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BRIAN

 

Alex stuck around when Justin offered to let everyone stay for lunch. Everyone was sitting around talking about where they came from, when Alex asked why Justin decided to go the route of the clinic.

 

“I decided after my mother and sister died. They were really the only family I had. I missed it,” He tells us.

 

“I almost donated once. I was sort of thinking the world could use a little more Emmett. I changed my mind though because I didn’t like the idea that I wouldn’t know who was having my baby. Although I could have used the money,” Emmett tells us.

 

“I did, but when I earned enough, I got my sample back. It was sort of sad when they still had it years later. I never knew it could stay as long as the woman I talked to told me it could,” Ted tells us.

 

“Daphne looked into it and we found out the samples could stay frozen for ten to twelve years. Lily’s other father could be middle aged,” Justin tells us.

 

“How did you decide? I looked, and other than physical characteristics, it’s like they were applying for a job,” Ted tells us.

 

“My bestie here started out with hundreds of candidates. At first he pretended to go all scientific, then when he finally picked one and told me how he decided, he had me worried about his maturity level,” Daphne tells us.

 

“It wasn’t that bad. I just got tired of reading what you could get off a driver’s license.” He tells everyone.

 

“I don’t know, it’s weird to think you could one day walk by your own child and not know,” Emmett tells us.

 

“In a lot of cases, your sample is sent to other clinics,” Alex tells him.

 

“Why?” Emmett asks.

 

“It keeps situations like that from happening. Not all samples are from the state where they're purchased,” Alex tells us.

 

“It took a day for them to get the one I chose. They had it at another clinic,” Justin tells us.

 

I walked into Lily’s room to check on Gus, who was napping with Lily. I never really thought about it when I donated after graduating, I assumed by now my sample would have been gone. It bothers me now, looking at Gus, because Lindsay knew I did it years ago. Hopefully she forgot, since I did it again when Gus was born. I thought about the fact that there could be another child out there I’ll never know. I remember convincing the guy at the desk to file it under a certain set of numbers as a joke. It only took meeting him in the bathroom to get him to do it. I walked back in when Gus was still sleeping soundly.

 

“That would have gotten me to choose it,” Emmett tells Justin.

 

“Promise me to never tell Lily,” Justin tells him.

 

“Like I said, he went from science to sex,” Daphne tells them, as they laugh with Justin.

 

“It was just a coincidence, nothing more,” Justin tells them.

 

Alex seemed to make a big production out of thanking Justin for letting him stay over. When we left to take him to the airport, it was the first time in a long time I wasn’t sorry to get rid of him.

 

“The only thing I see when I look at Justin is that he puts you guys at ease. It’s not something I see in you often,” Alex tells me.

 

“He’s as alone as we are,” Ted tells him.

 

“He doesn’t seem to let it bother him,” I tell Alex.

 

“It bothered him Brian, it’s why he had a child at a time in his life where most people are still out having fun, being irresponsible,” Alex tells me.

 

“We wouldn’t have wanted that kind of responsibility at his age,” Emmett agrees.

 

It was Monday when I remembered I wanted to see if my sample still existed. The guy at the desk had me fill out a few hundred forms, only to find out that my sample had been purchased by one person. I tried to find out who, only because my first thought was possibly Lindsay. It’s something she would do, if it got her somewhere. Unfortunately, the people who worked in this clinic were serious about privacy. A girl followed me out, lighting up.

 

“If it helps me get your number, it was bought here, not in Pennsylvania.” She flirts.

 

I didn’t even bother to stick around, since that answered the only thing I needed to know.

 

EMMETT

 

Teddy left his phone in the kitchen when he remembered he needed to work on something for Brian. I really just wanted to smash the thing, since it was really just Michael’s way of continuing to hurt Teddy. Alex talked to me outside before he left, he's such a sweetheart to worry about me.

 

“I'm starting to think it would be better to get rid of any way Michael could contact Teddy,” I told him.

 

“If it's not a phone, it will be some other method, until Ted decides to stop. In this case, Ted wanting to believe there was a reason he stayed with Michael is why he keeps in contact. He's starting to see he picked the wrong person to love. If it helps, he hasn't answered Michael since the last time you know about.” He told me.

 

“It still bothers me, that I didn’t see them for who they were,” I told him.

