February 7

Justin held his breath and surreptitiously looked around Brian's office, his ears peeled for any movement outside the door. But after a minute, when no sounds echoed in the office outside, Justin sighed with relief and sat up slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. Sliding to the edge of the couch, Justin placed his feet on the floor and stood up with a happy sigh and stretched. God, that felt good.

Pausing once more as he heard someone shuffling some papers around outside, Justin once again held his breath and waited several seconds; and then sighed with relief when footsteps began walking away from Yasmeen's desk. Straightening up, Justin swiftly and silently headed for the door, completely irritated that his wardens were taking this bed rest thing a bit too literally. There was absolutely no reason that he couldn't get up and move around a bit; his own doctor had told Brian just this morning that he was fine as long as he got periodic rest at home. It didn't, by any means, mean that Justin was confined to the fucking bed; or couch in this case.

But try explaining that to his husband and his minions; not that he'd ever call Cynthia or Yasmeen that to their faces. He did want to live to see his child born. But just try to explain that to them, and all he got was a raised brow and an unimpressed 'what of it' look.

Striding towards the door, Justin could nearly taste the sweet call of freedom when a loud voice called out from behind him, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Park it mister!" Yasmeen growled, pointing to the couch with one had on her hip.

Fuck! And he had been so close!

"But, Yasmeen! I just want to..." Justin said, looking at the door a little desperately, but trailed off as he knew that nothing would appease his jailer.

"No!" Yasmeen huffed, still pointing at the couch with a stern look on her face. "Plant your booty! You are to stay on that couch and not exert yourself. I will bring you whatever you need. Do not make me repeat myself."

Justin huffed and stomped back over to the couch, much like a five-year-old would have, glaring at Yasmeen the entire way. But fuck it, he was so sick of being treated like an invalid and he hadn't had his fucking coffee in three days. Yasmeen remained unperturbed, however; she crossed her arms over her chest and stared pointedly at him, tapping her foot until, finally, Justin caved and flopped back onto the couch as ungraciously as possible. All he wanted was half-a-fucking-cup of coffee, and to get up and get it himself; was that too much to ask?

"So what was it that you needed?" Yasmeen asked in a tone that brooked no arguments, arranging the files she'd brought in on Brian's desk.

Justin just pouted; there was no way he could tell her what he'd really been after as technically, he wasn't supposed to be drinking it for another few days. But Yasmeen just walked over and raised her brows, and Justin knew she wouldn't leave until he said something to appease her curiosity.

"I was just going to get a drink of water," Justin said with his best sweet smile; although, it likely was a weak thing at best given how pissy he was feeling today.

"Nice try, buster," Yasmeen snorted, giving Justin a 'do I look stupid' look. "But since there is a full bottle of water right beside your head, I'm not buying it. Try again."

Justin winced; fuck, he'd forgotten that Brian had set it there before running off to do…whatever it was he was doing. He couldn't quite remember as he'd been too busy fuming at been coddled like he was some hapless damsel to pay all that much attention. He thought he'd said something about meeting with Ted; or was that yesterday? Fuck, his memory seemed to be getting worse and worse these days.

"Justin?" Yasmeen prompted, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"I was going to get some hot chocolate," Justin said, all faux innocence; close enough anyways. And if he couldn't have coffee, at least he could have some damned chocolate. And if he was really lucky, she'd doctor it up with some caramel syrup, whipped cream and chocolate shavings, just as he liked it.

"I'm sure you were," Yasmeen agreed dryly, looking like she didn't believe him at all; which he didn't blame her because Brian had warned her about the coffee thing. Jerk. "You won't mind if I go ahead and get that for you then, will you?" Justin scowled; Yasmeen smirked. "Just as I thought; you just keep your cute, little tush right where it is, and I'll be right back with your chocolate."

Justin huffed, grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, blatantly ignoring the laughter echoing throughout the room as Yasmeen headed off to the break room. Just wait until Brian was sick again, bitching about being stuck in bed; he was so going to pay for this nonsense if it was the last thing Justin did.

Lifting the pillow from his face, Justin heaved a frustrated sigh and began counting the squares in the windows once more, completely bored out of his mind. The least the asshole could have done was give him a sketchpad and some pencils before he left; maybe even one of the new account files, so that he could work out some boards for it. Or he could have given him the baby magazines and samples that they'd gotten that morning; anything other just leaving him to lay there, watching the seconds of his life tick away on the wall clock, and driving him mad.

Justin had just reached the last window, when a loud clatter out in the hallway caught his attention and he rolled his eyes. The loud, strident voice carrying up the halls announced their visitor's presence long before she even made it to the office. Great. He so didn't need this today of all days; not when he was on a three-day coffee deficit and had spent the last two days in bed because of her fucking son.

