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Author's Chapter Notes:

Finally edited it to the best of my ability. If you see any mistakes or typos, feel free to point them out to me. Thanks!


 

Mar. 22 – (Part Two)

Brian sighed and watched as another guest entered; he smiled, greeted them, exchanged the same pithy platitudes that he'd been exchanging all fucking morning, and looked around a bit desperately as he plotted his escape. And not for the reasons that Justin would likely attribute to it; he knew better than to disappear until Brunch was over. His darling, sweet-tempered husband had made it a point to explain in explicit detail what would happen to Brian's remaining ball if he even thought of it.

But he really did need to get upstairs and find that sketch before Brunch started; he knew it had to be in the bedroom somewhere as he'd seen Justin looking at it the other day. But every time he'd try to look for it this morning, someone or something would interrupt him; the last of whom had been Emmett telling Brian that if he didn't drag Justin away from the food and distract him, he would not be held responsible for what happened.

That had led to Brian giving up the search for the morning, traipsing down to the kitchen to pilfer a few things to tide the beast over, and then dragging Justin off to their bedroom. Because what better to distract the twat than a plate full of some of his favorite foods and sex? It was a fail safe solution; and if Emmett hadn't liked him pilfering his food, too fucking bad; he should have let Justin into the kitchen to get something to eat before he'd been driven to staking out the buffet in the hopes of sneaking something.

Shifting on his feet, Brian cast another impatient look at the door and nearly cried with relief when his salvation appeared in the form of a certain best friend that had could give Michael and Lindsay lessons in the art of manipulation. But, thankfully, Daphne at least used her powers of persuasion for good. Grinning when she all but bounced up to him, glowing in that way that pregnant women did, Brian immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Do me a favor?" Brian asked, casting a surreptitious glance Justin's way, and was happy to see that he was still chatting with Daphne's mother, Sandra.

"Sure," Daphne said in a low voice, frowning when she caught his look. "What's wrong?"

"I need you to distract Justin for a bit so I can go upstairs and grab something," Brian said, pulling her little bit away from Justin and Sandra. Daphne just arched a brow and waited for further information. Brian sighed. "I need to find his sketch of the nursery; that way, when all of you hens are playing your little games…ow!" Brian scowled, rubbing the arm Daphne viciously punched. "Fuck woman, I need that arm to move shit this afternoon."

"Move what stuff?" Daphne asked, watching Brian through narrowed eyes.

"As I was saying before you got abusive," Brian huffed, still rubbing his arm; that was likely going to leave a bruise. "While you hens are playing your games, I'm going to drag the guys upstairs to help me finish the nursery."

"You haven't finished it?" Daphne hissed; Brian winced and looked over at Justin, worried that he'd noticed them by now. But again, some fairy godmother must have been watching over him, because Justin was caught up in a conversation with Emmett; likely discussing when to open the buffet. "I thought that's what you were doing yesterday?"

"It was the plan for yesterday," Brian said, turning back to Daphne with a frown; Daphne smile sheepishly and mimed zipping her lips. "But someone couldn't keep his mouth shut, and for once it wasn't Emmett; and I ran afoul of the mommy brigade."

"Oh," Daphne said, her lips twitching as she desperately tried to hold back her laughter. An attempt that had utterly failed when she started giggling helplessly; Brian glared at her as she unhelpfully added. "Well, that sucks."

"Your overwhelming sense of sympathy astounds me," Brian deadpanned; rolling his eyes when she just continued to laugh at his pain.

"Sorry," Daphne snickered, waving her hand in front of her face as she tried to contain her giggles. "I just remember when Jen was doing Molly's nursery; she had Craig and my dad moving the furniture every other weekend it seemed."

"So, you can guess how it went yesterday," Brian groused, looking over to see Justin chatting with his nemesis from yesterday; Mother Taylor looked over, smiled and waved at him and Daphne, which sent the brat into another fit of giggles.

"Fine," Daphne huffed, finally getting herself under control. "I'll distract your husband the best that I can." She paused and looked over at Justin, who was surrounded by a brood of gaggling hens. "Although, with everyone fawning over him, I doubt you'll be missed for a few minutes at least."

"You're a gem," Brian sighed, kissing her on the cheek. "I owe you."

"Yeah, yeah," Daphne said, dismissing him with a careless wave of her hand. "Just add it to my tab."

"I dread the day you call that tab due," Brian groaned, thinking of all the times this woman had forcefully yanked his head out of his ass in the beginning, and how often she'd saved it in later years. "You'll likely end up owning my first born."

