JUSTIN

We finally moved the last box in our new home. It took five months to find it and have it renovated the way we wanted it. Brian didn’t want us to buy a house until we loved it. We found a house just outside of Chicago, but not far from Hawthorne-Kinney. Hannah was sad to move away from her friends, but Trina was spending time more time with Travis and he promised Hannah would see Trina as often as they wanted.

Miles quit his job, yelling that he wouldn’t work for someone with unstable people in their lives. I was honestly relieved he quit, he really thought he could convince me to get Brian out of my life.

It started when we came back and Cynthia managed to get my house cleaned up. I didn’t see the reason to rent a house when the security system had been upgraded. We decided to stay until we found what we wanted. Miles decided that he would try to corner me and tell me all the reasons I should walk away from the bullshit that comes with someone like Brian. I let him know that I really didn’t like all the bullshit that came with living next door to him.

“Brian didn’t invite Lindsay to your house, you did. How is that Brian’s fault?” I tell him.

“She’s the mother of his child, don’t you think that says something about him? He let a crazy woman have his child. I heard all about Brian and his lifestyle, and how you were treated like his whore the whole time he knew you.” He tells me.

“Yet you believe the crazy woman, what does that say about you?” I tell him.

“I talked to her other victim, he’s the one that told me all about you. He also told me that you didn’t mean anything to Brian. I would think his best friend knows what kind of person Brian is, better than the kid Brian liked to use.” He tells me.

“You and Michael should really talk about your delusions together, I’m sure a good shrink could write an excellent paper on both of you. I never saw you as anything but the father of Trina. I never thought of you as anything in my life. If you thought I wanted more, I’ll apologize to you for anything you interpreted as me wanting more from you. Although I don’t feel there was anything in the time we knew each other that shows me, I did anything to warrant you thinking that. It’s the same problem Michael seems to have with Brian, he somehow wants to believe that Brian changing anything in his life should have been for him.” I tell him.

“Michael doesn’t want Brian, he told me Brian never wanted anything but to fuck any guy who offers. He really feels sorry for you, because he knows his friend well enough to know when he gets bored, you’ll be the one who gets hurt. Michael told me that you were never enough for Brian.” He tells me.

“No, actually I told Michael the morning after Justin and I met that there was no such thing as enough, because with Justin there never will be. I really have to wonder how desperate you are, if you’re talking to and believing a guy who thinks one day I’ll want him. Justin tends to be the nice one in this marriage, I happen to be the asshole who will break your fucking arm if you lay your hands on my husband again.” Brian tells Miles.

“I’m going to ask that you stay in your yard, because I really hate the sound of bones breaking.” I tell him, smiling.

“Maybe Trina would be better off finding new friends. I really don’t want her getting hurt because you can’t see who you're with.” He tells me.

I really wanted to know why Brian didn’t fire him after that. Brian told me unless Miles did something that affected his job performance, there wasn’t a reason to let our personal lives affect business. It took Miles a week to quit. Brian continued to be professional around him, Miles apparently couldn’t do it without trying to take jabs at Brian, using anything Michael was telling him. Brian even offered to move Miles to the Pittsburgh office, so Miles and his best friend Michael could bitch together in person on their own time, not Hawthorne-Kinney’s time. It took two trips to HR before Miles left, telling everyone about the unstable person running this company. All the other employees told Miles that the only unstable person they saw was him.

Michael, ever the pain in the ass he is, dropped the charges against Lindsay, thinking somehow he was the only one who had a reason to put her ass in jail. Carl had to explain to Michael that the kidnapping, breaking and entering, and child endangerment charges were the ones for which she’d be doing time. The assault charges weren’t really a large part of it, and would likely only have put her on probation and in anger management classes. Michael was a bit pissed that hurting him wasn’t a big deal. He tried to call Brian for sympathy, then his mother, and then Ted. He didn’t get that none of them wanted to listen proved that Michael was still Michael.

