BRIAN

Emmett agreed to watch Cameron, while I argued with Gus about him staying. He wanted to know what Lindsay was doing. He even tried to tell me it was more likely she’d tell him before me. While I understood it was just Gus wanting to help, I didn’t want Gus to be there since I wasn’t likely to be able to control my temper. Right now I wasn’t happy with Mel either, for not calling and telling us about what she heard from Lindsay. 

“Dad, let me help.” Gus asks me, trailing down the stairs behind me.

I stopped and turned to him, knowing he needed to understand what was going on. He wasn’t a child, but what his mother might be involved in would hurt him. It’s something I never wanted, for Gus to lose a parent. There was a small part of me that didn’t want to believe she would do something like this, which was just me fooling myself, the way Mel tried to fool herself.

“Gus, if I promise to tell you when I get back, will you just stay here and watch over Cameron for me? I need to know your brother is safe and you're the one I trust to do that for me.” I tell him.

“Bullshit, Emmett and Drew are here and I know you trust them too.” He tells me.

“I do trust them, but not as much as I do you.” I tell him.

“That’s not fair, but if Mom… Whatever it is, I need to know.” He pleaded with me.

“I promise, let me handle this.” I tell him.

“It’s bad isn’t it?” He asks.

“I hope not. But yes, if I’m right, it is.” I tell him.

“Then tell her I’ll never speak to her again if she doesn’t tell you what you want to know. Tell her I’ll be worse than her parents are.” He tells me.

“Gus, you couldn’t ever be like those people. Which I want you to know makes me proud of the man you're becoming. You’re the man I wanted to be, and for me that means my past won’t repeat itself in you.” I tell him.

“Even if I was, I’d still be okay, because you are.” He tells me.

“Then stay here and make sure Cameron doesn’t get Drew to agree to a pony or whatever it is Cameron decides he wants today.” I joke, with Drew, who knew what Cameron could convince him to do.

The front door opened and Nick stepped out of the kitchen, glaring at Justin. Daphne trying to hide behind Justin wasn’t going to save her from Nick.

“Why is it when you and Justin get near each other, stupidity ensues?” Nick growled, yanking Daphne towards him.

“Come on, we’ve been good for years, and we didn’t get caught. I mean, I’m sure you’d rather not bail us out of jail, right?” Daphne tells him, looking to me to save her.

“I’m going to spank your ass. You’re pregnant. Are you getting that through your head? You’re carrying my world right here.” He tells her, putting his hand over her stomach.

“I can’t believe you're using that.” She pouts.

“What were you two doing?” I ask Justin.

“Trying to figure this shit out. We can debate who wants to do what all day, but it doesn’t get either of us anywhere. So I decided to find out where the hell Michael is.” Justin tells me.

“Did you find him?” Nick asks.

“He’s home, but only just got there. He was busy with this.” Justin tells us, handing me the papers he was holding.

I read through the papers, which I recognized since Justin and I did the same thing with Cameron. I didn’t get why Michael hiring a surrogate would be a big deal, until I read my name on the next page.

“Before we even get into what this says, how did you and Daphne get it?” I ask.

“Does that even matter, we got it? It’s not like I haven’t done this stuff before.” Justin tells me.

“It does if you stole it from him. It matters because you were supposed to stay away from him.” Nick tells him.

“I went in and got it. There’s nothing that says I couldn’t go near Michael.” Daphne tells him.

“Sweetheart, that doesn’t make it better.” Nick tells her through gritted teeth.

“We can argue about this later, what I need to know is how many samples did Lindsay have?” Justin asks me.

“How am I supposed to know? It’s not like when I handed them the cup they said, “Oh Mr Kinney there are this many samples. I donated a few times, so it was more than two.” I tell him sarcastically, pissed that he went over to Michael’s house.

“I assume the clinic would be able to tell you. So why don’t you call and find out how many, and how many are still there, because if Michael has control of any of those, then congratulations, the jackass got you another kid, only he thinks it will be his too.” Justin says, just as sarcastically.

“Or we can just go over and confront the bitch who is likely helping him.” Daphne tells me.

