The Britin Trap

By: Tagsit

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Chapter One - You’re Fucking Good With Kids.

“Ooooo! Look at that one, Jus! It’s so big. And it’s such a pretty blue.” The little boy standing in front of the huge wall of plate glass windows was so excited by the view of all the planes taxiing in off the runway that he was literally bouncing in place as he pointed out his favorites. “It even has a crown on it. I betcha it’s for a prince!”

“That’s a KLM plane, Gus. It’s a Dutch airline and the crown means it was founded by the Queen of the Netherlands,” explained the youthful-looking blond man who was hunkered down on one knee next to the boy. “But you might be right. There just might be a prince or princess on that plane.”

“Isn’t that the airline EmmyLou’s friend, Dijon, flies for?” a taller, dark-haired man standing behind the pair at the windows interjected. “If so, I can almost guarantee that there’s at least one big Queen aboard.”

“A Queen? Wow!” Gus gushed, stepping forward so that he could rest both hands against the pane of glass as the jetway was unfurled towards the plane in question.

Justin stood up, ruffling the child’s hair and shaking his head. He gave the smirking older man a side-eye and a chuckle but didn’t say anything. His partner had always had a quirky sense of humor. It wasn’t worth the effort to explain the joke to Gus, though. He might as well let the kid envision whatever kind of queen he wanted.

“Okay, guys, we’re all ready.” The little group standing at the windows was joined by a tall, willowy blonde holding an infant. “JR is changed and officially poop free. Let’s just hope she stays that way until we make it home. There’s nothing more difficult than changing a diaper in those tiny airplane bathrooms.” Then the woman smiled down at the boy. “You ready to go home, Lambskin?”

“No. I don't wanna,” Gus pouted, crossing his arms and giving his mother the five year old version of a death stare. “I wanna stay with Daddy and Jussin.”

“Hey, Buddy, we talked about this already. Remember?” Justin intervened, moving over so he could once more kneel down next to the boy. “Just because you’re going back to Toronto and we’re staying here in Pittsburgh, doesn’t mean we can’t stay in touch. I promise to make sure your dad calls you every week. And you’re coming back to stay with us for March Break, right?”

“Yeah . . .” the child still looked unconvinced despite his reluctant admission.

“Well, then, there’s no need to be sad. That’s only three months away. You’ll see, the time will just fly by.” Justin leaned in to affectionately kiss Gus’ peachfuzzed cheek. “Besides, if you stay here, you’ll miss out on all the fun things your teacher has planned at school. You don’t want that, do you?”

Gus appeared to think about that factor for a bit before he shook his head and let his arms fall open again. “Nah . . . But you PROMISE to make Daddy call me? He forgits a lot, ya know.”

“I promise, Gus. Cross my heart and hope to die. Brian will call you every single Sunday or I’ll kick his butt,” Justin swore, going so far as to make the motion of crossing his heart with an index finger.

The promise of his father getting his butt kicked caused Gus to giggle. He finally smiled as he leaned in to give Justin a hug that almost strangled the man as the little arms cinched tightly around his neck. The blond was hugging back almost as tightly though. It was hard for him to say goodbye as well. As soon as Justin was done, Brian swooped in, gathering Gus into his arms and hefting the gangling child up for his own hug. Gus hugged back even more desperately.

“Now, you be good for your moms, Sonny Boy. Okay?” Brian said, pulling back when he felt the hugging had gone on long enough that it was getting slightly embarrassing.

“Okay, Daddy. I love you.”

“Ditto, Kiddo.”

“I’m gonna miss you, Daddy,” the boy replied, his big brown eyes getting glassy with tears that were just barely held back.

Brian, who appeared too choked up to respond, gave his son one last hug, looking over the boy’s shoulder towards Justin with a mute plea for assistance.

“Your Dad’s going to miss you too, Gus,” Justin quickly jumped in, laying consoling hands on both big and little shoulders. “Now, the sooner you get on that plane and go, the sooner you’ll be back, right?”

This awkward logic seemed to resonate with the boy, who nodded eagerly and began to squirm to get down. Brian set him on his feet, taking one last opportunity to run his fingers through the baby-fine stands of auburn floss so like his own. Mom, however, was more than ready to get this show on the road so she could deposit both kids into their airplane seats and sit herself for awhile. She handed her daughter off to a smiling Justin - who took the chance to thoroughly kiss and snuggle the sweet-smelling bundle of baby - while she turned to offer a goodbye hug to Brian. The two old friends clutched at each other for a moment or two.

