty of energy but I’m a lot older. I’m not sure I could handle a baby.”

“But Dada, you’re not old! You have lots and lots of energy.”

“Thank you, Squirt. But I have to be practical about these things. One day when you and Gus are old enough and find the right people, you can have all the babies you want.”

“I can have a baby girl when I grow up and get married?”

“Yes you can.”

“Okay, Dada.”

Brian gave his little princess a kiss then retrieved the book that Bree wanted her Daddy to read to her.

“Dada, can I marry you?”

“No, Squirt.”

“Why?”

“Because one day a handsome prince with flaming red hair is going to marry you.”

“Okay, Dada.” Brian walked out of his daughter’s room.

“Hey, is she ready for her story?” Justin asked as Brian came into the sun porch.

“Did you know we have an amazing daughter?”

“I had an inkling.” Brian kissed Justin deeply with promises of much more later on in private.

“What story did she pick out,” Justin asked breathlessly when finally released from Brian’s searing kiss.

“The Cat In The Hat. Be prepared to do the voices.”

“As if I could get away with not doing the voices.”

“Probably not. And Sunshine, don’t you ever stop fulfilling your dreams or doing the projects that you want to do. Not for me, not for anyone. Promise me, Justin.”

“I promise,” Justin vowed then sealed it with another kiss.

“Go,” Brian said with a gentle push. “The princess is waiting.” Justin smiled brightly then hurried to do their princess’ bidding.

Brian walked out into the gardens for a bit of air.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 12





Brian walked out into the night. John, who was working up in his attic office, watched his brother for a moment, then went out to join him, bringing Brian a bottle of water.

“Hey,” John said as he handed Brian the water. Brian took a good drink.

“Thanks,” Brian said appreciatively. The summer night was hot and a bit humid. John took back the bottle to take his own drink. “Aren’t you afraid of sharing my germs?”

“We share DNA, that’s scary enough. Besides, you’re one of the healthiest people I know. I’m not afraid of your cooties,” John said with a smirk.

Brian took the bottle for another sip. “Well, you should be. I just admitted to my six year old daughter that I’m selfish,” Brian grumbled.

“Selfish!? Now that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say. Why are you selfish?”

“Because, I don’t want to have more children. I like things as they are. It’s bad enough that I have to share Justin with his art. I don’t think I’d have the patience to share Justin with another baby. I like the freedom we have. Bree and Patrick are older; they don’t need to be watched every minute of every day.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” John said. “But I understand what you mean. We can do so much more with them at this age than when they were younger.”

“Exactly.”

“But that’s not being selfish. That’s being practical.”

“I’d like to think so.”

“But?”

“But, I’m also getting older, too old to be caring for an infant. That big 5-0 is getting closer all the time.”

“Oh poor you! You’re as young as you feel and I have it on good authority that you still can fuck like a sixteen year old.” John made Brian laugh.

“And whose authority would that be?”

“A certain hot blond twink.”

“And what would you know about hot blond twinks? You have a red headed spitfire heating up your bed.”

“Then I’m an authority on heat and you keep turning it up all the time. Brian, the point of this inane conversation is that I agree. Bobby and I are very satisfied with our lives as they are now. But you, my dear brother, have a long way to go before you can call yourself old.” John took the water bottle and finished the last gulp. “Come on, old man. We both have hot twinks waiting for us. Let’s go heat up some beds.”

“I like the way you think, big bro. And John, thank you. You always help me to make sense of things.”

“That’s what big brothers are for.”

The Kinney brothers went back into their cottage, locked up for the night then went in search of their hot twinks to turn up the heat.



*****



“And why am I the last to know about this ‘henge’?” Sidney Bloom bellowed in his gallery.

Lindsay was trying to explain how Justin’s latest project came about.

“I don’t give a flying fuck if he got the inspiration from the local landfill. I demand to see this henge and I want to see it today!”

Lindsay scurried off to call Edna’s Treasures.



*****



“Hi, Sidney!” Justin shouted and waved from the top of his ladder out in the field. He had just ‘planted’ his fifth flower. Brian was standing at the bottom of the ladder keeping it steady. Lindsay had driven Sidney up to Edna’s Treasures to see Justin’s henge.

“Justin, my boy! What is all this?” Sidney asked as he stomped across the field toward the ladder.

“I told you, you should have told him,” Brian whispered out of the side of his mouth as Justin scurried down the ladder to greet his irate agent and mentor.

“Shut up, Brian,” Justin whispered back. “Sidney, what a lovely surprise!” Justin said cheerfully, while Brian snorted.

“And why is that, Justin? Why have I had to learn about this wonderful new medium you’ve discovered from an email that one of my nephews sent me?”

“Um, I was going to tell you but I, uh...”

“Sidney,” Brian began, as he took the older man’s elbow. “Allow me to give you the tour and fill you in on the campaign to launch Justin’s ‘henge’.” Brian winked at Justin then guided Sidney around the meadow so he could get the full effect.



*****



“So the plan is to replant the sculptures in the Village garden,” Sidney confirmed. “And Kinnetik is working on the publicity.” Brian led Sidney through the field and into the sun porch. Justin and Lindsay made themselves scarce as the adman made his pitch to Sidney.

“That’s right,” Brian said. “Hunter Montgomery proposed the site. Not only is the Village garden an esthetically appropriate choice, technically it’s not public land so we don't need any permits from the city. The Village and the apartment house are owned by the Village co-op. We already have their written permission.” Brian produced a copy of the agreement that Hunter, on the behalf of the Jason Kemp Clinic and Village Association had signed.

“The Village garden is also a very secure location and we have the apartment renters, home owners and store owners all volunteering to keep an eye on the flowers. We also have a list of fans who are jumping at the chance to catch a glimpse of Justin Taylor’s latest work.” Brian produced the list of names, addresses and phone numbers of the tourists that visited the lane over the past several weeks.

“Hmm,” Sidney mumbled as he looked over each document.

“A glass of iced tea?” Justin asked with his best flirty smile.

“Cookie?” Lindsay offered, smiling just as brightly.

Sidney tried to maintain his gruff demeanor; however, he was beginning to cave under the pressure.

“I surrender!” Sidney exclaimed, holding both hands up. “But Justin, next time, warn your friendly neighborhood art agent. I must be kept in the loop, my boy.”

“I will,” Justin stated as he poured a large glass of iced tea. Lindsay placed a small plate of cookies on the table in front of Sidney. Brian gave the man his own copies of all the documents.

All was right in the world....for now.



*****



“Bree, are you listening?” Cassie asked.

“Yes,” Bree replied absently.

“Are you going to make something with your modeling clay?”

“It’s not clay,” Bree replied knowledgeably. She kneaded the ball of material that she had been given so that it would soften up.

Cassie raised her eyebrows at the comment. Briana wasn’t like any of the other kids at the day camp. She always seemed to know so much more than anybody else. “You’re right,” Cassie agreed carefully. “Clay can be rather messy, so we chose to use this artificial modeling medium.”

“It shouldn’t be white,” Bree said picking up the ball of white artificial clay that she had been given to work with.

“We’re going to paint the sculptures when they dry,” Cassie said trying to encourage the little girl. “You can paint it any color you like.”

Bree looked around the big table. Everyone was working away making stars and flowers and cars. Bree frowned. She needed to think about what she wanted to create. No stars or flowers for her.

“What are you going to make?” Ashley asked Bree, as Cassie moved down the table to help another child.

“I don’t know yet.”

“I’m making a flower for my mommy.”

“That’s nice.”

“Why don’t you make a flower for your daddies?”

