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Chapter 27 - Would Flowers Be Too Much?

Qianna had just come inside to make another pitcher of iced tea when she heard the doorbell ring. She started for the door but then stopped when she realized that her other father had already beat her to the front hall. She was far too curious about how Brian and her grandmother would react to each other, though, to not eavesdrop a little on their conversation. So she positioned herself around the corner from the entryway where she could listen in without being seen.

“Mother Taylor! You look as lovely as ever,” Brian greeted his one-time Mother in Law as he opened the door.

Qianna peeked around the corner, enough so that she could spy on the adults in the hallway via the large mirror on the wall next to the front door. She was surprised to see both Brian and Jennifer smiling genially at each other. She’d thought that Grandma Jenn would be more reserved with her son’s Ex. From all appearances, though, these two actually got along pretty well.

“It’s good to see you, Brian,” Jennifer returned the greeting with a genuinely pleased smile and teased him back, “but I think you’re the lovely one. How have you managed to stay so handsome after all these years? You hardly look like you’ve aged at all.”

“Good, healthy living, I guess,” Brian replied with a tongue-in-cheek grin that made him look even more boyish. Then he turned and gestured with a sweeping bow for his guest to come further into the house. “You’ve got two ridiculously eager girls - and one grumpy son - waiting for you out on the patio.”

Jenn tittered quietly over Brian’s description of her waiting audience but then got serious again. “How’s Justin taking all this? I don’t imagine he was eager to come back here . . .”

“No. He wasn’t. But we’ve talked . . . a little . . . and I’m doing what I can to try and make it easier on him,” Brian offered with a sigh. Then his face resumed a more determined look and he continued, “I’m not going to let him just disappear on me this time, Jenn. I refuse to back off. He told me what caused him to leave the last time, and I won’t let that happen again. Ever. And it’s not just for the sake of our girls.”

Jennifer gave Brian a tight-lipped, sad, little smile and nodded. “For what it’s worth, Brian, I did try to talk him out of it. I could see how much he was hurting, and I was incredibly angry at you at the time, but I never thought running away from everything was the answer. It didn’t make Justin happy either. He just numbed the pain, he didn’t ever escape it.”

Brian reached out and gently grabbed Jennifer’s arm, giving her a sympathetic squeeze. Jennifer’s smile grew as she looked up at the tall man with the kind eyes. Then they both chuckled a little and moved apart with an awkwardness that Qianna was becoming used to in the man she was starting to love. Brian really didn’t like messy emotions - that much was clear - but she was buoyed by the fact that he was opening himself up to them for Justin’s sake. It gave her hope that her father might actually be won over in the end.

“We both were affected by what happened,” Brian admitted openly, “and it’s taken us both far too long to come to grips with everything that brought us to that point. But I think that the girls might just be the final thing we needed in order to fully heal.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet Quinne. It’s about time you boys got going and gave me another grandkid,” Jennifer joked before taking the initiative to head back towards the rear of the house with Brian following her.

Qianna barely had time to scamper back into the kitchen and pretend like she hadn’t been spying the whole time. She was just starting to refill the iced tea pitcher with water when Brian and Jennifer came through the door. Qianna quickly set the pitcher aside and ran to meet her grandmother with a happy squeal.

“Grandma Jenn! Grandma Jenn! You’re finally here!” she cheered as she gave the older woman a huge hug.

“I’ve always been here, Honey. I still have a House in Pittsburgh, remember? But it’s good that YOU finally came to visit ME for a change.”

They laughed together for a moment, just so happy to see each other that they couldn’t contain it, before Qianna finally remembered that she now had to share her grandmother with someone. “Quinne is waiting for you outside. She’s so excited to meet you. I’ve told her all about you. You’re going to love her.”

“You two go ahead and I’ll bring out some drinks for everyone,” Brian directed, shooing them out of the kitchen and taking up the iced tea pitcher so as to add the requisite number of sun tea bags.

“Dad! Q! Look who I found!” Qianna shouted the second she was through the patio door, tugging Jennifer after her so fast Jenn almost tripped over her own Manolos.

“Mom!” Justin stood up to greet his mother, accepting the proffered kiss to his cheek.

