JUSTIN

I developed this routine as the summer went on. I didn’t let my dad, sister, or kids see how much it was killing me each day, to know that my dad would soon be leaving us. Brian was due soon and even though I felt like shit for leaning on him, at night I let Brian help me deal with the emotions that I hid. Hannah and Gus weren’t fooled any more than I was, and one day Gus came and sat with me, after my dad left for the day.

“He’s not getting better, is he?” Gus asks.

“No. But he wants to be here to meet your brother.” I tell him.

“I like him, he tells Hannah and I about you when you were our age. He’s really proud of you.” He tells me.

“I’m proud of him for being the father he used to be.” I tell Gus.

“Do you think my mom will ever figure out how to do that?” He ask.

“For your sake, I hope so.” I tell him.

“Mama said that Mom loved me the only way she knew how, but that there was a part of Mom that was missing. The part it took to love anyone the right way.” He tells me.

“When I first met her, she was tired and looked it, from giving birth to you, but it was as if she was the happiest I’d ever seen her. She was always holding you and we all saw that she loved you.” I tell him, because it was what I saw, when I first met her.

“She didn’t make me feel like she didn’t love me.” He tells me.

“I’m glad that you never thought she didn’t.” I tell him.

“The way Grandpa made you think he didn’t?” Gus asks.

“He did, it was just hard for him to understand why I didn’t want the things in life that he did.” I tell him.

“Grandpa said being your and Aunt Molly’s dad was the greatest thing he ever accomplished.” He tell me.

“Just like you’re the greatest thing your dad and mom ever did.” I tell him.

“I miss my mom, but I want her to want me the way all of you do.” He tells me.

“Even if she doesn’t, Sonny boy, you’ll always have us and Mama.” Brian tells Gus, pulling me to him when I couldn’t talk anymore.

Hannah came outside and sat on my lap, hugging me. It was the moment I knew I was denying my children the right to grieve by pretending everything was okay. Gus sat between Brian and I, and we sat with Gus and Hannah, letting them talk about the grandfather my father was to them.

BRIAN

I went to the office to conference in with Brandon on the new client he brought in. Brandon didn’t stop going after new accounts, and today I wanted the Pittsburgh branch to see that we weren’t going have a branch there unless they took a page from Brandon’s book. I was going to get something to drink when I overheard two people complaining about Brandon.

“He’s only getting attention because he married the accountant. Too bad we didn’t think of it first.” One of them complained.

“I heard ‘get the boss in bed and you’ll be set’. Apparently that’s how the graphic designer, who we all have to approve our idea’s through, got the job.” The other one complained.

“I was told the boss wouldn’t be opposed to side action.” He smirks.

“Hello, and strange that we meet again.” I tell them, walking into the breakroom.

“Fuck.” Bob says dejected.

“Who hired you?” I ask.

“The person who knew we were going to show the artist how it was done.” Smart ass number two tells me.

“Cynthia!” I yell, when I’m five seconds from firing their asses.

Cynthia hurries to answer my yell. “Is there a problem?” She asks, looking at the idiot twosome.

“Explain.” I tell her waving at the moron twins.

“Bob and Brad were actually waiting to meet with us. Tracy hired them without clearing it through me or Ted, which is why we are meeting with Tracy after your meeting.” Cynthia tells me.

“You’re firing us?” Bob asks Cynthia, going pale.

“It depends on what Brian decides. I would suggest you show up at the meeting ready to show Brian that Tracy didn’t make a mistake hiring you. I’m assuming you took me seriously when I met with everyone last week and told all of you that I wanted to see results. Namely that your work was going to bring in the clients. The way Brandon did without Kinnetik’s name attached to it. Are the accounts coming to see you in the breakroom?” Cynthia asks, glaring at them.

Cynthia and I waited for the moron twins to figure out they needed to get to work. I tilted my head towards the offices for the execs before the two clued in to go.

“Unless they come up with something that ranks up there with Eyeconics, they are through. They are going to see that Justin didn’t just draw on a page.” Cynthia fumes.

