ALEX

I was packing up my things for the night, smiling at the video Emmett made of all of them laughing. All of them had been sending me pictures of Lily and Gus together, and I could see the happy boy coming out in Gus. Ted even texted that he had told Justin most of his story and Justin only thanked him for not making him clean up after him. Ted wrote that it was nice for once to be treated like he was normal again. Brian would just forward what Justin sent anytime he was away from Gus to work, and he admitted it was getting easier to only wait ten minutes before finally getting in the car and leaving. Gus has even stayed with Emmett and Shelly alone while Brian worked. The episodes were still happening, but they were lessening in frequency, and Gus slept six hours without waking up. Gus’s night terrors weren’t about what happened with Mel and Lindsay. They were dreams that Gus lost Brian because he told on the girls.

A lot of my colleagues didn’t understand why I didn’t find them a doctor closer to them when they all moved away. They didn’t know Brian the way I do; he’s difficult when it comes to therapy. Brian talking to a therapist was a huge step for him, when most of his life had been hiding behind sarcasm. I knew if I handed him over to someone else, Brian would blow off therapy. He never believed that talking helped more than hurt. It was in all his dealings with his parents and Debra Novotny. Every time he opened his mouth; it meant a fist from Jack, his mother treating him like he was betraying his family, or Debra telling him that he causes what happens by opening his mouth. The result was Brian learning to hide anything that hurt him emotionally or physically. They all saw the party boy. I saw his escape from the world he came from, and the world he ended up in with Debra and Michael.

Debra and Michael are people that, if I was court ordered to help, I would hand in my license before helping either of them. I’ve always believed that everyone deserved a chance to get help; that with the right treatment and guidance, you could help anyone. Meeting Debra and Michael changed my idealism, when I would overhear the way they constantly put down Michael’s friends when they weren’t there to hear it. All that changed when they testified in court.

The normal Deb, with the colorful wardrobe and language was absent both times in court. It wasn’t like I expected the loud, brash woman all of Liberty Avenue knows to show up in a pride flag, but even I was surprised at how well Melanie taught her and Michael to behave. Lindsay taught Deb when to tear up, and how to talk in a way that sounded like it hurt her to say what she said about Brian and Ted. Then act as though Michael not giving a shit that Ted almost killed himself was due to shock and nothing more.

She talked as if she couldn’t understand why Brian wouldn’t think Ted would do better with Michael and her to take care of him. She sniffled and looked to the judge, saying that she did her best with Brian and was afraid that Brian’s lifestyle would become more important, and Ted would be left on his own. How Brian really only cared about himself and was only bothering with Ted because he made the mistake of thinking Brian would be responsible.

She used the day Brian could have escaped Jack’s beating as how she had to intervene before Brian hurt his parents with false accusations. That Brian even told the doctor what she explained was the truth. It was brutal to watch Brian listening to a woman who he thought loved him, work on destroying him.

Michael was even worse. Telling anything of Brian’s past to make him sound reckless and irresponsible. Telling the court that Brian most likely led to Ted’s low self-esteem, by constantly making fun of Ted and humiliating him in front of groups of people. Only, Michael seemed to forget that people heard the way Michael was the one doing it in public, encouraging Brian and Emmett to join him. A lot of people brought up to testify said Ted gave as good as he got from Brian, and in a way they seemed to have fun making fun of each other.

Debra and Michael seemed to count on Ted to say he wanted Michael not Brian seeing to his best interests. We were really lucky Ted had gotten over his anger at Brian for not letting him die. Ted told the judge he felt the person who tried to stop the bleeding, not the one who stood there saying he was doing it for attention, was the person he felt wanted to see him get better. With those words, nothing that came before mattered to the judge or to Ted’s mother, who flew in when Deb called her.

Shelly gave a detailed account of Michael’s brand of being a ‘loving boyfriend’. She told how she walked in to hear Michael taunting Ted with some guy he picked up and slept with in their bed. Telling Ted that he didn’t have to fake it the way he did when Ted was in bed with him. Then told Ted he expected him to change who his POA was, to show Michael who he loved. She told the truth, that Brian did hit Michael, but only after Michael said very viciously to Ted that he couldn’t even kill himself right. She told the lawyer, who was trying to get away from that bomb, that she felt Michael would only have helped Ted to succeed if given his ‘loving partner’s’ POA.

