The TV was on, just so he had something to look and listen to while he sat on the couch. He had been up all night with a sick kid. Avery, their youngest, had contracted a stomach bug from a friend. Now the eight-year-old was sleeping peacefully with his head resting on Justin’s lap.

Aside from the current situation with a kid vomiting every thirty minutes, his life was pretty good. Brian and he had been together since he came back from New York, three months after he left. He just couldn’t stay away from Brian. Daphne called him a drug to Justin, he supposed that was an apt description. Because Brian was in his blood, he couldn’t live without him. They followed through on getting married, but Justin longed something else. Children. Brian had no idea what he was instore for him.

Over the years, they had ten children all together including Gus. After Gus, they had Reece with the help of a surrogate using Justin’s sperm. Next, they adopted Devon and Kenyon, brothers who were five and two at that time. Then they fostered Maurice and ended up adopting him just after his second birthday. Matthew and Anna were brother/sister twins they adopted from foster care, they had been four. After adopting Caleb(five) and Sean(four) they decided they were done. But eight years later the social worker they worked with to adopt Maurice said they his birth mother had died, killed by a drunk driver, leaving behind his little brother, Avery, with no living family. Justin strong armed Brian to agree. Now they had ten kids aging from eight to twenty-five. Two were already college graduates. One in the Navy, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Four currently in college, two in high school and the baby was eight.

He wished he could move without waking Avery. The boy had just got to sleep. Justin ran his hair over his youngest son’s dark hair as breaking news interrupted the farm report he was watching. It was just past five in the morning. Still too early for the kids to be up. It was probably some overnight car crash. The anchor was a man in a gray suit with a light blue tie. He was a good-looking man of about forty with short brown hair.

“We have breaking news from the US Navy. We are still getting information by the minute. A Navy ship off the coast of Angola was attacked just hours ago. It is unclear who has bombed the cruiser vessel. Wait…we’re getting word of the name of the ship. The USS Stockland.”

All Justin heard was buzzing in his ears. On the screen, they had circled here the ship had been attacked…bombed.

“BRIAN!” he yelled, sure to wake up the entire house. It was summer break so they had all but Gus, Devon and Anna at home. Avery jumped up out of his slumber, looking around wildly.

“Dad?” he crooked. His throat sounding raspy after vomiting most of the night.

“Go get you father,” he barked out.

“What’s going on?” Maurice asked, as he thundered down the stairs.

“Get you father,” he demanded. He needed Brian, Brian would fix this.

“Hell, Sunshine, the neighbors heard you. What the fuck is your problem?”

Instead of answering him, he pointed to the screen, showing the ship’s name with the word ‘Attacked’ under it.

“Where’s my phone?” Brian yelled, suddenly very pale.

Justin turned back to the screen that now read, multiple casualties. Brian ran back upstairs to get his phone, even at fifty-five he was quick on his feet.

“Isn’t that Anna’s ship?” Avery asked, curling up beside Justin.

“Yeah, squirt,” Maurice told him, rubbing his back.

All the boys had come down when he yelled. All boys except for Matthew. He could hear Brian coming back down the stairs one the phone, he was yelling at someone. Kenyon sat on Justin’s other side, Caleb and Sean sat on the floor in front of the couch. Maurice was still behind the couch.

“Where’s Matthew?” he questioned.

Looking around he noticed his sons looking everywhere but at him.

“What? Where is he?” Justin couldn’t handle anything else now.

“He went out with Carl last night, I think they went to Babylon.”

Justin rolled his eyes, Matthew might as well be Brian’s biological son, he was so much like him. So far out of ten children they had one gay son(Matthew), a pansexual daughter(Anna) and an asexual son(Kenyon). The rest of the boys said they were heterosexual, not that it mattered to him. Well…they suspected Avery may lean more to being homosexual but so far, he was eight and adored his big brother, Gus. That meant he tried to behave like Gus, talking about how he wanted to be a doctor and play soccer like Gus. Sadly, unlike Brian, Gus, Matthew, Anna and Kenyon, he had no athletic ability.

“Call him, tell him to get his ass home. I don’t care what hole he has to crawl out of,” Brian said, glaring at Reece.

Justin bit his tongue, he hated when Brian took out his anger on Reece. He’d never hit him, but he just seemed to not like him. That hadn’t always been true, only since Reece became a teenager. Justin suspected it was because Reece was the one who wanted Brian’s acceptance more than the others. Reece wanted to be just like Brian, he was going to school to follow in his dad’s footsteps. All Brian would say was Reece was not cut out for advertising. That hadn’t stopped Reece though, he would be going into his junior year at Carnegie Mellon in Business.

Reece blanched in his father glare. Usually, Justin would Brian out on it, but he was too wrapped up in worry about Anna. His eyes focused back on the TV screen. They were speaking to someone one speakerphone. The living room was too loud to hear what was being said.

His mind went back to the last time he had seen his daughter. She was so happy to finally be assigned to a ship. She was one of only four women on the ship. She was such a tough girl, all her life. She wasn’t a tomboy, the opposite really. She was always wearing dresses and makeup. But she was also a sporty girl. She played softball and soccer. Both Brian and Justin had thought she would go to college though, she shocked them both coming home two days after her high school graduation telling them she joined the Navy.

Brian had yelled and cursed but she wouldn’t bow down. She told him that she was an adult and would do what the hell she wanted. Brian had grumbled something about how stupid it was to raise strong-willed children. Thankfully, they had made up before she left for training.

The front door opened and Matthew walked in. He looked shocked to see everyone in the living room. The front door could be clearing be seen from the living room.

“Get in here!” Brian yelled.

“Pop, I’m not really up for this right now,” Matthew said, his eyes tired.

“Where were you?” Justin asked.

“None of your fucking business,” Matthew snapped.

Justin turned back toward the television. He didn’t want his son to see how much his words hurt him. All the children had gone through a stage of hating them but Matthew’s seemed to be there to stay, and it wasn’t directed at them as parents, just Justin. He was at a loss at to the reason why, because of that he didn’t know how to fix it.

“Matthew, stop,” Brian said, calmly. “It’s Anna.”

The rest of the morning seemed to drag by. Both Brian and Justin had called the number that was released for families of those on board of the USS Stockland to call. So far, they had both had been told that they weren’t releasing the names of the dead yet. They were told to call a different number. It just seemed like they were being jerked around. The house got so stifling, Matthew had gotten into Justin’s face several times when he tried to calm everyone down.

That was when Justin decided he needed to get out for a little while. Brian was being distant from everything, he was determined to find out where Anna was. That meant that he couldn’t be Justin’s rock, in fact Justin suspected he needed to be Brian’s. He had tried that but Matthew just wouldn’t let up. Avery was still pretty sick so Justin decided to take him to the doctor, he was lucky and got him an appointment.

Brian swore when Gus was born he would never raise a hand to his children. Matt was trying that promise though. Ever since Matthew was a pre-teen he had picked fights with Justin. He even stopped calling him dad when he was fifteen. Brian held Justin while he cried that night. Brian told him that Matt would come around, that had yet to happen.

He shook his head, he would deal with Matt later. Right now, he had to find out if Anna was alive. The ship is big and so far, the news said that ten had died out of over three hundred enlisted sailors and officers.

Brian’s phone rang, he quickly answered it without looking to see who it was. “Brian Kinney,” he answered.

“Pop, what the hell is going on?” Gus asked, his voice filled with worry.

“Who called you?”

“No one, I saw it on the news. The Stockland, that’s Anna’s ship, right?”

“Yeah, Sonny Boy, that’s her ship.”

“I’m coming home.”

“No, not yet. We don’t know anything yet. She’ll be fine, you know her.” He was hoping he sounded sure of it, because he wasn’t.

“It’s too late, I’ve already got an airplane ticket. I’ll be flying out in a few hours.”

“One on your brothers will pick you up.”

“Love you, Pop,” Gus said.

“You too,” he said before hanging up. Even after all these years it was hard to say the words, even to his own children.

“Was that Gus?” Caleb asked, the fifteen-year-old was holding it together well.

Caleb was a little bit of a wild child, Sean being the good one. He loved all his children but he had a soft spot in his heart for Anna. It may be because she was their only girl. It may be because they locked horns a lot. He didn’t know but he wanted the call from her that she was fine.

“Yeah, he’s coming flying in. I need one of your brothers to pick him up.”

“I’ll do it,” Reece volunteered.

“Of course, you will,” Brian muttered.

Picking his phone up, he called the help line they set up for families again. He wouldn’t until they told him where his daughter was at.

Gus got off the plane and went through security. The terror level was moved up to orange, high. That meant security was amped up all over the nation, especially airports. He was thankful that the chief of staff gave him emergency time off. He’d only been an intern at Vanderbilt for a month. He didn’t want to get a reputation as a flake, but this was his sister they were talking about.

“Gus!”

“Hey, what the hell is that on your nose?” Gus asked.

Reece laughed. “It’s just a nose ring. Pop about had a heart attack when I came home with it.”

There was no doubt about that. What surprised Gus was that Reece did something that their father wouldn’t like on purpose. He was always trying to get a ‘good job’ or just simple praise from him. It was something that they had just gotten used to in their family. Reece, Kenyon and Maurice were all the same age. But when they were fourteen or fifteen, Kenyon and Maurice had a much later curfew. Reece was supposed to be back much earlier than even Matt and Anna. It was almost like he was punishing Reece for being alive. But that couldn’t be true. Could it?

“That’s got to be a big hit in business school, little bro.”

“I’ll take it out before going back to school. I just want Pop to pay attention to me. The only times he even talks to me is when he’s yelling.”

“Hey, it’s his problem not yours.”

“Yeah, that’s what Dad says. It just gets trying, you know? He bought Kenyon, Maurice and Matt new phones for making dean’s list.”

“Well, I know you made dean’s list, you’re top of your class.”

“He said that I wasn’t trying hard enough, he wouldn’t reward laziness.”

Reece looked close to tears, he needed to change subjects. As much as he wanted to talk about Anna, that would only make Reece breakdown in middle of baggage claim.

“How is that girlfriend of yours?” he asked.

“She broke up with me. She was sleeping with her ex again.”

Fuck!

“Dating anyone else?”

“Umm…well…you see…”

Well, that was interesting. “Who?”

Reece shuffled his feet around, not looking at Gus. It was making Gus get a bad feeling. Reece was always honest with him. Sure, these last couple months he had dropped the ball because he was so anxious about the start of his internship. He also suspected Reece was keeping something else from him, it was like he knew why their father was always yelling at him.

“Promise you won’t tell Pop or Dad?”

“Of course, tell me.”

“Well, he’s a bit older than me. He’s forty-three, sweet and not to mention rich. I really like him.”

Gus let out a whistle as he grabbed his bag from baggage claim. “Wow, that’s a year older than Dad. So, does this mean you’re finally going to tell the others you’re bi?”

“I don’t know. I don’t want to make Pop even more upset with me.”

“They won’t care that you’re bi, idiot,” he said good-naturedly.

“Dad won’t, Pop might. The only reason I didn’t tell them before was because Pop told me to stop trying to be like him, be my own man. I was fourteen then.”

Gus huffed. “That’s stupid. If anyone’s trying to be like Pop, it’s Matt but only the none healthy parts of him. Come on, we better get home. They might have heard from Anna by now.”

Reece let Gus drive the car, it was his anyway. They had five cars at the house. Pop’s, Dad’s, Gus’, Maurice’s and Kenyon’s. You could only get a car if you interned at Kinnetik for two years. Reece had been so excited when he was old enough to intern at his father’s agency. Just like his brothers, he put in an application. He got rejected, he didn’t even know why it surprised him. His father hated him, he knew that. He never told anyone why his father hated him. That was just something between them both.

It was the summer after his fourteenth birthday. His parents tried their best to have one on one time with each kid. His pop had taken him to New York on a business trip with him.

All his life he had heard how much he looked like his dad. How much of a heartbreaker he was going to be. Then when he turned fourteen, girls and boys both started to notice him. Sometimes, it would be men on Liberty Avenue, when he went to hang out at his Uncle Mikey’s store. It was there he had overheard his uncle talking to his Aunt Lindsay. They were joking about his pop and him blowing his coach when he was fourteen.

When they were in New York, his dad told him to not leave the hotel until he came back from his meeting. They would go out sightseeing after that. He had gotten bored just watching television in the hotel room. He went downstairs to explore the hotel. That was where he met a guy, he had to be his dad’s age. But as soon as the man saw him, he came over to him. He knew right away the man was flirting with him. He wanted to be like his pop so much, he decided that he would have his own older man experience.

The man invited him up to his hotel room, but Reece didn’t think that was a good idea. So, he invited him to his, home turf and everything. When the guy asked him how old he was he told him eighteen, he wasn’t sure if he believed him. But he didn’t leave so that must mean he believed him.

The man started to touch him, it was then he thought maybe he shouldn’t have brought him in. But then the older man leaned over and kissed him; it felt good and he liked it. He liked it so much he hadn’t heard the door open. Soon the man was ripped off the bed, and his father’s fist was slamming into the guy’s jaw.

“You sick, fuck! He’s fourteen years old.” His pop hit the guy again.

“Brian?” the guy croaked from the floor.

“I didn’t know you were a pedophile, Mr. Gold. How do you think your adoring public will take that?” his father growled, ready to strike again.

“Pop, please, stop. I told him I was eighteen,” he said, grabbing onto his father’s fist.

“You look fucking twelve, he didn’t think you were eighteen for a second.”

“Dad, let him go!”

“No, I’m going to call the fucking police.”

“I’ll tell them nothing happened, you’ll just look like an insane lunatic.” His father looked at him with such betrayal he almost stumbled back. But he had invited the guy back to his hotel room. His pop was being a hypocrite. “You gave a blowjob to your coach when you were fourteen. I heard Uncle Mikey talking about it. You’re being a hypocrite.”

His father’s eyes were almost blazing at him, but he grabbed the man by his shirt and threw him out of the room. It was after that he told him not to do stuff just because he did, to be his own man.

 It was the last day his father treated him like his child and not a stain on his life. It didn’t matter how he tried to make it up to him, he wouldn’t forgive him. Reece didn’t think he told his dad about it because he hadn’t asked him about the incident. After that Reece tried his best to be his own man. He started dating a girl in his chemistry class. She was nice and pretty, but his father just rolled his eyes every time she came over. That didn’t stop him from trying to get his father to love him again. Hell, he was still a virgin because he didn’t want to see the look of disappointment on his dad’s face again.

But it seemed that he may not be a virgin much longer. It had been a shock to run into the man from the hotel room out of the blue. It had happened though, he was eating at a restaurant close to school a few weeks ago. Holly had just broken up with him so he was using his gift card his pop gave him for Christmas to eat alone. The man walked into the restaurant with a beautiful woman.

They made eye contact and he rushed to the restroom to douse his red face. Ethan came in then and introduced himself. Then he asked him out to dinner for the next night. He told him that it would have to be kept quiet because he was married. Reece almost bulked then but he said it was just for public appearances, his wife had her own lover. It didn’t make him feel great but at least she knew he was ‘dating’.

They had only been out a few times but he could tell Ethan wanted to move beyond ‘petting’. He wasn’t sure he was ready for that, he was twenty. After waiting this long he was sure his first time would be with the man or woman he would marry. It felt wrong to give it to a man that already had a wife, one that he had no chance to marry.

Once Gus pulled into the driveway, Reece braced himself. Sometimes, he wished he didn’t care so much about what his father thought of him. He wished he was more like Matt or Gus. Although, he really didn’t want to be like Matt, he had been just awful to their dad for years. It was like he got pleasure from causing their dad pain.

“We better get in there,” Gus said from beside him.

“Yeah,” he said sadly.

Please be okay, Anna.

Justin jumped a little when the door opened, he looked over and saw that it was Gus and Reece. Now all his children were home except for Anna. Devon had just drove in from Philadelphia to be with his family. After they told Matthew what happened, he ran upstairs and shut himself up in his room. Brian was still yelling on the phone to anyone who would listen. The doctor had diagnosed Avery with the stomach flu. If they were lucky, some of them wouldn’t get sick. It wasn’t looking good; Kenyon and Maurice had already started showing symptoms. Avery was up in his room watching television. Justin wasn’t hungry, hopefully Avery wouldn’t be hungry either, everyone else could fend for themselves.

“How are you holding up?”

Justin didn’t answer Brian, he just shrugged. It wasn’t like he had much a choice.

“Did you call Michael?”

“Yeah, he’ll be here in a few hours. Jenny wanted to fly in but her boss won’t let her have time off.”

“Yeah, I’ll call her in a little bit.”

Jenny and Anna were close, being the only girls in a group of boys. Lindsay and Mel had lived in Canada with Gus and Jenny until Reece was born. They then moved back to Pittsburgh not long after, so they were all raised together.

“Lindsay and Phil will be coming over too,” Brian said sitting down beside Justin.

Lindsay had met Phil Hoosier ten years ago. The affair started up soon after. A few months later Jenny walked in on them. Mel filed for divorce soon after. Jenny wanted to live with Mel, Gus wanted to live with Brian and Justin.

“Gus won’t be happy,” Justin said, relaxing a little when Brian pulled him into his arms.

“I suspect not, can’t say I’m that happy he’ll be here.”

They didn’t like Phil, he insisted that gays could be ‘cured’…like Lindsay. He was a preacher who insisted on getting up on his soapbox every time he was over. Justin wasn’t sure he could handle much of Phil today.

“I don’t want him in my house, not today.”

Brian nodded. “I’ll call Lindsay back, tell her to stay away for a while.”

“Alex is on his way, he called while I was at the doctor’s office.”

Brian tried to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes but Justin saw. Reece’s best friend was Brian’s archenemy’s son. Alex had been Reece’s best friend since they were in pre-school. Alex and Reece had always been the exact opposite but it seemed to work for them. While Reece is average height, blonde hair with pale skin and a sweet demeaner. Alex is tall, dark-skinned and an absolute hot-head.

He had been offered a football scholarship to UT Knoxville, but he declined because he had bigger goals than being a football player. He wanted to be a judge, it’s been his lifelong goal since he was a little boy. When he got accepted to Princeton, he and Reece went to Miami for the weekend, using Alex’s father’s private jet. Theo Morris, Alex’s father, was the reason Brian hated the boy. Brian owned Kinnetik Advertising, listed number two on the east coast. Sanderson Morris, Theo’s agency was number one.

“I wished you’d stop fighting with Reece. Can’t you see he just wants your approval?”

Brian snorted before standing up. “I’m going to call number again, they said they might have news after noon.”

Justin ran his hands over his face. Why couldn’t his family just get along. He loved all of them, even the one who was always angry with him.

“Dad, Kenyon just vomited all over the bathroom,” Devon called down.

Sometimes being a father sucked. Huffing a little bit, he stood up, going to get his cleaning supplies. His phone started ringing in his pocket. Pulling out the phone he looked at who was calling. For a second he thought about not answering. But that would just lead him to keep calling.

“I told you not to call me,” he hissed into the phone.

“I can’t call you? Brian must be really jealous that we’re talking again.”

“We’re not talking. You keep calling and I keep telling you to leave me alone.”

It had been six years since he had heard from Ethan Gold. That was until a few weeks ago, when he showed up out of nowhere. He wanted to try to start something again. He came back every few years, like herpes.

The last time, he was in Chicago with Matthew. They were going to a comic book convention. Michael was supposed to go, but Ben had gotten sick. It would end up being his last hospital stay, but none of them knew that at the time.

Ethan had shown up there, it was almost like he had planned it. Matthew was thirteen and already so damned independent, he wanted to explore the convention without his dad babying him. Justin let him, just as long as he didn’t go outside of the convention hall. RAGE wasn’t in the league with Marvel or DC, but they did have a loyal and vast fan base. The movie did finally get made. He and Michael were well off, they had also created three other superhero comic books. The Fighting Fairy, ten issues. Runda the Madame, twelve issues.  Sorgon and Sorgen, the Deadly Duo, three issues.

When Justin was setting up the RAGE table, Ethan had come up to him. Justin blinked a few times, trying to figure out why in the hell Ethan was there.

“Ethan, what are you doing here?”

“I was in town, saw that you were here representing RAGE. Usually, it’s Michael.”

The way he said it, it sounded like he was keeping track of his movements. It made Justin feel very uncomfortable.

“So…how is life?” he asked. He didn’t follow Ethan, had no idea what he’d been up to in the last decade or so.

“Good, I’ve got married.”

Justin laughed. Ethan was trying to make him jealous, like he had given up his chance to get married.

“Me too.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. Yep, he wasn’t expecting that.

“To who?”

“Brian, of course.”

“Really, thought he didn’t believe in marriage?”

Justin was getting annoyed now. “He changed his mind. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”

“Too bad you’ll never have kids. I know Brian has Gus, you’ll never have that feeling. I have two daughters, what to see their pictures?”

“Oh, I have children. Nine including Gus, I have pictures of them but I don’t really show them to strangers,” he said bitterly. He wanted the man gone.

“Nine? Wow. Adoption?”

“Adoption, biological. They are all the same to me. I love each one of them. Now, please go,” he said coldly.

Suddenly, Ethan grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss. Justin struggled to get out of the hold but was unsuccessful. It wasn’t until someone dropped something on the other side of the convention hall that Ethan relented.

Justin pushed him away, did his best not to slap him. He would have to gargle bleach to get the taste of Ethan out of his mouth. Ethan left after he threatened to call security. It didn’t stop him from shaking while he finished setting up his table. He was just glad Matthew hadn’t been around to see that. Matthew had told them he was gay just a few months earlier. He told them he couldn’t wait until he was bigger, he wanted the kind of relationship they had. He didn’t want his son to see a true creep at this young of an age.

About thirty minutes later he saw his son walking through the crowd.

“Matthew! Over here,” he called. He had seen one of his son’s favorite comic book creators just a moment ago, she had promised to give some merchandise to Matthew.

Matthew stomped over, his eyes a little red. It looked like he had been crying.

“Are you alright?” If someone even laid a finger on his son, he would kill them.

“I’m fine. Just leave me alone,” he snapped.

“Matthew, what is the matter with you?”

“Nothing, I just finally see you for who you are.”

Just as he was about to run off, Justin grabbed his arm. “I don’t know what the hell just happened but you are going to stay here. I’m not going to have you run off when you’re like this.”

“You can’t tell me what to do,” Matthew sneered.

“I can and will, sit down.”

The rest of the weekend was much of the same. An angry, closed off son. Brian was lucky, he was taking Reece to New York in two weeks, Reece was the easy one. Sadly, he thought Matthew was one before this weekend.

He made sure to turn up his music. The knocking on his door finally stopped. Right now, he didn’t want to talk to anyone. Anna was his twin, he loved her more than life itself. He couldn’t even fathom her being gone. When she said, she wanted to join the Navy, he had laughed.

“Matthew, please let me in,” he heard Justin say.

He covered his head with his pillow. This wasn’t a time he could deal with that lying, cheating bastard. At one time, he had adored his father, that was a long time gone. It ended the day he saw his father kissing one of his groupies. He had heard bits and pieces from family members about Justin leaving his pop several times before, cheating on him. Apparently, his pop’s money was fine but not being monogamous. That’s why it pissed him off when he heard others talk about his pop’s old life. He didn’t fuck around now, that’s what mattered. Justin on the other hand was just waiting for someone better to come along. Fuck him. There was no happily ever after. He knew that now, he had been so stupid when he was younger. At least he knew better now, love didn’t exist.

.

Justin left his son’s door, he wouldn’t be able to get him to talk yet. It felt like he was three all over again. When Matthew and Anna were placed with them they were told it was a short placement.

They had a very hard home life before coming to them. They had been found alone, eating rotten food from the fridge. A neighbor had heard them crying and finally called the police when no one answered the door.

The placement was only supposed to be until the grandmother could get them. But when social services ran a background check, they found out she had a registered sex offender living with her. The mother was in the wind after abandoning her two children in a locked, filthy apartment. After they had them for five months she turned back up, giving up her parental rights to them. When Brian and Justin had been asked if they wanted to adopt them they were hesitant. They loved them but Matthew had such a hard time adjusting. They thought he may do better with a female parent. It wasn’t until their forth birthday he knew for sure.

It was the day he asked Justin if he could call him dad too. They called the social worker ten minutes later.

Needing to breath, he went up to his studio. It was located on the third floor. He kept it locked because it was the only place he could have complete privacy. After he pushed his chair by the window, then grabbed his sketchbook. He started sketching Anna as she looked the last time he saw her. Her shoulder length auburn hair pulled back into a tight bun. Face free of makeup, her uniform crisp and fitted her perfectly.

She had been a surprise to them both, not really knowing how to raise a girl. But she made it so very easy with her quick smile and outgoing personality. Her green eyes sparkled with joy every day. The world would be a harsher place if she wasn’t in it.

The kids were just too loud for him. Well, the ones downstairs anyway. Avery, Maurice and Kenyon were in their rooms. Thankfully, he had enough restrooms for the sick ones. Justin had hidden himself in his studio.

Devon, Caleb, Gus, Reece and Sean were searching on their phones for word about Anna. Hoping for someone to say where the casualties were from. Anna is a communications specialist, hopefully she was deep in the ship. The casualties had to be from the surface. It’s the fucking Navy, those ships were made to take hits.

The doorbell rang, grabbing his attention. It better not be someone he didn’t want to see. As his hand rested on the door handle a thought came to him. If Anna had died, they would have sent a Navy Chaplain to tell them. When he opened the door, a microphone was shoved in his face.

“Was you daughter on board of The Stockland when it was attacked? Have you heard from her?”

Brian saw at least three television crews in his roundabout. “I’ll give you thirty seconds to get off my property, if you’re still here after, I’m calling the police.” He slammed the door in their faces.

“Who was that?” Sean asked.

“Fucking reporters. I don’t want you or Caleb going out there without someone with you.”

“I’m fourteen,” Sean whined.

“Then don’t whine like a toddler.”

“Pop?”

Brian tensed up. He really didn’t want to deal with Reece right now. “Not now.”

“I was just letting you know I’m going out for a bit. Call me if you hear anything about Anna.”

“Where do you think, you’re going? We stay together until we hear from the Navy.”

Reece’s eyes darted around, he had the same tells as his father. “I’m just meeting a friend for an hour, I’ll be back soon.”

“Since when does Alex need to meet you somewhere not here?”

“It’s not Alex, it’s another friend.”

Reece didn’t have other friends besides Alex, he was an introvert. That made Brian very suspicious about where he was going. His relationship with Reece was strained to say the least. It was all his fault he knew that. He had become something he never wanted to be…Jack Kinney.

“I said no.”

Walking past Reece, he decided to spend some quiet time in his office. It was just too loud to even think in the main part of the house.

“Why do you hate me?” The voice was soft, he almost didn’t hear it.

“What? Hate you? I don’t hate you. Why would you even think that?”

“Nothing, never mind.” Reece shook his head before running past him.

What the fuck just happened?

Reece went out through the garage. He had grabbed Gus’ keys earlier when Ethan called. Waiting was done, he would have sex with Ethan. He was an adult now, he could do what he wanted. It was clear he would never be even a blip on his father’s radar, he wasn’t like the others. Ethan always told him how smart and talented he was. He couldn’t draw or paint like his dad, but he was a pretty good sculptor.

When the reporters saw him they started heading towards him. “Fuck it,” he growled before driving over the lawn, he didn’t care anymore.

It was nearing four in the evening, and they still hadn’t gotten through to anyone. All he wanted to do was talk to his little girl again. Every milestone in her life assaulted him. Her first day of school. First lost tooth. First bike ride. So many firsts, but she wasn’t done yet. She still had first true love. First wild and crazy weekend in Vegas. First child. Everything was still ahead of her.

“What are you two doing?” he asked Caleb and Sean, they were peeking out on of the front windows.

“Watching the reporters, they’ll get information before us, right? So, we thought we would watch their movements.”

“Sounds smart.” He wouldn’t discourage how any of his children dealt with their emotions. “Where’s your father?”

“He stalked to his office about ten minutes ago,” Caleb said, not taking his eyes off the reporters.

Justin sighed. If he was lucky Brian wouldn’t be a half a bottle into not giving a damn. “I’m going to talk to him. Come get me if someone comes to the door. I don’t want anyone of you to answer it.”

“Sure thing,” Sean chirped.

“Brian, can I come in?”

Getting up he stumbled slightly to the door, he couldn’t throw them back like he once had. “When have I ever denied you the right to come, Sunshine?”

“Stop trying to joke. You’re falling apart. I can see it; the kids can see it. Just talk to me,” Justin said, shutting the door behind him.

“Now that you’re not hiding up in your studio, you mean?”

Justin sat down on the leather sofa, waiting for him to sit beside him. After a few moments and glares, Brian did just that. Mostly because he just wanted to feel so not alone in this.

“Reece asked me why I hated him,” he said. Justin was eerily silent after that. “Justin? Do you think I hate him?”

He couldn’t believe he had to ask that question, he loved all his children.

“No, I know you love him. But you are hard on him. Even when I point it out you just brush me off. It hurts him, all he wants is you to be proud of him.”

“I am.”

“Then what is this about?”

“You really don’t want to know.”

“I’ve wanted to know for six years why one day he’s your little shadow, and the next you’re pushing him away.”

“I didn’t tell you what happened that when I took him to New York when he was fourteen.”

He couldn’t look at Justin when he told him the truth of that day. Everything from that day was vivid in his memory. Walking into his hotel room, seeing a body leaning over his little boy. It wasn’t until he pulled the man off when he realized it was Ethan Gold. All he saw after that was red.

“No, but I’m willing to listen now.” Justin started to rub his back.

“Once I finished with my meeting I headed back to the hotel. I was planning on taking him to Central Park because he didn’t stop talking about it on the plane. When I walked through the door there was a man kissing him. I rip him away, and kicked him out.” He wouldn’t tell Justin who the man was.

“A man? Reece?”

“Yes.”

“So, he’s gay or bi? Wait a minute…a man? A grown man?”

Brian nodded. “Yes, he looks so much like you, even then. In that one minute I saw every bad thing that happened to you, happen to him. I saw him take a bat to the head at prom. I saw him struggle to walk and talk again. Saw him put his heart out there only to have a complete asshole break it repeatedly. I saw him in a club when it was bombed. I couldn’t take it.”

The back rub had stopped sometime during his story.

“You never treated Matthew the way you treat Reece.”

“Matthew never tried to be like me. I was the reason our fourteen-year-old brought a grown man to a hotel room. Anything could have happened to him. What if I would have gone out for a drink after the meeting? He’s heard about my past, heard about my coach in the shower. I’ve never cared who knew about it until I heard him say that I was being a hypocrite about the situation. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to do. So, I did the only think I could think of…I became Jack Kinney.”

“Information overload. Okay, first things first. I never told him about the shower, I don’t know who did but when I find out I will strangle them. Let me get this straight, our son makes a mistake, a big one. Tries to do the same thing you did at that age, but somehow it was unforgivable. I would never compare my hard-around-the-edges husband to his abusive father. But there are more forms of abuse than physical. I’ve kept my mouth shut for a long time only because I never actually saw any form of abuse, but that’s when I thought you didn’t notice what you were doing to him. Now I find out it was a meticulous, planned out breaking down of him. For what? To de-gay him? What’s next, conversion camp?”

“Stop, it wasn’t like that.”

“Then what was it like?”

“I couldn’t fucking watch him die, okay? There are Chris Hobbs everywhere in this world. Don’t go on about Matt, he’s built like a tank, people would have to be suicidal to think about taking him on. Reece has always been small, hell he’s smaller than you at that age. I refuse to bury him.”

“Do you hear yourself? You got it so into your head that he needs to be protected from life that you pushed him out of yours. Well, I’ve got news for you Mr. Kinney, just because he isn’t living his life out in the open because he’s scared of you hating him, doesn’t mean he isn’t living it in secret. In fact, if he is so much like me as you think, it’s already too late to ‘make’ him a good little straight boy. I never took Brian Kinney as someone who would force someone into a closet, let alone his own son.”

“Pop! Dad? There are people at the door, they’re wearing uniforms,” Sean yelled from outside the door.

Brian felt Justin grab his arm, hard. This was it. The moment they had been dreading.

Justin shook as he and Brian walked to the front door. His hand having a death-grip on Brian’s. He wondered if he left the door closed, would that make the whole thing go away.

He felt Brian shutter before he opened the door. Once his eyes landed on the two uniformed men he did his best not to fall to the ground. On the other hand, he could feel Brian’s rage bubbling up.

“Can I fucking help you?” he snarled at the two sheriff’s deputies standing on his front steps.

“We are looking for Matthew Taylor-Kinney and Kenyon Taylor-Kinney.”

“Wait, they’re not here because of Anna?” he heard Sean ask from behind them.

“No, you moron, the Navy would be the ones coming to tell us about Anna,” Caleb sneered. If he wasn’t still shaking out of his skin, he would have laughed. Caleb was only fifteen but he seemed to think his fourteen-year-old brother, Sean, was too juvenile. But Justin liked Sean’s innocence, most of his other children had grown up much too fast for his taste.

“Go get Kenyon and Matt,” Brian bit out.

Both boys took off in the direction of the stairs. Hopefully, Matt would open his door for his brothers.

“What do you need our sons for?” Justin asked, his heart finally beating again.

“We have to question them involving a vandalism last night,” the rounder, shorter cop said.

“Don’t you think we have a little more on our minds than petty vandalism? Do you think those reporters are there because they want gardening tips?” Brian snapped pointing at the reporters just off their property.

Justin could tell Brian quickly losing his temper. It had been too much for him. The protector was stuck here feeling impotent. But Justin could tell it was making the cops jumpy. Brian was probably moments away from being cuffed himself.

“Brian, why don’t you try the state department again. I’ll take care of this.”

“Fine, but call Hunter if they try to take them.” He left the entryway after scowling at the cops and flipping off the reporters.

“Of course,” he yelled after his pissed off husband. Michael and Ben’s son Hunter was junior partner at one of the best law firms in Pittsburgh, it was tragic that Ben had passed away before Hunter graduated law school.

“Where were your sons last night at around eleven o’clock?”

“They’re adults, it was Friday night. They were out partying.” Though he hadn’t thought they were together. He thought Matthew went to Babylon with Carl. Carl was Matthew’s best friend and Carl Horvath’s grandson. Straight but they almost always went out together, it had slowed down some since Carl got married. Carl was five years older than Matthew anyway.

Matt walked slowly down the hallway, meeting Kenyon coming out of his room. He looked like death warmed over. With everything going on, he had completely forgotten about what they did the night before.

“If they have any evidence, just tell them it was me,” he whispered to Kenyon.

“No, it was both of us. That guy was an asshole and deserved to have his truck spray painted.”

Yesterday, he was on Liberty Avenue with Carl. Some tool in a white work truck pulled up beside them and asked how much they charged for a blowjob. He didn’t think the guy mistook them for rent boys, for one they weren’t even dressed to bring in clients. They had basketball shorts and tank tops on, because they were headed to the gym. For another reason, he’s six-three and two-twenty, that didn’t scream street kid. Yeah, he could still be a rent boy, but this guy wouldn’t be able to afford him. Carl wasn’t a pipsqueak either, he was six even with lean muscles. Rent boys looked like Justin in all his old pictures, he had heard all about his ‘father’s’ former profession, go-go boy. He probably worked the back of Babylon too. That meant this guy was just looking for someone to play ‘fuck with the fags’ with.

The guy was around forty, and looked chubby behind the wheel. So, he called the guy a closet case and started walking away. The guy got into a huff because of that and pulled over. After he got out of his truck, he thought he could seriously take them.

“What’s your problem?” Matt snarled. He was doing his best not to lay into the guy. Mostly, because he didn’t want his best friend to have to arrest him. Carl had just been hired on at Pittsburgh PD.

“Fags like you are my problem,” the man growled.

“Listen, sir. If I were you, I’d get back in my vehicle and drive away. You just propositioned a police officer. I’ll let you go with a verbal warning, don’t make me arrest you.”

Matt would like to see him try. He only had a duffle bag with street clothes. But the guy seemed to catch on that he was over his head and left.

“Let’s get this over with,” Kenyon said, bringing him out of his reverie.

When they got to the front door Justin was standing there, arguing with two uniformed sheriff’s deputies.

“Problem?” he asked ignoring Justin, who was standing by him now.

“Matthew or Kenyon?” the taller bucktoothed one asked.

“Matt,” he answered, glaring at them.

“Figures,” the short one snorted.

“What does that mean?” Justin asked.

“Nothing, just if I was going to guess which one was Matthew and which one would be Kenyon, I would guess right,” Rolly-Polly said.

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are to speak to my children like that, but I don’t like it. I have ten children all together. All my children are proud of who they are, inside and out. I will not have someone put any of them down. If you want us to talk to you about this vandalism, call our lawyer. His name is Hunter Novotny-Bruckner. Now, useless you have a warrant for their arrests, get the hell off my property,” Justin roared before slamming the door in their faces.

“Umm…can you do that?” Matt asked, shocked as hell, he’d never seen his father speak like that to anyone let alone someone in authority.

“I’m not sure, we probably should tell your father and call Hunter. Because if they didn’t have a warrant before, they will soon. One question, did you two vandalize someone’s truck?”

Matt looked down at his feet, he felt like a little boy getting in trouble for peeing on the wall again. He had to go to therapy because of that. Well, at least that wouldn’t happen this time.

“Dad, okay, it was like this,” Kenyon said, wilting under their father’s glare.

“Don’t listen to him, I’ll tell you want happened,” he said. He would leave some more interesting parts off though.

