Justin went over to his mother's house since he missed Gus. He felt good that he was able to let Gus do things without him. But little steps didn’t mean not wanting to be with Gus anyway. When he got to her place she was baking cookies and showing Gus pictures of Molly and him growing up. Justin sat down and looked at them, amazed at how happy his family once was. No longer hurt that his father's smile was missing years later when he looked at Justin. 

“Who’s that?” Gus asked me.

“My Dada,” Justin told him. 

“Are you going to see him?” Jen asked.

“Has anything really changed?” He asked. 

“No,” Jen said, wishing the answer was different.

“I don’t have a problem if he knows, but I won't let Gus be around him. Having Gus didn’t change his problem with me.” He told her, knowing Craig would eventually find out.

Jen nodded and went to answer the phone, while Gus turned the pages.

“My Brian has pictures of me,” Gus told his father.

“What pictures?” Justin asked, confused.

“In a box. He showed me.” Gus told him. 

“When?” Justin asked, not liking hearing that after Reese was questioning him today at lunch.

“When you was drawing, he stopped playing, so I went to see. He had a box and I was with some man in his picture. I played with the shells.” Gus said, none of it making any sense.

Justin stayed at his mother's house, waiting until the time Brian told him he'd be home tonight. Jen was thrilled when Justin asked if Gus could stay with her longer. Justin needed to know why Brian would have any pictures of Gus, and feeling like Reese was asking questions that now seemed odd.

Brian was about to call Justin to see when he and Gus would be over when his intercom went off. Answering, he was glad Justin was at the door. But he was still trying to figure out how to tell Justin about the possibility Gus was his son. He opened the door wanting to kiss Justin before having the discussion, but Justin shook his head and came in.

“Everything okay?” Brian asked since Justin looked upset.

“Why do you have pictures of Gus? And why was your friend asking so many questions?” Justin asked.

Brian stood there trying to find a way to tell Justin, knowing this wasn’t going to be easy on either of them. He walked to his briefcase, pulling out the picture he used of Lindsay when he started his search for her. 

“Understand, I don't know for sure if I'm right, and wanted confirmation before I told you. I also didn’t think anything until you said the name of Gus’s mother.” Brian told him, handing him the picture of Lindsay.

Justin stared at the picture of Lynn, trying to believe it wasn’t her. Only he knew it was her. Then he got angry, thinking Brian was there to help Lynn.

“She doesn’t get to be a part of Gus’s life. She left him. Never once bothering to even say goodbye to him. She left him on his first birthday for fuck sake.” Justin said, ready to get Gus and leave, hating Brian for helping her.

“I'd help you make sure that never happens. I don't want her anywhere near Gus.” Brian told him. 

“Then why the hell do you have Lynn’s picture, and one of Gus?” Justin asked, angry, and unable to believe anything else.

“That is a picture of Lindsay Peterson. The woman who ran from here, pregnant with my child.” Brian told him. 

Justin’s world was crashing around him, not wanting to believe Gus was anyone's but his. 

“He’s mine. MINE, do you understand? I raised him and loved him, I'm the one who wiped his tears and stayed up nights when he got sick. I'm the only one he knows.” Justin told him, trying to make Brian understand what this would do to Gus and him.

“Justin, what you did for Gus, I'll never be able to thank you for that. Knowing he had you in his life means the nightmares that were possible are gone for me.” Brian told him.

“And mine are just beginning! I'll fight you, and trust me I can do it!” Justin screamed.

“Calm down. We don't have to fight each other.” Brian told him. 

“You expect me to just hand over MY SON? All because you have a picture of the woman who left him.” Justin knew he was being unreasonable, but he wouldn’t lose Gus to anyone.

“NO… Not at all. But give me the opportunity to know him. Let me help you, let me be there so you don’t have to do it alone.” Brian told him.

“He might not be yours,” Justin told him, grasping at anything.

Brian went into the bedroom and pulled the picture out of the box, taking it to Justin. Needing him to understand why Brian thought Gus was his. 

“Why did you think I had a picture of Gus?” Brian asked.

“Gus tells me everything, and when we were looking at pictures my mother has of me and my sister, he told me you had one of him. Were you having us followed? Did you really accidentally bump into us and then show up at the convention, pretending everything?” Justin asked since he couldn’t figure out how Brian got one.

“First, until I bumped into you, and even after, I didn’t know who you were. Second, when you said Lynn’s name, that’s the only reason I thought he could be mine… ours. This isn’t a picture of Gus, but me, when I was around his age.” Brian told him, handing it to him.

Justin closed his eyes after looking at the picture because if he wasn’t told it was Brian, he would have believed it was Gus. It was selfish, but in believing Brian, also meant Brian could take Gus from him. Only he couldn’t do that to Gus, who claimed Brian as his.

“What are we going to do?” Justin asked, not willing to let his selfish wants hurt Gus eventually.