Bree shook her head. “No, I want to make something else.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

Ashley shrugged and went back to fashioning her flower.

“That looks like a stupid lump of snow,” a tall girl said to Bree from her position across the table.

Bree looked up and saw Winona, a girl who was in third grade at her school. She sighed and continued to knead her modeling clay. She knew there was no point in replying. Winona would just make fun of her.

“Can’t you even talk?” Winona asked loudly.

“I can talk when there’s someone good to talk to,” Bree stated and then looked away from the girl.

“You’re an asshole,” Winona said with a sneer.

“And you’re stupid,” Patrick offered as he slid into place beside Bree and across from the obnoxious girl. “Go away.”

“I don’t have to,” Winona told him.

“You better or I’ll report that you said ‘asshole’.”

Winona glared at Patrick and then picked up her modeling clay and moved to the other end of the table. Bree smiled at Patrick who returned to his own clay starting to form it into something that Bree didn’t recognize.

“Thanks,” she whispered to him.

“That Winona is in my class at school. She’s the asshole,” Patrick stated in a whisper of his own. “You okay?”

“I don’t care what she says. I don’t like her, and she doesn’t bother me.”

“I know, but I don’t want her to get away with anything here. She’ll only do worse stuff if nobody calls her on it.”

Bree smiled at her cousin and best friend. “You’re the best,” she said.

“Thanks,” Patrick grinned as he got back to his own design.

Bree picked up her clay and started to work on what she wanted to make.



*****



“Hi, Dada,” Bree called as she jumped down from the last step of the camp bus.

“Hey, Squirt, you seem to be in a good mood,” Brian chuckled. He watched the bus pull away and then bent down to get a big hug from Bree.

“I love you, Dada.”

“I love you too. Hey Patrick, how was your day at camp?” Brian asked as he stood up and ruffled the red hair affectionately.

“Pretty good,” Patrick said with a smile.

Brian smiled at his nephew. “Justin’s making you a snack so let’s go inside.” The children raced to the front door of Edna’s Treasures as Brian followed along behind enjoying the enthusiasm of youth.

“Hey, guys,” Justin called as the kids burst into the house.

“Daddy!” Bree yelled as she ran around the counter of the kitchen and into a warm hug from her father.

“Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good day at camp?” Justin asked.

“Pretty good after Patrick told that stupid Winona to fuck off,” Bree declared.

“What?” Justin asked with a frown. He didn’t like his daughter to swear, and the thought of her swearing in front of a group of children made him cringe. He could already hear the pending call from the camp counselors inside his head.

“Patrick didn’t really say that, but he made her go away,” Bree amended with a grin.

Justin let out a breath and looked up at Brian who had just entered the kitchen. “You can tell us all about it while you have your cookies and milk,” Justin said as he set the glasses of cold milk and a plate with four cookies on the kitchen table.

Bree slid her backpack off her shoulders and set it on the floor by her chair. She grabbed a cookie and took a big bite followed by a long drink of milk.

“So what’s the story about stupid Winona?” Brian asked as he sipped the iced tea Justin had set out for the adults.

“She’s this dumb girl in Patrick’s class at school. She thinks she’s so smart,” Bree answered wiping the milk moustache from her mouth. “She told me my sculpture looked like a stupid lump of snow, and I hadn’t even started it yet. And then she called me an asshole.”

“She what?” Brian demanded, feeling his anger rise. How dare anyone call his daughter an asshole? That appellation was reserved for him, and even then he didn’t like it being used.

“It’s okay, Dada. I’m not afraid of her, but she tries to scare the little kids,” Bree told her father.

“And you’re not one of the little kids?” Brian asked raising an eyebrow.

“No, I’m a big girl,” Bree told him. “I’m not afraid of her, but Patrick said he was going to report her for saying ‘asshole’ if she didn’t leave me alone.”

“Good man,” Brian said sharing a high five with Patrick who grinned widely, very pleased with himself and the praise he was receiving for what he had done.

“I always look out for Bree,” Patrick said solemnly.

“And we count on you for that,” Justin said with a squeeze to Patrick’s shoulder.

“I like helping Bree,” Patrick declared.

“So, Winona backed off?” Brian asked.

“Yep,” Bree said, “but I can kick her ass if I have to, and Patrick and Ashley will help me.”

“Well, let’s not have any ass kicking unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Brian admonished.

“’Kay, Dada,” Bree agreed as she finished her cookie.

“What did you make with your clay?” Justin asked deciding that it was time to change the subject to something other than Winona and ass kicking.

“It’s not real clay, Daddy,” Bree said knowingly as she slid off her chair to retrieve her backpack. “I told them it wasn’t real clay, but they said real clay was too messy, so we got this stuff.” Bree hauled her piece of modeling material out of her backpack and held it out towards Justin.

“Oh,” he said. “It’s that synthetic modeling material. I’ve used it a couple of times.”

“Have you?” Bree asked. “I like real clay better.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” Justin chuckled as he held up Bree’s sculpture. It seemed to be a head with the top of it painted red.

“Did you make something too?” Brian asked Patrick, hoping no one would ask him to identify what his daughter’s sculpture was. He wasn’t very good at that kind of thing.

“Yep,” Patrick said as he pulled a somewhat similar looking object out of his backpack. However, the top of his was painted yellow and it had funny little things coming out each side.

“Are those eyes?” Brian asked as he looked at the blue orbs painted on the object that Patrick handed him.

“Yes,” Patrick nodded, pleased that his Uncle Brian seemed to know what he had made.

“You made me!” Bree declared with a bright smile.

Patrick grinned at her and nodded his head. “I couldn’t think of anything else I wanted to make,” Patrick said feeling the color rise in his face.

“I love my ponytails,” Bree giggled as she touched the spiky parts sticking out each side of the head Patrick had created. “I like it.”

Patrick looked at Bree affectionately. “I want to give it to you.”

“Thank you,” Bree said leaning over and kissing Patrick’s cheek.

Brian and Justin watched Patrick’s face turn very red as his eyes sought the floor unable to look at Bree.

“And I just bet that you made a sculpture of Patrick,” Justin said studying his daughter’s piece of modeling material.

Bree nodded. “They don’t have very good paints at camp though. I tried to make Patrick’s hair, but I couldn’t get the color right.”

“It still looks like our lad,” Brian said gently.

“Daddy, can you help me get the hair right, and then I can give it to Patrick?” Bree asked.

“Of course, we’ll do that right after dinner.”

“Good. I love my sculpture, Patrick,” she said to her cousin.

“Thanks,” Patrick replied, still slightly embarrassed by what he had done.

“Let’s go to the Wendy house,” Bree suggested.

“Okay,” Patrick agreed.

The two children ran out through the sun porch. Brian and Justin heard Beau bark his greeting. They knew the kids would be safe with Beau to protect them.

“They’re quite the pair, aren’t they?” Brian said as he set Patrick’s sculpture down beside Bree’s.

“We’re so lucky. They’re great kids,” Justin replied.

“We must have done something right raising them.”

“We did everything right. They’re such kind and happy kids,” Justin said feeling tears of gratitude well up.

“Yeah, most of the time,” Brian replied, earning him a swat from Justin. They chuckled and stood up to put the empty glasses and plates in the dishwasher and start getting ready for dinner.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 13





The buzzer startled Brian as he was packing up his briefcase. He and Justin were going to spend the day in Pittsburgh.

“Who is it?” Brian directed his question toward the new intercom that sat on his desk up in his attic office.

“It’s Tommy and Jeremy from the gallery, Mr. Kinney. We’re here to pack up the sculptures then take them to the Village garden.”