“You’re just jealous,” Kenyon laughed at him.

They were headed to Babylon to dance. Carl’s new wife called him home, making it so he couldn’t come out and play. The boy was whipped.

“Bro, you’re asexual, you don’t even know you have a dick,” he said with a laugh.

“How many fucking times do I must explain asexuality to you,” Kenyon growled. “It’s not that I can’t have sex, it’s just I don’t fucking want it. The thought doesn’t disgust me but I’m just not sexually attracted to anyone. I don’t see a guy and think ‘that guy’s hot…I must have him’. Or a woman and think, ‘wow her breasts are appropriate for her body.’ I still hope to get married, just to someone that’s like me. Understand?”

“Not really. Breasts are appropriate for her body? What the hell?”

Kenyon laughed. “I was raised by and around a bunch of gay men, give me a break.”

“So, you aren’t attracted to anyone? Man, or woman?”

“No. I do have a sexual libido but just not the sexual attraction to go with it.”

“That seriously makes no sense to me.”

“I’ve had sex, I wanted to have sex. I just wasn’t sexually attracted to the person I had sex with. Get it?”

“Not in the slightest. Come on, people are going to miss me if I don’t get to Babylon soon.”

“I hope Jesse’s working tonight or we won’t be drinking,” Kenyon said, as they made their way to Babylon.

Their pop had given his bartenders an order that if they served any of his under drinking age children, they were fired. Luckily, Matt had fucked one of the bartenders, Jesse at the start of summer. He was hoping for another go, so he was willing to take on the wrath of Brian Kinney to stay on Matt’s good side.

“Lookie who it is,” a voice slurred.

Matt looked up at the douchebag from earlier, he was coming out of a bar on Dillard. They had to park there because there wasn’t a space on Liberty.

“Dude, call a cab and go home,” Matt said, not really wanted to deal with this tonight. The guy was hammered.

“You’re just a faggot, you can’t tell me what to do!” the man started to rush at him but the screeching of a car’s tires drew all of their attention.

A small, black car stopped right in middle of the road. The door opened and Matt froze. The most beautiful man got out of it, rushing towards them. He was a little thing, probably only about five-five. He had brown hair that was long enough that it was in his eyes. Sad blue eyes peeked out from behind his hair.

“Dad, please, I’ve been looking for you all night. Please come home,” the young guy begged.

“Don’t call me dad, no faggot is a son of mine,” he said, pushing the small guy to the ground.

If it wasn’t for Kenyon holding him back, he would have laid the guy out. The young guy got back up and brushed himself off, the shove didn’t seem to be anything new to him. It made him want to start tearing the fat bastard apart.

“Dad, please, just let me drive you home. Mom is worried.”

“I’ll drive my fucking self.”

“No, you won’t, you’ll let your son drive you. Or we call the police. Which is it?” Kenyon asked. Kenyon was five-ten but built well because of baseball.

The man seemed to realized he was in a no win situation. So, he got into the car with help from his son. Matt didn’t want the boy to go with the piece of trash, but he couldn’t stop him either.

As soon as the two were gone, the love spell the younger one had on him seemed to fade some. What was he thinking? He didn’t believe in love at first sight. But…if he did, that’s how it would feel.

“I got an idea,” he told Kenyon.

“That’s never been good to hear you say.”

They went back to their car and pulled out the spray paint can they had used earlier in the week on Avery’s treehouse. They went back and found the man’s truck, the same one he was in earlier. They spray painted ‘homophobe’ and ‘little dick’ all over it. Kenyon decided he wanted to head home after that, he called a cab to take him home. Matt went to Babylon finally and found someone to help him forget about the sad, blue eyes that he had seen on the beautiful boy he had seen.

He smiled to himself before he fell asleep. That asshole was going to have a fit when he saw his truck. The guy could go and fuck himself, fuck him and his stupid construction company. Hobbs Construction, what a stupid name.

“Let me get this straight. You spray painted a car because the guy was a homophobe? You can’t go around breaking the law like that,” Justin told his sons.

“What would you know about homophobes? Pop’s got you everything you’ve ever wanted. You haven’t had to go out in the real world and deal with people. You may think you writing RAGE gives you some personal experience, but it doesn’t. It’s really just sad and pathetic. Finding stories on the internet and drawing pictures about other gay men’s lives is just an act of a loser. I bet if someone sneezed at you, you would curl up in a ball and cry.”

They had never told the kids about his bashing. When a tremor would hit, he told them it was because of an issue with his brain, not a complete lie. Brian and the family had not understood his want to keep it secret. He didn’t want his own children to pity him, but somehow, he had gotten one of them to loathe him. So much for good intentions.

Glancing up he saw Brian standing in the living room, glaring at Matthew. Justin could tell by Brian’s expression that he was about two seconds from blowing the fuck up. The need to protect his son, even after the hurtful things he had said, was strong.

“Brian, don’t- “He was cut off by his phone ringing in his back pocket.

Pulling the phone out, he looked at the number. Not recognizing it but answered anyway.

“Hello,” he said while watching Brian inch closer and closer to Matthew, hands clenched at his side.

“Dad?” His knees went weak.

“Anna, oh God, Anna,” he choked out. Sinking to the ground, he clung to the phone like his life depended on it. He could hear yelling around him, feel people getting in his space, but it felt and sounded very far away. All he could really hear was the breathing on the other end of the phone. “Where are you?”

“I’m fine, I can’t tell where we are right now. Because of the attack, we are under strict orders. I’m sorry, I couldn’t call earlier, it’s been crazy here. I can’t talk long, but I’m fine. I’ll be able to talk more in a couple of days. I love you, tell the boys I love them, tell Pop, I’m fine. Tell him I still have my lucky four leaf clover. I love you, Dad, bye.”

“Bye, you better call in a few days, you hear me?”

She laughed lightly. “I promise.”

“I love you, goodbye.”

Then she was gone. But none of that mattered, she was alive and well.

He looked up at Brian’s shining eyes, he wasn’t crying but it was because of shear will on his big, strong husband’s part.

“She’s alive. She’s alive,” Justin cried, throwing himself into Brian’s arms. He heard a cheer go up around him, the kids were celebrating.

Suddenly, Brian’s eyes got sharp again, he glanced at Matthew. “I think it’s time to call the family and invite everyone over to celebrate. We’ll finish it with a video and a history lesson,” he said before leaning down and capturing Justin’s lips in a mind melting kiss.

He could hear gagging sounds from his high schoolers. They could get over it.

Reece almost changed his mind, but didn’t. His reflection in the hotel room’s bathroom mirror seemed to mock him. Ethan had called and told him that he was going to be late, his wife was demanding that he go to their daughter’s recital. His parents were always at every play, game, show, really just anything any of their children did which was nearly impossible with ten of them.

His phone started ringing on the bathroom counter, it was Devon. He declined the call. A minute later it rang again. His dad. Declined again. Rang again a few moments later, his pop. Decline. He didn’t want to talk to any of them. Ten minutes later it rang again, this time it was Alex. He accepted the call then.

“Damnit, Reece, your parents are going crazy trying to reach you. It’s about Anna.”

A lump swelled in his throat, he was so upset with his pop, he had pushed Anna out of his mind. How selfish could he be? He would never be able to forgive himself.

“She’s…”

“Alive, she’s alive. Your dad said she said she was fine,” Alex said excitedly.

Anna had been Alex’s first girlfriend. She had been his date to the junior and senior prom. He ended up not going to either of his proms, he’d gotten grounded by his pop both times. He remembered begging his father to let him go, but he wouldn’t budge. It was one of the first times that he really realized that his pop must really had him.

“I can’t believe it,” he cried. She was alive and healthy, maybe God did exist.

“Where are you? I’m at my parents right now. I was giving you the day before coming over. Your parents are setting up a party to celebrate.”

“Hotel,” he said weakly. Now that he knew Anna was alright, he couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

“Why are you at a hotel?”

“Remember the guy I told you about?”

“The married closet case that wants you to be his boytoy. Yeah, I remember.”

“Don’t say it like that. Well, tonight’s the night.”

“You’re going to have sex with this slime ball. Lose your virginity to some old loser?”

Reece curled up on the bed with the phone it his ear. Regretting ever telling Alex that he was waiting for the right person to be with for the first time.

“You don’t understand, he loves me. He told me so.”

“Watch it, your daddy issues are showing.”

“Shut up. I’m doing this, no one is going to stop me.”

“If you don’t, I’ll give you what you’ve wanted since you were thirteen years old.”

Reece gasped. Surely, Alex wasn’t offering that. Not after all the years of begging and pleading on Reece’s part. He dared not to hope that Alex was serious. But…

“Really?”

“Really. All you have to do is leave the hotel now and go home. I’ll meet you there.”

“We can’t do it there,” he said, annoyed.

“I know, too many nosy people. But we’ll stay for the celebration, then I’ll take you to my parents’ house. They are out of town until next week.”

“That means we’ll have the whole place to ourselves,” he said, his voice giving away his excitement.

“The whole place, just us…all night long,” Alex’s voice dropped down a few octaves.

“I-uh-I, oh Alex, thank you. I’m going to leave right now. I can’t believe it. Tonight’s the night,” he squealed a little.

“God, Reece, you’d think we were having sex, not having a Loki and Freemont marathon.”

Reece made a rude noise. “No, Loki and Freemont is better than sex.”

“Since you’ve only had sex with yourself, that’s all you can compare it to, but I’ve got to tell you. Sex is way better than a stupid show about love sick dogs.”

“Shut your damn mouth, Loki and Freemont aren’t dogs, they’re shifters. Loki is a wolf shifter and Freemont is a fox shifter, you would know that if you would’ve watched it before.”

“I’m agreeing now, aren’t I? It only lasted what, two season?”

“One, but that doesn’t matter, they…wait, I can’t spoil it. You’ll see.”

“I can’t wait to see the gay, interspecies, crimefighting duo myself.”

Reece knew he was being sarcastic but he was sure as soon as Alex gave it a chance he would love it too. Maybe he could convince to read his fanfiction. He’d asked later, after he knew the characters.

“Great. I’ll see you in about forty minutes, bye.”

“Bye, weirdo.”

Reece hung up and started to pick up behind himself. He didn’t want to leave a mess for Ethan to find. He’d text him once was in the car. Leaving the keycard on the desk, he opened the door and left.

Brian was putting the final touches on his history lesson for his children. When he told them that he invited everyone, he hadn’t lied. He invited them all, and they all came, knowing the reason why. Once Reece was born they decided to keep their past in the past. They wouldn’t bring up his fucking anything that moved and Justin wouldn’t talk about his bashing. Brian had wanted Justin to reveal this, but Justin was adamant. But keeping secrets from each other and their children was over, it didn’t protect anyone it just made it worse. It caused him and Reece to be farther apart than strangers. Somehow, it had caused hatred from Matt to Justin. He hadn’t really paid attention to what was going on in his house. How had he let this behavior slip past him? Why hadn’t Justin told him it was so bad? Where had he been for the past few years? Had he gotten so complacent in his life that he had let his family fall apart? Well, that was over now, all their secrets would be coming out tonight.

The children thought they were just having a celebration after hearing from Anna. But they were in for a big surprise. Now that they knew Anna was okay, it was time to get his house in order.

“Brian, where do you want me to set up?” Blake asked.

“The media room.”

Blake had made a film a few years back, documenting his and Ted’s relationship. Using pictures, videos and interviews from everyone. Justin loved the idea and asked Blake to do one for them. Blake made two, one that was from their wedding up until when the video was made. The other was from the first time they met to their failed wedding. The first one they showed to the kids, it had videos of every time they welcomed one of the kids into the family, it was a happy one.  The second one, that was something worthy of Cannes. But Justin and Brian agreed it wasn’t to be shown to the kids. But now, it was time.

Everyone was talking animatedly, happy about Anna being alive and well. When the last to their group arrived, Brian was ready for the show to begin. It was already eight, so he didn’t have to make an excuse for Avery to leave the room. Avery said goodnight to everyone and went off to bed. During summer, he could stay up later, but with him being sick he jumped at the opportunity to go back to bed. Kenyon and Maurice both looked pretty bad but they could suck it up, he just made sure to tell everyone not to touch them.

“What are we doing in here, Pop?” Gus asked.

Brian stepped up in front of the movie screen, thankful that the media room was huge. It had been the stables until Justin had it redesigned for as a gift for the kids five years ago. It seated thirty people comfortably.

He was happy that Debbie was able to make it, even at seventy-three she was spry as ever, Carl at seventy-seven was still sharp as a tack. They were seated together on a loveseat. Lindsay was sitting with her husband on one side of the room, Mel on the other with her wife. All his kids, minus Anna, were on couches around the room. Ted, Blake, Emmett, Drew and Michael were standing near the back of the room, they would be taking a more active role in the storytelling, Jennifer and Molly included. There were two of his kids’ friends there but he thought they needed them. Carl, who mostly they called Cal except Matt, and Alex.

“I need you all to be quiet, a movie is going to play. This one is the story of my life with Justin, from the beginning until he left for New York. I don’t want any talking or questions until it’s over. I promise then, we will answer any questions you have.”

He saw a few smirks but they would see soon enough. He hit play and sat down in the chair that was his, he pulled Justin into his lap. Even at forty-three he could still pass off as barely thirty, still looked amazing too, and fit in Brian’s lap perfectly.

The screen lit up and the title popped up. Treading Water. That had been Blake idea but it was fitting. Club music played in the background. A date then flashed on the screen, Gus’ birthday and the day Justin came into all of their lives.

“What was your first impression of Justin?” Blake’s voice asked from off screen.

Michael’s face filled the screen. “What did I think of Justin? I thought he was an annoying twink.” Brian heard Matt snort but ignored him, he would see.

“Oh, I thought he was a delicious little treat, so mad Brian got to him first,” Emmett said with a swish of his hand.

“I thought Brian would hurt him and he would learn like the rest,” Ted said.

“As soon as I saw him, I knew he was a keeper. I just didn’t think Brian should be the one that kept him,” Debbie said, long gone was the colorful shirts and makeup. She was now in comfortable clothes and no wig.

“What did I think of him?” Brian saw himself on screen ask. “I thought he’d be a great fuck.” He winced at that, but no helping it. Caleb and Sean had heard worse from school.

“What did you think of Brian when you met him?” Justin’s face filled the screen. It lit up the screen.

“That I didn’t care who I had to kill or maim, I wanted that man. Even before I knew his name.”

The image changed, it was a picture of Brian sitting on the edge of Lindsay’s hospital bed. He was looking down at Gus with such love. The image changed again, seventeen-year-old Justin, surrounded by lesbians, looking as though he was in heaven with all the attention.

“What was your first impression of Justin?”

“God, I just kept thinking. Why did Brian bring this toddler to our son’s birth? Then he asked this blonde child what he thought of the names we picked out,” Melanie said, smiling at the memory.

“Does that mean Justin named Gus?”

“Yeah, it does, I almost had Lindsay convinced to name him Abraham. Brian didn’t care. But then Justin tanked everything. How was I to know he had a teddy bear named Gus.”

Justin turned his face into Brian’s shoulder. Brian did his best not to laugh.

Music started, it wasn’t happy like before, it was sad and foreboding. A picture of Justin and Daphne, sitting on his bed in his parents’ home, smiling for the camera.

“How did you parents find out about Brian?”

Justin was on screen again. “My mom, she found my drawings. Daphne ratted me out about showing some of my work at the GLC, she saw my drawing of Brian…asleep in bed. I guess then she saw him for herself and thought he was too old for me. So, she told my dad.”

“What happened then?”

“He hit Brian’s car, with Brian in it. A hit and run. Attacked him one night after we were leaving Babylon. Told me to come home now or not to ever come home.”

“Which did you pick?”

“Never.”

The image changed again, this time it slid into a video.

“Smile for the camera, Vic,” Justin’s voice said happily. It was clear Justin was the one with the camera, they were in Debbie’s kitchen.

Vic turned around and smiled at the camera. “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.”

Brian heard Debbie sniffle. He hadn’t even known at the time that Justin would videotape just hours of Vic, when he was feeling well. After he found out, Justin admitted Vic wanted something that Debbie could have after he was gone. Something that she could look back on, and not his final days. Everyone thought he would wither away, but he hadn’t…he died peacefully in his sleep. It was Ben they had to watch wither away.

“Mr. Grassi, inquiring minds want to know. Boxers or briefs?” Justin’s devilish voice asked.

“Depends,” Vic said.

“Depends on what?”

“No, Depends.”

“Ha ha.”

“Now my question for you. What are you doing tonight?” Vic walked up closer to the camera and Justin.

“Woody’s.”

“Shouldn’t you at least be eighteen before you go to bars, and mooch for drinks?”

“Really?” Justin asked.

“Of course, not, I’ll get Debbie. We can all hit on boys together.”

God, he missed Vic.

The image changed again. Now it was a simple picture of Daphne and Justin, smiling at the camera, dressed to the nines for their prom. Then there was footage of Justin and Daphne dancing, although they weren’t the center of attention. Every few seconds Hobbs would come into view. Then there he was, sauntering through the door. Heading straight for Justin and Daphne. The footage cut off right after he and Justin took the floor.

Brian didn’t know where Blake found the footage but he was happy and angry to see it. He’d seen the video years ago, but his feelings were bubbling up again. Knowing what was coming next, he tried to prepare himself. For a moment, he thought about pausing and preparing the children but there was no way to prepare. He needed them to see what Justin had been through. How his children seemed to think Justin was weak, that was a problem. One that would be fixed shortly.

A female reporter was standing outside of Alleghany General. She was grim faced, showing respect for the situation going on inside.

“Last night, at the Saint James Academy’s senior prom. An eighteen-year-old student was attacked by another student in the hotel parking garage. Names have not been released yet but our sources say the boy attacked had been dancing earlier in the evening with an older man. The boy was hit in the head with a baseball bat. He’s in critical condition, anything else is unknown.”

Several pictures of Justin started appearing. His head bandaged up, in a coma. The horrible bruise he had for the longest time. That picture was taken by the police. The last picture, was Jennifer crying over Justin’s sleeping form, picture taken by Molly.

“What the fuck?” Matt roared before the whole room started yelling.  

“Quiet!” Brian yelled. Justin looked pretty close to falling apart. He wouldn’t let that happen.  

“What’s wrong with Dad?” Sean asked, looking at the frozen picture on the screen. Sean didn’t understand things the way other people did. While it clicked to all the other children, it hadn’t to Sean. He would talk to him alone afterwards.

“I told everyone we will answer questions after the movie. Sit down and watch,” Brian said, holding onto his emotions. Seeing the images of Justin on the brink of death again was hard for him to handle. “Hit play, Blake.”

Photos of Justin’s recovery at the hospital flashed. Then videos of him learning to use his motor skills again.

A court reporter was standing in front of the court house. His face had a hint of anger, just under the surface.

“The defendant, Christopher Mark Hobbs, was found guilty of simple assault, sentenced to two years’ probation and five hundred hours’ community service. Mr. Hobbs bashed fellow student, Justin Taylor, in the head with a baseball bat. For that he got off with a slap on the wrist, all because Mr. Taylor had the audacity to dance with another man at his prom.” The feed was cut.

Brian remembered that, Luke Davis, the reporter, he got sacked for that piece. Brian had sent him the best whiskey he could find; the man was the only one in the press to call it what it was. A bashing.

Chris Hobbs face flashed on the screen, the boy in a suit and tie coming out of the courthouse. A video of Debbie screaming for justice that was ignored by the good people of Pittsburgh. Then another picture flashed, same date as the judgement. Justin curled up on his bed, crying, taken by Molly just after Jennifer told him the verdict and sentence.

A video of Gus’ birthday, Justin and Brian could be seen on the porch. In the background behind baby Gus playing with a toy bat, Justin could be seen stagger back. Just as the camera panned away, Brian could be seen taking him into his arms.

“How did Justin’s bashing effect Brian?” Blake, off screen, asked.

Michael’s face appeared. “I saw him that night. I got to the hospital before any of the rest. Brian was broken, I’ve never seen him like that before or after.”

“How do you think Justin’s bashing effected Brian?”

Debbie was now on screen. Tears glistened her eyes. “I think that night if Justin had died, Brian would have followed him. People, me included, didn’t know at the time how much it hurt Brian. Justin suffered permeant brain damage, but Brian’s scars weren’t as visible. He drank more, did more drugs, and fucked around more. It had nothing to do with it making him feel good, no, that was about not feeling anything. It didn’t work though. They were in each other’s blood.

“You asked Brian to take Justin in, right?”

Jennifer’s face appeared. Her hair was graying and in a short bob. “Yes, I made the mistake in tearing them apart in the first place. That was my own fears talking, Justin needed Brian, and even if he doesn’t admit it Brian needed Justin. It was the only way I’d get my son back.”

“Chris Hobbs took this boy.” The screen came alive with Justin on stage at Babylon, he was being crowned as Kind of Babylon, his smile shining more than the spotlight. “And turned him into this, a boy scared to walk down the street alone.” The video that popped up was Justin clinging to Brian’s arm as they walked down Liberty Avenue.

Brian still had no idea how Blake found some of the footage he had used.

“But life goes on, and wounds slowly start to heal,” Blake said off screen.

A clip of Vic popped up. It was a bit shaky but not terribly so.

“Are you okay?” Vic asked the camera.

“Yes, just getting used to having to use both hands for the simplest things. Really, it’s nothing.”

The camera moved and panned over the room. It was full of people working on signs for Pride. Michael appeared by the doorway, walking toward Vic and the camera(Justin).

“Where’s Ma?”

“She went to get PFLAG’s banner, she should be back any minute,” Vic said, He was setting out blank poster boards on the table in front of them.

“Put down the camera, Spielberg. We’ve got work to do,” Michael said, looking at the camera. It panned over to Vic, who gave him a small nod of his head.

The next clip was taken from someone standing in front of Woody’s recording Pride festivities. Men and women dancing in the street, Pride flags waving everywhere. The camera seemed to seek them out. There they were dancing in the middle of Liberty Avenue, like they were the only two people in the world.

“How long have you known Justin?”

“Since I was five,” Daphne said, smiling at the camera. Time had been very kind for her.

“What was the biggest change you saw in him since he met Brian?”

“It took a while, I think it was more after the bashing but he was less spoiled. Cared about others more than himself…mostly.”

“If you could change one thing in your relationship with Brian, what would it be?”

“Just one?” Justin asked, his smile a little sad.

“Are there more than one?”

“Many. But only two I really would change if given the chance,” Justin said.

“What would they be?”

“First one would be when I was a go-go boy at Babylon.”

“Why would you change that?”

“Will you use this in the video?”

“I won’t if you don’t want me to use it.”

“No, I’ve kept his secret long enough.”

Brian felt Justin tense up. He pulled his head down so he could whisper in his ear. “It’s a teaching lesson, you’re alright. You got away, you won.”

When they watched the movie years ago, it tore him up. He’d known something happened that night, he just never guessed that.

“What happened?” Blake’s voice was gentle, like he was talking to one of his patients.

“Brian said he would pay for PIFA. I didn’t want to feel like a leech. Look at all the things he had done for me before that. I got a job as a go-go boy. It really didn’t pay that well, but it would if I danced on the bar. But you can only dance on the bar if you engage in a sexual act with him.”

“And?”

“I got to dance on the bar.”

Justin dug his nailed into Brian’s thigh, he did his best not to yelp.

“Is that what you would change?”

“Yes, but not only because of how I felt after that. Gary wanted his boys high, and I was no different. But doing drugs at night and skipping class during the day defeated the reason for working. I talked to my boss because I had a project due. He agreed to let me go if I went to a party of his at his house. Brian warned me not to go, pleaded in his own way.”

“Was he right to be worried?”

Justin’s eyes were downcast, they stayed that way when he began to talk.

“As soon as I got there I wanted to leave. Gary started shoving coke up my nose. But I was used to that, it was after he gave me a drink that things got scary. It was like there was a delay between my mind and body. They had another kid my age, drugged out of his mind in- “

“STOP!” Justin yelled.

Blake must have had the same idea because he paused a second before Justin yelled.

Justin turned around and looked at brain, tears in his eyes. “Not with Caleb and Sean here.”

“They’re old enough to understand,” he said rubbing Justin’s back.

“How can they? I don’t understand and I was there.”

Brian looked around and saw most of his children were red eyed. The exceptions were Matt, who looked lethal, and Sean who was just looking confused. Maybe Justin was right, he’s too young. Too naive. Was it fair to have him here like this? To show him the ugliness in the world when he still saw the good.”

“Drew, can you take Sean in the house. Why don’t you see how much he can kick your ass in Madden?” Brian asked the man.

“Sure, I’m always up for a worthy opponent,” Drew said, smiling at Sean.

“Dad?” Sean was worried.

“Go with Drew. I’ll talk to you about everything later. You don’t need to be here for this,” Justin told their second to youngest.

“Go on, make sure you record it. I want to see you kick Coach Boyd’s ass,” Caleb said, being a good big brother.

After Drew left with Sean, the movie continued.

“-a sex swing, he had no idea what was happening to him. They started trying to take my pants off, but I wasn’t that far gone yet. I knew I didn’t want them touching me, I was able to break Gary’s nose, pure luck. I was about to run out and call a cab. It’s a miracle that I was able to make it home as drugged as I was.”

“Justin, are you alright?” Blake asked off screen.

“Yes, at the time I was able to just push it away. But I think now, having the kids, I would lose my mind if anything like that happened to them. Thankfully, they’ll never have their college funds taken away from them. It won’t matter if one of them turns around and tells us to fuck off. It’s their money, and they will always have access to it. Brian made sure of it.”

“Do you think Brian will be angry with you when he finds out?”

“Angry with the Sap, not with me. He might throw himself a party for finally finding out how right he was. “

“What’s the other thing you’d change?”

“Ethan Fucking Gold,” he said bitterly.

Brian heard a gasp from one of the couches. He turned enough to see Reece’s face slack with surprise. Guess he did know the man he kissed in the hotel’s name.

“Who is Ethan Gold?”

“A mistake.”

The video appeared, someone had Justin and Ethan kissing in the street. Brian’s stomach rebelled just like it had when Michael told him about it, and when he finally saw it for himself. A picture appeared, it was of Justin and Ethan at the RAGE party. Someone had captured the moment Ethan started pulling Justin out of his own fucking party like a possessive little weasel. Brian heard a low snarl from behind him, he ignored it.

“What happened?”

Justin’s face appeared on screen.

“Lindsay and Melanie wanted do to something nice for me since Brian didn’t celebrate birthdays, at least the way they wanted. They took me to a violin recital at PIFA. That’s where I saw Ethan for the first time. Then he came to my exhibit. After that we became friends but there was some undercurrent to it all, but I had Brian and I was in love with him.”

“What changed?”

“One night, I just wanted one night just us. No Babylon. No Woody’s. Just us, I even made a picnic on the floor of the loft. Brian left when he couldn’t get me to join him at Babylon. He had a lot of stuff going on, but at the time I just felt like he was picking nameless tricks over me.”

“So, the next night I went to Ethan’s apartment and we had sex.”

Brian’s face appeared on screen. It was clear to anyone watching he was only doing the video for Justin.

“When did you find out Justin was having sex with someone else?”

“We weren’t monogamous, we were both free to fuck who we wanted,” Brian said stubbornly.

“But this was different, he crossed a line. Right?”

“He may have broken the rules that he set out for us to follow,” he conceded.  

“Did you break them?”

“No. But I never wanted to break them.”

“What were the rules?”

“That’s none of your fucking business.”

Justin’s face appeared again.

“Home by three. No kissing on the lips. No repeats, no names and no numbers.

“Did Brian break any of the rules?”

“No. Well…he did come home after sun up one morning, but he was in jail, so that really shouldn’t count.”

“What about you, did you break them?”

“Several times. First with a guy I felt sorry for, it was then I realized why Brian acts the way he does sometimes. But most of the other rules I broke for Ethan.”

“Did you love Ethan?”

“I thought I did. Turns out, I just wanted to hear someone say they loved me.”

“And that wasn’t Brian?”

“An ‘I love you’ from Brian is worth more than anything Ethan ever said. Ethan’s love was empty, Brian’s is real. It took me much too long to figure that out.”

“What happened to Ethan?”

“He cheated on me and I left. He called more times than I was comfortable with but I didn’t answer. Over the years, he would turn up at odd times.”

“Did you want to take Justin back?”

Brian on screen again.

“He is here, isn’t he?” Brian’s snapped the words.

Footage of Liberty Avenue in the age of Stockwell was shown. Cops on every corner, but so were the anti-Stockwell posters. Both in this video and his own with Ted; Ted’s arrest, downfall and addiction weren’t shown. Blake knew about that, of course, just like his own addiction wasn’t on a giant screen. But all the kids knew about it, Ted wanted to live his life as honestly as possible. Maybe they should have taken a page from his book.

Candid pictures of Justin and Brian taken at Woody’s, Babylon, Liberty Diner. Media reports on Stockwell closing down bars and clubs that catered to homosexuals. Debbie yelling on WFGF in the freezing snow.

“Why did you get expelled from PIFA?”

Justin’s face appeared. “Well, first, I made posters that put Stockwell in a bad light. I was interning at VanGuard at the time, who were working for Stockwell. I got caught and refused to apologize.”

“How did you lose your job at VanGuard?”

Brian’s face was there again, scowl prominent.

“What does it matter?”

“Just answer,” Blake bit out. Losing his patience trying to get Brian to open up.

“I was fucking the intern that was working on fucking up Stockwell’s election, and I against a client of mine.”

“That intern was Justin, right?”

“Why do you ask questions you know the answers? It’s not like this is going to be played at Cinema Six.”

 “When were you the proudest of Brian? Was it when he started Kinnetik?”

Justin’s face appeared again.

“I was proud then, still am. But that’s not the time I was proudest of him. Brian did something completely unselfish, something for our community.”

“What did he do?”

“I can’t say. Brian doesn’t do things for the pat on the back, not the real things. In fact, it bothers him when people to thank him. Some know, but I know he wouldn’t want me to say.”

Brian’s face appeared.

“How was your relationship with Justin while you were starting your own agency?”

“We both were busy with other things.”

“I understand what you were busy with, what about Justin?”

“Justin had some stuff he had to work through.” Brian was clearly not going to say more.

Justin’s face appeared.

“What kinds of things were you going through while Brian was starting up Kinnetik?”

“The bashing of a friend sent me back to a dark place, let’s leave it at that.” The look on Justin’s face said he wouldn’t be saying more on the subject.

A new clip started, Vic could be heard while the camera moved wildly. Finally, the camera found him, he was seated across the person with the camera.

“Ok, Vic, spill,” Justin said, a little tersely.

“Well, that answers my question if you’ve talked to Deb.”

“Sorry,” Justin said, sounding ashamed.

“Don’t be, I’d expected people to take sides. That’s why I asked you here, I wanted to make a video while everything is fresh. We’ll make up, we always do but I think our last argument brought up a lot that Deb’s kept inside,” Vic said sadly, looking rough.

“This video to Deb?”

“No, this one is just us. I don’t want her to hear it, we’ll make up. All the bad feelings will be forgotten. I just feel I need to get this off my chest. I can’t explain it. Maybe it’s because Michael is due later to bring some things over.”

Justin laughed. “Cut open your heart and bleed over the paper or in this case video,” Justin said.

“Is that what you do?”

“Not my heart,” Justin said simply. Brian was sure it was an artist thing to talk in riddles.

“When I was young, I only really had Deb. Our parents and our younger sister wasn’t exactly open to just the idea of homosexuality.  Without Deb, I don’t know what I would have done. I left to make my own life, outside of Pittsburgh and all the hate here. But I left Debbie, single with a baby. I left. I was healthy and whole and I left.”

“She would never have asked you to put your life on hold to help her,” Justin said quietly.

“That’s the thing with my sister, she would never ask for help. Not even if she was on fire. She didn’t want to be a burden to anyone. She would raise her baby and she didn’t need any man. When I was gone, I lived life to the fullest. I got the job I wanted, I had all the men I wanted. Lived the life I wanted. But I didn’t want to settle down. Didn’t want to find one guy to stay with when there were so many around.”

“Sounds a lot like Brian,” Justin said.

“Yeah, that’s why I always made sure never to be hard on him. He has to figure things out on his own, just try and stick out the worst and you’ll get his best.”

“I’m trying.”

“When I got sick, I didn’t have friends to count on. Not because I didn’t have friends and not because I they didn’t care. But it hit our community like a tidal wave, you didn’t know who was going to get hit. There was still so much unknown in those early days. I called Debbie and told her. Do you know what she said to me?”

“No.”

“When my friends were calling their families, asking for help, they were turned away. They were told that they deserved to get sick and die. Debbie sold her jewelry to buy me a plane ticket. She knew I was too sick to ride on the bus. She was there every time I got sick, she never even flinched. Hell, I made her get herself tested. He had cared about me so much she never once gave a thought about her own safety. That’s Debbie, she’s overbearing and loud but would walk into the hell with her head held up high for anyone she loves. We’re lucky, we part of that family. I think that’s where Brian gets it, he’s subtler than she is but he has a huge heart, it’s just wrapped in barbed wire with snipers.”

Brian didn’t really think that was true, but what did he know. He knew Debbie always wanted a big family, and look she got it. Turning around he looked at her. After they lost Vic, Justin had shown her the video, but it had been a while. She was sobbing quietly while Carl rubbed her arm.

“So, you’re not mad at Debbie anymore?” Justin asked.

“Mad? I was never mad, we’re Italian we fight and make up. She’ll be bringing of something around about the time I’ll be making her favorite chocolate cake.”

“What was with all the urgency that I needed to come now with the camera?”

“The day is growing old, I guess.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing, go on now, I want to have a nap before Michael gets here.”

Emmett could be heard sniffing loudly in the back, Justin’s cheeks were wet. He wouldn’t even turn around to see how his kids were handling it. Gus was so young when they lost Vic, the other kids never got to meet him.

Pictures of Vic started flashing. Not of his death or his funeral. No, they were of child Vic, smiling Vic at prom, Vic looking dashing in bellbottoms. Vic in a chef’s hat. Vic and Debbie all smiles looking at baby Michael. Picture after picture after picture. Finally, a picture of Debbie and Rodney standing over Vic’s grave, saying goodbye. Then a picture three years later, when Debbie paid out of pocket and buried Rodney next to Vic.

“How did you find out Brian had cancer?”

Brian was glad this was not on of the secrets they had kept from the kids. He wouldn’t be able to handle the betrayal in their eyes. He wanted his sons to make sure to keep a check of themselves, he wasn’t going to lose them. He had even taken Anna to the doctor when she was eighteen had had her explain how to check herself for lumps that could be breast cancer. He waited in the waiting room and read Family Circle.

“His doctor called the loft.”

“He didn’t tell you himself?”

“No, and that was only after he had the surgery. Brian didn’t want anyone to know. When someone told him I knew, he kicked me out.”

“That must have been hard to deal with.”

“It was what it was. He couldn’t handle that he wasn’t perfect to me anymore.”

“Was that true?”

“Brian has never been perfect. Beautiful, brilliant, sexy but never perfect. No one is perfect, once he stopped trying to live up to an unattainable standard he seemed to be okay with me again. Not that I didn’t have to fight him on it.”

Photos and videos of the Liberty ride flashed over the screen. There was a video of Brian and Michael crossing the finishing line, Brian barely making it over.

“That was the day Jenny was born,” Lindsay said a little sadly.

“It was a good day,” Mel added, sending her ex a kind smile. It had taken her a while to forgive Lindsay but she had. It was Lindsay’s husband that was the only reason there wasn’t peace between the two now.

When Jenny invited Lindsay and her husband to her wedding, the asshole told Lindsay he wouldn’t be going and she couldn’t either. Told Lindsay that Jenny wasn’t her real daughter.

“What do you regret in your relationship with Justin?”

Brian was on screen.

“Regrets are bullshit.”

“Yes, I know everything is bullshit. Please, if you could change anything, what would it be?”

“I can’t change anything, what would it matter.”

“Goddamnit, Brian just answer the fucking question,” Blake roared.

Justin laughed against his chest, much like he did the first time they saw the movie. Brian kind of liked to hear Blake lose it for a minute. Maybe his and Ted’s sex life wasn’t so dull.

“No need to queen out. Fine. I guess the whole Stud of Liberty Avenue bet.”

“Explain.”

“I bet this twerp who thought he was me that I could fuck more of the hottest guys in Pittsburgh, faster. I won but it cost me.”

“What did it cost you?”

“Justin.”

“He broke up with you?”

“He moved out.”

A picture flashed. It was Justin’s mugshot.

“Why did you get arrested?”

Justin’s face appeared.

“I was protesting my father’s store. He was supporting Prop 14, I wanted people to know what kind of man he was. Someone who wants rights taken away from his own son and a whole community. He had the cops arrest me.”

“That must have been tough.”

“It’s the reason why, no matter what my kids do or how they treat me, I will never turn my back on them. They could be serial killers and I would make sure to be there every visiting day.”

“How did you and Brian get back together?”

“The world exploded around me.”

A video started up, it was from a camera crew reporting on the bombing at Babylon.

“Everyone get back!” a cop could be heard yelling at the crowd.

People were still staggering out of the building, some being carried, most dazed.

A far away voice could be heard screaming ‘Justin’.

“We’re reporting on a bombing that has happened here on Liberty Avenue. An hour ago, a bomb when off during a Stop Prop 14 benefit. The police are reporting fatalities. The bombing happened at local gay club, Babylon. We will be reporting more after this break.”

