JUSTIN

I woke up when Daphne tickled my nose. She raised an eyebrow at my sleeping guests. I shrugged because I really didn’t know how to explain them to her.

“So how'd you managed to pick up gorgeous while in labor?” She whispers.

“They brought me here, then seemed to hang out,” I whisper, not wanting to wake them. “Gus slept in spurts, and woke up either whimpering or crying. Brian was getting up out of a sound sleep to calm him down. I wanted to let them rest, since it has been awhile since Gus woke up again,” I tell her.

“From what you told me, it's most likely night terrors,” She whispers.

“It is,” Brian answers without opening his eyes.

“Does it happen every night?” Daphne asks, concerned.

“We haven't made it through a night,” Brian tells her.

“How are you dealing with it?” Daphne asks.

“I do what he needs, it doesn't matter if I never sleep,” He tells her.

“It will when you reach a breaking point. No matter what your trying to believe,” She tells him.

“Daph, not now,” I tell her.

“I'll stop, but he needs to realize he has to take care of himself to take care of his child,” She gives her last lecture. “When do I meet our baby?” She asks me.

“I'm supposed to be out anytime after the doctor sees me, so I would assume they'll bring her this morning to meet you,” I tell her.

“Teddy, move it, we have a new baby,” I hear Emmett saying outside the door.

“I guess I'm not the only one who's excited,” Daphne tells me.

“Hi, we came to bring clothes for Brian and Gus. I picked up some things for you too. I figured since we brought you, you didn’t have extra stuff hidden in your stomach,” Emmett smiles at me and Daphne.

“He tends to go overboard,” Ted tells us, sort of smiling.

“Alex is coming this weekend. Don’t try to lie to him about yesterday,” Brian tells Ted.

“It wouldn’t work anyway,” Ted mumbles.

“Why don't we feed Gus, I'm sure Justin would like to talk to his friend, who just got here,” Brian says it as if he wasn't happy that she wasn't here the whole time.

“Brian, take Gus and Ted, all of you better actually eat,” Emmett orders.

Brian wakes up Gus, who for a second looks scared, then climbs into Brian’s arms. “Hungry,” He mumbles.

“We're going, Auntie Em ordered,” Ted tells him.

“Make sure they eat Gussy,” Emmett tells them bubbly, as they leave. Then he deflated in front of us. “I hate this sometimes,” He tells us.

“Why did you stop him, he apparently has a problem with me?” Daphne asks.

“It’s not you, it’s more about the people we once knew. Brian didn’t have the greatest luck with friends. What am I saying, all of us won the lottery at meeting pieces of work. All he saw was that Justin was alone through something a friend would be here for,” Emmett tells her.

“What’s with gloomy, he looked like it hurt to smile?” Daphne asks.

“I think it does for Ted sometimes. He’s getting better, but Alex told us not to let him sit in bed all day. Um, forget I said that,” Emmett tells us.

“Why? It sounds like you're not having an easy time either,” Daphne tells him.

“Daph, I think it’s more about him not feeling like spilling their lives out to strangers,” I tell her, getting up to take a shower.

“Sorry, it’s the future psychiatrist in me. I hate seeing anyone suffer. Justin won’t let me analyze him, so I tend to try to butt in everywhere,” She tells Emmett.

I closed the door, because if Emmett needs to talk, Daphne will make it okay for him to.

EMMETT

Last night wasn’t a good one for Teddy, but I didn’t want Brian to fly off to Pittsburgh and kick the shit out of Michael. More because Gus needed Brian here, otherwise I would love to see the old Brian in action. Daphne laid on the bed as if waiting for me to talk to her. It sort of made me laugh, normally it’s the patient lying down.

“You don’t have to say anything, I’m still a year away from being certified. It’s just, well, you look like you could use someone to share the weight on your shoulders,” She tells me.

“I want Teddy, Brian, and Gus to see there isn’t shit at the end of every road they drive on,” I tell her.

“So you’re trying to clear the way?” She asks.

“I’m  trying to at least make it so each day is better than the day before. It’s just that I’m used to Brian being the stronger one of us. Not that he’s weak, just that lately he’s had a lot to handle. I’m trying to help him, not add to his stress,” I tell her, getting up and laying with her.

“What does that mean for you?” She asks.