“Okay, drive in slow. I’ll get you as close to the sculptures as possible.”

“Very good, sir.”

Brian buzzed the gate open.

John and his crew had produced yet another miracle by completing the lane’s gate. John had decided to fashion the gate using wrought iron and stone pillars. The gate was elegant as well as functional. It made Brian feel secure for the families on his lane, but not like they were all in a prison.

Brian snapped his briefcase shut then left the cottage to meet the truck down the lane.

“Bri, I doubt if we’ll be home in time to meet the kids’ bus,” Justin commented as he was supervising Sidney’s men carefully wrapping the pieces of each flower then crating them.

“Not to worry, Auntie Rachel to the rescue. Besides we all had that nice long talk with the kids about this. The princess is prepared to do without us tonight if necessary. I’ve packed us an overnight bag just in case. We don’t have much at the loft.”

“I’m surprised Bree was that reasonable. Careful with that!” Justin instructed Tommy who was winding bubble-wrap around the main part of the frog.

“Our daughter is nothing if not reasonable,” Brian snarked.

“And in what reality do you live, Brian?”

“In the reality of, the sooner this henge is replanted in its new and rightful home, the quicker I get back my Sunshine, with parts intact. And Bree gets her Daddy back to paint with her at the easels. That reality.”

“Oh. Hey, take it easy! Brian, I have to work here,” Justin pleaded.

“Go on, be one with the movers, Sunshine. John is doing his final inspection of Molly’s cottage. I’ll go annoy him.”

“You do that, Bri.” Justin dismissed his spouse as he turned his attention to metal flower petals. “Don’t lose any clamps!”

“Hey, big bro.”

“Hey. What are you dressed up for?”

Brian was wearing his nicer jeans, designer shirt and a suit jacket. “I’m taking the artist to the Pitts. He wants to follow the truck transporting his sculptures. I’m also meeting with Sidney. I need to look the part when I finalize the campaign with him.”

“Ah. Mr. Bloom requires that Brian Kinney touch.”

“Something like that. I just think he likes bossing me around. Is Molly’s dream cottage ready?”

“All set. The phone company was here and they’re wired up into the gate system. I was just testing things. All they need is furniture.”

“If Molly is like every other woman with a new house, I’m sure a moving van with their furniture will be arriving any time now.”

“I’m sure you’re right. So is Justin excited to see the sculptures go?”

“He’s supervising the packing as we speak but I think he’s a little sorry to see them go. Just like he is with all his work.”

“He’ll get over it.”

“Yeah, he always does.”

“Will you be back tonight?”

“I hope so, if not I’ll call. Later, John,” Brian said as he left the new cottage.

“Later.”



*****



“Hello, Brian!” Sidney Bloom cheerfully greeted the creator of Kinnetik and spouse of his number one client. “Is Justin at the Village?”

“Yes, I dropped him off there,” Brian replied as he shook Sidney’s hand. “I’ll drive you over after we conclude our business, if you’d like.”

“Lindsay and I plan to go over later this afternoon. Now let’s go over this campaign.”

As Brian and Sidney discussed the PR surrounding the sculptures, Lindsay’s latest ‘pet project’ walked through the door of the gallery.

“Jamie, what are you doing here?” Lindsay asked the attractive artist.

“Oh, I just came in to visit my painting. I never thought I’d ever see something of mine hanging in a gallery anywhere. No less in the same gallery that features Justin Taylor,” Jamie gushed.

“You know he started out very modestly. He’s just very devoted and is willing to take chances.”

“I know, I’m not that ambitious but maybe I’ll be inspired to be, if I have the right support.” Jamie batted her eyelashes.

“Justin is very lucky to have such a supportive partner,” Lindsay commented wistfully. She sometimes wished that Mel would be half as supportive of her art as Brian was of Justin’s.

“Doesn’t hurt that Justin Taylor has a millionaire for a life partner,” Jamie said in a slightly bitter tone.

“It’s never been about the money.” Lindsay felt compelled to quickly defend Justin. “Justin always repaid his debts.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter now. His work is sought after everywhere. I just want to be famous here.”

“Why aim small?”

“Because I like teaching. My home and family are here. I don’t want to have to leave. You have to make some sacrifices to become an artist on his scale.”

“True,” Lindsay confirmed. She remembered how miserable Brian was without Justin, even for the short time he was away honing his craft and making important contacts. “Well, let’s go look at your work,” Lindsay said as she took the younger woman’s elbow to lead her to the ‘new artist’ section of the gallery.

“I think we’re done here,” Sidney declared with a very satisfied grin on his face. “I agree, a small local campaign with ads in selective newspapers and special invitations mailed out to our regular patrons is quite appropriate.”

“Don’t forget about the list I gave you. I do not want to see those people in my lane looking for hamburgers, fries and a Coke.”

“I promise you; your list will get first priority.” The two men shook hands on the bargain. “Brian, his imagination and vision is growing by leaps and bounds. I get requests for his Fractal Movie daily. I keep tabs on Rage and while he’s not directly involved, his interest in that venue has never wavered. I even have a copy of the Diversity DVD. My nephews have seen it in school. You do understand the implications of his growing popularity?”

“He’s conquered America, next stop Europe. My little Caesar,” Brian said softly fully understanding the implications.

“Yes, my lad, I’m afraid so,” Sidney said solemnly.

“All hail, Caesar.” Sidney patted Brian on the back then showed him to the door of the office. “Who’s that, woman? She is female?” Brian asked Sidney as he spied Jamie with Lindsay.

“Yes, she is, female that is,” Sidney said with a chuckle. “It is getting harder and harder to tell these days. That young woman is one of Lindsay’s protégées. She’s an instructor at PIFA and as you can imagine, an artist. We have a piece of hers featured in the ‘new artist’ section.”

“Seems like she wants a piece of Lindsay. Does Mel know about her?”

“I believe she and Ms. Marcus are acquainted.”

“I bet the fur was flying when that happened.”

“Hmm, well, I have to clear up a few things here before we go to the Village and I’m sure you’re anxious to get there as well.”

“Is that your polite way of getting rid of me, Mr. Bloom?”

“Yes, Mr. Kinney.” The two men laughed as Brian turned to make a beeline to Lindsay.

“Hey, Lindz,” Brian drawled giving the mother of his son the full Brian Kinney ‘come on’ look. Lindsay was only slightly immune to its full effect. She rolled her eyes at him but gave him a kiss, on the lips. Jamie was not amused. “And who’s this?” Brian turned a steely gaze toward Jamie.

“Brian Kinney, Jamie Cunningham,” Lindsay formally introduced them. “Jamie is an instructor at PIFA. I was privileged to see some of her work.”

“I bet you were,” Brian snarked. Lindsay gave him a sharp poke in the ribs. “Oofh,” Brian groaned.

“We’re featuring one of Jamie’s larger works.”

“Show me, I’m always willing to support the arts.”

Jamie narrowed her eyes a bit as Lindsay smiled then took Brian’s hand. Jamie followed the couple to her painting.

“This is interesting,” Brian muttered. “What’s the medium?” he asked, truly interested. Over the years, Brian had been exposed to many forms of art. And while by no means an expert, he did recognize quality. “It has depth and dimension.” Jamie was shocked that Brian was that perceptive.

“Yes, it does. Jamie works with paper.”

“Paper? This is all made out of paper? Very labor intensive.”

“A labor of love,” Jamie stated.

“I can see that,” Brian added. He stood gazing at the ‘painting’ for some time then internally shook himself out of his reverie. He quickly glanced at the non-existent watch on his wrist.

