April 1

Justin shambled downstairs, still half asleep and in desperate need of a cup of coffee; he sniffled, and then grabbed the handkerchief out of his robe and blew his nose. God, he would be so glad when this damned cold, or whatever the fuck it was, made its way out of his system. And then he’d be up to dealing with the world in general again.

Biting his lip, he walked into the kitchen and began making his one cup of coffee, (another thing that he missed desperately and couldn’t wait to reinstate after Sunbeam was born; one cup just wasn’t enough to get him going on some mornings) and scrubbed his hand over his face, and thought back to yesterday as it brewed. He felt kind of bad for being so dismissive of his mom and Deb. He really should have just grinned and bore it for an hour or so, and then sent them on their way with the claim of having a nap.

But he had been stressed by the email that he’d gotten from one of his friends in New York, updating him on the plans for Simon; and that had, in turn, lead him into thinking about Lindsay and the need to deal with her before she could cause too much damage. So, when they’d shown up, he’d snapped; and unfortunately, his mom and Deb had bourn the brunt of his short temper.

Not that he hadn’t been annoyed that they’d shown up without even a call to ask if he was up to receiving visitors; but he could admit, even if it was only to himself, that he’d overreacted to their presence. But seriously; who the fuck just showed up at a person’s house without even calling beforehand? It was one of those rules that his mom had instilled into him at a very young age – you always called ahead so that you didn’t inadvertently walk into a private situation or moment.

In some ways, Deb had been a bad influence on his Mother; she would have never dreamed of going over to someone's house without an invitation before she'd met Deb. But in others, Deb had been the best influence on his Mother, including helping her come to terms with his sexuality when he refused to compromise who he was as a teenager; so, there was that.

He could have handled it better though.

Sighing, Justin shook off the thought, and promised himself to talk to them both later as he pored his eight ounces of coffee into a large mug and then topped it with a generous helping of cream. He hoped that, one day, doing so would fool his mind into thinking that he was drinking more coffee than what he poured. It hadn’t worked yet, but he'd still held onto the hope that it would. He was an optimist that way. 

Taking a large drink, he shuffled over to the refrigerator and looked in, knowing he needed to eat, but not really in the mood for yet more soup. Nor did he want eggs or oatmeal or anything that he actually had to cook himself. Shutting the fridge, Justin grabbed their take-out folder and pulled out the menu for his favorite pizza place, because he was damned if he was going to eat bland food again that day no matter what people said.

He grabbed his phone and was about to start an online order when he heard a light rustling sound coming from the other room. Frowning, Justin set his phone aside and grabbed the meat mallet as he walked out of the kitchen. As far as he'd known, Anna was out in the stables working on a project of some sort, (something she'd told him when he'd made a brief appearance in the kitchen that morning); and Brian should be at work.

So, he had no idea who could be in the den.

Creeping along the hall, Justin held the mallet with a firm grip and walked over towards Brian’s office, where the noises were originating. God, he hoped that he was wrong and it was indeed Brian in there and he'd just neglected to tell Justin that he was staying home; he so didn’t want to deal with someone trashing or going through his office. The resulting queen out if even a single paper was out of place would be enough to give him a migraine.

Justin came up to the door, and leaned against the wall, gathering his courage as his heart hammered against chest; he knew that the likelihood that it was Brian or Anna in the office was much greater than intruder. The house had a state of the art security system and it wasn't likely that anyone could get past it. But that’s what they'd thought of the loft too; and well, everyone knew what had happened there. Swallowing thickly, Justin girded himself up for a confrontation and slowly peeked around the doorjamb; and then he squeaked as another face was thrust into his, leaving him to scramble backwards.

He jumped back and dropped the mallet in surprise, a trill of fear shooting down his spine a split second before he realized that the intruder was indeed his idiot husband, and that he was standing at the door with a confused frown on his face. Bending over, Justin propped his hands on his knees and released a heavy gust of air as he tried to get his heart rate under control.