“Call if you need anything, Wendy” Brian whispered when the woman gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled away.

“We’ll be fine, Peter,” she replied with a playful wink. Then she turned to Justin and held her arms out for the baby.

Justin reluctantly gave his burden up. “Thanks for letting me get my baby fix, Linds,” he said with a sheepish grin as he handed the infant over. “Don’t forget to call when you land so we know you made it okay.”

Lindsey smiled as she loaded the baby into an umbrella stroller and hoisted the overful diaper bag to her shoulder before grabbing Gus with her free hand. There were more lingering goodbyes and kisses, including another round of tearful complaints from the boy, but in the end the young mother finally got all of them into the security line. Brian and Justin waited until the little family had made it all the way out of sight before they turned as one and began to walk towards the exit leading to the airport’s parking structure.

They were halfway to the garage when Justin finally spoke up. “Shit, I’m going to miss Gus so fucking much,” Justin finally voiced the thought they were both having. “The house is going to be way too quiet without him around. Of course, I’ll finally be able to get back to painting again, but . . .”

“Yeah,” Brian agreed with a huge sigh that conveyed his emotions sufficiently even though he hadn’t voiced his feelings verbally.

Apparently there was more to be said, though, because as soon as Brian had paid the parking fees and negotiated the car out through the airport traffic back onto the highway, he spoke up again.

“You’re fucking good with kids, you know?”

Justin laughed and graced his partner with one of the bright, beaming smiles that had earned him his nickname. “That’s only because I love your son so much. Plus, he’s an easy kid.”

“You’re even good with JR and she’s definitely not easy,” Brian insisted.

Justin shrugged. “She’s just a baby. Gus took a lot more effort when he was that age too. But look at him now; he’s so smart and kind and curious. I love spending time with both the kids. Besides, a gay man needs to get his kid fix whenever and wherever he can, right? I mean, even though I’m thrilled that we worked things out and went through with the wedding after all, it’s not like you and I are going to settle down into domesticity and start our own family any time soon.”

Brian took a minute to signal a lane change and move the Vette in between two semis hogging the fast lane before he responded. It took so long that Justin, who was busy looking out the window at the passing scenery and whose thoughts had already moved on to other matters, had already lost the thread of the conversation. So, when Brian hesitantly began to speak again, it took Justin a second or two to fully comprehend what was being offered.

“Why not?” Brian asked, darting an almost shy glance sideways at his passenger. “There’s nothing stopping us. If you want a family, we could always find a surrogate or something.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Brian could see Justin turning in his seat to stare confusedly in his direction. It was almost as if Brian had just spoken in an alien language. And maybe he had. Even Brian couldn’t believe he’d just said what he’d said. But Brian Kinney offering to start a family with his newlywed husband wasn’t any more outlandish than having admitted to loving Justin and asking him to marry him in the first place, right? And that had gone just fine.

Over the past year they’d worked through most of the glitches that had almost scared them both off the idea of getting married. After just two miserable weeks apart, with Justin in New York and Brian missing him so badly he’d felt like he was losing his mind, the former Stud had called and practically begged his younger lover to come back. Emmett had been happy to revive their wedding plans, with only a slight delay in execution, and they were married later that summer. Since then they had settled into Britin together, Justin had re-enrolled in PIFA and was now almost done with his degree, plus he’d managed to paint a whole slew of amazing artwork and been included in two more shows that were very positively reviewed. Brian found himself enjoying the country life in his big old manor and hadn’t really felt the same drive to maintain his old social life, although he and Justin did still have a regular ‘date night’ every week where whatever urges he had to trick were satisfied. Meanwhile, his professional life remained fulfilling and Kinnetik had been enormously profitable. They were ridiculously happy, actually.