A new video, someone much closer than the news crew. Probably someone who wasn’t worried about another bomb going off. Most of the dust had settled. The camera panned over the destruction, Justin could be seen. He was covered in soot, wearing some paramedics jacket. Suddenly, there was Brian, wrapping him up in a hug before the camera panned away to the next group of people.

The wedding that didn’t happen was shown with pictures of them in tuxes with flowers. A picture of the very house they were at, the house he had bought for Justin.

“Why did you cancel the wedding?”

Justin’s face appeared.

“I didn’t want Brian to change for me. I always thought that’s all I wanted, but it was getting so I didn’t recognize him. I couldn’t have him living to regret his decision. I didn’t want to go to New York, but we both realized I needed it.”

“Did you know Justin would come back to you less than a year later?”

Brian was on screen.

“No, I thought he was gone for good. I wouldn’t blame him.”

“Why did you come back?”

Justin on screen.

“That’s a silly question. That’s like asking why I chose to breath. I came back because he is my life. I just had to do this one thing for us. He had done so much for us, I had to be brave.”

The last was a single video clip. Justin getting off the plane the day he moved back to Pittsburgh. He let his bags dropped and ran full speed to Brian. The whole airport watched as he jumped in to Brian’s arms and wrapped his legs around him. They didn’t part until security came and separated them. The song Save the Last Dance played over the video. It was a fitting ending.

The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Brian knew that had been the easy part. Now was going to be the hard part, answering his children’s’ questions, not Blake’s.

“Anyone have a question they’d like to ask?” Justin said, getting off Brian’s lap. Brian stood up beside him.

When all his children’s hands shot up in the air, he tried not to laugh. They were still young enough to follow the raise your hand for permission to speak thing.

Going with the oldest. “Gus,” he called on his son.

“What happened to your boss?” he asked, looking at Justin.

“Gary?” Justin asked, clarifying. Gus nodded.

“Nothing to do with me. He lost Babylon because he couldn’t pay the taxes so your father bought it for cheap. Last I heard he was in Florida living in assisted care.” Brian agreed by nodding. That was the last he heard too.

“Devon,” calling his next to oldest.

“Why did you forgive dad for cheating with that Ethan guy?” This question was directed at Brian.

“He was younger than you at the time, hell, he was younger than Matt and Anna. He needed to make his own decisions, I couldn’t hold it against him if he wanted someone else. But I’m glad it didn’t work out, if I’m being honest.”

“Then why did Justin kiss that guy six years ago,” Matt snarled.

Justin felt his world tilt on its axis with the venom coming out of Matthew’s mouth. Six years ago, thinking back he had to remember if he had seen Ethan six years ago. It hit him like a brick wall. He had seen him at the convention he took Matthew to when he was only thirteen. It was the first time that his sweet boy had started acting out. Matthew saw Ethan kiss Justin and thought he wanted it.

“Justin?” Brian asked, after he seemed to notice how quiet he was being.  

“Ethan, he showed up at the convention, it was really weird. He started to try and talk about how wonderful his life was. Expecting me to be sad and lonely, I guess. I told him we were married with children and that I wanted him to leave. He forced a kiss on me, I struggled but couldn’t get out of his arms. Thankfully, someone dropped something and his grip loosened. I was going to tell you when you got back from your trip to New York. I knew how tense you were about that meeting. But when you came back you were so angry, I just couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

Something flashed in Brian’s eyes. “Remind me, how long after the convention was my trip? You are talking about the one with Reece, right?”

“A week, I believe. Yes, that one.”

Brian grabbed Justin’s arm, hard. “You told him about our children?”

“That’s what I said. I didn’t tell him names or anything.”

“A fucking internet search would suffice. That motherfucker had it all planned,” Brian roared.

“What was planned?” Justin asked.

Brian let go of Justin and spun around looking a deathly pale Reece. “Do you want to tell him? Or should I?”

Reece shook his head. He wasn’t going to say whatever it was.

“What?” Justin asked.

“That weekend I walked into my hotel room only to see our son and Ethan Gold, attached at the mouth.”

Justin shook his head. “No, Matt was only thirteen that meant Reece was only fourteen. Ethan wouldn’t.”

“Wouldn’t he? I know about the phone calls. I know you went to the police because he was stalking you. Damnit Justin, Reece looks just like you. That was either some fucked up way to relieve the glory days or to get even.”

“I’m dating him now,” Reece said, rather loud for his shaky voice.

Brian looked like he was going to yell, but surprisingly he bit it back. “Are you still going to see him?” he asked calmly.

“After finding out he came in between you and dad. No, I don’t think so. I was kind of thinking about breaking it off anyway. He seems a little off,” Reece said.

Brian nodded. “Any other questions?”

Matt was looking at Justin with horror in his eyes. “You weren’t cheating on Pop?”

“No, I admit I made that mistake a long time ago. But as soon as I knew I had your father’s heart, I’ve never wanted another man.”

Right before their eyes, their big, strong son broke down and sobbed like a baby, running to Justin and hugged him. Justin was lost in their son’s larger body. Once he pulled away Justin’s eyes was red too.

“I’m going to take Matt on a drive, we have some things to talk about. You have some things to talk about with Reece,” Justin said, looking angrily at Brian.

He nodded he knew he had to work this out.

“Reece and I are going to take a walk around the grounds. Your aunts, uncles and Grandma Deb and Grandpa Carl will answer any questions you have. Don’t leave, I’ll be back in about ten minutes.”

Reece followed him out of the of the media room, it led straight outside, because it wasn’t attached to the house. In fact, it was quite a walk away.

“Is that why you hate me? Because of Ethan?” Reece asked quietly. His voice carried in the stillness of the night. Brian could just make out the sound of Justin’s van starting up.

“I don’t hate you. You were fourteen when I walked into that room. I bragged for years about my own older man story but wanted to vomit when my child thought that was alright to do. I felt like I had failed you.”

“Don’t say that Pop, you didn’t tell me about you and the coach. I heard Uncle Mikey and Aunt Lindsay talking about it.”

He grunted, he would be speaking to them later. “The problem is all mine, it’s never been you. I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way. You know how much you look like your dad. Walking in that room, it was like someone punched me in the gut again. Because for a split fucking second it wasn’t my son sitting on the bed with Ethan, it was your dad. If it was anyone else, I would have threatened jail and that was it. But it was the first time I saw you making the same mistake he did. After that, all I could see was everything bad that happened to him happen to you. Six years, six years of me acting like an ass. I know I don’t deserve it but do you think you can forgive me. I’m so sorry.”

They were walking along the tree line, Reece stopped and looked at him. There was only the light from the overly bright moon to light them. “Sorrys bullshit. I spent the last six years trying everything I could to get you to look at me, love me, pay attention to me. And all this time it was your issues, not mine. You pushed me to date a girl. Do you remember that?”

Brian guiltily nodded. “Yes.”

“Because you thought I would get bashed like Dad?”

“Yes.”

“But never, not fucking once, did you ever say anything like that. I thought I was wrong. I couldn’t figure out how everyone could be attracted to who they wanted but I wasn’t. I felt like a fucking freak. Like I didn’t deserve love,” Reece was screaming now.

“I know, I’m don’t really have an excuse.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t listen. You’ve wanted me gone for six years, guess what, Brian. You got your wish. I’ll be out within the hour.” Reece took off running to the house. Brian thought about chasing him, stopping him. But what right did he have to do that.

He continued his walk around the tree line, when he circled back around he headed to the media room to see what was going on. Walking through he was surprised to see Justin and Matt. He was about to tell him about Reece but noticed Justin’s face.

“What’s going on?” Justin looked like he saw a ghost.

“The man…Matthew…Chris…” Justin was hyperventilating.

Brian talked to him calmly, helped him with his breathing, like he used to do. Just as he was able to breathe again he heard Matt speak.

“Pop, the guy who’s truck I spray painted. I’m like ninety percent sure it’s Chris Hobbs.”

Fuck!

He grabbed the first keys he found, which was to Gus’ car. Thankfully, his brother lived in Nashville, Tennessee, he wouldn’t need his car much, mostly because now they knew Anna was alright he would be flying home. In fact, he told Reece he could have it years ago, the only hold out had been their pop. Well, Brian Kinney could kiss his ass. He hadn’t behaved liked a father to him in years. The only parent he had was his dad, but he was so angry with him for accepting the way he had been treated. He didn’t need any of them, fuck them all.

Before he left he only grabbed a few sets of clothes and his laptop. Now he just had to figure out where the fuck he was going. Almost everyone in his extended family was at Britin. Alex was there too, he couldn’t even face his best friend after the humiliation about Ethan. Did Ethan ever even like him or was it all about his dad? His phone rang for the twentieth time; it wasn’t the latest, greatest like his brothers had but nothing he had was.

Brain had told them from an early age they would work, no trust fund babies. But no matter how hard he worked it was never good enough. Every one of his siblings but Caleb, Sean and Avery had worked at Kinnetik, except him. It had made him think his siblings were smarter, funnier, just all around better. But finally, he finds out that his huge crime had not been bringing a strange guy to the hotel, being gay or even almost hooking up with his dad’s ex. No, his great crime had been doing all three and looking like his dad. Well, if looking like his dad was the problem, he’d just fix it, after all he already had a nose ring.

The thought about going to Liberty Avenue crossed his mind but he quickly tossed that idea out, his parents practically owned it the whole damn street or were friends with those who did.

School was out for the summer, he hadn’t found a summer job yet. He didn’t have anywhere to be for over a month. He grabbed his phone and threw it out of the window; good, dependable, predictable Reece was dead and never coming back.

“Did you reach him?” Justin asked pacing the floor.

They had sent everyone home and explained what they could to the rest of their children. Anna was safe and that was a hell of worry off his mind. But now they had another child MIA, and this one was so very angry.

“No, you should try again; he won’t answer for me,” Brian said, he looking rough.

“He’s not answering for anyone, not even Alex. He’s an adult, we should just give him time,” Justin said, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I’m going to track his phone,” Brian said, grabbing his phone.

Justin shook his head, he didn’t even know why he tried. Their family was falling apart and he had no idea how to fix it.

Anna was going to lose it when she found out what happened. If she were home she’d force herself in Gus’ car with Reece. He’d had never of gotten away.

Brian went to the location the phone was at. He found it on the side of the road, tossed away like garbage. Had Reece done that or someone else? Was Reece running or being taken? He knew the answer, Reece had just told them to fuck off in his own way. Brian picked up the phone and took it home, Justin was going to be pissed.

He knew his mind should be on Reece or Anna or what was happening in his house. But all he could think about were the pictures of his dad after the bashing. That man, Christopher Hobbs, had done that to his dad for just existing. What would he do to his own son?

Giving up on sleep, he dressed and headed for Kenyon’s car. Kenyon went to school at UCLA, so he let Matt drive it when he wanted. He did a quick search using his phone, he was able to find a home address for Christopher Mark Hobbs, owner of Hobbs Construction.

“This can’t be right,” he muttered to himself when he pulled up and parked on the other side of the street.

The truck he had spray painted had been new. It didn’t match the squalor of this home, and home was a stretch.

Shingles were missing from the roof, boards were covering one of the windows facing the street. Truthfully, it looked abandoned, maybe it was. He held onto that thought until the front door opened and the older man from the night before staggered out. He was pulling something behind him. Matt breath caught when he saw that something was the boy from last night. The man had the boy by the hair and he could see the boy struggling.

He opened the car door and stepped out. He could hear them now.

“I’m sorry, Dad, please. I don’t have anywhere to go,” the boy cried.

“You should have thought about that before you became an abomination.”

At that last second, Matt’s brain kicked in. If he was caught beating the hell out of this guy, he would get more than some petty vandalism charge. Quickly, had hid behind another truck, it looked newer than even the last.

“Mom!” the boy yelled at the open doorway.

A small, scarily thin woman appeared in the doorway. She looked at the pair with tears running down her face. “I’m sorry, Chris, I babied him too much.”

At first, Matt thought the tears were for the boy, but they weren’t they were for her son-of-a-bitch husband.

With a final shove the boy went flying back. The man turned and headed back inside, slamming the door behind him. The boy stood up and starting banging on the door.

“Please, I’ll be good, I promise,” he begged. He sounded so incredibly young.

Matt had never been so lost as what to do before. His pop and dad would know. But they were worrying about Reece, he didn’t want to add to it, telling his dad he went to his bashers house. No, he had a lot to make up with his dad, that wouldn’t help.

Still not wanting to be seen by the people in the house, he whispered, “Hey, kid.”

The boy was still banging on the door, he would never hear him. Suddenly the door opened again, revealing Cristopher Hobbs and a shotgun.

“You have exactly twenty seconds to get off my property. If not, I’ll shoot.” The door slammed back.

The banging and sobbing stopped, almost like a switch. Matt watched as the boy turned and started to walk to the street, back hunched. Just as the boy past the truck, Matt stood up. “Hey.”

The boy let out a blood-curdling scream.

“Shush, I don’t want the man coming back out here with that shotgun,” he said.

“You? You’re the one that spray painted my dad’s truck. Are you crazy, he’ll shoot you without a second thought.” The boy was shaking.

“Where are you headed?” Matt asked, deciding that pointing out the man might shoot him own son wasn’t helpful.”

He wiped his eyes. “I don’t know.”

“What about family?”

“My parents are all I have. At least its warm out. I’ll find a bench somewhere.”

“Come on,” Matt said, gesturing to the car.

“Where?”

“I know a place, I promise I’m not a serial killer.” As calm as the night had been, a clap of thunder hit. “Don’t listen to him.” He hoped to get a laugh, he didn’t.

“Summer storms are the worst, I guess I’ll risk it,” the boy said. He got into the car and buckled up.

“What’s your name?” Matt asked.

“Everyone calls me Shorty.”

“Really?” He would hate to be called Shorty, but he wasn’t short. “I’m Matt.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Matt.”

He parked on Tremont and locked the car up. His father only used the loft if he couldn’t get home for the night, or when his parents wanted to live out their wild and younger years. He tried not to vomit in his mouth at the thought. His parents were always all over each other. He used to think it was sweet if not a little embarrassing. But after so many years of anger at his dad. It would take a while to get over an affair he apparently made up in his own head.

He unlocked the door to the building and let Shorty walk past him. He was crossing his fingers that his pop hadn’t changed the alarm in the past few months. Thankfully, he hadn’t. When he slid the door shut, he heard Shorty gasp.

“Wow, you live here?” he asked in awe.

“No, this is my father’s loft. He uses it when he can’t get home.”

“You must be rich,” Shorty said looking down at this feet. He was in clothes much too big for him and his shoes were beat to hell.

“My parents both do very well; they work hard.”

“Oh, shit!” Shorty yelled, eyes going wide.

Matt saw him run to the wall where a first edition of the first issue RAGE was hanging.

“You like RAGE?”

“I love RAGE, I had some but had to get rid of them before my dad found them.”

“What’s your dad’s deal?” he asked, he didn’t want to let on who he was.

“I guess you’re expecting more than he’s an hateful, bigoted drunk?”

“If you know that, why were you trying to stay?” He didn’t understand.

“Because they’re my family.”

“When I was three my biological mother left me and my twin sister in an apartment alone. I don’t know if she was ever planning to come back. We were there days before a neighbor called the cops. Blood don’t mean shit”

“I’m sorry that’s terrible. Here I am whining about my life.”

“Look, I didn’t tell you so I could have your pity. I’ve had a great life. All I’m saying is, they may be your ‘parents’ but they aren’t your family. You make your own family.”

His phone started ringing. It was his pop.

“What?” he said gruffly.

“Why are you in my loft?”

He looked around wildly, trying to see if his dad had a camera in the loft.

“How do you know?”

“I get a notification every time someone uses the code to get in the loft. Too many sneaky kids.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“I watched you and some kid walk in.”

Rushing over to the window, he looked down. There was his father, standing next to his own car, glaring up at him.

“It’s not what you think,” he said quickly.

“I’m coming up.” He watched his pop pocket his phone.

They were not a repressed family. His parents had the sex talk with each of them early. He’d always been open with them. Safe sex was learned early. But there were rules that should never be broken, and fucking in his pop’s loft was a big one. His father was freaky about his privacy.

“My pop is on his way up. His bark is worse that his bite.” At least to his family.

The door slid open and his pissed off father walked in.

“My loft is off limits for tricks,” he pop snapped.

“You’re a magician?” Shorty asked, excitement in his eyes. Never in his life had he wished he’d helped Maurice with his magic more.

“Uh…no. He doesn’t mean that kind of trick,” Matt told him.

Shorty blushed with embarrassment. “Oh, sorry.”

Matt wanted to make him feel better, he didn’t like how ashamed Shorty looked about his excitement at the prospect about him being a magician.

“My brother’s a magician,” he said, hoping for the smile again.

“Really? I’ve always wanted to learn. My dad wouldn’t let me, said it was evil”

“Well, your father sounds like a real peach,” his father said.

“I’m Matt’s dad, Brian Kinney.”

Shorty smiled up at his dad and held out his hand. “I’m Justin Taylor Hobbs but everyone calls me Shorty.”

Matt stood there flabbergasted, he had no idea what to say. What the hell was Hobbs playing at naming his son after his father. There had to be something missing from the story that they had told. There had to be.

Brian looked at the kid who looked about fourteen, there was no doubt he was Chris Hobbs son. He hadn’t seen it when he came in but it was clear as day now. He didn’t have Hobbs height but he had his facial features. His face wasn’t long like Hobbs and looked very feminine on him. He had to admit he was a pretty kid, not handsome but pretty. But why name his own child after Justin. What the hell was going on in Chris Hobbs’ head? He was determined to find out.

“Piece of shit!” Reece yelled at the car, before kicking the flat tire.

He hadn’t even got out of Pittsburgh before the tire went flat, and his idiot of a brother didn’t have a spare in the trunk. This was the time he regretted not keeping his phone. The car’s vehicle assistance was broken, so he couldn’t even get help that way. It didn’t help that it looked like a pretty bad neighborhood to break down in.

The only house with a light on looked like it should be condemned. But there was a truck out in front of the house, it read Hobbs Construction, for a minute his mind went blank. But then he remembered there must be tons of people named Hobbs, he was just being stupid.

He could hear yelling from inside when he knocked. It was well after midnight so that wasn’t a surprise. The door opened and a thin, small woman opened the door.

“I’m really sorry about this, but my car got a flat and I don’t have a spare. I was wondering if I could call my friend?” Alex would help him, not matter what time.  

She looked at him weirdly, he was getting a little creeped out. “Come in,” she said opening the door wider.

Everything in his body was screaming at him not to go in that house. But he was just being a big baby again. “Thank you,” he said before walking in. When he saw, the man standing just inside the doorway he knew he had made a mistake. It was too late though, as he turned to run out the door, he was hit from behind. His vision got blurry before he fell. He just wanted his dad.

“How did you get a name like that?” Brian asked, eyeing the boy.

“Which one? Justin or Shorty?”

“Justin Taylor, that’s Matt’s other father’s name, you know.”

The boy lifted both eyebrows up in surprise. “Justin Taylor?” Then the boy gasped and turned towards Matt. “Your dad is Justin Taylor? The Justin Taylor?”

“Umm…his name is Justin Taylor,” Matt conceded, looking a bit bewildered.

“Oh. My. God. Do you know Michael Novotny too? I thought your dad was just a collector.”

“What?” Brian asked, completely lost.

“Oh, you’re talking about RAGE. Your dad named you after the co-creator of a gay comic book?” Matt asked.

“Oh, no…he would never. My birth mother gave me the name. When my father got out of prison, he got me. My mother made sure my name could never be changed. I don’t know why, it’s just a name.”

“Hold it, back up. What do you mean got out of prison?” Brian asked barely holding on to his control.

“My dad isn’t a good man,” Shorty said sadly.

Like Brian hadn’t know that fact for twenty-five years.

“Meaning?” Brian asked, pushing when it seemed Shorty didn’t want to talk anymore.

“My biological mother was beautiful, I don’t remember her but I’ve seen pictures. Well, my dad met her while he was working in Harrisburg. I guess he became obsessed with her but she didn’t like him. One day, he just grabbed her off the side of the road. He took her back to his hotel room and raped her. After he started ranting at her, she was able to hit him with something and get away.

She pressed charges, but he was from a wealthy family and she wasn’t. They blamed her and said she lead him on. But then she found out she was pregnant. Dad was married and his wife couldn’t have a baby. My grandparents wanted me. So, to keep her from having an abortion, she said the only way was for him to plead guilty.

“He was sentenced to only five years. She didn’t want me, not that I blame her, I wouldn’t want me either. The deal was for my grandparents to raise me. She would get to name me though. She picked Justin Taylor, I don’t know why but my dad hates it. She changed her name and left. Good for her, I hope she’s had an amazing life, I just wish sometimes she would have taken me with her.”

Brian thought he couldn’t have hated Chris Hobbs anymore, he’d been wrong. Hobbs wasn’t above attempted murder, it seemed neither was rape. Her lawyers had must of told her about Hobbs previous run in with the law. But why do that to her child? Put a target on his back from birth. There was only one explanation. She wanted Hobbs parents to see his crimes, alive and in color. Shorty’s existence made the rape unable to deny, naming him Justin was showing them that even long ago crimes weren’t forgotten.

Even though he understood what he thought her reasons were. He couldn’t get over naming the boy after his father’s most hated enemy then turning and walking away.

“I though you didn’t have grandparents?” Matt asked.

“They died when I was six, house fire. I was at school. I moved in with my dad and mom, my dad’s wife. My mom isn’t a bad person, she’s just scared of him. She’s really nice to me when he’s not around, but when business is bad, he’s around more. Sometimes he’s nice, but never to me. It wasn’t too bad until a few days ago. I told them I wanted to go to PIFA, I applied, although I’m not sure I’ll get in.”

“Are you an artist?” Matt asked, he looked to be hanging on Shorty’s every word.

“No, not with paint and canvas, I’m an actor, I played P”

“I can see that,” Matt said a little goofily.

As nice as the kid seemed to be, he didn’t want Chris Hobbs as an in-law.

“How old are you?” Brian asked the kid.

“I’ll be eighteen next month,” he said, chewing on his bottom lip. “I was supposed to graduate this year. But I was held back my sixth-grade year because I was sick a lot.”

Brian wasn’t an idiot, something happened that year to make Hobbs extra pissed off and the bruises couldn’t be covered making it impossible for Shorty to go to school. It was turning into a fucking lifetime movie.

The kid was even more innocent than Justin was when he met him. Of course, Justin had been out looking for cock when they met. He wasn’t sure how Matt encountered Shorty tonight. What he was sure was Hobbs would kill him if he knew he was gay.

“Why aren’t you home, Shorty?” he asked.

“My dad kicked me out. But he’ll change his mind he always does.”

“When was the first time he kicked you out?” Matt asked. Brian tried to ignore the puppy dog eyes his son was giving the boy.

“I think I was around eleven, it was only for a few days. I slept on a neighbors’ couch. The neighbor told dad if he didn’t take me back in she would call the cops.” Sixth-fucking-grade. Sometimes he hated being right.

“Shit. Fine, let’s go home. You can stay in Anna’s room.”

After he sent Matt and Shorty home, he decided he had given Reece enough time. He didn’t like to break this level of trust but with Chris Hobbs name coming up too much in the last day, he wanted Reece home. He called Gus, and had him use his vehicle tracker to find the car. It left a bad taste in his mouth to do this. He had spent years instilling trust in his children. Sure, he protected his own things like the loft and his car. But he never wanted his children to think he was always looking over their shoulder waiting for them to fuck up. This was different though, Reece needed to be found. Now.

“Dad, it’s moving, looked like he’s headed home. He just crossed the West Virginia line. He probably just went out and blew off some steam.”

“Thanks, sonny boy. I’m headed home.” Reece should be get home before he did. It was a relief.

It was easy to tow the car; his truck was meant to move things. Tabitha was keeping an eye on the boy while he ditched the car. Just over the state line, in a thicket of trees.

When the boy walked through his door that night, he knew who he was. He hadn’t known Taylor had a biological son, but he knew he was. The boy confirmed it with his name. Reece Taylor-Kinney. He would make sure this one would pay for every sick act his faggot father did. Not only that, the faggot lived in a mansion.

When he found out the names of the two little assholes who vandalized his truck. Taylor-Kinney, he had looked them up. He was sure that they were dead by now. He hated Brian Kinney as much as he did Taylor. He couldn’t turn away such a gift when it walked in his door.

His own life was supposed to be better than the shit it was. He was supposed to take over his father’s law firm. But after the whole prom incident his dad was less than pleased with him. Sure, he helped him get off with light charges but when Chris asked about going to law school he had baulked. He said that he wouldn’t throw good money after bad.

A two-year degree and a job wearing a fucking hard hat was his life. When he was working, he met the most beautiful woman, he had no idea what a cunt she was at the time. Fucking bitch played hard to get then ran to the police. Not only that his had the damn brat who she named that awful name. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her so much when he had her in his hotel room.

Then his parents ‘tragic’ deaths didn’t help him in the least, they were too damn evil and made sure he couldn’t touch most of the money. He did get some, which he started his construction company with. At least he had a lot of places to hide the body when he was done, because this one wasn’t walking out alive. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

It had been one day since their world had tilted on its side. One day since the news broke about the Stockland. Yesterday, they had been so worried about Anna. But now they knew she was fine, they had other worries. The night before Reece hadn’t come home, Brian and Gus found the car he was using on a small path in some woods. The car had a flat but Carl Horvath, the younger, said that it looked like it had been towed there. Because of that, they were listing him as an endangered adult.

So, this morning he was watching his son’s face plastered on the morning news, right above the breaking news ticker. How could this be happening? Reece had never hurt anyone in his life. Yeah, he had been upset last night and told off Brian. But he was twenty and that was the first time he ever spoke to either one of them like that. Brian always said how much Reece was like him, but Justin didn’t agree. He’d always had a smart mouth, always was talking back to someone.

The phone rang, bringing him out of his zombie-like state.

“Hello,” he answered without looking at who was calling.

“Justin?”

It had been twenty years since he heard that voice. It was a voice he never thought he’d hear again. “Craig?”

“I know I deserve that. I was just watching the news.”

Justin really didn’t have the energy to deal with his father. Molly had told him that he’d been asking about him for the past ten years or so, but Justin wasn’t ready to forgive him.

“Listen, I’m hoping someone will call with information.”

“That’s why I’m calling,” his father rushed out.

“What?”

“I can’t sleep at night, nightmares, so I usually drive around until I get tired. I was driving last night, I saw that car they showed on the news. I wasn’t sure until I saw the picture of the driver’s side. It has that flat back tire.”

“Yes, that’s it. Where did you see it at?” Not the woods. Not the woods.

“Being pulled a white truck headed west on 376.”

“Did you get a license plate?” he asked.

“Didn’t think anything odd of it at the time. But I did see something made me remember it.” His voice was gruffer than it was a second ago.

“What is it, Dad? Please, anything can help us,” he begged.

“Didn’t think you’d ever call me that again. Hobbs Construction. That’s what was on the side of it. That little weasel was behind the wheel.”

Justin’s worse nightmare was coming true. “I’ve got to go.”

“Will you call me if I can do anything or just to let me know he’s alright?” he asked hesitantly.

“Sure, I’ve really got to go. Bye, Dad. And thank you.”

“Goodbye, Justin.” It sounded like he was going to say something else but Justin had already disconnected and was running upstairs.

After speaking to Lt. Martinez, they were told not to go to Christopher Hobbs house. So, they had to sit and wait, everyone was sitting at the table waiting for the call to come.

Pain. Never ending pain. His back felt like it was on fire. The gag in his mouth kept him from screaming out. The woman had gone to bed after Hobbs had come back. That was when the hell began. He made Reece take off his shirt. First, he started by whipping his back with his belt. Reece’s hands were tied together, he struggled but they were hooked to something. He couldn’t see what because he was face down on the floor.

He didn’t know how long the beating went on, he tried to close his mind to the pain. It was unsuccessful. He could feel blood rolling down his back. Finally, it stopped. It all just stopped. He could hear the man over him breathing hard.

“How do you like that, Taylor?” the man growled.

Reece guessed he didn’t want an answer because his mouth was still gagged. He just wanted to pain to stop. No one knew he was there, the man made it clear he wouldn’t be leaving alive. His hair was suddenly grabbed, pulling his head back.

“You need a man’s haircut.”

After all the punches, whips, cuts and scratches, this was the thing that made him cry. It wasn’t that the hair would hurt to lose, it was everything about him being stripped away piece by piece. His nose ring was ripped out minutes after the man came back.

He only flinched a little the man started grabbing chunks of his hair and cutting it. Soon he was shaving him, he could feel the guy’s breath on his head. He wondered how much hair he would have left, if any. Then he wondered why he cared so much, he already knew he was going to die. It was stupid to cry over some fucking hair. He closed his eyes and tried to think of a better, happier time.

“Pop, look.” Reece came barreling into his father’s office followed by his Aunt Daphne.

His pop looked up over his computer and smiled at him. “What do you have there?”

“Your birthday card. Daddy helped me make it.”

“He did? Well, it must be the best if you two made it together?”

His dad was working and his brothers and sister were at daycare and school. Reece didn’t have to go because he had been sick. Luckily, his Aunt Daphne was off and he didn’t have to be watched by a sitter.

“Sorry about this Brian, but I have just been called in,” Aunt Daphne said.

“It’s alright. I can leave early. Reece and I will spend the rest of the day together.”

Reece smiled at the memory. It was one of his favorites. He had only been eight, but his pop treated him like an adult that day. They left to go eat lunch, his pop took him to a place he takes clients. Then they went shopping, he got a new set of clothes. Then he started to get tired because he was still not feeling great. His pop had put him to bed for a name and read him three stories. Just him and his pop. He’d never felt so loved. He knew he was loved but after his parents started adding onto the family, sometimes he didn’t get that much attention. Not that he would change having his brothers and sister. He loved them so much, but it was nice to have one on one with his pop.

Carl had to beg to go on the call to Chris Hobbs house. Being a rookie he didn’t really have any pull but everyone knew his grandfather. Not only that, he’d known Reece since the kid was five years old. The thought of something bad happening to him was sickening.

Lt. Martinez knocked on the door. It was still pretty early in the morning, just after seven. A thin woman in a light pink nightgown opened the door, but only just a crack.

“Is Christopher Hobbs home?” Lt. Martinez asked. He usually wouldn’t be out for a missing person but when the elder Horvath asked him to make an exception he did.

They were just glad the Taylor-Kinney clan seemed to be letting the law work. They needed to bring Reece home or there would be hell to pay.

“No,” she said before she shut the door.

Martinez pounded on the door again. “Open the door,” he said sternly.

This time a tall man with a beer belly answered the door. “What do you want?”

“I would like to come in for a moment to speak.”

“Do you have a warrant?”

Just as he was about to tell the smug basted he would have one within the hour, something loud fell to the ground, something glass then a muffled cry.

“Sounds like someone is in danger,” Lt. Martinez said, shoving the man out to the way. They could get evidence later, if Reece was in there he might not make it until the warrant arrived. “Holy Mother of God,” he said quietly.

Turning he stopped Carl from entering. “Get an ambulance here now, and tell your family to meet us at Alleghany General” The young man nodded but went to do his work.

Martinez grabbed the slime ball by the shirt and forced him to the ground. He could hear his other officers tending to the injured boy. He was just a mess of blood, his hair shaved off and an open but blank look in his eyes. What the hell had this man done? Another officer could be heard reading the woman her rights. This was going to be a long day.

Reece watched the angels come in the door. They were odd looking angels. He had been waiting for them. Now they were here he could go to sleep.

“His pulse is weak,” he heard before closed his eyes.

The hospital’s coffee was for shit. He was debating sending one of the kids to go out and get some. After they got the call that Reece was found and taken to the hospital, they all rushed there. The doctor had Reece sedated because of his injuries. Since it looked like that would be there a while, Brian had Lindsay pick up Avery. Justin had wanted Caleb and Sean to go too but they refused.

Justin was sitting with Reece in his room, he was only allowed one family member at a time. The police had been by, seeing when they would be able to get a statement from Reece. The doctor said she wasn’t even considering lowering sedation until later in the day.

“Mr. Kinney?”

Brian looked up to see Hobbs’ son looking at him with worried eyes. When he had first seen the boy, it was only from the back. He was waiting outside his loft, hoping that Reece would show up there. It was then he saw Matt and guest head up to his loft. He gave them enough time to settle before he alerted Matt to his presence.

The boy hadn’t said much while they waited in the waiting room. Matt had to leave and go pick up Marie from the airport. Marie, Reece’s biological mother, had been worried as soon as they called her. She had known Justin while they were in St. James together. They met her again while interviewing for a surrogate. They chose to use a different surrogate to carry Reece but they both really liked Marie. Mostly because she was such a kind and sweet person. She volunteered so they would always have a way to reach her in case they needed her.

The reason why Reece looked so much like Justin was because Marie looked like a female version of him. They had been friends until she moved to Harrisburg after her family lost their money in their sophomore year. After she donated the eggs, they helped her get on her feet again. It was soon after they lost touch though, it was only about five years before she made contact again.

When they had called her about Reece’s attack and the perpetrator she said she would be on the first flight out. She now lived in Florida but was very secretive of the exact location.

“What do you need, Shorty?”

“Is your son going to be alright?”

“Doctor says so. She just said that he needs time to heal.” He kept quiet about all the injuries his son received, it wasn’t his story to tell.

“I’m really sorry that my dad did that,” Shorty said, looking ashamed.

“It’s not your fault what your old man did. Trust me.”

“Brian.” Justin was looking there now, looking at him with sad eyes. “I wanted to know if you wanted to sit with him for a while.”

“Are you sure?”

“He’s your son too.”

Justin voice was a little strained so Brian decided not to push him. He stood and took Justin into his arms, kissing the side of his temple. “I know, I’ll go sit with him for a while. Why don’t you go get yourself something to eat?”

“I will, after I go to the police station. I want to make sure he’s not out on bail yet.”

“He hasn’t been arraigned yet, I just talked to Lt. Martinez.”

“I want him to stay in prison until he dies,” Justin said, his eyes a little wild.

“He will, we have more power than him now. And we won’t back down like your parents did.”

Brian hated thinking of Jen that way, but it was the truth. After the bashing, they were as guilty as the judicial system. Justin was screwed six ways to Sunday, they wouldn’t allow the same thing to happen to Reece. He also decided to keep his mouth shut about what Lt. Martinez told him, Hobbs was saying that Reece broke into his home and he was just defending himself and his wife. It was all bullshit and Brian was going to make sure that Hobbs rotted in prison.

“Yes, I know. Go on now. I don’t want him alone. I know he’s not awake but still…”

 “Are you alright?” Matt asked Marie for what felt like the twelfth time.

“I’m just really out of sorts right now. Reece didn’t deserve any of this,” Marie said, pulling at her wristwatch.

“No, he doesn’t. Hobbs is a psycho. I’ve seen and heard only a small bit of what he’s done to his own son. He’s a dangerous animal.”

The woman gasped, but when he looked at her she looked like she was going to be sick. Her face was paler than when he picked her up, he had been surprised how much she looked like Reece and his dad. He had forgotten his dad told him most people thought his dad and Marie were twins.

“His son?” she said, her voice cracking.

“Yeah, he’s such a cool guy but Hobbs doesn’t see that. All he sees is a gay, little faggot. One that isn’t good enough to lick the dirt of his boots. I suspect there was a lot of abuse, but Shorty won’t talk about it.”

“Shorty?”

“Yeah, he goes by a nickname because his real name always set his father off, at least that’s what he said.”

They kept walking, even though her steps were stilted. The automatic doors opened to the main entrance, Reece had been moved to his own room early that morning.

“You’re back,” Caleb said, running over to them.

“Yep. What were your two doing?” he asked suspiciously, looking at Caleb and Sean.

“Just exploring. We aren’t leaving the hospital, we’re headed to the cafeteria now to join Maurice, Gus, Devon and Kenyon. You want to come?”

“No, go on. Don’t get into trouble.”

They left grumbling that they weren’t babies. He stifled a laugh because he could remember saying the same thing to Gus when he would babysit him.

The woman followed him into the waiting room. Only his father, Justin was there. He was sitting in chair by the door, staring at it sadly.

“Dad?” No answer.

“Justin!” Marie yelled before throwing herself at him. His dad had just enough time to stand up before she hit him head on.

She started to cry into his father’s shoulder. They really could be twins, in fact like looked more alike than he and Anna. He was tall with bulky muscles. Anna had dark red hair and he had light brown hair. Anna had pretty green eyes, and he had plain brown eyes. Everything about him was plain. It’s why he had worked so hard on his body, especially after he turned fourteen and shot up almost six inches over the summer. He was knobby knees and gangly limbs until his pop started helping him work out.

“It’s okay, they said he’s going to be fine. He just needs time to heal,” his dad told her.

“What are his injuries? What did that monster do to him? What did he do to both my babies?”

They seemed to forget he was in the room because neither even glanced at him.

“What do you mean?” his dad asked.

“I didn’t know. I thought that Richard and Ellen were going to raise him.”

“Raise who?”

“Justin.”

“Mom?” the quiet voice seemed so loud.

Matt looked between the crying woman and the surprised Shorty. He had no idea what was going on but it looked like Shorty thought that Reece’s biological mother or egg donor or whatever she was called was his mother also.

“Justin,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“What the hell is going on?” his pop said from the doorway.

“Yes, what is going on?” his dad added.