“Well, I must be going. Places to see, ads to get running and twinks to be doing. Very nice meeting you, Ms. Cunningham. I’m sure with Lindsay’s guidance you’ll make a name for yourself,” Brian drawled, making every effort to keep the sarcasm out of his tone. “Lindz, I’m headed to the office and then over to the Village. See you there?”

“Maybe later, if I can get Sidney off the phone and out of his office.”

“Then I’ll talk to you later.”

“Later, Brian,” Lindsay said sweetly then planted her own flirty kiss on the man. Brian smiled then left the gallery.

“That’s Justin Taylor’s life partner?” Jamie asked with disgust.

“Yes, he is.”

“Is he always so, so...”

“Yes, always.”

“How can you put up with it?”

“I’ve known Brian for most of my life. I love him. Now, I have to get back to work. Bring me a picture of your next piece and we’ll see if we can feature that one as well.” Lindsay quickly redirected the conversation back to more neutral ground. She didn’t quite know what to make of Jamie’s reaction to Brian.

“Okay, sure. Thank you,” Jamie said as she extended her hand out to shake Lindsay’s. Lindsay shook hands but had the distinct impression that Jamie wanted more than a handshake. Lindsay said goodbye then hurried back to the safety of Sidney’s office.



*****



“Hey, Pop!” Gus boldly bopped into his dad’s office at Kinnetik. Gus was about to turn eighteen, and he had been interning at Kinnetik for three summers now. Once he graduated from high school, Gus had hopes of working full time at Kinnetik for at least a year before deciding on college. His parents had other ideas, of course.

“Hey, Sonny Boy! To what do I owe the pleasure?” Brian asked. Brian’s suit jacket was off, his sleeves rolled up and he was elbows deep in a new campaign, loving every minute of it.

“I need to ask you something.”

“That sounds ominous. What do you NEED to ask? And how much is this going to cost me?”

“Oh Dad,” Gus exclaimed as he rolled his eyes. “It’s not going to cost you anything, well, I don’t think it’ll cost you, money, I mean.”

“Gus, can you be a little more specific? I think I’m catching a clue, here,” Brian snarked. He indicated that Gus should take a seat.

“Dad, I’m going to be eighteen soon, that means I can do whatever I want.”

“No, it doesn’t. It means you can register to vote and you have to register for selective service. It doesn’t mean you can run amok. Your mothers won’t stand for it. And neither will I,” Brian said sternly, his eyes piercing Gus down to the core.

“Okay, Pop, I mean, Dad, I get it.”

“Gus, is there a point to all of this? You may have the day off but I don’t.”

“Sorry, Dad. I wanted to ask you if I could change my name.”

“Change your name?” Brian’s brows knit together with a perplexed expression then his eyes widened in horror. “You’re not planning a sex change are you? I don’t want to start calling you Augusta.”

“NO! Not my first name and FUCK! A sex change, Pop? Jeez.”

“Well, how the hell am I supposed to know what you’re talking about? And with this family, I’m surprised we don’t already have a tranny.”

“Dad, can you be serious for a minute?” Brian composed himself to look ‘serious.’ “What I mean is, I want to change my last name to Kinney. I love my Mom, but I want to be a Kinney.”

“Gus...”

“Dad, I know you gave up your rights to me but that was a long time ago and only on paper. You’ve been a real dad to me since I was five. I want your name.”

“Gus, your mothers will have a fit and then they’ll kill me.”

“Before or after they kill me,” Gus snarked. “Pop, I love you; I want your name. Can you talk to Mom for me?” Gus pleaded as he turned his own hazel puppy dog eyes on his dad.

Brian sighed, scrubbed at his eyes then nodded his head.



*****



“Hey, Boy Wonder!” Michael shouted up at Justin who was currently up the ladder reattaching the head of a flower.

“Hey, Michael! Want to hand me that petal?” Justin pointed to a series of petals that were laid out in numeric order.

“Sure,” Michael said as he handed up the correct petal.

“Thanks, it’s easier if I have someone to help me,” Justin replied as the ladder teetered a bit.

“Whoa! Be careful. Brian will have a fit if you get hurt up there or down here for that matter.”

“Tell me about it. He’s been a huge pain in the ass about it lately.”

“He can’t help it.”

“I know. Next one, please.” Michael handed up the next petal. “Who’s minding the store?”

“I hired your twins for the summer. They’re really hard working and they’re a whiz on the computer. They’re upgrading my system. But I still can’t tell them apart and they talk weird.”

“They don’t talk weird, it’s just twin-speak. Sort of a code just between the two of them, but they’re great kids. I’m glad you gave them a job.”

“Me too and it gets me out of the shop for a while.”

“Why, I thought you loved it there?”

“I do but that guy keeps coming back.”

“What guy? And don’t you want repeat customers? Hand me that leaf section, thanks.”

“How many comics does one guy need? Anyway, he looks familiar, like I should know him but I just can’t place him. He just gives me the creeps, that’s all.”

“Well, the next time he comes in, just ask him.”

“You sound like Brian.”

“I guess I can’t help that. There, this one’s finished. Two more to go and then the frog.” Justin laughed at that.

“You sure like teasing Brian about the frogs.”

“Yeah, I do but he knows I mean nothing by it. And he’s really not scared of frogs. But he loves the reaction Bree gives when he plays along.”

“He’s a good Dada, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he is. You are too, Michael.”

“But not like Brian.”

“Michael, no one is like Brian. Thank the gods!”

“Thank the gods,” Michael said at the same time and they laughed heartily. “You need a break? We can get something to eat at the diner; that is, if you can leave your stuff here.”

“Yeah, I am thirsty. The park is temporarily closed for the day. I have the key to the gate. And Tyrone is on the job.” Justin waved up at one of the apartment windows. They both watched as a long arm stuck itself out a window and waved back.

“One of Hunter’s kids?” Michael asked.

“Yes, before he came to Hunter, he was badly beaten by a john. He’s physically better but sometimes he’d just rather stay inside. Hunter arranged for him to rent that apartment. Tyrone is another computer genius so he can do a lot of his work from home, and he earns an additional living by being the garden’s birds-eye security.”

“Wow,” was all that Michael could say.

“Yeah, I know. Come on, I’ll buy you lunch.”

“Great!” The two friends locked up the garden then strolled to the Village Diner.



*****



“Well, well, well, if it isn’t my best friend and my partner looking very cozy,” Brian snarked with a raised eyebrow. Justin and Michael did appear to be sharing secrets during their conversation in a booth at the diner. Brian had a brief flashback of the two of them sleeping on his bed in the loft.

Justin slid over to make room for his lover. Brian sat with a huff. Justin then planted a very romantic kiss on Brian’s lips. “I love and want only you,” Justin whispered into Brian’s ear to reassure him then kissed Brian again.

“Get a room!” Michael groused sounding a whole lot like his mother. Brian and Justin turned their heads towards Michael then the three men giggled like children.

“Brian, Michael was telling me about his stalker,” Justin said.

“Oh Mikey, get over it already,” Brian said as a waiter took their orders. “I thought we were done with this conversation.”

“We’re not done, Brian. That guy is giving me the creeps,” Michael whined.

“The next time he comes into the store call one of us. Or maybe ask Carl. What good is having a retired cop for a step-father if you can’t call him when someone creeps you out,” Brian said logically.

“Yeah, maybe I will,” Michael said with a smile.

“Good, now that’s settled. Look who’s sitting at the counter. No, don’t all stare at...you guys have no finesse,” Brian grumbled.