"Well, Gus is adorable," Daphne smirked, waving to a blushing Gus as he passed by. That poor kid; he didn't stand a chance against Daphne. "And sweet; and a true gentleman unlike some people I know. I wonder how that happened with you and Lindsay for parents? It must have been Justin's influence."

"Keep you hands off my son, brat," Brian huffed good naturedly, knowing she wasn't serious. "You already have a husband; no corrupting my impressionable boy."

"Ewwww…" Daphne said, crinkling her nose at the wholly inappropriate joke; one that Brian would never said to anyone else, but did with Daphne as she didn't take him seriously; she just shot back with her own inappropriate joke. "Unlike some who shall remain nameless, I prefer my men well-aged. Now shoo, I have a best friend to distract."

Brian watched as she sashayed away and engaged Justin in some small talk, effortlessly linking her arm with his and steering him out the door towards the heated, fully-enclosed party tent that they'd set up in the backyard for the shower. He shook his head, marveling at her ability to wrangle Justin with just a few well-placed words; and then, once he was out of their line of sight, he loped up the stairs determined to find his husband's plans for the nursery if it killed him.

The last thing he wanted was for Justin to go into his nursery and see what the mothers had done. Not that it was bad; it just wasn't what Justin had planned and he wanted to circumvent the resulting queen out. As funny as Molly might find them to be, Brian was the one that had to deal with them when everyone went home.

Reaching the top landing, Brian headed towards the bedroom, certain that that was the last time he'd seen the plans, but halted when a rattling sound caught his ear. Frowning, Brian looked down the hall and cursed under his breath when he saw that one of the bedroom doors was open; and wondered who'd had the audacity to come upstairs, as he knew that he'd closed all the doors before he and Justin had gone downstairs.

Swiftly walking down the hall, intent on ripping this nosy asshole a new one, Brian paused and then internally groaned when he caught sight of Lindsay hastily making her way out of the bedroom. She quickly closed the door and then turned, freezing into place when she saw Brian standing there; he arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing?" Brian asked, more than a little miffed that Lindsay was up here snooping; because, while she was family, all the festivities were being held outdoors due to the number of guests and there was no reason for her to be in the house.

"I was just looking around," Lindsay simpered, shaking her hair forward, so that it framed her face and made her look helpless and vulnerable. Yeah right; as helpless and vulnerable as a barracuda maybe. "I heard so much about the nursery, I just had to take a peek. Surely you wouldn't deny an old friend that."

"Actually, yes, I would," Brian said, not even bothering to hide his annoyance at her attempt to get into the nursery before it was revealed. It was just like her entitled ass to think that she held special privileges. "You can see the nursery when it's revealed to everyone else; after Justin sees it for the first time."

"Interesting," Lindsay said a bit tightly, her agreeable façade faltering under the weight of Brian's irritated glare. "I would have thought that as I am family, and the mother of your other child, I would rank above the likes of Carl, Drew and the others. But it seems that they all got to see it yesterday."

"And?" Brian asked pointedly, not about to fall for her little games. "Why would that make any difference in when you get to see it?" He paused, waiting for an answer, but she just sniffed, making him roll his eyes. " You're not special, Lindsay; no matter what you think. And not that it's any of your fucking business; but the only reason they saw anything was because I needed help moving the furniture around. If I could have gotten everything up here myself, I wouldn't have bothered."

"That doesn't explain Deb or Jen," Lindsay huffed, looking put out that her usual tactics were falling flat, and morphing into the jealous, bitter harpy that she'd become over the years. And Brian couldn't help but mourn the loss of that girl he'd first met in college.

"Why should I explain them to you?" Brian asked, arching an unimpressed brow. "Last time I looked, I didn't answer to you."

"I just don't think it's fair that everyone has gotten a peek before me," Lindsay frowned, her face pinched and mouth pursed as if she'd spent the entire morning sucking on a box of lemons.

"And again, I fail to why you care," Brian said with a nonchalant shrug, just knowing that it would piss her off. "The only person that has a right to see it is Justin. In fact, I don't have to show anyone, anything right now. I could just grab Justin and show it to him alone; and then lock it back up until everyone leaves. So, again, what business is it of yours, Lindsay?"

Lindsay looked away, refusing to answer; not that Brian had expected one. He knew the truth nyways – Lindsay was once again comparing her life to the one he'd built with Justin; and even the one Justin had built in New York, and was seething with envy.

"Just as I thought," Brian smirked; he walked past Lindsay, opened the door and locked it from the inside before closing it once more; and then he walked down the hall, doing the same with every door that he came to, much to Lindsay's annoyance. "Besides, they only think they know what it looks like."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lindsay asked, all amicability gone. "They were raving about how wonderful it was and how they'd helped with everything."

