Michael went back into the waiting room before going to see Claire and the baby. He liked the way everyone congratulated him, even though they didn’t know him. Today he planned to make sure his friends were doing their duty by being there when he helped Claire home with the baby. 

Michael had been avoiding the hospital for the last two days since Claire seemed to think his job was to be at her beck and call after she delivered the baby. He figured he’d wait for his friends to show up before dealing with Claire’s hormonal fits.

Michael fooled himself into believing that when he called, his friends would appear. He was ready for the attention he saw the new fathers around him getting. He didn’t care what his mother said, Brian would see this was good for them. He’d see that Michael should be the one who helped him raise Lindsay’s bastard. He managed to convince himself that Brian was only doing what it took to secure Gus in his life. Then all the dreams Michael spent years depending on would be his, finally. He wanted Ted and Emmett here because he wanted Brian to hear that their son was born. It had been the perfect plan. It only took a few poppers, a blue pill, and a lot of pretending Claire was Brian for Michael to knock her ass up. Although he had started to worry lately. Claire was less convinced of what he told her were Brian’s reasons for staying with Justin. Michael refused to believe Brian would willingly sign over half of everything he ever worked for to HIM, the blond who only wanted Brian’s money. 

Michael was still calling the people who were supposed to make sure Brian heard about Brian Jr’s birth. Claire tried to give the baby her last name, but Michael wasn’t having that. He sacrificed to have a Kinney, therefore the baby was going to be a Kinney. Brian Michael Kinney would be raised to know his purpose in life, to make sure Brian couldn’t deny their child. He’d called that bitch Cynthia to announce the news and swore he heard her say ‘poor baby’ before she hung up without asking anything about how Brian would know where to find Michael. 

Michael smiled when he saw his mother, even though they’d left things badly the last time they talked. He knew she’d eventually realize that she needed to support him. 

“I brought you some things you're going to need when the baby leaves the hospital.” She told him, handing him a bag.

“Why didn’t you give these to Claire?” He asked, not wanting to have to haul crap around with him.

“I would have, but apparently she decided to leave the hospital.” She answered.

“Then take this stuff to her house. She’ll need it since Brian Jr doesn’t have anything,” he told her, annoyed that Claire didn’t tell him and now he’d wasted a trip.

Deb took a deep breath at hearing the name and seeing the last name in the nursery. Her son needed help, but for once she listened when Blake told her to see Michael’s obsession with Brian as nothing she could help with until he hit rock bottom. It also helped that Deb had people in her life who made her see how unhealthy her smothering of Michael was, not just to him but also to herself. In truth, the only thing she cared about now was her grandchild. Michael didn’t realize the minute he and Claire conceived the baby, Deb’s loyalty would be to the baby who didn’t deserve her immature son or a self-absorbed mother as parents, but someone who would love the baby. She stopped at Joan’s to tell her the baby was here, and as expected, Joan just poured another drink. When she got to the hospital she went to see Claire because she wasn’t ready to deal with Michael. She wanted time to talk to Claire about her other children. 

Deb smiled as she thought of the boys, they no longer walked on eggshells at Craig and Cara’s house, and with each visit with their father, things became clearer about what Claire had been doing to all of them. Listening to John Sr take the blame for his absence from their lives, not trying to blame Claire but himself for not being there for them, was eye-opening. Deb knew not only Michael but she herself had for years shifted the blame to Brian. Deb called Brian to apologize for her part, but Brian told her he was living in the future not his past, and he still felt apologies were bullshit. It was why she went to see Claire instead of Michael in the waiting room, where he had demanded everyone meet him. Claire hadn’t bothered to meet with the caseworker or see the boys on the days set aside for her to visit them. When Deb entered the room it was empty. The nurse would only say that Claire had left. When Deb asked about the baby she was told Claire had told them Michael would pick it up. 

“It?” Deb asked.

“Yes ma’am, she told us to tell him he wanted it, it was all his. The doctor was worried and suggested she seek counseling.” The nurse said, shrugging before leaving the room.

Deb decided she’d deal with Claire later. Apparently, Michael was going to be bringing the baby home with him. Michael got up as if he planned to leave, Deb grabbed his arm and took him to the nurses' station next to the nursery.

“Michael, show the woman your ID,” Deb told him, as he looked at her. Confused as to why he needed to show them anything.

“No need. Michael has let everyone in the hospital congratulate him, over and over. Are you ready to take the baby home?” The nurse, Gina, asked.

“What?” Michael asked, looking confused.

“Mrs. Novotny told us the baby was yours to deal with,” Gina told him.

“Why would you tell her that?” Michael asked Deb.

“Not your mother, your wife, sir,” Gina told him.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” Michael asked as Deb slapped him in the head.

“Be the fucking father you claimed you wanted to be,” Deb tells him.

Gina hurried up the paperwork, not sure how the man who hadn’t even bothered to see the baby would be any better than the mother who walked out, claiming she had better things to do. When the baby was brought to them, once again she worried, until Deb held out her arms. Gina had seen that look many times in her career, it was love in its purest form. 

