Chapter 28

Early the next morning a tired Justin made his way down the stairs into the kitchen. As he passed the hallway to the kids' bedrooms, he noticed Gus and Luke standing in the hallway and discussing something.

“Morning, you two,” Justin yawned as he walked up to them. “What are you up to?”

“We wanted to go and wake Daddy, so he can go and build a snowman with us. There has been new snow last night,” Gus announced and was ready to bounce off towards the master bedroom.

“Gus, wait a minute. Your daddy isn't feeling all too well. He's got a bit of an upset stomach. Let him sleep. He didn't get much sleep last night,” Justin lied easily, steering both boys away from Brian's bedroom door. If Brian's drunken state last night had been any indication, he would have the mother of all hangovers today and would probably be grateful for every piece of quiet he could get.

“Will Daddy be okay?” Luke asked with obvious concern, looking at his Papa worriedly.

“Yes, he will be. He probably just ate too much yesterday,” Justin continued lying.

“Maybe I should go and kiss it all better,” Luke suggested, turning around to Brian's bedroom once more.

“Later, buddy. Give your daddy some time to catch up on some sleep and then you can kiss it better, later. I am sure he'll appreciate that. How about waffles in the meantime?” Justin suggested, once again trying to steer the boys away from Brian's bedroom.

“Yay, waffles are awesome,” Gus exclaimed. “Can you make the strawberry ones we had for Thanksgiving?”

“Sure,” Justin nodded as all three of them left the hallway and made their way into the kitchen.

Unbeknownst to the three of them, the occupant of the bedroom had been awake and had been listening to their conversation. Brian couldn't believe that Justin had lied for him in front of their sons. After everything he had put him through in general and also yesterday in particular, he didn't deserve that, yet here Justin had been, trying to give him as much time as he could to recover from his hangover, because he was sure that was the reason for Justin lying. Otherwise there would have been no reason to keep the boys away from his bedroom.

As he tried to sit up, everything started spinning again and Brian cursed himself for how much he had drunk the night before. He felt the bile rise in his throat and rushed into the ensuite bathroom when he realised that it wasn't just bile. Groaning he leaned over the toilet and vomited like he had on his best radiation days.

He didn't know how long he had sat on the tiled bathroom floor in front of the toilet when he heard a quiet voice speak to him.

“Are you okay?”

“Have been better,” he replied honestly, as he tried to look up at Justin. That already proved to be too much movement, so he just groaned once more and leaned his head back onto his arms.

“I had a feeling you would say that,” Justin chuckled and Brian was ready to curse the bastard for chuckling at him, if only he could move and actually speak without having to vomit all over again.

“I got you another bottle of water and one of your sports drinks. They are rich in electrolytes. Most headaches secondary to alcohol consumption are caused by both dehydration and an imbalance of electrolytes, so that should help with the headache,” Justin informed him as he put the bottles down next to where Brian was sitting on the floor.

“Really? A PSA when I am in this state?” Brian murmured as he dared to look at Justin. All he could see was Justin shrug at him.

“I am just trying to help.”

“I know and... I am grateful for it,” Brian gritted out, before another wave of nausea hit him.

“How much did you have to drink last night? I haven't seen you like this in forever,” Justin exclaimed as he got a washcloth, drenched it in cold water and sat down next to Brian, holding it to his forehead to cool him a bit.

“Brings us back to the good old radiation days, right?” Brian tried to joke, but winced under Justin's glare.

“Don't make fun of that,” Justin chastised him as he held the cold washcloth to Brian's forehead.

Brian sighed happily, enjoying the cold to his head which immediately seemed to help with his headache.

“So, how much?” Justin asked again, holding the washcloth in place.

“Too much,” Brian muttered and hung his head.

“Obviously,” Justin could only agree.

“I guess a bottle or so of Beam... I don't really remember. All I remember is Honeycutt putting me into a cab and sending me home.”

“Good for him,” Justin said quietly as he got up. “I'll make sure the boys leave you alone for a few more hours.” With that he slowly made his way out of Brian's bathroom.

“Thank you,” Brian said just as quietly as he watched Justin go. As Justin was about to cross the bedroom, Brian called his name. Thinking that he might need something else, Justin returned and looked at the form of the man huddled around the toilet bowl. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Brian who was barely able to hold eye-contact with him.