“Who is he?” Justin asked in a hushed tone.

“Hey, that’s toupee guy,” Michael contributed. “Bri, doesn’t he look like that guy you made the bet with a hundred years ago?”

“That guy was pretty hot,” Justin said nonchalantly, just to tease Brian.

“You will get yours, Sunshine,” Brian threatened.

“I hope so,” Justin said with a waggle of his eyebrows. “We should stop by the loft, you know, check things out, make sure the plumbing still works. You are the landlord. You should be aware of the state of your properties and holdings,” Justin counseled, oh so innocently.

“I am well aware of what’s mine, Justin.” Brian looked down his nose and into the blue eyes that were sparkling and teasing him. Their orders came, temporarily suspending conversation. They ate in companionable silence, enjoying the day and the company.



*****



“Done!” Justin shouted from the ladder. The frog was the last piece to be planted and anchored into the ground. After their brief respite at the diner, Justin, Michael and Brian walked back to the garden. Most of the Village dwellers had stopped by to peer through the tall iron fencing that surrounded the garden to watch the artist at work and to offer words of encouragement. Gordon’s wife had stopped by, as did Joan and Danny. Sidney and Lindsay showed up just as the frog was completed.

Justin’s impromptu audience gave him a round of applause.

“Thank you, thank you,” Justin smiled brightly and took a bow. “So what do you think?” he asked Sidney who was touring around each ‘flower.’

“Magnificent, just magnificent. We’ll have the ceremony in a few weeks,” Sidney exclaimed with all the flourish he could muster.

“A small ceremony and casual, maybe promote it as a picnic in the park,” Justin suggested.

“All taken care of, my boy. Kinnetik will handle everything.”

“I mean it, Sidney. This was just an experiment. The first two flowers aren’t perfect,” Justin stated his own brand of self criticism.

“Justin, not even nature makes perfect flowers. All artistic endeavors are experiments. You had a vision and you worked hard to see it through to fruition. I think your experiment was a success.”

“Thank you, Sidney. I had a lot of fun working the metal.”

“Do you see yourself doing more?”

Brian overheard Sidney’s question. He scowled at the thought of Justin and the arc welder.

“I’d like to do something else,” Justin began. The furrows in Brian’s brow became more pronounced. “But not now, maybe in the future, way in the future.” Brian’s handsome face was furrow free once again. “For now, I think I want a shower and maybe a romantic evening with my partner.” Brian nodded, getting a sunshine smile as his reward.

“Let’s go to the loft and check out my plumbing, Sunshine,” Brian said with his patented tongue in cheek smirk. Justin giggled, waved up at Tyrone who remained on duty then left the garden with Brian.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 14





“The bus is on the way up the lane, Bree,” Brian said as he came down from his office.

“I’m ready, Dada,” Bree stated as she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders.

“You’re not worried about this Winona, are you?” Brian had been a little concerned about the encounter between his daughter and this older girl. He didn’t want Bree trying to defend herself against someone older and bigger.

Bree frowned. “No, Dada,” she said seriously. “Winona thinks she’s smart, but she’s dumb.”

Brian chuckled. “If you say so, Squirt.”

“I say so,” Bree declared.

Brian squatted down in front of his daughter. “I know you’re smart, Squirt, and I know that you can take care of yourself, but bullies can be nasty.”

Bree wrinkled her brow again and stared at her father. “What do you mean, Dada?” she asked seriously. She knew her father was trying to tell her something important.

“I mean that if this Winona threatens you or does something mean, I want you to tell the counselors. I don’t want you taking matters into your own hands.”

“I’ll protect her, Uncle Bri,” Patrick said as he came in from his end of the cottages.

“I don’t want you getting into a fight either, Little Red,” Brian stated. “If Winona causes trouble, report her to the counselors. Do you understand me … both of you?”

“Yes, Dada.”

“Okay, Uncle Bri.”

“Good, now let’s get outside. The bus should be pulling up momentarily.”



*****



“Did you talk to them?” Justin asked as he came up behind Brian who was watching the bus disappear down the lane.

“Yeah.”

“Did you get through to them?”

Brian shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve convinced our daughter that she can do anything she sets her mind to, including kicking the ass of a girl at least two years older than she is.”

Justin sighed. “She just might be able to do it too,” he said with a strange note in his voice.

“You’re not advocating that she get into a fight, are you?”

“No,” Justin said emphatically, “but I do understand the value of standing up for what you believe in.”

Brian turned and looked into the blue eyes. “And look where that got you,” he said gently placing his hands on Justin’s shoulders.

“Eventually it got me right here with you,” Justin whispered as he wrapped his arms around Brian.

“Was it worth all the pain and anguish?”

“One hundred percent!”

“I … I don’t want Bree being in a situation where she could get hurt.”

“You can’t protect her from everything,” Justin admonished, “especially as she gets older.”

“I sure as fuck can try,” Brian declared.

“She’ll resent you if you interfere too much.”

Brian heaved a huge sigh. “Then what am I supposed to do?” Brian asked in bewilderment.

“Exactly what you did today. Talk to her … and then let her make her own decisions.”

“But what if…?”

“I can’t answer that, and neither can you. What is meant to happen will happen.”

“When did you become such a fatalist?”

“I’ve always believed in fate. I knew I was fated to be with you … right from that first night,” Justin said solemnly.

“You’re crazy you know.”

“Yep, and I’m the happiest lunatic in the asylum.”

Brian let out a roar of laughter. “We do have the best asylum on the whole fucking planet.”

“You got that right, mister,” Justin grinned. “So, let’s go into our asylum. I could use another cup of coffee.”

“Me too,” Brian agreed as he slung his arm over Justin’s shoulder.



*****



“You’re a spoiled little brat.”

“Am not!”

“Are so.”

“You’re just dumb.”

“I hate you!”

“I…” Bree was about to say she hated Winona right back, but she hesitated. “I don’t hate you,” she said softly, “but I don’t like you very much.”

Winona stared at the little blonde girl who seemed to have everything in the world. “I’m going to punch your face in,” Winona declared. Bree was everything she wasn’t – cute and petite and rich and smart and … just everything. She did hate Briana Kinney-Taylor.

“I wouldn’t try that,” Bree said raising her hands in a defensive posture. She was shaking inside, but she wasn’t going to show Winona that.

“Why shouldn’t I?”

“’Cause I’ll kick your ass and then I’ll report you to the counselors.”

Winona snorted. “You can’t kick my ass, you little squirt.”

“Only my Dada calls me Squirt,” Bree stated defiantly.

“Dada! What are you, a baby?”

“I love my Dada, and if you’re trying to make me mad, you are.”

“I don’t care whether you’re mad or not. You’re just stupid.”

“Can’t you think of any better insults than that?” Bree asked.

“What … what do you mean?” Winona asked in confusion. She had expected Bree to cry … long ago. This wasn’t the reaction she was looking for at all. When she had seen Bree go to the restrooms, she had followed thinking she could get Bree alone and scare her. They were alone, but Bree didn’t seem to be scared. In fact, Bree was scaring her.

“I mean that my Dada has the best insults.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” Winona asked.

“Back off, fucker! Yo, bitches, get the fuck out of my way! Make sure it turns out right, Theodore, or I’ll have you murdered!”

“Your Dada says stuff like that?” Winona asked in wonder.

“Yep, and he means it too. I’m not apposed to say it out loud, but you asked me.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“So, don’t mess with me.”

“Would your Dada really have somebody murdered?”

Bree thought about that. She didn’t think her Dada would really kill someone, but he sounded serious when he said it. “I don’t know,” she said honestly.