So Brian was as shocked as anyone that he’d started to think about messing up the perfection they’d finally found by adding a child to the mix. The time they’d spent with Gus over this past week had been what had finally pushed him to mention it. Watching his son over the holidays, and seeing the way Justin and the boy had bonded, had opened Brian’s eyes to all the joys he was missing out on by only being an occasional father. He really hadn’t wanted to give Gus back at the end of the week. Especially not when the kid would be going all the way back to Canada for another three months with his mothers. Brian found himself thinking about what it would be like to have a child that he didn’t have to give back to someone else at the end of the day. What it would be like to see all the special moments he’d missed when Gus was a baby and he was still so caught up in his own debased life to care. Plus, seeing Justin with the kids - especially little JR - made Brian wonder if his husband had ever wanted to have a child of his own. They’d never really discussed it. So, this was him broaching the idea, even though it felt completely foreign to even dare to voice such an insane idea.

He waited a full five minutes and, when Justin still hadn’t responded, Brian pulled the car over to the shoulder of the highway, turning on the flashers as soon as he’d parked, and then twisting to face his disbelieving partner.

“Don’t tell me I’ve finally found a way to shut you up after all these years?”

“Sorry, but I think I’m hallucinating. Did you really just ask me if I wanted to start a family? Or was that a flashback to the acid we dropped two weeks ago?” Justin queried incredulously.

“You’re not tripping, Sunshine. At least I don’t think so,” Brian chuckled, rather enjoying the adorably shocked expression he’d managed to engender on his partner’s face - he’d always liked being unpredictable. “Come on, it’s not THAT inconceivable that you and I could do the whole family thing. Is it? I mean, I feel like I’ve mastered the ‘husband’ shit pretty well, even though nobody thought I could do that either. And you're the one who’s always telling me what a great father I am. Maybe I just want to try it out for real. You know, with a kid we don’t have to hand off to someone else all the time. So what do you say? Wanna make a baby with me, Sunshine?”

///~///~///~

Thirteen years later.

“Well, it’s small but that’s pretty much expected for a dorm room,” Justin said as he dropped the overfilled suitcase just inside the door and looked around at the compact space. “You want me to help you unpack before orientation?”

“Daaaaaadddd! You really need to stop hovering. I’m twelve, not two. I can unpack for myself,” the blond pre-teen who’d followed him into the room complained. She offloaded her messenger bag containing all her electronics onto the desk and then flopped down on the plain but sturdy bed, twisting around so she could look out the window at the same time. “This summer is going to be so dope. I can’t believe I get to go to a real college and live in a dorm and everything. Alyssa is going to be so jelly when I send her pictures of all this. I can’t wait to see the rest of campus.”

Justin pulled out the desk chair and slumped down into the seat with a lot less enthusiasm than his daughter. “I can’t believe you talked me into this, Qianna. What was I thinking? I can’t leave my twelve-year-old daughter alone for three months on a college campus halfway across the country.”

“Oh, Dad,” Qianna sighed, rolling her eyes with an indulgent smile for her overprotective parent. “We’ve already talked about his. A ton. I’ll be fine. We’ll be with the camp counsellors all the time and once we start the STEM curriculum I’ll be too busy to get into much trouble.”

“I know, but . . .”

“No buts, Dad. You know I’ve wanted to do this program ever since I first heard about it back in elementary school. I mean, the Colorado School of Mines is, like, the best engineering and architecture school in the country. We’re going to do all sorts of amazing STEM stuff all summer long. We even get to use the college labs. And I get advanced credit for high school. There’s no way I’m going home now.”

“Damn it. Why’d I have to go and have a daughter who’s so smart and talented?” Justin teased, finally breaking into a bit of a nervous smile.

“It’s a burden, I know, but you’ll just have to learn to deal with it, Dad,” his daughter kidded him right back. Then she jumped up off the bed and rushed over to give her father a big hug. “I promise, I’ll be just fine. I’m going to have fun, learn lots, and be safe - just like you ordered. If I need you, I’ve got a phone and a computer and I know how to call and email and skype and text and chat . . .” She ticked off all the known methods of modern communication on her fingers as she listed them for her worried father, before bestowing a sunshiny smile on the worried man. “You don’t have to worry about me so much all the time, Dad. I’m a big girl. Now, just kiss me goodbye and get out of here so I can unpack in time for orientation.”

Justin took a deep breath before getting to his feet. “I’m going to miss you so much, QiQi.”

“Me too, Dad. But it’s only three months. And we’re both going to be so busy this summer the time will just fly by, right?” Qianna countered as she reached up to wrap her arms around her father’s neck so she could pull him down for a kiss goodbye. “Now, seriously, stop worrying and go already. Please.”

