CHAPTER 17 – COMING HOME

PITTSBURGH QUAYSIDE – END OF CRUISE

BRIAN

This is proving more than a little tough for Gus!  Leda didn’t generate this amount of tears.

“You p-p-promise?” He whimpers, clutching onto Justin as tightly as a four year old boy can.

“I Leather Bear promise, Gus.” Justin is very close to tears too and he looks pleadingly at me.

“Gus. Now come on, you will see him in a week. That’s only 7 sleeps.” I try to explain but he’s not having it.

“But daddy!” He wails. “That’s a lot of sleeps!”

“Justin, got a minute.” Franc, who was talking to Cyn, calls out.

We manage to gently loosen Gus’s hold and Justin heads towards them. There’s whispering, nodding and smiling. Why are they smiling?

“Be right back!” Justin yells and dashes back up the gangplank. Ten very long and tear filled minutes later, Justin is coming back down with a crate…oh crap!

“Gus?” Justin calls out but Gus has his face in my neck, sobbing his little heart out. “Gus, can you look at me please?” Gus slowly but surely turns to look at him. “If I wasn’t coming back to see you and daddy, would I leave Custard for you to look after?”

Gus looks down and then back up quickly, almost catching his head on my chin.

“Custard!  Custard is staying with us?!”

“Yes, Custard is staying with us.” I tell him. “And you and momma are staying with me in the big house until Mr Justin and Miss Leda come, okay?”

“Daddy! I love you so much!  But I need to check that Custard is okay.” I put him down and once he’s on the ground, he starts to open the crate.

“No Gus, you can’t do that now. Let’s get him back home; it’s much too busy here.”

“Okay daddy!  Mr…I mean Papa Justin, can I read to Custard while we wait for our things?”

“Yes you can.”

I take his hand and pull him to a quiet corner. “Seven sleeps. It’s a long time without my favourite bed mate…well the human kind.”

“Human kind?” He frowns.

“Custard and I understand each other, bed wise. Rhubarb tends to sprawl.”

“I see.” He smiles then wraps his arms round me. “Seven sleeps. What’s do you think of phone sex?”

“I expect a call at nine.” Before he can say anything, I kiss him until Emmy taps me on the shoulder.

“Enough already! You’re hips are moving and he’s starting to climb!” He hisses.

I drop my head onto Justin’s and sigh. “Another long seven days!”

“You don’t have to…”

“Another long seven days.” I tell him firmly.

BRITIN – TWO DAYS LATER, EARLY MORNING

KITCHEN

BRIAN

Custard has made himself very much at home. Mercifully, he seems to understand that he craps outside and yowls until one of us lets him out. Pretty much like he’s doing right now!

“Alright for crying out loud!” I grumble and head to the back door. As I open it, he heads outside and ten minutes later, he comes back in. And after shaking himself because of the rain, I dry him off a bit before I head back to bed with him in my wake.

An hour later, Gus is knocking on the door. “Daddy!  Are you and Custard awake?”

“Yes Sonny Boy, come in!” I call out and he comes in with his book to read for an hour.

Gus has gone back to sleep, so I leave him and Custard in bed then head downstairs to begin my working day.

KINNETIC – AN HOUR LATER

CAR PARK

CYNTHIA

Oh, you have got to be kidding me?! I had to come back to my car because I left a folder in it and when I finally found the damn thing under the back of the front seat, I spotted him. Michael is across the road! I really want to go over there and hit him again but ignoring him is so much better.

TED’S OFFICE

TED

“He still outside?” I ask Cyn as she comes in.

“Yeah. We should tell Brian now since he’s clearly waiting for him. He’s in tomorrow. Let’s not have him walk into a Novotny surprise.”

“Good. Let’s prep for the morning meeting and I’ll tell him at the end.”

DINER – AFTERNOON

DEBS

As much as I loved the cruise, it is great to be back. Kiki is delighted with the jewellery I got for her and it’s wonderful to see my other family again. But even better, Carl has been coming around.

“Ma. You’re back.”

It takes everything for me not to throw the coffee pot at him, but Brian made us promise to let him deal with Michael.

“Michael. How are you?”

“Oh just great! My best friend had me thrown off the ship and my mother did nothing to stop it!” He hisses surprisingly quietly. “Is Brian back too? I’ve been trying to catch him at the loft or at work.”

Oh, I’ll just bet you have!

“Oh, you know Brian.” I reply as calmly as I can.

“I thought I did ma... I really did think I did.” He turns around and starts to walk out slowly.

Previously, I would’ve called him back and given him lunch and then talked to the cause of his problem.  But not anymore, not after what I saw.

“Debs, is everything okay?” Kiki asks quietly. “Does this require cocktails and maybe show and tell of what I bought in your absence?”

“Yeah it does.”  I smile at her and head back to my section.