“What the hell are you doing?” Brian demanded, looking between Justin and the mallet lying on the floor at his feet with bewilderment.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Brian,” Justin cursed, glowering at his husband as he heartbeat slowly returned to normal. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Right,” Brian said, drawing the word out as he continued look between Justin and the meat tenderizer. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Justin hissed, sarcasm lacing his voice as he crossed his arms over his chest. “But given the fact that I thought I was alone in the house; you know, as in, by myself, and I suddenly heard noises coming from your office that can only be explained by someone moving around and going through drawers and papers; just maybe I became concerned by that and came to investigate and make sure we didn’t have an intruder?”

“Why the hell didn’t you just leave the house and call the police?” Brian asked incredulously; and then he too frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “That would have been the smarter thing to do.”

“You should be happy that I didn’t,” Justin huffed; he ran a shaky hand through his hair. “I don’t imagine that the sheriff’s office would have been all that pleased to get called out, only to find that it was my idiot husband, who neglected to tell me he was working from home today, that was my supposed intruder. Yeah, I can see that going over really well.”

“I didn't meant to scare you,” Brian winced. “I thought I’d mentioned it last night.” Yeah, right; Justin was fairly certain that Brian had purposely kept that tidbit to himself just so Justin wouldn't bitch at him. He arched a brow as Brian bent over and picked up his, admittedly, less than impressive looking weapon and held it out between his fingers. “And just what the hell were you planning to do with that? Tenderize them to death?”

“I was going to sneak up on them and hit them over the head with it,” Justin huffed, snatching it out of Brian’s hand. “I can still do that if you feel the need for a demonstration.”

“Not necessary, Sunshine.” Brian held out his hands in front of him in a placating gesture. “I’d just suggest finding the rolling pin next time. It’s a bit more solid and sturdy.”

“By the way,” Justin said, giving his husband the hairy eyeball, his lips curling into a disapproving frown. “Why exactly are you here?”

“Working…” Brian succinctly replied, a bland smile stretching across his lips; he turned on his heel, went back into the study and sat down at his desk; which was covered in papers, with two laptops up and running in opposite corners, and the fax machine was churning away behind him.

“Brian…” Justin huffed; hadn't he just been saying that he'd hoped to find that it was his husband in the office? Well, he’d changed his mind.

“Don’t start, Justin,” Brian said, an impatient look on his face. Justin winced; he knew that look. It was the one that Brian got when he’d been pushed to far; and Justin didn’t blame him – he had been kind of a brat lately. Brian sighed. “I’m working from home today and you’ll just have to get the fuck over it. Stop acting like a drama princess; it’s getting old and we are not the enemy.”

“You’ve missed too much work…” Justin said softly; he worried his bottom lip as he looked at the floor. He groaned as his eyes began to burn for no good reason and he huffed; he was so not going to tear up over this as there was no reason to. God damned fucking hormones were going to be the death of him.

“Justin,” Brian stated softly; and then he sighed again and stood when Justin refused to look at him. He walked around the desk, pulled Justin over to the couch and sat down with Justin standing between his spread legs. “I could never work another day of my life and be absolutely fine. And well you know it. Cynthia and Ted are more than capable of taking care of the day to day shit; I work because I want to and I enjoy it, not because I have to.”

“I just…” Justin said, fiddling with the cuffs of his robe; and then he trailed off because he didn’t really want to say any of it out loud.

“Feel caged, trapped and out of control; and you’ve been lashing out because of it,” Brian filled in with an arched brow; the man really did know him far too well. “I realize that; but I don’t think that others do. And it needs to stop. You’ve been acting like a complete brat; and although she'd never admit to it, Deb was really hurt by your attitude yesterday.”

Justin looked away, a bit shamefaced as he recalled his words and attitude towards his mother and Deb yesterday. Hadn’t he just been chastising his own behavior in the kitchen, before he had come into the study? Brian tugged on Justin’s hand and pulled him around his legs and onto the couch beside him; Justin curled up into Brian with a hum.