“We’re going to do what we’ve been doing, let Gus get to know me. When you have to go home, all I’m asking is that you let me come with you. I’m not ready to let him out of my sight when I just found him. We also need to make sure Lindsay can’t touch him, by proving I am his father. No, that WE are his fathers” Brian told him.

“You really think she would come back, or even bother to want him?” Justin asked, never letting himself believe she’d bother.

Brian wrapped his arms around Justin, needing it just as much as Justin did.

“She might not, but she knows I’m looking for her. When I stop trying to find her, I have a feeling she’s going to want to find out why, and will likely fight us for Gus.” Brian told him, leading Justin to the sofa and laying down with him.

“Why do you think that? I didn’t get to know her that well, just made it easier for her to leave Gus with me. Which she did, a lot, never even asking about what he did while she was gone.” Justin told him.

“What you said the other day about someone telling her; it explains how she knows to run. It’s why I hired Reese to find her, but I don’t plan to look for her anymore. She won’t be able to resist trying to find out why she’s suddenly safe from me. Which means I need you to help me make sure she doesn’t find out about Gus.” Brian told him.

“Did you figure out how she’s finding out?” Justin asked.

“I don’t want to believe it, but there are only two people I could think would tell her. One of them doesn’t need to see Gus, because he’d know if he looking at Gus, that there was some connection to me. Gus looks too much like me. Right now Mikey only thinks I’m around you to get him what he wants, but he would see the likeness. And if he’s involved with Lindsay in any way, then we could be dealing with her sooner. I want it so there isn’t any way Lindsay can touch Gus.” Brian told him.

“What do you want me to do?” Justin asked, willing to do anything to keep her away from Gus.

“We just need to be careful about who sees us together until you leave. I can take time off and go with you. I want to keep seeing you, as well as Gus.” Brian told him.

“I won’t keep him from you. I know it was the first thought I had, but it would be selfish of me to do that to Gus. I want to be selfish, but I promised myself Gus would have everything I could give him. Another person who could love him the way I do... I can’t take that away from him.” Justin told him.

“How did you meet her?” Brian asked.

“She lived in the building I rented my place at, on the same floor. I’d seen her when she moved in. But at the time I didn’t want people in my life, and she pretty much ignored me. I didn’t even know she was pregnant until she showed up at my door, demanding I help her. I ended up driving her to the hospital, being dragged in with her, and then no one would listen when I tried to say I wasn’t the father. So I stuck around since she grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I still have nightmares about it. The minute Gus was put in my arms, I stopped protesting, since he became the first person who made me understand love. I didn’t find out she named me as the father until after she disappeared, and the detective I used told me Lynn Peters didn’t exist. I didn’t care, because I could keep Gus since she used my name as the father.” Justin told him. Then added what he knew about her. “She didn’t seem bad, just disinterested. After Gus was born, more often than not she’d drop him off with me, barely remembering to come to get him. The last time I saw her, she was actually surprised when she came over to drop off Gus and saw a cake and decorations for his birthday at my place. Then she left, like she didn't see a reason to be there, and never came back.” Justin told him, giving Brian the beginning that the detective couldn’t find.

“She also didn’t have a clue there was anything she could get from you. It’s likely she used you for a different reason, to not have to deal with Gus. Ted and I think she might have thought I’d give her what her parents wanted; a sham of a marriage that would make her parents include her back in their lives, and if that didn’t work, she could get me to support her.” Brian told him.

“It sounds so mercenary, which I didn’t see in her,” Justin told him.

“She wasn’t ever happy with what she had. Then she wasn’t happy when rebelling against her parents lost her what little they gave her. Lindsay came second all her life, so I understood why she was bitter and stayed her friend. When she asked me to help her have a baby, I said no, because nothing keeps her interest long, and her girlfriend hated my guts. Lindsay didn’t care that what she wanted could cause problems between her and Mel but relented when I refused. At least I thought she did. Until I found out she hired a guy to get what she wanted from me. It got ugly after that because she told everyone we went the natural route, and then took off, not giving a shit about anyone but herself.” Brian told him.

“She didn’t even name him, just left the one I used when asked,” Justin told him, 

“Does anyone know you’re not the father?” Brian asked.

“You, Daphne, my publicist, and the detective. People I trust.” Justin told him, not realizing he said, Brian. But Brian heard it.

“Gus is expecting us to do something with him today,” Justin told Brian.

“Pizza and a movie sound good?” Brian asked.

“Make sure you order three because Daphne eats more than I do,” Justin told him.

“Are we okay?” Brian asked.

“I’m still worried. But lying FOR Gus I will do, not to him.” Justin told him.

“No matter what happens between us, we share him,” Brian told him.

“Here or Chicago?” Justin asked.

“Chicago for now, but we’ll work it out,” Brian told him, texting Ted to work the numbers up on expanding Kinnetik to Chicago.