"Just because it looked one way when they left," Brian snorted, as he locked the last door on this side of the house; he then spun on his heel and walked past Lindsay, heading for the nursery to make sure the door hadn't been tampered with. "Doesn't mean that it remained that way."

"They're not going to like that," Lindsay said a bit smugly; and Brian could just hear the cogs turning in her head as she tried to work out a way to use the information to her advantage. But Brian didn't care; he might have indulged the mothers yesterday because he wanted today to go as smoothly as possible; but at the end of the day, there was only one person's opinion that mattered, and he was firmly on Brian's side.

"Like I care," Brian said with a laconic shrug; he stopped in front of the nursery and was happy to see that the lock hadn't been jimmied. "The only opinion that matters is, as I said before, Justin's; and as long as he's happy, then everyone else can fuck right off." He turned to smirk at Lindsay. "You wouldn't have gotten in anyways. I locked the door last night so that Justin wouldn't get in and see it before it was time. Now, I do believe there is a party in progress, so I suggest you be on your way."

"You never did anything like this for me," Lindsay hissed; and there it was – the seething, jealous shrew that somehow believed that because he allowed her to shoot his sperm up her twat, that she somehow owned him. And that couldn't be further from the truth; it was another blond that held that claim.

"Why should I have?" Brian snorted. "Last I looked; you had a wife not a husband. Not that you remember that fact half of the time with the way you chase after dick these days. If you had wanted the big fat catered party with all the bells and whistles, you should have told her to do something about it. It wasn't my job to play happy family with you. I just shot in a cup, remember?"

Lindsay clenched and unclentched her hands, her lips pressed into a tight, white line as she stared at Brian, obviously infuriated by his words, but unable to deny them. Brian just sneered at his one time friend, someone he'd written off years ago when she'd tried to use Gus as leverage to get her way.

That hadn't worked out well for her; but it had given him the incentive to fight for and be granted to his rights for his son.

"At least, you did until you needed money," Brian smirked, throwing his arm out in a grand, sweeping invitation towards the stairs. "Now, do us all a favor; run off to your little wifey and bitch to her about how unfair life has been for you. Because personally, I don't give a fuck; and I haven't since New York."

Brian watched as she huffed and flounced down the stairs in a thick cloud of greed, envy and fury, likely to go bitch about his behavior to whomever would listen; which were sadly few and far between these days. He shrugged, he had better things to do; he turned on his heel and entered his bedroom, determined to find that damned sketch if it were the last thing he did today.

… … … … …

Brian sat back in his chair with a grin, thoroughly amused by his husband's antics, and his failed attempts at keeping his mother from spilling even more delightful stories about his childhood. Likely because Brian wasn't helping him out any; and instead, continually egged Mother Taylor on as she took a trip down memory lane.

He shook his head, watching as Justin told her that she was cut off, and this time he meant it; and noted a gleam in her eyes that told him that she wasn't nearly as tipsy as she was making herself out to be. More than likely, this was a hazing ritual that her own mother put her through that she was oh-so-thoughtfully passing down to her son. Much too Justin's everlasting chagrin as she launched into another story.

"So, as everyone knows, our Justin has a wee bit of an exhibitionist streak," Mother Taylor smirked knowingly, and laughed when Justin squawked out an embarrassed, 'Mom!' "You can't deny it, sweetheart. I have evidence of this fact from when you were seventeen, and I tracked you down to that bar you love to frequent; only to find my not-so-shy teenage son walking around without a shirt."

"It was only because I was trying to get a free drink that night," Justin grumbled, burying his face into his hands; not that he was fooling anyone by the guffaws that elicited.

"Now, you know that's not true, Justy," Daphne grinned as she leaned against his chair. "I know for a fact that you've ran around Babylon on more than one occasion without your shirt." Justin huffed as she claimed Tucker's empty seat. "And don't even get me started on what you used to get up to in the back…"

"That is enough out of you too," Justin huffed, clamping his hand over her mouth; and then squealing when she licked him in retaliation. He glared at her as he wiped his hand on his napkin. "What happens in Babylon, stays in Babylon."

"Just as well; that's more than I need to know about my son," Mother Taylor said, grimacing a little as she considered what they might have gotten up to in Babylon. And then her face cleared and she smirked at Justin. "So, where was I? Oh, yes, so we all know that our Justin is an exhibitionist. What you don't know is that he got a much earlier start than you all realize."

"Oh my God," Justin groaned, beating his head against the table, making the utensils jump until Brian slid a napkin in between his head and the table.