“If he already started this…” I didn’t know how to feel about it.

“We’ll deal with it and never let our child know we were anything but happy about having another baby.” Justin tells me.

“We still have things to deal with.” I tell him.

“We will, but we both wanted this eventually.” He tells me.

“It’s going to get messy with this.” I tell him holding out the paperwork.

“I have a feeling Michael is the one who’s going to regret it, not us.” He tells me.

LINDSAY

Mel was downstairs pacing around, but I had other plans. Michael really believes having Brian’s baby will change something. It doesn't, other than Brian supporting said baby, which is all I got from it. He still hasn't figured out his plan would only have Brian at my door, since I'm the one who had control over the samples. It’s not like I was really going to help him, I had my own plans, one that included an old friend. 

Sam had been calling, wanting me to see if Sydney would give him a show. Apparently his career had been flagging. Which didn’t surprise me since he tended to piss off everyone. Something he could do in the past when people were still kissing his ass. I agreed to ask if he agreed to help me out. I needed a way to keep Michael off my back, since I was supposed to be helping Mel and in turn helping Justin and Brian. I also had to make sure Michael’s plan didn’t bite me in the ass, so Sam agreed as long as the kid wasn’t going to end up being his problem. After talking to Sydney, I had to find another way to help Sam. Sydney wasn’t willing to host another show with Sam, since the buzz was that Sam wasn’t coming up with anything new. Sydney did ask if I knew if Justin would be willing to show, and said that he’d be willing to offer me my job back if Justin agreed. I told him I’d see, but if Justin agreed than he’d help Sam too. With Mel saying it was over, I needed to make sure I had a backup plan. I had hoped to use Lynette, but she laughed at the idea of using any of Sam’s work in her charity gala. If my parents hadn’t been so worried about Lynette, they would have seen the possibilities, by impressing Jen and Gus. Instead they needed to once again voice their disapproval of my life. 

Now Mel wasn’t willing to overlook things that benefited her as well as me. I planned to work it out with her, but all the things that worked in the past aren’t working anymore. It wasn’t like I planned for our marriage to be the same. It couldn’t if Justin’s career ratcheted up again. The biggest problem with my plan was that Justin is giving up things to stay with Brian. I read that they replaced Justin with a musician for the seminar in London. How could Justin not see his career would start to stall when he wasn’t out there? I knew it was time to give him a reason to see his that career was more important than a marriage that would constantly have problems, because Brian will never settle down. 

The doorbell rang as I was gathering my things, and before I could slip out the backdoor, Jenny was standing outside in the hall.

“Justin and Brian wanted to talk to you and Mama.” She tells me, before going to her room.

It wasn’t like I didn’t want a chance to work my way back in Justin’s good graces, but I had someone waiting for me. Only, when I tried to go out the backdoor, Brian was standing there waiting. He grabbed my arm and dragged me behind him, not saying anything. He was pissed, and I prayed it was because of Gus and my parents and not anything else that was going on. We got to the living room and he pointed to the sofa, glaring at me until I sat down.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, looking at Mel and Justin.

“Nothing, if you don’t think someone running around trying to find someone to hurt Justin is a problem.” Brian growled.

“Brian, let’s deal with the first thing.” Justin tells him.

“To me that is the more important thing.” He tells Justin.

“Why would someone want Justin hurt?” I ask.

“Lindsay, how many samples did Brian have originally?” Justin asked, ignoring my question.

“Four, like the first time. Not that we needed them, I got pregnant with Gus the first time.” I tell them.

“Were those samples destroyed?” Brian asks Mel.

“Yes, that’s why Lindsay asked again apparently. When we talked about having another baby after Jenny, Lindsay thought they were still there and planned to use them without telling you. I had to tell her that I got rid of them.” Mel tells him, not telling him the fight we got in over her doing that.

“So there were only four from the last time?” Brian asks.

Shit, I knew where this was going. “Maybe three, I might have been thinking about the first time.” I tried, but knew he saw through it. “What do you mean someone is trying to hurt Justin?” I ask, hoping to distract them.

