March 6

Justin smiled and held Luc, cooing at him as he made little spit bubbles, the others conversation swirling around him. He looked up, his smile broadening when he found Brian watching the two of them with a half-smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Justin tipped his head back in invitation and closed his eyes as Brian lowered his head and softly kissed his lips, lingering just long enough that Luc squeaked and demanded their attention.

He opened his eyes as Brian pulled away and laughed when Brian looked down at Luc with an disgruntled look, and then Brian looked at Justin and dropped a kiss onto the tip of his nose. Justin looked down at Luc, who was now sucking on his fist, but seemed to be drawn to the vivid crimson of Brian's tie. Justin cooed again as Luc stopped sucking on his fist and reached out, batting at Brian's tie as he pressed his lips to Justin's ear.

"I can't wait to see you holding Sunbeam," Brian whispered, pressing a kiss to the tip of his ear; Justin bit back a giggle and shrugged his shoulder as it had tickled. And then he looked over his shoulder at Brian, surprised to find Brian's eyes back on him, his lips rolled between his teeth as if he wanted to say something, but was holding back due to the current mixed company.

But Justin could easily read the sentiment in his eyes, and whispered, "Me too."

Brian smiled and looked away, prompting Justin to do the same, and then he blushed as he realized that all eyes, bright with smiles, were on the two of them and he hadn't even noticed. Not that he usually noticed that sort of thing whenever Brian was in one of these moods. Justin tended to get a bit lost in the moment, and him, and savored it for the rarity that it was.

Pressing a kiss to Luc's forehead, Justin stood and circled the table, handing the small bundle of joy back to Blake, who immediately settled him into his carrier and placed a pacifier in his mouth when he started to fuss. Justin went back to his seat and sat down, leaning into Brian as he wrapped an arm around Justin's shoulders. And then he focused his attention back on the couple who were the entire reason for this gathering.

Deb and Carl were smiling at the two of them, looking like proud parents and, almost, as if this celebration was for Brian and Justin's anniversary rather than their own. They'd finally tied the knot two years ago after same-sex marriage had been legalized the year before and her boys now had the chance to either marry or have their unions recognized. And he and Brian, along with Ted and Blake, had decided to take them out to dinner for an early celebration.

While their actual anniversary wasn't until the tenth of the month, and Michael had put together a party for that coming weekend, there was no way in hell they were going to be there. Ted and Blake because they didn't want to keep Luc out the long yet; and Justin and Brian…well that was self-explanatory. Neither of them had seen Michael, except at a distance, for a month, and they planned to keep it that way.

"So, Sunshine," Deb said, in that tone that Justin had come to recognize as her, 'I'm about to meddle' tone. She took a sip of her wine and then set the glass down. "Have you signed up for birth classes yet? I've heard that they fill up pretty fast down there."

And yup, he knew it; he'd just been waiting for the baby to come up in some way tonight. Although, that she'd waited this long to start prying had been a pleasant surprise. Justin had been expecting that his pregnancy and Luc would have dominated the topics tonight, but Deb had been surprisingly circumspect on saying anything about it.

Likely due to his last email, where he'd told people that as much as he loved them, they needed to kindly butt the fuck out and allow him and Brian to decide what they wanted them to know. Which was why he couldn't help teasing her a bit now.

"No; why would I need those?" Justin asked, pasting a wide-eyed innocent look onto his face; one that had his husband snorting. "You just squeeze and out it pops, right?"

Silence descended on the table, all of them staring at Justin in disbelief; but whether it was because they couldn't believe that he'd said that or because they'd actually believed the nonsense pouring out of his mouth, he didn't know. But then Carl chuckled and Blake bit back a snicker; Ted just shook his head and Brian dropped his head into his hands, muttering something Justin didn't quite catch.

"Who needs classes for that?" Justin continued; because in for a penny, in for a pound.

"Sunshine!" Deb exclaimed, staring at Justin with disbelief; Justin grinned unrepentantly, chuckling wholeheartedly when Deb chose to smack Brian on the back of his head instead of Justin.

"What the fuck was that for?" Brian groused, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, I can't hit him," Deb complained, gesturing at Justin. "He's pregnant!" And then she pointed a bright red nail in Brian's direction. "Besides, I know you; and this is all your influence. Sunshine was not nearly this much of a smart ass until you corrupted him."