"We were at the grocery store one day when he was about four or five," Mother Taylor said, ruffling Justin's hair when he finally laid it still. "And I swear; I had taken my eyes off of him for no more than thirty seconds as I grabbed a bag of carrots, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up to see this amused looking elderly woman; and she leans in, trying not to laugh and says, 'Excuse me dear, but your boy is over by the potatoes, dancing naked as the day he was born.' "

The entire table, a good portion of the tables surrounding them, erupted into laughter as Justin groaned once more. Even Mother Taylor had to stop her tale in order to get her laughter under control; but she quickly continued much to Justin's annoyance.

"And I look over, mortified, and sure enough," Mother Taylor chuckled. "There was my little nudist, dancing away, his pride and joy flapping in the wind."

Brian snorted at the mental image, and then pressed his hand to the back of a violently flushing Justin's neck; he squeezed and then decided that as fun as it was to tease him, he should probably call a halt to it before he died of mortification. But just before Brian could suggest that they go look at the sweets table, something guaranteed to get Justin moving in a hurry, Emmett popped back up with some papers in his hands.

"Hey, Baby," Emmett said; and Brian nearly laughed at how quickly Justin had latched onto his unlikely savior. "So, I was just checking on the favor boxes; just making sure that everything was copasetic and that none of the cookies had crumbled. And I have to say, that your little addition was just so cute!"

"Oh?" Justin asked; he looked at Emmett with no little amount of confusion, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed as he tried to figure out what Emmett was talking about. Brian, on the other hand, squirmed in his seat as he knew exactly what Emmett was talking about. "Well, I'm glad you liked it?"

"Oh, I did!" Emmett nodded, flashing a wide, oblivious grin at an instantly suspicious Justin. Not that he showed it; he had gotten good at hiding his reactions over the years. But Brian knew him well enough to catch it. "Even with our little misadventure yesterday."

"Ah, that," Justin said, and a little light bulb seemed to blink on as Justin looked sharply at Brian. Brian tried to look innocent, but must have failed epically because Justin just frowned at him. "I should probably apologize for…"

"It's fine, Baby," Emmett said, dismissing Justin's concerns with a wave of his hand. "No apologies are necessary; especially when I saw those Twinkies packed into the boxes; it was such a cute idea to share your favorite treats with us. It makes us all feel like we're a part of the joke."

"Well, you know me and my Twinkies," Justin said with a sharp smile, one gimlet eye on Brian the entire time; Brian just smirked, because it wasn't like he could hide it now. "I can never get enough; and why not share that love with the world? Right, honey?"

"I've always said you're far too generous for your own good," Brian agreed with a saccharine smile; and it was then that table figured out Justin actually had nothing to do with the Twinkies, and laughed.

"Oh, don't I know it," Justin agreed with a sweet smile; but Brian wasn't in the least fooled. He knew that he was going to be in so much trouble tonight; but that was what the little twat got for making his sit through those horrible birth class videos. "So are the favor boxes on the table then?"

"Yes," Emmett nodded, still completely oblivious to the undercurrents; which surprised Brian as he was usually the first one to notice these things. Then again, he could just be playing stupid just to fuck with them both. "I put them next to the take home boxes for the leftovers. Hopefully people will take most of the food with them when the leave so that you won't have too much to deal with; especially the sweets."

"Good," Justin nodded, his eyes still trained on Brian; and he could practically hear the cogs churning away. "Even if I had wanted to keep everything, there is no way we could eat it all before it went bad. How is every thing going; are we ready to start the games?"

"Yes," Emmett said, signaling to Darren as he set a box onto one of the tables and started to unpack everything that was in it. "I was just getting ready to set up the Baby Bingo; we should be ready to go in about ten minutes."

"Perfect," Justin smiled, his attention never leaving Brian. "That will give me a chance to deal with some unfinished business; I'll find you in about five minutes."

Emmett looked between the two of them and then shrugged; obviously not about to ask since it would probably upset his schedule. Instead he just nodded and turned on his heel, walking over to Darren, who was setting up the Bingo station. Justin smiled until he was gone, and then turned to Brian with sharp look.

"So, honey," Justin said, his smile wide and bright and containing far too many teeth to be a real smile; Brian smirked and arched a brow. "You loved those Twinkies so much that you decided to share with the world, did you?"

"Me?" Brian asked, resting his hand against his chest in a mock affronted manner. "What makes you think it was me that put them in there?"

"Who else would it have been?" Justin asked rhetorically, his teeth bared. He twitched while Brian just smiled, completely at ease with the situation; likely because he was imaging all those Twinkies that were now in other people's hands.

"Well, I don't know if you know this," Brian said, his voice hushed as he leaned over in a confiding manner. "But apparently we have a mouse problem; so, maybe they were storing them away for later."