“They just wanted to feel they’re a part of your pregnancy; just like any other mother would want to be,” Brian pointed out. “And recently, you’ve been shutting people out whether you mean to or not.” Justin opened his mouth to protest, but then snapped it closed because he really couldn’t refute Brian’s words. “And I get it; they're all a bunch of nosy, busybodies that can be overbearing and overwhelming to deal with, but would it have really been all that difficult to humor them yesterday?”

Justin shrugged; he knew exactly why he couldn’t cope yesterday, but he wasn’t going to bring Lindsay up at the moment. He'd would bring that up later. Something needed to be done about her; and soon now that everything was in the open. Not that it mattered one bit to the topic at hand; even if he was still irate over Lindsay's behavior, he'd had no excuse for taking his anger out on his Mom and Deb. 

“You’re usually the one that lets everything roll off his back; while I’m the one that’s normally snarling at everyone.” Brian huffed; Justin rolled his eyes, but again, couldn't refute the words. “I actually had to play the understanding and responsible one yesterday; and that is so not cool, Sunshine. You know how much I hate all that emotional shit. I think I actually developed hives.”

“Poor baby,” Justin teased, and couldn't resist smirking at his husband’s appalled expression.

“Damn straight,” Brian groused halfheartedly; but he also rolled his lips under in that way that said he was holding back a smile, and was struggling to keep a frown on his face. Justin chuckled as Brian feigned a shudder and said, “Do not make me do all that touchy-feely bullshit again; I actually felt my balls shrivel up and die a little as I was talking to them.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Justin smirked; and then he sobered. “I can’t promise anything. I love them both to death; I do. But it’s my pregnancy and there are things that I just don’t want to share with anyone but you. They mean well; but having them constantly underfoot stresses me out and I’m already stressed enough as it is.”

“Then talk to them,” Brian said; Justin barely managed to quell a grimace. If only it were that easy. “Tell them how you’re feeling and set some boundaries. But please, for the love of God, do not make me deal with a crying Deb. I will be extremely unhappy if you make me deal with a crying Debbie.”

“I’ll try,” Justin hedged; while he did want to resolve things with his mom and Deb, he didn’t think they would be able to help themselves when it came to interfering. It was in both of their natures. But he could promise to try being a little less grouchy about it. “But, you know as well as I do that boundaries are only seen as a challenge in this family. And I will not put up with them coddling me over something as mundane as the sniffles. I can’t handle that kind of stress with everything else going on.” 

“And you don't have to,” Brian said. “But at the same time, you can’t expect them to understand where you’re coming from if you don’t talk to them.”

Justin hummed noncommittally; frankly, he thought Brian was being far too optimistic of their mothers’ understanding and abilities to rein themselves in. They both, Deb especially, were far to used to getting their ways, and he had a feeling that if he gave them an inch, they'd take a whole fucking football field with it. And when had he turned into the pessimistic one? He internally shook his head and marveled at the role swap; just how was this his life?

“And speaking of stressful situations,” Brian said; Justin raised his brows at the less than smooth conversational transition. Usually Brian eased into these kinds of talks with a bit more grace than that. And why did this lack of grace make his stomach clench? "That actually brings me to something that we need to talk about; well, two things we need to talk about actually.”

“Fuck; I knew things were going too well,” Justin muttered, letting his head fall back against the couch as he prayed for strength. “What now?”

“First,” Brian said, running his fingers through Justin’s hair; it was a soothing gesture meant to make Justin relax and it worked like a charm. “I got a call from Tak yesterday. He wanted to set up an appointment to talk to us both to discuss a break in the case. I told him that we could meet with him on Thursday as I didn’t see anything on your calendar; but if you have plans, let me know and I’ll reschedule it.”

“I did, but it wasn’t anything important,” Justin said thoughtfully; he sunk into Brian's side as the tension drained away. “I was just planning to drop by the gallery and look things over; maybe take Sydney to lunch to discuss the show and what not. We didn’t set up an appointment though, so I can do it another time. Did Tak tell you what he wanted to talk about?”

“Not in so many words,” Brian said; he then paused as if debating, or maybe replaying, something in his head. “He did the whole, ‘I can’t divulge it over the phone’ routine. But, I have a feeling that they managed to track Blaine down.”