“You know, it no longer surprises me that she can’t tell the truth, so I’ll do it for you. There were four.” Mel tells him.

“What’s the big deal?” I ask, since there were still three.

“We need to know where the fourth sample went.” Justin tells me.

“I… look I should have told you all that I tried to get pregnant, I was jealous that you and Justin were having a baby. It was wrong and the pregnancy didn’t take anyway, so it’s not like there is anything to be angry about.” I tell Brian.

“Nothing to be angry about? I told you no and you went out and tried anyway!” Brian said practically shouting.

“You knew I wanted another child and you had agreed. I planned for me and Mel to raise the baby, the way we wanted to raise Gus. I wasn’t going to make you be a father to the baby.” I tell him.

“Just support it like I did for Gus?” He asks, looking at me like he hated me.

“That was your choice, you could have said no when we asked.” I tell him, throwing the blame at him.

“Oh Brian, we don’t know what we’re going to do, Canada wasn’t the land of opportunity. We’re barely able to pay the heating bill or the rent.” Brian repeats one of the things I said in the past. 

“Brian, I’m sorry.” Mel says, looking down at the carpet.

“I didn’t care, as long as Gus was taken care of. What I do care about is Lindsay tried to have a baby after I told her no.” Brian tells us.

“If there are three and the clinic confirmed that before we got here, then who’s is Michael trying to use?” Justin asks him.

“What?” Mel asks.

“Michael made plans to have another kid, only it looked like he thinks that it will be Brian’s. Unless there’s a sample somewhere we don’t know about then where the hell is Michael getting it from?” Justin tells her.

“Lindsay?” Mel asks.

“How would I know, I haven’t talked to him since I pressed charges. I’ve done everything to help and now your treating me like I’m the enemy.” I protest.

“You haven’t talked to or tried to contact Michael?” Justin asks.

“Of course not, after what he did.” I tell him.

“Great. Then explain how your voice was on his answering machine. You know ‘Michael call me, I have a better way than the idiotic plan you came up with.’ That is word for word the message you left on his machine. What was the better plan?” Justin asks.

I sat there staring at him, before I realized he repeated the message I left on Michael’s machine. “Did he tell you that, if he did why would you trust him?” I dodged.

“Let’s just say I heard it.” Justin tells me.

“WHAT WAS YOUR PLAN??” Brian explodes.

“Nothing, other than convincing Justin to start working again. Until he agreed to stay here with you, Justin’s career was skyrocketing, now because of you he’s giving up everything. For what, to sit at home while you forget him? Do you realize how fucking selfish you are, and what you did caused for him? Instead of going out there and showing the world he still had it, he was stuck working at Kinnetik and raising kids. He was living a life most artists never achieve, but you made him give up everything, while you gave up nothing. You treated him like an afterthought, still running to save Mikey. Yet instead of doing what any sane person would do, and seeing that he would never be enough for you, he stayed, making sure you still had a company while you forgot everything. Now you’re back once again, likely promising him things will be different, but we all know the minute you’re well, off you’ll go, leaving him behind again! He deserves better than the shit he’s dealt with from the beginning with you!” I yelled at Brian.

“So you decided to make sure I wouldn’t want him anymore?” Brian asks, quietly.

“I don’t know what your talking about.” I tell him.

“I hope that’s true because if it isn’t, nothing will stop me from making you wish you’d left Justin alone.” Brian tells me.

I let the tears spill, looking to Mel for help. She looked straight in my eyes and flinched for some reason. The doorbell rang, and when Jenny ran past the room to answer it, I knew I needed to get out of here. 

“Mom, this guy says he needs to talk to you.” Jenny tells me, bringing Kip into the room. Fuck me.

“Lindsay, I want you out of the house.” Brian tells me. “Kip, do yourself a favor and make sure I don’t see you again.” 

“So this is what you prefer?” Kip says, looking at Justin.

“Were you desperate?” Justin asks, smirking when Brian grabs him. “Lindsay, run far and fast.” He warns me.