Winona thought about that too. She sure didn’t want to be murdered by Bree’s Dada. She knew he was a pretty important man. “Maybe we could be friends?” she said hesitantly, deciding to adjust her plans according to what was happening.

“Huh?” This took Bree totally by surprise.

“If I don’t pick on you no more, could we be friends?”

“Um, yeah, I guess so,” Bree replied. This was an unexpected turn of events, but it seemed like a much better thing than a fight with the girl who was several inches taller than she was.

“Good,” Winona said decisively. “Let’s go back.” She grabbed Bree’s hand and headed for the door.

Bree followed along wondering what had just happened.

“Who’s Theodore?” Winona whispered as they came out of the restrooms.



*****



“So, how’s the new house?” Justin asked.

“Haven’t you been down to have a look?” Molly asked, as she got Taylor situated in his carrier. She had placed him on the kitchen table where she and Justin were having some iced tea. He was dozing peacefully since Molly had carried him up to Edna’s Treasures.

Justin played with Taylor’s little toes. This was one cute baby if he did say so himself. “I’ve been kind of busy.”

“I hear you got your ‘henge’ all assembled in the Village.”

Justin nodded. “We’re going to have a formal presentation for it soon.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Sidney insisted. He wants the publicity. So I guess I have to be there.”

“Then why don’t you make it a fun time,” Molly said cheerfully.

“And how might I do that? You know I hate these publicity things.”

“Let’s have a picnic. I’ll bring Owen and Taylor and you can bring Bree and Gus.”

“What about Brian?”

“Where you go, big brother, the mighty Kinney follows.”

Justin laughed heartily. “I’ll have to remember that line and use it on Brian sometime.”

“He’ll tell you you’re full of shit.”

“I know he will, but he’ll also know it’s true.”

“Getting a little cocky, are we?” Molly asked with a grin as she took a sip of her tea.

“He’s been great about me making the flowers,” Justin admitted. “I know he was worried that I’d hurt myself.”

“You got a good man there, Justin.”

“I know, and I intend to keep him.”

“What do you think about Owen and me having a housewarming party at the end of the summer, you know, for the new cottage?” Molly asked changing the subject.

“Do you think you’ll be in the house by then?”

“John says we can start moving in real soon, like maybe a week or two.”

“Wow, he really got the cottage done fast,” Justin noted.

“You would have known how far along he was if you ever came down to see,” Molly accused, but there was no animosity in her voice.

“I was kind of busy.”

“I know, Jester, but you need to take time for other things, not just your art.”

Justin rubbed his hand over his eyes. He knew she was right. “I know I should, but sometimes I just get wrapped up in what I’m doing.”

“To the exclusion of everything else.”

“Well, yeah,” Justin said slowly. “But I have to take inspiration when it strikes,” he said in defense of himself.

“I know, but maybe you can combine the two things, like the picnic when they open the ‘henge’ at the Village.”

“When did you grow up and get to be smarter than me?” Justin asked as he squeezed Molly’s hand.

“I’ll never be smarter than you,” Molly said, “but I do know what’s important. Taylor taught me that.”

“Smart little fucker, isn’t he?” Brian stated as he came through the front door and into the kitchen. He had just caught the end of the conversation.

“He’s going to give Bree a run for her money,” Molly said with a grin.

“Don’t tell Bree that,” Brian laughed as he sat down at the table and gave Taylor’s foot a tickle.

“Want an iced tea?” Justin asked.

“If you’ve got one.”

Justin got up and went to pour his husband a frosty glass.

“Thanks,” Brian whispered to Molly.

“For what?”

“Helping him see what’s important.”

“Brian, I didn’t…”

“She wasn’t doing your dirty work for you, Brian,” Justin said as he handed Brian a glass of iced tea. He sat down at the table. “She was just telling me what she thought.”

“My services cost a lot more than your stingy husband is likely to pay,” Molly joked.

Brian’s eyebrow’s arched up into his still well preserved hairline. “Stingy?” he asked.

“Just kidding,” Molly laughed.

Justin shook his head. “I don’t know which of you is nuttier. I can’t believe a thing that comes out of either of your mouths.”

“I love you, Sunshine,” Brian said with a grin.

“Well, maybe one thing,” Justin laughed.

“And I love you too, Jester.”

“Okay, maybe two things.”

“Where were you?” Molly asked Brian.

“I went into town to get a few things for my gardens,” Brian said smugly.

“Your gardens are beautiful as always. Um… Would you consider helping me with the gardens down at the cottage?” Molly asked as she thought about how beautiful the cottage would look with Brian’s magical touch with the gardens.

“I might be persuaded,” Brian said crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back in his chair.

“How much is it going to cost me?” Molly asked with a shake of her head.

“Since you seem to think I’m so stingy, I doubt you could afford my exorbitant prices.”

“Brian…” Justin said with a warning in his voice.

“A night of babysitting the munchkin,” Brian proclaimed, as he leaned over and tickled Taylor under the chin. The baby was just waking up from his nap.

“Excuse me! You’re going to create my gardens and all you want in return is a night with my son?” Molly couldn’t believe her ears.

“I kind of enjoyed having him around here for a few days,” Brian stated. “I wouldn’t mind feeding him and playing with him and reading him a story.”

“What about Bree?” Molly asked, amazed at what Brian was proposing.

“She can help me. It’s good for her to have someone else to look after.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Justin said. “We can make a night of it, and you and Owen can have a date.”

“A date? What’s that?” Molly asked skeptically. It had been so long since they’d gone out anywhere by themselves that she doubted they could manage a few hours on their own. They probably wouldn’t know what to say to each other or what to do.

“If we agree to this, you and Owen can find out about the fine art of dating all over again,” Brian replied.

“Deal!” Molly said holding out her hand to Brian to shake. She thought she better take the offer while she had the chance. She wasn’t likely to do better than what Brian was proposing.

“Deal,” Brian agreed shaking her hand.



*****



“So how was camp today?” Brian asked as he collected Bree and Patrick from the bus.

“Bye, Bree,” a girl shouted out the window of the bus as it pulled away.

Bree smiled and waved. “It was okay, Dada.”

“Who was that?” Brian asked indicating the girl on the bus.

“That’s stupid Winona,” Patrick informed him.

“She’s not stupid,” Bree contradicted her cousin.

“Since when?” Brian asked with a frown. “Did something happen with Winona today?”

“I said I’d be her friend,” Bree replied.

“You did?” Patrick asked. “How come?”

“Yeah, how come?” Brian asked without realizing that he sounded just like Patrick.

“We talked about it and decided it would be better to be friends than to fight,” Bree explained patiently. She was rather proud of herself.

“You decided…?”

“Yes, Dada.”

“And how did you come to that decision, if I may ask?” Brian wanted to know.

“I’ll tell you for cookies and milk,” Bree said with a grin.

“Care to give me a hint?” Brian asked as he opened the door for the children.

“I used some of your best threats to convince her,” Bree stated as she ran to the kitchen to get her cookies.

Brian groaned and followed. He didn’t think he was going to like this explanation.

Brian Un-henged

Chapter 15





What is it that they say? The best laid plans of mice and men (and artists) often go awry.