 

“Until Ted and Michael started dating, you didn’t pose a threat in Michael’s life. Afterwards, you became someone who could talk sense into Ted. Michael wanted you gone because he couldn't feel superior in his relationship, if Ted listened to you. Michael lived in Brian’s shadow for years, it probably drove him crazy that his sweet loving act couldn’t land the men Brian could. When he started seeing Ted, I really believe he liked telling people he had a successful boyfriend. To him, he saw it as a raise in his status when Ted could take them out to restaurants that Michael couldn’t afford unless Brian was footing the bill,” He told me.

 

“Why not go after Brian?” I asked.  

 

“Brian never wanted Michael as anything other than a friend. Michael knew enough to know Brian didn’t care about showing off the way he could get Ted to. Brian came from the same humble beginnings and watched his father spend on things they couldn't afford that were wasteful. Brian would have thought dropping a couple hundred on dinner wasn’t worth it to him,” He told me.

 

“We are talking about Mr Armani, right?” I ask.

 

“It's helps him in business. Notice his normal clothes aren’t the latest designer. Unless he was out clubbing, Brian didn’t splurge,” He told me.

 

“I have noticed Brian tends towards sweats and T shirts, when he's home. I did notice Michael’s style seemed to change when he was with Ted,” I told him.

 

“He was getting Ted to buy him the things Brian wore. Michael will never figure out that he wasn't going to overshadow Brian's popularity. It's why, when Ted told him he had to give up Brian, Michael didn’t bat an eyelash over it. He wanted out of a world where he was just the guy Brian hung out with,” He told me.

 

“I always thought he wanted Brian,” I told him.

 

“Michael is classic case of wanting to be the big guy on campus. He probably believed using Brian's popularity would give him that, when years went by and no one shone a spotlight on him, Brian stopped being useful,” He told me.

 

“I can see it now, but how did it miss it for so long?” I asked.

 

“Emmett, you've always seen the good in people, and tried to find reasons for the bad. It's why you sometimes get it wrong,” He told me.

 

“I've had a hard time making friends, because I worry that I might invite another Deb or Michael into our lives,” I told him.

 

“Or you find people like Shelly, Justin, or Lily by knowing that the world isn't full of Michael's or Debra’s. There is nothing wrong with your judgment, just that there are always people out there that can fool you for a while. You just have to not brush away why something they did bothered you,” He told me.

 

“Why do you call her Debra?” I asked.

 

“Because Deb or Debbie are names that Brian and Ted associate with a woman they thought cared about them. I use Debra for two reasons, one because it changes the perception in their minds about who we’re talking about, and two because I refuse to use a name she would agree with,” He told me.

 

“So no smashing the phone or answering it to tell Michael my real feelings?” I joke.

 

“All you would do was give Michael the attention he likes. In his head he ruined your life by taking away Ted. You could say what you want to Michael, but in the end he would only think you were still jealous of him. I would love to give Michael my opinion, but it’s like talking to a wall; it doesn’t hear you,” He told me.

 

I stared at the phone when the texts started coming in from both Michael and Debra. I realized answering them wouldn’t cure Ted. I turned it off after deleting all the texts. I read a few before I got to one that made me think about the hell the sender's life was.

 

“Ever think that wiping your ass would make you indebted to her?” I sent Vic.

 

VIC

 

I read the message a few times, I sent Ted a message saying he needed to see my nephew for who he really was. I watched Deb and Michael get angry when they couldn’t get Ted to answer. I knew they would keep at him unless he made it so they couldn’t contact him anymore. I feel like a failure to the boys who used to come to me for an ear to bend. I read the text again and wondered how I never thought about the way Deb constantly brings that up. I got up and walked out the door as the two sat in the kitchen bitching about how Brian is probably using Ted for the money to start his business. Deb comes running out the door with my jacket and hat, dressing me like I’m still a child.

 

“I didn’t get you healthy to have you back in the hospital. Do me a favor, by not doing stupid things that could get you sick,” She tells me, patting my cheek.

 

“Do Ted a favor and tell Michael to leave him alone,” I tell her, before I could stop myself.

 

“We are trying to make sure Ted doesn’t end up worse because of the asshole. Brian might have fooled the judges, social workers, and most likely paid off enough people to get his way, but we won’t let Ted end up dead because Brian was too busy having an orgy,” She lectures me.

 

I walked away, pissed that she could talk about Brian as if he meant nothing to her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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