“I know we need to talk about this and yesterday and...,” Brian took a deep breath. “We will. I promise.”

Justin saw the sincerity in Brian's eyes and nodded. “Okay.” Then he left the room again.

***

Brian had gone back to sleep for another two hours once he was done hugging the toilet bowl and when he woke up the next time, he was already feeling much better than he had before. He made it into the shower without any problems and after his shower he felt refreshed and slightly more human. He still had a slight headache and he didn't trust his stomach with solid food yet, but at least he didn't feel like vomiting anymore.

Once he was sure that he was presentable, Brian left the master bedroom and went in search of Justin and their sons. He had left Justin alone with them all morning and felt bad about that. He had just forced the kids on Justin without asking him first if he even had the time to take care of them. What if Justin had work to do for a painting or a show that was coming up? Brian felt even worse than he had already at that thought and chastised himself for having been as presumptuous as he had been where Justin's time had been concerned.

He quietly made his way into the kitchen and couldn't help but smile when he heard the happy laughter of his youngest son. “That feels funny,” the boy exclaimed and when Brian entered the kitchen, he knew immediately what his son had been laughing about. His hands were covered in jello for some reason and he was kneading it in his hands as if it was some kind of cookie dough.

“You're not supposed to take it into your hands, sonny boy,” Brian laughed right along and he couldn't help but feel his heart warm when Luke turned around and smiled at him with his own version of a sunshine smile.

“Daddy! Are you feeling better? I wanted to kiss your stomach better, but Papa said to let you sleep for some more time,” Luke rattled on and Brian noticed the exasperated sigh which came from Justin as he entered the kitchen through the other entrance from the living-room.

“Luke, I told you not to play with the jello, didn't I?”

“But Gus said it felt funny and I wanted to feel it too,” Luke explained as he turned to his father with his best puppy dog expression on his face. Justin couldn't help but laugh at his son's antics and walked over with a washcloth.

“And now you did and our dessert is a mess. Happy now?” Justin asked as he took the small boy's hands into the washcloth and started cleaning them. Only then did he notice Brian standing in the doorway from the hall. “Brian, you're up. How are you doing? Do you want some coffee?”

Brian nodded and moved over to the coffee machine. “I am doing way better,” he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table next to Gus who was still working on one of his sketches. Ever since Justin had moved into Britin, Gus would constantly carry a sketchpad with him and would constantly be drawing. He reminded Brian so much of a younger Justin and how Justin had drawn everyone and everything back when he had first gotten to know Brian.

“Hey daddy, look at my sketch of Luke and the jello,” the boy said happily as he held his sketchpad out to his dad to look at. Brian was suitably impressed by Gus' artistic abilities and praised his son.

“We were thinking about going out and building a snowman once we have finished lunch. If you want to join us, you're welcome,” Justin said, as he put a bowl of chicken soup in front of Brian. He chuckled when Brian made a face.

“Chicken soup? Are you kidding me?”

“Papa said Grandma Debbie's chicken soup is the best medicine when you're feeling bad and have a queasy stomach and it tastes really good,” Luke informed him and Brian couldn't help but chuckle at the serious expression on his son's face.

“Well, if your Papa says so, then it must be true,” Brian said before he tasted the first spoonful of soup. Indeed it was really good, much better than he remembered.

“We all ate it, too, even though our stomachs are fine. But Papa said we can also eat the chicken soup when we're not sick,” Gus informed his daddy and looked at him with obvious concern in his eyes. “Are you better now, Daddy?”

Brian put on his brightest smile and nodded at his son. “Yes, sonny boy. I am doing way better now.”

“Good, then you can help us build the snowman. We want to make the most beautiful snowman in all of Pittsburgh,” Gus announced and nodded when his younger brother eagerly added that they also wanted to make the biggest snowman in all of Pittsburgh.

“Well, I guess we'll be busy then in the afternoon,” Brian laughed and felt relieved that the boys didn't seem to have caught on to his bad mood from yesterday and what had happened yesterday evening and this morning.

He threw a grateful glance at Justin and felt relieved when it was returned with a small nod.