February 16

Carl smirked as Brian shook his head and scanned his living room with a look of utter bewilderment on his face. It was rare to see the typically unruffled man so discombobulated, but as car after car of people had arrived at his house that morning, he'd grown more and more aggravated, much to the amusement of his equally delighted husband. And looking around at all the people sitting or standing in small clusters, he couldn't blame Brian for feeling agitated and out of his comfort zone.

The funny thing was, they hadn't even planned the mass exodus to Britin this morning; they'd all come on their own for various reasons. Ted and Blake had come over because they were sick of staying home. Em and Drew came over because Em wanted to talk to Justin about some idea he had for the baby shower. Jen and Tucker swung by because she was showing a house in the area later that afternoon.

He had no idea why Lindsay and Mel were there, but based on Lindsay's pout and Mel's exasperated expression, and the way Justin was pointedly ignoring both, he was sure it revolved around more unwanted advice. But at least the kids were there and having a ball bouncing from one group to another. Molly had come over with the purpose of nagging her brother into talking to her art group about Rage.

Daphne and her husband Liam showed up after that, their two-year-old son Kian in tow, to announce that she'd just found out that she was two months pregnant. At which point Brian turned white, walked over to the bar, poured himself a stiff one and slammed it down, muttering something about not being ready to 'deal with the hormonal twins from hell.' Liam shot him a commiserating glance and quickly followed suit.

And for Deb and him; well he was merely here to make sure did as she said she would. After her confrontation with Justin, Deb came home, confused and hurt by the boys reactions. And when he finally pulled the full story from her, he'd sighed and told her the truth – he didn't blame Justin one bit for saying the things he'd said.

Frankly, it had been a blow up that had been a long time coming; Justin wasn't known for holding his tongue on a perceived wrong. That he had done so for as long as he had was only due to his deference for Brian's feelings in the matter. But Carl had seen the storm brewing in his eyes every time Deb carelessly made a crack about Brian's former tricking or his unreliability or how she'd known he was trouble from the beginning. And saw how hard Justin had to bite his tongue on his thought on it.

It was bound to happen; and really, she needed to be told; because what Michael was doing wasn't right. Not only was he causing an undue amount of stress for Justin, it was creating friction within his own marriage as Ben was once again faced with Michael's unhealthy fixation on Brian. Even now, he'd been telling himself, and anyone that would listen, that Brian would 'soon get over it and come back to him' and that Justin was just being a drama queen.

Carl didn't know when exactly it had been that Michael had lost touch with reality, but he didn't see Brian forgiving him anytime soon.

But after a long discussion, Deb finally came around, especially once Emmett, in an unholy tizzy at her behavior, showed her the video of the confrontation between Justin and Michael. Deeply ashamed at the things she'd said, she called Michael and told him she was no longer putting up with his lies and half-truths and if he even thought of using her house as hiding place again, she'd kick his ass from here to Timbuktu.

And that was why they were here; she'd felt the need to apologize and try to smooth the waters between herself and the boys. But the boys were feeling, rightfully, hesitant given their history with Deb, and had been giving her wide berth all day; but hopefully this would be a step in the right direction.

"How the fuck did this happen?" Brian asked out of the blue, still looking around the room with an exasperated glare; especially when Justin just smirked and waved. Carl chuckled when Brian huffed and cast a disgruntled look his way. "I had a very quiet Sunday planned. Where the fuck did all these people come from?"

"One word," Emmett said, holding one finger up and then pointing it in Justin's direction. "Baby. Although, now that we are all here, make that two babies. I'm not sure who is the bigger draw at this point – Luc or Justin."

"I think Luc is just edging Justin out this time," Carl smirked, his hands in his pockets as he watched the chaos around him. "But just barely; and only because it's his first adventure into the outside world."

"Well, second," Ted said, shrugging when they all looked at him. "His first foray into the outside world was much less pleasant. It was to the doctor for his first check up. But technically, that was his first time out of the house."

"Yes, but it's still his first social visit," Emmett clarified, leaning against the wet bar as Brian continued to scowl at the unending upheaval of his day; that is until Jenny bounced up all smiles and worked her charm on him. He never could resist the Princess.

"Point," Ted nodded, sitting down heavily on a bar stool. "And am I glad for it. Frankly, we didn't think the staying at home with no help thing through very well."

"I tried to warn you," Brian smirked, his arms crossed over his chest. "But you both kept insisting that you wanted to do it by yourselves."

"And since when did you become an expert?" Emmett snorted, taking another sip of his drink. "I know that you have Gus, but Mel and Linds…oh."

Emmett paused, his mouth rounding as comprehension dawned; because, while Brian didn't have firsthand experience with dealing with a newborn baby on a daily basis, he did have a front row seat for the mess that became the girls relationship in the wake of Gus' birth.

