The second talk with his mother had  been worse than the first. She told him everything. She had gotten pregnant with Claire and his dad had to marry her, this he already knew. When Claire was six months old, she found out she was pregnant again. His father wasn’t an alcoholic then, he drank on occasion but not to excess and wasn’t violent. When he found out she was pregnant, he had been excited, maybe a little boy this time. Mom couldn’t handle all the stress of being a mother and pregnant again, his father was barely there because he was working.

She didn’t know what drinking during her pregnancy would do, at least that’s what she said. When Jack Jr. was born, his dad had been over the moon. When they realized something was wrong, she and the doctor pushed for him to go to the state home. Their dad was against it, wanted to keep him. Even so much that he had asked a lawyer if he got divorced could he keep Jack. The lawyer said there was no way that he would be granted custody, even when his mom didn’t want it.

So, they put the baby in the state home and drove away. That’s when his dad started to drink heavily, she said they hadn’t been together since the baby was born. But one night, he was drunk and the next thing she knew she was pregnant again. That was the reason he wanted her to get an abortion, because he knew she couldn’t stop drinking. He was sure another baby would be taken away from him, so he made him a promise, never to get attached to Brian. And as far as Brian was concerned, the man kept that promise until the day he died. It was luck that Brian wasn’t born the same as Jack, his mom said herself she still drank. It was less but she said she couldn’t function without it. The old man was an abusive asshole, that was on himself. But now there was a part of Brian that understood a little bit of him.

Brian had all his boys sitting down, they looked worried. It was Friday and tomorrow he would be picking up Jack and spending the day with him. Mary wasn’t going with them so he was nervous he would mess it up. His first big hurtle was to get his boys on board. They were teenagers and said stupid things sometimes. It was important to get all the questions and insensitive remarks out of the way today.

He walked away that day telling her that he wanted her to sign over Jack’s guardianship to him. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, Jack had never been her priority, he didn’t think it would change now.

He paced in front of his leather couch were all three boys sat. They were watching him closely. Finally, he took a seat on the chaise.

“What’s going on?” John asked.

“I went to see your grandmother earlier in the week. She sick and decided it was time to tell me about my brother.”

“Brother? You don’t have a brother,” Gus said, brows lowered.

“Yes, I do.” He then went about telling them about their uncle. There were the questions he was expecting. What’s wrong with him? Nothing, he’s just different. Do we have to see him? No, but I will be, and I would like for you to get to know him also. Can he talk good? Better than you. Is he nice? Very much so. Does he look like you? A little. When can we meet him? Tomorrow.

“Why don’t you have something to drink?” Mary asked him.

Jack couldn’t though, he was too nervous. Brian was supposed to come over and get him. Then they were going to meet his nephews and then meet some of Brian’s friends. Mary had helped him buy a new outfit for the outing. When he met Brian, he noticed how dressed up he was, he wanted his brother to be proud of him too. That’s why he didn’t want to wear any of his t-shirts today. Mary helped him pick out a red shirt with long sleeves, he liked it because it felt smooth. Then they picked out black dress pants.

“When is he supposed to be here? Maybe he changed his mind,” Jack said worriedly as he looked out of the window.

“He didn’t change his mind, he’s not supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes. Remember, we talked to him this morning. The boys are excited to meet you. He just had some errands to run before coming here.”

“And I get to spend the whole day with him?”

“Yep, he said he’ll have you back before you usually go to bed.”

“Well, it’s the weekend so I don’t have to go to the center tomorrow. That means I stay up later; did you tell him?”

“Yes, he knows.”

He was glad, on weekdays he went to the day center then to work, but today wasn’t a weekday. That meant he got to stay up as long as he wanted.

As he was about to move away from the window, he saw a really cool looking car pull up in front of the house. “What kind of car is that?” he asked Mary, pointing to the car his brother was getting out of, he had never seen one like it.

“Holy shit,” she cursed. “That’s my darlin’ is a Corvette Stingray, my guess is ’71.” Mary knew a lot about cars, her dad owned a car junkyard. She was raised working on cars.

“He’s going to take me in that? What if I make a mess?”

“Then you’ll help him clean it.”

Sometimes his body didn’t listen to his brain and spasmed. He couldn’t control when it happened, sometimes he knocked things over. The really embarrassing times he couldn’t hold his pee. At the home they would get upset with him for it, saying he did it on purpose. It wasn’t the truth though.

Brian knocked on the door, getting his attention away from sadder thoughts.

Mary opened the door, revealing Brian, he had sunglasses on. Maybe he should get his sunglasses. “I’ll be right back,” he said before running to his room.

His glasses weren’t as nice as Brian’s, but they kept the sun out of his eyes and that kept his headaches down. It was silly of him not to bring them in the first place. They had a cord around them so all he had to do was put it over his head and he wouldn’t lose them.

Brian smiled at his brother’s enthusiasm about his car. Not to brag but it was a nice one…who was he kidding he loved to brag. He could also tell Jack was a bit nervous but was trying to downplay it.

“Where are we going?”

Brian smiled at him. “First, we’re going to the diner for breakfast, you haven’t eaten yet, right?”

“Nope, even when my stomach rumbled, I knew to wait.”

“Good deal. The boys are already there waiting for us, so are some of my friends. I hope that isn’t too much for you.” It worried him that he was throwing too much at Jack too fast.

“Why would it be too much?” Jack’s eyes narrowed slightly. First real sign he was his brother, good to know.