“Why did Tracy hire them?” I ask, thinking Tracy isn’t going to be any better off.

“She thought she was helping, but she also knew that there was an approval process and didn’t follow it. She’s used to companies trusting her to know what they need. It’s why most companies hire headhunters.” Cynthia tells me.

“Did she hire anyone else I plan to fire?” I ask her.

“I made sure it didn’t happen again, they were hired when I was running back and forth to Chicago, but didn’t start until two weeks ago, I thought I'd give you the pleasure of firing them, you always wanted to.” She tells me.

“Have they shown you anything that we expect from the visuals?” I ask.

“We’ll see today, or they can hope Vanguard is still hiring anything that has a pulse.” She laughs.

“Gardner only cared for the ass kissers, not the money makers. In your case he was hoping for his next ex wife, which means he missed what you were capable of, but would have seen a goldmine in those two.” I tell her.

“We need to talk to Tracy before the meeting, maybe she’ll explain the mystery of hiring the moron twins.” I tell Cynthia, trying to get her coffee.

“It’s tea for you.” She laughs, taking her coffee away from me.

Tracy came in and sat across from us, looking as if she was ready to argue. “We need to talk about the way the employees have the impression that the way to get ahead in this company is by marrying the boss or a favored friend.” Tracy starts out, as if she owned the company.

“Where would My EMPLOYEES get that idea?” I ask.

“From the fact that two of the employees in the Hawthorne-Kinney corporation seem to have been promoted by marrying well.” She tells me.

“You feel confident enough in your job to make that accusation?” I ask.

“I'm confident in the reason firms hire me, and normally trust me to do my job. I bring talent to the table. I was under the impression I was hired for a reason.” She tells me.

“You were hired to screen each application before WE wasted time on interviews. Which I personally explained to you, and it was also in your written job description.” Cynthia tells her.

“I felt I was wasting the applicant's time, when I could see the potential they had.” She tells me.

“What did you base your decision on, just so I'm clear at why you didn't follow the guidelines on what we expected of you?” I ask, feeling my anger rise.

“They were long term dedicated execs to the companies they had worked for, and hadn't had problems with previous employers.” She tells us.

“Were they fast tracking in the firm's they came from?” I ask.

Tracy started to lose her confidence at that question. “No. But Bob and Brad were still with Vanguard after Ryder sold it. He wasn't thrilled to lose them.” She tells me.

“Then we'll see if your decision costs you your job. I expect more than someone who does as little as required to keep their job, which in the past is how they stayed at Ryder and Vanguard. You looked at longevity, I look at what they did to get ahead, which Cynthia knows, and you choose to ignore her experience. If somehow they managed what Brandon did to get where he is, which wasn't marrying the CFO, then you'll still have a job and I'll personally congratulate the two for showing us they were more than office furniture at Ryder.” I tell her.

“I have an entire resume of companies that felt I knew what I was doing.” She tells me.

“If Bob and Brad prove their worth, you'll have me recommending your services.” I tell her.

She leaves, looking less confident than when she walked in.

“Let's get this meeting started.” I tell Cynthia not getting up.

“Are you okay?” She asks.

“I have other things I need to be doing. I'm going to start this meeting and Brandon can take over. If Bob and Brad don't show you what we both know they need to, fire them and hand Tracy her walking papers.” I tell her.

“You don’t want to?” She asks.

“I hired you and know you can do your job.” I tell her.

Everyone filed into the conference room, Tracy came in next to Bob and Brad. I texted Justin before standing up slowly to introduce Brandon and the Chicago team.