“I think we should sit down, it’s not a short story,” she said, taking Shorty’s hand in hers.

“I don’t understand. What are you doing here?” Shorty asked her.

“You know who I am?” she asked instead of answering.

“Yeah, dad had some pictures of you in his dresser. Sometimes, I would sneak in his room to look at them.”

“You were never supposed to be with him. You were always supposed to live with your grandparents,” she said, wiping a tear off her cheek.

“They died. Where else was he supposed to go?” his pop snapped.

“They died?” she asked, hand clutching her chest.

“In a fire, when I was six,” Shorty told her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know,” she said.

“You named him after Justin and just left him to those people. They were the ones that raised Hobbs. What did you expect?” his pop snarled at her.

“Brian, calm down. Why don’t you go check on the kids downstairs and I’ll go back to Reece. Shorty and Marie need to talk without an audience,” his dad said, pulling on his father’s arm.

“Fine. But this isn’t over,” his pop said to the woman.

Soon it was just Shorty, Marie and Matt left in the waiting room. When he tried to sneak out the door he was stopped.

“Matt, please stay,” Shorty said. He looked so lost and lonely at that moment.

Matt thought about if it was his mother, the woman who left him and his sister alone in an apartment. He would have lost his damn mind, he never wanted to see her again. Though he thought Shorty may not feel the same way as him.  

“Sure,” he said, walking over to the two of them.

When he sat in a seat, he was surprised Shorty sat down beside him and grabbed his hand. If he needed Matt’s support he would get it. He squeezed his hand, showing him he was there for him.

“Talk,” Shorty said, looking at her.

“When I was young, I lived here in Pittsburgh. I went to school with Justin. I was close friends with him and our other friend Daphne. But my dad was fired from his job and we moved to Harrisburg to live with my mom’s sister. When Justin and Brian were looking for someone to be their egg donor, I had was listed because it was a way to make some money. Finding out that they needed an egg donor I volunteered, I didn’t even want the money. They got a gestational donor and Reece was born. Justin and Brian helped me out in Harrisburg. I got a job working for one of Brian’s clients. Life was good until I saw a face from my past.”

“My dad,” Shorty said.

“Chris Hobbs. He saw me and started stalking me.”

“I thought he met you in Harrisburg?” Shorty asked.

“I did meet him there. I didn’t know him when we were at St. James, only ever saw him. Never had a class or even lunch period with him. Most everyone just looked over us, but it was like after he saw me in Harrisburg, he just couldn’t leave me alone.”

“I know what he did to you. You don’t have to say it, my mother…erm…stepmother told me.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t strong enough to take you with me. When they first pushed for me to have you, I hated everything about it. But every day you would get more real. Then one day I felt you move, my little butterfly. By the time you were born, I wanted to keep you, they wouldn’t let me though. They said if it wasn’t for them you wouldn’t exist anymore. They were right, not only that they had the lawyers. I told them I wouldn’t fight them if I got to name you. I wanted them to have to face what they turned Chris into. You were proof of what he did to me but they didn’t have to face Justin. They could pretend that he didn’t exist. I made that an impossibility.”

“So I was just a tool. That means Reece is my brother?” Shorty asked.

She nodded. “Biologically, yes.”

“But Matt?”

“We just have a brother in common, no relation between us at all. It’ll make us encentric,” Matt said, leaning over and kissing his temple, much like his father had kisses his dad when trying to comfort him.

Shorty gave him a small smile before turning back to Marie. “Did you come back just to see Reece?”

“For both of you. When I found out that Chris has had you, I couldn’t breathe. I had to see both of you with my own eyes. Chris Hobbs will not get away this time, he’ll pay if I have to kill him myself.”

“You’re awake,” his dad said.

Reece’s head felt like it was going to implode. He opened his eyes, the light seared into skull. “Light,” he croaked out.

“Oh, sorry.” He heard shuffling and the blinds were closed.

“Thank you.”

“Are you thirsty? Hungry? Do you need the doctor?”

“No, what I’m not…I hurt.”

“I’ll call the nurse.”

Minutes later another voice answered, he still kept his eyes closed. “I’m hearing you’re not feeling well, Reece.”

“My head and back hurts.”

“That’s to be expected. I have some pills for you. They aren’t as strong as the medication we could give you but it seems you’re allergic to morphine,” she said.

Reece opened his eyes and saw a medium height, dark haired woman holding out some pills and a cup of water for him.  “Thank you.”

After she was gone he looked over to his father. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?” his dad asked.

“The tire went flat. I saw a house with a light on. It was the man in the movie. I was too slow.” He remembered the beatings and the whipping.” He ran his hand over his head, feeling shaved hair and bits of long hair.

“It’ll be alright. We’ll shave the rest of it and it’ll grow back.”

“Dad, he…he…”

“I know, do you want to talk about it?” He could see tears in his father’s eyes.

Did he want to talk about what the man did to him? No. He didn’t want to think about it. To think about if the police had been a few minutes longer. They did get there in time though, they did. That’s what he kept having to tell himself. He was going to be fine. His wounds would heal. Only…why did he feel so dirty though? The things Hobbs said as he was working himself up to his goal, it terrified him. But the knock happened, he hadn’t gotten to start the last act of torture he had planned. Even though he knew it was true, he still felt like Hobbs took something from him. It took a moment for him to realize what. Even though he hadn’t gotten that part of him, just the thought of having a man or woman touching him made him sick. Hobbs was right, he always won.

Reece was glad to finally be released from the hospital after four days. It would have been sooner but he gotten an infection in one of his wounds. After giving his statement to the two detectives, he was done talking to people. He wanted to forget about Chris Hobbs and his house of hell. He had asked his family to give him time, not wanting to deal with them. His parents felt guilty, his brothers felt murderous and Marie was trying to make up time with her long-lost son. He didn’t begrudge her for that, he never felt like her son but it looked like Shorty did. Reece only met the boy for a moment, the kid wouldn’t even look at him. He just kept apologizing for his dad. Reece didn’t want or need anyone’s fucking pity.

“Need a ride?”

He had been expecting Alex to come get him because he had told his family not to bother. There was yelling and anger but he didn’t care, he didn’t want to see any of them. But he had hoped Alex would be there for him when he got released…he wasn’t. Instead it was the sour looking police lieutenant.

“I can call a cab,” he said, turning away for Lt. Martinez.

“I heard you were being stubborn. Your family is going crazy because you won’t let them be here for you.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant, but I’m fine.”

He tried to make it look like he wasn’t terrified of walking outside. That the fact he was so stupidly naïve it almost got him violated and killed didn’t upset him.

“Where are you going? Home?”

That was completely out of the question, they would never leave him alone. He didn’t want to talk about any of it anymore. He just wanted to forget about the whole thing. And fuck his parents, the doctors and stupid nosy cops.

“No,” he said curtly. He hoped Alex got there soon.

“I get it, you don’t want to talk anymore. So, we’ll just sit here together and stare at the wall.”

“How about you go home to your wife and fuck off.” Why did he talk about the infuriating man’s wife?

Against his will, he looked at the man when he spoke. “I’m not married,” he said. Reece tried to ignore the stupid, idiotic flutter in his stomach at that.

“Go away,” he said again. Thankfully, that was when Alex showed up to get him…finally.

“So?” Justin asked, as he folded Avery’s clothes. He was the only one that still got his clothes washed for him.

“Carl said that Alex picked him up, he refused to tell anyone where they were going,” Brian said. He was on his computer researching the case against Hobbs.

“He should be home with his family,” Justin snapped.

“Watch it, Sunshine, or you’re going to sound a whole lot like your mother.”

“Shut up. This is completely different.”

“I agree, but that’s because I’m smart enough to know that there are similarities. Like for instance. You want Reece here, where we can protect him, he wants to be where he feels safe. That’s with Alex.”

“I was in love with you, Alex is just his best friend.”

“Just his best friend? I don’t know about you but I always went to Mikey before you…sometimes after. I seem to remember you running to Daphne a time or two.”

“Fine. I see your point. I just want him home though. Where I can look at him and make sure he’s alright.”

Brian stood up and crossed the room, pulling the towel out of his hand that he was folding. “He’s not alright. He won’t be alright for a while. His injuries may not be as life altering as yours but they are no less damaging. Unlike you, he was sexuality assaulted. If the cops would have been a second later, he would have been raped. There is no fixing that. There is only being there for him when he wants us to be. We must follow his lead. He’s too much like both of us, if we push all we are doing is pushing him away.”

Brian was impressed at how much his husband looked like a pissed off twink at the age of forty-two. He was a little old for it, not that he didn’t still look young. In fact, most people thought Justin and Reece were brothers.

It killed him that he couldn’t be there for Reece, but forcing him home wasn’t the answer. That would only drive him away. Jennifer had done it to Justin and she never got another chance.

“We have another problem though,” Justin said quietly, wrapping his arms around Brian’s waist.

“Yeah, who’s going to tell Anna.”

“Not it,” they both yelled at the same time.

“I vote Matthew, twins you know,” Justin said.

“That’s pretty cowardly, Mr. Taylor.”

“That’s because I remember when she broke Michael’s nose.”

“That’s a low blow. She didn’t mean to do that.”

“Like hell she didn’t, just because she’s your little girl and can’t see the anger behind her green eyes doesn’t mean it’s not there.”

“Michael apologized to Jenny,” Brian weakly defended his best friend.

It had been a shitshow. Jenny’s eighteenth birthday, she had never been popular like Gus so she only had a few friends. The best was Anna, who was only a few years younger than her. While even at fifteen Anna was on her way to looking like a model, Jenny’s beauty was a little more hidden. She was a little rounder than Anna, shorter and plainer. That didn’t mean she wasn’t beautiful, she just didn’t have Anna’s bubbly personality to go with it. Jenny took after Michael in the personality department.

Well, on her eighteenth birthday she just wanted fifteen-year-old Anna to come over and watch movies. Anna months earlier had a very loud, big party but it was a joint one with Matt. Brian had only heard about the incident second-hand but he believed Justin. Justin was there dropping off Anna for their sleepover. It was at Mel’s house because her and Lindsay divorced a few years earlier. Mel was going to stay at her girlfriend’s house so the girls could have free reign. As Justin was there, Michael showed up to give Jenny her gift. Some first edition book she had been looking all over for. It was really a win for Michael, he should have left on a good note.

But that had been too much to ask for. The story goes, Michael and Justin were talking a bit before Justin went to leave. The girls came back downstairs and asked for pizza money, Mel had forgot to give it to them.

Michael said that Jenny didn’t really need pizza because he thought she was starting a diet. Jenny hadn’t been, it was Michael telling his daughter she was getting heavy. She wasn’t, not really. She just wasn’t as thin as Anna. It seemed she took after her grandmother. Michael would never dare say something to Deb about her weight but he figured it was his right with his daughter.

Anyway, Justin said that Jenny started to look devastated by Michael’s words and agreed that she didn’t need pizza. After she went upstairs crying, Anna ‘tripped’ over a shoe and broke Michael’s nose. Michael said that it had to be an accident because she would never hit him, Justin disagreed.

Anna had never been scared to take on anyone. He really didn’t want to be the one to tell her about what happened to Reece. They would let Reece tell her everything he wanted, just like the other kids but she needed to know about the trial.

“I need you tonight,” Justin said, running his hands up Brian’s chest.

Brian understood. They hadn’t had sex since everything happened, one long week. He needed to feel Justin as much as Justin needed to feel him. He still had a lot to make up to Reece, but the boy needed to be ready to hear him before that happened. He called his phone multiple times a day, but wouldn’t force his presence on him. Not until he knew that Reece at least wanted him to even say his name. When he had called him Brian, it killed him. Maybe he was being cowardly but it was what it was.

Matt waited for Shorty to answer his phone. Matt had wanted Shorty to come home with him but he wanted to spend time with his mother. Shorty was much more forgiving than he would have been.

“Hello,” Shorty’s sleepy voice answered.

“Did I wake you?” He looked at the clock, it was just past midnight.

“Ummm….yeah.”

“Sorry, I’ll let you go.”

“No, it’s alright. What are you doing?” He could hear a shuffling sound, like Shorty was sitting up.

“Nothing, was just thinking about you.”

“I’m fine. How’s your brother? I guess I mean our brother.”

“Don’t know, he won’t let any of us see him. I don’t even know where he went when he left the hospital. Probably at Alex’s house.”

“Who is Alex?”

“Reece’s best friend. They’ve been friends forever.”

“Wow, I’ve never had a best friend. Of course, I’ve never really had a friend.”

“Really?” Even Maurice has friends and he’s a weirdo.

“I think I was too needy when I was little. Kind of a put off, I became a target for bullies. Then when I got older, I didn’t want anyone to meet my dad. I did have a pen-pal in Sweden though.”

“That must have been fun.” Boring.

“Not really, he just talked about himself all the time. I wanted to know about life there, you know. We stopped writing after a year.” Great, he didn’t like self-absorbed people. Matthew didn’t stand a chance…not that he wanted one.   

“I was wondering, did you maybe want to hang out tomorrow night. I was thinking we’d go to Popperz. I’d take you to Babylon but my father owns it, and it’s a bitch to get served. Did you know he used to buy my dad alcohol when he was seventeen but nineteen apparently is too young?”

“You’re his son, he just wants to protect you. I’m sure if you wanted to hang out with him at Babylon he would let you drink, that’s probably the only reason he bought your dad drinks.”

“Whatever. So, how about it?”

“A club? I’ve never been to one before. My dad will kill me if he finds out.”

“He won’t. You’ll be an old man by the time he gets out.”

Matt heard him sigh. Shit, he fucked up again. “Can we just go out to eat?”

“Like a date?” he asked, even to him he sounded horrified by the idea. He’d never been on a date before, truthfully it sounded awful.

“Oh, nevermind. I got to go. Bye.”

“Shit!” he yelled. What a fucking mess. Why couldn’t he just accept the fucking date. God, he was such a loser.

“Thanks for the ride,” Reece said to Alex. They were waiting for rain to let up.

He had been released from the hospital just before the doctor went home. After that he went to Alex’s to shower and put on some clothes that covered his injuries. Alex helped clean his wounds and bandage then back up.

“Why don’t you just come back to my place. We can watch Loki and Freemont.”

Reece smiled weakly at this friend. He remembered just a week ago, he was so excited to do just that. “No. Thanks though.”

He stepped out of the car and walked up the long driveway. The sound of Alex’s car backing out of the gravel drive filled the quiet night. He had told Alex this was where his mother was staying, if Alex knew he was lying he didn’t let on.

After he had woken up in the hospital. Then reliving the night to the cops, his parents. He didn’t want to care anymore. The thought of anyone touching him made him sick. But as long as he had this ‘thing’ it could be stolen from him. He wanted to be in control of this.

Gravel crunched under his boots as he made his way to the mansion. His parents’ house was huge but it as tiny compared to this place.

There were cars everywhere. Finally, he was standing at the door. He rang the doorbell. A man wearing just leather pants answered the door.

“If it isn’t Reece Taylor. What brings you here?”

“Does the offer still stand?”

The man smiled wickedly. “It does.”

“I guess you have your new novice then.”

Reece just hoped the drugs he was promised would make him not feel or care.

“You are going to be a star. The question is, are you still a virgin?”

“Yes,” he said, feeling a bit sick again.

“That’s good. You’re first movie will make a fortune. Deflowering the virgin, maybe I should star in it with you.”

Reece forced himself not to back down. Hobbs hadn’t gotten to him, he’d never have that. He was taking control over his own life, not his parents or Chris Hobbs or that bossy cop. Not only could he chose who he lost his virginity to, but he could make good money for it. He had been stupid waiting for love.

“I think we’ll have to wait,” he said a little worriedly.

“Why?”

“I got attacked, my back is in pretty bad shape.” Not the mention his arms, legs and chest.”

“Maybe that’s for the best, we need your hair to grow out, you look like a fucking skinhead.

“Can I stay until I’m ready to film?”

“Here? Hell no. You’re too much temptation to me and my guys here. I got a place in the city you can use. Wait one second.”

He left the door open and went further inside the mansion. A moment later he walked back holding two sets of keys. He held up a set of keys with a gold Q on it. “These are the keys to my apartment.” Then he lifted another set with a Ford emblem on it. “This is to that truck. I would let you drive something nicer but until you earn it, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“I understand. I don’t have a phone anymore but as soon as I do.”

“Hold on.” He left again, coming back with a brand-new phone. “I just got this today. Consider it a signing bonus. It’s on my account, don’t worry about it.”

Reece drove the old Ford back into Pittsburgh. When he had meet Kade, whose real name was Edward, he was eighteen and stupid.

It was his freshman year at Carnegie Mellon. A friend asked if he wanted to go to a party with her. There were people doing drugs everywhere, and not just pot. He wanted to leave right away. Not only was it not his scene most everyone was older.

Soon the girl he went with, the one he hoped to date, was having sex with two guys while another guy filmed. Reece got out his phone ready to call his brother Maurice to come get him. Maurice was the one least likely to judge him, mostly because he didn’t understand most of social interactions. An orgy would be just as uncomfortable to be around as a football party.

He had been stopped by an older man calling him over.

“Hey, kid,” a tall, lean man said.

“Hi,” he said uncomfortably.

There were people all around him having sex, not caring about the others around them.

“I’m Kade,” the man introduced himself, he looked around forty.

“That’s an interesting name.”

“My real name is Eddie. Kade is my professional name. I don’t do much videos myself anymore.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I started as assistant to the owner of a pornsite eons ago. The guy was a total uptight loser. After he had a run in with the law, I got another job. This time in front of the camera. Ten years ago, I started up my own business. I’ve made a fortune, not only for me but my employees. You would be beautiful on camera with those big blue eyes and blonde hair. I could find someone that would contrast with you, that usually is most popular. Maybe someone darker to go with your light skin. Maybe some big, tattooed bear.”

Reece shuffled where he stood. Everything the man was saying was making him uncomfortable. “Sorry, that’s just not my thing. Also, I’m straight.”

The man started laughing. “What does that have to do with anything. The only thing that matters is how green the cash is. Anyway, lie to mommy and daddy but don’t think I didn’t see you checking out some of the guys’ packages here.”

“I need to leave. Sorry.”

“Are you a virgin or something?”

Reece could feel the heat in his cheeks, he knew it was giving him away. “Bye.”

“Hey, wait.” The man pulled out his wallet. “Here, take this card, it has my name and number on it. Also, anytime you want to make bank, just come back here. This is my house, so just come by anytime you want.”

Reece had left that night and had not been back. But he had seen the man several other times over the last two years. He would hit on Reece every time and ask to video him. It wasn’t the perfect answer but he would be damned if he counted on his parents for anything. He didn’t have to worry about paying for school, his fathers took care of that. But he would need money to get his own place, own car and insurance. He was not going to stay at home and go to school. They didn’t want him around until he was some pathetic little loser, now he didn’t want them. He would make his own way. And Kade(Eddie) would help him.

“Dad?”

Justin looked up and saw Matthew standing at the end of his bed. He looked so uncertain that it broke his heart. He stretched and sat up, he was alone in bed so that meant Brian was already up for the day. Probably was already in the city trying to get his mind off of Reece.

“Come here,” Justin said, patting the bed at his feet.

Matthew walked over and sat down, his shoulders hunched.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Justin knew, but after six years he wanted to hear it.

“For thinking you were cheating on Pop. For treating you so bad. For not calling you dad anymore.”

“I forgive you.”

Matthew’s head shot up and looked at Justin. “Just like that?”

“I won’t lie. It hurt. It hurt worse because you wouldn’t tell me why you hated me so much. But you’re my son. No matter what you do I would love you. I can’t always say that everything you do I’ll forgive. I hope you never do anything that I’ll have to say that to you for. But I will always love you.”

Matthew leaned over and hugged him. “Thanks, Dad. By the way, why are you still in bed? It’s almost noon.”

“Sorry, your father and I-

“I don’t want to hear it,” Matthew said, covering his ears.

Justin couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine. How are you doing? I know you won’t completely calm down until you talk to Anna yourself.”

Matthew sobered. “I’m worried about her sure, but I can feel she’s alright. She’d be pissed if we were still making a big deal about her after she said she was fine. She’s tougher than most of us.”

He couldn’t deny that. “Fine, but now we have to figure out who tells her about Reece.”

“That sounds like a parent’s job to me.”

“Smartass.”

“Yep.”

“What are you doing today?”

“I’m hoping that I can get Shorty to go somewhere with me.”

“Like a date?”

“A date? No. He asked the same thing. Can’t two guys just hang out without putting a fucking label on it.”

Justin shook his head. Brian and Matthew were too much alike. Matthew didn’t have the issues Brian did. Matthew’s were completely his own. Unlike Brian, Matthew did trust his family, for the most part. But Matthew had problems connecting with women except Anna. He loved his Grandma Jen, Aunt Molly and Deb but he couldn’t trust them. The child psychologist they got when he was younger said it was because his ultimate trust was broken by his mother.

“Fine, you want to take Shorty on a non-date. I wish you luck.” He didn’t want to cause another rift in between him and his son, so he let it go. He would have to figure his feelings out on his own.

“Dad,” Maurice whined as he walked into the bedroom, followed by Caleb, Sean and Kenyon. Gus and Devin had gone back to their homes, Gus in Nashville and Devin to New York.

Sean climbed up on the bed and snuggled into Brian’s side of the bed. “What is wrong with you guys?” Justin asked.

“We’re hungry,” Caleb whined.

“And you forgot how to use the stove or microwave?” he asked. The last three weeks had wiped him out, he just wanted to sleep in for once and let his kids take care of themselves. Avery was the only one that really needed someone to cook for him, but he had three college-age brothers and two high-school brothers to feed him.

“We want your world-famous hamburgers,” Caleb pouted.

They just didn’t want to cook for themselves, he wasn’t born yesterday.

“Can I have a dog?” Sean asked out of nowhere.

Justin narrowed his eyes at his older sons. Who seemed to be looking everywhere but at him now.

“What?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the older boys.

“Why can’t we have a dog. I mean, it’s been a while since Pop killed Scooter,” Maurice said.

“Wait, I thought we were calling it ‘the unfortunate incident’,” Kenyon said.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Maurice said looking from Kenyon back to Justin. “It’s been a while since ‘the unfortunate incident’, so can we get another dog?”

“Your father did not kill Scooter. He feels terrible about the…incident.”

“The unfortunate incident, Dad,” Caleb spoke up.

Justin glared at him. “You were too little to remember the incident.”

“Not true. Pop hated Scooter so he ran him over.”

“For the millionth time, your father did not purposely run over Scooter. And your assumptions hurt him. True, he didn’t like the dog, but the dog ruined quite a few of his suits and shoes.”

It killed Brian when the kids started saying that he killed Scooter on purpose. They had gotten Scooter right after adopting Caleb and Sean. Sean was so much in his shell the doctor suggested it as therapy. It worked too, Sean had loved that damn, stupid dog; but Sean was only four so he didn’t know any better.

Early on, Scooter and Brian became mortal enemies. The dog would leave everyone else’s things alone except Brian’s. It was like he sought out everything that Brian owned that he loved. His favorite Armani suit. His favorite shoes. His anti-aging cream. Everything.

But one rainy morning, Scooter had gotten out of the door without them knowing. Just as Brian was backing his car out of the garage, Scooter ran behind the car. Brian didn’t know until he felt the car come in contact with Scooter. His hard-hearted husband had rushed the dog to the emergency vet and spent a fortune just for the chance of Scooter living. There had been too much damage and they suggested Brian let them euthanize him, he was in too much pain. So, Brian agreed. None of their children knew how much it hurt Brian to make that decision. He didn’t want them to know that he cried the night they buried the damn dog, hell, he didn’t want Justin to know but he had woken up to it.

“No dog.” Never again. “Get out of here and I’ll get dressed and make lunch.” The kids started heading out the door. “Oh, and no one mention this dog talk to your father or Avery.” Avery had been asking for one for almost a year.

Brian was driving through the city when he saw a familiar blonde head. He pulled over, throwing his car into park before jumping out and rushing to his son.

“Reece,” he called. The boy turned around but didn’t stop. Soon he bumped into someone.

“Watch where you’re going, fucker,” a tall, man said to Reece. He watched as Reece cowered in the man’s eyes

“Leave him the fuck alone, asshole,” Brian snapped.

The man just scoffed and walked away. Reece stood there, not looking at Brian anymore.

“Hey, kid. Let’s go.”

“I’m not going home,” Reece said adamantly.

“Alright, but a man can buy his son dinner, right?”

Reece looked like he was going to argue but then just nodded. “Not the diner, okay?”

“Sure, how about the new Indian restaurant by the Warhol Museum?”

“That sounds good.”

They were seated at the restaurant before they spoke again. “Where have you been staying?” Brian asked.

It had been two weeks since Reece had gotten out of the hospital. He had only heard about his son from Alex and one of the cops, a Lt. Martinez. But he knew Reece wasn’t staying with Alex, Maurice had gone to Alex’s to see him a week ago.

“A friend is letting me use his apartment.”

“That’s nice. Someone from school?”

“What’s with the third degree? You didn’t want to know anything about me for six years, let’s go back to that,” Reece spat.

“And I’m sorry about that. I’m trying to fix it. I never stopped loving you, I’m just not great with emotions and shit.”

Reece laughed bitterly. “You don’t say?”

“Fine, I’m a shitty father.”

“I didn’t say that. In fact, you were a great father the first fourteen years of my life. Also, you were a great father to all the other kids. I just don’t understand how I’m so different?”

Brian ran his hand over his face. “I was scared I would fuck up raising you, alright? You were already trying to be like me…my life is not one that someone should reenact.”

“I think it is. Look what you did without anyone’s help. You went to college and worked your ass off to pay for it. You graduated top of your class while working two jobs. You had your own agency by the age for thirty-five. Pop, anyone would want to be like you.”

“Yes, my business success was something I did alone. But my life isn’t just my career. It’s you kids and your dad. Uncle Mikey, Grandma Deb, Aunt Lindsay.”

“Yeah I know.”

“Reece?”

“Yeah?” he said asked, not looking up.

“Can we try and fix this?”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask. Now, can we talk about the elephant in the room?”

Reece sighed. “I’m pressing charges, I’ll testify. I’ve given my statement. I’ve done all they want me to do. Now it’s just a waiting game.”

“I was wondering, if you want to see anyone.”

“I don’t.”

“Alright, just remember if you do, we’ll get you the best.”

“I will.”

“I wish you’d tell me where you were staying, I know it’s not with Alex.”

“If I tell you the truth, you have to promise not to freak out.”

Brian didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. “Fine.”

“I’m staying at my boss’s apartment. My first day of work is tomorrow.”

“You better not say you’re gonna be working for Alex’s father. He’s the enemy, you know,” he said jokingly, at this point working for that asshole would be preferable.

“Don’t worry about that, Pop.” Brian’s heart swelled, he was scared he was going to be Brian for life to Reece. “I’m just going to be doing some videos.”

“Videos? Meaning?”

“Well, I’m going to be in some porn movies.”

Brian could hear blood rushing in his ears. He did his best to not lose his cool. He was unsuccessful. “You will not.”

“I don’t think it’s really your choice. I’m an adult, I can do what I want. Kade said that I could make a lot of money for my first video, being it’s my first time with sex and everything.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Some perv offers you money to make a video where you lose your virginity and you think that’s a good idea?”

“I’m tired of not being in control of my life. This is something I can control, not only that I’ll make money.”

“You want money, I’ll make your trust fund accessible to you. You don’t need to do this. Please, don’t do this.” He knew he was begging but this was his child. He’d get on his knees and grovel to stop him from making this mistake.

“Kade’s not a perv. I’ve known him for two years and he’s never laid a hand on me.”

“Kade? What kind of name is Kade?”

“It’s his stage name. Kade Kage.”

Kade Kage. Why did that name seem familiar? He pushed that thought away, he’d ask Ted later about the guy. Even after his run in with the law he still knew people in the industry.

Then like a hit, he remembered where he heard the name Kade Kage before. Years ago, Ted started bitching and yelling about the little asshole that faked his ID, and got Ted in trouble. It started the whole path to meth for Ted. He was ranting about learning the kid was now an actor on a popular pornsite. He was going by the name of Kade Kage. Ted bitched for full day about that.

“What do I have to do that will stop you from this?”

“I’m doing this, there is nothing you can say that will change my mind.”

“I’ll give you the loft. I’ll put it in your name, it will be yours. I’ll give you a job at Kinnetik.”

“I don’t want to work for you.”

“Okay, we’re getting somewhere. You do want the loft though?” Brian could see he was right, Reece looked interested. “I know a lot of people, you have great grades and a great work history. Tell me where you want to work and I’ll put a good word in for you.”

“I don’t want you to get me a job. I can get my own job.”

“Of course.”

“My dream job is working at Falstaff.”

Brian did his best not to smile. He loved his children but they weren’t that good at keeping quiet. Especially not about something they want.

“Falstaff, that’s the video game company, right?”

“Yeah, they just opened an office here in Pittsburgh, but their main one is in Ohio.”

“Tell you want, you apply to this place. You worked for Emmett last summer, I’m sure he’ll right a reference for you.” Brian would be making a few calls but Reece didn’t need to know about that.

“There’s not that much time left in summer. It’s not even worth it.”

“Maybe they can offer a part-time job. Then you can work and go to school.”

“I don’t know.”

“Reece, I know you feel so out of control now that you want a piece of it back. But this isn’t the way. You will regret this, trust me I know.”

“You did porn?”

Brian closed his eyes. “Not porn, no. But I did some things in college to make ends meet, things I regret.”

“What did you do?” Reece asked, eyes wide.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“You want me to be honest, I think you need to be too.”

Sighing, Brian knew he was in a corner and have to tell the truth. “My freshman year of college, I barely had two nickels to rub together. I was working every night in janitorial at the school and weekends in the library. It still wasn’t enough. Most of everything I needed I had to pay upfront. One Saturday night I finally had off. Instead of going clubbing, I went out to a bar hoping some old guy would buy me a drink.”

“Well, did you find one?”

Brian laughed. “Yeah, I did. It was an older guy named Ira. He bought me drinks that night, then asked if I wanted to go home with him. I didn’t, he wasn’t my type. But he looked at my clothes and made me an offer. If I stay with him for two months, he’d give me ten thousand dollars.”

“Wow, ten thousand?”

“Yeah, ten thousand would take care of a lot of things and I could finally breath for a while. So, I took him up on the offer.”

“You prostituted yourself?”

“Yeah, I did. I don’t regret that though. I did what I had to do.”

“Wait, you said that you had regrets and that I would.”

“Oh, once I got high and sang Bette Midler for the contest money.”

Reece laughed. “Pop, be serious.”

“I am. Please, don’t do this.”

“But I already took some money from him.”

“I’ll pay him back the money.”

“You’d really give me the loft?”

“It’s yours if you want.”

“Umm…I want.”

Finally, things were turning around. A shiver when up Brian’s spine at the thought of not seeing Reece today. What if he had gone and did that movie the next day.

Brian’s phone started ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the ID. He didn’t recognize the number.

“One second,” he told his son before answering. “Hello.”

“Pop, what the hell is this I hear about Reece? And why did I hear if from Jenny?” Anna railed at him.

She was just getting geared up, it would be a long conversation. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have any lasting wounds.  

“Hello, how may I help you?” the smiling, older woman asked.

Her greying red hair was up in a bun that was falling, glasses slipping down on her nose. She was sitting behind a short desk that was so cluttered, it looked to be on the verge of being swallowed completely by the clutter.  

“Yes, I was hoping to adopt,” Reece said a little shakily.

It had been one night since he moved into the loft and it was terrible. He thought living at Kade’s was bad, but he put that off to not being his home. It hadn’t changed with his own place. His father told the truth, Reece went with him while they signed papers giving him the loft. His pop even gave him Gus’ car, it was all his now. After that he had given his pop the keys to everything Kade had given him and the cell phone. He felt guilty for letting him take care of it for him, but he didn’t want to face Kade again. He was a nice guy but Reece was worried he would be mad.

“That’s wonderful, do you know what you’re looking for?” she asked.

“Umm…I just moved out on my own and… May I be completely honest with you?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I was attacked and ever since then I’ve been really jumpy. I was hoping to get a dog that would be a companion but also a guard dog.”

“I understand completely. Well, we have a big boy that has just moved up to be adopted. He’s not really a guard dog but his size will intimidate anyone. He’s a big sweetheart though.”

“Can I see him?”

“Sure,” she said standing up. “This way.” She led him to a side door that said authorized personal only.

Two hallways later they were walking into a loud, long room. The barking grew when the dogs saw them. He followed her down to the end of the row of kennels where a loud, booming bark was coming from. She stopped in front of that kennel. Looking inside he gasped.

“You have to be kidding. I live in a loft.”

“That’s great. Actually, adult Great Danes do very well in apartments. This is Duke, he was rescued from a breeder a few weeks ago. He’s three years old, a very happy and mellow guy. He’s not aggressive but has a very scary bark. I think he would make you a wonderful companion.”

“I don’t know, he’s really big. Doesn’t he need a big back yard?”

“No, just regular walks will take care of his need for exercise. He’ll probably try and be a lap dog though. A lot of Great Danes tend to go that way.”

“Can I walk him and pet him, you know to see if he likes me?”

“Sure thing.”

Twenty minutes later, he knew he would be taking Duke home with him. He may change his name though, Duke didn’t seem to like it. His back came up to Reece’s waist, but his head came up to his ribs, almost to his chest.

There was a lot of paperwork he had to fill out, but it was worth it. Duke hadn’t been neutered yet so he would have to come back and get him the next day to bring him home.

He left the animal shelter and went straight to the pet store. He wanted to get everything before he had to go to work. He’d gotten a part-time job from his Aunt Lindsay’s husband, Phil. Phil Hoosier was a local minister at the Methodist church. He gave Reece a part time job cleaning the church.

It was his first day cleaning the church, Phil had given him a key the day before. Truthfully, he didn’t like the man but a job was a job. He was hoping to hear from some of the other job prospects soon, maybe just keep this one for pocket money. He didn’t have to worry about rent, car payments, insurance or utilities. If he knew his dad, he would be bringing food over so he didn’t even have to worry about that.

Justin knew he shouldn’t but he couldn’t help it. He hoped Reece wouldn’t be too mad. He had got groceries, things a college kid could make easily. He also got things like paper towels, toilet tissue, soap, shampoo, and really just anything he could think of. He had Avery with him because all the other boys had plans for the day. Avery was excited to see his older brother. He had no idea what had happened, and Justin wanted to keep it that way.

“Dad, you think Reece would like this?” Avery asked holding up a box of condoms.

Justin held back the laugh, until he remembered what his son had been through. Then it wasn’t so funny. “No, buddy, I don’t think he needs those.”

“But Matt and Maurice has this kind. Caleb’s has some but they don’t look like this,” he said, looking at that box curiously.

Caleb and Sean both had their own boxes of condoms, not that they’d been opened. Brian was always very straightforward with all of his children. It’s why they didn’t have any surprise grandbabies, he was sure. Caleb had admitted to Justin that he wasn’t ready for sex, but he did think about it a lot, not too surprising from a fifteen-year-old. Sean on the other hand, didn’t seem to be attracted to girls or boys, but Justin didn’t think he was asexual like Kenyon. He suspected his little Sean was just going to be a late bloomer, but straight, gay or bi he didn’t care.

A woman of about sixty walked into the aisle with them. Justin was picking out a razor and shaving cream for Reece, so he wasn’t paying that much attention.

“You like this kind?” he heard Avery ask.

“You shouldn’t be touching those,” the woman admonished.

Justin looked up to see Avery holding a new box of condoms, looking at the lady like she was from outer space.

“THESE are my favorite kind. See they have different colors,” his sweet, innocent son said.

‘Oh god, the cops are going to be rushing in here any minute,’ he thought to himself.

The woman looked up and saw him, opening glaring at him. “Is this your son?” she asked in a strangled voice.

No, never seen him before in my life. “Yes. Avery, put those down and let’s go,” he said. He just needed to get out of there…fast.

“No, these are mine. All the others have their own. Even Anna, Gus and Devon have some in their rooms and they don’t even live with us. These are MINE!”

Justin closed his eyes. Not only was his eight-year-old son demanding to have multicolored condoms, he was throwing a fit about it. In public. It wasn’t the first time he was being glared at in a store. When Matthew was seven he got his hand stuck in between the spokes of a bike in the bike section at a toy store. He felt like he was the worst father in the world then. This didn’t even break his top ten days of the bad daddy award, that didn’t mean he wasn’t red-faced.

“Fine, throw your condoms in the cart and let’s go.”

His son happily obliged and started skipping beside him. He was almost through checkout before his fears were realized. A large uniformed cop was walking towards him, being led by the shrew from the medicine aisle.

“Sir, can I have a word with you?” the cop asked, his voice harsh. The man was huge.

It had only been fifteen minutes from the incident to now, the woman must call them a lot.

“One second, I just need to finish my purchases.”

The cashier looked at him worriedly before finishing up. He paid and put his bags in his cart to move it out to his car.

“Now?” the cop asked.

“Wow, are you a police officer?” Avery asked in his sweet, innocent voice.

“Yes, I am. Who might you be?”

“My name is Avery Balthazar Taylor-Kinney, and you might you be?”

Justin tried his damnest not to laugh. Sometimes kids were just the funniest things in the world.

“My name is Officer Mallard, I just need to talk to this gentleman,” he said, pointing at Justin.

Avery laughed. “That’s not a gentleman, that’s my dad.”

