Brian didn't say anything when Ted missed the turn to the airport.  When the car stopped for a light, Ted reached back and pulled a folder from where he had laid it on the back seat and passed it to Brian.

The drive to Toronto had taken five hours and Brian had used all of those hours to read through the papers in that folder.  There hadn't been much time, but Ted had managed to put together, with Cynthia's help, quite a bit of information.

Nothing was said as Ted heard pages being turned, although some pages were turned more roughly than others with a few 'fucks' and 'shits' thrown in.   Once that stopped, Ted cleared his throat.  "What I don't understand is where all the money you sent went. "

A glance at Brian showed a stunned expression on his face.  It was true that the money he sent for Gus had been reduced out of necessity, but it should have still been enough for a nice house, clothing and food on the table.  Especially with the girls both working. 

Silence settled as the car continued toward Toronto.  There were a few stops for coffee and something for Ted to eat.  Brian was feeling guilty and had no appetite.  Guilt over having acceding to the girls request about staying out of their lives and how Gus would react to that.  He was equally guilty about having to leave Justin. 

On their last stop before coming into Canada,  Brian's cell phone played 'Let's Hear it for the Boy.'

He answered and his ear was assaulted by loud music and a giggling Justin.  Brian looked at his phone.  "What the fuck!  What's going on?  Is Emmett there?"

"Emmmett!"  Justin's voice screamed in his ear.  "Hey, Em.  Catch."

"Umph.  Hello?"

"Em, what the fuck is going on?  Have you been in my stash?"

Brian heard a door shutting and the volume of noise went way down.

"No, we haven't been in your stash!  Do you by chance know if Justin is bipolar?"

Brian pulled his phone way and looked at it.  "No.  Why would you ask something like that?"

"Well, first off, he was sad, then he got angry, now he's ... I'm not sure ... demonic?"

"What the fuck."

"Oh, some of his vision has returned.  What's up with that, by the way?  Anyway, now he and Daphne are planning a new issue of Rage where Zepher is, let's just say I didn't know there were that many ways to torture a person."

"Mikey's gonna' love that."

"I don't think they're planning on telling him and judging by some of the ideas they were throwing around I don't think they'll need him at all."

"Brian, we're here."  Ted interrupted.

"Look, we've arrived.  I'll talk to you later,"  Brian said as he got out of the car.

"Good luck."

Ted pulled his brief case out of the back seat before walking around and placing a comforting hand on Brian's shoulder.

Then shoulder to shoulder they headed into the building.  Once they got in the door it took them an hour and talking with five people before they got to even see Gus much to Brian's aggravation.

Brian was happy to see Gus, but disappointed that he didn't run to him shouting, "Daddy."  In fact Gus looked downright pissed and J.R. looked scared.

Ted took over the negotiations since he had all the paper work.   He was also fluent in French, so to make it easier on the social worker they were using that language.

"Merci,"  Ted finished standing up to shake the social worker's hand.  He turned to Brian.  "Okay you're all set.  Let's get Gus' belongings and go."

Brian stretched to get the kinks out.  He looked at Gus who hadn't moved and J.R. who was holding on to Gus for dear life.

"What about J.R.?"  Brian asked.

The man shrugged.  "We have tried to get in touch with Mr. Novotny but have had no luck."

Brian sighed and pulled out his phone.  One thing he was certain of was that Michael would not refuse a call from him.

"Bri, I knew you'd call."  That voice came confidently over the speaker.

Brian didn't answer, he simply handed his phone over to the Social Worker.

"Monsieur, we have been trying to get a hold of you."  He explained in detail with the help of Ted what was going on.

"But, I can't afford to come get my little Sugarplum,"  Mikey whined.

Brian wanted to call out bullshit.  Mikey and Ben could have gotten in a car and driven the same as he and Ted had.  Surely they could afford gas?  He and Ted exchanged glances and nodded, both on the same page.

That was why two hours later they set out with both children in the back seat and their meager belongings in the trunk.

QAF

Brian's head was hurting from listening to Ted.  He had been able to understand Ted while he communicated with the social worker, but had not felt the need to join in.    Gus sat in the back seat and scowled, while Jenny Rebecca bounced up and down. 

They had just made their way through the outskirts of Toronto when Ted pulled up to a gas station, and signaled for Brian to get out.  "Look, Bri.  It's been a long day.  Why don't we find a hotel and have a great meal?"

Brian glanced into the back seat of the car and had to agree.  He gave Ted a nod before going into the convenience store.  He'd no sooner settled back into the car when J.R. started up.

"I gotta' go pee."

Brian pulled out some snacks and passed them to the kids to tide them over until they got to their rooms.