“Charles and I haven't had the chance to come here and speak to each of you about the future we see, and in that we both apologize for the possible miscommunications that I've recently been made aware of. Charles and I don't view the corporation we are running as anything but a business, and we expect return on our investment. We want the family atmosphere that Hawthorne has, to continue. It doesn't mean we promote anyone because of nepotism, but because they showed that any company would kill to have the team we're building. Normally I wouldn’t explain my decisions, but there are some misconceptions, that I feel you as my employees need to have corrected. Brandon Green-Schmidt, came to me hungry to become a leader in the field of advertising. I gave him a task; get Eyeconics, without a firm to back him. He took two weeks to get a three year contract, which he got increased to five after telling Eyeconics who he represented. My reputation got five, but Brandon’s got the three without a firm behind him. It's why I wanted Brandon, he delivers on his promises. As for the graphic designer that you've been asked to approve your approach, Justin Taylor-Kinney, other than being my husband, also understands giving the consumer what they want. He can see problems before we present to the client, from years of experience working in graphic design at Hawthorne, before it became Hawthorne-Kinney. Charles used Justin to help clean up the visual before it got near a client. He's not ‘approving your ideas’, that's why Cynthia runs this office, but making sure the visual works for the idea you sold to the client. I came today to let Brandon answer any questions you have on approaching potential clients, because in doing so you can also teach him the way your approach works too, or learn from errors all of us make. No one in this company will continue being on the bench while watching star performers do your jobs.” I tell them, eyeing each one, because Bob and Brad aren’t the only ones who need to get off the bench. “After your conference with Brandon and Charles, I expect Cynthia to hear that there is a reason we hired each of you. She was hired because like me, she understands the business of Advertising, and saw the mistakes that were made in other firms. As my PA she made sure we won the accounts that I was going for by keeping me informed of everything she knew about the company I was pitching too. As your BOSS, Cynthia can give you help when the client balks at signing with us. I expect you to respect her position as one she earned from years in this business and to understand that her opinion will determine Charles and my views on your future with Hawthorne-Kinney.” I tell them, as Justin comes in the door.

“We need to go.” Justin tells me, probably ready to kick my ass for not leaving when I knew.

“Brandon, take over and let the everyone know where I’m going.” I tell them, leaning on Justin as the contractions hit harder.

“Really Brian?” Cynthia laughs. “I’ll be there as soon as we all finish here.” She tells me, opening the door for us.

Justin got me in the car, telling me the doctor already had the surgery ready to go. I just wanted the drugs to stop the fucking ax chopping at my stomach. Justin called his mother to tell her why he left her with the kids. Jen told him she’d be there with them soon. I called Craig’s nurse to let her know to bring Craig and the pain stopped bothering me when she told me they were already at the hospital because Craig was being admitted.

“What?” Justin asked as we drove.

“Craig is at the hospital.” I tell him.

“Then he won’t miss it.” Justin tells me, biting his lip.

“He won’t, it’s why he’s fighting with everything he has.” I tell Justin.

We drove in silence until we got to the hospital and I didn’t argue when they brought the wheelchair. Jen came with the kids and let us know that Deb was on her way. When Deb got there I was being prepped, and she took Hannah and Gus to get something to eat while Jen went to check on Craig. I was taken, with Justin by my side, to bring our son into the world. The painkillers were better than anything Anita ever gave me, and I possibly thanked the doctor and the creator of this marvelous drug. Justin started laughing when I told the doctor they don’t pay him enough, because he made birth seem easier than dealing with the moron twins.

“Who hired Bob and Brad?” Justin asks, still smiling his famous smile.

“See, even you know they were idiots.” I tell him, not paying any attention to the hospital staff around us.

“It was hard not to with the way you complained about them.” He tells me.

“You were better when you were a toddler than those two morons.” I tell everyone, as we hear a cry from the other side of the sheet.

“This young man would like to meet you.” The nurse tells us, cleaning off our son.

Justin took him from the nurse and brought him for me to see. “He’s heavier than Hannah was.” Justin tells me, as he adjusts our son in his arms.

“He’s on time, for everything.” I tell Justin.

Justin followed the nurse to get his bracelet and waited to find out what room I was going to before going to tell the family they had another grandson. I asked him to let Craig come in first, since he fought so hard to see this moment. Craig was waiting in the room for me, sitting in the chair next to the bed. The nurse was able to get the baby to us right away when I explained the reason.

“Everyone could have come in with me.” Craig tells me.

“Justin and I wanted to give you a few minutes with Craig Tucker Taylor-Kinney.” I tell him.