Close To Home IV

Chapter 8





Brian managed to make a passable chicken dinner for himself and Justin.  Justin made sure to clean his plate and thank the chef.  He wanted Brian to do more of this kind of thing.

As they were loading the dishwasher, Justin asked,” Did you see Dougie this afternoon?”

“No, after I told him he wasn’t being a nuisance, I thought he’d come over.  Maybe his mother wouldn’t let him.”

“I’d like to meet his mother.  Maybe I should bake a pie or something and take it over to her.  You know, kind of a welcome to the neighborhood,” Justin said.

“I think she’s supposed to bake a pie for us,” Brian contradicted.  “Isn’t that how the hospitality thing works?”

“What if she doesn’t know how to bake?”

“She could always just pop around the fence and say hello.”

“I suppose.  You don’t think Dougie told her we’re gay and she doesn’t want him hanging around us, do you?” Justin asked.

“That wouldn’t surprise me.”

“Shit!  I kind of like the little guy.”

Brian nodded as he closed the dishwasher door.  “That might be the most likely explanation,” he said.

“I hope not,” Justin said sadly.

“Well, if it is, there isn’t much we can do about it.”

“I think I’ll bake that pie and see if I can win her over,” Justin stated.

“You do that, Betty Crocker, but do it tomorrow while I’m at work.”

“Yes, master,” Justin said with a mock salute.  “What do you feel like doing this evening?”

“I need to do a little work,” Brian informed him.

“A new ad campaign?”

“No, I’m still checking into buying Ryder out.”

“I thought you put that on the back burner,” Justin said with a frown.

“I did, until we got moved.  Now we’re moved.  I’ve had Ted look into financing, and I’ve been studying recent acquisitions to try to find an acceptable offer to Ryder that won’t break the bank.”

“You’re really going to do it, aren’t you?”

“I said I was.”

“I know, but I thought…”

“You thought what?” Brian asked looking into Justin’s eyes.

“I thought maybe you’d wait a while.  Let us get settled in here.”

“We’re settled, aren’t we?” Brian asked, his brow wrinkling with worry.  “Is something wrong?  Are you tired of me already?”

Justin grinned.  “You are such a pessimist.  Do I look like I’m leaving?  Do you see me packing my bags?  You’re such an idiot sometimes, Brian Kinney.”

“I didn’t say you were leaving.  I asked if you were tired of me,” Brian persisted.

“No, I’m not tired of you.  I love you.  I just don’t want you rushing into something that … may not turn out the way you want it to.”

“You think I’m going to fail.”

“No, I never would think that.  But I don’t want you taking on too much.  I don’t want you getting sick from overwork.  I don’t want you financially overextended and stressing with worry.”

“Aw, you love me,” Brian smiled.

“I’ve been telling you that, asshole,” Justin retorted but then he leaned down and kissed Brian warmly.  “There!” he said.  “No more stupid questions.”

“From either of us?” Brian smirked.

“From either of us.”


*****


“Honey, I’m home,” Brian called as he came in the front door of their new house.

“In the kitchen,” Justin responded.  He stepped out from behind the counter to give Brian a welcome home kiss.  “How was your day at work, dear?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

“The usual, mega deals, Kip Thomas sightings, and Cynthia trying to keep me sane.”

“Ooh, office intrigue,” Justin laughed.

“You could call it that.”

“Did you talk to Ryder about buying him out?”

“Nope. I intend to spring it on him when I’ve got all my ducks in a row.  I don’t want him to have any warning ahead of time, and I don’t intend to give him much time to think about it.”

“You sound like a wheeler-dealer when you talk like that.”

“I’m the next Donald Trump … in a wheelchair.”

“Brian…”

“It’s okay.  I know what I am.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to dwell on it,” Justin said tersely.

Brian laughed.  “I’m not dwelling on it, but it’s a fact of my everyday life,” Brian reminded him.

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“So, what’s for dinner?” Brian asked, changing the subject.

“Chicken casserole.”

“Yum!”

“It’s good.  It’s a recipe that my mother used to make all the time.”

“Okay, I reserve judgment.”

“Asshole,” Justin called him.  “Oh, and apple pie for dessert.”

“Apple pie?”

“Yeah, I baked one for Dougie’s mother.  I took it over there this afternoon.  I knocked on the door and rang the bell, but she never answered.”

“Maybe she was out.”

“I could hear the baby crying.  She was home.  She just refused to answer.”

“Homophobe,” Brian pronounced.

“We … we don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“Anyway,” Justin sighed, “we get to have pie for dessert.”

“I can hardly wait,” Brian said as he headed for the bedroom to change his clothes.


*****


“It’s hot in here,” Brian said as he shoved his laptop aside.

“I’ll open some windows,” Justin replied.  “The weatherman said we were in for a few days of unseasonably warm weather.”

“Since when are weathermen correct?” Brian snarked.  He pulled his T-shirt over his head as Justin went to open some windows.

