CHAPTER 34 - REHEARSING

JENNIFER’S CONDO - TUESDAY AFTERNOON

LOUNGE

TUCKER

Even though they told her the same weekend they told Gus, she’s still a bit in shock.

“I made the mistake of googling the cancer that Brian had and they might need have Gus tested as it could be genetic.”

“They may have already done that.” I suggest gently and stop her fiddling. “What is it?”

“They fought alone.” She whispers and a tear drops on her cheek.

“But they’re not alone now.” Then I chuckle. “Besides, remember Brian said that he more than recovered and Justin was walking funny for a week, which obviously he was kidding about. Nobody can have that much sex!”

“They’re each other’s first, last and everything.” She smiles and then gets serious. “And no he’s not kidding; they really do have that much sex!” I just gape at her. “You learn pretty quickly to knock when they are in a room and the door’s closed.”

“Wow...has Justin ever...?”

“Yes...that’s when I learned to knock!” I snap my mouth shut, pondering what she has just told me. But Justin looks so...innocent, I guess is the right word. I shake my head clear of images I know I should not be having as she sits there, chuckling. “Trust me, you don’t want the visual in reality. It would ruin your perception of how sex between lovers is supposed to be.”

I leave that thought alone, trusting that she knows what she’s talking about since no mother wants to envision, much less see, her son doing that! “Okay, so tell me about everyone else that’s going to be at this dinner.”

“The dinner on Thursday is Daph’s idea. She’s, so far, managed to keep Justin and Lindsay apart while Brian is on a business trip with Ted. But they’re back on Wednesday and Justin and Daph fly to San Fran on Saturday.”

“They sound like such a delightful pair, these best friends of his. Going by our previous conversation, we’re dining on Thursday so that Brian can give Justin a proper send off on Friday?”

“Indeed.”

BRITIN - WEDNESDAY MID-AFTERNOON

DAPHNE

This place is just wonderful. I come ladened with food to get Justin out of Gus’s room where he’s doing the mural.

“Come on you! Enough painting, more eating.” I order him and he grins at me. “So Onion Maiden, why?”

“It’s our non-guilty pleasure!” He helps me take out the containers. “Every time he goes on a business trip, I make sure he has this to come back to for dinner. It gives us energy…”

“So why aren’t you having this on Friday?” I snicker.

“We are. I just need to pick it up. Oh by the way, defenders aren’t going to work…”

“Good grief! I’ll stay at Heavenly.”

“Yeah, that would be best.”

“Don’t look so smug!” I contemplate him for a while. “I’ve got it! I know what’s different about you!”

“Huh?” He mumbles around a taco.

“It was the way you spoke to the Dumbass Twins. Your voice was different, stronger. You know he’s got your back. You’re stronger.”

He nods and smiles. “We are. I mean we always have been, but actually showing a united front in the face of the Dumbass Twins…yeah, the dinner is going to be fun tomorrow night.”

“But I get to meet Arno!”

KINNETIC

CYNTHIA’S OFFICE

CYN

“So we signed them?!”

“Yes! Stop getting moist!” Brian laughs, putting both hands on my shoulders to quell my bouncing. “So how’s it been here?”

“If you mean has Justin been in here, the answer is no. Daph has him well contained. He’s been at Britin mostly. And no he’s not been ordering any furniture for a certain place in Rome.”

“Shame! I was looking forward to discussing that with him.” He smirks.

“I got the termination agreement from Miles today. The building’s yours. Does he know?”

“No, but he will know by tomorrow and hopefully still be mad on Friday…”

“Why Friday?”

“He flies to San Fran on Saturday and the angry sex...whew! Fanfuckingtastic!”

“Out!” I yell, wrenching the door open.

“Ta ta!” He saunters out, snickering.

HILL AND HOLLOW RESTAURANT, WEST VIRGINIA - THURSDAY EVENING

JUSTIN

I stand on my tiptoes and kiss my husband on his cheek. “I know about the loft, Rage.” I whisper. “You have been a bad-bad boy and will be punished severely.”

“Excuse us a minute.” He tells the hostess and takes me outside. “Who the fuck told you?!”

I grin at his pissed off expression. “You do not have a leak in your inner sanctum of friends. It was Sidney, who let it slip, but in doing so he gave me an excellent idea. Follow my lead.”

“Am I still in trouble?” He pulls me close to him. “Exquisite, ear splitting, sweat pouring, begging for mercy trouble?”