“You look good, Sweetheart,” Jennifer commented, giving her son’s cheek a little pat of approval. “I figured, with the wedding being cancelled and all, you’d be more of a wreck. But I guess finding your other daughter and being back here was at least a good distraction?”

“A distraction, yes. Whether or not it was ‘good’ is still undecided,” the man countered with a shrug.

“I’m not a good distraction, Dad?” Quinne spoke up for herself. “I think I’m going to be offended.”

“Sorry, Quinne. You’re about the only good thing to come out of all of this, Honey,” Justin rushed to reassure his other daughter.

“Now I’M offended,” Brian interrupted, setting the full pitcher of tea in the middle of the table where it could brew in the sun and placing a tray of cut up veggies and dip next to it so the group would have some nibbles while they visited. “I thought seeing me again would have been the best part of this adventure, Sunshine.”

Everyone laughed except for Justin, who shot his former husband a look that could have burned with it’s annoyed iciness.

“You certainly haven’t changed, have you, Brian,” Jennifer commented with an indulgent smile. “That ego of yours is just as healthy as ever. Not that I object, mind you. I’ve always said that confidence is the sexiest thing about a person.” Jenn looked past Brian at that point, fixing her eyes on her son once more, as she added, “a sentiment that my son used to echo, I might add.”

You could see the muscles of Justin’s jaw flexing as he clenched his teeth in reaction to the very pointed comment but he didn’t take the bait.

“Yeah, Pops has never had a problem in that area,” Quinne stated the obvious conclusion for all of them before stepping around her preening father to get to Jennifer. “But enough about him; I’m the one you came here to meet, right?” She laughed at her own presumption and held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Quinne.”

“Like father, like daughter,” Brian bragged, beaming at his daughter approvingly.

For about the next hour or so, Jenn visited with her son and Qianna and got to know Quinne. Brian spent the time bustling around, serving drinks, even rustling up lunch for the whole crew - something that would have been very out of character for the old Brian Kinney, but which didn’t cause this new, fatherly, Brian any qualms at all - with Justin watching him the whole time as if he wasn’t quite sure who this strange man was. About the time lunch was wrapping up, the topic of conversation moved around to art, as it inevitably did whenever Qianna was involved, and Jennifer mentioned that there was a new exhibit of 18th Century Manga Art at the Japanese Gardens which she’d been meaning to check out.

“Oh, Gus mentioned that,” Quinne interjected. “He’s been babbling on and on about it for days. He loves anything about comic books, you know.”

“I have an idea,” Jennifer eagerly opined. “I haven’t seen Gus in ages – not since he was a baby – so how about this; we head back into town, pick Gus up along the way, and check out the exhibit this afternoon together.”

“Excellent!,” both girls chimed together.

“You’ll have to give me time to shower and change. I just got out of the pool right before you arrived, Mom,” Justin grumbled as he got to his feet.

“Oh, hey, Dad, not to be a total brat or anything, but we don’t need a chaperone or anything,” Quinne asserted, moving around to intercept Justin before he could leave. “I’m sure Grandma Jenn’s got this. Plus, weren’t you just complaining about how much you still need to do on the wedding cancellation? You said you didn’t have time to socialize.”

“It’s no big deal. I can work on that later,” Justin argued.

“Quinne is right, Dad,” Qianna jumped in to back up her sister. “You should just stay here and do your thing. You know you’ll just stress over it the whole time we’re gone. We’ll be fine on our own and it’ll give us more time to hang with Grandma Jenn without you feeling all rushed to get back here.”

“Well, I guess . . .”

“Then it’s settled,” Jennifer declared, pushing back her chair and rising regally to join her granddaughters. “Let’s go grab whatever you need and get going. If we hurry, we’ll have time to see the exhibit, walk in the gardens and still make it to the afternoon tea ceremony.”

“Thank you for taking Gus and the girls, Jennifer,” Brian spoke up from where he’d been standing off to the side watching this scene play out. “I know my son has been dying to see that comic book display.”

“Oh, pish!” Jenn waved off Brian’s thanks. “It’s Grandmother’s Privilege to take her kids on outings like this, and I’ve rarely had the chance, what with Qianna living so far away all these years. Now that I know I’ll have at least one granddaughter living nearby, you better count on me getting in a lot more time with my kids. Besides, I’ve got a lot of Grandma Time to make up for with Quinne.”