"Don't worry, Sweetie,"  Ted called out as he buckled up.  "We're going to find a hotel and you'll be able to go then."

Ted turned into the parking lot of the first hotel they came to and wanted to wait in the car with the kids while Brian registered, but unfortunately J.R. had other ideas, she had to go potty and she had to go NOW!  While Brian registered them, Ted began to usher the kids to the bathrooms and told them he would wait for them to come out, but little J.R. refused to go into the ladies room without Gus.  By the time Brian showed up with the room cards, he wondered what was going on.

J.R. was dancing and holding herself while whining with Gus.  Brian knelt down and asked,  "Can you hold on until we get to the rooms?"

She shook her head vehemently no and Brian sighed.   He looked at his son, who scowled, crossed his arms just like Michael and said, "No way."

Brian couldn't resist rolling his lips in to keep from smiling at his son's attitude so like his own.  He did the only thing he could think of and knocked on the ladies room door.  When there was no answer he pushed it open and gestured for J.R. to enter.  "Tell you what.  I'll stay right here until you're done." Keeping the door open he stood in the doorway and watched while J.R. rushed to one of the stalls.  Ted stood near and did his best not to smirk.  There was a time when Brian would have said hell no rather then watch out for a little girl, much less one using the bathroom.  Gus, who was under no constraint, did smirk.

"Haven't you got something better to do?"  Brian asked as his cell phone rang.   He called out as he brought the phone to his ear.  "J.R.  Are you doing okay?"  The only answer he received was a grunt from one of the stalls.

Ted nodded and pulled out his cell, planning to call Emmett to update him on what the plans were. 

Unfortunately Brian should have checked caller id before answering.  He winched as he heard the squeaking voice of Michael ranting about all the neat things they were going to do once the kids arrived.  J.R. finally came out and Brian held the phone to his chest to say, "Don't forget to wash your hands."

Little Jenny Rebecca headed for the sinks, but found it difficult to reach the faucet.  Shaking his head, Brian flipped his phone shut and not only turned the faucet on for her, but picked her up so her hands reached under the water. 

Ted stood in the doorway and watched rather than hitting the button's on his phone. This was a side of Brian that he hadn't seen before.

Brian herded everyone to the elevator, his cell phone ringing again.  This time he checked the caller id and noting that it was Michael he rejected the call, turned off his phone and entered the elevator.   Brian had decided that they would have two rooms with two double beds and a connecting door.   Once they got inside, Brian found the room service menu and handed it to Gus.  Gus stared at him his mouth open.

"Order whatever you want," Brian said and received the first smile he'd seen from Gus.  Gus grabbed J.R. and they both pored over the extensive menu.

"Was that wise?"   Ted asked. 

Brian looked over at the kids, who were all excited.    He couldn't say it was but he didn't have the heart to say no.  Therefore he was very surprised when Gus requested the cheapest things on the menu.   He sent the kids into Ted's room to watch the TV there and proceeded to order half the menu. 

Each child took a bath, one in the room that was assigned to Ted, the other in the room that was going to be used by Brian and the kids.  When the food arrived J.R. started jumping up and down, clapping her hands in delight, which had Ted wondering if Emmett, instead of Michael, was really her father.

After all the food was sorted out, J.R. hoarding the chicken nuggets and fries, a burger with fries for Gus, steak for Ted and a salad for Brian, who noticed that Gus was picking at his food unlike his sister who was stuffing her face. 

Gus set his burger down and looked at his dad.  "Why did you never come see us?"

Brian debated how to explain things and finally decided on telling the truth.  "You know that Mel and I never got along?"

"Yeah, ma hates you with a passion.  Why is that?"  Gus asked.

"She thinks your mother cares more for me than for her.  That I'm trying to take her away."

"That's crazy.  You like guys."

"That's true.  She also didn't like that I was your dad.  You got sick once, and the hospital wouldn't let her go into the exam room with you.  So I did something stupid, I gave up my rights to you." 

Gus looked at his sister who was falling asleep in her food. 

"Your moms had split up and I thought I was doing the right thing to get them back together,"  Brian said sadly as he gathered her up and tucked her into one of the beds.  Then he did something he never thought he'd have to do.  He explained himself to his son, and he didn't lie about anything, including how he became the asshole everyone claimed him to be and why.  Admitting his reasons for his life being the way it was.  "So you see I wasn't supposed to care about you."  He looked at Gus and noticed his head was on the table and he was fast asleep.  He looked at his watch, seeing how late it was, and managed to get Gus into the bed next to his sister.

Ted had long since disappeared into the other room and shut the door.  The only luggage they had were what came with the kids and their clothing was skimpy at best.   He stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers then slid into bed and reached for his phone.

"Teddy!  Where the hell are you?"