“Oh yes.”

“Lead on.” He growls, patting my ass to get himself into more trouble!

“Mr and Mr Taylor-Kinney...” The hostess looks a little tense as she comes to the door.

“What’s the problem?” Brian demands quietly.

“It seems that one member of your party feels that another should sit on a children’s table, and is insisting that one be provided.”

“Let me guess. Dark hair, short and…”

“Yes…” She shifts uncomfortably.

“Did he ask in front of everyone or pull you to one side?” I ask.

“To one side. And…” She points to two waiters, heading to the decking area and then takes one look at Brian’s face. “I’ll get them to take that back. If you can wait at my desk, I won’t be but a moment.”

“Thank you, you are very kind. And if there any other table changes...?.” I give her my best, but not quite, sunshine smile and raise an eyebrow.

“I will revert to one of you?” I nod and she sighs in relief.

“Or the blonde woman, in the blue bias cut dress with uh her…”

“Boyfriend, the word you are looking for is boyfriend.” Brian teases and I squeeze his ass.

“You just got yourself a ball gag added…” I mutter and smirk at the tenting.

“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Mom asks as we rejoin them.

“Yeah, everything’s just fine.”

The dining room itself is relatively quiet. Gus is too enthralled to do anything but look around but it’s Gummy that’s got everyone’s attention. Now that she can walk, she’s determined to do so whenever she can. Dressed in his highness’s choice of outfit, she toddles next to Mel, clasping onto her fingers.

“Aww, isn’t she adorable!” A diner whispers as she passes. “Wonder where they got that gorgeous dress from?”

“Lulu’s Then & Now in New York about two, maybe three weeks ago.” Brian replies smoothly.

“Oh thank you!” She looks surprised.

“You’re welcome. I always like my goddaughter to look her best.”

“Seriously, only you would know that off the top of your head.” I beam at him and he just shrugs.

“Whoopsie!” Mel says as Gummy topples forward. Daph immediately goes to her aid. “No Daph, let her do it herself.”

We all pause as she gets herself back upright but overcorrects and lands on her butt. She looks confused as this is the first time she’s done that. She goes very still and a frown starts to form. At first, we think she’s going to cry but then she looks at Mel.

“You can do this.” Mel whispers and moves her leg slightly closer. We see the moment when she gets it! Using Mel’s leg, she hauls herself upright and grins happily as she’s where she wants to be and is off again.

“Oh yeah! The Marcus is strong in that one.” Hunter snickers to Daph.

“Yeah because if she was more Novotny, she would’ve sat there and cried until someone picked her up!” Her guffawing gets Michael’s attention and he looks at her. She immediately looks innocent.

“Mr and Mr Taylor-Kinney, I trust this is to your satisfaction?” The hostess asks and I look at him and he nods.

“Over to you Emmy.” I tell him.

“Okay Baby and Big Bad in the middle with the moms on either of side of each son. Besties next to moms. Then ushers and partners of ushers and besties opposite. Now Mel, you and the sweetums are here and you two…” He indicates Michael and Lindsay. “...are here. Everyone sit and let me see what that looks like.” He takes a few steps backwards and looks critically and shakes his head. “Not quite right...oh I know! Ben, can you swap with Hunter? You’re too tall even when sitting down, Arno same with you so can you swap with Blake. Yes that’s it. Perfect! Well come on one of you, come and check!”

Brian gets up like it’s a hardship and after moving Mel and the sweetums up a seat, he’s happy.

“What is this?” Lindsay is almost creaming her pants with excitement as she knows exactly what it is. Judging by the smirk about to spread across his face, so does he.

“Blessing Ceremony Breakfast.” Emmy replies and they light up. “You two are standing in for Cyn and her partner.”

I can actually hear their faces hitting the floor and hitting it hard. So I find the menu interesting. “Shall we order drinks?”

“Daddy?” Gus looks adorable in his suit. It’s not the suit, but the same one that Brian is wearing tonight. “When you and daddy Justin get blessed, what happens after?”

“After that it will be yours and Gummy’s christening.”

“And that’s when we get everyone as goddaddies?”

“Everyone?” Michael asks, his voice laced with bitterness. “I look forward to the pictures.”

“As do I.” Lindsay bristles.

“Oh for heaven sake, stop being brats!” Debs hisses, keeping an eye on Gus, who is distracted by the very large soda coming his way.

