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Max didn’t have to go into the place he’d been living, only Auntie Em did. He wasn’t sure why everyone seemed angry but they made sure he knew it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t ask, but somehow Mr Brian read his mind and assured him the only ones in trouble would be the people who should have noticed he was missing. It made it easier for Max to relax with Justin’s arms around him. He knew he'd miss this later, but for now he could enjoy the feeling.


While Brian could understand that accidents happened, he still had a hard time letting go of his anger that Max was just left wandering around the museum alone. He wasn’t surprised that he felt this strongly about Max, since he knew he loved Justin pretty much from the beginning. He felt the same about Max as soon as he walked into the restaurant and saw Justin and Max together. He and Justin had talked about starting a family and they didn’t care how it happened, just that it did. Seeing Max sealed the deal for Brian. Because just like Justin, Max was easy to fall in love with.


Lindsay tried to excuse the other teacher, which only had Brian asking how she would feel if it was Gus or Jenny. Lindsay stopped with the excuses and did her usual habit of trying to blame herself for asking the other teacher to take Max with her. Brian didn’t care about how it happened, just that it did. Lindsay didn’t understand why Brian was taking it the way he was until he told her that he and Justin wanted to give Max a home. Lindsay was taken off guard by it even though Mel had told her that’s what Justin wanted. It wasn’t that she was upset, she just felt left out that Brian and Justin hadn’t mentioned they wanted to start a family.


Max was tired after talking to Mr Carl and the woman that kept saying the people who he lived with had never had any problems in the past. Max was resigned to being moved again. He just wanted to be able to stay in Ms Peterson’s class because she let him draw and told him he was good. And maybe he'd get to see Justin and Mr Brian once in a while. Justin sat with Max in the car while Mr Brian stood outside scaring the bejesus out of anyone who came near him. That’s how Auntie Em described to Max the way people acted around Mr Brian.


Justin knew Brian was angry when the case worker told him they had to investigate before they could do anything. Normally Justin wouldn’t approve of Brian using his money to get what they wanted, but this was different. Max was going to be their child and neither of them were willing to let him stay with people who ‘sometimes forgot’ about the kids they were supposed to be taking care of. The other kids were standing in the yard as Carl and the caseworker talked to the woman and man who fostered the kids. They’d been told what happened and the foster parents did call when they realized Max wasn’t home. Brian didn’t seem to care about the excuses. Like Justin, he cared that Max could have been hurt if Justin hadn’t been there.


“Are the other kids going to have to stay here too?” Max whispered to Justin.


“I don’t know, hopefully not.” Justin told him as the foster dad kept saying they were sorry, but with so many kids they were bound to make mistakes.


“It’s not so bad. They don’t mean to forget.” Max told Justin, which didn’t win them any points with Justin.


“What do the other kids think of living here?” He asked Max.


Max shrugged, burrowing further into Justin’s arms, liking the way he smelled. “When they take me somewhere else will I still see you and Mr Brian?” Max asked, as Brian got in the car.


“Would you like to stay with us?” Brian asked him, and Max tried not to hope again.


“Are they going to let us?” Justin asked, hugging Max like he was afraid someone would take him if he let go.


“Gabriel called around and made sure we could take Max with us. We’ll have to deal with everything in the morning, but he said we should be able to do what we want. Plus, I told him my blond pitbull wanted this and he knows when you want something I make sure you get it.” Brian told Justin. Max thought it must be nice to have someone who would do everything you want.


“The question is, do you want what I do?” Justin asked Brian.


Brian didn’t answer his question, since Justin knew without asking the answer was yes. Instead he asked Max, because the little towhead with the bright blue eyes should be allowed to decide what he wanted to do.


“Max, what would you think about staying with Justin and me?” Brian asked.


“For how long?” Max asked. Because he didn’t want to worry about when he had to leave. He just wanted to know when it was going to happen for once in his life.


“For as long as you want. We thought maybe you would like us enough to consider staying with us permanently.” Justin told Max.


“We’d like the chance to be your fathers.” Brian told Max, getting straight to the point.


Max stayed quiet. He’d always wanted one father, the idea he could have two wasn’t something he even knew could happen. He knew there were families that were different from the ones he’d lived with, and Auntie Em explained to him that Mr Brian and Justin were married like the mommies and daddies he lived with before. Max wanted a family all his life, and they were offering him one.