It was closer to August when the Bloom Gallery was able to announce “A Picnic In The Park with Justin Taylor.” As the plans were being made and confirmed by Sidney, Brian, Justin and Emmett, the first of Justin’s flowers decided to shed a petal or two. Fortunately, said shedding didn’t occur with anyone standing under it. It wouldn’t do for a two to three pound piece of metal falling from a height of approximately fifteen feet to hit someone on the head. So a few repairs and adjustments had to be made. And again fortune did shine down upon our Sunshine. Gordon was in the neighborhood having lunch with his wife. He heard about the premature shedding problem and offered his assistance to the freaked out artist. When repairs were completed, Gordon offered to inspect the other flowers and of course, the frog. Justin graciously accepted the offer. When the ‘garden’ was fully inspected and declared safe by the master builder, Justin finally agreed to the picnic.

The afternoon of the picnic was a busy one. The invited guests included the family, of course, and those art lovers who managed to ‘invade’ Brian’s space at Edna’s Treasures. The Times and the Connollys were given the exclusive. The day was pleasantly warm, hot dogs and hamburgers were plenty and the speeches were kept to the bare minimum.

“Hey Blondie, how’s it hanging?” Hunter asked making Justin roll his eyes. The two boys who had once been rivals of sorts had grown to be fast friends.

“A little to the left,” Justin snarked. They both laughed out loud. “So what do you think? This was your idea.”

“I think I have great ideas,” Hunter said smugly. “Seriously, I like it. It’ll bring more people into the Village...”

“And keep them away from our lane,” Justin quickly added. “Hunter, this really was a great idea. Brian is so much happier now and so is everyone else, including me. I’ve gotten used to only us knowing about our lane. You know about the gate?”

“Yeah, we all do and no one can blame you for it. Anyway, have you heard about Mikey’s stalker? What’s up with that?” Hunter and Justin strolled off to a quiet corner to eat their burgers and dish about the latest gossip.



*****



“Pop, the moms are here, go and ask them,” Gus pleaded with Brian.

“You really know how to ruin my good mood, Sonny Boy,” Brian snarked. Ignoring his father’s sarcasm, Gus pushed Brian toward where Lindsay and Sidney were standing. They were just finishing up an interview with the Connollys.

“Sidney, may I borrow Lindsay for a minute?” Brian asked politely.

“Of course, my boy,” Sidney said as he sauntered off to consult with Emmett.

“We have a wonderful turnout. Justin must be very pleased,” Lindsay commented.

“Yeah, pleased,” Brian murmured as he took Lindsay’s elbow then led her to a shaded arbor where they could talk.

“What is it, Brian?” Lindsay knew something was up. They sat on a bench under the arbor.

“Our son is trying to have me killed.”

“Oh I doubt that,” Lindsay replied matter-of-factly. She was quite used to Brian’s drama queen moments. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what he wants?” Lindsay was using her ‘I’m a mother so don’t mess with me’ voice.

“You know our son is turning eighteen soon?”

Lindsay nodded with a sigh. Her ankles were slightly swollen from the humidity and she was feeling her age at the moment. “Is he still trying to get you to buy him a car?”

“No … worse.”

“A motorcycle?” Lindsay asked in horror, her eyes growing wide.

“No, no, much worse.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, Brian, what does he want?”

“To change his name.”

“What?”

“Not really change it completely, just add to it.”

“Add what? Brian, you’re not making any sense.” Brian took a deep breath, grabbing both of Lindsay’s hands. He stared deep into her eyes.

“Gus wants to take my name.”

“He wants to change his name to Brian?” Now it was Brian’s eyes that grew wide.

“Lindsay, I love you, you do know that, don’t you?” Lindsay smiled and nodded. “But sometimes you’re just too blond for your own good. Now read my lips, Gus wants to change his name to Gus Peterson-Marcus-KINNEY!”

“Ooohhh. Mel is going to kill you.”

“See!” Brian said as he dropped Lindsay’s hands then sprang up from the bench to pace the ground. Lindsay watched her first love pace the garden for a few moments then intervened.

“Brian, we’ve suspected something’s been up for a while now. He’s been trying to make a lot of tough decisions and trying to do it on his own. He finally came to us the other night.”

“So you knew about this?”

“No, not exactly. But he was asking Mel about which computer sites she used to do research and he’s been borrowing the car to go to the library to use their computer.”

“The boy has a perfectly good computer at home, why does he have to go to the library?”

“Many reasons, the main one was so he could drive more often. He knows he can go to the library anytime...”

“And he can do his research without risking you finding out. Smart boy, our Gus.”

“Yes, he takes after you.”

“Sorry about the blonde crack. Lindz, I am very proud that he wants my name but I’m the last one he should model himself after, and I do not want to get any further up your husband’s shit list.”

“Oh Brian, you’ve been the best father and best businessman. No one remembers the other Brian anymore.” Brian rolled his eyes at Lindsay. “Well, hardly anyone, and the family doesn’t count in this.”

“Melanie does. You two have been getting along better, haven’t you?” Lindsay nodded. “Then why risk ruining that?”

“Because, this is something that may help to define Gus as a man. He’s not dropping our names, just adding yours. You know he wants to learn the business; he loves working at Kinnetik. Brian, I received a call from the entry board at PIFA. Our son made them a proposal.” Brian arched his famous eyebrow. “He’s been accepted in a dual study program between Penn’s business program and PIFA’s graphic arts program.”

“Well, fuck me! Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Probably for the same reason he didn’t mention the name thing to us. HeÂ’s working out all the angles.”

“And probably thought if you two were ecstatic about him getting into Penn and PIFA, you’d overlook the name thing.”

“Probably.”

“Sneaky bugger.”

“Well, he is your son.”

“So, you’ll talk to the dragon lady about the name thing?” Brian turned on the puppy dog eyes look.

Lindsay laughed as she nodded her head. “Yes, I’ll talk to her. We better get back before we’re missed.” Brian gave Lindsay a hug and a kiss. “Did you hear about Mikey’s stalker?” Lindsay asked.

“Is he still going on about that?” They walked back to the main garden, hand in hand not knowing they had their own stalker watching them.



*****



“What if he’s here?” Michael grumbled as he and Ben pulled into a parking spot in the Village garage.

“What about it? Michael, you said this guy hardly talks to you and just buys comics. What’s the big deal? Besides, the whole family is here not to mention the press. No one’s going to do anything. The family is probably wondering why you’re not in the park. Now let’s go,” Ben said reasonably.



*****



“Hi Teddy, Allen,” Emmett greeted his friends cheerfully. “You all have enough to eat?” the party planner asked.

“Mmm!” Ted and Allen with full mouths held up their overladen plates.

“That’s what I like to see. We have a full turnout today. Even her ladyship, Sarah Kingsley is here, holding court with the press.” Emmett indicated Sarah standing next to one of Justin’s flowers. Justin was smiling sweetly as Sarah Kingsley talked on and on to Richard Connolly. Morgan Connolly was snapping away. “And Michael finally showed up.”

“Where has he been?” Allen asked innocently.

“He claims he has some sort of stalker, so he’s been incognito lately. Personally I think it’s all in his head,” Emmett whispered then turned to face Michael and Ben with a huge smile on his face. “Mikey, Ben, so happy you could make it. Let me get you some refreshments,” Emmett gushed. He gave both men a kiss then went off to get more food and beverages.

“Hey look, there’s toupee guy,” Michael said with a chuckle when Emmett returned with a tray full.

“Who’s toupee guy?” Ted asked.

“Brian and I were having a drink at Woody’s a while back and this guy was coming onto Brian.”

“Michael, guys are always coming onto Brian. He can’t help that,” Emmett said.

“I know but doesn’t that guy sort of look like the one who made that bet with Brian?” They all craned their heads to get a good look at ‘toupee guy.’

“I don’t know, Michael,” Ted began. “From what I remember, the man who made that wager was supposed to be hotter than hot. I know we’ve all aged but that man doesn’t look very hot to me.”