“They are our children too! Why can’t we come?” Lindsay says a bit too loudly, no doubt trying to get Gus’s attention. Thankfully, that soda is more important!

“Gus before you have that, can you come with me? I think we need to get some things out of the way of the food!” Blake grins at him and Gus hops off his seat.

“Nobody drink my soda, okay?”

“We won’t.” Brian calls back.

“Thank you daddy and papa, make sure daddy doesn’t drink it either. I’ve seen him take stuff off your plate when you’re not looking.”

“I will make sure, Gussie.” I call out, my voice thick. He called me papa. I love being called Daddy Justin, but this is just so much better!

I wait for Blake to close the door behind them before taking a big breath. “Now listen, you two immature, imbecilic morons. We are not you! We would not keep you from their christenings, or the party afterwards. As Brian said before, you are just not invited to our blessing. You will leave when G&G go home.”

“I will make sure of it.” Carl tells them.

“Now we will not have any more of this bullshit!” Jennifer tells them.

“Did anyone touch my soda?” Gus’s return effectively stops them from saying another word.

“No they didn’t.” I grin at my son. “But maybe that might be a bit big. Don’t worry, you can still have it but maybe pour some into a smaller glass?”

“Okay papa, can you help me please?” Gus says and the table goes quiet.

“Sonny Boy?” Brian clears his throat. “Why are you calling Justin papa now?”

I can feel their smugness as they wait for an answer. Gus frowns. “Doesn’t papa mean daddy?”

“Yes, it does.”

“Oh good! Daddy Justin just takes too long to say, so he’s papa now.”

“Okay no problem. Just checking. Let’s order some food since I can hear a low rumble of the beast.” Daph and Ruth both laugh, while the others look confused. “Can we share that?” He points to something on the menu and I just nod.

“Are we ready, gentlemen?” The hostess asks me and I nod. “Who shall we start with?” The waiter approaches and asks.

“The ladies.” I say.

“Well that let’s Ruth out. In case you’re wondering, she’s the one in the blue shirt.” Michael sneers. “Nothing to say? I am surprised!”

“It’s a long walk back to the Pitts, especially with your nuts lodged in your neck. Or your tits in a knot before you decide to add any witticisms.” She growls low enough for Gus not to hear.

“Tits in a knot!” I snort and look at Debs and she cackles at the long ago said phrase.

Soon the food is ordered and the first course served. It is delicious, especially the fried bread in bacon grease with cherry butter. We almost come to fork-blows for the last piece.

“Maybe I could get the recipe?” I murmur.

“Try.”

By the second course, Gus has moved to between the two of us and sharing our dishes. Luckily, Emmy took a picture earlier. Mostly everyone is laughing, although I can see that Ruth is getting annoyed at the whisper-whispering between Michael and Lindsay. I know that they are going to say something. Sadly, it doesn’t take long…

“Ruth…” Lindsay begins. “This must be a novelty for you. Okay, it’s a blessing ceremony but you never got your wedding breakfast.”

“No, she didn’t.” Arno smiles. “But she did get to go to one of the most prestigious wedding shops in New York for her dress. And…”

“No.” Ruth orders.

“What it was magnificent. It was you at your best!” Arno is still sitting opposite her.

“As a matter of interest, why aren’t you sitting next to your girlfriend?” Michael snarks.

“She’s keeping me ticking over nicely from there.”

Immediately, Emmy and Daph are looking under the table, followed by Debs and mom…and I can’t resist. Her shoes are off and her feet are in his lap.

“I have five years to catch up on.” She shrugs.

“So Emmy…” I begin.

“Absolutely not! The table placings remain as is!” Emmy giggles.

“So this her at her best, what was it?” Hunter grins, resting against Carmine with Gummy on his chest, dribbling in her sleep.

“Can I?” Arno asks.

“As it was; don’t over embellish.” She grouses.

“So after they announce their engagement, it was decided amongst his friends that they should go dress shopping in New York. They set up an appointment at Kleinfeld and there was me, Hanno, Ruth and about 16 of his cliquey friends. They were making decision after decision, A-line, fishtail, mermaid, princess, beaded, not beaded, lace, vintage and the poor consultant was just being bombarded with what they wanted. Hanno thought it would be an excellent idea to ask his friends what they thought of the vows…”

“Oh dear God.” Brian chuckles.