“You’re welcome to them any time you like, Mother Taylor.”

Then the always elegant woman took a step towards her son, bent, and left a perfume-scented kiss on his cheek. “Don’t worry about anything, Honey. You just concentrate on finishing whatever you need to do to put Alex behind you for good. And, for what it’s worth, I think you made the right choice to get rid of that loser.” Both girls and Brian were smiling and nodding in agreement with this proclamation, making it clear that nobody had any regrets on The Yeti’s behalf. “Alright. Let’s get going girls!”

Quinne and Qianna kissed both their fathers goodbye and then headed inside with Grandma Jenn on their heels. They could see, over their shoulders, that Justin was looking as concerned as ever while Brian was happily beaming at his Ex. Hopefully this little outing with Jennifer would work right into their plans by allowing the dads to spend more time together without any kids to provide a distraction.

“You think Pops can charm him over?” Qianna asked in a hushed voice as she and her sister started to climb the stairs up to their rooms.

“I hope so. Although Dad still doesn’t seem very open to the idea,” Quinne replied, sounding sceptical. “But all we can do at this point is make sure they have plenty of opportunities for Pops to do his thing. I know he wants to try and work things out.”

“Yeah, I know. And I know we can’t force Dad to forgive Pops but . . . I really don’t want to have to go back to California,” Qianna moaned.

Jennifer, who seemed to have rather excellent hearing despite the fact that she was still waiting for them at the foot of the stairs, took that opportunity to add her own suggestion. “Perhaps we should pack some overnight things for you two? You know, just in case you don’t want to come all the way back out here tonight? I’m sure your fathers can find SOME way to amuse themselves together without you, right?”

Both girls turned on the landing and smiled down at their crafty grandmother before running back down to give her matching hugs.

“Thank you, Grandma!” Qianna chortled appreciatively.

“You know, you make an excellent co-conspirator,” Quinne stated approvingly.

Jennifer laughed and winked at the girls. “Don’t say anything to Justin but, despite the rocky start Brian and I had when the boys first met, I’ve always liked that man. He may be a bit rough around the edges sometimes, but he has a good heart. And, even though I fought against the idea in the beginning, I’ve known he loved my son from the first day I met him. So, if the choice is between Alex Ramsey - that rude little shit - and Brian Kinney, consider me ‘Team Kinney’.” Both girls squealed with delight and offered another round of hugs to their newest accomplice. “Now, go get your stuff. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner Brian can start to work his magic. And, if you’re good, I’ll tell you two all about the day I showed up at Brian’s office with a duffle bag full of Justin’s socks and underwear and informed him he was now responsible for making sure my son did his homework. The look on his face was priceless. I still get a chuckle out of that . . .”

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The girls waited until after they were done with the Manga exhibit to text their fathers with the news that they were going to stay with Jennifer for the night. Brian sent back a winking emoji face in response. Justin cautioned against taking advantage of Jennifer’s hospitality and basically begged them to come home. Qianna texted back, telling her father to stop being a baby, and to enjoy his kid-free night.

“Problems?” Jenn asked as the girls whispered over their phones.

“No. Just Dad being a wuss. He wants us to come home. I think he’s afraid Pops will ravish him or something,” Qianna joked, getting a round of laughter from her audience.

“Let’s hope so. From what I’ve seen, Justin could use a good ravishing,” Gus declared, voicing what all of them were thinking.

“Judging by the conversation we overheard the other night, I’d say Pops could use a little ravishing himself,” Quinne added, causing Qianna to snort out the tea she’d been sipping through her nose. “I still can’t believe that all this time, all those nights I spent with Em or Grandma Deb so that Dad could have some personal time, he wasn’t out sowing his wild oats at all. He was just sitting around in that dusty old loft, hiding, and watching TV. Meanwhile, we all thought he was still the biggest gay stud in town. I feel cheated or something.”