And then he laughed as Justin's mouth gaped and he stared at Brian in disbelief; God, he had been waiting for an opportunity to use that excuse from the moment Justin had tried to blame their non-existent mice for the missing Twinkies.

"Gotta go, Sunshine," Brian smirked, getting to his feet and the fuck away while Justin was still speechless. "It's Daddy-Son time in the media room; see you after the games."

Brian turned on his heel and loped off, nodding to Drew and Carl as he passed, and headed for the house; he had a nursery to square away

… … … … …

"So as some of you know," Brian said, looking at the assembled crew of Drew, Carl, Liam, Leo, Ted and Gus. "Yesterday we moved the furniture up into the nursery."

"Yeah, five times," A haggard Ted grumbled, making Carl and Drew nod emphatically in agreement and the others snicker. Brian scowled himself as he remembered trying to tell Mother Taylor and Mama Novotny that they were perfectly capable of doing it themselves, only to be shot down by the dreaded 'it needs a woman's touch' argument.

"Not my fault," Brian grumbled, rubbing his still tender muscles.

"Are you telling me that you couldn't have told them to fuck off?" Ted asked with a scowl; and Brian was tempted to snicker because it wasn't often that you saw Ted without his filter. But he'd guessed that the long, sleepless nights with Luc had rendered it useless. "You've done it numerous times before."

"Are you telling me that you could say that to Mother Taylor?" Brian asked rhetorically, one brow arched as he stared at his exhausted, cranky friend. "And keep your balls attached to your body?"

Ted grimaced, but conceded the point with a nod.

"Didn't think so," Brian smirked, and then pulled Justin's sketch out of the folder he'd put it in this morning. "Getting back to the task at hand; unless there are any more comments from the peanut gallery?"

Ted grumbled again, but shook his head.

"So, this is what we need to do," Brian said, holding up the sketch. "We need to get this room to look as close to this as possible. It's not going to be exact as we still have to pick up the rocking chair and the chifforobe, but otherwise it's good to go."

"Chifforobe?" Ted asked, a bewildered look on his face; Brian just shrugged as he crossed to the door.

"Fuck if I know." He said, tacking the sketch to the back of the door with a little bit of putty; hopefully, by using that, Justin wouldn't kill him. "It's part dresser and part armoire? Jen had to get rid of hers because the door cracked somehow. One of those stories where Molly said Justin did it and Justin said Molly did it; but whatever it was, we needed to get another. Thankfully, I was able to get it custom-ordered so I don't have to stain it myself."

Brian moved out of the way, so that everyone could take a look at the sketch. Thankfully, the heavy lifting would be easy and done quickly due to the sketch. However, what was going to take a while was all the little details; like placing the toys and filling the dresser with all the blankets and putting up all manner of baby gadgets into the room.

"Now Drew, you and I will get the dresser and move it over there," Brian said, pointing to the far wall. "In the mean time, Carl; if you and Ted can move the crib to where the dresser is located that'd be great. And then Leo, if you and Liam could move the bookcase over there, I'd appreciate it."

"What can I do, Dad?" Gus asked, looking around the room.

"You, Sonny Boy, are in charge of taking the toys and books off the shelves," Brian said as he ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance. "Justin has a whole mess of stuff in that closet over there. So, I want you to start putting that stuff up on the shelves and into the drawers once we get things moved. We'll add Grandmom Deb's and Jen's stuff in once we have the room to Justin's specifications."

Gus nodded and went over to the bookcase and began pulling everything down and getting it ready to be moved by Liam and Leo. In the meantime, Brian started pulling out the blankets and stuffed animals out of the crib, shaking his head as he did so. Didn't they realize that you weren't supposed to have anything in the crib as it was a potential hazard for Sunbeam?

Tossing it all into the closet, he pulled off the fitted sheet as well, since Justin had a different one planned according to the sketch and tossed that into the closet as well.

"I can't believe that we're doing this again," Ted grumbled as he and Carl came over in preparation of moving the now empty crib. "I'm not even getting laid for this."

"That sounds like a personal problem to me," Brian quipped, smirking when Ted's scowl deepened and he flipped Brian off. "Me on the other hand; I will so be getting lucky for this. Now let's get this going. We have less than two hours before I have to be out there for the presents and this needs to be done by then."

 

Chapter End Notes:

 

So, I need to address this; being a culinary arts and hospitality management major, I know that it’s actually against regulations to send catered food home with the party goers due to sanitation and potential liability issues. Or at least that’s true here in California. But as this is a ‘family’ party, where the caterer is part of said family, I bent the rules a bit in this case.

 

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