Chapter 19

By the time Brian pulled into the drive of Britin it was already past 1am. He couldn't believe what this day had turned into. What a complete and utter mess. On the drive home he had tried to calm down as much as was possible, which probably wasn't enough. The only thing that actually got him to even calm down the bit he had was the thought of Luke waiting for him. He couldn't wait to see his son again and hold him in his arms and make sure that he was alright. And he knew for that he needed to be calm. If he was upset he would only upset Luke as well and the poor baby had already been upset enough that day. Brian didn't want to contribute to that any more.

Officially he was not supposed to take care of Luke as temporary custody had been given to Blake and Ted, but thankfully those two had proven to be real friends and had insisted to take Luke home to Britin where he had his nursery and his familiar surroundings. Brian wasn't sure how they had gotten the authorities to agree to that and he didn't really care either. Ted had probably pressured them into doing what he wanted by threatening them with another big lawsuit. Sometimes it really helped to own a big, successful company and to be one of the richest men in the city, if not the whole state.

As soon as Brian stopped the car he saw the front door open and saw a relieved Ted standing in the doorway who had at first frowned at the car and had then broken out into a relieved smile when he had recognised Brian and his car.

“Brian, thank God!” Ted exclaimed as he made his way over to the car and engulfed Brian in a tight hug the moment he had gotten out of the car.

“You're breaking my ribs, Schmidt,” Brian grumbled, but that was all good-naturedly as really he was hugging Ted back just as tightly. He was so relieved to be home again and to know that his son was with him in his house and not in Canada or wherever Lindsay had planned on taking him.

“Sorry, boss. Just so happy that you're finally back,” Ted mumbled before he let go of Brian and led him into the house where Blake greeted them quietly in the foyer.

“Brian, I am glad you're back,” the young man said earnestly and Brian nodded at him in thanks.

“I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't had that foster licence. Thank you so much,” Brian said gratefully and both men could see that his thanks were heartfelt.

“Both of you! I... I don't know what I would have done without you today,” he continued quietly and was only interrupted by quiet breathing noises on the baby monitor that Blake was holding in his hands. Brian's hands immediately made a grab for the baby monitor and without another word Brian headed up the stairs to Luke's nursery. He found his son peacefully asleep in his crib, only the dried tears telling of all the turmoil the little baby had been through that day.

“Hey sonny boy. Daddy is back,” Brian whispered, not wanting to wake up the baby. He gently ran his hand across Luke's head and cheeks and then took one of his small fists in his own hand. “I am so sorry for today. You have no idea. I am so sorry you got scared, sonny boy, but... I was scared too,” Brian whispered as he sank down to his knees next to the crib and looked at his small son as his own tears ran down his cheeks. “So scared,” Brian whispered over and over again, grabbing on to Luke's tiny fist as sobs wracked him, the whole time being watched by Blake and Ted who were standing in the doorway, hugging each other.

They could only imagine the pain Brian had gone through that day. The counsellor in Blake finally won over and made him talk. He had always been of the firm belief that talking about bad things helped work through them and move past them and even though he knew that Brian wasn't much the talking kind, he also believed that talking would help Brian.

“He cried himself to sleep about an hour and half ago. Poor guy was so exhausted, he fell asleep while crying.”

The young man slowly disentangled himself from his partner's side and walked over to the crib, kneeling next to Brian.

“It was as if he felt that you weren't there,” he said quietly, as he looked into the crib at the baby. “He missed you, Brian.”

“I was so scared,” Brian hiccupped through his sobs, not looking at Blake or Ted and not caring what they might think about him, crying like that. He finally felt all the stress of the day fall from him and that was all that mattered to him. Being a counsellor Blake had probably seen worse anyway and Ted had been an addict once, so had probably had worse breakdowns than Brian was having right then. “I was so fucking scared...”

“I can only imagine, Brian. It's over now. You're both back home and everything will be over once the results from the DNA test come back. We all know that you're his father and that Lindsay is lying.”

“And Michael,” Brian said after a long pause in which he just looked at his son and hoped that come tomorrow he wouldn't remember anything of the bad things that had happened today.

“Michael?” He could hear Ted's confused voice from the doorway and only nodded in response to the older man's question. “What does he have to do with this?”

“He showed up at the airport and corroborated Lindsay's story, saying that she is his mother. Carl told me earlier.”

“He what???” Ted exclaimed, then slapped his hands over his mouth, not wanting to wake up Luke. Poor guy had been exhausted enough as it was. “He did what?” Ted asked again, this time more quietly.

