Chapter 24

As their family was quickly approaching their first Thanksgiving together, things got more and more settled at Britin. Both boys had accepted that Justin was a father to both of them and had been happier than they had been in a long time. Everyone had been surprised by how easy the transition of Justin moving into Britin had gone and so far there hadn't been any big problems or arguments which could be due to Brian and Justin mostly spending time on their own after the boys had gone to bed. Even though that might not be considered perfect, it worked for them and both of them were happy enough with their family the way it was.

Two days before Thanksgiving, Brian had asked Justin after lunch to join him in his office as there was something he wanted to talk to him about.

“Why the serious face? What's going on?” Justin asked as he looked at Brian's almost stony expression.

“There's something we need to talk about,” Brian started as he sat down with a sigh in his office chair.

“And I guess I am not going to like it?” Justin assumed as he took a seat opposite Brian in one of the other chairs at the desk.

Brian just shrugged in response.

“Okay, out with it. What is so bad that you can't tell me?”

“Thanksgiving,” Brian just answered as if that would be explanation enough.

Justin looked only more confused. “What about it? Did anyone cancel? Did Emmett refuse to prepare dinner?”

Brian and Justin had started talking about Thanksgiving two weeks earlier and Brian had explained to Justin how he and the boys had normally spent their holiday together. How they would have Deb, Jennifer, Ted and Blake over and would have a Thanksgiving dinner that had been prepared by the grandmas of the family. It had sounded lovely to Justin and he couldn't wait to have his first Thanksgiving with his family. In recent years he had often been too busy to celebrate Thanksgiving as he had been preparing for Christmas shows and had been busily getting his masterpieces ready, but this year he had cancelled all upcoming shows, so that he could spend more time with his newfound family and he had been beyond excited at the prospect of spending holidays with his two sons and everyone they loved and cared about. When he had told Emmett about how much he was looking forward to Thanksgiving, his friend had immediately offered to prepare the dinner, so that Justin and the grandmas could spend all their time spoiling Luke and Gus. At first Justin had been against that and had insisted that Emmett would also be a guest and invited, but the tall queen had been incredibly convincing and after far less persuasion than Justin had anticipated, even Brian had agreed to let Emmett cook for Thanksgiving.

The only sad thing was that Daphne had cancelled. She had refused his invitation, telling him in no uncertain terms that she had no interest in playing happy family with Brian and his mother. She had told him that it was his choice if he wanted to do it, but she wouldn't and she wouldn't pretend that everything was fine just for the sake of a happy dinner. At first Justin had been devastated, but in the end he had accepted that he couldn't change her mind. He had talked to her a couple more times since she had declined his invitation and at least the two of them were alright. She might disagree with how he was handling everything and she might not be happy with how easily he had forgiven his family (as if any of it had really been easy on him, he often thought to himself...), but she was still his friend and they wouldn't let their differing opinions change that.

“No, no, everything is still going ahead as planned,” Brian assured in a calm voice.

“Then what is it?”

“I have been thinking,” Brian started and he couldn't help but chuckle at Justin's raised eyebrow. “I know... never a good thing, but...,” Brian took a deep breath, before he continued. “I know that you wanted to tell everyone about the legal guardianship for Gus at Thanksgiving.”

Brian had had the papers drawn by his lawyer to make Justin Gus' legal guardian and about a week after Gus' talk with Justin, Justin had come by Kinnetik with Daphne's father and had signed them with him as a witness. Both he and Brian had agreed to wait for a happy occasion to tell all family together and to give their family some time to get used to the new family dynamics. Especially after that one night where Luke had so obviously been hurt and probably also jealous about Justin now being Gus' father, too. They had wanted to give both boys some time to adjust to the changes and only wanted to inform their family then. In the end they had agreed to tell everyone at Thanksgiving as everyone would be gathered as Britin and that way they would only have to tell everyone once.

“WE wanted to tell everyone,” Justin corrected. “We both agreed.”

“Right, we wanted to tell them, but...,” Brian didn't get any further than that as he was interrupted by Justin.

“But now you don't want to tell them.”

His voice had been calm and Brian was surprised to not detect any anger in it. Then again a calm Justin had always been worse than an angry and yelling Justin. Brian could deal with that. In reply he only nodded at the man across from him.