“Haven’t they both been hiding all these years?” Jennifer added, a little more seriously. “I know that Justin’s been through a couple dozen boyfriends over the past decade, but none of them even came close to making him as happy as he was with Brian. Oh, I admit they had it rough at times - and I wasn’t always Brian’s biggest fan - but if you could have seen Justin’s face the day they finally got married . . . His smile was literally incandescent that day. I just wish they had figured out how to talk to each other instead of always running away whenever there were problems. This whole mess could have been avoided,” Jennifer gestured between the two girls, “if they’d shared what was bothering them rather than trying to go all macho and swallowing their feelings.”

“Hey! Coming from those here that are further along the macho spectrum,” Gus interrupted, “I have to say it’s not always that easy. Guys don’t do emotions as easily as girls. Especially not when you’re dealing with PTSD or whatever it is that Pops and Justin are still dealing with after him getting bashed.” Jennifer gasped, looking at the kids with surprise and maybe even a little guilt. “Oh, yeah, we know about the Prom bashing and even about some of the other reasons behind why Justin left Pittsburgh all those years ago,” Gus confessed, smiling over at his sisters. “You can’t really keep anything hidden for long with the Junior-Detectives over here. They have mad research skills, you know?”

“That’s fine. I just didn’t know that you kids knew . . .” Jennifer excused herself and her reaction. “Justin always said that he didn’t want to burden you with traumas that were already in the past, Qianna, although I figured he would have to tell you eventually. But you’re right, Gus, society makes it harder for men to admit to their feelings, and that makes healing from something like Justin’s attack even harder. Which, in turn, makes it even more important that we find a way to help the boys. If they can’t figure it out on their own, that is.”

Just then Quinne’s phone chirped with the tone that indicated she had a new text. She looked down at the screen and chuckled. She turned the device around and held it up so that everyone could see what was written there. The entire group smiled; it seemed like their plans were working just fine after all. Maybe Brian truly did have this figured out?

Pops: Ask QiQi if Italian is still Justin’s favorite.

Quinne: She says ‘yes’. Are you going to take him out? That’s a great idea!

Pops: Actually, I thought I’d try and cook him a nice dinner here so it can be just the two of us.

Then, a minute later, before Quinne could overcome her shock and text back, Brian texted again.

Pops: Stop laughing! I’m perfectly capable of boiling some damn noodles!

Quinne: Fine. Just make sure you have the number for the Poison Control Hotline handy.

Pops: Ha ha! I’m insulted that you doubt my culinary prowess. Just sit back and watch me get my woo on!

Quinne: Good luck with that . . .

“I’m pretty sure that sending your date to the ER to get his stomach pumped is not the best way to win him over,” Gus commented with a grimace.

“Your dad’s not THAT bad of a cook, is he?” Qianna asked, starting to feel a little worried for her father.

“He’s been known to fuck up toast on occasion,” Quinne explained with Gus nodding in the background. “But that’s mostly because he just gets easily distracted when he tries to cook. He leaves whatever it is he’s making on the stove and goes off somewhere and forgets . . .” She looked over at Gus with a worried frown. “When was the last time we checked the batteries on the smoke detectors?”

“Perhaps the plan is to force Justin to come to Brian’s rescue when he sets the meal on fire?” Jennifer posited with a huff of laughter. “Nevermind. They’re big boys. I’m sure Brian can figure out something as simple as feeding the two of them for one night. Right?”

Quinne and Gus looked at each other, exchanging strained and half-hearted smiles. Qianna wasn’t reassured by their reaction. Before she could speak up though, Quinne’s phone chirped again.

Pops: Would flowers be too much?

Qianna shook her head. “Remind him about Dad’s allergies.”

Quinne followed directions.

Pops: Shit! Right. Forget the flowers . . .

The tea house group all sighed in relief and returned to their refreshments, only to be interrupted again thirty seconds later.

Pops: Do we have any unscented candles? All I can find are these ones that stink like Christmas cookies.

Quinne sighed and picked up her phone again, tapping away with the instructions for her father.

“He’s really not that good at this romance stuff, is he?” Qianna stated worriedly.

“Maybe Justin will give him credit for trying at least? Like, it’s the thought that counts and all,” Gus hoped. “Assuming, of course, Pops doesn’t burn the house down with his dinner and candles first . . .”

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