“Exactly.” Arno smiles. “So it’s the usual thing until it comes to the H&O part and literally, you start to see hell start to freeze over…”

“H&O?” Ted looks around.

“Honour and obey, Teddy.” Emmy explains quickly. “Now continue, tell me how my princess got her groove thang on!”

“So she just says firmly and quietly, no she would not be doing that. And he said “What?” His voice all bewildered, like he didn’t catch what they were saying. To this day, I maintain this is why they got him to dump her...”

Start of flashback

KLEINFELD STORE - 5 YEARS AGO

RUTH

“Yeah, that ain’t happening.”

“What isn’t?” Hanno looks confused.

“I’m not obeying you like some lapdog. We’ve been emancipated and given the vote, so no to obeying.”

“But you have to obey.” Hanno retorts.

“No, I don’t and no, I won’t. I have my own mind and have no intention of blindly sharing yours. And while we’re on the subject of choice... Pockets.”

“Pockets?” One of his cronies asks.

“Yeah, since a suit is out. You know with the compromising you’ve all been insisting on, I want a dress with pockets.”

“What on earth do you need pockets for?” Hanno drips sarcasm.

“Lip balm, cell phone and my stiletto.” I reply calmly.

“Stiletto? Won’t you be wearing them?” Yet another crony snickers.

“Jesus! Hanno get some friends with intellect. I will definitely need my stiletto, which is Italian for dagger, in my pocket so I can nail you, Hanno, in the nuts should you decide to add obey on the day! Now I’m really done with this. When I want to buy my wedding dress, I will go alone! Now my darling consultant, I’m sorry this has been a waste of your time but could direct me to the nearest bar?”

“Oh sure sugar…”

End of flashback

BRIAN

We’ve been here for over three hours and it’s starting to get a little chilly. That being said, I have never been as proud of Ruth as I am having heard that. Judging by the chuckling reverberating from Justin, he feels the same. We’re waiting for dessert and Justin has tucked our hands inside his shirt as he leans on me and Gus is sound asleep in Carl’s lap.

“Excuse me, can we have this one to go? It’s for Gus...”

“Of course, Mr Taylor-Kinney. Would you like the sauce on the side?”

“Please. But can we have two...I mean three pots of sauce, please?” Justin jabs me in the ribs at the pinch to his stomach.

“Of course. Would you like me to close the doors?”

“Doors?” I ask.

“Yes, we can close off the decking area until it warms up. Also we could get some blankets for the little ones.”

“Oh please. And one for us.” Justin starts to snuggle back into my chest.

Ten minutes later, with the doors closed, I have to admit that it is nice and cosy. Then the desserts arrive. They are so delicious and I smile as Emmy heads to the kitchen...

“Excuse me, what’s the nightlife like around here?” Michael asks the waiter, surprising us all.

“There’s an excellent nightclub two blocks down. Caters for all tastes.”

“Great!” He stands up and Lindsay joins him as does Ted...wait Ted!

“Before you two continue, I want to say something.” They resentfully sit back down. “It is my great pleasure to announce that all the toys owned by Taylor-Kinney Enterprises have been sold! So all business relationships between Taylor-Kinney Enterprises and Michael Novotny are at an end.”

Michael looks astonished. “You mean that the last collectibles have been sold and I have the money?”

“Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“Yes, the toys have been sold but no, you don’t have the money in its entirety. To help you out child support wise, we have retained a year’s worth of funds and paid it directly to Mel. That’s not a problem for you, is it?” Ted smiles that shark smile that I don’t get to see it very often.

God, I feel so proud!

Michael opens his mouth to object but he knows he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. “Thank you, Ted. That has made things easier.”

“I thought you’d say that.” This time the smile from Ted is positively devilish!

“We have an announcement too.” I jostle Justin. “Get on with it, twat.”

“We now own the entire building on Tremont.” Justin smiles. “And now that there are no more tenants in there, we are going to use it as the HQ of Taylor-Kinney Enterprises, since that is where we began. We will have it remodelled so the lower levels will be business…”

“How so?” Arno asks, adjusting his jacket on Ruth’s shoulders before signalling the waiter, who comes in with his colleague and they both have blankets.

“Anybody else?” He grins as virtually everyone puts up their hand.

“So you were saying about business?” Arno prompts.

“Yes. The lower levels will be part gallery and part comic book store, but concentrating on one character alone. We’re bringing Rage back.”