January 7

Gus waved to his Auntie Em and quickly ran over to the Liberty Diner, happy to escape the tension that had enveloped his house since his Dad and Jus had announced the new baby. He wasn’t quite sure why this would affect either of his mothers; his Mama especially, but she’d had her nose out of joint ever since, as Grandmom Deb would say, and he could tell his Eema was getting fed up with it.

It had led to many a hushed argument behind closed doors; or, well, what he supposed they'd called hushed, but usually meant that he and Jenny had to put their earphones in to stand any chance of concentrating on their homework. Even through that, he’d heard the words ‘first pregnancy,’ and ‘who better to give advice than someone who’s been through it,’ and ‘need to mind your own business,’ and rolled his eyes.

As if Jus hadn’t already done all the research that he needed before getting pregnant; and if he hadn’t, then his Dad surely had.

Pausing at the door, Gus quickly scanned the dining room for his Grandmom Deb, and sighed with relief when he didn’t see her. It wasn’t that he didn’t love her to death, but he was getting kind of old to be coddled and she couldn’t help squeezing him like she hadn’t seen him in years instead of days each and every time he came in. It was kind of embarrassing, especially when Kiki and the others joined in and started cooing over how handsome he was and how he was going to be a heartbreaker just like his Dad.

And then the patrons would take bets on when, and if, he was going to be joining the Avenue. And really, he had just started realizing his dick was for more than peeing; he had no idea who he even liked yet.

It was beyond mortifying, and he would tell each, and every, one of them to fuck off if he wasn’t well aware than his Grandmom Deb would drag him to the bathroom to wash his mouth out with soap. Plus, Jus would set them all straight with nothing more than a glare and a well-placed word.

They all seemed rather intimidated by him for some reason, calling him the ‘little twink that tamed the big bad.’ He supposed that they meant his Dad when the said that, and Gus wanted to yell, ‘Well, duh!’ Have you seen my Jus? Dad never stood a chance.

But, thankfully, Grandmom Deb was busy, and if he timed it just right, he could make it to the booth before she came out of the office.

Opening the door, Gus quietly slipped in and made his way to the back booth, where his Dad was already sitting, grimacing and drinking a cup of coffee. He hurried over to him, keeping a close eye on the office and then froze when a familiar voice called out behind him.

“Gussy!” Grandmom Deb exclaimed as she came out of the bathroom area; Gus groaned, glaring at his Dad when he snickered, and turned around with a smile pasted onto this face.

“Hi, Grandmom Deb,” he managed to get out before he was being engulfed in a breath-stealing hug; and really, boa constrictors could learn a thing or two from Grandmom Deb’s hugs.

“Jesus, Deb,” his Dad called out much to Gus’ relief. “Give the kid a chance to breathe. He isn’t much good to me if he’s dead.”

“Oh, hush, you,” Grandmom Deb said, leaving off the customary ‘asshole’ that usually followed that statement; as, for some reason, she was hesitant to call him such in front of Gus.

Now if only she would stop it completely; Jus absolutely hated that she still referred to him as such and having been present for a couple of his pregnancy queen outs, (the coffee one the most notable of those), he didn’t think Jus would be very understanding of Grandmom Deb’s little nickname.

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to hug my grandchild,” she continued, but did loosen her death grip, so cheers for that. “He loves it, don’t you sweetheart.”

His Dad just snorted, but Gus just nodded as expected. He really wanted to say no, but he didn’t want to hurt her feelings either. Dad was always bitching to Jus about how Grandmom Deb could hold a grudge worse than he did, and since Gus was well aware of how bad his Jus was about forgiving those he’d felt slighted him or Dad in some way, he didn’t even want to go there.

“Right,” Dad drawled, looking up and smiling when the newest server, Jason, set a couple of plates down on the table. “Release the kid, so I can feed his bottomless pit of a stomach, Deb. If you weren’t the spitting image of me, Sonny Boy; I would swear you were Justin’s kid with that appetite.”

“I’ll put in for your usual, kiddo,” Grandmom Deb said as she let go, ruffling his hair much to his annoyance.

“We just enjoy our food,” Gus retorted as he finally managed to get away from his grandmother. He walked over and slid into the booth across from his Dad. “Not everyone is as picky as you.”

“And some of us want to live to see their next birthday,” his Dad snickered, reaching over to ruffle his hair again. And seriously, what was it with people and his hair?  “By the way, nice try there, Sonny Boy; you should know by now that Grandmom Deb has a sixth sense for these things.”