“I’ll be really good.” Max promised.


“We’ll love you even if you’re bad.” Mr Brian told him, and it sounded like a promise to Max.


“Can we go home now?” Max asked, before yawning and closing his eyes, not seeing the smile Justin aimed at Brian.


Emmett got in the car without anything of Max’s, whispering to Brian that he would shop and bring it to them tonight. It wasn’t as bad as they all feared. The couple apologized over and over, saying they thought Max was at the house. The other kids were older and the parents had a family emergency, leaving the kids to watch each other until they got back. The foster parents both worked and depended on the older ones to watch the younger ones when they needed them. Today only happened, according to the father, because they didn’t want to have to watch over the kids at the hospital while waiting to find out if his mother was okay after having a stroke. While Emmett could sympathize that they had a lot on their plate, they chose to have five children in their home and that came with responsibilities.


“What about the other kids?” Brian whispered, not wanting to wake Max up.


“From what I could hear, for now they’re going to stay there. I think the foster parents know they can’t take care of five kids. Carl said it was likely some of them would be moved in hopes to make the situation more manageable for everyone. It was hard for me not to call Drew and tell him we should see if we could be one of the places the kids could stay.” Emmett told him.


“Are you and Drew talking about having kids?” Justin asked.


“Until tonight I really hadn’t let myself think about it, but I know Drew wants kids. Apparently you two didn’t tell anyone you were even thinking about it.” Emmett tells them, not wanting to discuss anything until he talked to Drew, and understanding why Brian and Justin hadn’t said anything to them.


“We wanted to wait until it happened. With Justin’s career being less chaotic and Kinnetik at a place where I no longer felt like I needed to be there all the time, we both decided to stop putting off what we both wanted.” Brian told him.


“I’m just surprised that you are both jumping to adopt Max. He’s adorable, and I get why anyone would want him, but normally you two don’t make snap decisions.” Emmett commented.


“It feels like he supposed to be ours. I don’t know why I believe that, but I do.” Justin told Emmett.


“For me it was like seeing Gus for the first time. I didn’t doubt it any more than Justin does. I saw Max in our lives. It was enough to know we want him.” Brian told Emmett.


They dropped Emmett off with Drew, who was waiting outside after Emmett called him and told him what happened. Emmett barely closed the door to the car before he called Teddy to tell him about what was going on. Drew listened as Emmett talked about the kids who weren’t as lucky as Max was going to be. There was no doubt in Drew’s mind that any child that Brian and Justin loved was going to be very loved. Listening to Emmett talk about the kids that were still at the house broke Drew’s heart. Emmett tried to tell Teddy the kids might end up being moved again since the foster parents took on too much at one time. Drew thought they should have thought more about it before agreeing to house five kids. He knew there were more kids than places for them to go. In a lot of cases the older ones were put in group homes when the foster homes were full, or they were shuffled back and forth with the parents who couldn’t take care of them in the first place. When he thought of having kids with Emmett, he thought they’d go the surrogate route. But maybe it wasn’t as important as he thought that his children have a little Emmett in them. Just having Emmett in their life would be enough for any child.


“Brian and Justin are serious about adopting the kid?” Drew asked when Emmett hung up.


“I wasn’t sure what to think when Brian dragged me with him. Hell, I didn’t know they were planning to adopt. I mean they’ve been together for over fourteen years and other than Gus and Jenny they didn’t seem to act like they wanted more kids.” Emmett tells him.


“They both likely decided it was better to do it without than having the family tell them why they shouldn’t.” Drew told him.


“I wouldn’t have discouraged them.” Emmett told him.


“I wasn’t talking about you.” Drew told him.


“You mean Michael, not the family?” Emmett asked.


“I was trying to be nice by not saying his name, but yes. Before you say anything to defend Michael... I know he supports Brian and Justin, but sometimes you can tell he gets jealous of the things Brian is willing to do for Justin. This last trip they took ended up with all of you trying to explain to Michael why Brian should be allowed to take Justin for a month without him being allowed to join them.” Drew tells him.


“He doesn’t get why they wanted to spend a month in Paris alone.” Emmett answered, barely managing not to find an excuse for why Michael was upset when everyone agreed  Justin and Brian had the right to get away from… he meant without, Michael.