“Why?” Was the only question from the younger man and Brian knew that it was a justified question. He had thought about the answer for a long time and in the end he only really had one reason and he hoped that Justin would understand.

“I don't want to hurt Debbie.”

“Debbie? Why would she be hurt?” Justin frowned. “She's going to be ecstatic and will hug us all to death.”

Despite the seriousness of the moment, Brian had to chuckle at the image that was now imprinted in his head. He shook his head with a soft smile, before he spoke calmly. “Normally, I would agree, but...during the holiday season... I just don't know.”

“What difference does the holiday season make?”

“Thanksgiving and Christmas are really hard for her.. After everything that went on with Michael and Lindsay... she misses him and JR like crazy any day of the year, but during holiday season I know it's killing her. She's trying to hide it, but it's hurting her to spend the holidays with us and not her son and her granddaughter.”

Justin listened to Brian's explanation and cursed himself for having been an insensitive asshole. He hadn't once thought about how Debbie might be feeling during the weeks leading up to Christmas and he could only imagine how much she had to be suffering. He had known that Michael had been involved in Lindsay's scheme to kidnap Luke, but he had never asked what had happened afterwards. He had only been told that Michael and Lindsay had been sent to prison, that Debbie and Brian had had a big falling out and that after some time Debbie and Brian had reconnected.

“Where is JR?” Justin asked quietly and he felt angry at himself for never having asked that question before. He had known that Brian had been awarded sole custody of Gus, but he had never bothered to ask about Gus' sister. God, he had been so focused on his own life that he hadn't spared her a single thought so far. What did that say about him as a person?

“After the kidnapping, Mel filed for divorce from Lindsay and took JR with her to move back to her family in Florida. She has since broken off all contact with anyone here,” Brian explained in a strained voice.

“Trial?” Justin frowned.

“Lindsay and Michael were charged with kidnapping a minor and it was an ugly trial. Lindsay's delusions about raising my child as theirs was the final straw for Mel, I guess.”

“How did the trial end?” Justin asked and once again cursed himself for only now asking what were really important questions. This concerned his sons and their safety. How could he not have asked this before? Brian had mentioned Lindsay and Michael being in prison before, but how could he have not asked for more details? How could he have been so focused on his sons and himself and nothing else?

“Lindsay was sentenced to 17 years in prison and Michael got 8 years for being an accessory to her plans after he foolishly admitted that he had been aware of what she wanted to do,” Brian spat and Justin could hear the anger and fury in his voice.

“Wow...,” Justin just exclaimed. For some reason he had never really considered what had happened afterwards, but it made sense that there would have been a trial as kidnapping was a serious charge and not something that you could just smile away.

“And after that Mel just left with JR?”

Brian nodded.

“But what about Gus? He's JR's brother? And she's his mother!” Justin exclaimed, but Brian's face said it all. “Jeez! How could she?”

“She thinks she's hurting me by hurting Gus,” the older man explained calmly.

“Hurting you? Why?”

“She blames me for what Lindsay did and thinks I destroyed her family. Then I sued for custody of Gus and got sole custody, so then she also blamed me for taking away her son. After that she wanted revenge and the only way to get back at me is to hurt Gus. She knows very well that's the one thing I can't take.”

“But she's also hurting JR, her own daughter,” Justin exclaimed in outrage.

“JR was only a small toddler. She didn't really understand what was going on and if I know Mel, she probably never mentioned Gus again.”

“That's just cruel! How can she do that to her own daughter? And what about Debbie? Debbie is still JR's grandma, despite what Michael did.”

“After Michael had been sentenced and she was divorced from Lindsey, she became JR's sole custodian, so she could just move her away. There was nothing Debbie could do... It's hurting Debbie terribly and I don't want to hurt her even more by rubbing it in how everything is working out for Gus and Luke.”

“What about Ben?” Justin asked, remembering Michael's husband. “And Hunter?”

“Ben divorced Michael's sorry ass as quickly as he could when shit hit the fan and took Hunter with him when he got a new job as a professor at a university in Washington. He and Hunter come by and visit Debbie and Carl a couple of times a year, but it's painful for all of them.”

Justin nodded, taking in everything Brian had said. They sat in silence for several minutes in which each man hung on to their own thoughts. After what had to at least have been ten minutes of silence, Justin smiled slightly. “We should tell her,” he announced much to Brian's surprise.

