January 12

He had been walking through the park when he saw them – the man of his dreams and the bastard that stole him away from him. They were walking hand in hand with their son and their son’s sister, a merry little band chattering away as if they hadn’t a care in the world. Like they hadn’t ripped his heart out and stomped on it.

He fought to take a deep breath, but couldn’t, his lungs constricting as he watched the bastard kiss his beautiful love softly on the lips, lingering for several seconds even as the boy gagged and made faces and the girl smiled dreamily at the two. The bastard pulled away and smiled softly, his hand caressing the stomach as they continued on their way.

His love laughed, and just shook his head at something, completely oblivious to anything but the bastard; and he seethed, his blood boiling as he realized the implications of the caress. The baby that was the bane of his existence. The little parasite that kept his love trapped and bound to the bastard and away from his side where he belonged. If there was only a way to get rid of the little interloper, he was certain that whatever spell the bastard had his love under would break and he could be there to pick up the pieces and mend his love’s broken heart.

Sliding out of the shadows, he followed his love and the others at a safe distance, making sure to keep to the trees or behind the bushes, as he knew if the bastard saw him, he would whisk his beauty away and then he wouldn’t see him again for some time. It seemed like he could never get close to his love anymore; at least not alone as that bastard was constantly attached to his side.

He halted as the little group stopped by a bench and his love and the bastard sat down, each ever so solicitous to the other that it made him sick. His stomach churned and he nearly frothed at the mouth as he watched the bastard’s hands soothe his love and the way his love reciprocated, ever drawn into the web the bastard spun to keep him there. It made him physically ill as those caresses took a more intimate turn in his mind, and suddenly he was watching them in the backroom at Babylon, their hands sliding over naked skin and their lips everywhere as the bastard brought his love to orgasm.

The only good thing about those times was how beautiful his love looked in the throes of pleasure; the way he just lost himself to moment, his head tipped back, soft lips parted, his hands clenched in the bastard’s hair as he stiffened and came. He could easily imagine himself in the bastard’s place. That it was his lips on his love’s and his hands sliding over his love’s creamy skin; that it was his mouth swallowing his love whole and his hair his love gripped as he came down his throat.

He knew that if he'd only had the chance, he could make his love forget about the bastard. He’d had the chance once, but he squandered it, pulling away and his love shrugged him off without even batting an eye. But this time, when he got his chance, when he got his love alone, he wouldn’t waste the opportunity. He’d bind his love to him forever and he would never let his beauty go.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully walked into the shrubbery behind them, curious as to what they were talking about. Given the way the girl was waving her arms in excitement and gesturing, it had to do something with the parasite. He scowled, his stomach souring at the reminder; he had to do something about that and soon. Like hell was he going to lose his love to this interloper.

Stepping carefully, he halted about six feet away and listened in, scowling when the girl called the blonde papa and the brunet just smiled and did nothing.

… … … … …

“It was really cool, Papa J,” Jenny said, her excitement obvious by the way she waved and fluttered her hands. “The couple took a small video of the mother’s stomach each day as the mother started showing and then they edited it all together and ran it at two or four times the speed or something like that so it looked like the stomach was expanding at a fast pace. And I thought it would make a cool end of the year project for Gus’ mass media class, but he’s too shy to ask.”

“Shut up, Jenny,” Gus huffed, glaring at his sister. “I wasn’t too shy; I just couldn’t find the right time to ask.”

“Well, you need to,” Jenny huffed, casting a glare at her brother. “Papa J is just starting to show, and if they don’t start the recordings now, you won’t be able to capture most of the pregnancy before you have to edit the clips for your class.”

“I know,” Gus huffed and then pulled his lip between his teeth. “I just…”

“Okay, enough bickering you two,” Justin said, holding a hand out in front of him in a hushing motion; he turned to Brian and arched a brow. “What do you say, Bri; think you’re up to filming my stomach for what…” Justin trailed off and looked at Gus, “thirty seconds a day? Would that be enough footage to work with?”

“That would be perfect, Jus,” Gus said, smiling shyly. “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind, Gus,” Justin smiled and reached over to ruffle the boy’s hair much to Gus’ annoyance. Justin turned back to Brian. “Well, honey. Think you can stand filming me a few seconds every day?”

“Oh, I suppose I can take a few seconds out of my busy schedule and force myself to do it,” Brian said, a tongue in cheek smirk pasted on his face; and then he leaned in to whisper in Justin’s ear. “It’s not like it’s a hardship to ogle your body.”

“Dad!” Gus exclaimed, and then groaned and covered his face with his hands as Justin flushed. Jenny just looked between the three puzzled as she hadn’t heard what had been said between her Papa J and Uncle Brian. “Must you?”

“Yes,” Brian smirked, dodging when Justin went to smack him on the back of the head.

“But you have to wear the same thing every day for it to work, Papa J,” Jenny said, shrugging it off as one of those things she’d understand when she was older. “So, maybe you can wear like a pair of black track pants and a plain white or plain black t-shirt?”

“We’ll figure it out, Jenny girl,” Brian reassured her, rubbing his hand over Justin’s stomach. “Don’t you worry about it. You know what an artistic perfectionist your Papa J is. He’ll make sure everything is exact before we shoot the film each day.”

“Wicked!” Gus grinned, his face lighting up with excitement. “Thanks Jus, Dad; I can’t wait to work on this project. It’s going to turn out so cool. And maybe you can help me with it, Jus. You know when I start piecing things together.”

“Of course, Sonny Boy,” Justin nodded, a content smile on his face. “You know that I’d be happy to help.”

“Well, you ready to continue our walk, Sunshine?” Brian said, getting to his feet. “You know what the doc said; you need to make it a habit to get some exercise every day.” Brian paused, then leaned down to whisper, "And not just between the sheets."

Justin flushed and pinched Brian in the side, snickering when he yelped.

“Yup,” Justin said with a sigh, massaging his stomach with his hand as he stood. “I just needed to sit for a moment; my stomach’s been sore lately."

“You okay, Sunshine?” Brian asked, wrapping his arm around the slight blonde, a concerned look on his face.

“I’m fine,” Justin said, waving the concern off. “The doc told me that it was perfectly normal right now as my ligaments are stretching as the pregnancy progresses. Let’s get going. Sunbeam is hungry.”

“Sunbeam is always hungry, Papa J,” Jenny giggled as they set off down the park path once more. Gus nodded emphatically, and then shuddered as he recalled the last time he’d seen his Jus eat, making Brian laugh and squeeze his shoulder in sympathy.

Justin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, since Sunbeam is steering this ship, there is not much I can do at the moment. Shall we go to the diner? I could go for a double bacon cheeseburger and some onion rings right now.”

“I’m sure you could,” Brian snorted, leading his little family down the park path and towards Liberty Diner. “But when you get heartburn from it later tonight, don’t bitch to me. I will feel no sympathy for your food choices.”

… … … … …

Hate, thick and black as tar, bubbled inside him as he watched his love walk away in the arms of the bastard, both wrapped up in the other and with not a care in the world. He clenched his hands into fists, and watched as his love looked back over his shoulder, a weird expression on his face, and he could only hope that he was feeling the pull between them too. But soon enough, he turned away, back to that asshole, and continued down the path.

Soon. Soon he would have his beauty all to himself, and there was nothing that the bastard could do to stop him.