“Ah, I see. I just need a word with him.”

“No, we’ve got to go. We have to give Reece his food, he’ll starve,” Avery said, now getting upset.

“Avery, Reece is fine. We’re just bringing extra food for him.”

“Okay,” he said, looking down at his shoes.

“Who is Reece?” the officer asked.

“One of my older sons, he just moved out on his own.”

“How many sons do you have?” the cop asked.

“Nine boys and one girl. Aging eight to twenty-five,” he answered proudly.

“You have a twenty-five-year-old?” the cop asked now, this time with a bit of flirt in his voice. “I can’t believe you’re old enough to have a twenty-five-year-old.”

“He’s really old,” Avery broke in, being a helpful little rat.

“Look, I don’t know what that lady said but I can guess. My son is a curious eight-year-old with nine older siblings. He has seen all of them have condoms in their rooms when he was snooping. There is no harm in him buy them and using them as water balloons. I think I’m the one getting screwed here for paying this much for a water balloon. He has no idea what they are for, he won’t until he is closer to puberty, and me and my husband have a talk with him.”

“Husband huh?” the cop asked a little briskly. Maybe he read him wrong a moment ago.

“Yes, husband. Do you have a problem with that?” he asked, getting a little heated under the collar.

“No, just hating the lucky son-of-a-bitch a little right now,” he said, almost purring.

Justin could feel his cheeks redden. It had been a while since he felt young and desirable. Brian never was one to lie and give him false compliments, so he knew he still was attractive to his husband, but it felt nice that others would think it. Not that he would ever in a million years tell Brian, the man had only gotten more jealous with age.

“Why is your face so red, Dad?” Avery asked.

He could see the cop with his roguish smile. Realizing what he was doing he knew he needed to get out of there. Harmless flirting was one thing but he felt they were slowly getting close to something else.

“Are we done here?” Justin asked the cop.

“Yeah, I can see there is nothing devious going on here. But maybe next time just get him regular water balloons.”

“Right.”

As Justin turned to leave he felt the man brush one hand over his ass and the other push into his front pocket. Instead of making a scene, he rushed Avery out. He hated how his body responded to the touch of a man that wasn’t his husband.

They had decided to be monogamous when they decided to start a family. That’s twenty years of the same man. He loved the man and craved him, just sometime he felt that he maybe should have listened to Brian more when he was younger. Played the field more. He had sex, of course. But maybe he should have dated more, maybe then he wouldn’t wonder what he missed out on.

Brian walked through the door to his home and it was a warzone. Caleb had Sean in a headlock, hitting him anywhere he could land a hit. They were thrashing around, knocking things over. Kenyon was sitting on the couch watching a movie, completely ignoring that his younger brothers were trying to kill each other.

“STOP!” he yelled. He might as well whisper for the amount of good it did.

He had to physically pull Caleb off of Sean. Sean’s face was a red, his eye looked like it was swelling.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he roared.

Raising a bunch of boys with as much testosterone his kids had, it wasn’t the first fight he broke up. It wouldn’t be the last, but Caleb and Sean never fought more than arguing over who ate the last of the chips.

“Some girl texted and asked Sean out, Caleb liked her and got mad. End of story,” Kenyon said from the couch, even though he couldn’t be bothered with getting up.

“And you were just going to let them kill each other?” he asked, pissed beyond belief at the son he though had a fucking brain.

“Ask what your fucking precious little boy called me. Fuck if I help him.” With that, Kenyon got up and stomped upstairs.

He inwardly cursed Justin for going by the loft and taking Reece things. If he hadn’t, he would be here to stop whatever the fuck when down here.

“Caleb, up to your room. I’ll come and talk to you in a minute. Sean, my office…now.”

Sean couldn’t believe how this day had gone. He didn’t ask Rebecca Waters to text him and ask him out on a date. He could think of a million things to do better than go out with the stuck-up girl. He also knew Caleb liked her, he told her no. Why did Caleb have to get so upset about it?

He did feel bad about what he said to Kenyon. It had just slipped out when Caleb was yelling at him. He didn’t mean to hurt Kenyon, he loved his big brother. He was the only one that took him to movies that he wanted to go to.

When he sat down on the chair opposite of his father’s desk and chair, he hung his head. His pop was going to be so mad when he had to admit what he said to Kenyon.

His father slammed the door and took his seat behind his desk. Only his father would have a home office that reflected his office at work.

“First, tell me what started this fight.”

“Rebecca texted me, she said she was having a party and wanted me to come. I told her I really didn’t like parties, she said that I would be her date. I told her no. She then texted Caleb to ask why I wouldn’t be her boyfriend. She didn’t even ask me that. Caleb got mad, said that I was trying to take her just to be mean. That I was like Kenyon, that I didn’t like anyone. That was when he started hitting me. Kenyon jumped in between us. I was just so mad. I said that I wasn’t a freak like Kenyon.” He looked down in shame.

“First of all, this girl sounds like she’s trying to start drama. I wouldn’t want either one of you to be near her. Second, Kenyon made dean’s list two years in a row. Top of his class at UCLA, he’s going to be the next Clarence Darrow, but you don’t see that. You see someone that isn’t wired the same as everyone else. Well, I’m not wired the same as straight people, does that make me a freak?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why did you call Kenyon a freak?”

“Because I don’t want to be like him. I want a wife. I want a family.”

“You think Kenyon doesn’t want those things?”

“Well…”

“Maybe you should talk to your brother before making assumptions.”

“Alright.”

Brian ran a hand over his face after his son left. Teenagers and their hormones were going to be the death of him. His phone buzzed on his desk where he had laid it.

“Yeah,” he barked without looking.

“Guess what, Pop?”

Some of the tension eased from his body. “What?”

“I’m coming home.”

“What? You have two more month.”

“Well, I’ve got news when I get there. You’re not going to like it but it will be okay,” Anna said forebodingly.

“Tell me now,” he demanded.

“Sorry, Pop, can’t. Unsecured line. Love you.” And with that she was gone. She had her father’s sense of dramatics.

Justin looked down at the card the cop from earlier slid into his pocket. It had his name and number, he knew he should throw it away. He didn’t though, he slid the card into his wallet.

Justin woke up to his phone ringing. Swinging his arm out wildly, he grabbed it, and looked at the time on the screen. It was only a little after two in the morning.

“Who the fuck is calling?” Brian muttered before turning back over, burying his face in his pillow.

Justin withheld a laugh, long gone was his party all night lover. Now he wanted his sleep and couldn’t function without it. Justin’s eyes widened when he finally noticed who was calling.

“Shit,” he cursed before hitting answer. “Reece?”

Brian rolled back over and looked much more alert and awake. He mouthed “What’s wrong?” Justin shook his head.

“Dad?” Justin could hear the panic in his son’s voice.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” he asked, his voice rising.

“I’m scared.”

“What? Why? Is someone there?”

Brian was already up and getting dressed, his movements quick.

“Someone tried to open the door, they couldn’t get in.”

“What about your dog?”

He had been shocked when Reece told him he got a dog, he thought that it was a bit much. But Reece seemed happy about it and said Harley was a sweetheart. His name had been Duke but Reece insisted his name was Harley, the dog agreed. When Justin asked him why Harley, Reece said it was because his coat was called Harlequin, white with black torn patches.

“He’s hiding in the closet under the cover with me.”

“Your father is on his way, he’ll be there soon,” Justin said watching Brian rush out of the room. If he wasn’t the only one home with Avery, Caleb and Sean he would have gone too.

“I can’t do this, I’m scared of my own shadow. Also, my big protector seems to be as much of a scaredy cat as I am,” his son said, sounding on the verge of tears.

“Come home then, we can protect you.”

“I’m not a child.”

Justin closed his eyes. This wasn’t going well. All he wanted was his son, safe and sound. An idea popped into his head, it was a little crazy but it might work.

“Kiddo?”

“Hmm?”

“How about this, we own the whole building. Mrs. Krantz moved out a few months ago. Your father is picky about who moves in, what if Matthew moves in. Then he is just one floor down. You’ll have freedom but Matthew will be there if you need him.”

Matthew wasn’t the ideal one but he was the only one that went to school in the area besides Reece. Kenyon and Maurice went to schools in different states. Kenyon would have been the better choice, he has a calming influence on his siblings. It takes quite a bit to anger him, sadly, Sean found out how to make Kenyon angry.

They had been insane to take on so many children. The thing was that Brian couldn’t say no to a child in need. Everyone thought it was Justin who pushed to become foster parents, but it had been Brian. Justin had pushed with the adoptions but in truth he didn’t have to push that hard, except with Avery. Brian thought he would be too old for another round of hyperactive kids running around.

“Matt move in downstairs?”

Justin noticed that Reece’s voice sounded a bit stronger. That was a step in the right direction, he suspected the person at the door was Michael. After Ben died, Michael started drinking heavily, he would be the only one with a key to the building that wasn’t Brian or Mr. Callory, who lived on the landing and was the building handyman. Brian had the loft locks changed when Reece moved in. But they hadn’t thought there was a need to get the buildings changed, after all it was very secure. Which was the only reason he wasn’t losing his mind right now.

He would just wait until Brian got there to confirm though, then he was going to kick Mikey’s ass. This was getting old. The man had become an alcoholic after the death of Ben. They were unsure of how bad it was until Hunter called them when he went to go check on Michael a few years before. Hunter found him passed out in his own vomit, he was lost at what to do. That was when Hunter called them. Brian paid for one of the best treatment facilities, but as Ted and Blake both told them, he wouldn’t get help until he ready, which hadn’t happened yet. The thing is with Brian, Debbie, Hunter and even Jenny covering up for him, that was a long way off.

“Can you stay on the phone with me until Pop gets here?” Reece said, suddenly sounding like the little boy that Justin remembered.

“Always.”

Brian broke every traffic law to get to Pittsburgh as fast as possible. It was so late or early, however you looked at it, so no one else was on the road, that made it easier to speed and run stop signs.

He cursed when he pulled up in front of the building. Michael was swaying as he walked out the building’s door. He had temporarily forgotten Michael had a key to the building. Had he really been in there banging on the loft door for that long? To give Reece his privacy, Brian had removed the app to keep a check on the loft, he regretted it now.

Getting out of his car, he rushed to his completely sloshed ‘friend’.

“What the fuck, Mikey? You scared Reece out of his mind.”

“Reece?” Michael asked, tilting his head a little.

“Yes, my son, who is terrified because you were banging on the loft door at two in the morning.” Michael swayed again before he started to fall. “Shit,” Brian cursed as he made a grab for him before his head hit the pavement. He took him to his car and laid him out in the backseat.

“Move over, Harley,” Reece told the big baby beside him. “Some guard dog you are.”

Harley was half over him but seemed to be trying to hide under him at the same time. They were in the large walk in closet his father had installed years ago. The light was turned off so he couldn’t really see around them. The noise at the door to the loft had stopped a little while ago, he was too scared to get up and check. Unfortunately, his guard dog was even a bigger chicken than him.

Reece heard the loft door slid open. The alarm didn’t go off so it must be his father. But instead of getting up and checking, he stayed put.

“I think Pop’s here,” he told his dad.

They had fallen into silence for the last few minutes but he wanted him to still be with him in a way.

“Let me call him real fast just to make sure. I’ll call you right back.”

Reece wanted to protest but he didn’t want to sound any more like a baby than he already did. “Alright.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his dad’s ringtone on his pop’s phone.

“Okay, we can stop hiding,” he told Harley.

The door suddenly opened, at least he guessed it did, he and Harley were still under his cover.

“I get you were scared. But why hide under hide in the closet under a cover with your ‘fearless’ guard dog?” his pop asked.

“How did you know Harley’s under here?” he questioned as he pulled the cover off his head.

“Because he’s huge, it was either him or you had a small horse under there with you.” Harley whined ever so slightly, he had yet to meet his family yet. Reece had only told them about him. “It was only your Uncle Mikey, he’s had one too many, forgot I don’t live her anymore. He’s passed out in my car. I’m going to take him home; do you need me to come back?”

“No, I’m fine now. I should have just found out who it was.”

“I don’t want you answering the door to anyone you don’t know.”

“Dad was talking about maybe Matt moving downstairs,” he said, hoping to sound casual.

“Fine, but both of you are going to pay rent.”

Reece smiled. It was one of the first signs that maybe they were on the mend. His father wasn’t treating him like spun glass or like he had to make up for something. And with Matt downstairs, he’d feel much safer. He knew the place was almost like a fortress, but nothing was a hundred percent failsafe.

“I’m out of here, call you father back and tell him. Oh, get a real guard dog,” his pop said before leaving.

Reece looked at Harley, who had his head cocked to the side. “Don’t listen to him, I’m sure you were just saving up strength, weren’t you?”

The next day, Justin along with Brian and some of their children moved Matthew into loft under Reece’s. It was a load off his mind. Not just for Reece but for Matthew too. Matthew was a bit of a wild child, he needed his space. The longer he stayed at the house the more chance Justin would demolish their newly repaired relationship by being too nosy. Maybe Matthew might also move on and finally ask Shorty on a real date. So far it seemed they had been bowling, Babylon and over to the house a few times.

He was seriously on the fence about the whole Matthew and Shorty thing. They were both so young, but he couldn’t really say anything because look at his own history.

“I’m taking the minor children to be fed; don’t want the police to arrest me for neglect,” Brian said, putting the last box down.

“Alright, I’m taking Matthew to pick up some things that the loft needs.” They had moved everything from his bedroom, but he needed a couch and kitchen supplies. Unlike Brian’s old loft, Matthew’s wasn’t furnished.

As they sat down in the booth, Brian watched the people around him. Debbie had long since retired from the Diner. Now Kiki ran the Diner, and she did it with an iron fist.

“I want the biggest cheeseburger,” Avery said, patting his stomach. He was a tiny little thing, most people thought he was around five or six instead of eight.

“I want a milkshake,” Sean added.

“Me too,” Avery said with a big grin.

“What can I get for you fellas’?” Nathan, a new waiter asked them.

“I want the biggest cheeseburger,” Avery told the young man. “And a chocolate shake.”

“Grilled cheese, fries and vanilla milkshake,” Sean said.

“Hamburger, no pickles or mayo and a glass of water,” Caleb said.

Brian raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask any questions. “Just coffee, black,” he ordered.

“Sure thing, Mr. Kinney,” Nathan chirped before going to put the orders in.

God, he felt closer to a hundred now. When he was fifty he had hoped he would just keel over, that didn’t seem to happen though. He had made sure Justin and the kids were well taken care of.

Five years ago, he had a midlife crisis, he regretted everything he had done then. He had hired a new bartender at Babylon. Tim was thirty-five, gorgeous and persistent. After a few months of harmless flirting, it became less than harmless. None of the kids knew how close they had been to divorce, Brian had in fact left Justin. He had moved into a hotel for a while, Tim staying with him. Moving into the loft was too much of a betrayal, he couldn’t bring himself to cross that line.

Because he was opening an office in New York at that time, the kids never questioned his absence. Then one day Justin called him, telling him he was going to have divorce papers written up. He wanted Brian to come home so they could tell the kids together. That was when it hit him, his marriage was over. He had destroyed it. He had agreed to go home for the weekend so they could talk.

Then Tim started talking about them getting married. About getting a home of their own. Brian shut him down fast, he told him that he only had one husband, even if they weren’t to be married much longer. The thing was, he didn’t feel anything for Tim. He still loved Justin, and he always would. After he came to that realization, he went home.

They just fell back into rhythm. He thought for sure he would hear about it for a while, but that never happened. When he finally asked Justin about it, he said, everyone gets one. He realized then, Justin had still felt extremely guilty about Ethan. Now he realized that Ethan was still trying to get Justin back at that time. Seeing Ethan at the hotel with his underaged son was just too much, he and Justin had only narrowly missed ending their marriage six months earlier. It was just too much, too soon.

Suddenly he was taken out of his thoughts when Avery started to bounce in his seat.

“Well, if it isn’t Avery Balthazar Taylor-Kinney.”

Brian turned in the booth to look behind him. A large dark-skinned man in blue tank top and black jogging shorts was walking up to their table. Brian had no clue who the man was but it seemed he knew Avery.

“Hi! Where’s your costume?” Avery asked.

“My uniform, I’m not working today. They kind of frown on wearing the uniform when not on duty,” the large man said with a big smile. “Where’s your father?”

“He’s right here,” Avery said pointing at Brian.

Brian slid out of the booth and stood up, even with his back straight the man was two inches taller than him. But it was the muscles that made him look intimidating, not that Brian was intimidated.

“Oh, I meant your other father.”

Brian made a living out of reading people. And he wasn’t liking what he was getting about this man. Even if there had only been a few words between them.

“He’s helping Matt get stuff for his loft. He’s moving in the loft under Reece’s so Reece won’t be scared no more. Reece has a dog, his name’s Harley. He’s funny too, Reece says he thinks Reece’s bed is his.”

“Dogs will do that,” the man said.

“Do you have a dog?” Avery asked.

“No, my ex didn’t like them. But maybe now that he’s gone on to greener pastures, I might just get one.”

That statement seemed to confuse Avery, who had an adorable perplexed look on his face.

“Who’s your friend, Avery?” Brian asked, eyeing the man in front of him.

“This is the policeman we talked to at the store. He said you were a lucky son of a bitch,” Avery smiled, any reason to cuss.

“Really?” Brian asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why would that be?”

“Because you and Dad are married. He touched dad’s butt, he shouldn’t have done that. He didn’t have permission, it’s wrong to touch someone without permission.”

Brian had always had a jealous streak, although he liked to keep it hidden. But in the years since they’ve been married, his green-eyed monster had come out a few times. This was no different. “No, he shouldn’t.”

The jerk gave Brian a cockeyed smile and told Avery he would see him later. Not if Brian had anything to say about it. The thing that bothered Brian the most was…why hadn’t Justin told him? But he had been married long enough to give his husband the benefit of the doubt. Even if he was cheating on Brian, he wouldn’t have done it in front of Avery. The guy must had just put the move on Justin and got shut down.

“Honey, I’m home!”

All the thoughts of Justin and the officer flew out of his head. Brian swung around and looked at the diner’s door. Standing there in a blue cut off shirt and blue jean shorts, was Anna. He thought her plane was supposed to be in the next day. She flew in to California, where she was stationed. Then they would give her leave to visit family. It took everything for them not to fly there to greet her.

“ANNA!” Avery yelled as he bolted to her, followed by Caleb and Sean.

Brian sent a quick text to in the family chat, to let them know that Anna was home. Just as Brian looked back up at his daughter and sons something caught his eye. Right there on Anna’s left ring finger, two rings. One clearly an engagement ring, the other a wedding ring. She was married. His little girl got married and didn’t even tell them. He wondered how long?

As she disentangled herself from her brothers, Brian made his way over to them. She smiled big at him, but he couldn’t even make himself smile. All he did was point at her rings.

“I’m married,” she said like he hadn’t already guessed.

“How long?”

“Four months,” she blushed slightly.

“Who?” It would have to be with someone she was overseas with, another seaman perhaps.

“His name is Saayed Jarral, he’s a marine I met. It was just like Dad said, love at first sight.”

Brian rolled his eyes, his husband had been telling their children that he had fallen in love with Brian at first sight. At least he had someone to blame for this. And there would be blame, she was much too young to be married.

“Where is this husband of yours?” he asked, proud he kept his voice in check.

“He’s flying in tomorrow. He’s a civilian now, has been for a few months. I wanted to introduce you myself. Then the bombing happened and I got a free ride home.”

“For how long?”

“Leave for two weeks but then back to sunny Cali, but after that, I’m stateside for the time being.”

“Small favors,” he murmured. He really hated having children sometimes.

“This is going to suck,” Brian growled.

“And not in the good way,” Justin added with a smile.

They were waiting for Anna and her new husband, Saayed to arrive. It was only going to be a small family affair. Not all the kids could come. Gus and Devon both had work they couldn’t get away from. Jenny though had gotten time off and came earlier that morning with her husband, Rodger. It seemed while her family was in the dark about everything, Anna’s best friend knew everything. So much that she had scheduled time off to visit. She and Rodger were staying with Hunter and his family. Hunter had married a woman with two children, he said it was his readymade family. Hunter and his family were also coming because he wanted to spend more time with Jenny.

That was twenty people and one big damn dog. Justin had decided since it was such a nice summer day, they would have a cookout. Maurice and Matthew set up the tables and chairs in the yard. Matthew was supposed to bring Reece with him, but he brought Shorty. He said that Reece wanted to work before coming over, he would be a little later. Besides Reece, the only other people who hadn’t gotten there yet was Anna and Saayed.

Justin knew he would have to bite his tongue a lot. He thought she was way too young to be married. She had such big dreams she wanted to do before marrying. He just hoped her new husband was supportive of those goals.

For the moment, he was alone in the kitchen, everyone was doing their own thing. Brian wanted to get some work in before the party, Justin also suspected he was making a voodoo doll with their new son-in-law’s name.

He heard the front door open and close. “Dad? Pop?”

“In the kitchen,” he called to her.

Quiet measured steps sounded on the hardwood floor. Justin washed the hamburger meat off his hands and turned around. Anna looked…well she looked like Anna. Her red hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She had black short shorts and just wearing a bikini top. She was their little water bug, she would be in the water day in and out. Justin’s eyes shifted over to the interloper. Saayed was a tall man with black hair that looked a little shaggy, his facial hair was also a bit unkempt. He was wearing baggy khakis and a red polo shirt. So far, Justin was unimpressed. Brian on the other hand might kick the man out. He looked like he just crawled out of stupor.

“Hello, Mr. Taylor-Kinney,” Saayed said politely, holding out his hand.

“Call me, Justin. We’re family after all.” He was proud of himself for not gritting his teeth.

Since Anna was their only daughter, he had some old school ideas of how her wedding would go. Like he would be there. He didn’t want any of his children settle down so young. He wanted them to live before being tied to another person. But still, he would have liked to walk her down the aisle. When she was seven, her and Emmett had planned her whole wedding. Maybe there wouldn’t be the horses with horns glued to their heads, his daughter had been insistent to have unicorns in her dream wedding. Now he wished she would have just told him.

“Thank you, Justin.” Saayed then turned and looked at Anna. “Can I shower, shave and change now?”

“Nope, not until Pop sees you. I want to see him have a heart attack,” she said, smirking.

“You did this?” Justin asked incredulously.

“Yep, I was hoping his hair would be longer, but I thought you wouldn’t met him until Thanksgiving.”

“Please, let me shave and cut my hair. I’ve had the same haircut and been clean shaven for ten years, I need to feel like myself again. This has been the longest two months in my life. I can’t even go see my parents, they would die.”

Justin glared at his precious little girl. “Are you telling me you forbad this man to shave or cut his hair to fuck with your father?”

She huffed. “When you say it like that you make it sound childish.”

The thought to himself ‘This is why nineteen-year-olds shouldn’t get married.’

Justin heard footsteps on the stairs, Brian’s footsteps. He knew what was coming, and wasn’t disappointed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Brian said, getting a good look at their new son-in-law.

“Pop, I’d like you to meet my husband, Saayed,” Anna said, her face lit up.

Brian sneered at the man. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-eight.”

“She’s only nineteen,” Brian said, his eyes glaring at the man.

“Yes, I am a bit older. How much older are you over your husband?”

Justin bit his lip to keep from laughing. Even though he thought she was much too young to be married, he kind of liked the man. Justin suspected he would fit in their family perfectly.

“I don’t like you,” Brian said bluntly.

“I’m a pretty likable person,” Saayed said with a devilish grin.

Anna apparently couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer. She started laughing and couldn’t stop. She leaned against the kitchen wall shaking with laughter, her face blood red.

“What’s going on here?” Brian asked.

“I…just…can’t,” she said barely getting a word out between guffaws.

“It’s like this, we met fell in love on sight. She’s a beautiful woman, it was easy to love her. Unfortunately, she’s insane. But I found that out after the ink was dry on the marriage certificate. Anyway, I was getting out of the Marines, got accepted to ATF special agent training. I start in two weeks. It’s been my life goal, I stayed in the Marines as long as I did to put myself through school. It took eight years of classes here and there, but I finally graduated. I’m going to be in Georgia for fifteen weeks.”

“And you’re going to go there looking like you’re homeless?” Brian asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Dammit, Anna, can I please shower and shave now?”

“Fine, you’re no fun. If I knew you were this much of a wet blanket I wouldn’t have married you,” she huffed out.

“Yeah, sure,” he said grinning at her.

“Use one of the upstairs bathrooms, you’ll be less likely to have someone jimmy the lock and walk in on you,” Justin said.

“Really?” Saayed asked.

“Ten kids. Ten kids that are impatient. I’ve seen one jimmy the lock, pull another out of the shower by his hair and lock him back out stark naked in the hallway,” Justin said, smiling at the memory.

“Hey, he was in there forever. Like we all didn’t know what he was doing in the shower for an hour. I had a party to get ready for,” Anna said, scowling.

“You did that?” Saayed asked, looking at his bride like he never saw her before.

“Devon should have finished up when I told him to, it’s not my fault he didn’t listen.”

After that, they had to put a bolt on the inside of the bathrooms to insure privacy. His kids were just too damn comfortable with each other, and didn’t care if they had to throw a naked sibling out of a bathroom.

“Right, I’m going to go make myself presentable now that her jokes over,” Saayed said.

“Come on, I’ll show you where to go,” Anna said, grabbing his arm. As they walked to the stairs, Justin saw they had deposited a bag before playing their little game. This day was going to be hell.

Justin took the burgers out to the grill. With so many people there were different things everyone wanted. He even had a veggie burgers for Jenny, who had recently gone vegetarian.

“Is the food done yet?” Caleb asked, running up to the grill.

“You just watched me put the burgers and hotdogs on.” Caleb stared blankly at him. “No, they are not done.”

“Fine,” Caleb rolled his eyes before going back to the pool.

“ALEX!” Avery yelled.

Justin looked up to see Alex coming around the side of the house. He lifted Avery up over his shoulder, spinning him around. Sean joined them, saying something that Justin couldn’t hear. Alex was always invited, he was part of the family. In fact, he thought Alex and Anna were going to get married. But after his senior year, they just sort of drifted apart. Justin hoped there would be no hard feelings. He watched Caleb and Sean run back in the house, and Avery get back in the pool with Maurice.

“Hey, Mr. TK,” Alex said as he joined him.

“Hey, Alex. I’m glad you’re here. Reece should be here soon with his new best friend.”

“That dog is such a big baby. We were watching a movie last night, Harley jumped up on the couch and laid across Reece. Well…at least he tried. I swear that dog was glaring at me. You would think Reece had him for years instead of a week.”

“Sometimes animals and people just click,” Hunter said as he sat at the table by the grill, while Alex wondered off to the pool.

“Is that how you felt with Lola?” Justin asked, not even bothering to hide his grin.

“Shut it. I hate that bitch and she feels the same.”

Hunter had a long feud going on with his daughters’ toy poodle. It was hours of entertainment if you were at their house. He even got his own dog, The Judge, or Jud for short, an American bulldog, who quite possibly may be the sweetest dog alive…and the laziest.

“Did you hear Jenny’s news?” Hunter asked after a while.

“No what?” Justin asked. He had only seen very little of her today, she seemed to be extra close to Rodger the tool.

No one liked him, the only person people hated worse was Lindsay’s husband…but it was a close call. They didn’t have any proof but they suspected he was verbally abusive to Jenny. The instances they had seen was toeing the line of abuse. He would say she needed to lay off the food, much like Michael told her. He would give her exercise equipment, never anything romantic. One thing that bothered him a lot was he would go out to dinner but not take Jenny, he said she didn’t need the temptation. They knew that Mel had been trying to get her to leave him, but she said that he was the only one that could ever love her. Thankfully, when they heard about that, Anna was already an ocean away. If she hadn’t been, they’d be visiting her in a military prison because she would have killed him.

“Gus and I are going to be uncles.”

“She’s pregnant?” Justin was shocked, he thought she didn’t want any children.

“Yeah, wasn’t planned. I give Roddy boy a few months at most before he runs. And when he does, I’m going to take him for every penny he has…which isn’t much.”

They had all gone to Jenny’s wedding, except for Lindsay and her husband. Everyone had wanted to be there for her, even if they couldn’t stand him. Michael had really fucked up her idea what a good relationship was.

 “Damn,” Justin said. He hated it for Jenny, she would try her best to hold on to a man that was awful. “How far along is she?”

Justin wondered because for lunch she had barely eaten anything. Maybe she was still having morning sickness.

“Six months,” Hunter said as he started munching on some chips.

“Six months, what?” Alex asked, reappearing.

“Jenny’s six months pregnant. Don’t tell anyone else, she’s making the announcement when everyone arrives,” Hunter replied.

Justin had looked up to check on Avery in the pool, he was being watched by Maurice but he caught a look on Alex’s face before it was quickly gone. Was that jealousy? Anger? Hurt? Maybe it was all three. That was odd, Alex and Jenny had never been close, he had dated Anna but Jenny was a few years older than him. Very strange.

“HARLEY!”

Everyone looked up to see Reece running behind his dog, towards the pool. Justin’s eyes shot to the pool and his heart stopped. Avery flailing his arms and legs in the deep end, Maurice nowhere in sight. Justin started running towards the pool but noticed he wasn’t the only one now. The dog though beat them all to it, leaping in to Avery. Avery wrapped his arms around Harley’s neck. Justin, Alex and Hunter had all jumped in at the same time. They had been the only ones outside. Most everyone else was in the entertainment room or hiding somewhere else to get out of work.

He pulled Avery off Harley and handed him to Reece who was now leaning over the pool. He saw in his peripheral vision that Hunter and Alex were working together to get Harley out.

Avery was taking deep gulps of breath in between great giant tears running down his face. It didn’t click until that moment, Avery hadn’t made a sound during the whole ordeal. Justin hoisted himself out of the pool and pulled Avery back into his arms. His son wrapped his arms around his neck, finally making the first sounds. Loud sobs.

“Go get your father,” he told Reece. He couldn’t deal with Maurice, but Brian could. He had promised to watch him. Even then Justin had kept checking on him. It was less than a few minutes the last time he looked. It all happened so fast, and he hadn’t heard anything troubling. He heard the splashing but after so many years, he just put it off on the boys playing. He had almost let his child drown while in was in the same vicinity as him. He would have if it wasn’t for Harley.

“Give him to me,” he heard Brian say.

Looking up he saw Brian standing beside where he was sitting on the concrete holding his sobbing child. He realized he was shaking and crying too.

“I’m going to take him upstairs and get him cleaned up and calmed down. You are in no position to do that. Go upstairs and take care of yourself.”

“But he almost drowned,” he said, not wanting to release Avery.

“But he didn’t. You are making this worse. He’s upset from what just happened to him adding that you are freaking out isn’t helping him.”

Justin wanted to rage and yell at him, but he was right. It wasn’t even their first near drowning. That had been Devon when he was seven in Hawaii. They agreed then no more taking the kids on vacation when they were outnumbered, after that they always took others. Mostly, Ted, Blake, Emmett and Drew. At the time, it was Brian that was freaking out, it made Devon even more scared to try swimming again.

Reluctantly, he handed his son off. Though it was harder than he planned because Avery wouldn’t let go of his neck. Finally, he did and Brian carried him inside the house.

The perfect welcome home/belated wedding reception just turned to hell. He told Hunter to take care of the grill before he went inside. As he stepped through the door he saw Maurice, crying in the corner. Brian must have told him when he came through what had happened. Maurice wasn’t his emotional one, that was shared between most of the others but he had never seen Maurice break down. Even as a little boy he was quite in control of his emotions.

Maurice looked up when Justin walked in the door, dripping from his wet clothes.

“I’m sorry, I just went to the bathroom. I told him to stay in the shallow end. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know, I just went to the bathroom.” Avery was his little boy, but so was Maurice. He was pissed, no doubt. But mistakes happen, they were lucky this time. It needed to be known, there couldn’t be a next.

“You could have told us you needed to use the restroom. Hunter or Alex would have taken over. He’s not that great of a swimmer, he needed someone in the pool with him at all times. What you did, was careless and irresponsible.”

Maurice nodded his head, tears running down his face. Maurice and Avery were biological half-brothers.

Maurice was their geek. They had adopted him when he was only two. He wouldn’t go to sleep for Brian, but Brian never knew the trick. Maurice had trouble falling asleep, so Justin would pick him up out of his crib and take him downstairs. He would turn on Star Trek TNG old returns and cuddle on the couch with Maurice. He had no idea he was creating a monster. Magic, science and space, those where his favorite subjects. He was going to school to be an astronomer, he had a lot of schooling in front of him. The PhD in physics would take a while.

They had gotten Maurice just a few weeks after Devon and Kenyon’s adoption. They were only supposed to foster him. But his mother suddenly gave up parental rights, they were asked if they wanted to adopt him. Everyone thought they were crazy so soon after adopting Devon and Kenyon.

“Is he okay?” Maurice asked, his voice cracking.

“He will be, it traumatized him, hell, it traumatized me.”

“Do you hate me?”

“I’m mad at you for not telling me you were going to the restroom. But I don’t hate you, I never could. Thankfully, this is a lesson that can be learned from that didn’t end badly as it could. We’re still celebrating. He’ll calm down, I’ll calm down. It just can’t happen again okay?” Maurice nodded. “Alright, you go get cleaned up too, you look a little rough. I think Avery would really enjoy if his big brother did magic at the party.”

“You think?”

“Of course, he loves you.”

Avery loved them all. He had fit into the family perfectly. Every other child they had gone through a tough transition. They thought it would be worse because Avery was six when they got him and his mother had just died. It turned out she wasn’t the kindest mother, he was clingy and wanted to please. Thankfully, they had experience with that kind of behavior. He’s still clingy but at least he doesn’t cry when his siblings say they can’t play with him at that moment.

Justin continued up to his room, passing Avery’s room. The house was big but not big enough for everyone to have their own rooms. Gus and Devon shared when they were home. Reece and Maurice in one. Matthew and Kenyon had shared but Matthew moved into Anna’s room after she joined the Navy. Caleb and Sean shared. And lastly was Avery’s room, which was a converted from a den.

As he past the room he heard little giggles from inside. It seemed Brian had calmed him down and was now making him laugh. He was relieved, it had taken Devon hours to calm down. When he got into his room he was hit by a feeling of foreboding. Something bad was coming, he could feel it. He just didn’t know what it was.

Now that everyone was there, they sat down to eat. Avery stayed glued to Brian’s side while he ate. Thankfully, besides being more clingy than normal he was fine. Harley ate like a king, everyone had rewarded him for saving Avery. Reece complained that he would beg for scrapes now, but Brian had watched as he gave him a hotdog.

Gone was the scraggly man who walked into his home. Now Saayed had buzzed his hair with the help of Anna. Shaved to where he looked human and not some werewolf. He was also wearing swim trunks and a white tank. Anna and Saayed were smiling and giggling at each other…it was absolutely disgusting.

“This veggie burger is one of the best I’ve ever tasted,” Jenny complimented Justin.

“I looked up some recipes, I was hoping it wouldn’t be too bad,” Justin said, smiling at her.

“You don’t have to make a pig of yourself,” Rodger sneered.

He didn’t say it quietly so everyone heard. Brian watched as his goddaughter put her half-eaten burger down, not looking at anyone. Jenny had begged them all to not confront Rodger when he says his little comments. Brian could see his children were doing their best not to lay into him. Shockingly, Anna just glared, not saying a word.

“You need to eat more than that, the baby needs nourishment,” Alex spoke up.

Those who didn’t know about the pregnancy let out a surprised gasp. He had been lucky, Justin had told him before they went back downstairs.

“Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag,” Jenny said, laughing nervously.

“It’s not like your showing yet, you’re just fat,” Rodney said as he shoved his third burger into his mouth.

Brian moved fast, sadly it wasn’t to take a shot at Rodger himself. No, it was to stop Alex from lunging at him, which he had just attempted.

“Why are you so mean to her? What is your problem?” Alex roared.

Jenny was showing, once they knew what to look for it was very clear. She had just been wearing loose clothes so it was harder to tell.

“How I deal with my wife is no concern of yours,” Rodger spat.

Everyone started yelling, most at Rodger, even Saayed got into the act. Brian’s attention was drawn to the road. A dark sedan pulled into his drive. He knew who it was, looking over at Justin he caught his attention. He then nodded to the new arrival. Lt. Martinez, climbed out of the car. They watched as he waved and started to make the long walk to where they were.

Reece could feel his heart pounding in his chest. The only reason Lt. Martinez would be coming was something to do with Chris Hobbs. What was he going to say? Once the man’s face became clearer the nearer he came, Reece knew it was bad.

“Hello, all,” the man said a little subdued.

“What can I help you with?” his pop asked.

“I would like to speak with Reece in private, it would probably be best if you and your husband join us.”

Reece followed his parents with Martinez following. They stepped into the kitchen and Reece sat down before he would fall. He knew whatever it was, he was not going to be happy. His parents took the seats on either side of him.

“Go on,” his pop said.

“As you all know, Chris Hobbs was charged and released on bail three days ago.”

Of course, they knew, it had been a miracle that he was able to stay at the loft. His father put in more safety measures in the building. It one of the reasons he freaked out so much the day Uncle Michael tried to get in.

“Yes,” his dad said, sounding a little distant.

“Well, an hour ago Chris Hobbs body was discovered outside his home. The detectives who were placed on the case will be here today or tomorrow. I just need to know. The coroner gave us a guess before she took the body. She thinks it happened an hour before that. It looks like all of you are here for a party. Was everyone here at around four this afternoon?”