Sitting up straight on the couch, Justin crossed his leg over his knee and rested his clasped hands on it; he watched the doorway with a bored expression on his face, the picture perfect WASP prince. If she wanted a scene today, she was going to damn well get a scene today; just not likely how she expected it to pan out.

Smiling thinly as he heard familiar footsteps all but stomping down the hall, Justin seethed quietly, Deb's likely opening words already echoing in his head; because really, she was painfully predictable in her reactions to poor, little Mikey's woebegone bullshit. Never mind the fact that the asshole had fully deserved the verbal ass-whooping he had gotten courtesy of Brian yesterday. If her poor little baby was hurt, everyone else around him had to hurt too or they'd never hear the end of it.

But not this time; he'd wanted to do this for years, and had only been waiting for Brian to wise up to both Novotnys manipulative ways.

"Where is that asshole?" Deb demanded as she strode through the door in a high dudgeon, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

Yup; he did so hate to be right.

Pasting a thin smile on his face, Justin rose from his seat and let her sweat it out for a moment as he crossed over to Brian's desk, unwilling to cave to her demands; ones that, quite frankly, she had no right to make. If she spent nearly the same amount of time disciplining her brat of a son as she had riding Brian's ass over the years, they wouldn't be in this mess right now as her child might have some actual fucking manners.

If he'd tried anything like this, his mother would have pulled him over her knee and beaten his ass black and blue no matter how old he may have been at the time; and then followed it up with thorough mouth scrubbing. And then, she would have forced him to do some sort of community service revolving around whatever horrible thing he'd said just to beat it into his head just how badly he'd behaved.

He would've never gotten away with this bullshit; and he wasn't going to allow Michael to get away with it either.

"How the hell should I know where your son is?" Justin asked in a frosty voice, arching a brow as he sat on the corner of Brian's desk; and then smirked internally when Deb's mouth gaped in disbelief.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Deb demanded furiously, her eyes spitting fire at him.

But, sadly for her, he was no longer a seventeen-year-old boy and wasn't in the least bit cowed by her attitude. He wasn't Brian; he didn't need her approval because he, for the most part, grew up in a stable, loving environment. And while his father had turned out to be a homophobic jackass, his mother was a fucking saint, who would lay down her life for either of her kids.

It was something he was grateful for every day of his life.

"I thought it was pretty cut and dried what I meant by that, Deb," Justin said, still acting like the icy little WASP he'd been trained up to be. "And frankly, I'm not in the mood to put up with your bullshit today."

"Well I want to know what exactly your husband said that has my baby looking so gutted," Deb spat, obviously not catching a clue; not that Justin had expected her to; but he had hoped for a brief moment. "That asshole had better not have…

Deb squawked as Justin rolled his eyes at her tirade and turned his back on her; nothing pissed Deb off more than the visual proof that someone wasn't listening to her. She wouldn't call you on it if you sat there and made the pretense of listening; even if in reality your brain was miles away. After all, how else had Mikey gotten away with it all of his life? He'd learned to sit there, tune her out, all the while making the appropriate noises and then promptly forgot it all, if he'd even heard it to begin with.

But visibly turn your back on her and it was the end of the fucking world. But Justin was at the point of not caring. He strode over to the pile of baby samples and started sifting through them while Deb made indignant noises behind him. Smiling as he found what he was looking for, he quickly tore the package open, strode back over to the desk and slammed the newborn-sized disposable diaper on the desk in front of her.

Deb stared at him with a funny expression on her face, clearly puzzled at  his actions; so he picked it up and handed it to her.

"What the fuck's that for?" Deb asked, taking the diaper and looking at him in complete bewilderment.

"I figured that since Michael obviously can't wipe his own ass without you getting up it," Justin stated with a sweet smile. "You might need it for his diaper change later today. I quite happen to like this brand; very absorbent, less mess to deal with."

"Sunshine!" Deb gasped, dropping the diaper to the floor as she clutched at her chest in shock. "I can't believe you said that to me!" Then she narrowed her eyes and pointed one blood-red fingernail at him and hissed. "This is all that asshole's fault."

And there it was; just as he had been waiting for, it was all Brian's fault. Well, fuck that!

"No," Justin stated firmly, holding his hand up when she started to reply; he was so done with this shit. "This is your son's fault for stressing me out so badly that I had to be hospitalized overnight due to an anxiety attack and a spike in my blood pressure."