Justin laughed as Brian's eyes bugged out at that comment, and he stared at Deb incredulously; Deb just smirked, knowing full well that she was talking out of her ass. Then Brian turned and glowered at Justin.

"Laugh now, little twat," Brian hissed under his breath, drawing yet another bubble of laughter from Justin. "You'll pay for that later."

"I'm trembling," Justin snickered, fluttering his lashes; Brian huffed, grabbed his Beam and took a long swallow, shaking his head at Justin's audacity.

"Now, Sunshine," Deb said, turning back to the subject at hand; and damn it, he'd hoped that he'd adequately distracted her away from the topic. "You know they cover more than that."

"I know, Deb," Justin said, jabbing Brian in the side when he snickered; he'd known exactly what Justin had been trying to do, but hadn't bothered to help in Justin's deflection. "But I'm still not signing up for the classes."

"Why not?" Deb demanded, her hands going to her hips; Justin fought back a groan as Brian snorted into his drink. The traitor. "You need to know these things before giving birth."

"Because both Brian's and my schedules are far too erratic for us to sign up for them," Justin calmly explained, poking Brian in the side once again. And that really was the truth; they just didn't have the time to go to classes. "Especially Brian's as he often has to travel for work."

"Well, why don't you hire one of those…" Deb said, snapping her fingers as she tried to remember the word. "Oh, what are they called? Those professional birth coach people."

"A doula," Blake supplied, and then shrugged when all eyes turned to him. "What? I considered it for a bit after Ted fainted when he found out that he was going to be a father. I didn't need him passing out on me in the middle of the birth."

"Theodore never was all that good with the whole hospital bit," Brian smirked, snickering when Ted flipped him off.

"Hey, I made it through the birth just fine, fuck you very much," Ted groused, rocking Luc's carrier in the hope of getting him to fall asleep.

"Only because Blake would have gotten up out of that bed and kicked your ass if you would've passed out on him," Justin snorted, and then bumped fists with Blake when he held his up.

"We're getting sidetracked," Deb huffed, turning back to Justin; and he had to give her credit for her tenacity. Although, come to think of it, Deb always had been like a terrier with a bone when she was onto one of her pet projects. "So, hire one of those doula things."

"Uh no," Justin said, shaking his head emphatically; he had nothing against a doula in general, but he just didn't feel comfortable with that idea at all. Plus, there was no way in hell that he'd give Brian even a breath of an opportunity to book it. "I do not want someone I barely know sharing such an intimate experience; plus, there is no way in hell that Brian is getting out of this. He's the one who knocked me up, so he gets to face the consequences."

"But Sunshine…" Deb protested, her expression turning mulish. And fuck, he really didn't want to talk about this anymore; so he decided to toss her another bone.

"Besides, I never said I wasn't going to learn all those things that they do in the classes," Justin said, glaring at a highly amused Brian. He could've opened his mouth and fucking helped out here; but Justin supposed that this was his punishment for the smack on the head. "Just that I wasn't signing up for the actual classes."

"Well then, what the fuck are you going to do?" Deb demanded, blatantly ignoring Carl's exasperated sigh. Carl shot Justin a sympathetic look.

"I found this online class that will work much better for us," Justin shrugged. "They have all these videos where they cover all the basics you'd learn in a class. And they are available at anytime of the day or night, opposed to a set class time."

Deb huffed and shook her head.

"I don't understand all this fascination with online videos and that BoobTube thing you kids are always watching these days." Deb complained, her nose scrunched up.

And they all looked at her in confusion for a moment before it clicked and then they all laughed, only adding further to her confusion.

"YouTube, Deb," Brian snickered, rubbing his hand over his jaw. "It's YouTube."

"Whatever the fuck it is," Deb huffed, waving it off as unimportant. "It isn't right; you can't substitute a video for a live person being right there to answer your questions and guide you through the various exercises and what not. You can't replace a real mother's touch."

"But, that's why we have you, ma," Brian said with a sweet smile; Justin turned and stared at his husband as if he'd suddenly sprouted a second head. Or would that be third? Anyways, who…what the actual fuck…? Brian would never say something like that in public and it was seriously out of character. "Who needs a stranger to answer our questions when we have someone who knows and cares for us around to take care of these things."