“What makes you say that?” Justin asked, turning to look up into his husband’s face.

“Well, first,” Brian said, ticking it off on a finger. “I asked point blank if they had caught up to him. He said that he couldn’t confirm or deny it, but... the way that he said it that makes me believe that they do have him in custody.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Justin asked, hope filling him that this would soon be over; he really hated the thought that the assholes that had been fucking with his life were still out there, watching and waiting.

“As long as he actually has useful information to impart,” Brian sighed; and sensing Justin’s unease, as he always did, he leaned down and pressed a kiss against Justin’s temple. “And is actually willing to talk about it; then yes, it’s a very good thing. But we’ll have to wait and see. Judging by Tak’s reactions, however; it did sound as if Blaine was cooperating; if it is indeed him.”

“God, I hope so,” Justin sighed, digging his fingers into his eyes to ease the pressure building behind them. “That would be a huge weight lifted from my shoulders since the stalker is the biggest of my concerns, and this situation is causing the most stress in our life, right now.”

“I’ll be happy when that asshole is behind bars too,” Brian said in a soft tone, his nose and mouth buried in Justin’s hair. “I want you safe; and I want you around for a long time.”

Justin’s breath hitched at the familiar words; and he couldn’t help remembering the first time that he’d ever heard those words as an inexperienced twat, trying to convince Brian to fuck him raw despite their very open relationship and multiple sex partners. God, he’d been such an idiot back then. Luckily, he’d smartened up since then; but the lesson and the words had stuck with him. If only he had been paying better attention and had heard the silent ‘I love you’ in them; things might have turned out a bit differently.

Not that he was unhappy in any way with how his life had turned out; but there might have been a few less bumps in the road had he’d taken those words a bit more to heart.

“So, you mentioned that there were two things that you wanted to talk about; what is the second?” Justin prompted; he was reluctant to break the peaceful moment, but also sensed that they needed to deal with whatever was eating at Brian before they could return to their day.

Well, as quiet as April the first can ever be; which reminded him, he still needed to send that prank email to their friends and family. It would serve them right after all the fuss they made over fucking baby names.

Justin looked up when Brian just grunted in displeasure, but remained otherwise silent; he studied the pained grimace on his husband’s face and his heart sank into his stomach. Well, fuck.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?” Justin grumbled, startling Brian out of his reverie.

“No,” Brian conceded, he rolled his lips under as he studied Justin and then continued with a smile. “But, on a positive note; if you agree to my plan, it won’t be our problem.”

“Oh, God,” Justin groaned, wondering what the fuck had Michael or Lindsay had done now; those were the only two that could put that look on Brian’s face. Well, outside Brian's mother; but Justin had a feeling that it wasn’t her. Of course, that might have had something to do with the prank Justin had played on her after she made that scene at Brian's office. Served her right; next time she'd mind her own fucking business. “Just rip the Band-Aid off and tell me.”

“Michael will be home this weekend,” Brian said, cringing a little at the look on Justin’s face; and Justin really tried not to smirk (and failed) at his reaction, as he was sure he was wearing his ‘fucked off beyond all care and ready to take someone the fuck down’ look, as Brian dubbed it.

“Why?” Justin asked, trying to keep his voice neutral, but he could definitely hear his irritation leaking through. “I thought Ben said that he’d keep him contained to Seattle?”

“Jenny told him that if he wanted to celebrate her birthday this year; that he would have to do it this weekend as she didn’t want him showing up at her party and ruining things." Brian paused. "Well, not in those words exactly, but that was the gist. She didn’t want him coming here and causing problems, since she’s having the party here.”

“Fuck,” Justin cursed under his breath; now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he wanted to throw a fit that the man that had him hospitalized was going to be back and causing potential issues; but on the other hand, it was for his Jenny girl and he do anything for her.

“Like I said - not our problem,” Brian said with a shrug.

“How is this not our problem, Brian?” Justin hissed, running his hand roughly through his hair. “You know as well as I do; that as soon he lands, he’s going to come over to the house and whine about how unfair you’re being towards him. And then, I might just have to kill him this time.”