Deciding that maybe they should move the conversation out of Luke's nursery, Brian reluctantly got up from his place next to the crib and placed a gentle kiss on his son's nose, running his hand over his soft head once more before he left the room followed by Ted and Blake.

“Why would he do that?” Blake asked when they made their way to the living-room. Brian got himself a glass of whiskey and at times he wished that he still drank. He definitely felt like drinking now and he had a feeling that it would be the same for Ted. They shared a look between them and he knew that he was right. But both knew better than to give in to the temptation. Instead Ted settled on the sofa and Blake moved next to him, allowing the older man to hold his hand in a tight grip as Brian sat down on the sofa across from them.

“I have no fucking idea, but once I get an answer out of him, he will wish that he had never been born,” Brian gritted out, his knuckles turning white with how tightly he was holding on to the glass in his hands.

“I... I can't believe it,” Ted muttered, shaking his head.

“Yep, my two best friends have betrayed me. Who needs enemies with friends like that, right?” Brian snarked before he emptied half the glass of whiskey in one go.

“He loves you, Brian. That makes no sense. Why would he hurt you like this?” Ted mused.

“He doesn't love me. He loves the image I used to have. He doesn't even know me and he made it awfully clear earlier that he has no interest in getting to know me. All he cares about is the stud of Liberty Avenue and my fucking reputation as Stud deluxe.” With that Brian emptied the rest of his glass and then put it down on the table in front of him.

“Earlier?” Blake frowned, having been under the impression that Brian and Michael hadn't spoken to each other in weeks, if not months even. As far as he knew Brian hadn't spoken to Michael ever since Child Protective Services had shown up at Britin and Carl had found out that Michael and Lindsay had been behind that move.

“We met earlier today... yesterday... fuck... earlier,” Brian muttered angrily when he looked at the time on his watch and then got confused by the days.

“Why?” Ted asked, feeling as confused as Blake looked.

“Lindsay came here and she gave me this whole spiel about how Michael and I should make up and how I should give him another chance, how we were fathers to Gus and JR and how she didn't want there to be any tension between us for the kids to notice, bla bla bla. In the end she sent me to the diner to meet with Michael, so we could try to patch up things while she watched Luke and probably set her plan in motion.”

“You met with Michael because Lindsay told you to?” Ted frowned and it was obvious that he was thinking about something.

“She probably wanted to get me out of the house, I guess.”

“And Michael was in on that?” Ted frowned even more as he creased his forehead, deep in thoughts.

“I don't know... I... I don't want to think so,” Brian started, but then frowned when he remembered something that he hadn't paid much attention to earlier that day. But now, in light of everything that had happened in the last few hours, it suddenly made sense. His face darkened and both Ted and Blake could easily see how Brian got more and more furious by the second.

“Brian?” Blake asked carefully, not wanting to startle the obviously very angry man.

“He... he said something when I left. I left and told him that the meeting had been a waste of time and when I got into my car he said to me that I was not supposed to leave yet. At the time I didn't think about it, but... what if he knew what Lindsay was doing? What if he was in on it and was supposed to distract me? If we had talked any longer, I would have been too late to see Lindsay and Luke and they would already have been gone God knows where...”

“It is an awfully big coincidence that he would meet with you today of all days on Lindsay's urging and then would show up at the airport later to corroborate her story,” Blake agreed, not liking where this was pointing.

“I... I don't think he would do that,” Ted said carefully. “He might be a whiny little bastard, but we're talking a major crime here,” Ted argued. “He wouldn't go that far, would he?”

“Lindsay can be very persuasive. She got me to agree to a meeting with him,” Brian only said before he got up and headed for the front door.

“Brian! You can't go after him,” Blake immediately jumped up and headed for the door as well. “Not in your current mood.”

“I won't go after him,” Brian said quietly, holding up his cell phone which he had picked up from the small table in the foyer where he had dropped it earlier. “At least not personally. I promised Carl.”

“You promised Carl?”

“I... I made some threats against Michael and Lindsay earlier and... they wouldn't have let me go if I had uttered them to the wrong person,” Brian admitted rather sheepishly. “Carl made me promise not to go after him. He didn't say anything about not calling him, though.”

“Brian, I don't think this is a good idea. We should let the FBI handle this,” Ted advised, ever cautious as usual.

“I am just giving my best friend a call to update him on how I am doing. Surely that's not a crime, right?” Brian snarked before he dialled Michael's cell phone.

Less than a minute later Michael picked up, obviously having been asleep. His voice clearly sounded sleepy and not all there yet. “Yeah?”

“Mikey, Mikey, Mikey,” Brian drawled. “Long time no see... or hear should I say?”

“Brian? Is that you?”

Brian had put the call on speakerphone and they all noticed how Michael had immediately become more alert.