“Fine. I’ll go. But you can’t make me stop worrying. I’m a dad. That’s what we do,” Justin relented and gave his girl a squeeze. “Be good and have fun, Qi. And make sure you send me pictures so I don’t end up missing you too much. Okay?”

“Deal!”

“Love you, Peanut,” Justin said, using the childhood nickname his daughter had almost grown out of.

“Love you too, Dad.”

Once she’d finally pushed her father out the door, Qianna set about unpacking. It only took her about ten minutes before she was satisfied with the way everything was arranged. Then she settled atop her bed with the folder of information they’d given her upon arrival, looking through the packet of schedules, safety directives, maps and contact lists. She could barely wait to get started on the classes that would begin the following day. This summer was going to be so much fun. She was so engrossed in reading through the lab protocol for the first unit - a robotics block that looked like it would be a real challenge - that she was startled when one of the counsellors knocked on the door about fifteen minutes later to tell her it was time to meet in the lounge for the orientation meeting. She was vaguely surprised that her roommate for the summer hadn’t yet arrived, but forgot about that anomaly by the time she got downstairs and the orientation began.

They were halfway through one of those annoying ‘get to know everyone’ games when there was a commotion at the door to the dormitory lounge area and another student appeared with one parent in tow.

“I know we’re late. Bad weather. Our flight got delayed,” the tall, dark-haired man was saying to the counsellor who’d met the newbies..

Qianna didn’t pay much attention to the distraction. She turned back to the small group of students she was supposed to be doing Science Pictionary with and totally forgot about the new arrival. It wasn’t till the newcomers walked closer, talking loud enough to interrupt the flow of their game, that all the kids looked up again.

“You sure you’re okay with me just dropping you off and running like this, Sparky?” the man asked, looking around him like he was a little lost. “We haven’t even seen your room or anything . . .”

“I’ll help Quinne get up to her room later, Mr. Kinney. After we finish the orientation we’re going to take the kids on a short tour of the campus but then we’ve got a break before dinner. She’ll have plenty of time to get moved in then,” Counsellor ‘Pooh Bear’ - her summer camp moniker - advised the nervous father as she tried to gently urge him away from the busy group of children.

“Okay . . . well, I guess I’ll just go then.” The man turned away from Pooh Bear and looked down on his daughter with an indulgent fondness. “You got this, Sparky?”

“Yeah, Pops. I got this. Get out of here already, so I can get my science on, okay?” the girl with the curly mop of long auburn curls said, her borderline harsh words belied by the genuine smile she beamed up at her father.

“Fine. I’m outta here. Don’t get into too much trouble, Sparky.”

“Love you, Pops.” The brunette girl lifted up onto her tiptoes to leave a kiss on her father’s cheek, which he returned.

“Ditto, Kiddo!”

Then the man backed away a few steps, giving a nod and a smile before turning and leaving without any more fuss. The girl immediately directed her attention towards the group of students with an interested gleam in her eye. The boy sitting next to Qianna scrunched over, making a little gap in their circle, allotting the new girl a space to join them.

“You guys have about twenty minutes more to finish up here and then we’re going to head out for a Campus Tour. Have fun,” Pooh Bear warned before she left them to make their own introductions.

“Hi, everybody. I’m Quinne,” the new girl spoke up right away, obviously not the shy type. “So, what did I miss?”

When nobody answered her right away, the newcomer looked around at the group, all of whom seemed to be looking back and forth between Quinne and the girl with the short blond hair who had been doing the drawing when the new addition had arrived. Qianna herself was still sitting there, pencil suspended over the paper, not really knowing what to do or say. She was staring at the new girl with her mouth hanging open and a confused look on her face.

“Wow. You two look like you could be twins or something. Except for the hair, of course,” the girl who’d introduced herself to Qianna earlier as ‘Max’ declared, voicing the sentiment that everyone was thinking.

Quinne was now staring back, looking equally perplexed.

“Hi. I’m Qianna. Qianna Taylor. I’m from San Jose, California.” Qianna waved from across the circle of campers.

“I’m Quinne Kinney. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . . . This is weird, huh?”

“REALLY weird,” Qianna agreed. “So, uh . . . why do you look like me?”

“I don’t. You look like ME,” Quinne insisted with a smile.

Qianna thought to herself that this summer was going to be even more interesting than she’d anticipated.

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