“One of these days it will work,” Gus insisted, ignoring his Dad’s amused glance. He looked around. “Where’s Jus?”

“The bathroom; where else?” Dad said as he rolled his eyes. “I swear he spends nearly as much time in there as he does eating these days.”

“Ah,” Gus nodded; quite used to it by now.

“So, you managed to escape,” his Dad said, fixing him with a questioning look. “And asked to meet me on a night that I don’t usually have you; everything going okay at home?”

“Just the usual,” Gus grimaced, toying with the hem of his sweater. His Dad arched a brow, telling him that explanation wouldn’t cut it. “The moms…are arguing again. But not the usual stuff. They seem to be arguing about Jus and his pregnancy, but I don’t know why it’s any of their business.”

“Ah,” his Dad said, a grim smile on his face. “I couldn’t tell you, Sonny Boy. It really isn’t anyone’s business except for me, Jus and you. And maybe Jenny.”

“I just needed to leave for awhile,” Gus said with a shrug. “It was getting a bit much. I just wish I could have brought Jenny; but Eema has plans to take her shopping for a project tonight. If they ever stop arguing.”

“Well, after dinner, we’ll give your moms a call,” his Dad said, a pensive frown on his face. “And if they are still arguing, we’ll pick up Jenny and take her shopping for what she needs; and then we’ll have dessert somewhere, and get you back home just before bedtime.  You have done your homework, right?”

“Yeah, I did it after school before the moms picked us up,” Gus said with a smile. “I made sure that Jenny did hers too.”

“Good man,” his Dad said, and then fell silent as he sipped his coffee.

Gus shifted in his seat, his eyes falling on the massive plate of food that had just been delivered. Judging by the heaps of meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and the mound of green beans, Gus figured that it was for Jus. His Dad would never eat anything remotely like it at this time of night. Licking his lips, he bit the lower one when his stomach growled and reached for the plate. He figured Jus wouldn’t care if he had a bite or two to tide him over until his burger came.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” His Dad said, watching him with an amused look.

“Why not? I’m starving and Jus won’t mind if I take a bite,” Gus justified, even as he took a healthy scoop of the mashed potatoes and gravy. There was so much food there, it wasn’t like Jus would notice.

“Because it is Jus’ and by now you should realize that isn’t…” his Dad said, and then trailed off and smacked his hand against his forehead as Gus shoved the spoon into his mouth.

Gus chewed a bit, and then his eyes bulged as he realized that what he’d mistaken for gravy definitely was not. Grimacing he hurriedly finished chewing and forced himself to swallow. He frantically grabbed the glass of water in front of his Dad, and quickly gulped the entire thing down in an effort to purge the horrific taste in his mouth, glaring when his Dad broke down into laughter.

“Isn’t gravy,” his Dad finished between guffaws. “I tried to warn you.”

“OH my God, that’s so gross!” Gus exclaimed, looking at the plate of food as if had betrayed him, because fuck, who on Earth would put that on potatoes?

“I guess next time, you’ll listen to your father,” his Dad said, still snickering at his pain.

Gus just continued to make faces as he tried to wash the taste out of his mouth, and his Dad kept laughing at him, until Jus finally came back to the table.

“What’s wrong?” Jus asked, looking between the two of them as he slid into the booth next to Gus.

“Sonny boy here was starving and couldn’t wait for his burger to arrive,” his Dad smirked, laughing when Gus just made another disgusted face. “So he decided to steal a bite of your potatoes.”

“Oh,” Jus said, still confused by why that would matter; he leaned back to let Jason place Gus’ order in front of him. “So, what’s wrong with that? He’s been doing it since he was two. Hell, he learned it from you.”

“I think it was more that he didn’t appreciate your choice of condiment,” his Dad explained, laughing when instead saying anything, Gus just took a huge bite of his cheeseburger and groaned, savoring the beautiful taste of meat and cheese and ketchup washing away that nastiness.

“What’s wrong with milk chocolate syrup?” Jus asked, his eyes sparkling with mischief as he tucked his tongue in his cheek.

His Dad just looked at Jus incredulously, but refrained from saying anything as he was well aware that Jus was yanking his chain.

“Ugh…” Gus said once his mouth wasn’t full of burger. “I’m not touching your food until you’re over this pregnancy nonsense.”

“Wise choice, Sonny Boy,” his Dad smirked, and then shuddered when Jus took a huge bit of his potatoes and made a happy sound.

Gus just crinkled his nose and vowed he was never going to get pregnant if that’s what one could expect. It turned normally cool people into weirdos.