“Yes,” his pop answered without hesitation.

“Pop, don’t. I’m not guilty so there’s no reason to lie.” He looked at Martinez. “I wasn’t here. I was cleaning the church for services tomorrow.”

“Did anyone see you?”

Reece thought back, he had used his key to get in the church. No one was there. When he went to get Harley from the loft he hadn’t run into anyone. Finally, Reece shook his head.

“Alright, I wasn’t here. Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to be sticking my nose in this. But make sure you don’t answer the detectives without your lawyer present.”

Martinez stood and shook their hands, Reece thought he held his hand for a little longer than necessary.

He sat back down while his parents walked Martinez out. He thought if Chris Hobbs was dead he would be relieved. In fact, he had wished for it. But now that the man was dead. All he felt was empty. He had hoped that he would spend the rest of his life in jail, although Hunter had told him the reality of the situation. Hunter had told him and his parents days ago that even if he was convicted of what he was charged with, he could be out in five years. His pop had gotten really mad but his dad was just really quiet.

That was another thing that worried him. His pop had been livid when they found out Hobbs was out on bail. A part of him worried that his father had used his connections to have Hobbs killed. His father was a scary man when he was mad. Never had he been violent with them or his dad but sometimes, he scared him. But there was once it was close. There was something dark that hid behind his father’s eyes.

When Reece was ten, his father quit drinking. He had been drinking more and more. His dad told them to leave Pop alone when he was drunk. One night though, Dad had gone to Aunt Molly’s who had just had James, her oldest son. Devon, who was thirteen, needed Pop to sign a permission slip so he could go to the Warhol Museum.

Reece was watching television, he could hear his pop come out of his study. He hoped he wouldn’t make them go to bed. His dad had taken Caleb and Sean with him, so it wasn’t fair that he had to go to bed already if the little kids got to stay up. All the other kids were upstairs except for Devon. He looked like he was waiting for something.

“Aren’t you two supposed to be in bed already?” his pop demanded.

Reece jumped a little, he didn’t expect his pop to be so mad. He also noticed that his pop was a little unsteady on his feet too.

“He’s been drinking again,” Devon whispered. Reece nodded.

“I asked you two a question!” Pop yelled.

“I-I wa-was waiting for you. I need you to sign this,” Devon stuttered out, handing the permission slip to their pop.

Pop looked at it before throwing it back at Devon. “You’ve been there more times than I can count. It’s overstate line. I’ll be damned if I let those bastards take my kid over state lines,” he ranted. It didn’t even sound like his pop.  

It seemed like a weird thing to be mad about, all their field trips went into Pennsylvania. There just wasn’t much in this area of West Virginia.

“But Pop- “

Reece watched in horror as his father raised his hand like he was going to hit Devon. He didn’t hit him though, he stopped himself looking at his hand like it was an alien. He sent them upstairs, which they both ran up.

His father stopped drinking as much, and started seeing someone for his temper. It wasn’t until they were up in their teenage years that their pop told them about his abusive father. Sometimes, it worried Reece that the man who he saw raise his hand to Devon was lurking somewhere in his father. Was that man capable of murder?

No trial. No jury. No judge. Dead. Just dead. No justice.

“I know what you’re thinking, I didn’t do this,” Brian said to Justin as they watched Martinez drive away.

“I know you didn’t,” Justin said turning around.

“How could you know? I thought you would think it was me. Unless…”

Justin just walked towards where the party was still going on, leaving Brian was a shocked face. There was no way the man he’d been married to for twenty years hired someone to kill Chris Hobbs. First, they shared the same bank account. Anything as high as a hit he would think he would notice going out of it.

After the party calmed down everyone left except their children and Saayed. They were going to be staying in Gus and Devon’s room now that Matt had taken over hers. Brian smiled to himself, he was the furthest thing from a prude but those bunkbeds were going to be uncomfortable to the newlyweds. Well maybe now, they both were in the military.

Once Justin and Brian were alone in their room. Brian confronted him. “You had Hobbs killed?” Even though it was asked as a question it was really a statement.

“Don’t ask questions you’re not prepared to hear the answer to,” Justin told him.

“I do want to know. Also, how the hell do you know this person won’t turn you in?”

“My child is not going to spend the rest of his life scared Chris Hobbs is around the corner. He’s gone. It’s the best thing for Reece and for Shorty. That’s all you need to know.”

“No. Who did it?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Tell me? NOW!”

“Cody.”

“Cody? Who the fuck is Cody?” Brian looked at Justin as he racked his brain trying to remember a Cody. Suddenly, Justin with a pick shirt and shaved head jumped at him. During this time, every other sentence was about Cody. “You can’t be serious? That psychopath?”

“I’m going to take a shower, it’s been a long day.”

As the hot water hit his face he did all he could not to scream. Not because the water was hot but because of the mess he found himself in. He thought he was too old for such stupid acts. Although this was just stupid. This wasn’t putting an unloaded gun in Hobbs’ mouth. No, this was murder. A murder that he asked Cody to commit.

The first time he saw Cody since the night in front of Chris Hobbs house was during one of the darkest times of his life. When he thought his marriage to Brian was over. One night he went out drinking but didn’t go anywhere that he might run into Brian.

That left a bar in the seedier end of Liberty. Once he was inside he knew he should have left. But he walked to the bar and ordered a drink. The bartender turned around and he about passed out looking at Cody Bell, the man didn’t look anything like he had. Years of putting on muscles, from exercise or steroids he didn’t know.

“If it isn’t Justin Taylor, as I live and breathe,” he said good-naturedly. “What’s it been fifteen years?”

“About that. How are you, Cody?”

“I just go by C.B. now.”

“C.B., that’s more…mature.”

Cody laughed heartily and poured the whiskey. Whiskey wasn’t really Justin drink of choice but after all the years with Brian he now associated it with comfort drink.

“So, how goes the life of the struggling artist?” Cody asked.

“I do some shows but I mostly work for myself. I do freelance work for some companies, still have the comic book. So, I’m sure my art will be famous one day still. I’ll just be six foot under when that time happens,” he said, shooting back the whiskey. He did his best not the cringe, even after all these years.

“Just like the greats, huh?”

After that every so often when Justin felt like getting away from everything family, he would go to that bar and drink. Nothing ever happened between Cody and him, it was never like that with them. They never discussed how they left off so many years ago either. It just felt good to have someone separate from his ‘group’, even Daphne was a part of the family.

That was the reason why after their lawyer had told them that Hobbs would probably get bail, he went to the bar to get blind drunk. That night felt like it was someone else, it didn’t even sound like him.

“Hey stranger,” Cody called as he entered the bar.

“Start setting up shots and don’t stop until you have to pour me into a cab.”

“Bad day?”

“Bad life.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Cody asked as he started pouring a shot.

Justin grabbed it and shot it back. “After twelve more of these.”

Four shots later he finally started to talk. “He’s back. It’s like he’s always been there just around the corner waiting to jump out of the dark again.”

Cody looked at him strangely. “Who?”

“Chris fucking Hobbs, that’s who. After all these years, he’s still the boogeyman.”

“Hobbs? Isn’t the guy we…?”

“Yes. Now he’s back, like fucking herpes. He hurt my son, in more ways than one. Now he’ll be walking free again.”

Something flashed in Cody’s eyes but it was gone as fast as it arrived. “Let me get you my special drink. Trust me, it’s what you need.”

Cody had his back to Justin for a minute but it turned and handed him a drink in a tumbler. “What’s in it?” he asked.

“Just my special recipe. Trust me.”

Justin shot the drink back like it was a shot. It didn’t burn as much so he didn’t think it was anything too strong. They continued talking about this and that until Cody started to talk about Hobbs again.

“You say that Hobbs will get out of jail?” Cody asked.

“Yes, he’s just going to walk away again, I know it.” His words flowing freely.

“I bet that makes you mad. I know I would be if it was my child.”

“You have no idea. I thought what he did to me all those years ago was the worst he gets. But it wasn’t even a blip on his evil radar. He’s a horrible person.”

“Horrible people die all the time,” Cody said nonchalantly.

“Not with my luck. No with my luck he’ll get out and move next door.”

“A man like that should be dead.”

“I know. I’m surprised he lived this long. He’s a homophobe, rapist and child abuser. People like him don’t deserve children.”

“People like him don’t deserve to live.”

Justin’s head was feeling a bit weird. But he thought about what Cody was saying. He was right Chris Hobbs doesn’t deserve to live.”

“No, they don’t,” Justin agreed.

“They deserve to be killed for what they do.”

“They do.” Cody was right.

“Hobbs needs to die.”

“You’re right he does. Someone needs to do something about him.”

“He’ll hurt so many more people if he continues to live. Maybe your son again.”

“No, he’s never getting near my son again. I’ll kill him if he so much as looks in the direction of any of my children.”

“Maybe you don’t have to kill anyone,” Cody said, almost whispering it in his ear.

“Huh?”

“All you have to do is say the word, and I’ll take care of it. Chris Hobbs wouldn’t be a problem to you or your family anymore. No longer will you live in fear of parking garages. Never will you again be able to shy away from going to your children’s baseball games. You’ll be free.”

The words sounded right to him but something was holding him back. What? He couldn’t be sure. There was something wrong with what he was saying. But being free sounded so good. “I think I need to get home,” he said, standing up on wobbly legs.

“Just say the words, Justin. Say them and he will never hurt your son again. He won’t have to face him in a court. He won’t be made to be the guilty one when he was the victim. You say the words and you can save your son from what you went through.”

Shaking his head, “I can’t.”

“You can. He will come after your family. He will kill them. You know this.”

It sounded right but it felt wrong. Justin felt like his head was all over the place. “Take care of it.”

“Meaning. Say the words.”

“Kill him.”

The next day when he remembered what had transpired he went back to the bar. Cody wasn’t there and the bartender refused to give him a number or address. He debated telling Brian and getting his take on what happened. But after the whole Pink Posse thing he didn’t want to disappoint his husband again. And after five years of casually seeing a guy that your husband thought was a psychopath wasn’t a great idea.

The day after that Hobbs was out on bail, and Justin had called the tip line using a phone he had picked up at the store. He told them that Chris Hobbs life was in danger that someone might try to kill him. But once they started asking for his info he hung up. They could protect Hobbs, not for the piece of scum but for him. He didn’t want someone’s death on his hands, no matter how vile the person was.

But now it was done. He was an accessory to murder. He ordered Cody to kill Hobbs. It still didn’t feel right. He was missing something from that night he knew it. He’d never been a violent person. It was like Cody had some control over him. He broke away from it once, why couldn’t he do it again? What was different about this time?

Brian wasn’t in bed when Justin got out of the shower, not that he blamed him. Justin knew he had dropped a bomb on his husband and the man needed time to process. Justin needed time to process and it was all on him.

“It’s my room!” Justin heard Anna yelling.

He closed his eyes but the screaming was just getting louder. Justin walked out of his room and headed for Anna’s.

“What’s going on here?” he asked tiredly.

“Matt is in my room,” her snapped.

“You don’t leave here anymore,” Matt bit back at her.

“Neither do you. Why don’t you go back to the loft, Reece already left,” Justin said.

“Shorty wanted to stay the night here. He doesn’t want to be alone with me yet. I’m a gentleman after all.”

Anna snorted rudely. “Sure, gentleman. Why don’t we tell Shorty about Lewis Cho?”

“You do and you die,” Matt said, his eyes blazing at his twin.

“Who’s Lewis Cho?” Shorty asked innocently.

“No one,” Justin and Matt said at the same time.

“That’s not right. You should be honest with him if you want to have a relationship with him. And what’s more honest than telling him who you gave your V card too,”

“Shut your fucking mouth or I tell everyone who you gave yours to. And I won’t lie and say Alex.”

“You open your big fucking mouth and I’ll tear your balls off,” she was seething.

Justin was just too tired to stop it. He knew what was coming, Shorty and Saayed looked shocked as hell but if they were in for the long haul they needed to see how his kids worked out their problems.

“Honey, why don’t we go stay in Gus and Devon’s room like we planned,” Saayed tried.

“Hell, no. I want my room back.”

“Have it your way. Anna lost her virginity to Todd Llewellyn.”

Before Justin could even shake his head, Matt was gone like a flash, his one-hundred-and-ten-pound sister on his tail, screaming obscenities.

“Well, I’m gonna go on to bed,” he said to the shocked faces of Saayed and Shorty. “This will go one for a while. They’ll both end up with bruises and probably a fat lip but that’s about it. They haven’t broken anything of each other’s in about ten years.”

“Aren’t you going to stop them?” Shorty asked.

Justin felt older than his years in that moment. He loved his kids and they weren’t really violent but they didn’t run, chase, fall and tackle each other. They never hit, their injuries were only from running into walls or one time tripping over the banister when trying to jump over it. Matt had been nine at the time and broke his finger.

“They’ll work it out. This is how they bond. Trust me, you should be worried if they stop fighting. That’s when it’s bad. I’m going to bed. Have fun.”

“Wait, who’s Lewis Cho?” Shorty asked.

Justin didn’t really want to get into the personal life of any of his children but he just discovered two goldmines that his twins had kept secret.

“Lewis was Matthew’s freshman year roommate.”

“I don’t understand. What’s so bad about that?” Saayed asked.

“It just means he’s been spinning tales to keep the masses entertained for about three years before he epicene it himself.”

“Ah,” Saayed said catching Justin drift.

“I still don’t get it,” Shorty said.

“He means that Matt lost his virginity much later than the told people,” Saayed said.

“Why?” Shorty asked.

“To sound more wild and dangerous I guess,” Justin told them.

“So, who is Todd Llewellyn?” Saayed asked

Justin couldn’t contain the laughter that bubbled out of him. He laughed so hard he bent over clutching his side. Matt better run, because if Anna gets a hold of him, she’d tear him apart.

“I can’t it’s too…I just can’t,” he got out.

“What’s going on?” Kenyon said, he looked like he had just showered, missing the fighting until now.

Somewhere below Justin heard a high-pitched scream that didn’t belong to his daughter. It sounded like she caught him.

“Who’s Todd Llewellyn?” Saayed asked the new arrival.

“God, I haven’t heard that name in forever. Toddy the fucking body.

“Kenyon Tyrrell, you say one more fucking word and I’ll castrate you,” Anna said, already back up the stairs, looking like she was going to run a Kenyon.

“Didn’t he get arrested for putting his dick in the hole of table senior year?”

And like that the chase was on again, this time Kenyon was the one running for his life. Todd was a weird kid that did dumb as shit things for bets. Thankfully, after the arrest, Brian had banned the little weirdo from their house.

Justin finally made it to bed. Brian didn’t come home that night.

He could feel Justin breathing on him, the man needed to brush his teeth. Suddenly, Justin licked his face, that was very…odd. Opening his eyes, he nearly jumped when he spotted the behemoth in front of him. Harley. He had forgotten he had stayed at the loft the night before.

Loud banging on the loft door made him jerk up. The dog crawled under the covers, which wasn’t easy with his size. Really, how could this dog be a protector? He was scared of his own shadow. Then Brian thought of the day before, Harley had saved Avery. While he hadn’t seen it, it had happened. So, he guessed as long as intruders weren’t involved the dog was very courageous.

The bed wasn’t his old bed. Justin had gotten Reece a new bed and mattress. He didn’t want his son to sleep in a bed they used as a fuck pad when they got away from kids. Which at the time, Brian didn’t care but he could see Justin’s point now.

Last night, after Justin’s confession Brian couldn’t even be in the room with him. Not because Justin had Hobbes killed. No. It was because he hadn’t told him before the shit hit the fan or when he was planning it. The thought of killing Hobbs had crossed his own mind a time or twenty. But bringing Cody Bell back into their lives; the man had been a nutjob twenty years ago. He didn’t think he got any saner.

Brian hadn’t gotten to meet the little freak himself but Daphne had told him a lot of what Justin wouldn’t. The kid was a psychopath, and at the time dragging Justin down the rabbit hole with him. How did he even get involved with Cody again? Had he sought him out when looking for someone to kill Hobbs?

The pounding on the door started again. It didn’t sound like Matt’s annoying code he always knocked on doors with. That meant it had to be someone else with the key to the building.

Before he could get out of bed he heard Reece cursing as he walked to the door. Reece had let him have the bed last night, even changed the sheets for him. Brian was too tall to be sleeping on that hobbit seat Reece called a couch. Reece and Matt had exchanged couches. So, the one he spent weeks choosing and having custom made for the loft was now in Matt’s bachelor pad. At least with Reece he knew food wouldn’t be spilled on it, Reece wasn’t a slob, like Justin, unfortunately Matt was.

Brian heard the door slide open and the low rumble of voices. One much deeper than his son’s, it raised a little. Deciding to see who the hell it was, he got up slipping his jeans and shirt back on. He stepped down out of the bedroom and looked to the door. His years on earth he had thought he was un-shockable, but he was wrong. With the door still wide open, he saw his son pushed up against the inner wall, he had his legs around a certain police lieutenant, a police lieutenant old enough to be his father…if he had him when he was sixteen.

“What the fuck is going on here?” he yelled.

The man holding his son up against the wall almost dropped him. He was lucky he didn’t. He then lowered Reece to the floor, whose face was beet red.

“Mr. Kinney,” the man said looking a little pale.

“Taylor-Kinney,” he corrected. His name was legally Taylor-Kinney but everyone at Kinnetik calls him Kinney. It was just for paperwork and when the family was goofing off. All the kids went by Taylor-Kinney as did Justin. But he wasn’t going to let this man forget he was Reece’s father.

“Pop, I-I thought you were still sleeping,” Reece said.

“When did this start?” he demanded, gesturing between the two.

“Umm…last night,” Reece said, his face still red.

“Last night? Like as in after he came to our house?”

“Yes, after I got home last night I took Harley for his last walk of the night. Julian was walking his dog Cammie, we started talking; one thing led to another. You really don’t want a play by play, do you?”

“Of course not,” Brian said, glaring at the man who was still holding his son’s hand. “I need to get to work.”

He turned and walked to the bathroom. Once he came out, the cop was gone. Good.

“You didn’t have to be so rude to him,” Reece said as he picked out clothes to wear.

“Yes I did. He’s using his authority to make you need him.”

“No, he’s not. He’s been very sweet. But he can also be annoyingly cocky, egotistical, loud, bit mean and cold sometimes. But there is something about him, I fought it when he first started coming around in the hospital. But he really likes me, and he isn’t pushing me for anything…unlike Ethan. He’s fine with going slow.”

“You’re an adult,” was all he said.

Reece smiled wanly. “Thanks Pop. Now, are you going to go make up with Dad?”

“I’m going to work.”

“It’s Sunday,” Reece said, looking exasperated.

“I’m the boss, I don’t have weekends off.”

He also had spare clothes in his office. Right now, he just didn’t know what to say to Justin, that meant he didn’t want to see him.

“Dad,” a small voice said, breaking through Justin’s sleep.

Opening his eyes, he saw Avery standing at the side of his bed. He wasn’t in his night clothes from the night before. Now he was wearing the robe that Justin’s mother had gotten him the Christmas before. Justin could see he only had underwear on under it. It could only mean one thing.

“Why don’t you sleep a little longer in here while I make breakfast?”

Avery didn’t say anything, just crawled up on the bed and laid down. Justin smoothed the boy’s hair down until he drifted to sleep. Once Avery was asleep he headed to the boy’s room. He stripped the wet sheets.

When Avery came to them he would wet the bed nightly. They got him a special mattress and sheets. It had been months since he had an accident. But with yesterdays near drowning it wasn’t surprising. He might even have to make an appointment with Dr. Chaplin, the child psychiatrist that Avery saw for his adjustment into their family.

Once he cleaned the bed and put new sheets on he headed down stairs. None of his kids were earlier risers, so he had time. Usually, he didn’t make breakfast for the adult children. It wasn’t because he thought they could make their own, even thought they could. It was because they each wanted something different, he wasn’t a damn restaurant. This time they would eat want he made or not. He really wasn’t in the mood to argue. He had too much to think about. After he fed everyone he had an old friend to find. He needed to talk to Cody and soon.

The first downstairs was Sean.

“Hey Dad,” Sean said, a big yawn following it.

“Morning. I’m making French toast for breakfast.”

“Eww.”

“Don’t like it, there’s cereal in the cupboard.”

Sean walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a sugar-filled cereal. “Where’s Pop? He’s usually up before everyone else.”

“He had to go to work early,” Justin lied.

“When is he coming home? He promised to take me to look at the new game system at Game-On.”

“It’s cheaper if you get it online,” Justin said, making fresh orange juice.

“But you don’t get one on one service that way. Anyway, Pop gets a discount since Game-On is a client of his.”

“You don’t need every game system the minute it comes out.” Sean had a job working at Michael’s comic book shop every Saturday for a few hours. He saved his money to get games, systems or really anything. He didn’t make that much but was great at buying things and selling them for more. A little entrepreneur.

Sean looked at him like he had just grown another head. Sean was also his little gamer. He could beat anyone at any game, not just video games. Board games. Card games. He was a wiz at them.

“Let me call your pop, I’ll see what’s going on.”

Brian didn’t answer his phone, finally Anna and Saayed decided to take Caleb and Sean to the game store. Justin had his own business to attend to, like find Cody Bell.

Justin walked into the rundown bar, hoping to find Cody. He was disappointed. The bartender working, Trevor, told him that he was on vacation for a week. Justin didn’t have an address and Cody wasn’t answering his phone.

As he walked out of the bar he bumped into someone.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he said without looking up.

“It’s alright,” a rough voice said.

Looking up he saw the cop from the grocery store. He wasn’t wearing a uniform, just tight jeans and a white t-shirt.

“Oh, hi.”

“Hello, Justin.”

Justin thought back to his interaction with the man, he didn’t remember giving him his name. Suddenly, Justin was very aware that they were alone in an alley he was cutting through.

“Hi, sorry, I’ve got to be going.”

“Are you sure? I thought we could talk about Mr. Bell.”

Justin froze in place. This was happening. The cops knew he told Cody to kill Hobbs. He was going to be arrested, thrown in jail for life. His children. What would they think?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

“Oh, I think you do. We can talk about it down at the station…if you would prefer. Or we can go get a cup of coffee and discuss a few things.”

What the hell?

Justin just stared at the man for a long moment, before finally giving in. “Liberty Diner?” He would feel safer on his on turf.

“No, Pal’s.”

Pal’s was a well-known cop diner. Whatever he wanted to say, he wanted his back watched while doing it.

He followed the cop at a distance, not wanting to be near him. To think he had been flattered when the guy copped a feel. It had been a while, everyone in his running circle knew he was with Brian. That meant they didn’t hit on him, Brian had major bouts of jealousy after they were married and when they got back together after their almost divorce. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of Brian Kinney.

Once inside they took a seat over in the corner, out of the way of everyone else. It had a lot of privacy though, that had to be a plus. A little blonde waitress took their order, Justin didn’t miss how two cops having lunch in a window seat watched her ass.

“Alright, so do you want to tell me how you know Cody Bell?” the cop asked.

“Am I under arrest?”

“Is there a reason for you to be under arrest?” the cop asked.

“I asked you first.”

“Just answer my first question.”

“I met Cody went I was twenty, I was going through a tough time. He seemed to be the answer.”

“Was he?”

“Obviously not,” he said dryly.

The waitress brought their drinks and took their lunch order before walking away.

“Is your husband involved with this?”

“What is this? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He had listened to Hunter bitch enough, he knew not to volunteer anything.

“Let’s cut the shit. You went to the bar Bell bartends at, you drink. One thing leads to another and you ask him to take care of the man that has caused you and your family so much pain.”

“That seems like a fantastic story, may I use it in my comic book?” He hoped he didn’t look as scared as he felt.

“This stays between us. Cody Bell is our number one suspect in the murder of six men that have had run-ins with gay men, who at one time gone to Hangers.”

Hangers is the bar that Cody bartended at. “Cody isn’t some kind of serial killer.” Even as he said the words, he didn’t believe them. Cody was always a loose cannon. When they were younger, sometimes Justin was scared how far Cody would go for his cause.

“I’ve done a lot of research on you. The first time I saw you, I knew that you would be the key.”

“Key? What key? What a minute, you mean at the grocery store you knew who I was?”

The man’s face showed a tinge of guilt. “I was watching you when the woman found me. I wasn’t planning on meeting you so soon but she was persistent.”

“Why?”

“Cody Bell is a dangerous man. We’ve been watching him for a while. We have information from many sources that he drugs men, gets them mad about some straight person that’s done them wrong. He records them asking him to kill said person. I’m just taking a stab in the dark that he did the same to you.”

Justin couldn’t breathe. He was going to be arrested. His family would be visiting him in a prison for the foreseeable future. There was no way he would allow that. That meant he wouldn’t be seeing his kids until he got out of jail, if ever. Maybe he would be in prison until he was old and gray…and dead.

“Calm down, I can see everything you are thinking on your face. Listen, I was just trying to scare you to get you to cooperate. I’ve been given the go ahead to offer you immunity because you weren’t of sound mind or body, and you were up against someone who had this scheme for a long time. It was perfected, that’s why we need you. He’s too good. We know it’s him but we just can’t pin him.”

“But I had him kill Hobbs,” Justin blurted out.

His eyes widened as his slammed his hand over his mouth. He just confessed to having Hobbs killed.

“No, you were drugged and tricked into asking the favor he wanted. He wants to kill but he doesn’t want the guilt, less guilt if someone asks you to do it. At least in his mind. Anyway, all this is really not what we’re after.”

“What are you talking about? I’m a murderer, that’s what cops want to stop.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re not even an accomplice to murder.”

“What?”

“Cody Bell has been in county jail for three days, no way he could have killed Hobbs. Anyway, we have our guy, he confessed this morning.”

Brian. It had to be Brian. He was trying to protect him.

“No, Cody must have hired someone else to do it. You can’t let an innocent person go to prison for this. I did this.”

“No, I’m sorry, but I’m not wrong. We have a full confession, murder weapon, DNA evidence. We’ve got him dead to rights, he’s not even looking for a plea deal. All he said was it was something he should have done a long time ago.”

Brian? Brian killed Hobbs. No, he couldn’t, he said so himself. He was shocked about Justin talking to Cody about killing him. Brian wouldn’t. Brian couldn’t.

“I really am sorry. Vigilante justice isn’t the way to go, but he seems to not care. It looks like you already know who it was.”

“I have an idea.”

“If it helps any, I don’t think they’ll seek the maximum. With his health and his diminished mental compacity.”

“Wait! What? Diminished mental compacity?”

“Yes, the Alzheimer’s.”

Brian didn’t have Alzheimer’s, Justin would be the first to see the signs.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Your father, Craig Taylor.”

Justin sat there stunned for a moment. “My father?”

The man nodded, looking a little solemnly. Justin decided to put that information away for the moment. Something else was on his mind, he couldn’t deal with his father’s late-in-life new turn.

“Okay, let me get this straight. When you came onto me in the grocery store, that was all to get closer to me. For whatever you want me to help with Cody. Right?”

“Sorry, yeah.”

That was a hit to his ego. “I think I liked it better when I was a murderer,” he muttered. “Alright, what do you want me to do?” Cody needed to be off the streets for good.

“Wear a wire, get him to confess.”

“Sounds simple.” Brian was not going to like this.

Michael had closed his shop early and gone home. Justin was supposed to come over and work on the new issue of RAGE but family duties called or some shit like that. Michael was really starting to get tired of Justin not putting his all into the comic book they created.

Pouring himself his third drink stiff drink, he knew in a while he wouldn’t be feeling any pain. It had been a little over five years since Ben died and it still felt like yesterday. He still felt the pang in his chest the idiots at grief counseling said would hurt less as time went by. The only thing that helped was a drink.

It felt like he was alone in life now. Brian was the father of ten and didn’t have time for him. Justin was father of the same ten which meant he couldn’t work on the any of their series without a month’s notice, even then he would be called twenty times. Emmett was too busy with his new show, which he wouldn’t have if he wasn’t married to a retired NFL player. Even Ted was too busy for him, Blake and he were working hard on being the very best, productive recovering addicts. They were always doing something for people that needed help, it was sickening to watch. Mostly because they both, along with everyone else, thought he had a drinking problem. The only problem was that he had to wait to get home to drink. Sometimes. Today he might have had a drink or two before leaving work but it was Sunday, not a weekday.

Just as he poured his next drink someone started knocking on his door. Grumbling to himself he stood and walked to the door.

“Hi Dad,” Jenny greeted him with a small smile.

“Sweetheart, what are you doing here? I would have made your favorite if I knew you were coming.” When had she gotten into town?

“Sorry I arrived Friday night, we can only stay a week.”

“We? Please tell me Rodger isn’t here,” he said looking behind her. He hoped the man wasn’t there, he couldn’t stand him.

“Well, we were out eating dinner because I asked him to take me out. He got mad and left me at the restaurant. I was hoping you would take me back to Hunter’s.”

“You’re staying at Hunter’s? Why not here?”

“I just wanted to spend some time with him and the kids. Also, he lives closer to Uncle Brian’s. Anna is home for a little while.”

“I’ll take you,” he said bitterly.

“Have you been drinking? I can take a cab if you give me the money.”

“I said I’ll drive you.”

“How about I drive?” she asked, her voice rising.

“No, let me get my keys.”

“It’s okay, if I can use your phone I’ll call Mom.”

“I see, you don’t love me or trust me anymore. Fine, do what you want.”

“No, please Dad, you can take me. I’m just being unreasonable. Rodger says I’m a pain.”

“Let’s go,” he barked.

Hunter was starting to get worried, they were supposed to be back ages ago. He had even called Anna to see if Jenny went over there. She hadn’t. Jenny was a grown woman but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Just after midnight his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello,” he said, he hadn’t been asleep.

“Hunter Novotny-Brutner?” a cool voice said.

“Yes.”

“You are the emergency contact for Michael Novotny-Brutner?”

“Yes, he’s my dad. What’s wrong? Is he okay?”

“You need to come to the hospital.”

“Alleghany General?”

“No, VanNeer Medical. It’s right outside of Wellsburg.”

“West Virginia?”

“Yes sir. I would recommend that you hurry.”

It wasn’t hard to understand the hidden meaning there. His father was dying. What was he doing in West Virginia?”

Brian woke up to his phone ringing, he grabbed blindly for it. He had just gotten home, thankfully Justin and the kids were already asleep. He fell asleep next to Justin as soon as he laid down. “This better be good.”

“Brian, you need to get to VanNeer Medical, now,” Hunter said, sounding hysterical.

He sat up, jarring Justin some. “What are you talking about?”

“Someone from the hospital called, he told me that I better get to the hospital fast, I can only think that means the worst.”

“Michael?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you call Debbie?”

“No, I didn’t want her to have another heart attack.”

“Call her, if it is what you think, she’ll want to say goodbye.” God, Brian hoped it wasn’t, he hoped Hunter was wrong. “I’m leaving now.”

Jenny laid in the bed staring blankly at the curtains. Everything had happened so fast. After they got out of the city, her dad’s driving got worse. She begged him to let her drive. Finally, he agreed. He pulled over to the side of the road and they changed seats and they were off.

She had laughed when he started singing badly to the radio. For a little while it was like her father was back. Her father before her other father died. Before he drank his breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yeah, he was drunk now but not mean. He had gotten so mean in the years since Daddy B died.

“I’m sorry,” her dad said suddenly.

“Why?”

“I know I’m not the father you deserve. I’m too judgmental. It was never about you, it was all about me.”

This was the first time he had ever said anything about the way he treated her. She thought he just never saw that his little barbs hurt so much.

“It’s alright, Dad.”

“No, it’s not. I love you the way you are. I should never have said those things.”

“I have news, I’m pregnant.”

He sputtered a little. “Is this what you want?” he asked, slurring some.

“Very much so.”

“Then congraduations. I can’t believe it, I’m going to be a grandpa.” She laughed as he giggled loudly.

A little down the road she was watching to road but listening to him. She had noticed the headlights in her rearview mirror get closer and closer. Hoping they would just go around.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing her annoyance.

“This car behind me. They have their high beams on while on my ass.”

“Next road the right take it, they’ll go past and we can turn around.”

“Yeah, this guy’s a tool.”

It happened so quickly. The car behind them hit their bumper. She was going speed limit but even at that speed she lost control. Her car spun before they went into the ditch, flipping over before landing right side up again. Everything had been so quiet after that.

“Shit! Oh God, I’m so fucking sorry!” a booming voice said from somewhere outside her open window. The airbag had hit her so hard, it had knocked the breath out of her.

“M-My dad,” she said hoarsely.

She couldn’t turn her head but knew something was wrong with him, he wasn’t making any noise. None.

“I’ve called 911, just breathe,” the man said.

“Please, is my dad okay?”

The man looked past her but his face was like stone, showing no emotion. That couldn’t be good.

“Please,” she said. She tried to turn her head to see her father.

“Don’t look.”

It must have been too much for her body because the next thing she remembered was waking up in the emergency room. There were noises from all around her but all she saw was a curtain around her bed. So now she sat staring blankly closed curtain, waiting for them to tell her that her father was dead and it was all her fault.

Several people visited throughout the day, everyone except her husband. It was Anna who held her after they told her she lost the baby. It was Hunter that had been her target as she screamed and said the cruelest things possible. He never even flinched. It was her Uncle Brian that told her about her father. Alive but unlikely to live through the night. It was hate she felt when she thought about him. The wreck wasn’t his fault, it was a man who was too impatient to get home. But how could she go in to her father’s room and comfort him when she was so angry. She knew the answer though, she could let him die without telling him she forgives him…even if she didn’t mean it. She could unburden his soul.

“I want to see my dad,” she said.

Only her Uncle Justin was in the room with her. Everyone wanted to spend the last moments with her dad, and she understood. She didn’t want him to go but maybe he would finally find the peace that has eluded him since Daddy B died.

Justin called for a wheelchair and she was wheeled down the hall into the trauma room her dad was still at. She was surprised that only her Uncle Brian was in the room, holding her dad’s hand. There was so many machines hooked up to him. But she could see his eyes opened, even if a tube was down his throat.

Brian watched as his goddaughter went to her father’s bedside and grabbed his hand. He nodded to Justin and they left them alone.

“How are you holding up?” Justin asked him, bringing him into a hug.

Even with all the lies between them he just wanted to be held. “He’s dying.”

“I know. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for you, Debbie and especially Jenny. She just lost the baby, now this. It’s too much.”

“Where is everyone?” Brian asked.

“The waiting room. It was getting too much for Debbie and Hunter, they needed a moment to compose themselves. I was staying with Jenny.”

“I don’t know how to do this. I’ve buried both my parents and Claire. But it’s never hurt like this.”

“Because he was there for you went they weren’t. He is a member of the family you picked.”

“I can’t lose him.”

They sat in silence outside Michael’s room. Soon Debbie and Hunter came back, Hunter told them to go home and get some rest, he would call if Michael took a turn for the worse.

He didn’t want to go but they needed to go home and check on the kids. Justin had come to the hospital hours after he had, so they rode home separate too. He remembered why he was mad at Justin but now it just seemed so trivial.

Justin pulled up right behind him a little after midnight. He’d been gone from the house for a full day.

“Brian, I need to tell you something before we go in.”

“I’m in no mood for whatever you have to say.”

“I didn’t kill Chris, I had nothing to do with it. I had asked Cody when I didn’t know what I was saying, but he was locked up when Chris was killed. Craig killed Chris.”

That stopped him where he stood. “Craig? As in Craig Taylor?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think he just finally had enough, I hadn’t talked to him. We both know he’s capable of killing someone. Now his mind is going, he I guess watched the news talking about Reece being hurt. It was kind of too much for him. At least that’s what Molly says. She’s been in contact with him, she said he was getting worse and all week was spouting off things like Chris needed to die.”

“And she didn’t call the police?”

“No, she didn’t think he would act on it.”

“When did you find this out?”

“Found out he killed Chris yesterday, a cop told me. Today I’ve been talking to Molly on the phone.”

“Jesus Christ,” Brian muttered.

“Yeah. Do you still hate me?”

“Fuck, Sunshine, I could never hate you. Pissed beyond belief yes but never hate. Come on. Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow won’t be any better.”

But it was. The call came in around six the next morning. The doctors were able to remove Michael’s breathing tube. The doctors were very wary but they were able to give them a glimmer of hope.

Justin stayed home while Brian rushed back to the hospital. All the bigger kids left, just leaving him and Avery. It happened a lot of time. He wondered how he would do when Avery didn’t want to stay with dad anymore. He was a daddy’s boy that was sure. Justin just knew that empty nest syndrome would either be the best or worst thing in the world.

Just after lunch someone knocked on his door. He was shocked to see it was the cop. Officer Mallard.

“What are you doing here?” he asked bluntly.

“I’ve come to talk more about Cody.”

“You can’t come to my home,” he said, feeling anger building up.

“I remember you, you touched my daddy’s bottom. You weren’t supposed to do that,” Avery said from behind Justin.

“Avery, that was an accident. Why don’t you go to your room and play?”

“I think I’ll stay here,” he said, eyeing the cop suspiciously.

“Okay, let me try this again. Go upstairs and play.”

“Grr…” Avery stomped up the stairs grumbling every few feet.

“Cute kid,” Officer Mallard said.

“You might as well come in.”

He led the man into the kitchen, it was the most sterile room in his house. The man being in his house without Brian knowing put him on edge.

“Do you want something to drink?”

“Water, thank you.”

Justin pulled out a bottle of water and gave him a glass. His hand shaking a little as he held them out to him.