“Yes, Mikey. It's me. Your best friend.”

“What do you want, Brian?” Michael asked carefully.

“I want you to tell me since when Lindsay is the mother of my child. When did that happen? And how the fuck did I not notice? I mean... I carried him for nine months and I gave birth to him. How the hell did I not notice Lindsay being his biological mother?” Brian hissed, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Brian,” Michael started. “She is only doing what is best for you.”

“For me? Kidnapping my baby is best for me?”

“She wasn't kidnapping him,” Michael said quickly.

“What was she doing then?”

“She wanted to take him to Toronto, so he could grow up with Gus and JR. So they could be a family and he could have a healthy family atmosphere to grow up in.”

“Is that what Lindsay told you?” Brian frowned, wondering if Michael was saying what he thought he was saying. Apparently Ted had thought along the same lines as he got out his own cell phone and started recording the conversation between Brian and Michael. He gave Brian a silent sign to continue.

“Brian, Lindsay only tried to do what's best for everyone involved, so you could go back to your old life and could be you again.

“Me again?”

“You know? The real you. The Stud of Liberty Avenue.”

“Is that why Lindsay wanted us to meet? So you could distract me?” Brian outright asked the question, wondering what Michael would reply to that. Neither Ted nor Blake nor Brian could believe what happened next.

“She needed you gone. She knew that if you knew what she was doing, you'd be angry and against it. So she decided to do it behind your back. She said that once Luke was in Toronto you would start seeing how right we were and would understand. She needed me to keep you away from Britin, so she could pick up the baby and everything he needed.”

“So you never really wanted to meet to make up? You were merely a distraction for me,” Brian sneered, feeling ready to hit someone or something. He had rarely felt so angry at a human being as he did right that moment at Michael.

“Once Luke was gone and once you were back to your old self, we could have made up for real, but right now... There was no point in talking to you, but yeah, I agreed to help Lindsay so she could get our plan started to get Luke away from you. We only did it for you, Brian. To help you get back your life,” Michael said sincerely and Brian wondered if he was really believing any of the shit coming out of his own mouth.

“Too bad that's not a life I have ever wanted. You have just royally fucked yourself, Michael,” Brian spat before he hung up, not able to listen to any more bullshit from the man he had foolishly considered to be his best friend.

“Holy fuck!” Brian explained once the call was over and Ted had stopped the recording on his cell phone.

“I can't believe he really admitted all that,” Ted just said in awe and also obvious disgust. He couldn't believe that he had been friends with a man who could do something like that to his supposed best friend.

“And he doesn't see anything wrong in it. I am not even sure he realises that he has just admitted to being an accessory to a major federal crime,” Blake said quietly.

“What do we do now?” Ted asked as all three men had settled in the living-room again, still trying to wrap their heads around the phone call they had just listened to.

“We have to report it,” Blake said immediately and when he saw no reaction from either Brian or Ted, he appealed to them. “He just admitted to being an accessory to a federal crime. That is a major crime in itself. We have his confession on tape and we have to report it.”

“I...I...,” Brian started, but didn't quite know what he wanted to say.

“Blake is right,” Ted agreed after several more minutes of silence. “He helped Lindsay kidnap your baby. Without him she would have never had the time and opportunity. Brian, he helped her take away your baby.”

“I... I know, but...”

“Brian, you can't let him get away with that,” Blake said seriously.

“I don't intend to. Damn it!” Brian nearly jumped up from the sofa and started pacing the living-room floor in obvious distress. “I don't intend to, but...”

“But what?” Ted asked gently.

“This will destroy Debbie,” Brian whispered finally, not looking at either Ted or Blake.

Both men weren't really surprised that once again Brian thought of other people before himself. They knew Brian's generous side, they knew what he was really like, they had seen him for months with his baby and had seen the kind of father he was. They had no doubt that Brian cared more about Debbie's pain than his own at that moment.

“Brian...”

“I can't do that to her,” Brian said quietly. “He's her son.”

“He's a criminal,” Blake spat. “He tried to take away your son. If you don't report this, Brian, you can get into trouble yourself.”

“I know!” Brian exclaimed angrily. He flopped down on the sofa once more, hanging his head in defeat.

“We should call Carl,” Ted's quiet voice suddenly broke the silence.

“What? Why?” Blake frowned at his partner.

“He's been involved in this from the very beginning. He will know what to do and...,” taking a deep breath Ted went on. “He will know how to break this to Debbie. He knows her better than any of us.”

Brian silently nodded his agreement and in the end Blake agreed as well and they placed a call to Carl's phone, hoping that the man hadn't gone to bed yet.