“Justin, I will not hurt Debbie any further. She has been suffering enough, I won't rub it in how she has lost everything while Gus and I haven't.” Brian's voice had taken on an angry tone which only seemed to amuse Justin more. Brian's bark had always been worse than his bite and he had never intimidated Justin from the very beginning.

“You're looking at it all wrong, Brian. You're not going to hurt her.”

“Of course I am.”

“No, tell me what is the one thing that matters to Debbie more than anything?”

“Family, which is being my point here, Justin.”

“Exactly, family! And what do you think you and Gus and Luke are? Hell, what am I? We are family and we are the only family she has left besides Carl. Yes, she might hurt terribly because of what Michael and Mel did to her, but... she loves us all and she cares for you like a second son. Same for me and she loves Gus and Luke like they were her own grandsons simply because they're our children. Don't you think this might actually have the reverse effect and might make her happy? Don't you think she might be happy for Gus? And that that happiness might dispel some of the sad feelings she's suffering from over the holidays? I think she will be ecstatic even during the holidays, probably even more so,” Justin argued, his voice sounding absolutely convinced.

“I don't know,” Brian hesitated. He really didn't want to hurt Debbie any further. “We should wait, Justin.”

“No, we should tell her, Brian. Trust me on this. She will want to know! And...,” Justin sighed. “Even if I agreed with you not to tell her, don't you think Luke and Gus will do the job for us? How do you want to get Gus to stop calling me Papa?”

“They don't know about the guardianship,” Brian tried to argue, but knew that it was an invalid argument.

“They don't have to. Just having Gus call me Papa will tell Debbie and my Mom all they need to know. You know how perceptive those two can be.”

“Shit!” Brian angrily exclaimed as he realised that Justin was right and that there was no way Debbie and Jen wouldn't know about Gus and Justin's new relationship by the end of their Thanksgiving dinner.

“It will be fine, Brian,” Justin assured calmly, making his voice as confident as he could.

“It better be,” Brian muttered, before he closed his eyes in defeat.

***

“Papa, can I show Grandma my science test?” Gus asked Justin, as he made his way back into the living-room. The door had just rung thirty seconds ago and Gus and Luke had raced to it to be the ones to open it and let their guests in. Both boys had been beyond excited all day for this family celebration and they had nearly driven Brian and him crazy with their excitement.

“Can't that wait until after dinner, buddy?” Justin sighed, knowing that it couldn't. Gus had been so excited about his A+ on his science test for which he had studied with Brian and he had shown the test to everyone and their mother. Even Emmett had had to take a look earlier when he had arrived to get started on the Thanksgiving dinner.

“No, I want to show her. Pleassssssse, Papa,” Gus pleaded with big, puppy dog eyes.

“Fine! Get it and show it to her and Grandma Jen, but afterwards you'll put it away for the rest of the day, alright?”

“Alright!” Gus exclaimed happily and ran out of the kitchen. Justin sighed as he heard him running up the stairs. In what he knew to be a futile statement anyway, he called after his son.

“No running on the stairs, Gus!”

“I know, Papa!” Yet the boy didn't slow down at all.

Justin shook his head in amusement and then turned back to greet the guests that had just made their way into the room. He hugged Debbie and Carl and gave his mom a kiss on her cheek before he hugged her, too. Ted and Blake had already arrived several minutes ago and Luke had been keeping them busy with an exciting story about his adventures in preschool. As Luke had deserted them for the new guests, they slowly came over to join everyone else in the living-room.

The small group stood together and was laughing. As conversation was flowing, Justin couldn't help but notice his mom frowning at him.

“Mom? Is everything alright?”

“I-yes... Yes,” Jennifer nodded absentmindedly, smiling when Gus stormed back into the room with his science test.

The grandmas ooooh'ed and ahhhh'ed over the test and Gus was proud as could be. After everyone had seen the test and had applauded him for his intelligence, he put the the test onto the dinner table, ready to continue his sketch on the sketchpad that lay on the living-room table.

“Gus, put the test away, please,” Brian asked and Gus immediately obeyed.

Everyone smiled at the boy and congratulated Brian on having such a well-behaved son. “Yeah, Justin and I are pretty lucky with our two boys here,” he chuckled and didn't notice the frown Debbie threw in his direction.

“You and Justin?” she couldn't help but ask and Justin felt a pang when he saw the hopeful look in her eyes.