“You’re distracting me,” Justin chuckled as he tried to push the window up.  He looked at Brian’s beautifully toned upper torso with admiration.

“Thanks for the compliment, but open the fucking window.”

“I can’t.”  Justin pushed with all his might, but to no avail.

“Let me try,” Brian said wheeling himself over to the window.  He had no better luck.  “The fucking idiots who lived here must have painted the windows closed.”

“What do we do?”

“Call Jasper,” Brian said.

“Okay, here’s the phone,” Justin said handing Brian the cordless.

They had Jasper on speed dial, and Jasper picked up quickly.  “What can I do for ya, Brian?” Jasper asked.

“Our windows are painted shut.”

“Want me to come over now?”

Brian looked at his watch.  It was after nine at night.  “No, but could you make some time tomorrow?”

“Will do.”

“Thanks.”  Brian cut the connection.  “He’ll come tomorrow.”

“So what do we do in the meantime?”

“We can open the patio door, and let’s sit outside,” Brian suggested.

“Under the stars?”

“Yeah,” Brian said with a grin.

They opened the sliding doors off the kitchen.  “At least we’ll get a breeze in here,” Justin observed.

“Or we could turn the air conditioning on.”

“At this time of year?  No way!”

“All right, energy conservation pod person,” Brian griped.

Justin chuckled as he followed Brian outside.  “I should open the sliding doors in the bedroom too.”

“Good idea.”

“Then we can sit on our new chaise together.”

“Okay, I’ll get situated while you open the bedroom doors,” Brian said.

Justin went back into the house while Brian maneuvered himself onto the chaise.  Justin came out the bedroom door and joined Brian on the chaise.  He snuggled up against Brian.

“It’s nice out here.  There’s a little breeze.”

“Which we could enjoy if the fucking windows would open,” Brian muttered.

“It doesn’t matter.  Jasper will fix them.  Let’s enjoy the stars.”  Justin looked up at the sky filled with tiny dots of light.  “Is that the Big Dipper?”  Justin pointed into the sky.

“I think so.”

“You know, I’m glad the windows wouldn’t open or we wouldn’t be out here.”

Brian squeezed Justin against him and whispered, “Yeah.”

They stayed like that for a while looking at the stars and being happy just to be together and close.  Then their peace and harmony was shattered by the wails of a baby.

“Shit!” Brian groused.

“It must be Dougie’s little sister,” Justin said.  “I guess they have the windows open.”

“We might as well go back inside.”

“Let’s just wait a few minutes.  Maybe the baby will stop crying.”

They stayed put and after about ten minutes all was quiet next door.

“I wonder if Dougie’s mother gets any sleep,” Justin speculated.

“Probably not.  Newborns can be a real handful.”

“How do you know it’s a newborn?”

“Didn’t you hear the short cries?  That’s a young baby,” Brian said with authority.  “And Dougie told me.”

Justin laughed.  “I didn’t know you were such an expert on babies?”

“I’m not, but I remember hearing Gus cry when he was very little.  He sounded just like that.”

“I can hardly wait till we have Gus visit here with us.”

“Yeah.  Dougie offered to babysit him.”

“What?  Dougie’s only like … six?”

“Seven.”

“That’s a little young for babysitting, isn’t it?”

“Apparently he watches his sister so he told me.”

“I need to meet that mother of his,” Justin declared.

“Have you seen anything of the father?”

“No, not at all,” Justin replied.  “I wonder where he is.  Maybe she’s a single mom.”

“Dougie did mention his father, I think.”

“We should find out.”

“It’s none of our business.”

“I suppose,” Justin said slowly.  “But I’d like to know.  Dougie shouldn’t be watching a tiny baby.”

“We don’t know what the circumstances are.  Dougie may not have meant actual babysitting,” Brian conceded.

“But he wanted to babysit Gus.”  Brian nodded.  “I don’t know.”

“I think we should stay out of their business,” Brian cautioned.  “And I think we should go to bed.”

“Bed is always a good idea,” Justin grinned.

“You are a naughty young man,” Brian teased giving one of Justin’s nipples a good pinch.

Justin squirmed away.  “That’s exactly the way you like me … naughty.”

“True,” Brian said happily.

“Come on; let’s go inside,” Justin said standing up.

“I’d race you if I could,” Brian replied pulling his chair into position to get up from the chaise.

“You know I’d let you catch me.”

“I would hope so.”

“You know so.”

Brian headed for the bedroom.

“I’ll lock up,” Justin said.  He went towards the sliding door to the kitchen.  Just then there was a cry from Dougie’s house.  He looked in that direction and could see a woman through one of the windows.  She leaned over and then picked up the crying baby.  She started pacing back and forth while the baby continued to cry.

Justin shook his head and went inside.  It couldn’t be easy with a newborn and a seven year old and no apparent husband.

Justin locked the screen door, leaving the sliding door open to let the breeze flow through.  He headed for the bedroom.  He and Brian didn’t have to worry about such things as children and absent husbands.  They had each other and that was enough for now.