Then Brian sat back and looked over at Justin, a devilish sparkle in his eyes; Justin watched him with narrowed eyes, wondering just when this alien had overtaken his husband's body. And then his eyes widened. Oh, no he didn't. Justin narrowed his eyes again, realizing that Brian was playing that game. The one where he tried to supplant Justin as Deb's favorite.

Oh, it was so on, Mr. Taylor-Kinney.

"Brian…you…" Deb stammered, her eyes flooding with tears as she pressed a hand against her chest. That fucking cheater; he'd known exactly what he had been doing here. "I can't believe that you…come here you little shit; I need to hug you."

Brian got up and wrapped his arms around Deb; (and seriously, who the fuck was this alien in his husband's skin) and patted her on the back; he kissed her on the top of her head, all the while staring at Justin with a smirk. Asshole. Then he released her and sat back down, leaning in to whisper for Justin's ears only.

"I win," Brian said, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Bite me," Justin hissed, even though he was still smiling at Deb as she wiped her eyes.

"Later," Brian promised with a shit-eating grin, kissing him on the ear.

"Will you two stop with the flirting?" Deb huffed, but she was smiling at them nonetheless. "Honestly, we can't take you anywhere."

"What fun is that?" Brian quipped, smirking when everyone rolled their eyes and groaned. And then he smugly turned to Justin and waggled his brows.

Justin just narrowed his eyes again; and then he smiled, because he knew how to turn this around on his husband. Brian arched a brow, obviously curious as to why Justin was smiling, but he refused to ask. That was okay. He'd learn in good time.

"Well, it's only right, Brian," Justin smirked, barely quelling a laugh when Brian's eyes narrowed, trying to figure out where Justin was going with all of this. "It's only fair that we focus on them since we are celebrating their anniversary."

Justin turned to Deb and Carl and beamed.

"Suck up," Brian muttered, again for Justin's ears only.

"Like you weren't doing the same," Justin said out of the corner of his mouth. And then he stood and picked up his glass of sparkling cider. "So, I'd like to propose a toast." Justin raised his glass and waited for the others to do the same. "To Deb and Carl, happy anniversary; and may you have many more happy years together."

"To Deb and Carl," Brian, Blake and Ted all said together; although, Brian was shooting an exasperated look Justin's way.

"Ah, thanks sweetheart," Deb beamed as everyone took a sip of their respective drinks. "I'm so glad that we got a chance to spend it with you boys."

"And with that in mind," Ted said, as he set aside his sparkling cider; he pulled out a thin, blue envelope, the kind that would hold a greeting card. "It's time for the gifts."

"Oh, boys," Deb protested, but Ted didn't listen to a word that she'd said; he just slid the envelope over in front of her. "You didn't have to…"

"Nonsense," Ted said, shooting a conspiring look with Brian; and Justin was well aware that his and Blake's gift was supposed to compliment his and Brian's gift, but he didn't know in what way. "It's just a little something that we hope that you'll both enjoy."

Deb smiled and then slid a finger under the flap and opened the card; she smiled, her eyes misting as she handed the card to Carl so he could read it. Then she picked up the paper that was in the card, read it and gasped. Justin watched, perplexed, as her eyes widened and her lips trembled as she stared at piece of paper before showing Carl, who gasped too. And then she flipped it around to show Justin and the others. His eyes widened as he realized that it was a voucher for an all expenses paid week in Niagara Falls.

Well, that made sense now.

"Oh, honey," Deb said, looking at the paper and then at Ted and Blake and then back to the paper and then back to her boys, her hand pressed to her mouth. "This is too much…"

"Not at all, Deb," Blake said firmly, shaking his head when she tried to hand the voucher back to them. "We wanted to do this. I know that you were planning to go last year, and then Ben got sick and you had to cancel; and that you haven't had a chance to reschedule the trip. So, this is incentive for you two to finally get to it."

"Thank you, boys," Carl said, a little choked up himself as he took the voucher from Deb's hand and placed it back into the card. "I'll get back to you once we've decided on a date and then we can plan from there."

Deb just nodded and dabbed her eyes with her napkin; and then she turned her sights onto Brian, thinking that, at the very least, he'd be predictable. If she only knew.

"So, where's my gift, asshole?" Deb demanded, smirking when Brian scowled; because this at least was something familiar to her.

