LINDSAY
I’d been waiting for Justin to call me since Mel got arrested. I’m upset that he hasn’t even bothered to be here or even concerned that I was hurt. I thought this would have Brian and Justin coming to see me, and then I could find a way around what Michael threatened me with. The only thing saving me right now is there is no way Michael can talk to Brian and twist the shit he found out.
Brian and I had talked about possibly having another child together, but that was before he met Justin. Then he told me no when he and Justin started dating. I went ahead with it anyway, but I failed to get pregnant. I didn’t tell Brian, but didn’t see any reason to when he didn’t need to know that I went against his wishes. Instead I left the other sample in storage and wasn’t going to do anything. I knew better than to do it when Brian and Justin announced that they had already gone to a surrogate and Cameron was already on the way. The only way I planned to do anything was if Brian decided he and Justin would have another child, which would once again have Justin giving up his career to be a father. After this last year, I really didn’t think I’d need to do it, since Brian and Justin were drifting apart. It was my contingency plan, if Brian convinced Justin to have another child like he mentioned to me; that he could see doing it one more time with Justin. Justin had mentioned wanting more than one child and he didn’t realize that Brian would do anything as long as it kept Justin with him. Justin didn’t realize that even with Michael pulling Brian away, in the end, if Justin had put his foot down, Brian would have done anything. That was the part of their relationship that made me jealous, the fact that Brian became the kind of spouse that I dreamed of having, while dealing with Mel only wanting everything the way Mel wanted. While yes, I dreamed of Brian and I married with two children and the house he bought when he married Justin, Brian wouldn’t have wanted it with me, and I wouldn’t fool myself the way Michael has.
I heard a car pull up and saw Justin’s mother getting out her car, then going to the back to get something. It was an opportunity for me to find out if she knew why no one had called to check on me. She was putting a ‘for sale’ sign on the lawn, and I realized I needed to find out why.
“Jen, are you lost?” I ask.
“No. Mel wanted to put the house up for sale, since she was given a chance to live in Brian and Justin’s old house, and from the look on your face, apparently you didn’t know about her plans.” She tells me, not really looking like she cared.
“Why are Brian and Justin letting her stay there?” I ask, upset that neither of them thought of me when they apparently were giving away a fucking mansion.
“Brian doesn’t want Michael and Deb to be able to say Mel can’t provide a place for Jenny to live. Since Mel didn’t feel she could come here, because it would displace you, the boys offered her an alternative. In fact, Hunter will be staying there too, so he can be a witness to the kind of mother Mel is. With everything that happened here, Mel needs all the help she can get to keep Jenny. I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but since Mel couldn’t depend on you to tell the police what really happened in the house, she didn’t want to cause more problems by showing up here. It’s horrible timing that you and Mel are at odds with each other, since both of you together could prove that Michael has barely bothered with Jenny, pretty much from the beginning. You always said it was the house of your dreams, but I guess you could still visit, like before. At least show Jenny that you're still there for her.” She tells me.
“Things just got out of control, Mel was trying to help.” I admit, wondering if I could figure out a way to get around Michael’s threats.
It’s not like I lied to Brian, he just assumed that I destroyed the donation he made before he met Justin. When he and Justin decided to have Cameron, he told me that if he had any other children then it would be with Justin and not me. All I ever said was that I understood, and just left the donation where it was, under my name. If Brian wanted to have another biological child then he did it with me, not some stranger. I’ll admit it was my security blanket, because as much as I tried, I hated wanting things, and having to hear that we couldn’t afford them. Something I never had to worry about when Gus was born, because Brian threw money at us to make sure Gus never knew the kind of life that Brian had growing up. I really didn’t expect him to be as generous with Jenny, but he told me that Gus wanted Jenny to have the kind of life he did. Mel can be as angry about this as she wants, but in truth, Brian gave me a reason to stay with Mel, when neither of us has been willing to admit our marriage was over a long time ago.
“I don’t know what to do.” I tell Jen, acting helpless.
“What do you mean?” She asks.
“Michael scared me, and then threatened to do worse if I said anything. I was scared, and I didn’t defend Mel when I should have.” I tell her.
“What did Michael threaten you with?” She asks, concerned.
“Justin would understand, Michael did it to him. Michael twists things to make them sound the way he wants them to sound. It wasn’t anything other than me forgetting about something Brian and I did in the past. Michael found out that I never destroyed the sample that Brian donated before he met Justin. I knew Mel wouldn’t understand but would instead treat it like me hiding something, which I didn’t. I just forgot about it when Brian told me that he only wanted children with Justin.” I tell her.