Deb's mouth snapped shut as she stared at Justin with hurt bewilderment. Justin sighed internally; a small part of him feeling bad about what he was about to relay, as he'd never wanted to hurt Deb. She'd taken him in and really was like a second mother to him. But this shit had to stop here and now.

They were no longer teenagers; hell, they weren't even twenty-somethings anymore. And Michael's virulent behavior would no longer be condoned by his friends. And more, she needed to realize that and let her man-child reap what he'd sown. Continuing to listen to his half-truths, and outright lies in some instances, was going to get her quickly isolated and barred from the rest of their lives if this kept up.

"What are you talking about?" Deb asked, sitting down heavily in one of the chairs in front of Brian's desk.

Justin smiled grimly, a part of him having expected this.

"I see he played you true to form," Justin said quietly, a sad smile on his mouth. "Went home, crying to his mommy about how mean Big Bad Brian was, but didn't bother to fill you in on the details, did he?"

Deb bristled and shot Justin a disapproving look for his choice of words, but he just crossed his arms and stared back, a bland look on his face. She had no place chastising him when she couldn't even keep her whiny, little bitch of a son in line.

"Well, before you condemn someone, you should find out all the facts," Justin said, walking around the desk and opening Brian's laptop.

He quickly keyed in the password and navigated Chrome until he had what he wanted pulled up. Spinning the laptop around, Justin came back around the desk and sat in the chair next to Deb.

"Since you are unaware of why Brian bitched Michael out, let me fill you in." Justin paused and shot her an exasperated look. "Although, truthfully, he's a fucking adult and it really isn't any of your business." Deb opened her mouth, but Justin beat her to it, saying something that he knew would shut her up in an instant. "Did you know that he has been hounding me since we announced the pregnancy?"

Deb closed her mouth and shook her head. Justin nodded and typed a few words into the YouTube search bar and pulled up the first video. Sadly, he didn't have a copy of the second. Brian had that thing locked down tight the moment that he'd seen it; and no one had wanted to go up against the King of Liberty Ave to post it after the way he'd reamed out Todd's very hapless and idiotic roommate.

"Oh yeah," Justin said, queuing up the video, but hitting pause before it could play. "The first time happened two days after New Years. He stormed up to me in the Diner, I think you were off work that day; and had the nerve to accuse me of being a gold digger and trapping Brian into our marriage by getting pregnant."

Deb's eyes bulged and her mouth slackened as she looked between the computer and Justin in disbelief. Justin compressed his lips and nodded.

"Never mind the fact that we've been married for five years, and I make just as much money as him," Justin laughed bitterly; he'd not been surprised at all by Michael's actions that day. He'd actually been waiting for something similar as soon as they'd made the announcement. "He then began a smear campaign, stating that very thing, which had every jealous queen on the Avenue looking at me with pity. Well, that is until Emmett set them straight."

Yasmeen came back at that point a frown on her face as she stared at the two of them. Justin smiled tightly and shook his head, which had her backing out the room with his chocolate. Damn it.

"If that wasn't enough," Justin said as he turned back to Deb. "About two-three weeks later, he confronted me for a second time; except this time, he stood in the middle of the Big Q, demanding to know where MY husband was and why he hadn't called him like some jealous fish wife. And then he proceeded to tell me that it wouldn't be long before Brian went back to tricking because apparently I'd be too fat for him. "

Deb stared at Justin with wide eyes, and he could tell that she wasn't quite sure if she believed him or not. That was exactly why he'd pulled up the video of that day.

"This is the video," Justin said hitting play and letting it go right up until Michael told Justin that eventually Brian would get tired of playing Daddy and then hit stop. He really didn't need to share what Daphne had said after that as it would just bring out the lioness in Deb and then Daphne would eviscerate her if she came calling.

Deb bit her lip and looked down at her clasped hands. Justin sighed, as he knew that it was about to get worse.

"But that isn't even the worst of it," Justin said, echoing his thoughts. Deb looked up with a disillusioned look in her eyes. "No, the worst was three days ago, when he accused me of being a danger to Brian in front of a whole restaurant."

Justin paused and looked away, his eyes tearing a bit as he remembered the shock of hearing those words. Deb reached out and squeezed his hand. Justin gave her a watery smile and then squared his shoulders and cleared his throat.

"He told me that Brian would be better off without me in his life," Justin continued, his voice chilling as the words once again echoed in his head. "Because somehow, it's my fault that some psycho destroyed our loft; and I'm not really sure, but I think he was about to imply that it would have been better off if I was dead just like he did at Linds and Mel's party all those years ago. But I could be wrong; he was cut off when Em walked up."