DINER – THURSDAY LUNCH TIME

DEBS

I feel so much better having spoken to Kiki a couple of evenings ago. She told me she’s been waiting for years for me to stop running after Michael. In fact, everyone on the Avenue has; I had no idea I did it so much!

Gus is coming to meet his uncles, Carl, Rodney and Vic for lunch today. Carl said last night he was missing his little guy. I did not have an ear to ear grin when he said that!

“Grandma!” Gus calls out from the door and walks very carefully towards me. He’s remembered what Franc said and I’m so proud!

“Hey sweetheart, Mel…good grief living with Brian is working wonders for Bumpy!  Go sit in the booth at the back you two. The guys will be here soon.”

Right on cue, they come in and with a wink, Carl leads the way.

“Uncle Carl! Oh, I’m so pleased to see you! And you Uncle Rodney! What are we going to have for lunch? Can I order for us all?” Gus rattles off questions so fast that he hasn’t noticed the booth next to him, filling up.

“We’ve already ordered Gus. Because it’s such a big table.” I tell him, putting down his usual milkshake.

Gus looks up and then around the booth. “But there’s only five of us grandma. Oh hello Auntie Emmy, Uncle Ted, what are you doing here?”

“Well I heard that you were having lunch so we thought we would join you. Is that okay?”  Ems replies smiling.

“Oh yes!”  He grins.

“Can I join you Sonny Boy?”

“Daddy? Oh, this makes me member when we were on the boat with everyone else…”  He trails off.  “How many more sleeps, daddy?”

“It’s remember and no more sleeps, Gus.”

Gus looks up from the table and just stares at his Mr Justin smiling at him. Immediately, he bursts into tears.

“Oh Gus!  Don’t cry!” Mel tries to soothe him.

“I’m so happy Momma; I can’t help it!”  He sniffles.  “Eve…everyone is here!”  He cries and I can feel myself filling up.

“Yeah we’re all here.” Ben gives Ems a sweet kiss and slides in next to him.

“So Gus, are you going to tell us about the cruise?” Kiki asks. “We’ve not heard anything about it.”

“Can I tell, daddy?” Brian nods and settles him in between him and Justin as Gus begins.

“Well, at first, I didn’t think I would see daddy for a long time…”

Two hours later, the diner is still chuckling and smiling. Gus told of our adventures so well.  He takes after his father completely. It’s just him and Justin left in the booth.

“Come on Gus, we should really get back home.”

“Excuse me, but what are you doing with my son?” The imperious tone chills me to the bone.

What the fuck is Lindsay doing back?!

JUSTIN

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Michael’s whine distracts me for a minute and he glares at me.

“I’m taking Gus back to his father.” I reply to him before turning back to face who could only be Lindsay and then picking Gus up. “Come on Gus. Let’s go.”

“I asked you a question.” She glowers at me.

“Leaving. Pretty much like you did! Now excuse us.” Justin walks around her without looking back.

“Papa Justin, why is Unca Mikey staring at you like that?”

“I don’t know Gus.”

All I know is that I need to get to Brian!

KINNETIC – 30 MINUTES LATER

BRIAN’S OFFICE

BRIAN

Justin called me the moment he got in the cab and Gus is reading on the sofa.

“Cyn, how far is the car away?”

“Five minutes!” She calls out, looking out the window. “Ah, here she comes! You go and let me deal with her!” She states firmly.

“Come on Sonny Boy, we’re going home now.”  I call out.

CYNTHIA

I head to reception and watch the witch come in as if she has the right to be here after all she’s done.

“Can I help you?”

“I want to speak to Brian and…”

“He’s not here and you are not welcome. Please escort this person out of the building and don’t let her in here again.”

“You can’t do that!” She snaps.

“Did you see Michael’s face? One of those black eyes was from me…and I merely dislike him; you I detest!”

“I will speak to Brian about this!” She turns sharply on her heel before stopping the guard and turning back to me. “I don’t need your help and, you Cynthia, will soon be grovelling for your job!”

“I’m the COO of this company, so no, I won’t be grovelling for anything. You, however, are a bitchy witch with a slack twat, who nobody wants around. Now go!”

BRITIN – EARLY EVENING

KITCHEN

JUSTIN

We’ve had a light soup and some bread after the huge lunch.

“So what happened when Gus saw her?”

“He didn’t react to her but he did react to the way that Michael was looking at me.”

He heaves a sigh of relief. “Oh good. Hopefully that’s the end of it with Lindsay.  But somehow, I doubt it.”

“Me too, with both her and Michael. But right now, we have a much more important thing to discuss.” I take his cup out of his hand. “That’s a euphemism for get naked…mmm!”

The rest of my sentence disappears into the hotness of his mouth and we start to tear each other’s clothes off.

“It’s going to be quick!”  Brian growls, turning me over the table and opening a drawer.

“Less talking, more fucking!” I order and shiver with excitement as I hear the familiar rip and then hold on for dear life!