“You can’t kill him if we’re not here,” Brian said in a reasonable tone.

That had Justin pausing and looking sharply at his husband, a suspicious frown on his face. Brian just smiled blandly, as if he knew something Justin didn’t.

“Explain,” he demanded, poking Brian in the side when he just smirked in reply.

“Well,” Brian drawled, purposely drawing the word out just to be annoying; Justin glowered at his husband. “I thought we could go visit Daphne, Liam and Kian. Michael can’t become a problem if we’re not around for him to cause said problems.”

“Visit Daphne...?” Justin said slowly, a small smile quirking on his lips; he love the idea of visiting with his best friend and her family.

“Plus, we haven’t been to New York in a while,” Brian said with a weird undertone that had Justin looking up again in suspicion.

“No we haven’t,” Justin said slowly, a thought forming in his head at Brian’s sudden eagerness to head off to New York; but he couldn’t be sure that he was right, so he remained silent.

“So it would be an opportune time for us to go,” Brian said, a bit too cheerfully for Justin’s comfort. The man was definitely up to something.

“Right,” Justin said, a hint of doubt creeping into his voice as he continued to stare at a serene looking Brian. He didn’t buy this act for one moment.

“What?” his husband asked, all faux innocence; Justin snorted.

“You aren’t fooling me at all, Brian,” Justin said; alarm flashed across Brian’s face. Ah ha! Got you. But instead of voicing his true thoughts, he lightly teased his uncomfortable husband. “You just want to go shopping while we're there.”

No need to alarm his husband just yet by letting him know that Justin was on to him; he'd just clam up at this rate. And as his Grandmother Cunningham had always said, there was more than one way to skin a cat.

“Well, now that you mention it,” Brian said, relaxing minutely as he tucked his tongue into his cheek. “And since we’re there…”

“I am not going shopping with you, Brian,” Justin huffed, his feet already throbbing in sympathy at the thought of a Brian Taylor-Kinney shopping spree. “I’d never survive.”

“Of course not,” Brian scoffed. “Like I would take you with me; I actually want to enjoy the day. Give me some credit, Sunshine. You’d stay with Daphne while I took Liam with me. At least, he understands the sanctity that is Armani Fifth Avenue.”

Nope, nothing suspicious about that at all.

“Artist who routinely destroys his clothing, Brian,” Justin said as he pointed at himself. “Armani does me no good in my work environment.” He paused and thought about it. On the one hand, Brian was being kind of shady about part of his reasons for going to New York; but on the other, it was Daphne time. “It would be nice to see Daphne and the others.”

“It would,” Brian agreed as a little more tension slipped from his body; but Justin was just biding his time. He knew Brian far too well; and being in New York would put him far too close to a certain someone that Brian had been dying to put in his place for far too many years. “You don’t get to spend as much time with her now that they are based in New York.”

“It would figure that she’d move there just as I was getting ready to return home,” Justin mused, his mind already turning to all the things he wanted to do when they got there; and how to keep Brian from enacting his ill-thought revenge. “Could you imagine the amount of fun that the both of us could’ve had taking on New York together.”

“Actually,” Brian said, his tone dry as the Sahara. “I’m imaging the number of times I would have been called to bail you guys out. My pocketbook thanks you for not taking on New York together.”

“We’re not that bad,” Justin protested weakly; and then slapped Brian on the arm when he just snorted again in response.

“Oh, yes you are,” Brian disagreed; and then he carefully disengaged from Justin and walked over to his desk. “So, I’ll start booking flights and what not. I figured we’d just stay at the loft since it’s unoccupied at the moment.”

“Sounds good,” Justin said a bit absently; he stretched out on the couch and laid down. Fuck, but he was so fucking tired, all the fucking time, these days. He propped himself on some pillows and sent a shrewd look his husband’s direction. “Plus, being there will give me the chance to touch base with some of my friends and contacts about the Simon thing.”