“No reason. The oldest is John by a month, he’s turning sixteen later this month. Next is Gus, he’ll be sixteen next month. The youngest is Peter, he’s thirteen.”

“How do you have two the same age?”

He was planning on telling Jack tonight about Claire and their dad. The boys knew not to bring it up and to change subjects if he brought them up. But he wouldn’t lie and wouldn’t have his children lie.

“Can I tell you everything tonight? Some of it’s hard to hear and I don’t want to put a damper on today.”

“Alright, but you promise to tell?”

Brian smiled at him. “I promise.”

As they walked into the diner, everyone turned to see. Debbie had closed the diner to anyone that wasn’t invited. That meant only his friends were around, which is what he wanted.

Michael and Debbie were the first to come over to them. “You must be Jack? It’s so good to meet you. I’m Michael, Brian’s best friend,” Mikey said, holding out his hand.

Jack smiled easily and shook Michael’s hand. “Nice to meet you too.”

“And I’m Debbie, Michael’s mom. I’ve known your brother since he was fourteen, I wish I would’ve known about you. Doesn’t matter though, you’re one of us now.”

Jack stuck his hand out, but it was pushed away as she wrapped him up in a huge hug. Brian smiled as Jack looked at him with pleading eyes. “Sorry, you’re part of the family. That means Debbie will mother hen you whether you like it or not.”

He introduced him to everyone there, Ted invited Blake which bothered him. Ted and Blake had an on again off again love story that mostly consisted of Ted being taken advantage. HE knew Blake was clean now but there was something that always bothered him about the younger man.

Brian had started to believe that Brian and the kids wouldn’t show up, but they arrived about twenty minutes later. Looking over he saw Jack talking with Peter, he had a huge grin on his face.

“I see your worries were unfounded,” Justin said as the kids ran off to join Peter.

“I guess it was. You can’t blame me though, it was a big risk.”

They sat down in a booth away from all the goings on. They watched everyone talk and had a good time. It was like a piece of him was back, one he had no idea he didn’t have. Family. Family that wanted him.

“He looks a lot like you,” Justin said, grabbing Brian’s right hand. It startled him but he did his best not to show it. They hadn’t had any real contact since the impromptu blowjob.

“A little, I suppose. How does it feel knowing they both are yours?” Brian asked, changing subject.

“Unbelievable. I had gotten so used to the idea Mika wasn’t my blood. Now I worry that that caused me to treat him differently. Not bad but different. I always treated him like I thought Ethan would want. Then I find out my whole life with Ethan had been a lie. Maybe the reason Mika is so difficult sometimes is because of how I treated him.”

This was finally something he could help with. “Peter wet the bed until he was seven. I thought it was because I didn’t connect to him like I did Gus and John. That he was lacking in the parenting I had given the other two. That wasn’t it though, he had sleep apnea, we had his adenoids and tonsils removed, he hasn’t had any problem since then. What I’m saying, kids are different. Also, don’t ignore bed wetting if it happens. I’ve gone through the ‘do I treat Gus different from John and Peter, the answer is yes. But it’s not because he’s my biological child, its because they are all very different children. Just like Nanette and Mika are different.”

Justin gave him a slight smile before his face paled. Brian turned around to see what he was looking at. Brian saw Blake and Ted behind him but there wasn’t any thing else. He wondered what Justin saw that upset him.

Justin stood up, he needed to get out of there. Before he could think of an excuse Blake’s dark grey eyes locked on him. “I-I need a breather; can you keep an eye on the kids?” he asked.

“Sure,” Brian said, he looked confused, but Justin needed to get out of there before he lost his own breakfast.

Cool air hit his face, he sucked in as much air as he could get. He got away from the diner, sure that he couldn’t be seen. He heard the door open behind him, he didn’t need to turn around to know the traitor had followed him out.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Blake snapped, grabbing Justin’s arm and turning him around.

“I was invited by Brian, my new boss. Blake, why are you here?”

His eyes were cool looking at Justin. It was the first time Justin had even seen him not high or jonesing for his next fix. At one time they were sort of friends. He had meet him a little before he met Ethan. Blake showed him where to get cheap or free food. He needed all the help he could get, he didn’t want to rely on Daphne more than he was. That was when he got mixed up with Dino, he didn’t know he was a drug pusher. They started dating and he really liked him. But then he met Ethan, he had to choose between the two. It was Dino’s temper that made the choice for him. It would have gotten worse if Ethan hadn’t done what he did. Justin had waited years for the repercussions of Ethan getting Dino locked up to happen…it never did.

“I’m dating Ted, I have been for most of eight years. I’m surprised you have enough balls to show your face in Pittsburgh after what you did.”

Justin laughed bitterly. “I never left. It was Dino that did. Fifteen to life if memory serves.” He sounded a lot stronger than he felt. As much as he hated to admit it, Dino still meant something to him. When everything went down, he thought Dino was going to have him and Ethan killed.

“You really are that stupid, aren’t you?”

“After what Dino tried to do to me? If it wasn’t for Ethan he would have succeeded.”

Blake laughed, it chilled Justin. “Dino was obsessed with you. I could never figure out why. I’m going back in.” He turned and started walking back to the diner. “Oh, by the way, Dino’s conviction was overturned. All they had was the drug charges because you didn’t want to testify. Cops dirtied up the arrest. He’s been out for years, I’m sure he’ll be glad you’re still around.”