"Yup, that right there," Brian nodded, sending an unreadable look the girls way, and sighing wearily when it looked like they were fighting yet again. Carl honestly didn't understand how they stayed together with all that strife. "Lindsay was convinced they could do it all on their own and look what happened."

"The massive shit bomb known as Maryanne," Ted nodded knowingly; and he should know, as when it all imploded, he to Mel, what Brian had been to Lindsay. "Not that I'd ever do that to Blake."

"And I didn't think you would," Brian huffed, casting a look Ted's way. "But that whole fucking mess definitely taught me that no matter how prepared you are, and no matter how ready you think you are, you really aren't. And there is nothing wrong with asking for help. God knows I will be more than happy to have Grandmoms Jen and Deb, Grandpa Carl and Aunties Molly and Daphne here to help out when they can."

"What about Grandpa Tucker?" Emmett teased, snickering when Brian winced.

"Oh God," Brian said, casting a look over at Justin, who was sitting on a chair, holding and cooing at Luc. "Don't let Justin hear you say that. While he may have made his peace with Tucker, he still cringes at the thought that his step-daddy is not that much older than he is. He might just have an aneurysm if you say that to him."

"That boy really needs to get over it already," Emmett said, casting an exasperated look over at Justin. "Tucker makes Jen incandescently happy; that's all that should matter."

"He knows that," Brian said quietly, a small content smile on his face as he watched his husband feed Luc. Likely imagining their own child in Justin's arms. "But tell me truthfully, if it was your mother who showed up with a man only five to ten years older than you, and introduced him as your new daddy; would you be so open-minded?"

"First of all, honey," Emmett snorted, a hint of derision in his voice; the same tone he got whenever 'the woman who bore him', his words, came up in a conversation. "My mother is a dried-up, sexless, shrew of a woman who wouldn't know what to do with a fine man like Tucker. She'd be too busy praying to her God for his everlasting salvation to know how to satisfy him. But I do concede your point."

Brian snorted, and toasted Emmett with his glass as they shared a knowing look. Carl watched the exchange and couldn't help wondering when they'd gotten to the point in their friendship that they could do that; exchange a look and know what the other is thinking. It wasn't they weren't good friends in the past, but he'd never seen them connect like Brian and Michael did; or even the way Brian and Ted did. But lately it seemed as if Emmett had stepped up to the plate and crossed some invisible barrier in Kinneyland.

"So," Brian drawled, his eyes still trained on Emmett. "Does anyone want to address the white elephant in the room, or will it be up to me to ask where Mikey and the Good Professor is?"

Emmett scowled and knocked back his drink in an attempt to remain silent; Brian just continued to stare at him with his infamous tongue in cheek smirk. They seemed to hold a silent argument for a couple of minutes before Emmett finally huffed and caved.

"Let's just say he was advised to stay away, and leave it at that, sweetie." Emmett said, looking like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.

"Right," Brian said, arching a brow, a look of utter disbelief on his face; Emmett squirmed. "Do I want to know what he said to warrant the beat down?"

Carl's eyebrows shot up at that comment, having been completely taken by surprise at this new information. He'd seen Michael's injuries; and more, he'd had to listen to him whine about them for several hours as he tried to gain sympathy from his mother. But, Michael had been oddly reticent on telling Deb who had done it to him and why it happened; he'd just said over and over that it had all been a misunderstanding and told her to let it go. Carl hadn't been aware that the beat down had been handed down by Emmett. But now that he thought about it, it made a whole lot of sense.

"No, you don't," Emmett said, a hard glint in his eyes. "Suffice to say, he got what he deserved. Although, I am only responsible for the black eye; the bruise on his chin and the scrape on his cheek happened as he hit the concrete. As for the rest of his injuries, I have no idea where they came from. But, you know as well as I do that everyone on the Avenue loves Justin and thinks of him as their Prince. So, it could have been any number of people who witnessed or heard what Michael did that day."

"He isn't their…" Brian hissed like a scalded cat, scowling at Emmett as if he'd said that Justin was going to compete in the King of Babylon again; and yes, he'd heard that entertaining story from the gossip queen himself.

"Yes, yes, I know," Emmett rolled his eyes and waved him off. "He's your Prince. Jesus. I don't remember you being this possessive when you first started dating."

"I do," Ted said, smirking when Brian turned his scowl onto him. "I distinctly remember that within the first few weeks of Justin starting to hang out with us; one night, you were hanging all over him and kissed him on the jaw. And caveman over here came up to you, threw your arms off of him and dragged Justin over to him and wrapped him in his arms in very definite 'hands off; mine' manner."

"That's right!" Emmett chortled, clapping his hands with glee, and blatantly ignoring Brian's death glare as he turned to Ted. "I had forgotten about that."