“Yeah, Simon…” Brian muttered, his face darkening; and bingo, we have a winner! Justin had a feeling that Brian had been scheming something up in regards to Simon. And usually, Justin would be all for Brian handing someone their ass; but in this case, they needed to tread lightly. The man still had far too much influence and power to mess with him just yet; but soon.

“Leave him alone, Brian,” Justin warned as he got comfortable; he really could do with a nap right about now. “I would like nothing better than to punch the asshole myself; but let’s give the plan a chance to work. Trust me; the blow to his prestige and pocketbook will hurt far worse than a punch to the face, which would heal in the matter of days. Don’t give him a reason to sue you.”

“He deserves it, Sunshine,” Brian spat with a mutinous expression on his face.

“And I agree.” Justin nodded. “But he is a slimy, little weasel that will try to pull you down with him if you give into the urge. If we do it this way, there is nothing he can do. After all, he can’t sue me just because I choose not show my art at or talk to any of his cronies.”

“I know,” Brian said as he deflated; although he still sounded disgruntled that he wasn’t going to get the chance to deal with Simon on this trip. “There has to me something that would prove…”

“Follow the money trail?” Justin suggested with a lethargic shrug. “There has to be something that we can pin on him.”

“Hmmm…” Brian hummed, a calculating glint in his eyes as he stared at the computer screen. “Theodore has been getting antsy; maybe I’ll have him look into a few things. At the very least, he’ll know who to go to if he can’t do it.”

“Works for me,” Justin said, and then yawned; this wasn’t an ideal place to nap as he didn’t have his body pillow, but maybe he could get away with it for an hour or so. He really didn’t want to move. “But no confrontations; at least none that are instigated on our parts. We don’t need him claiming harassment.”

“Fine,” Brian huffed, his lips compressed into a thin line. “But if we run into him, and he gets in my face; I make no guarantees.”

“I’d expect nothing less of you,” Justin murmured; his lids grew heavy and slowly slid shut as a warm lethargy washed over him. “But, really; if we’re going, I just want to relax. I don't want to deal with assholes on this trip, as the whole point is to get away from one.”

“Then relax we will,” Brian promised; Justin smiled, and that was the last thing he heard as he slid into a sound sleep; although, he was certain that he felt the soft brush of lips on his forehead just before he went fully under.

… … … … …

Justin slowly awakened, and reluctantly at that if he was at all honest about it; he was warm and snug, and wanted to do nothing more than to bury back down in the cashmere blanket covering him. He would have too if it weren’t for the fact that his back was aching from laying on it for too long, and that he really needed to pee. Plus, he was starving as he'd never gotten around to ordering his pizza. Damn Brian for distracting him.

And not even in the fun way.

Stretching, Justin carefully rolled over and sat up, trying to work the kinks out of his neck and back. This was exactly why he didn’t like falling asleep anywhere other than his bed or on the futon in the studio these days. It was just too fucking uncomfortable and he always woke up a dozen times or more due to one ache or another.

Fuck; he’ll be so glad when this is all over. Especially if what his mother said was true, and it was just going to get worse from here on out; he was so not looking forward to the last month. It sounded like a real bitch.

Grimacing, Justin debated between running to the bathroom now and then ordering food; or taking care of food first and then running to the bathroom. Standing by Brian’s now empty desk in indecision, (because trust him; at this point of his pregnancy, it was a legitimate debate as to which was the greater need), and then ambled over to the desk to place his order since it shouldn’t take that long. He'd had his favorites saved online in his profile, along with all his other details. All he had to do was click a few buttons and viola - pizza!

Quickly making his way through the order, Justin sent it off and then logged onto Google mail and clicked on the order confirmation email; he smiled when it said that the pizza would be delivered in thirty minutes. Good, he was fucking starving. Squirming in his seat, Justin paused as he went to click out of the web browser; should he? Yes, he could spare a couple of more minutes. He clicked on drafts and decided to read through the email he was planning on sending to everyone today.

Might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Clicking on the draft that he'd started the night before, Justin gave it a quick review, snickering as he made a few slight adjustments here and there. He wished he could see their faces when they got it.