Deb waited for Michael to ask for his son, once again hoping for her son to do the right thing for once in his life. Once again he failed, but Deb didn’t mind much since it would give her what she knew the baby needed, a stable home with her. His next words confirmed it for her.

“Ma, can you take him with you? I need to find out what Claire’s doing.” Michael whined at her, giving her the puppy dog look that in the past worked for him.

“Why don’t I take the baby to your place and wait for you,” Deb asked him.

“I can’t keep a baby at my place. We might need to stay with you until I straighten this out.” Michael told her.

“The baby can stay with me until you can take care of it. JUST the baby. In fact, it might be good for me to keep him with me until you straighten out everything. Which means I also need you to sign some papers I brought with me so that if the baby needs anything I can take care of it for you.” Deb told him, letting the nurse hold the baby so she could get the paperwork out that Mel helped her with.

“There’s also the issue of the bill. Your wife indicated that you understood this was your responsibility.” Gina informed him.

“Didn’t her insurance cover it?” Michael asked, signing all the paperwork Deb handed him without reading it.

“I have no idea. You’ll need to talk to the billing department, Sir.” Gina told him, handing the baby back to Deb.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. You still have the money from the shop.” Deb told him.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go deal with it.” Michael answered her, thinking that once he and Brian are together the money won’t matter.

Deb asked the nurses to witness the paperwork for her. Then left with her grandson cooing in her arms. 

“Don’t worry sweetheart, you have a whole family ready to love you,” Deb told the baby.

Brian was just returning to the hotel after a long afternoon working. He’d already talked to John and Peter about their day. He was happy to hear John Sr was doing what he promised the boys. Craig had let him know that Claire hadn’t bothered to visit or do anything else required to get her boys back. John Sr managed to meet with the caseworker anytime she asked, and also made sure he had his support paid directly to the state, so they could use it directly for the boys care. Craig was impressed with John’s work ethic. If asked, he did anything without complaint. Brian joked it was likely why he ended up married to Claire as long as he was. John suffered in silence.

Brian walked in to see Justin and Gus doing a puzzle together. Justin made it clear that TV was the last resort in his idea of parenting. Brian like it because Gus saw treats as the time he had with Brian and Justin, and TV couldn’t compete in Gus’s eyes. Even though he and Justin had been together for months now, Brian still loved coming home to dinner waiting and his family happy to see him. When Justin looked up at him, he knew there was something Justin wanted to talk to him about, but not in front of Gus. They ate dinner, helped Gus finish his puzzle, then took a walk around Paris as they did every night since they’d been here. Gus stopped at the gift shop on their way back to their room, he wanted to pick up postcards for all his friends and the family. They were leaving in a couple of days, along with the assortment of presents Gus picked up along the way. Brian arranged for Cynthia and Ted to help for the next week while they dealt with Gus’s adoption. He’d been checking with Reese, who told him Lindsay seemed to be enjoying not only Greece but apparently some younger artist she’d picked up there. Nothing indicated Lindsay was even planning to leave, which was hopefully because she believed she still had another month before the hearing. 

Brian tucked Gus in, who was already asleep when his head hit the pillow. He kissed his son’s head before going to find out what Justin wanted to tell him. Brian had made sure Justin knew everything he did about Lindsay, so he doubted that was what Justin could be worried about. Justin was biting on his nail when Brian entered the room.

“Even if Lindsay shows up, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on. She barely managed to stay in Gus’s life for the first year, you’ve been there for him always.” Brian told him.

“I sort of did something, even though we agreed not to,” Justin told him.

“What?” Brian asked.

“I know I should have talked to you about it, but I wanted to make sure Deb could fight them if she needed to. Turns out Michael signed over his rights and hasn’t bothered to come to see the baby since he handed him to Deb at the hospital.” Justin told him, stalling.

“Again, what did you do?” Brian asked him.

“My mom signed over the rest of my inheritance, which we didn’t really need. I sort of set up an account for Deb, making it so she didn’t need to work.” Justin told him.

“She won’t take the money, she’s always wanted to stand on her own feet,” Brian told him.

“That’s pretty much what she told my mother and father. But they also told her I could be as stubborn as she is. I talked to her, and she plans to keep the money in trust for the baby.” Justin told him, still nervous about something.

“What else? By the way, I would have done the same, but you thought of it first, so what aren’t you telling me?” Brian asked.

“It took me off guard when Deb told me the baby’s name. Michael named the baby after you, including the last name.” Justin told Brian.

Brian managed to hide his shock. Even though nothing should shock him when it came to Michael. “Did Claire give Deb any problems?” He asked.

“No. Other than dumping the baby on Michael, who in turn dumped the baby on Deb. My mom and Cara went to Claire’s house to find out what the hell she was doing, only to find it cleaned out and Claire gone. They even went to your mother’s house, and apparently, Claire only stopped by long enough to tell her she was on to better things. Which my mom questioned me about, thinking I paid Claire off, but I didn’t.” Justin informed Brian.

“I didn’t either if your asking,” Brian told him, puzzled.

“Well then, I guess we’ll find out what’s going on when we get back,” Justin told him.

Meanwhile, Michael was frantically searching for Claire fucking Novotny, who he stupidly put on his bank account.