The custody case was the foursome throwing every bit of Brian’s life out there. From Brian being drunk and high when he showed up hours after Gus was born, and only staying long enough to disrupt the whole room, before leaving for a weekend bender. Michael included that Brian took them to the roof, threatening to jump at having a child.

Brian didn’t let his life be the only one that mattered when he took the stand. He admitted that he wasn’t father material when Gus was born. The girls had made it clear that he would only donate sperm, and nothing more, in Gus’s life. When he was badgered at his constant changing of his mind at signing over his rights, he told the lawyer the expectation was also that the girls loved Gus and took care of him, it seemed to him they changed their minds about being real parents to HIS SON. He added that he felt paying for all of Gus’s needs meant they must have changed their minds as to his role in Gus’s life. Mel and Lindsay didn’t like being asked why they were using the money Brian provided for Gus on everything but Gus. It was the only time Debra broke out in the court. The judge in that case hadn’t been impressed with Debra to start with. She stood up and yelled that the girls weren’t on trial, but Brian. The judge had Debra removed. I swear he was smiling at getting her out of there.

Mel and Lindsay were in the hot seat when the doctor talked about seeing Gus the night Brian took him from their house. Gus, feeling safe because his father told him nothing would keep him from Gus, told the doctor his life story, including his mommies telling him Daddy would leave if he said anything. Brian called me that night, not understanding how he missed all the signs of Gus’s neglect.

We found out that the girls would party with friends all night, while Gus was left to run around the house. When the morning came, Gus would be left alone until sometimes late afternoon because the girls were passed out. He would just eat whatever was left out, before watching TV until someone appeared. Then he would hide if his mommies were having a bad day.

Lindsay admitted that the day Brian showed up they weren’t being the best mothers. She tried to blame Brian for not picking up Gus for his weekend. I snickered when Mel eyes bulged out at that statement, because Brian’s lawyer asked her why he had weekends when she and Mel both stated in earlier testimony that Brian wasn’t fit to take care of a goldfish. He also asked why, if Brian wasn’t supposed to be a custodial parent, or even a parent in Gus’s life, that all the financial aspects of Gus’s life fell to him. Lindsay tried to say they never asked for money from Brian. The list Brian kept; of dates, times, and what he was told the money was for, had Lindsay stuttering.

Mel just looked like a jealous wife when she took the stand. Everything wrong in her life was laid on Brian’s doorstep. She got angry when the lawyer asked her why, since she seemed to hate Brian Kinney, did they want a child from him. She tried to play off that it wasn’t hatred, just disapproval of a man who fucked anyone who walked by. Brian smirked at her, and she lost it, yelling that anything that came from Brian was worthless in her eye’s. The judge asked was that also her view of the son she was supposed to love? At that point, it was just waiting for the verdict, since Mel couldn’t find a way to salvage what she said in front of everyone.

Mel and Lindsay tried to get reporters interested, only to find they didn’t like the questions about why a three year old was left alone to fend for himself. When Gus was brought in to sit with Brian, he screamed loudly, terrified, when Mel and Lindsay came near him. I doubt there was a person in the courtroom who didn’t hear Gus yelling that his Daddy promised him that telling on them wouldn’t make Daddy disappear. The judge told Gus he agreed, that Daddy wouldn’t disappear, no matter what Gus needed to tell him.

I wanted Brian and the guys to get away, because even after losing their cases, none of them could leave Brian to help his son. When Brian agreed to the move, his only problem was Ted not being able to see me. I worried more about Brian closing himself off if he didn’t see me. It was agreed that I would come on Saturdays for their sessions.

Emmett let me know that Ted gave Michael his number again. We both knew no matter how much Ted professes that he’s over Michael, he still believes the reason the relationship failed so badly, was him. I had to explain to Emmett again that Ted wasn’t cured, but a work in process. It’s just nice to see them happy, even if it’s just for a day.

I wanted the family that Brian, Ted, and Emmett were making, to succeed, and for them to leave behind the family that wanted to bleed them dry. I watched the video one more time, thinking that that young man and Lily seem to have found a place in the new family, who needed them just as much.