From: Justin Taylor-Kinney

To: Family All; The Gang

Cc: Brian Taylor-Kinney (work); Brian Taylor-Kinney (personal)

Subject: Baby Name Decided!

Yes, you read that right! We have finally decided on a name for Sunbeam and wanted all of our loved ones to know about it first! You know, since you all have expressed a mild interest (read have become a never-ending pain in my ass about it) in the name in the hopes of deciphering the gender (which really, you should know that’s not going to happen by now as we’ve told you multiple times that we like gender-neutral names).

But, before we get to the heart of this email, I did want to take this opportunity to thank each, and every, one of you for your name suggestions over the past few months. You have no idea just how invaluable your input has been when it came to selecting a name for Sunbeam (or not selecting a name for that matter; looking at you Mel).

We did get all of your lists by the way, and did indeed look through all of them; minus one or two that accidentally got shredded, and the emails that carried them, then somehow  got mysteriously deleted forever. How that happened, I have no idea; I suppose it will just have to remain a mystery. So sadly, we were unable to consider those names; what a shame.  

But for the rest of you – well, there are no words that could ever describe my reaction to your thoughtfulness. I can see that some of you really took the time (and really, some of you have way too much fucking time on your hands; looking at you Daphne) to select names that would work for our little Sunbeam. So, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the sheer joy (and often hilarity) that you have imparted on me with your choices.

Now, onto the true purpose of this email; as I said, with your illustrious (and not-so-illustrious) help; we have finally come up with the perfect name for Sunbeam. And let me tell you, with so many names to choose from, it was a difficult task. So difficult, in fact; that we couldn't decide on just one name. So, we decided to take one from each of your lists!

We know it’s a little unconventional; and well maybe even a little cruel to the poor tyke, but at least Sunbeam will never run out of potential nicknames. Plus, we are far from conventional people and we just know our Sunbeam will follow suit.

Thus, the child known as Sunbeam will now be known as:

Echo Riley Lyric Jean Cedar Jordan Spencer McKenzie Dahlia Shane Kiley Ronan Taylor-Kinney

We know it’s a mouthful, but Sunbeam's part Kinney and they’re all divas anyways; and we needed a name suited to carry that diva gene. We’re sure that Sunbeam will eventually grow into it and carry it with all the aplomb of a Taylor-Kinney!

Now with that news imparted, I just have one more thing to tell you…

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Keep Scrolling…

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April Fools!

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What? Did you honestly think I’d do that to my child? Kinney diva gene or not, I’d rather not have my child trying to smother me in my sleep after they'd tried printing their full name while learning to write it in school. You’ll just have to wait until the day that Sunbeam is born to find out what the real name will be!

~ Justin

Justin grinned and then hit send, giggling the entire time at the reactions that email was going to receive. But, they'd all deserved it after some of those lists. Closing down his email, Justin stood and stretched; and then he grimaced as Sunbeam decided just at that moment to start tap-dancing on his bladder. Hurrying from the room, he rubbed hand over his stomach in the hopes of calming the little demon before he embarrassed himself, grumbling under his breath the entire way to the bathroom.

“I really, really can’t wait for this to be over.”

… … … … …

 Justin twitched at another shadow, his nerves fried and hair standing on end as he looked around, expecting something to jump out at him at any time. And then, when nothing came for the two dozenth time, he sighed and scrubbed his hand over his face in exasperation. Enough was enough. He needed to end his misery like right the fuck now before he went into early labor due to shot nerves.

He supposed that he should go back a bit in time to earlier that day for his panic to make any sense; after he'd sent off the prank email, and went to the bathroom – and thank fuck he’d made it in time – Justin had realized that he'd sort of fucked up. As usual, when emailing the family, he’d automatically sent a copy of it off to Brian. Which, in and of itself, wasn’t a problem. After all, it wasn’t like he was hiding his minor prank from his husband.

The problem stemmed from the fact that just hadn't told Brian about the prank because he didn't want to bring attention to the fact that it was April Fool's Day. And since Brian had more than enough reason to prank him given the fact that he still hadn’t exacted his full revenge on Justin for the triplets joke, that email would likely serve as a reminder to Brian that his vengeance was still pending. And that thought was what had left Justin decidedly twitchy and on edge for the rest of that day, wondering if his husband was going to use this day as a free pass to get even; especially as Brian kept looking at him funny.