“I agree, Teddy,” Emmett contributed. “If he is wearing a toupee, it’s certainly not a good one. Maybe it’s a comb-over,” Emmett whispered then tsked. “No self respecting gay man would ever allow himself to have a comb over. It’s so Donald Trump.” Emmett shook his head.

“I think he’s after Brian,” Michael said in between bites of his hamburger.

“What makes you say that, Babe?” Ben asked as he sipped his lemonade.

“We all saw him at the Village diner the day Justin was planting his flowers,” Michael explained.

“Michael, he could be there for business reasons. What makes you think he wants Brian?” Ted asked.

“Maybe he thinks he has unfinished business. I don’t know. But did you hear about my stalker?” Michael asked as he gulped down some soda. The guys just groaned.



*****



“Jamie, what are you doing here?” Lindsay asked her new artist.

“I’ve come to see Justin Taylor’s latest work, like everyone else. PIFA got a special invitation,” the artist and teacher explained.

“Oh yes, that’s right. So what do you think?”

“I think it’s lovely. I know some artists like working with metal, but it’s not easy.”

“No it’s not. Um, the gallery will be having a small opening for new artists just after Labor Day. If you have some new pieces you’d like to show me, come by the gallery. Maybe we can get you into that show.”

“That would be fantastic!” Jamie showed her enthusiasm by planting a sizzling kiss onto Lindsay’s lips.

“Would you look at that,” Debbie said as she leaned into Carl. “Mel is going to have a fit.”

“I don’t think I want to know,” Carl said as he grabbed his wife to bring her over to visit with Jennifer and Seth.

“Mel, I think you have bigger fish to fry than me,” Brian said as he pointed over toward Lindsay. Brian was trying rather unsuccessfully to broach the issue of Gus’ name addition with Melanie. They both caught a glimpse of the kiss. Brian smirked as Melanie turned red in the face. He chuckled as Mel stormed off to claim her wife.



*****



“I wouldn’t get in between Lindsay and Melanie, if I were you,” Brian offered his advice to Jamie who was taking one last look at Justin’s garden before she left the park.

“And what would you know about Miss Peterson?” Jamie asked with a sneer. She still wasn’t quite sure about the relationship between this man and Lindsay.

“A lot more than you, and it’s Lindsay Peterson-Marcus. She’s married and has been for a very long time.” Brian could see that Mel’s rival was about to explode when Gus sauntered up.

“Hey, Pop! Oh excuse me, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s okay, Sonny Boy.”

“The moms want to talk to you.” Brian nodded.

“Excuse me,” was all that Brian said to acknowledge the young artist as he sauntered off with Gus over to where Lindsay and Melanie were standing. It was obvious to Jamie and to anyone that the boy was Brian’s son but that was all that Jamie was able to make out. Jamie walked over to the refreshment table to get a soda, deferring her departure in hopes of learning more.

“Here you go!” Emmett said cheerfully as he handed a can of soda to Jamie.

“Thank you. Um, can you tell me who that gentleman is speaking with Miss Peterson?”

“Oh, that’s Brian Kinney, one of Pittsburgh’s leading citizens. The young man with them is his son. Such a good boy and very talented. He’ll be taking some courses at PIFA this fall.”

“Really!” Jamie exclaimed. That meant she might have more opportunities to be alone with Lindsay.

“Oh yes, we’re all so proud.”

“And the other woman?” Jamie prodded. She knew who Melanie was but wanted more information. Apparently this cheerful man was a fount of information.

“That’s Melanie Marcus, a lawyer and Lindsay’s husband for…oh dear, what century is this? Oh and there’s JR; she’s their daughter. Mel’s pride and joy, as Gus is Lindsay’s.”

“Brian Kinney is the father of Lindsay’s son?”

“And Michael Novotny is JR’s dad,” Emmett said innocently as Michael joined the family grouping. “We’re just one big happy family!” Emmett gushed then turned to hand a hotdog to another picnicker.

“Hmm,” Jamie grumbled.



*****



“Hey.”

“Hey, Bri. What’s up?”

“Not me at the moment,” Brian said softly as he received a loving kiss from Justin. “The family all here?”

“Yep. All present and accounted for. Even my Dad came.”

“I’m happy for you, Sunshine.”

“So, why don’t you sound happy?”

“I think we’re finally getting old.” That made Justin laugh.

“Why do you say that?” Justin asked Brian. Then he turned to Briana. “No, running, Bree,” he said as she was trying to run a course around and in between the metal sculptures. Justin was multi-tasking as most parents do.

“It’s amazing how we do that.”

“Do what?”

“One minute we’re Justin Taylor, famous artist with his supportive partner, the stunningly handsome and savvy businessman, Brian Kinney.” Justin cracked up with laughter. Brian was still ever so modest. “The next minute we’re Brian and Justin, fathers to an almost eighteen year old college student and to a six year old going on thirty little princess.”

“Did Lindsay and Mel agree to the name thing?” Justin asked, ignoring Brian’s lament. He knew it meant nothing.

“Yeah, I think Sonny Boy may get his name.” Justin wrapped his arms around Brian’s trim waist.

“You’re a brave man, risking Mel’s wrath,” Justin said. Brian snorted but wrapped his arms around his spouse then kissed the top of the blond head.

“Come on, Sunshine, your public awaits,” Brian murmured, reluctantly disengaging from his lover’s arms. “You have more people to meet and greet.” The lovers kissed then transformed back into famous artist and stunningly handsome supportive spouse.



*****



“Excuse me, Mr. Novotny?” the alleged stalker approached Michael as Michael was disposing of his trash.

“What?” Michael said as he jumped, slightly startled by the handsome young man. “Who are you? And why are you stalking me?”

“Stalking? I’m not...but I can see why you would think that. I guess you don’t recognize me. But it was a long time ago.”

“I know you?”

“We only met a few times. You were trying to be nice but I don’t think I gave you a chance.”

“But who are you?” Michael was searching his memory but coming up blank. The man had familiar facial features but Michael couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I’m Hank, Hank Cameron, David Cameron’s son.” Hank held out his hand to a shocked Michael Novotny.



*****



“Brian Kinney,” a once handsome face purred.

“I don’t do repeats,” Brian fired back automatically.

“That’s good because we never did it that night, although you won the bet legitimately. You have the right to collect your winnings.”

Brian snorted at the absurdity of it all. “Mikey was right, you are Brandon.”

“Mikey?”

“A friend.”

“Did I do him? Was he on the list?”

“No.”

“No matter.”

“Why are you here?” Brian asked coldly.

“My firm is considering opening a branch here.” Brandon handed Brian his card. Brian gave a cursory glance then pocketed the card. “Since I knew the area well, I volunteered to scope out the prospects. Thought I’d take the time to look up old friends and rivals.”

“And now that you have, don’t let me stop you from leaving.”

“Why would I leave? The prospects are looking better and better.” Brandon leered at Brian. Brian was about to favor the interloper with some choice words when a strawberry blonde princess ran crashing into Brian’s legs.

“Dada, Daddy needs you!” Bree shouted up to her father. Brian swooped down to pick up his daughter, shielding her petite body with his own.

“Okay, Squirt.” Without further ado, Brian walked away holding Bree close, leaving the interloper standing alone.

“Who was that man, Dada?”

“Nobody, Squirt. Now, let’s see what your Daddy needs.”

“Okay, Dada!”

Brian and Bree were quickly at Justin’s side and safe within his embrace, standing under Justin's metal garden.

-TBC-