"What makes you think I have one for you?" Brian groused, huffing when Justin jabbed him in the ribs again. "You know I don't celebrate birthdays or anniversaries…"

"Because Justin would never allow it," Deb smirked. And she was right; Justin would have made sure that they had a gift to give, even if he'd had to buy it, wrap it and sign the damned card with both of their names himself.

"She's got you there, kid," Carl said, laughing when Brian rolled his eyes.

"Well, this sort of goes with their gift in a way," Brian said, pulling out another thin envelope, just like the one Ted handed over, but in green this time. "Or it can be; that's the way we planned it, but it doesn't have to be if it doesn't work out for you."

Deb crowed and grabbed the envelope from Brian's hand, instantly ripping into it as she always did; but that's were the similarities to past years ended. She, again, read the card first, laughing this time at Brian and Justin's message; and then she handed it off to Carl to read while she opened the piece of paper that had been in the card. And then she froze, her mouth dropping open as she read the contents.

"Brian…" Deb whispered, her eyes still glued to the paper as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing; and then she finally looked up, completely stunned as she handed the voucher off to Carl.

"We know that you've never had the chance to have a real wedding," Brian said, a smug smile on his face; and really, when you offered up an all-expenses paid wedding to do a renewal of vows, you have the right to be a little smug. "So, we wanted to make sure that you got whatever you wanted this time."

"Oh, boys," Deb said, very likely speechless for the first time in her life. "I can't…"

"You can, and you will, Ma," Brian stated in an implacable tone; Justin nodded his agreement. "So, set the date, and then tell Emmett, and he'll take care of the planning."

"Oh, you boys are too much," Deb whispered, her hands pressing to her cheeks as she stared back down at the paper; but she didn't move to hug them as she knew that Brian would hate the gesture while they were all in public; and once had definitely been enough. "Thank you."

They both grinned and nodded; and then Justin cast a sly look at Brian that had him instantly stiffening. But Justin just smiled and pulled out another envelope; one that Brian hadn't known about. It wasn't that he'd purposely kept it from Brian; he just hadn't said anything because he wasn't sure if he could get the gift done in time for Deb's and Carl's anniversary, what with his limited work hours.

"There is one more thing," Justin said as he slid the envelope over.

"Sunshine, this is more than enough," Deb protested, staring at the envelope as if she were going to cry.

"Yeah, Sunshine," Brian said, arching a brow; Justin just smiled, all faux innocence. Brian snorted. "You never mentioned this before."

"Oh, it was something I'd planned before we came up with the voucher idea," Justin said, turning to smile at Deb. "I wasn't sure if I could finish it in time, so I didn't want to say anything just yet. Keep in mind; this is only a picture of the real deal."

Deb opened the envelope and pulled out a picture of a painting; well, actually, it was a pastel done of the entire family, all gathered in Deb's home. It had everyone, including Vic and Rodney, who had both sadly passed away years before. It was fairly big and would end up taking up most of the wall in the living room.

"Oh my God, Sunshine!" Deb gasped, staring at the picture with no little amount of awe. "Oh, baby; this is so amazing."

"I figured that you could finally retire that painting in your living room and put this up instead." Justin shrugged nonchalantly, even if he was cackling on the inside; God, he hated that painting and he was certain that Deb only kept it up just to spite him.

"Ahhhhh, the truth comes out!" Brian said knowingly, an amused smirk on his face; Justin peeked up at him, hoping he wasn't upset that Justin had done this. Because it really hadn't meant as a form of one-upmanship, just something he knew Deb would like. Brian smiled and dropped a kiss on his forehead, reassuring him all was well. "He's been begging you to get rid of that thing for years; now, you won't have a choice because really, what could compete with a Justin Taylor-Kinney original?"

"Oh, hush you," Deb huffed, but cackled in delight because she knew Brian was right. "Trust me; this is well worth getting rid of that old thing." And then Deb got up and yanked Justin out of his chair into a hug; Justin shot a smug look at a mock glaring Brian. Favored child status returned. "Thank you, baby; it's beautiful."

Justin just smiled and sat back down; and then he waited until Deb was distracted, talking to Carl about the painting and the wedding and the potential honeymoon trip, to turn to Brian with a grin.

"I win," Justin whispered, smirking when Brian huffed.

"Bite me," Brian said with little heat, shaking his head at Justin's antics.

"Later," Justin promised, leaning up to kiss his husband on the mouth.