JUSTIN

Emmett and I tried to find everyone we could come up with, other than Ethan, that might have had a problem with Brian and me being together. The first problem we ran into was Brian and I never really bothered to get full names. Then how to find someone when they weren’t in the places they were in the last life. We ran into Sean, from my time as the King of Babylon, who offered Brian and me a threesome, but didn’t really seem insulted when we said no and moved on to the next guy at the bar. Kip Thomas apparently became an escort for businessmen who kept him in the lifestyle he never wanted to work for anyway. Stockwell, as far as we could find, didn’t exist. Which left us running out of people. We were sitting around the new house, since Brian wanted to start decorating it. He changed things I hated about the house, but overall it was still the house he wanted me to have.

“What about that kid, the one that had Brian working out like a mad man?” Emmett asks.

“I really can't remember even his name, it's possible since he left really upset, but I never ran into him again.” I tell him.

Gus woke up from his nap, and crawled into my lap. Brian had gone to check when we could take Jenny, leaving it up to us to figure it out.

“Brian doesn’t seem worried about it, he said every attempt just showed we find each other, so let the person have fun trying.” I tell him.

“Kira says Jussin always Dada.” Gus tells me.

“He remembers Kira?” Emmett asks.

“Kira mine.” Gus tells us.

“Yes she was, and Dada and I will bring her home.” I tell him, he nodded as if he knew.

“Do you think we could be looking at this wrong, maybe it was to show Brian he would find you. It might be to keep you from worrying if Michael’s mind rebooted.” Emmett tells me.

“Yeah. But then why not just tell us.” I tell him.

“Too many players already on the field. Maybe this person isn't interested in playing and wanted you and Brian to know you were safe from anything Lindsay was trying.” Emmett tells me, as Brian comes in with Jenny in his arms.

“Look who’s home.” I tell Gus.

“Jennnyyyy.” Gus squeals, running to Brian.

Emmett got a blanket and put it on the floor. I went and got some of the things Beth and my mom bought when we told them we were going to foster Jenny. We settled Gus on the floor with his toys and put Jenny next to him. Brian sat with him, happy, the way he always was when Jenny was in our life.

“Either of you come up with anything?” He asks.

“Emmett mentioned it could be someone wanting to show us that what Michael knows doesn’t affect us. Like whoever it was, was on our side.” I tell him.

“Could be, with this life everything changed. Like I told Marty, there were pieces in the wrong places.” He tells me.

“You still have the same people in your life, they just are different. The same with me.” I tell him.

“My parents are the ones we all dream of having, not the nightmare from before. Emmett grew up with a mother who would have started PFLAG if it hadn’t already been there. You grew up without parents, but you still have Daphne around, and Carl…” Brian stopped when Emmett waved his hands at us.

“Carl. Why is he part of Justin’s life? He never really was when you think about it. I mean Carl knew Justin and you, but he was really only in our lives because of Deb.” Emmett tells us.

“He’s really friends with Sean. When I bought out Sean, Carl called and let me know he was here for me if I had any questions. Which helped because I was just beginning. Later he would show up and we’d have dinner, which gave me a father figure and mentor at the same time.” I tell them.

“Is that normal for another publisher to help out the competition?” Emmett asks.

“It’s like any set of businesses. When I ran Kinnetik, I still talked to other firms. It’s good business to compare notes.” Brian tells him.

“We also get together, like for the dinner the other night. He’s just always taken an interest in what I’m doing.” I tell them.

“Carl was like that with me when I lived with Deb and him. It could be difficult for him when he ran into guys that I brought home, but by the end he was really accepting of the whole gay thing.” Emmett tells us.

“We could at least go see him, it’s better than me trying to come up with people when sometimes I can’t remember even their first name.” I tell them.

Jenny crawled over to me, and everything needed to wait when she stared up at me with her big brown eyes.

“I don’t think we should wait on Mel to figure out Jenny is worth more than a relationship.” I tell Brian.

“I don’t either, if Mel still wants to be involved then she can be, but we raise our Jenny girl.” Brian tells me, when Gus sat in his lap and nodded to agree.

EMMETT

I left Brian and Justin in fatherly bliss and decided to talk to Carl. I knew him better than anyone else. Lately he would stop by and see Deb while she was working. If he wasn’t there Justin said he would call and ask him to see me.

At the diner, Carl was sitting in a booth eating, while Deb ran around taking care of everyone. Carl barely noticed when I sat down, he was too busy watching Deb. It reminded me of when he used to stop by to spend time with Deb when they were both working odd hours. He looked at me smiling with recognition, before looking over at Deb.

“She’ll never stop working.” I tell him.

“She thinks everyone needs her.” Carl tells me.

“I think we all do at one time or another.” I tell him.

“Only this time the chicks left the nest, but didn’t need her the way they did before.” Carl tells me.

“No, but we still remember what she was for us.” I tell him.

“Do you, or is it more that none of you needed her now the same way you did before?” He asks.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone you remembered?” I ask, when he didn’t hide it.

“Watching what happened last time, I didn’t want to interfere the way they all did. Something as simple as Brian understanding he didn’t have to let go of Justin was all they needed. Instead, everyone tried to get involved and steer them in the wrong direction. I’ve always thought all of you were men who didn’t need coddling.” He tells me.

“You’ve been with Justin for years, why?” I ask him.

“Because if Red had remembered Justin, she would have wanted me to look out for her Sunshine. I came back because the life Justin wanted could have steered him away from Brian.” He tells me.

“Brian had this weird experience, where he kept going back to when he and Justin meet, but they didn’t meet the way they were supposed to, but did meet. It was as if someone was putting obstacles in his path to see if they still found each other. We just can’t figure out why it happened or who could have done it, Detective.” I tell him.

“They’ll always find each other Emmett. What Michael knows couldn’t change THAT they meet, it could only change HOW they meet. The time line changes with each meeting, and how the things in your lives turn out change with them. The only reason anyone would want to see what would happen would be to see if there was a way to separate them, which happened the first time with a plane to New York.” He tells me.

“Even with that, they were brought back, so it’s really not making sense.” I tell him.

“People do stupid things for stupid reasons. The biggest motivators are love, jealousy, and greed. Find the person who has all of those things, and you find the person who thinks changing Brian’s life will get him what he wants.” He tells me.

“I would say Michael, but he really hates Brian this time.” I tell him.

“I wish I had the answer. I’ve always believed you have to make your own path.” He tells me.

“You sound like you don’t think anyone would do it to help them by showing them they always meet?” I ask.

“No. Why bother if they could just tell them. There’s no reason to make them jump thru hoops, when it’s something they could just be told.” He tells me.

“We wondered why Ben did all the things he’s been doing, when he could have found a way to tell us. He made it sound like he was on our side, but it’s like he was playing double agent.” I tell him.

“Sometimes double agents play both sides against each other. I’d be watching to see where he really stands.” He tells me.

“Brian is still on the fence with Ben.” I tell him.

“It’s because Brian understood the motto, ‘trust but verify’. Tell Justin and Brian we can talk, but I’m not Vic, and don’t feel the need to interfere when all of you are capable of running your own lives.” He tells me, getting up to help Deb into her jacket.