“If it was up to Michael, Brian and Justin would have to report to him and get his approval to take a shit.” Drew said, knowing he was being harsh. Michael wasn’t that bad as long as Drew didn’t have to spend more than an hour around him.


Ben should be sainted for dealing with Mr ‘I know what everyone should do’, as far as Drew was concerned. He knew they’d all be in for it when Michael found out he was the last to know. Drew planned to not be around when that happened. Deb’s Mikey slap would have nothing on what Drew would want to do.


He followed Emmett with a cart, knowing Brian wouldn’t even blink at the bill that came with this trip. When Brian said he wanted everything, Emmett knew that meant ‘everything’. Drew smiled when Emmett didn’t even bother to look at prices. When they were finally finished they loaded everything in the Hummer and headed out to Brian and Justin’s house.


When they pulled in they saw the girls’ car in the driveway. Emmett wasn’t sure what they were going to walk into but knew he’d make sure Brian and Justin knew he supported them. Emmett didn’t knock, just walked in with the bags he could carry. He was relieved when he saw them all sitting in the kitchen and no one looked angry, so at least he wouldn’t have to separate them. He'd only worried for a second, but it came with this family when Brian or Justin did something they didn’t know about.


“Where are Gus and Jenny?” Drew asked.


“Gus wanted to spend the night with Brian and Justin after he heard about Max. He said he wanted to get to know his brother.” Mel said, smiling at how great Gus was. “And you know Jenny, if Gus gets to be with the dads she wants to be here to.”


“We thought it would be good for the kids to get to know each other before we have to deal with…” Lindsay said, not finishing what they all knew.


“Michael will deal with it.” Justin told everyone.


“Only after lecturing you about how you should have told him first.” Drew told Justin.


“Which never stopped us from doing what we wanted. If he has a problem with it, I really don’t care.” Brian told them.


“He either gets that he treats all our children the same or he won’t be welcome.” Justin explained.


“I was shocked that you didn’t tell us, but I know both of you will give Max the same things you do Gus and Jenny.” Lindsay told Brian and Justin. Wanting to make sure she didn’t get lumped in with Michael.


“I’d like to give Max time to get used to us, before we spring more people on him.” Justin told everyone.


“I told Teddy, but you know he won’t say anything to anyone other than Blake.” Emmett told Justin.


“Make sure he keeps it just to Blake. I’ll deal with Michael if he hasn’t calmed down by the time he and Ben return from Ben’s book tour. After I tell him, we don’t have time for the drama when we’re going to be busy trying to get everything done to adopt Max.” Brian told Emmett, letting him know what to expect.


“Brian, even though they agree to let you foster Max, it will still take up to a year before they will let you adopt him. You could wait for a year before telling Michael.” Mel joked.


“We have at least five months before he gets back to the states, so his drama won’t be an issue right away for anyone but Ben.” Justin joked, sort of wishing they could save Ben from it too.


Max woke up to meet Gus and Jenny. He didn’t say a whole lot, but neither did Gus. Jenny did enough talking that they really just had to nod and agree. That’s what Gus told Max to do, or Jenny would never shut up. Gus laughed when he told Max that. Gus also told him they were going to be family so he needed to know the how to deal with a bratty sister. Max was confused about why Gus didn’t live there, when he told Max they shared the same fathers. It really made Max happy to hear that Gus wasn’t angry about sharing his fathers. Jenny explained in detail about alternative families, half of which Max didn’t understand. Gus told him it meant they were brothers forever. That Max did understand.


“I’ve never stayed anywhere forever.” Max told Gus.


“If my dads said you would be here forever, then that’s what will happen.” Gus told him.


“Mommy said so too. And then she cried, saying she was happy for you.” Jenny told him.


“Mom always cries.” Gus said, rolling his eyes.


“You have two mommies and daddies?” Max asked both of them.


“Yes. And what seems like hundreds of Uncles, and Grandma Deb, and Nana Jen.” Jenny told him, going off on a whole list of people Max would end up with in his life.


As the list got longer, Max ended up falling asleep next to Gus, who told him not to worry about anything because his new family already loved him because their dads did. Max’s dreams were filled with hope. Hope he thought he no longer had.


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