Deb gasped and slapped a hand her mouth; she shook her head like she didn't want to believe that of her child, but then looked at the computer, where a petulant Michael was staring at Justin in absolute hatred, and then back at Justin's tired face, and knew that he spoke the truth.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Deb asked, her voice thick with tears.

"Because we were handling like adults should," Justin shrugged, "by dealing with it ourselves." Justin paused and closed the laptop. "Not to mention that Brian didn't want to upset you since you seem determined to blame all of Michael's bullshit on Brian."

"I don't..." Deb automatically started to say, but then cut herself off with a small frown.

"You do," Justin said with a mirthless smile; he sighed and shook his head. "I can't count the number of times I've heard you blame Brian for something that Michael's done." Justin paused to look at Deb seriously. "And when you aren't blaming him, you're expecting him to clean up after Michael."

Deb bit her bottom lip and looked at Justin uncertainly.

"And when anyone tries to tell you otherwise, you never listen," Justin said as he rose from the chair and turned Brian's laptop around once more. "And Deb, I love you, but I'm not putting up with this shit anymore. It's ridiculous that you're chasing after a grown man trying to solve his problems and expecting everyone to clean up his mess. Let him deal with his own shit for once."

Deb nodded and looked away. Justin toyed with the files on Brian's desk, not sure what more there was to say. Deb stood and hugged Justin quickly before she walked towards Brian's door at a much more subdued pace than she'd entered.

"And Deb," Justin said, hating that he was about to issue the ultimatum, but knowing it needed to be said. "If you're only going to come in here and call my husband names, and blame him for things he didn't do, you aren't welcome in my presence anymore. I won't tolerate you bad mouthing him."

"Sunshine…" Deb trailed off, swallowing thickly as her eyes teared up. "I didn't mean…"

"You never mean to Deb," Justin said with a sad smile. "But instead of working to change it, you do it again and again, and I am tired to listening you talk down to my husband; especially in this situation where it was in no way his fault. Michael was warned, time and time again, that if he kept this attitude up, Brian was not going to tolerate it any longer. He chose to do it anyway. It is no one's fault, but his own."

"Well said, Sunshine," Brian said a bit tersely, startling them both.

Justin studied his husband's face, trying to judge just how long he had been present and what exactly he'd heard of their conversation. But Brian's face was unreadable as his eyes danced between Justin and his pseudo mother.

"Brian…" Deb said, walking forward to hug him; and then dropping her arms when he held up a hand to put her off.

"Not now, Deb," Brian said; and, as much as he was trying to hide it, Justin couldn't help but hear the hurt in his voice. He just didn't know whether it was Deb's or his words that put it there. "I'll talk to you later. Right now, I need to discuss something with Justin."

And fuck, that didn't sound good at all.

"Don't be mad at him, sweetheart," Deb whispered loud enough for Justin to hear and squeezed his arm. "He was just looking out for you as any good husband would. And I deserved it for all that I said."

Justin fought the urge to roll his eyes as Deb walked out of the office; of course Deb would automatically assume he was the one that Brian was angry at. Like she hadn't just stood there calling him names and had been ready to ream him out for his perfectly justified actions. But, baby steps he supposed.

Brian snorted at her words, shook his head and averted his gaze to the ceiling as if he were praying for patience. He rubbed a hand over his jaw and continued walking into the room, a take-out package in his hand. He set the bag down and flopped into his chair, staring out at nothing for several minutes; until, finally, Justin couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"Brian…" Justin said, and then closed his mouth when Brian just looked at him; he wasn't quite sure what to make of that look though.

They studied each other for a long drawn out moment; and then Brian exhaled explosively and sat up in his chair.

"Fuck this," Brian groused, pushing the intercom for Yasmeen's desk. "Yasmeen, do me a favor and see if we can get a room for two at either William Penn or at the Fairmont; I don't care which one at the moment. Just make the reservation for tonight and tomorrow with a late check-out on Sunday. Money is no object; get the best room they have available. Let me know if neither of them have any vacancies and we'll plan from there."

"Will do, Boss" Yasmeen acknowledged before turning off the intercom. Brian huffed and turned to Justin with an exasperated smile on his face.

"Do you still have a packed carry-on here?" Brian asked and then paused; shaking his head, he waved the question off. "Never mind; we'll just buy what we need there. But we are definitely getting the fuck out of here for the rest of the weekend. I am not in the mood to deal with anyone else's temper tantrums."

Justin grinned and jumped out of the chair he was sitting in; he crossed the room, grabbed Brian in a tight hug and  kissed him soundly on the mouth. Brian chuckled and pressed a kiss to Justin's brow before pulling away and shoving the takeout container his way.

"Here; I bought you something suitably disgusting for that beast that's growling in your belly."