"It wasn't that bad," Brian grumbled, his cheeks red as he looked away.

"Yes it was, sweetie," Emmett disagreed, his lips stretching into a shit-eating grin as he patted Brian on the shoulder. "But that's okay; you let us know right up front that your little blond was different and off limits; even if you wouldn't admit it to yourself at the time. So, good for you, sweetie."

"You guys are just so hilarious," Brian drawled sarcastically, obviously trying to get them away from a touchy subject; and then he paused and pulled his cell phone out his pocket, frowning as he read the display "Excuse me, I need to take this."

Carl watched as Brian answered it and walked to a quiet corner of the room; he only listened with half an ear as the boys began to reminisce about the Great Brian and Justin Show, more concerned with Brian's reaction than what they were saying. Brian's face grew darker and darker, his voice taking on a harsh note as he talked and Carl sighed, having a bad feeling he knew exactly what the call was about. Despite being retired, he still heard things on the street; and if the rumors proved right, this would not end well.

Making his excuses to the boys, Carl slowly walked over to Brian and silently joined him, careful to stay out of earshot; Brian looked up as he approached, his face unreadable as he continued to talk to the person in a soft, but firm tone. Carl watched and waited as Brian talked for a few more minutes, knowing he'd likely need to defuse the situation if it was indeed related to the gallery. Brian exhaled explosively and hung up, his face a blank mask as he stared at Carl; but his eyes…his eyes gave everything away as they were filled with a helpless rage and terror.

Taking a deep breath, Carl slowly walked up and then just stood there waiting for the Kinney wrath to fall down on him.

"You knew about this," Brian said in a remarkably calm tone; but Carl had gotten to know this boy well, and could tell he was just barely holding it together.

"I heard that there was a break in at the gallery and that some of Justin's work was destroyed, but didn't know for sure," Carl said, trying to stick to the bare facts, rather than what he speculated to be true. "I also know that Tak said that he needed to talk to you about the case when I saw him yesterday; but outside of that, everything else was rumor or speculation."

Brian scoffed and looked away; and again, Carl couldn't blame him for being upset and drawing the conclusions that he'd had, as Carl had done the same.

"They defaced the painting of me, Carl," Brian said, his hands trembling; but whether it was due to fear or rage, he couldn't tell. "This asshole wrote the words 'Die Whore' on it. That doesn't sound like a coincidence or rumor to me given that all of the art of me, as well as the painting and any sketches that were of me and Justin were destroyed in the loft."

"But without physical evidence linking them," Carl said, feeling a bit helpless with the rhetoric he was spouting; even if he was retired, he couldn't turn of the cop inside of him. "They can't rule out the possibility that it's a different vandal."

"But you don't believe that," Brian said, looking back at him, his lips compressed into a thin white line, obviously needing the acknowledgement.

"Everything in my gut says they're related," Carl said, verbally confirming what the both of them knew to be true no matter what line had been handed to him.

"Fuck," Brian spat, his eyes trained on a laughing Justin, who was now chatting to an excitable Jenny as she pressed her hands against his stomach. "Just what we fucking need. I just got Justin to calm down a bit and to agree to let me handle this; and now, he's going to be on the fucking warpath if he hears this. Although, there is no way in hell I'm going to tell him about it if I can help it."

Carl rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had been afraid of this very reaction when Tak told him that he just felt that the two incidents were connected. Brian was a notorious control freak, and there was no one else in this world, outside of Gus and Jenny, that he loved more than Justin. That he would move Heaven and Earth to keep the man safe was an understatement.

"Brian," Carl said, pausing to gain his attention; Brian looked over, his eyes wild with fear. "I'll warn you again, though I doubt you'll listen; but keeping Justin in the dark is going to backfire on you."

"Then tell me what am I supposed to do, Carl?" Brian hissed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm between a rock and a hard place. You saw what happened when Justin found out about the stalker targeting me at the loft. He had a fucking anxiety attack so bad that he ended up staying overnight in the hospital, with the doctors warning him that he needed to reduce his stress or there could be complication for both him and Sunbeam. I can't take the chance of a repeat."

"I know, son," Carl said, resting his hand on Brian's shoulder and squeezing. "But think about telling him something; because if you keep this from him, and he finds out from another source like he did with Michael, it could end just as badly for you. And you know that."

"Fuck," Brian cursed again, ignoring the looks Ted and Emmett were sending his way; he dropped his head into his hands. "I don't know what to do."

"You just take care of you and our Sunshine and Sunbeam;" Carl said, squeezing his shoulder once more as he walked off to have a chat with the other two boys about moving certain measures forward. Nothing was going to hurt those boys if he had any say in it. "Let me and the others handle the rest."