It had gotten so bad, that he was now jumping at shadows and he’d had enough; which was why he needed to know what Brian’s looks had meant like right the fuck now before he jumped out of his skin, literally.

Striding into the bedroom, Justin walked over to where Brian was curled up in a chair reading a book and slammed his hands down on the side table. Brian jumped and looked up at Justin with wide, surprised eyes, which quickly morphed into concern when he noted Justin’s wild expression. But Justin wasn’t fooled in the least bit.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this!” Justin hissed, glaring at the other man for putting him in this position. “Just do it already!”

Brian's mouth dropped open and stared at Justin with no little amount of confusion; Justin briefly wondered if he had gotten it all wrong, but there was no turning back now as Brian would just bug him if he didn't see it through.

“Okay?” Brian hesitantly said with one brow arched. Justin stood up, surprised that Brian had acquiesced so easily; he had expected a coy denial, or for Brian to drag things out, just to torture Justin further. But then again, he'd just seemed surprised at Justin’s demand.

“Go ahead and hit me with your best shot, Brian Taylor-Kinney,” Justin hissed defiantly and jutted his chin forward.

And, yes; he realized that he was acting irrationally, but he had to know what those looks had meant. Brian pursed his lips and furrowed his brow.

“Um…” Brian hedged, staring at Justin as if he’d spouted a second head. “There is one small problem with that, Sunshine.”

“What!?” Justin huffed in frustration; now this was more like the reaction he’d been expecting. “What could possibly be the problem now?”

“I have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing?” Brian said, the end lilting up into a question. He shook his head in bewilderment; and Justin realized then, that maybe, just maybe, he might have miscalculated things. But he wasn’t going to back down now that it was out there. “You wanna clue me in on what you’re expecting as I don’t want to disappoint you?”

“The joke!” Justin insisted, his arms crossed over his chest.

Brian shook his head again and managed to look both concerned at Justin’s raving, and confused by it at the same time.

“April Fool’s Day!?” Justin exclaimed, gesticulating wildly with his hands,

Brian stared at Justin incredulously, mouthing the words over and over to himself; and then wild grin spread over his face and he doubled over laughing. Justin huffed as Brian pressed a hand to his face, his shoulders convulsing as deep belly laughs exploded out of his mouth, and continued on for several minutes before Brian finally managed to control them enough to speak.

“Is that why you’ve been twitchy all day?” Brian managed to gasp out between laughs, his eyes dancing with mirth. “I’ve been trying to figure out why you’ve been jumping at shadows all day; but never in a million years would I suspect this was the cause.”

“Yes!” Justin huffed, feeling a bit foolish now.

“Sorry to disappoint you, Sunshine,” Brian said between snickers. “But I completely forgot the date; I have nothing." Justin's cheeks heated as Brian tucked his tongue into his cheek. "Besides, why would I ever prank you on a day when you’d be expecting it? That would completely defeat the purpose.”

“You seriously don’t have a prank planned?” Justin asked with incredulity.

“Nope,” Brian smirked. “But in a way, by not having one, I unintentionally got you just as good as if I had pranked you.”

“I…” Justin said, and then snapped his mouth shut as Brian arched a brow.

“Yes, Sunshine?” Brian prompted, his eyes still dancing with laughter as he leaned down and picked up his book. “You what?”

“I’m going to my studio,” Justin huffed, feeling extremely foolish over the whole thing; he had been so certain that those looks meant that Brian had been plotting something. He scowled at Brian’s amused look and stormed out the door, with Brian’s voice echoing down the hall behind him.

“You do that, dear; let me know when you’re done sulking and then I’ll have Anna start dinner.”

Justin huffed again as laughter spilled out of their bedroom doorway; he stomped into his studio and slammed the door, muting his husband's laughter and threw himself onto the futon, his face on fire. 

Fuck; he was never going to live this down.