“I’ll talk to Brian and Justin about it, plus, all you have to do is sign it back over to Brian. It’s not like they’ll believe anything that comes from Deb or Michael anymore. You could also go to Carl and explain what really happened, it would make it easier for Mel to meet you halfway, and possibly help you with Jenny and Gus. Gus isn’t willing to believe Mel is capable of what she was accused of. Even Brian, who wasn’t happy to help Mel, but did it for Gus and Jenny, had a hard time believing Mel just started hitting you, when she never did before.” Jen tells me, sympathetically.
“I feel awful because I let it go this far, now that you told me about Michael and Deb are trying to get Jenny.” I tell her.
“Do you need me to help you tell Carl what happened? If not, I can call him and have him come here to meet with you. It wasn’t his case, but he got involved since he knows what Michael and Deb are like.” She tells me.
“It’s time I do what I should have, and tell Carl that Michael went crazy on me because he wants to get rid of Justin. I let him take it out on me, because Justin has been dealing with so much and I was trying to get Michael to see that Brian was finally back where he belonged.” I tell her.
“At least if you clear everything up, I can help convince everyone it would be better for you to be at the house with Mel, Hunter, and Jenny. With the restraining order in place, all you would have to do is call the police and they’ll remove Michael or Deb from the property and you wouldn’t be put in the position of protecting Justin with your face. Why not start packing while you wait for Carl to come here; I’ll send a car to pick you up when you’re finished. It would really be good for you and Mel if you press charges, think about it.” She tells me, hugging me. Then she finished putting up the sign up to sell the house I never really liked anyway.
As I went in to pack, I needed to figure out a way to get Hunter to go back to his dorm. Jenny looked to him, going against me or Mel, and that wouldn’t do if I was going to get everything back to the way I wanted my life.
JEN
For the first time, I wanted to do exactly what Michael did, but I refrained because Brian asked me to. It was also because Gus didn’t need anymore drama, and needed to see us as the family we’d been before the shit with Ben. I never really liked Ben, any more than I liked Deb. In a way, it was the same for me as for Deb, she didn’t like Justin because he didn’t like her spoiled brat, and I didn’t like her brat because of the shit he made Justin deal with for getting everything Michael felt should be his. Until recently I didn’t have a problem with Lindsay or Mel, because they weren’t anything more than Gus’s mothers to me.
I still remember Justin calling me all the time to tell me the adventures of Gus, and for once Justin was staying closer to home. Justin was no longer going months without calling home, and that made Gus golden in my eyes. When Brian and Justin met, I was thankful that Brian gave Justin a way to settle down, instead of taking off to places that had me scared until he called and told me he was okay. The art world praised his bravery for going to places no one in their right mind would go, but none of them understood what it was like to sit by a phone, waiting to find out if my son was okay. Brian was the answer to my worry when Justin stopped, to be with him. Then there was my fear that Justin would once again take off as his marriage started to fall apart.
When Brian said he needed to figure out a way to get Lindsay to tell the truth, for once, I got Brian to agree that he needed to let me do it. I understood the kind of person Lindsay was, and how to get her to do what they needed her to do for Jenny’s sake. The idea of Deb raising another child was a nightmare any parent who met Michael would have, not that Deb sees anything wrong with Michael. She’d have to see herself, and that she raised Michael to be her.
I put myself back in the game of the ‘club of the elite’ and drove over to deal with the wannabe Queen WASP. It took everything I had to listen to her, and wondered if her mother taught her anything. She gave Michael ammunition against her, but never learned how her mother kept her father in line, which was that they both had something that insured mutual assured destruction on each other. To be used if either did the unthinkable and tried to wiggle out of the marriage that was nothing more than a joining of two family fortunes. Something I didn’t do and still ended up regretting, since Craig was a total failure as a husband and father.
Brian answered on the first ring. “She’s going to do what you wanted. You might want to get with Justin’s lawyer too, because Lindsay apparently never got rid of a donation you made.” I tell him.
“I’ll deal with it. Anything else?” He asks.
“Just warn Hunter that she’ll likely want him gone too, since she knows Hunter really doesn’t like her.” I tell him.
“Hunter knows to ignore Lindsay, and if he needs help, he knows to go to you.” He tells me.
“Do me a favor and only worry about you, and let me deal with everything here for you.” I tell him.
“Yes, Mom. One question; what is Justin up to?” He asks.
“Making sure no one messes with his family again, unless they want to know what it’s like to have their lives messed with. I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s finished.” I tell him.
“You just did.” He tells me, hanging up.