“So, what do you want?” he asked.

“You know what I want. I want you to wear a wire and get Cody confessing to the murders. You have a history with him, the other men he conned didn’t. He wouldn’t be suspicious if you want to hang out.”

“I need to talk to my husband about this,” he said firmly.

“I understand, but I need an answer by tomorrow. That’s when he’s getting out, we’re worried he’ll hear about us being on him then he’ll be in the wind.” He handled Justin a card with his name on it.

After he left, Justin had a mad as hell little boy to make up with. He could hear things being slammed around in Avery’s room. He had his father’s temper that was for sure. Opening the door, Justin saw he was ripping pages out of the sketch pad Justin had given him for Christmas.

“Why are you ripping up your art work?” he asked calmly.

“I hate art. I hate that man. And I hate you.” He continued to rip the pages out.

“That’s a lot of hating. Can you tell me why you hate art?”

“Because you like it.” Makes sense.

“Why do you hate Officer Mallard?”

“Because he’s gonna steal you.”

“Steal me? Why do you say that?”

“Tony said when his mom started seeing a man when his dad wasn’t around, he stole her.”

Justin felt bad. Tony, Avery’s little friend’s mother ran off with another man. It nearly broke his dad. The man was doing better but it was a long road for them. Justin sat down on Avery’s bed. “Come here.”

“No. I hate you.”

“I know. But I love you. I will always love you. I’m not going anywhere. I love Pop with all my heart, and could never leave any of you. You’re all my heart.”

“Why is that man here?”

“Well for one, he left. For another, he was asking for my help. I’m going to tell Pop when he comes home. Right now, Uncle Mikey needs him though.”

Just like that the little dam inside his son broke. “I don’t want Uncle Mikey to die.” He leapt into Justin’s arms where he cried.

Avery hadn’t been around when they lost Ben. But he had lost his mother and almost lost Anna. He was very attuned to people’s feelings. He was still little enough to just think Michael is being silly when he slurs while speaking. Michael still brought him comic books when he visited.

“I know, buddy. I don’t want him to die either.”

“Anna said Jenny’s not gonna have a baby anymore. Where’d it go?”

He held him tighter. “The wreck was pretty bad. It caused damage to her stomach, the baby wasn’t able to survive.”

“It died?”

“Yeah, baby, it died.”

“Like my mama died?”

“Yes.” Tears started to spill silently down his own cheeks.

“I wanted to hold the baby,” he said through his sobs.

“I know. We’re going to have to be strong for her. She’ll be sad for a long time, but hopefully with time and love she’ll get better.”

“Is she gonna move back home?” Justin knew he meant if she was going to move back to Pittsburgh, that he didn’t know. He did know her husband had been MIA since before the accident. Bastard.

“I don’t know. Let’s go get cleaned up.” Avery was too young so they couldn’t visit Jenny or Michael. But he could figure something for else for them to do.

“Hunter?”

Jenny was sitting back in her hospital room, once again staring off to nowhere. This time Hunter was sitting with her.

“Yeah?”

“Can you draw up divorce papers for me?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“I can do it. Does that mean you’re moving home?” he asked hopefully.

“No. I want to stay until Dad gets better, I know he will. Then I need to just get away. I’m going to dip into the money Daddy B left me. I think I might travel for a year. I went right from high school to working, I need to get away.”

Hunter understood that, he really did. Jenny felt things so much harder than anyone he had ever met. When she found out about his past, what he was forced into, she cried. And cried. And cried. He thought she would never stop. Now this happening to her, she must be in so much pain. Maybe being young and crazy would help. She had never just been young and crazy. All of Brian and Justin’s kids they’ve been places, either vacationing with them or on their own. His dads didn’t have the money they had, most of Mel’s money went to Lindsay in the divorce.

It was funny, when Lindsay went straight and left Mel she still took her for all she had. Mel was stupid enough not to make her sign a prenup. It sucked that Jenny had to suffer. Ben had Ted start a college fund for her, now the money was hers to use. Thankfully, she couldn’t touch it but Ted could release it. That meant after the divorce so that horrible man could never touch it.

“Are you sure this isn’t just because of the baby?” he had to ask.

“I wanted her so much, I needed her.”

“To hold onto Rodger?”

She laughed bitterly. “No, I just wanted someone to love me.”

“You do, you have so many people who love you. Anna would kill for you, she may still.” In fact, she might have, no one had seen Rodger.

“I need to leave.”

“Alright. Let’s get you out of here, then Michael. Then, I’ll wave goodbye to you at the airport.”

Everything was blurry. He had remembered that he was in a hospital, he knew Jenny was alright. She had come and held his hand for a while.

“You back to the living?” a familiar voice asked.

“I need help,” he said, his voice rough.

“Meaning?” Brian asked.

“I’m ready to get help. Rehab. I could have killed her.”

Brian looked like he wanted to say something but just nodded. He closed his eyes, hopefully he would be out before his grandchild was born. 

Reece was finishing up the hallway, the things people threw on the ground at a church. He shook his head, it was disgusting. His mind went back to earlier when Julian had dropped him off. He had given him a toe curling kiss. He wasn’t ready to move on to sex yet, but he did see it on the horizon. Julian was everything he had ever wanted in a man. Gorgeous, sweet, smart, a little dangerous, he was the whole package. After Ethan, he thought he would never trust again, but Hobbs made him want to move on with his life. Letting fear overcome him was letting the son-of-a-bitch win. He still couldn’t believe the news that his grandfather killed him. But he was just glad it wasn’t his fathers, which he had suspected for a time.

“Reece, can you come to my office for a moment?” Phil asked.

Reece did his best not to jump, he hadn’t realized Phil walked into the hallway.

“Sure thing, Phil. Just let me finish here.”

After he finished cleaning the area, he walked down the hall to where Phil’s office was. He tapped on the door.

“Come in,” the man said.

Reece walked in and went to sit down.

“Please, shut the door before you sit.”

Reece thought it was odd because they were the only ones in the church but shut the door anyway. Sitting down, he tried his best not to bit his nails, it was an ugly habit he did when he was nervous. He hoped that he wasn’t about to get fired, he worked hard. It wasn’t the most exciting job but it did give him pocket change.

Phil just sat staring at him for a while, it was making him uncomfortable. “Am I in trouble?” he asked.

“No, why would you think that?”

“Because you never called me in here before?”

“Well, now that you are working here, I was hoping I would see you more.”

“Oh, I do my job really quick.”

“I see that, but when I hired you I thought you would be here more.”

“Why?”

“Because you need the money, right?”

“Yeah, but even if I worked here more I wouldn’t get much. Lindsay told me that the church was going through a rough patch.”

“The Lord will see us through. But I wanted to talk about you. I have some money that you could earn.”

“I’m not following,” Reece said, confused.

When Phil stood up he got a whole lot less confused. His brother’s stepfather was standing in front of him with his half hard prick hanging out of his trousers. “I was hoping we could make an arrangement.”

“You’re mistaken. I’m gonna head out for the day, and this is my notice.”

He stood up the leave. “I wouldn’t leave if I were you.”

“Why not?”

“I saw who dropped you off today. And that little display in front of the church. What do you think would happen if his superiors found out he was seeing you and working on the Hobbs case?” Reece realized Phil thought was a beat cop or detective. Not someone that had a bit of pull himself on the job.

“Why are you doing this? You hate gays, remember?”

“Let’s just say Lindsay isn’t doing her wifely duty much anymore. She thought you working here would help everyone out. If you’re anything like your father, you have a mouth for it.”

Reece stopped, glaring at him. He was trying to digest his aunt basically giving him to her husband. It was too hurtful to think about that betrayal, he went with the easier subject. “My father would never.”

“You really are naïve. Back in the day, Brian and Justin didn’t care who they fucked. Justin spent most of his time on his knees in the back room of Babylon, at least before he was legally allowed to vote. He would do whatever to make Brian pay attention to him, or should I say whoever.”

“You’re lying. They would say something if that was true.”

“Let me spell this out for you. Your father’s had more cocks in his mouth that Colonel Sanders. Now, on your knees.”

Reece was shocked about hearing this about his parents. Not that he was surprised, he had heard bits and pieces over the years. What really surprised him was this guy thought he would just go along with this. How Phil kept his secrets this long was odd, usually his pop was great at sniffing out men like him.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. Tell the police whatever you have to tell them. You are in big trouble, thankfully I don’t want to hurt Aunt Lindsay. You leave me alone and I’ll get out of your hair. Oh, if you pull this stunt again, I’ll make sure everyone knows. They don’t have to believe me, just saying it will probably ruin your rep.”

After he left he felt dirty and scared. He couldn’t believe he stood up with someone like that. He was shaking so much now. He called Julian and cancelled their date, went home and packed a bag and Harley’s things. He was going to see if his dads would lend him some money to get away for a couple days.

“So, what do you think?” Justin asked, eyeing his husband.

They had been home for only a day when Justin decided to drop the bomb on Brian. The whole thing made him feel on edge, but Brian was always good at calming him. Although now, Brian was staring at him like he had two heads.

“Let me get this straight. That little freak from twenty years ago is a serial killer? Not only that, the cops want you to get a confession on tape? Fuck no.”

“Brian please,” he started to say.

“No. Not just no but abso-fucking-lutly no. I always knew there was something off about that kid.”

“You never met him,” Justin pointed out.

“I didn’t have to meet him to know he was a psycho with that purple posse shit.”

“Pink,” Justin corrected. Brian shot him a glare that told him that he knew the right name.

Brian stood up from the kitchen table and started to pace. Everything about his posture told Justin he was seconds away from blowing, and not in the good way. It had all been too much. Michael’s accident. Chris’ murder. Justin’s supposed involvement. This was the last straw.

“He’ll kill again, I don’t think for a second he’s done with us yet. If we do this, he’s out of our hair forever,” Justin said, he knew it was the truth, Cody didn’t get his kill. After finding out that Craig killed Chris, he would want something to keep Justin’s mouth shut; the only way to do that was have Justin be an accessory to someone’s murder.

“Fine, if we do this I don’t want the kids around.”

Justin raised his eyebrows at the word ‘we’ but decided to let it go. “Where would they go?”

“The older kids can take care of themselves, even Reece seems to have a cop boyfriend now. But Caleb, Sean and Avery I want out of reach to this guy.”

“Reece has a boyfriend?” Justin asked, this was new information.

“Yes, that police lieutenant, Martinez. Gush over this shit later, first we need to make plans for the kids.”

Justin knew why Brian was snapping, he hated the thought of something happening to their kids. Reece had made him realize he couldn’t ignore them to save them. But Justin agreed, he would feel better if the littles were out of reach.

“I could send them to Molly’s for a week,” Justin said.

“That’s still too close, no we need something further away. Gus and Devon are too busy with their jobs for the kids to stay with them.”

“What about Daphne?”

“He’s actually met her, I don’t think that’s very safe.”

Justin threw his arms up. “I don’t know what you want me to say then.”

Just then someone rang the doorbell. Glaring at Brian, Justin turned and headed for the door. He could hear Brian following him. The person at the door started knocking, then hit the doorbell again, then another round of knocks. There was only one person that annoying. This is what they really didn’t need today, thankfully, he never was in town more than a day.

“Don’t open it, we’ll pretend to be dead,” Brian said, groaning.

“I’ll start singing,” a booming voice yelled behind the door.

Justin rolled his eyes, best to get this visit over with. Opening the door, he was greeted by a sight that would scare anyone. At 6’5, 320 pounds, with tattoos covering more of his hairy body than not, Georgie was a sight. Today he was wearing green cargo pants, a yellow stained tank top and no socks.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were hiding from the IRS,” Brian said, looking anywhere but at Georgie.

Georgie was Blake’s nephew/son. When Georgie was five and his sister was four, their mother, Blake’s sister OD’d. Blake’s parents refused to take the children in. Blake and Ted took them in and three years later, adopted them. Noel, Georgie’s sister was in school to become an accountant. Georgie left home at sixteen and has been a nomad ever since. He became a travel author at the age of nineteen. He seemed to do well for a free spirit.

“Just stopping by to see mom and dad, they didn’t like the new tat,” Georgie said, tilting his head to the left side, showing off a new tattoo. It was a dragon, like most of his tattoos.

“That’s nice, so you’ve already been by to see Ted and Blake. We must be your last stop,” Justin said.

“Yep, headed down to Savannah for a couple weeks. Gonna stay on a plantation that has been rumored to be haunted. It was almost abandoned but the owners are opening it to the public again. They just got done fixing it up, I’m their first guest.”

A horrible, great, prefect idea occurred to Justin. Brian would kill him for this but it would get the kids away for the time being and they were the safe with Georgie.

“Georgie, I have a little proposition for you,” Justin said, smiling.

“I knew it. I’m just too sexy for my own good, you want a piece of this don’t you?” Georgie joked rubbing his ample belly.

“Not with the pope’s dick,” Brian ground out. “And you are crazy if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking,” he said to Justin.

“Brian, think about it, they will be far away from everything going on here.”

“What about Jenny? What about Michael?”

“Once Michael gets out of the hospital he’s going to rehab. Jenny doesn’t want people crowding her, I think Mel is doing that enough for everyone. Hunter said that she wants to get away for a while. The kids wouldn’t be a help to her and you know it.”

“Why doesn’t Jenny and Alex just get together already?” Georgie asked.

“What are you talking about?” Justin asked, surprised by the change of subject.

“Alex has been in love with Jenny since he was like seven. Jenny was an older woman of eleven. He got so bummed when she started dating that tool, he dated Anna.”

“What are you talking about? Alex isn’t in love with Jenny,” Brian said.

“Haha, and I’m going to be Vegas showgirl. I thought everyone knew how Alex felt.”

Justin looked at Brian who looked just as confused as he did. “Well, I don’t think Jenny’s looking for a relationship right now. She’s splitting with the jackass and she just lost the baby.”

“Yeah, my dad told me about that, I went by and saw her. Soon as she’s released she’s outta here. I told her to go to Budapest, it’s the place to be and not that bad on the pocketbook.”

“This is not the man I want my children with,” Brian said pointing at Georgie.

“Hold it, I don’t know nothing about birthin’ no babies or taking care of them. Whatever you two are thinking, I’m gonna take a hard pass on it. I’ve got places to be and ladies get rejected by.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t get rejected so much if you didn’t look like an escaped mental patient,” Brian said.

“This is what happens when you force a growing mind into a private school uniform.”

“I don’t believe that, I wore one and all our kids did. None are as eccentric as you,” Justin commented as they walked into the living room.

“What can I say, I grew up in a repressed household.”

“With Ted and the little wife, surely not,” Brian sneered.

“Just quit it, Brian.” Justin turned to Georgie. “Please, just take the kids for a week. There’s something I have to do but we would feel better if they were out of the state and with family,” Justin said, knowing what a soft touch Georgie was about family.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt. They could help me with exploring the plantation. Just Sneezy, Happy and Doc, right?”

“Yes, just Caleb, Sean and Avery,” Justin told him.

“I haven’t agreed to anything,” Brian snapped.

“It’s either they go with Georgie, who is like a cousin to them or stay home.”

“We’re going on a trip with Georgie?” Sean asked excitedly.

Justin turned around and saw all three younger boys, he hadn’t even known they had come into the room.

“Yes, if you want to,” Brian said begrudgingly.

“Awesome! When are we leaving?” Caleb asked.

“As soon as you get packed, I’m supposed to be there by tomorrow,” Georgie said.

Caleb and Sean ran upstairs to pack Justin assumed. Avery on the other hand hadn’t moved and grabbed onto Brian’s hand.

“I want to stay here,” he whined.

Brian pulled away a bit and knelt. “Listen buddy, I know you want to stay but I need you to be a big boy and help Georgie. He’s going to need all the help he can get.”

Avery looked at Georgie. “Why do you need help?”

“I need someone to take pictures for me. You think Caleb or Sean would do that for me?”

“I can take real good pictures. Can’t I Dad?”

“You sure can, you take the best pictures,” Justin answered. “So, you want to go pack some clothes so you can have an adventure with your brothers and Georgie?”

“You’ll be here when I come back right?” Avery asked, his voice sounding so small.

“Of course, we’ll both be here, waiting to see all the pictures and hear about the amazing time you had,” Justin told him.

“Okay, I’ll get my go bag,” he said, running up the stairs.

“Go bag?” Georgie asked.

“Yeah, he watches a lot of crime shows with his big brothers.”

“Alright. So, you know I’m going to feed them junk food the whole time. Booze, only if they buy their own. And if I meet a woman, they’ll have to sleep in the car.”

Justin stifled a laugh but Brian glared at him.

“Anyone home?”

“In the living room, Reece,” Justin called. Reece walked in, holding a bag and his dog by a leash. Justin could tell something was majorly wrong. “What’s wrong?”

“I wanted to borrow some money, I need to get out of here for a while. With everything with Ethan then Hobbs, I just need to get away for a while.”

Justin didn’t like Brian’s smile. “Well, you’re in luck, there’s an ugly ass van going down to Georgia. You can get a ride.”

“What?” Reece asked.

“He’s talking about going with me pipsqueak, didn’t you see my van?”

“Georgie? I thought someone’s van broke down and they realized this was the time to get rid of the piece of junk.”

Quicker than a man his size should move, Georgie picked Reece up and threw him over his shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you, say that again.”

“Put me down, you behemoth.”

“Not until you say it.”

“NEVER!”

“Say it,” Georgie said, spinning in a circle.

“I’m going to vomit.”

“Say it.”

“You are the king of dodgeball.”

Georgie stopped spinning and put Reece on his feet, Reece was glaring daggers at the bigger man.

“I fucking hate you.”

“Oh, you love me. You’re so sad that I’m not a card-carrying pole smoker like you.”

“GEORGIE!” Justin said in warning.

“Oh please, if I have to watch my mouth here, Brian has to watch his out in public.”

“That’s not fucking happening,” Brian snarked.

“Fine,” Justin grunted. He did notice during the whole incident, Harley hid behind the couch. Justin was starting to suspect Brian may be right about the dog’s bravery lacking.

“We’re ready,” Sean announce clomping loudly down the stairs.

“Wait. Where are you going?” Reece asked, looking at all three boys with their bags.

“We’re going with Georgie,” Caleb said, his smile huge.

“You can’t be serious, he’s an overgrown child,” Reece said.

“Well, you want to go away for a few days, and Georgie is taking the boys. Maybe you should go with him, then you can watch the boys in the unlikely chance that Georgie finds a woman willing to fuck him,” Brian said.

Justin had given up long ago arguing about Brian’s language in front of the kids.

“Hey, women love me. But I could take the pipsqueak with me,” Georgie said.

“Like hell I’m going with this idiot. I think it’s a dumb idea to send your children with a sideshow freak.”

“You wound me, I think I’ll die of sadness now.”

“Everyone get out. Call me when you reach Georgia,” Brian said, ushering everyone, Reece and Harley included to the door.

“Pop, you can’t be serious,” Reece said.

“For Avery,” Justin asked his son.

He saw the moment his son broke. “Fine, but I get to pick the radio station.”

“Good, I’m pretty good at singing Like a Virgin,” Georgie said.

Some hugs and kisses from Avery, fist bumps from the teenagers, bro hug from Reece and a bone crushing hug from Georgie later, they were gone. Thank god.

“Oh my God,” Reece said in horror.

“Oh my God,” Georgie said, just as horror-filled.

“What the hell,” Reece said, wishing he was at home in his safe loft. He looked down at where Harley was supposed to be, instead he was hiding under the van. Reece could just barely see his paws. It just showed how scared the dog was to shove his huge body under the van, it couldn’t be comfortable.

“We are so dead,” Georgie said, unhelpfully.

“We? Who the fuck is this we? I had nothing to do with this,” Reece said, waving his hand at the travesty in front of them.

“How the fuck did I know they wouldn’t card him? I was with you, I thought he was just going to get a piercing. He told me to keep you busy.”

“So you admit this is your fault. You should have guessed about them not carding him because this place looks as sketchy as hell. You couldn’t wait until we got to Savannah and found a licensed tattoo parlor?”

“You two need to calm the fuck down, it’s cool as hell,” Caleb said, eyeing his hideous tattoo.

Reece was so fucking dead. His parents hated tattoos with a passion. Matt, Anna and Kenyon had one each, and they were bitched out every time. It was more his pop than his dad, his dad said that he never cared much before. But as they had kids, Pop hated the thought of them marking their bodies. Now, their fifteen-year-old son had a hideous tattoo.

“Thug Life! Really? When have you ever been a thug? You cried during Bambi…last year,” Reece snarled. They were all so fucking dead.

“The deer died, sorry for having a heart. If you didn’t cry than I think it’s your problem not mine. Anyway, I am a thug. I told you I joined Roe’s crew.”

“Roe’s crew? Are you fucking serious? You go to private school, Rolland goes to private school. All your little friends go to the same private school. Rolland Tierney doesn’t have a crew, he had five pathetic followers who I’m pretty sure are idiots. I hoped you were smarter, obviously I was wrong. Now you’ve killed us all.”

“Pop will be a little mad but he’ll get over it. It’s a pretty bitchin’ tat.”

It wasn’t. Clearly, Caleb knew he was on a time limit and made the piss poor tattoo “artist” rush. The F was kind of messed up, making it look like at first glance Thug Lite. It wasn’t even hidden well, it was on his inner forearm.

“Let’s get out of here. There’s nothing that can be done right now anyway. We’ll keep on to Savannah, it will extend our lives a week at least,” Georgie said. Gone was his loud, brash self. He knew they had fucked up big time.

Reece knew one thing for sure, when his dad called to say it was alright to send the kids home. He would be putting the three of them on a plane, then he would catch a flight far far away. 

Hands grabbed at him. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. The hands were hard and rough. It didn’t matter how much he fought, he couldn’t get free. He was going to die, he knew it. The man was going to kill him. His assailant was faceless. No one was going to save him. He would die in the dark, empty void. Suddenly, there was light, blinding light.

“Wake up. Come on, Reece, wake up,” a familiar voice said, breaking though his nightmare fogged brain.

“Georgie?”

“It’s me, Cowboy. The boys are outside the room. Think it’s okay if I let them in? We all heard you screaming, they’re kind of worried.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Let them in,” he said, his voice raspy.

Looking at the window he noticed it was morning already. Usually when his nightmares were bad he would call Matt. His brother had slept beside him many a night, fighting invisible monsters.

Avery ran in and jumped on the bed, Sean and Caleb were more hesitant.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Avery asked.

Reece nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

“When I have bad dreams, Daddy lets me sleep in his bed. Do you want to sleep in mine?”

“I’m okay now but thank you.” He hugged his baby brother. “Hey, where is Harley?” He noticed his dog wasn’t in the room with him like he had been when he fell asleep.

“He wanted to sleep with me,” Avery said with a pout.

“Oh, well if that’s what he wanted.”

“We’re gonna go tour Savannah’s historic district. Do you want to come?” Georgie asked.

He had really wanted to go and see the city yesterday. But he just wanted to stay in bed now, he felt too raw to be out in public.

“Maybe another time,” he said, laying back down.

“Are you sure?” Caleb asked. Since he got his tattoo he had been on his best behavior, probably thought Reece would save him from their dads.

“I’m sure, you four go and have fun. No tattoo parlors though,” he said glaring between Caleb and Georgie.

“I want to stay with you,” Avery said, jumping back onto Reece’s chest.

“Buddy, it would be better if you go. I’m just going to sleep, I’m not feeling well. I bet Georgie has a fun day planned out.”

Georgie snorted. They all knew the man never really planned anything he did.

“Do you want me to bring you a surprise?” Avery asked.

“That would be really nice. Maybe you can find a matching watch for me,” he said gesturing at Avery’s superhero watch on his little wrist.

Avery looked at the sculpture, he knew Reece wanted a superhero watch but he thought his brother would like this better. He turned to aske Georgie if they could get it, but he didn’t see Georgie or his brothers.

The shop wasn’t very big so it didn’t take him long to realize they weren’t there. He ran outside the shop, looking one way then the other. There was a lot of people walking around, too many people. He couldn’t see them and it scared him.

“Are you alright, kid?” a smelly man asked.

His dad said if he ever got lost to look for a policeman or someone who worked in a store. He thought about going into the shop he just left but that meant going past the smelly man. Instead of answering the man, he turned and ran.

Georgie was going out of his mind. He had lost Avery. He thought the boy had followed them but noticed he wasn’t with them when they started to talk about lunch. They had run back through four shops. How had he not noticed Avery wasn’t there?

The woman in the last place he really remembered Avery at said she saw him leave thirty minutes ago.

“Let’s split up. Call me if you find him,” he told Caleb and Sean.

Caleb getting a tattoo was child’s play to this. Horrible things ran through his brain. How did this happen? He thought about calling Reece but he didn’t have a car, he would only worry.

Avery couldn’t find a policeman. But he did follow a furry cat into a shop that smelled funny, not bad just funny.

He heard a woman arguing in a language he didn’t understand. Instead of leaving he walked further into the shop.

“We’ hello, chil’d,” a lady behind a desk said. Avery didn’t see who she had been arguing with.

“Do you work here?” he asked hopefully.

“Sur do, cheri.”

“You talk funny,” he told her.

She laughed. “I’a been told. Wha’ a lil thin like ya do ‘er alone?”

“I can’t find my brothers.”

“I’a feel they be find us, no worry.”

It had been thirty more minutes and no closer to finding Avery. Georgie knew it was time to call the police. But first he had to bite the bullet and call Reece.

Reece answered on the second ring.

“I’ve lost Avery,” he blurted out. Silence. Dead silence from Reece. “Reece?”

“One second.” A moment later Reece came back with an address.

“What’s that?”

“Where Avery is. He has a GPS in his watch, Pop’s idea. Go get my baby brother and come back now. I swear if a hair on his head is hurt I’ll kill you myself.”

Georgie had no doubt that about that. He had majorly fucked up, he just prayed Avery was alright.

He called Caleb and Sean as he ran to the address Reece gave him. It was a small palm reader shop. It smelled of over used incense. As he opened the door he heard a laughing Avery. For the first time in an hour he felt his heart leave his throat.

“Avery,” he called as he rounded the corner, seeing the boy. Avery was playing with two cats, one black and white, the other tortoise shell.

“Hi, Georgie. This is Bula and Mori,” Avery said, pointing at the cats. “And that’s Madame Lovelie.”

Georgie looked at the older dark-skinned woman. She was smiling at him but it didn’t reach her eyes. She was judging him, not that he blamed her. He had royally messed up, he was lucky that Avery was alright. He knew if Reece didn’t kill him Justin and Brian would once they found out he lost Avery, not to mention Caleb’s tattoo.

Caleb and Sean entered the shop not too long after. Avery whined about leaving his new kitty friends but pointing out that Reece wanted to see him changed his tune. The drive back, his stomach knotted up more and more.

Brian flew through the hospital doors. He knew it was a mistake. Fuck the cops. Fuck all of them. He knew letting Justin go in wired to talk to Cody Bell was wrong. Brian had wanted to be there at the time. The police forbid that, he knew he shouldn’t have listened. Instead of listening to his gut, he listened to the police.

He had just gotten off the phone with Anna, who had landed in California. After Jenny left and the kids left she felt out of place, so she and Saayed decided to go back to California and get her settled in before Saayed left for Georgia. He was about to call Reece and check on him and the boys when Martinez called.

Justin had been injured by Cody Bell but Martinez wouldn’t tell him what had happened or how bad it was.

“I’m looking for my husband. Justin Taylor,” he told the woman at information in the hospital.

She typed the name in, her face suddenly blanched. “Sir, I’ll call the doctor down to talk to you.”

A strange calm came over him. “Is he dead?’ he asked blankly.

“Sir, it would be best if you wait for the doctor.”

“I don’t want to stay here!” a loud, familiar voice shouted.

Brian looked up to see his husband stomping down the corridor, he was in a hospital gown and holding his arm in an odd position.

Brian ran and swooped his husband into a bone crushing hug until Justin started cursing.

“Damnit Brian, my arm is dislocated.”

“What are you doing out here then?”

“Those assholes don’t know their head from their ass. Apparently, there is a Justin Taylor in the hospital. Well they kept confusing me with him. Well, it seems he died earlier. I swear to God they started to try and take ME to the morgue. I keep telling them I’m Justin Taylor-Kinney and I’m NOT dead.”

Brian burst out laughing. “Only you, Sunshine, could argue with people about if you’re dead or not.” 

“How’s your shoulder?”

“A little bit sore but since they popped it back in right, it’s fine. Are you going to work tomorrow?” Justin asked as they laid down.

As if the day hadn’t been bad enough with the mistaken identity, they got a call from Reece. He said that he didn’t feel comfortable in Georgia anymore with the boys and wanted to come home. Brian had offered to get them plane tickets for the next day. But Reece asked if Brian could rent them a car and just let him drive back up. Reece wasn’t old enough to take the responsibility but they would let him drive if Brian rented it for him. He had asked why he didn’t want to fly back, all Reece said was he needed some time to speak with his brothers. That worried Justin but Brian calmed him down.

“Yeah, someone needs to work to put up with all the shit you and the brats want.”

“And you love it, admit it. You love providing for them what your family couldn’t for you.”

It was true, he did love it. His father spent most of his money on booze. What he didn’t was barely enough to keep a roof over their heads. He had wanted better for himself. As the years went by, Justin and all the kids were added to that.

“And what do you love?” he asked Justin, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s a hard question.”

“Hard being the keyword,” he said.

Just as things started to turn interesting in their bedroom, a door slammed.

“All the ones here right now are adults,” he told Justin.

He knew that wouldn’t matter. His husband could never let any of his kids suffer. Brian was different. Feelings really weren’t his specialty. Give him something he could fix with money or threatening, whipping tears and noses were Justin’s job. But right now, he had another job for Justin to do. Sadly, looking at him, he knew it was a lost cause. His only shot was to do something he didn’t usually do.

“I’ll go see what’s wrong,” he said, kissing Justin chastely on the lips.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Don’t you dare fall asleep.”

“I promise.”

Brian knew if Justin talked to whatever kid it was, they would be talking into the morning hours. There was only two of the kids home now, it was either Maurice or Kenyon. Both Kenyon and Maurice were very calm and almost never got upset. In fact, the only time he had known Maurice to cry was after Avery’s near drowning.

He wasn’t left guessing long because just as he got near their rooms, Maurice was walked out, carrying a bag behind him.

“It’s a little late to be going out, isn’t it?”

Red puffy eyes looked back at him. Fuck, he should have let Justin take care of it. Too late now.

“Don’t start with me, Pops. I don’t think I can take anymore.”

“Let’s go get a drink. I think we both could use one.”

“I’m underage.”

“I won’t tell Grandma if you don’t. Come on.”

He led his quietly sobbing son to his office. It’s where he kept the good booze. He left the cheap stuff out in the bar where they entertained. Let the kids sneak that swill.

Maurice was the one son he had the hardest relating with, and that was including Reece. He was to blame with the problems with Reece, Maurice on the other hand was just quiet. He kept to himself a lot, he like reading, homework and magic. He loved magic, Justin would get him kits and props every time Maurice asked. Not only that, he would help him make his stage and props that he couldn’t purchase.

Brian pulled out the single malt and hoped it wasn’t too strong for the one child he was sure never snuck into his liquor cabinet.

After pouring him two fingers, he poured himself three. “Too much of anything is bad, but too much of good whiskey is barely enough.”

“Who said that?”

“Mark Twain, the only author the old man read. So, tell me what’s going on?” He sat down in his desk chair.

“I can’t tell you,” Maurice said, looking down into the drink he hadn’t drank yet.

“Drink it.” Maurice took a sip, choked and made a face. “You’ll get used to it. Why can’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”

“You’d never understand.”

“Try me.”

“I lost my virginity tonight.”

It had confirmed his guess that his twenty-year old son had been a virgin. It didn’t explain the tears and just broken look. “What happened?” he said, more softly than he thought he could.

“I’ve been talking to this woman online for over a year. I really liked her, she lives here so I couldn’t see her until this summer. Well, with everything going on, I put it off. Finally, we planned for a date tonight, to meet in real life. She was beautiful, Pop. I had never met anyone so beautiful. And she liked me, even though we had different interests. After dinner, she asked me to take her to a hotel. She said she wanted me. Well, no one’s ever wanted me before. So, I got us a hotel room. It wasn’t like I thought it would be. I thought there would be lots of kissing, she only kissed me once. I didn’t really know what I was doing, so I kept asking her if I was doing it right. She didn’t talk much though. After though she said she enjoyed it. Then she said I should shower, she’d go after me.”

Brian hoped this wasn’t going where he thought it was.

“When I came out of the bathroom, she was gone. Along with my wallet and my car keys.” Fuck! “Don’t worry, I already cancelled my cards and called my car in stolen. I guess I was faster than her with cancelling my cards, no charges since the hotel. Why did she do that? I would have given her money if she needed it.”

How was he supposed to tell his adult son that he had been used from the start? It wasn’t his fault, he was so damn shy around girls. None of his other kids was so introverted. The boy had gone to the prom with one of Anna’s friends. The girl had been perfectly polite but never lead Maurice on that it could be anything more. Brian didn’t understand it, Maurice was a cute kid. His mother had been Puerto Rican, which gave him dark tanned skin. His black hair was shoulder length because he didn’t like to get his hair cut. Brian just didn’t understand why girls didn’t seem to like him.

“I don’t know what to say. This is really your dad’s territory. I will tell you if she’s caught I’ll make sure she’s prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

“I don’t want that. Maybe she really needed to money.”

“Do you really believe that?”

Maurice sighed. “No. I think she was playing me from the start. I think she only had sex with me to rob me. I think no one will ever want me.”

“Stop, you’re only twenty.”

“Dad met you when he was seventeen.”

“Yes, but I was twenty-eight.”

“Twenty-nine.”

“Same difference,” he snapped. “All I’m saying, kid. You’re young.”

“It’s not just her, Pop. I don’t have any friends. I never did. I don’t at school, I don’t here. I just don’t. I feel like I’m the only one that’s different. Everyone else has so many friends that they can’t decide to hang out with. No one wants to hang out with me.”

“Did you ever put yourself out there? I know it’s really hard for you but you like magic. I bet there is some young group at school or here that you can make friends with.”

“I-I couldn’t.”

“Well, I’m not fucking joining a magician’s guild or whatever the fuck. But, I bet I know someone who will go with you the first meeting and talk you up.”

“Thanks, Pop, but I don’t think having Dad around trying to get me friends would be helpful.”

Brian laughed. He could just see Justin going around asking other adults to play with his son. The boy would be laughed out before he said one word. “I was actually thinking Shorty. Matt said he’s trying to make new friends, he’s just not very good at it. Take him with you, as your assistant or whatever. Since you’ll be going back to school at the end of the month, you can add that mysteriousness about you.”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t have to do it, just think about it. As for the other thing. I’m sorry your first time wasn’t everything you imaged it would be. The only comfort I can give you is that it rarely is.”

“It was for Dad.”

“Your dad is a freak.” Justin really needed to stop over-romanticizing that night. Brian sadly barely remembered it. “Now, I hope you gave all the information about her to the cops.”

“I did.”

“That reminds me, how did you get home. And where were you going?”

“Shit!” Maurice jumped up and ran out of the office.

Brian followed him, all the way to the front door. He watched as Maurice leaned over and talked to someone Brian couldn’t see in a dark sports car. Soon it peeled out of his driveway.

“Who was that?”

“Oh, a nice guy that saw I needed help. He said he’s an old friend of yours when I introduced myself.”

“What’s his name?”

“Tim Lochdale.”

Brian cursed to himself. It was just a ride. There was no way Tim was trying to get back into his life. No way. That was over and done with. He just wished he could make himself believe that.

Three days later, he had much bigger fish to fry. “What the fuck?” he snarled.

He had arrived at the car rental agency to pick up his children. Avery and Sean had given him a hug when they saw him. Reece and Caleb were suspiciously keeping their distance. That was until he saw the tattoo on his fifteen-year old’s arm.  

“Tell him,” Reece said, glaring at Caleb.

“No, how about you tell me. They were your responsibility while you were gone.”

“I had nothing to do with this. They worked against me. I had Avery and Sean with me and Georgie. I thought Caleb was inside the small museum because that’s what Georgie told me. It was only after I figured out something was off and found Caleb that I knew what happened.”

“Why weren’t you with him?”

“I couldn’t go into any of the stores, I had Harley. “

“Your brothers are more important than your dumb dog.”

He saw the hurt in his son’s eyes but he was too mad to calm down.

“Pop, it wasn’t his fault. I lied to him,” Caleb said.

“You three get in the car. I need to talk to your brother alone.”

“No, you talk to your own fucking self. I went even though I didn’t really want to. I can’t be the son you want, so how about this. This stick to this, I’m not.”

Brian stood stunned as he watched Reece over to his bag, throw it over his shoulder and walk off down the sidewalk with Harley. Brian so mad he couldn’t see straight. If his son wanted to behave like a toddler, so be it.

“He’s been having nightmares again,” Caleb said quietly as Brian sat in the car.

“Before we left he woke up two nights in a row screaming. The first day he couldn’t even get out of bed. It was only after we lost Avery that he got out of bed.”

“What do you mean lost Avery?” he growled. Reece hadn’t told him that, probably trying to protect himself.

“Reece didn’t feel well, so it was just us and Georgie. We didn’t notice that Avery stopped following us. We didn’t find him until we called Reece. We didn’t know about the GPS in his watch. That was when Reece said that we had to go home. He wanted to drive because he didn’t want to come home. I thought he was overacting. But he wasn’t you lost your mind. Reece had nothing to do with my tattoo, and you just screamed at him like he was a stranger.”