Lindsay and company, or should I say the Peterson women, were finding out that without Ron footing the bill, all the people who used to kiss their asses were too busy laughing at their downfall from the mansion. Ron agreed to pay for therapy with Alex for Lindsay, but not anything else to help her out of what she had gotten herself into. He filed for divorce from Nancy, and told Lynnette it was time to do what it takes to keep a husband who could support her. Nancy of course, sued him for everything, thinking that being married most of their lives meant that she was entitled to everything. Ron pulled out the prenup they signed when they got married, his family didn’t like Nancy and wouldn’t allow her to take him to the cleaners. Ron allowed her to have alimony in the agreement for divorce, but it didn’t compare to the unlimited money that she was used too.

Lindsay’s new lawyer is trying to plead insanity for her actions, but can’t get Alex to agree. Insanity implies that the person didn’t know what they were doing. The DA told us that there was no way for Lindsay to be able to say she didn’t know what she was doing when she hid at Michael’s apartment. Everything she did showed that she knew she was wrong. Lindsay is still trying to stick to the story that I forced her into the car, saying I’d hurt Gus if she didn’t disappear from his life. During the depositions he kept trying to use it as a reason for why Lindsay might have done what she did, the belief that I was trying to take her baby from her. It was really sad that the man was a lawyer, when that was the best he could come up with. Nancy insisted that Lindsay should at least be allowed bail, but Lindsay had proved to be a flight risk already, so no bail was allowed. Lindsay was getting all the attention that she’d wanted from her mother, and seemed to enjoy every tear Nancy shed trying to get the judge to listen to her. We were told it would be anywhere from six months to a year before this could go to trial, but Lindsay wouldn’t be out until it did.

My mom and Tucker got married a month after he proposed. Tucker’s family all came, and welcomed my mom and us to the family. It was so different from the way my father’s family acts. They didn’t even blink at Brian and I being married, or the fact that we had two children. Tucker told me his family was raised to believe that any form of intolerance was bullshit. We were invited to visit them anytime we wanted to come to Pittsburgh.

My first show went well and I received a few invitations to show at other galleries. I let them all know that I wanted time to work on new things first. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to show my work, but that I wanted time to be with my husband and kids. Brian didn't question me on that decision, he told me I knew what I wanted and when I wanted to do it. Smart man I married.

I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I pulled the test out of where I hid it, trying to figure out when he was planning to tell me. I have a feeling he's still shocked to see the positive on it. It about knocked me on my ass when I found it. I always assumed it would be me, not him.

BRIAN

I finished putting up boxes and had to sit down. I was just glad not to throw up again. Emmett and Ted were busy talking about Mel’s impending motherhood. I was too busy trying not to throw up at all the things I never realized were part of this shit. I also need to tell Justin we’re going to be fathers again. I wanted to talk to a doctor first, because I’m, damn it, closing in on forty, which means that I need to get more tests than Justin would. He seemed to want to be the one that carried the baby if we decided, but nature decided for us. It’s been hard not to touch my stomach all the time, but I didn’t want to believe there was actually something in there.

“Hey Brian, can you help me?” Brandon asks me.

I get up and follow him into the kitchen. He grabbed some ginger ale and handed it to me. Then pulled out some single packets of crackers and gave them to me. I was a bit confused but drank the ginger ale.

“I heard it helps to calm your stomach, and the crackers will keep you from throwing up if you eat them while still laying in bed.” He tells me.

“How did you know?” I ask him.

“You haven’t been drinking when we all were.” He tells me.

“I need to figure out how to tell Justin, that we managed to accidently get pregnant, again.” I tell him.

“You really think he’d care how it happened? Justin loves children.” He tells me.

“He always seemed to assume that he would be the one having it. I really thought he would too. I wanted to wait until he was ready, Hannah scared him, coming early. I’m not exactly young to be doing this.” I tell him.

“People are having kids at all ages, and they’re born healthy. I get what you mean though, I’m waiting to see if Ted wants to try. I want my mother to have a grandchild that comes from me.” He tells me.

“I’m sure it would send Michael into a tailspin, the biggest Tops showing up pregnant.” I tell him.

“Why would Michael even hear something like that?” Justin asks from the doorway.

“Let me see if Emmett and Ted need help.” Brandon tells me, rushing out to the garage.