I grabbed my purse and walked out, taking Kip with me as he seemed to think if he stood there Brian would want him. We were in my car before I said anything.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask.

“Michael said he wanted insurance that you couldn’t make Brian think you were any better than he is. You know, this wasn’t as easy as either of you think. There are people on the street asking a lot of questions, and I’m not going to get my ass in hot water for either of you.” He tells me.

HUNTER

I stopped by to see Cameron, since I’d been busy with Jenny. Cameron was my buddy and I laughed when Emmett was yelling that Brian would kill them if they bought Cameron anything that sheds, as he opened the door.

“Hey Sweetie, how’s it going? Help me convince Drew not to let big blue eyes get us killed.” Emmett asked, pulling me in.

“Where are Brian and Justin?” I ask.

“Honey, there is so much I have to tell you. Thank God they won’t kick my ass, since they never mind that you know.” Emmett tells me.

After Emmett told me what was going on, I kissed Cameron on the head and left, heading to the diner to find Deb. If I talked to Michael, it was likely that I would end up in jail. She was standing at the counter glaring at Ryan. Ryan honestly didn’t care, as long as the other employees were happy.

“Ryan, can Deb and I use your office?” I asked, and then took Deb when he told me to go ahead.

“I’m working, and really, since when do you bother to remember me?” Deb asks me.

“Deb, now isn’t the time. You need to find out if Michael really did get a surrogate to have a kid.” I tell her.

“Why would he do that? We’re planning to get Jenny.” She asks.

“Because I guess he thinks that if he forces a kid on Brian, that Brian will walk away from the family he fucking wanted the minute he met Justin. Do you realize how fucking insane this would make Michael?” I ask her.

“Don’t talk about him like that.” She glares, pointing her finger in my face. “Michael had everything taken from him because that little shit had to have it all. I could care less if Brian kept him around, but to forget my Michael isn’t acceptable. If you’d bother to be the son he made you...” 

“What, the kid he barely remembers? How about I explain to you exactly what kind of person Justin really is. He’s the person who let me lean on him when you and your son acted like Ben’s death should barely affect me. He’s the one who made sure I could still go to college, and then made sure that I didn’t go without anything. He’s the only reason you still have a fucking job. Because even though you treated him like shit, he wouldn’t use it as a reason to put you out on the street. You see all those loyal employees out there, they are being offered the opportunities that working here normally wouldn’t give them. Unlike you, Justin isn’t expecting praise for what he’s doing, or making them feel like they owe him for it. So do me a favor and use his name, because he has never done anything to deserve the way you treat him for not kissing your son’s ass.” I tell her.

“So he’s the one buying everything?” She asks.

“Yes, and he honestly doesn’t care you know.” I tell her.

“Well I care, because he stole Michael’s store.” She tells me.

“Michael stopped paying the rent, which means no store.” Ryan tells her from the doorway.

“So you’re all on his side.” Deb says angry.

“No. Because I wanted to fire you. He wouldn’t let me unless I didn’t have a choice. Apparently he didn’t want to take away your income.” Ryan tells her.

“Why?” Deb asks, looking puzzled.

“He knows that even though you shit all over him and Brian, that in the end it would still hurt Brian if you ended up losing everything. Brian isn’t like you, he doesn’t just write people off. It’s why he was still helping you with Michael, even when he hurt himself and his marriage by doing what you wanted him to do. For once be the person he and Vic wished you were and make sure Michael isn’t doing something else trying to destroy Brian’s life. Do you really think Michael should be around an innocent baby?” I ask her, and even she can’t hide the doubt. “There’s something else, something that you could do to help show you aren’t as selfish as you say Brian and Justin are. Someone is out trying hire someone to, in essence, bash Justin. Keep an ear out and if you hear something, tell Ryan.” I tell her.

“You think Michael is responsible, don’t you?” She asks.

“At this point, there isn’t much I wouldn’t put past Michael. I’m just glad it wasn’t you.” I tell her.

“You think I would do something like that to anyone!” She says, outraged.

“I don’t put much past you if you thought it would get Michael what he wanted.” I tell her, leaving.