It took a moment before what Caleb said burrowed through his thick skull. He was right, Reece wasn’t at fault. Caleb was old enough to know this wasn’t something he should be doing.

He took off in the direction that Reece went. There was just enough time to see a dark blue sports car speed up and hit them in the driver’s side. His car moved but thankfully didn’t flip. The airbag inflated, hitting him in the face. He could hear the other one doing the same to Caleb.

Everything was quiet. Too quiet. He pushed the airbag away from his face. Distantly he could just make out barking and maybe yelling.

“Boys? Caleb? Sean? Avery?”

There was no answer.

“Answer me NOW!” he said as forcibly as he could muster. His stomach felt on fire, he didn’t have to look down to know something had come off the dash and cut his into his gut.

“I’m-I’m okay,” Sean said weakly.

“Me too,” he heard Caleb say.

“Avery?” he called.

Suddenly he heard Sean cry out. “What? What’s going on? Is it Avery?”

“I want Daddy,” Avery cried. Nothing in on earth sounded better than hearing that.

“Are you okay, buddy?” he asked Avery.

“Yes, but I’m scared of the man.”

“What man?”

“The man with the gun.”

Brian looked over and felt his blood run cold. Tim was standing by his car window, pointing a gun straight at him. How had he not noticed that? Even more terrifying, it looked like Reece had caught the man’s attention. He couldn’t let the crazed man turn the gun on his son. Tim, a fuck that wouldn’t go away, was pointing a fucking gun at him.

Tim stood there pointing his father’s gun at the man who ruined his life. The man who ruined everything.

Life hadn’t been great six years ago but it wasn’t terrible. He had moved back to Pittsburgh to take care of his ailing mother; his father sure wasn’t going to bother.

Taking the job at Babylon was a lifesaver. He was able to take his mother to her appointments in the daytime and work at night. He never set out to have an affair with his married boss. It just sort of happened. Then against his better judgment, he fell in love with the man.

The last night they spent together was seared into his memory. As much as he hated not going home to check on his mom, it was good to feel normal again, if only for a night.

After he had admitted his feelings for Brian, the older man broke it off without even a backward glance. He was sad but he had always been a survivor. He survived his father’s brutal hands. He survived the car crash that killed his best friend in high school. He survived his first boyfriend, a man who could give his abusive father a run for his money. So, he had no doubt he could survive something as simple as a broken heart.

He had been a little perturbed to find out Brian had fired him. It had been a really good job.

After that he had gotten a job a Teledar Financing. The hours sucked but he made good money. His dad finally got sick of his wife not being well enough to make him dinner. When he left neither Tim nor his mom shed a tear. In fact, it made the house a happier place. Sadly, unknown to them his father had taken a second mortgage out on the house. It was far too late to save it after it defaulted.

His last hope was to get the new owner to let him rent it. That was when he found out Brian Fucking Kinney bought it. Then Tim had done something foreign to him…he begged. He turned up at Kinnetik, hoping to talk Brian into letting him rent or buy the house back.

He was barely through the doors before security was showing him out. Later he found out he had been barred from every place Kinney owned.

Once they had to move out, his mother lost all will to live. That house was everything to her. His baby sister’s ashes had been scattered around the willow in the backyard. His older brother’s room was exactly the same as it was when he left for college one bright fall day, he had never made it and for twenty-eight years she had been waiting for him to come home. Even though his missing persons case had long since been buried. His grandmother’s rose bushes lined the house. She had planted them just before she passed away…twenty years ago.

After his mother lost the will to live, she just withered up and died. She had been beating the cancer before that. If Brian had only listened, she would have been alive now.

It was three years ago since she’d given up. He tried his best to not blame Brian, he did. It was his father’s fault really. But then last week he got the news…his father was dead. He was sure when his father died he would feel some sort of justice, closure or even relief. But none of those feelings came. Instead it was anger. Anger that his father would never pay for his crimes. What he had done to him, his mother or his brother. What he had done to his little sister, Kate.

Someone had to pay, someone had to be punished. He knew it hadn’t been Brian’s fault, but he could have helped. All of his family was gone, and there was Brian was almost a week ago. Laughing and eating lunch with his children.

The man had been so willing to sacrifice his loving family to feel young again. So much of Brian reminded him of his old man. That’s when he came to the realization, Brian Kinney had to be the one to pay. He had to pay for risking his family for a fling but most of all he had to pay for not seeing Tim, hearing him out about the house. The house he later donated to make a youth center for abused children. Something he was praised for, praised for killing Tim’s mother. For that he had to pay.

Tim looked into the frightened face of Brian Kinney. Tim hadn’t known the kids were in the car when he hit it. It looked like they were alright, so that was good. It had all been so spur of the moment.

He felt someone come up beside him, turning slightly, he looked. It was a handsome young man with a big damn dog.

“Please, put the gun down,” the blonde man said gently.

“I can’t. He ruined my life, he has to be punished.”

“I don’t know what my father did to you but my brothers don’t deserve this.”

Tim felt his left eye twitch. “He’s your father?”

“Yes, and those are my baby brothers. Please, don’t do this.”

“You don’t know what he did.”

Tim looked at the blonde again, that was when he saw the cops arrive. Quicker than he had ever moved before, he grabbed the blonde and stuck the gun to his head. The cops that had been sneaking up on him froze.

“Get back!” he yelled.

What surprised him the most was the blonde and his dog were completely quiet.

Brian watched in horror as Tim put a gun to Reece’s head. He wanted to bust out of the car and take the man on but he had three more of his sons with him. Not only that, the cops were already there. They would know more about this than he did.

Reece dropped Harley’s leash, Brian was shocked the dog didn’t run, he just stayed beside Reece. Slowly, Tim started backing away with Reece.

The pain in his gut got worse and suddenly everything got dimmer.

Reece was doing his best not to freak out. The fact a gun was to his temple should be enough for him to lose his mind. Surprisingly, he wasn’t as scared as he thought he should be.

“You didn’t plan this did you?” he asked softly.

“Shut up.”

“Stay, Harley,” he ordered his dog. He didn’t want his sweet boy getting hurt. Harley continued to follow them.

“He’s not listening to you,” the gunman said.

“He never does.”

“I’m not going to hurt you. You’re right, it wasn’t planned. I just saw him in his fancy car and it just became too much. I didn’t know he had kids in his car.”

Reece hadn’t realized how far they had gotten. They now were at the entrance to a small out building. He wasn’t surprised when the man opened the door and pushed him in. He made Reece move four heavy crats of paint in front of the door. The cops for sure saw where they went.

“Can I sit?” he asked.

He could hear Harley whining outside the door.

“Sure, sit down,” the man said, he slid down to the floor also.

There were no windows in the out building so he had no idea what was going on outside.

“How did my father ruin your life?”

The man tensed for a second before lowering the gun. “My mother died because he wouldn’t see me. He wouldn’t see me because of an affair we had.”

“I’m sorry,” he said simply.

“What? Aren’t you going to defend him? You aren’t surprised we had an affair?”

“He’s not perfect, far from it. If he had an affair or not is not my business. If my dad can forgive him that’s their business. If my dad didn’t know, then that might be a problem. But sometimes my father gets tunnel vision. I’m sure whatever he did or didn’t do about your mother wasn’t from malice though.”

“Doesn’t’ change anything, does it?”

“No, I’m sorry, it doesn’t.”

Justin was just finishing cleaning his brushes when his cell rang. He saw Caleb’s face on the screen.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?” he asked.

“Dad, we’ve been in an accident. The ambulance just took Pop away. Cal is taking us to the hospital too.”

Justin felt the air leave his lungs. Brian was hurt? “Are you kids okay?”

“Dad, come to the hospital.”

It was unlike Caleb to be so solemn, it scared him more than his words.

“Maybe you should just give yourself up. You haven’t done anything unforgivable yet. No one is dead. I’ll even testify on your behalf,” Reece tried to reason.

“There is no going back. I just hit a man and his children with my car. That’s assault with a deadly weapon. Then I pointed my gun at him. I’ll spend the rest of my life in jail.”

“No, it’s doesn’t mean that. You could talk about your mother’s death, they might be sympathetic.”

The man laughed. “You are so naïve. They’ll bury me under the jail. Your father will make sure of it.”

“I’ll talk to him, he’ll listen to me.” He hoped.

As he was saying it, he realized he was speaking the truth. It wasn’t something he was saying to get out of this situation.

“It’s all so messed up.”

“I know. I’m sorry. What’s your name? Mine is Reece.”

“Tim. My mother called me TimTom.”

The man was clearly lost in thought about his dearly departed mother. Reece looked at him, really looked. It was obvious why his father had an affair with him if he did in fact have one. Tim was gorgeous. He was tall, over six feet with dark brown eyes and black wavy hair. He looked like he stepped off a movie set, even with the slight crazed look in his eyes.

“Tim, can you give me the gun?” he asked.

Tim’s eyes shot up. “It’s over, huh?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

As Tim handed over the gun, the door burst open.

“HANDS UP!”

Tim dropped the gun. Both Reece and Tim were thrown on the ground, face down and handcuffed, they didn’t fight it. Reece felt a boot connect with his head and everything went dark.

Justin paced the hospital floor. Brian was out of surgery and in recovery now. Reece had been brought in just after Justin arrived. He had a concussion from a fall during his hostage situation. There was something off about the cops’ description of how he got hurt. They said as they broke into the building where he was being held, Reece fell and hit it head. The thing was, the doctor said it looked like blunt force trauma from a hit not trauma from a fall.

Brian had been injured by a piece of metal that broke off the dashboard of the car. It had lodge into his lower abdomen and had to be repaired. The doctor was positive about his recovery, Reece was a little more unknown since it was a head injury.

To make matters even worse, he had three freaked out little boys and an inconsolable dog. With Michael still recovering from his car wreck, and none of his other children answering their phones, Justin called Ted to come get the boys and Emmett to get the dog. The kids yelled and screamed but he couldn’t deal with the questions every two minutes. Both Reece and Brian were safe now, the kids needed to get some sleep.

Justin couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw words on Caleb’s arm. That was a fight for another day, he had way too much on his plate already.

He looked down at the cold coffee in his head and grimaced. It was going to be a long night. The man who had taken Reece hostage was one floor up with several injuries. The cops said he had put up a fight. Justin didn’t care, the man hit his family with a car. Then he pointed a gun at Brian while he was injured and took Reece hostage. Justin didn’t give a damn what happened to him. Just as long as he stayed away from his whole family.

“Dad, I just found out. How’s Pop?” Matt said, rushing into the waiting room.

“And Reece,” Shorty added.

“Your father is going to be fine. Reece will too, he’s just a little banged up.”

“I’m so sorry I missed your calls,” Matt said.

“It’s okay. Have you talked to the other boys? I couldn’t reach them either.”

“Yeah, they’re fine. Maurice took off, something about meeting someone online. Kenyon went to Atlantic City.”

“What? He can’t gamble, he’s not twenty-one.”

“Um…Dad. His birthday was today. When you and Pop didn’t say anything, he decided to have his own celebration. He and Jenny went there together.”

“I thought Jenny went to Virginia Beach to spread the baby’s ashes.”

“She did but she wasn’t ready to leave the states all together yet. Her and Kenyon decided to have break. She’s still grieving hard, so no one wants to leave her totally alone and she can’t stand her mother much.”

“Okay, I get that. Where were you though?”

“Me?”

Matt’s cheeks got really pink. “Yes you.”

“Um…this isn’t how I wanted to tell you but…I got married.”

He and Shorty both held up their left hands. “Twins,” he growled. He should have expected it. He was still surprised that Matt didn’t join the Navy behind Anna. Getting married wasn’t a wild idea for him. “Why?”

“Well, I love Shorty.”

“Since when?” Last, he heard they had only been on a kind of date.

“Since the minute I met him.”

“Really?”

“Really. It has nothing to do with the fact that Shorty refused to have sex without being married.”

Shorty gasped and Justin grinded his teeth together. This family was going to kill him. Maybe the doctor’s will give him Brian’s morphine.  

“Can I please use my phone?” Caleb asked, he may have said please but his tone was anything but polite.

“I don’t know. Can you please not have a monstrous tattoo on your body? No? Then no phone,” Justin growled out.

It had been a week from hell, but his life had felt like it had been on a rollercoaster since the beginning of summer. After Brian and Reece were injured, finding out about Caleb and his tattoo had been icing on the fucked-up cake. The boy was grounded until he was eighty…and that was with good behavior.

Kenyon had got back from his impromptu vacation and did what Kenyon always did, he forgave them. Justin had baked him his favored cake and told the other boys they weren’t allowed to have any. That seemed to make Kenyon a little happy…that and the two-thousand dollars he won in Atlantic City. Brian insisted it was beginners’ luck.

Justin decided after all the bad that they had over the summer they would have an End of Summer party. Brian asked if that meant a way to have a Labor Day party. Justin told him to shut his mouth and it wasn’t on Labor Day so there.

Sadly, Anna and Sayeed weren’t able to fly in. But Jenny was still in town after her trip to Atlantic City. The next day almost everyone was flying to coop. Michael was going into treatment, he’d finally been released from the hospital and was staying with them until he left. Justin thought Michael seemed different this time, he hoped that meant he really would sober up.

Kenyon and Maurice were flying out tomorrow to get everything settled before their schools started. Justin was pretty sure this would be the last he saw of Matt and Shorty until Matt needed something. Reece was still hurt from being yelled at by Brian’s alter, Rage.

Reece was expected to make a full recovery, Matt and Shorty had been staying with him in his loft since being released. Brian was already on the mend, and annoying the hell out of Justin. He bitched about everything. Mostly, because he was supposed to take it easy, something that was not in Brian Kinney’s vocabulary. Justin was considering which would cause more problems divorce or murder.

Most of Brian’s problem stemmed from Reece telling him to speak on Tim’s behalf. He said that Tim hadn’t planned any of it and just flipped out. Justin decided it was best for his own sanity to stay out of all of that. He had no love lost for the man that slept with his husband. But besides that, everyone had their breaking point. He knew that better than anyone. Having shoved a gun in Chris Hobbs mouth all those years ago. What he didn’t care for was the apparent soft spot his son had for the man that held him hostage.

Justin had more on his mind than Reece and his fondness of a criminal though. He had found out that an officer kicked Reece in the head on purpose while his buddies beat Tim. It turned out the Lieutenant that Reece was sort of dating, had been having a long-standing affair with the officer that attacked Reece. The other officers just took their adrenaline out on the hostage taker. Justin had found out this from the detective that helped him with taking Cody down. The man had felt it right to tell him what he knew.

When Justin told Reece, he was understandably upset. It seemed just as he was about to trust someone fully, then he found out the guy wasn’t being truthful with him. He had said that if Julian wanted to continue to see others, all he had to be was honest. It hurt Justin because he knew Reece was so much like him, and it had killed him a little each day to be in that kind of relationship. There was no way he wanted it for Reece. Hell, when he told Brian, his husband became livid. Shows how people change with age.

“It’s not fair. It’s just a little tattoo,” Caleb bitched, bringing him back to the present.

“A little tattoo? It’s a fucking eyesore. Thug Lite, why would you even put that on your skin?”

“Thug Life, Dad. It says Thug Life.”

Justin rolled his eyes. Over the years he had stubborn kid after stubborn kid. The only one who gave him almost no trouble was Kenyan. Matt was the worst followed closely by Anna, Gus and his punk phase was a close third. Reece and Devon were at an almost tie with forth and fifth. Sixth was Maurice, who gave them next to no trouble. He had a feeling Caleb would beat out Matt for the number one slot. He hoped Sean and Avery wouldn’t break the top five.

“You’re lucky your father is still recovering. If he wasn’t I think you’d have more to worry about than no phone.”

“Pop was young once. I know it was ions ago and he can’t remember but I’ve heard some of the stories about him.”

Justin opened his mouth to respond but was beaten to the punch.

“Well, I guess I’ll go get my walker and head down to the senior center to play shuffleboard,” Brian bitterly said.

“I want my phone back,” Caleb demanded.

Justin’s eyes bulged at the audacity of the teen. He’d never heard him be so disrespectful to either of them. Looking over at Brian he could practically see the steam billowing from his ears.

“Go to your room,” Justin ordered.

Caleb smirked. “Make me, Justin,” he said looking between Brian and Justin, his tone challenging.

Brian in a move that shocked Justin turned his back and went upstairs. He had expected his husband to lose his shit at the remark but instead he just walked away.

“You’re right. I can’t make you,” Justin said to his fifteen-year-old son.

The boy looked very smug with himself. Sadly, for him, it wasn’t Justin’s first rodeo.

“Thought so,” the boy said gleefully.

Justin left the boy standing where he was and went upstairs. Brian was sitting on the bed, looking drained. Walking over to him, he sat beside him and put his arm around him.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m tired, Justin. I’m so damn tired. After this summer and everything, I just don’t know what to do. I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

Justin’s heart started to pound in his chest. “Do what?”

“I don’t think I can handle this right now. Downstairs just now, I seriously contemplated hitting him. I feel Jack inside me, fighting to get out. I swore my children would never be scared of me but right now, we’re doormats to them.”

Not true at all, but he wasn’t going to see reason right now.

“How about this, you go with Michael to California and get him settled in at the rehab center. You take your time, maybe get some sun yourself.”

Justin knew right away Brian wanted that. The man was at his breaking point, his eyes screamed for a break. Everything had just become too much for him. Brian was the strongest man he knew but he was human, things were just piling on with no sign of stopping.

“I can’t leave you with all this.”

“Yes, you can and will. All our kids are safe and sound right now, and tomorrow half will go back to school. Ted and Cynthia can take care of work. That’ll just leave me with Caleb, Sean and Avery. You need this, and it’ll just be for a week or so. Right?”

“Right. You really are okay with taking the brunt of this?”

Justin smiled weakly. “Of course.” He hoped he could deliver that promise.

The party went off without a hitch. And everyone had left for their four corners of the US. Brian and Michael had been the last to go. Justin had decided to let the party happen and Brian leave before he dealt with Caleb. He didn’t want anymore trouble for his husband, and he didn’t want to deal with Caleb while he was mad.

A long time ago he had realized that he wasn’t a conventual parent. Tonight, his third youngest would learn that too.

Without telling Caleb, he had Emmett take Sean and Avery home with him. Leaving just Justin and his wayward son. Caleb had been watching a movie in the entertainment room while Justin did some cleaning up. Once he heard his son in the main house he went out the back and locked up the barn that housed the entertainment system with a deadbolt.

After doing that, he decided to go to his office and wait for the fireworks. It wasn’t long in coming.

“Dad, what the hell?” Caleb yelled slamming Justin’s office door open.

Calmly, Justin looked up. “Can I help you?”

“Where are my things?”

“Things?”

“My game system. My TV. My movies. My games. My iPod. My iPad. My EVERYTHING.”

“Oh, those. I locked them up.”

“WHAT? You can’t.”

“Oh, I can and did. This is you’re only out. Take your punishment, wait until your time is up, and treat me and your father with respect.”

“Or?”

“Or start a war you have no chance of winning.”

Justin did his best glare, it had worked on all of his children except Matt…and only then because he never used it on Matt. Justin would be damned if he put up with six years of what he had with Matt again with Caleb. It was time to show him who was boss.

He could see his son’s mind playing over his options.

“Fine, I’m sorry,” his son huffed. It wasn’t the apology he wanted but it was probably as good as he would get right now.

“Grounded for one week for the attitude and the rest of it is up to you.”

“Meaning?”

“Six months, no friends or going out if you don’t get the tattoo removed. One more month if you do.”

“Whatever. It didn’t turn out the way I wanted anyway. But when I’m eighteen I’m getting another one.”

“When you’re eighteen, you can do whatever you want.”

“What ever happened to my body being my own.”

“It is, but let’s just say you’re leasing to own. No major changes without written permission.”

“So, six weeks lock down?”

“Six weeks. I’ll call around and find out about having it removed. Now, go to your room.”

“But there’s nothing there.”

“Read a book.”

It had been a while since he had all his kids in the same house. Two years ago, they had the summer from hell. Now it was their first family trip with all their new family members. Brian had just gotten a huge client, so he decided to treat the whole family. The client had insisted Brian take his family to his villa in the French Riviera. It was huge and gorgeous, and had enough rooms to house all of them, which was saying something.

“Someone want’s grandpa,” Anna said, coming through the open door, leading to where he was painting by the pool.

“Nice try, as much as I love my granddaughter, I’m too tired after watching her all night.”

“Did you hear that Taaj? Your grandpa doesn’t want you.”

Justin rolled his eyes and put down his palette. “Give me the baby.”

“Only if you want to,” she said in a too innocent voice. Handing the baby over to him.

“After I’ve been guilted, how can I say no?”

“I can. NO! Take your baby and go away. You’ve been pawning her off on your father since we got here. I get this is your vacation too but if I have to wrestle wine away from your ten-year-old brother, you have to take care of your own daughter,” Brian growled, taking Taaj from Justin’s arms and putting her back in Anna’s.

Justin bit back a laugh. Anna was a great mother, but she was still his daughter and tried to take advantage of that fact. He knew it but when he looked at the sweet baby in her arms he couldn’t say no.

When Anna had called a little over a year ago crying, he thought the worst. He had to talk her down until she told him she was pregnant and was scared Brian would hate her. After Justin talked some sense into her, she calmed down even more. Four months ago, she gave birth to Taaj, Brian and Justin had flown out to be there for her. And her worries disappeared as soon as she saw Brian hold his granddaughter. It was love at first sight.  

Meeting Sayeed’s parents had been a little awkward in the beginning. They had been overly prepared by Sayeed that Anna had two fathers instead of a mother and father. They had gone way overboard to show they were accepting of them. So much that they gifted Brian and Justin an art book of nude males. Brian made sure to display when they visited with Anna two months ago.

“Now go, I want to spend time with my husband,” Brian said, glaring at her.

Anna huffed but turned and went back into the house.

“You didn’t have to be so mean,” Justin said, putting his arms around Brian waist.

“Yes, I did. We’ve been here for a week and I have yet to spend more than ten minutes alone with you. If it’s not Anna wanting you to babysit, it’s Avery wanting you to play with him, or Shorty with his painting lessons, or Sean and his love life woes or…”

“Okay, I get it. But they need me.”

“You want them to need you. We have seven grown children and two almost grown, let them take care of themselves. The only one that needs you besides Avery is me.”

Justin smiled. “And what do you need?” he asked, his voice dropping to a husky tone.

“Daaad, tell Gus, he and Lisa can’t hog the sauna. I bet their having sex in there. That’s unsanitary,” Devon whined.

Justin laughed at Brian’s proud smile. Like father like son. Turning to Devon he sighed. “You are twenty-five years old. You are married.”

Devon looked confused. “What does that have to do with Gus hogging the sauna?”

“What your Dad is trying to say, too nicely if you ask me, is grow up. Put your big boy pants on and tell him to get out yourself,” Brian said to their second oldest.

Before Devon could response an almost naked Gus ran outside, his face red. He had a rag covering his manhood.

“DAD!” he yelled when he saw Justin.

“What?”

“Anna’s gone too far.”

“What are you talking about?” He just saw Anna and she had been fine.

“She came into the sauna and she-she was was…”

“Was what?” Brian asked, looking tired.

“She was naked,” Lisa said as she walked out to join them, she had a towel wrapped around her. Lisa’s Gus’ girlfriend, and she’s an amazing woman. She wasn’t like any of his high school or college girlfriends. She grew up in a trailer park in Tennessee. Put herself through high school while couch surfing. Put herself through college then got accepted to med school at Vanderbilt, that’s where she met Gus. He had dated airheads before her, she was smart and not afraid to put Brian or Gus in their place. Brian liked her immediately. She was tall, with long brown hair. Her waist was trim, but the girl had hips. She said it was a family trait, all the women in her family that hips and thighs for days. Justin was expecting any time now for Gus to ask her to marry him, he would be a fool not to.

“So, I’m guessing you were naked,” Justin said to Gus.

“It’s gross.”

“What’s gross about being in the sauna naked?” Brian asked.

“I was in there. She was just hanging all out there. It was sickening.”

“You’re a doctor, the female body shouldn’t disgust you,” Lisa said, jumping on teasing Gus.

“The female body doesn’t, hers, I may vomit.”

“I think your sister’s very attractive,” Lisa said, a smirk on her face.

“Eww,” Gus said.

“What?” Lisa asked too innocently.

“Whatever this is, we’re out. You have to work out this on your own. Your father is taking me out to dinner,” Justin said.

“I am?”

“Yes, you are. Remember, you wanted to spend more time together.”

“Yeah, but that only involved a bed…or table…or wall.”

“GROSS!” Devon and Gus yelled.

“Can I watch?” Lisa asked.

“Therapy, I need so much therapy,” Gus said before going back inside. Lisa winked at them and followed. Devon just looked at them with disgust and turned and left too.

“Well, that’s a way to get us some alone time,” Justin said, smiling at Brian.

“Go get ready, I’ll go make a reservation.”

Justin kissed Brian before heading inside.

“Hey, Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Justin looked up and saw Barbie, Maurice’s wife. She was everything he hoped for Maurice. There was only one problem. “Sure.”

“Umm…I think something is wrong with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know...my time of month is late. And I was looking up what could cause it, I think I have cancer,” she said, her face pale with worry.

“What makes you think you have cancer? Could you be pregnant?” Say no, please say no.

“Oh, no, I can’t be pregnant. The website said that being late could be from cancer and some of my symptoms, like nausea and dizziness. I think I’m dying.”

And therefore, she was almost prefect, sadly, she was dumber than a box of rocks. She was sweet as could be but didn’t have a logical thought in her head. Brian hated her with a passion.

“It really sounds like pregnancy symptoms, are you sure you can’t be pregnant?”

“I’m sure, Maurice always uses a condom.”

“Are you on birth control?” He really didn’t want to be having his conversation.

“No, why would I?”

“Well, condoms aren’t foolproof. Accidents can happen.”

“Oh no, Maurice will be so upset.”

“No, he won’t. All he’s ever wanted was a wife and children. He’s got a good job now. You two have a nice apartment. If you are pregnant, he’ll be ecstatic.”

“Brian will hate me even more.” She wasn’t wrong, if she was it wouldn’t go over well.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, first you need a pregnancy test.”

“How?”

“I’ll get one while I’m out tonight. Meet me in the kitchen at ten and I’ll give it to you. Then we’ll know.”

“Thanks, Dad,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

Barbie grew up with a single mom and absentee dad. When she married Maurice, after a short courtship, she asked if she could call them dad and pop. Justin said yes, Brian declined.

“Your welcome. Now try not to worry, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Oh, can you do me a favor and watch Avery tonight?”

“Sure.”

Justin again tried to get to his room, so he could shower and get ready.

“Dad.” So close.

“How may I help you this evening?” he asked, hoping not to sound as frustrated as he was.

“I was looking at places online in Albion to get. I was hoping you’d love over my top picks with me,” Reece said.

“Not tonight. Your father is taking me out. I’ll help you tomorrow.”

“Thanks. I can’t believe I’m going to live so far away. But I need to be closer to Tim.”

Justin did everything in his power not to roll his eyes. Reece had finally found the love he had always been looking for. In the arms of his father’s ex piece on the side. Tim was still doing time in Albion and would be there for another two years. He pleaded guilty and got cut a deal. A few months ago, Reece broke the news that he had married Tim in a prison ceremony. It was every father’s dream. Brian had been livid. But shockingly, he calmed down about it and seemed to accept the relationship. Justin was trying, but it was hard. This man had slept with his husband and taken his son hostage, but even he couldn’t deny that Tim made Reece happy.

“I’ll miss you, but you’re an adult.”

“Thanks for being so understanding.”

“Yeah, well, that’s me, understanding,” he said before heading back to his room.

Just as he entered his room his phone went off. He thought about ignoring it, but Debbie wasn’t doing too well and he couldn’t risk it. His heart dropped a little when he, so it was Michael calling.

“Michael, is everything alright?”

“I’m a grandpa, again” he said excitedly.

“She had the baby?” Justin asked, letting out a breath.

“Yep, seven pounds five ounces, twenty-one inches long. Boy.”

“Congrats, grandpa. What they name him?”

He heard Michael choke up a little on the phone. “His name is Benjamin. Benjamin Asa Morris.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

Jenny had gotten back from her year aboard a totally different person. She was happy, confident and playful. For the first time in her life it looked like she was comfortable in her own skin. A month after she came back, she announced she was engaged…to Alex Morris, Reece’s best friend. It was a beautiful wedding. Michael walked her down the aisle, sober. Lindsay and Mel were both there. Lindsay had finally kicked her lousy husband to the curb after he was found with his pants down…literally. A few weeks later she announced she was pregnant. Anna had said she was worried about losing this baby too. Alex worshiped the ground she walked on, so Justin wasn’t too worried. The baby she lost was never forgotten, Mel had put a memorial up for the baby in her backyard. Even Brian had to admit it was a beautiful tribute.

And one of the best parts was Michael was coming close to his second year of sobriety. Year one was tough, a lot of calls to Brian in middle of the night. But now, he was finally looking forward instead of back. Not only that, he was dating a new guy. Kurt wasn’t like anything they’d ever expect of Michael. Kurt was a bear, and what a bear he was. The man was covered in hair, with a big belly and beard. But he treated Michael like a prince and Michael seemed just as crazy about him. Love is a strange and crazy thing. Justin was just happy, that he was happy. Kurt loved to go to the conventions with Michael too, he called himself Michael’s security from the fanboys.

“I tried to call Brian, but he didn’t answer his phone,” Michael said, bringing Justin out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, he’s making us a reservation for tonight.”

“Cool, I’m letting Kurt take me out celebratory dinner. I told him at least Benjamin will have a built in Santa impersonator.”

Justin laughed. The man did kind of look like Santa.

“I’m happy for you, Michael.”

“Thanks, two years ago I couldn’t see any light. Now, it’s all so bright.”

“That’s cheesy, are you drinking again?”

Michael gave a throaty laugh. “Nope, that’s all endorphins.”

“Goodbye, Grandpa. I’ve got to shower and get ready.”

“Bye.”

Finally, Justin was able to get into the shower.

“Hey, Pop.” Brian closed his eyes. He had just got off the phone making the reservations. He just wanted some alone time. Was that too much to ask for?

“What?” he asked Sean.

Sean was their late bloomer but sixteen hit and hit hard. You could practically see the hormones running crazy.

“I was wondering if I could fly home and spend the rest of summer with Sarah?”

“No way in hell. You are staying here and having a family vacation.”

“Why?” he whined.

“Because, you’re family. If I have to be miserable here, so do you.”

Brian escaped into Dorrington’s office. Sitting in the expensive leather chair, he threw his head back. He heard the door open but didn’t look up, it hadn’t been closed all the way, so the kids didn’t know to leave him the fuck alone.

He waited for whoever to say something. Nothing was said but then he heard it. The clicking of nails on hardwood floors.

Without looking. “You two, can’t a guy get some rest?”

“We just wanted to see you’re okay, Pop,” Avery said.

Brian finally looked, seeing Avery and Harley. Harley had become a full-fledged part of the family. Reece went to school and work so much he started to feel bad about leaving Harley so much. It was Justin’s idea to let Harley live with them. Avery seemed to have a special bond with the dog since he saved him. Sadly, Harley seemed to think he was Brian’s dog too. Several times Brian had been woken up by the big lug jumping on him. One day he was going to remember to lock his door.

“I’m fine, just tired.”

“Are you going to take us scuba diving tomorrow?” he asked worriedly.

“I promised, didn’t I?”

“I was just worried.”

As soon as Avery turned ten he wanted to get his scuba license. When he showed real interest in it, Justin made all three boys train. Once they found out where they were vacationing, it seemed like fate. Avery hadn’t shut up about scuba diving since then.

“Don’t be worried. Tomorrow come rain or shine, we will go scuba diving.”

“Okay, thanks, Pop. Come on, Harley, lets leave Pop to drink in peace.”

Justin really needed to stop telling their son he needed peace to drink.

Life was pretty good at the moment. Somethings weren’t perfect, like Maurice’s idiot wife. That marriage wouldn’t last. Then there was Matt and Shorty. They were still going strong, but Shorty had become more independent and Brian worried Matt would get jealous. But he couldn’t live their life for them, these were their decisions.

He was just glad that they had gotten Caleb’s tattoo completely off. Thank God for modern medicine.

Someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” he said, running a hand through his hair.

“Pop, umm…I was hoping to talk to you,” Kenyon said.

“Come on in, this may be your only chance.”

Kenyon walked in and sat down across from him. Brian waited for him to start talking.

“I want to quit law school.”

Brian took several deep breathes before speaking. “You’ve only just finished your first year. Why do you want to quit?”

“It’s just too hard.”

“What? Did you seriously think law school would be easy?”

“I just feel so…unfulfilled.”

“You’re twenty-two. You’re a full-time law student. What the hell do you have to feel so unfulfilled about?”

“Everyone has someone,” he said quietly.

Now they were getting somewhere. “And you don’t”

“That’s the thing. I kinda do.”

Brian’s eyes widened. This was a new development. “Who?” Kenyon was a very outspoken about being an asexual, while that didn’t make having a relationship unheard of, he never really seemed interested in finding someone that soon.

“Don’t be mad.”

That didn’t sound good. “Who?” he asked a little more firmly.

“Sharon Casey.”

“MOTHERFUCK!” he yelled.

“You promised you wouldn’t be mad.”

“I promised nothing.”

“She’s really sorry about what happened between you two.”

“What happened! What Happened! She fucking sued me for sexual discrimination.”

“She really thought you didn’t give her the promotion because she was a woman.”

“Yeah, funny as that was I didn’t even make that call, Cynthia did. She thought Sharon was too green for the job.”

“I know that know, and so does Sharon…now.”

“NOW! Now after my name and agency were dragged through the dirt? No. I won’t allow it.”

“Pop, I love her. I could have a good life with her. She understands me. She smart and funny, she doesn’t push. She knows exactly what our life would be like and she still wants me. She’s prefect for me. Please, don’t make me chose between her and my family.”

Brian could see Kenyon was warning him that he would pick her if the choice had to be made. Not wanting to lose his son, he bit back his anger. “I don’t have to like her, but I’ll be civil.”

“That’s all I ask. And she said that if I stay in law school she’ll move closer to me, so you won’t have to put up with running into her.”

Except for family functions, Brian thought.

“Okay, go on now. And there is no if, you are going back to school.”

Kenyon smiled. “Yes, sir.”

Dinner had been wonderful, Justin couldn’t stop complimenting the food. On their way home though he asked to stop at a little shop that was near the villa. He wouldn’t tell Brian what he got, he was very secretive. Brian decided not to ask because unless it was handcuffs he didn’t really care.

Justin waited until Brian went upstairs and waited in the kitchen for Barbie.

“Did you get it?”

“Yeah, here,” he said, handing her the bag.

She opened it and started to cry. “I can’t take this.”

“Why?”

“I’m not French.”

“Huh?”

“It’s all in French. I don’t know what it says.”

Justin looked at the box. It was pretty clear from just the picture, but she just wasn’t looking hard enough.

“Look, there it is in English just under the French. Two lines means pregnant, one line means not pregnant. Do you want me to wait for you?”

“Please.”

So, Justin played on his phone for a few minutes until she came back out.

“Well?”

“Two lines.”

Justin smiled, a bit forced but he was adjust soon enough. He was going to have another grandchild.

“Congrats,” he said, wrapping her up in his arms.

“Are you sure Maurice will be happy?”

“I’m sure.”

“And Brian.”

“He’ll come around.” Eventually.

“So, what was the mystery about?” Brian asked as Justin entered the bedroom.

“I’m only telling you now because I want you to pretend at least to be happy tomorrow when you hear.”

Brian raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And you’re going to be a grandpop again.”

“Lisa?”

“Nope.”

“Rochelle?” Rochelle was Devon’s girlfriend.

“Nope.”

“Please god tell me Anna’s pregnant again.”

“Nope.”

“Fuck!”

“Please, Brian. She’s really a sweet girl.”

“She’s going to end up breaking his heart.”

“Maybe, but that’s the risk we run with any of them dating and marrying. All we can do is be there for them when they are happy, and be there for them when they feel their world is ending.”

“When did you become such a dad?”

Justin smiled. “Twenty-seven years ago, when I first laid eyes on Gus. I couldn’t very well tell you that at the time though, could I?”

“Not a chance. So, another baby?”

“Yep. It could be worse.”

“How?”

“It could be Sean and Sarah.”

Brian shivered. “Don’t even joke.”

“Now that we have that done. How about some personal attention?”

“And what would that be?”

“I have a few ideas.”

“I bet you do.”

“If anyone would have told me that day in the hospital we would be here all these years later I would have laughed.”

“I wouldn’t have,” Brian said.

“No?”

“No. I would have thrown a drink in their face and called them delusional.”

“So romantic.”

Brian wrapped his arms around Justin’s waist. “I’ve got romance for days.”

“God, I love you.”

“What’s not to love?”

“Brian.”

“Fine, I guess I love you too.”

“Daaad, Barbie is throwing up. What do I do?” Maurice yelled through the door.

Justin groaned. Just as he was about to open his mouth to tell Maurice he was coming, Brian beat him to it.

“Hold her fucking hair back. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to fuck my husband,” Brian yelled back through the door.

“You’re evil.”

“I’m sweet.”

The End.