“I don’t know Justin, could it be because the test in your hand tells you anything?” I tell him, pulling him to me.

“It tells me that my husband seems to think not telling me is a good idea.” He tells me, pecking my lips.

“I wanted to make sure, those tests aren’t always accurate. We have an appointment to make sure, although the fact that I want to puke all the time seems to be making it rather clear.” I tell him, shaking my head

“If you told me, I would have helped you.” He tells me.

“You’ve always taken care of me, so I didn’t need to tell you. It wouldn’t change what you do any other day.” I tell him.

MICHAEL

I called Jason and Kevin to see if they wanted to go out with me, but like all my other friends, they were both too busy for me. I sat in my shop, ignoring all the calls from Lindsay. The bitch is crazy, thinking that I should go to Chicago and spy for her. I only dropped the charges because her mother and Lynnette paid off my shop for me to do it. It really pissed me off when Carl told me what Lindsay did to me wouldn’t even have gotten jail time for her. The DA told me that if I help Lindsay he could charge me with harboring a fugitive, which is bullshit since I didn’t know she was in trouble when she showed up. I told him she just asked me to tell everyone she’d been at my apartment all night when she arrived, not that she broke into Justin’s house. He asked if I understood she was asking for an alibi for a crime. He looked at me like I was an idiot, when I questioned why that would make me think anything like that.  The only problem is, now Lindsay seems to think we’re friends again, and calls me constantly. I didn’t think the DA was joking about charging me and I wasn’t risking jail time, for Lindsay to call and try to convince me to do what she thought was a good idea. She really thinks I didn’t hear what she said when she tried to kick my ass. She and I want the same thing, and neither of us plans on sharing with the other.

She doesn’t get that Brian will walk away from Justin again. He only stays because Justin had his kid. Brian’s like that, he takes responsibility for his mistakes. He’ll eventually get tired of the bullshit that Justin will likely try to make him do and I’ll be waiting for him to take his place back in Pittsburgh. I also don’t need to go to Chicago, Miles tells me anything I need to know. I liked him because he wasn’t after Brian, but Justin. He really believes that Brian doesn’t deserve Justin, and only wants to help break them up. I think he’s stupid to want the twink, but if it gets Brian to leave Justin, I won’t complain about it. I want Brian to come home to the place he belongs, showing all the guys who the real King is. I wanted to tell the smart asses, who said Justin was really the King since he won the title. Like they didn’t let Justin win, Sheba cheated because she likes Justin. David had as many cheers as Justin did that night, but no, everyone fawns all over fucking Justin. Who thought it would get Brian’s attention? Brian was too busy showing David who was more important to me. Why couldn’t anybody see that, Brian ignored Justin because he was mad at me for staying with David. Miles at least thinks I deserve Brian, I’m not really sure if he sees that as the compliment I took it for.

I was worried when Miles quit his job, because at least he was around to find out things for me. He didn’t see we were better off when he had access to Justin and Brian, but he told me Brian was making it so he didn’t have a choice but to quit. I told Miles that Justin is probably using the bullshit Lindsay used to do with Brian and Mel, playing one off the other. We all knew Lindsay did it because she liked playing games for attention. Justin learned well with that one. I had to be careful since Miles doesn’t like anything that makes Justin sound bad. He’s fine when he hears about what Brian did to show Justin he didn’t care, but he about ripped into me when I implied Justin was really just a slut who fucked anyone.

I closed my shop and walked to Woody’s, stopping when I saw the open sign on Liberty diner. I ran in feeling like my life was going to be how I wanted it. I sat at the counter excited and picked up a menu.

“What the fuck is with a vegan menu?” I screamed running to the window to ask the fry cook.

“We are no longer a Diner, but a cafe.” The owner tells me.

“I don’t fucking care what you call it. I want my cheeseburger and fries.” I tell him.

“We have a wonderful veggie burger, and fries are still on the menu.” A waitress tells me.

I couldn’t stay, it was like the world telling me that nothing would ever be the same. It was the last straw for me. I called Miles to tell him I was coming, Brian is going to stop messing around.