“It means sometimes having to remind them all to eat, stop Brian from taking out his stress on people who don’t deserve it, and in general keeping my family from falling apart. We’re actually doing better, but it’s not where I want us to be,” I tell her.

“But there are days you want to hide from it all,” She tells me.

“I can’t. They need me to be strong when they can’t be. Shelly, Ted’s nurse, is like our den mother,” I tell her.

“Is Ted sick?” She asks. “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me,” She tells me.

“He’s dealing with what happened with his boyfriend. It doesn’t help when Michael manages to get a hold of Ted. I just wish Teddy would see the fucker for the asshole he really is. Sometimes Ted sees it, but then Michael calls, making it sound like he misses Ted. I keep changing the number, but I can’t control Ted when I’m not there,” I tell her.

“Has he said why he’s giving the guy his number? It sounds like Michael isn’t calling for any reason but to hurt Ted,” She tells me.

“Alex thinks it’s because Ted wants a reason to succeed this time. It took a while for Ted to stop being pissed at Brian for saving him. Shit, I shouldn’t have said that,” I tell her, when for some reason I want to tell her everything.

“I won’t say anything, unless you tell me I can. Sometimes it helps you just to be able to talk,” She tells me.

“Sometimes I feel like it’s my fault, for staying away when Teddy started seeing Michael. Michael seemed to have a problem when anyone talked to Ted. Which I would have understood if I was flirting with Teddy, but Teddy and I were best friends, along with Michael and Brian. Michael started acting like a total shithead anytime he found out Teddy and I did something together. It’s not like we weren’t doing the same things before they started dating. It’s just, after a while I got tired of Teddy getting pissed at me for saying Michael was being unreasonable, so I stopped showing up to check on him,” I tell her.

“It sounds like you were doing what your friend seemed to want you to do,” She tells me.

“I became sort of the outsider in my friends lives. I went to Michael’s mother and that was a mistake, she told me that I was just being jealous that Teddy didn’t have time for me. I didn’t even try to go to Brian, he would normally agree with Michael, and at that point I just didn’t want him on my ass too,” I tell her.

“It sounds like you really didn’t have a choice but to leave it alone,” She tells me.

“And I did, until things happened. Then I made a point to find out if other things I heard were true. I started cleaning house after what happened with Teddy. I only wish I’d done it sooner for Gussy’s sake,” I tell her, feeling a little better just to be able to talk.

“You did something at least, which is more than most people would,” She tells me.

The nurse came in with our Lilypad. I decided Justin and Lily were going to stay in our lives, when for a day, everything was happy. We needed more days like that.

“I swear, only Justin could create something this beautiful,” Daphne tells me, looking down at Lily.

“Is he really doing it alone?” I ask her.

“He would have loved doing it with a partner, but after the last asshole, he decided to go to a clinic,” She tells me.

“I definitely get why, that guy doesn’t get that Justin didn’t care. Although he brought Justin and Lily to us, so I’ll thank him in my head, for being a dick,” I tell her.

“Talentless dick, make sure you always include that if he’s around,” She tells me, picking up Lily. “Welcome to the world, baby girl. Mommy’s glad to meet you,” She tells Lily.

“No,no,no,no,no, please, no mommy,” Gus whimpers at Brian when they walk in.

“She’s …” Brian holds Gus, not knowing what to do.

“Gus?” Justin walks out of the bathroom straight to him.

“Lily doesn’t need a mommy,” Gus begs.

“Gussy, she’s like Auntie Em, Uncle Ted, and I are to you, for Lily,” Shelly says, taking Gus from Brian. “Let’s go in the bathroom and dry your tears, Lily doesn’t need to see you crying,” She tells him.

“I can…” Brian starts to say.

“I know you can, but let me do it for you,” Shelly orders him.

When Shelly closed the door, Daphne looked at Justin, confused. Brian looked ready to rip into her. Teddy backed up, waiting for the explosion. Before Brian could say anything, Daphne did.

“Mommy is a trigger word?” She asks Brian.

“Yes,” He says through his teeth.

“Okay, then Auntie Daphne it is. Make sure to warn me if there’s something that can set him off,” She tells him.

“What makes you think you’ll need to know anything about my son?” Brian asks.

“The same reason that kept you here with Justin. You cared. And so do I,” She tells him.