“Do you see anyone else here raising those two rascals?” Brian asked, his voice a snark, deliberately trying to ignore the hope he saw in his surrogate mom's eyes. He definitely didn't want to go there, not now.

Before Debbie could ask some more, Luke and Gus came running to them. Luke was rubbing his stomach and a loud growl could be heard that made everyone laugh.

“Are you hungry, sonny-boy?” Brian smirked and Luke blushed.

“You are definitely your father's son,” Jennifer chuckled and everyone broke out into laughter when only seconds later Justin's stomach growled, too.

At Luke's confused frown, Justin felt pity on his son and ruffled his hair. “There is nothing wrong with a healthy appetite, buddy. Don't you worry!”

Luke leaned into his Papa's side and sighed happily as his Papa's arms engulfed him. Conversation went on for several more minutes before Emmett announced that the dinner was ready. Everyone took their seat at the large dining-table and before the dinner started, everyone gave thanks for something they were grateful for.

When it was Gus' turn, he looked at his Daddy and then at Justin and smiled from ear to ear. “I am grateful for having a Daddy that loves me and now also having a Papa that loves me. Daddy and Papa are the best and together with Luke, who is the best baby brother ever, I am grateful for my family.”

“Hear,hear,” Carl announced and everyone at the table had glassy eyes at Gus' words. They all knew what the small boy had been through and to see him that happy made them happy too.

Next it was Luke's turn. “I am grateful for Daddy and for Papa and for Gus and all of you, because I love all of you very much. And I am grateful that even though I am sharing my Papa with Gus, I don't have to share my food with him.”

Most people at the table eyed the small boy in slight confusion, but Brian, Justin and Gus laughed heartily. They got the joke and it amused them a lot.

“Don't you worry, sonny-boy. We have enough food to feed an army. No need to share.”

When everyone had given their thanks, everyone thanking the people present for loving them and being there for them, the family enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.

Once dinner had been consumed and the boys had left to go and play in their rooms, Brian clinked his spoon against his glass and tried to get the attention of the remaining adults at the table.

“There's something Justin and I would like to tell you. Some of you might already have guessed after listening to the boys all day, but we'd like to tell you ourselves.”

Everyone held their breaths, wondering what Brian and Justin could possibly be talking about. Several minds wondered if they would announce that they were trying at a relationship once more.

Knowing that he had everyone's attention, Justin continued. “You might have noticed that Gus has called me Papa all day,” when several people nodded, Justin went on. “A few weeks ago, we had a conversation and basically I told him that I love him like my son and as if he were my own and thankfully Gus seems to feel the same and he has asked me to be his Papa like I am Luke's Papa,” Justin announced as a tear ran down his cheek. Damn, he was too emotional for announcements like that.

When everyone started to awwwww and comment, Brian shut them up with a wave of his hand. “That's not all. After Gus made his wishes clear that he wants Justin to be his father, too, we made that legal. I don't want Gus to ever doubt who his parents are and who love him and Justin and I have filed papers to make Justin Gus' legal guardian. That way, if something were to happen to me, Gus and Luke would be staying together with Justin.”

There was silence at the table for several seconds and Justin wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing, when Debbie was the first to speak a few seconds later, he realised that everyone had waited for her reaction. He could see all eyes on her. Apparently Brian hadn't been the only one wondering how she would take the news.

“About damn time, Sunshine. You've always been more of a parent to that boy than his good for nothing mothers. Especially these last few months. It's obvious to everyone with eyes in their heads how much that boy loves you and how much you love him. Thanks for giving my grandson a second parent, Sunshine,” Debbie smiled through her tears, then got up and made her way over to Justin's place. She hugged him tight and placed several kisses on his cheek. “You are a good man, Sunshine.”

After she had let go of Justin, Debbie turned around and pointed at Brian. “You too, asshole.”

Brian smiled at her, knowing that the asshole hadn't been meant as an offense, but more like an endearment. Debbie loved him and he loved her and like Justin was her Sunshine, he was her asshole. Yet everytime she called him that, she used the term with so much affection that it didn't sound negative at all.

After Debbie had given her blessing so to speak, the rest of the family also congratulated Brian and Justin on the news. Emmett produced a bottle of Champagne from god knew where and everyone clinked their glasses in happiness and they had a toast to the two fathers of the two happy boys living in this house.