Justin sat in an uncomfortable chair in the reception area of the law firm. He had to get the kids from the sitter, he just hoped he wouldn’t be late. It wasn’t like Jean would charge him extra, but he didn’t like to take advantage of Daphne’s sister. A tall, sleek man came in and started to talk flirtingly with the receptionist. Justin paid attention to keep his mind off his jingling nerves.

Finally, a woman in a gray suit came out of a door and looked around. She saw him and headed straight for him. “Justin Taylor?”

“Yes, I take it you’re Melanie Marcus.”

“That’s right. Come to my office and we will talk. Brian only told me a little about your case.”

He stood, grabbing his messager bag that he had all the relevant paperwork in. People were milling around as they passed them. Most seemed to straighten up or hid when Ms. Marcus was coming down the hall. Clearly, she was all about work.

She took him to a large office with dark wood furniture.

“Please, take a seat.”

He sat on a comfortable looking leather and dark wood chair.

“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”

She waved him off. “It’s nothing. Brian made it seem like I needed to see you, or terrible things would happen. To you or me is up for debate. Alright, let’s start from the beginning. Why are you here today?”

“Long story short, I’m trying to keep custody of my kids.”

“Why don’t we lengthen that story out some. First, who is the biological father of your children?”

Justin hoped this wouldn’t be a problem. “Well, we’ve never had DNA tests run but I think I’m Nanette’s and we’ve always believed Mika was Ethan’s.”

“Well, if I do take your case we’re going to need a DNA test done, just to get everything on paper. What is your children’s relationship with their birth mother?”

“Not really any, she had been touring two and a half years before Ethan’s accident. After he died she stopped all contact with me until I got papers that she was suing me for custody six months ago.”

“You had no idea this was coming?”

“None. She’s never had anything to do with the kids. It was always Ethan she called for. She said she wanted to be the cool aunt but that never really happened.”

Ms. Marcus was writing down copious amounts of notes. “Before the suit had she had the children overnight or for say a weekend?”

“Never. They have never been out of my care before.”

“Brian said you were ordered to give alternate weekends for the twins, that they were separated?”

“Weeks not weekends. But yes.”

“That’s not right or ethical. Who was your lawyer?”

“Leland Cross.”

“He’s incompetent at best. Who was the judge?”

“Reinhart.”

“Fuck, you really did pick the short string, didn’t you? Alright. I’ll take your case pro bono.”

“Oh no, I can pay.” He didn’t know how he could afford her, Cross was more than he could afford.

“Every year lawyers are supposed to work a certain about of hours pro bono, don’t worry, you’re not putting me out. I would rather do this for you than someone my boss chooses. Did you bring the papers I asked for?”

Justin fumbled with the bag. “Yes, it’s all here.”

“Thank you. Leave it here with me. I’ll call you once I have my bearings. You said on the phone that Ms. Vann is in Los Angeles, when do you expect her back?”

“I’m not sure. Could be tomorrow could be a month, Tara’s not the most reliable person ever.”

“Alright, if she comes back demanding one or both children I want you to call me first. I’m going to try and get a new hearing.” She stood up and came from behind her desk. “It’s wonderful to met you and I hope to help you get your children where they belong.” She stuck out hand for a shake.

“I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.” He gripped her hand firmly.

“You’re welcome. One more thing, fire Mr. Cross as soon as you leave. Something is very off with him, even an incompetent lawyer wouldn’t have failed you this miserably. Don’t tell him anything but you won’t be needing his services anymore.”

“Alright.” He wasn’t sure why she was so desperate for him not to tell Cross he had hired another lawyer, but she knew best.

As he walked out the of the office his shoulders felt a little lighter. Leland Cross was costing him a fortune and he was terrible. Melanie Marcus was the best and she was taking his case for free. It was amazing. He would be able to save money now, buy things his kids needed. Everything seemed to be going right and it all started on the second to worse day of his life, the day he had to hand Mika over which was the day he met Brian.

“Thanks Mel, no I understand. Bye.”

Brian disconnected the call and let out a sigh. Justin had finally gone to see Melanie. Not only that, he had agreed to let her take his case. What Justin didn’t know was that Melanie wasn’t exactly taking his case as pro bono as he thought. That’s how it’s starting but she’s only allowed so many hours to work it by her boss. Brian had let her know that he would cover any overage. She had made it clear that even though he was paying, she would not divulge anything about Justin and his case to him. He respected that, even if she was bitchy about it.

Just as he was about to get back to work, his cell rung again.

“Kinney,” he answered after not recognizing the number.

“Brian?”

“Justin, I’m glad you called.” He was, now he wouldn’t have to do something unlike him and pester Mel to give him his number.

“You really didn’t give me much of a choice. I just wanted to let you know that I hired Ms. Marcus as my lawyer. Thank you so much for your help.”

“It wasn’t much.”

“It was to me. Well, thank you again.”

Knowing that Justin was seconds away from hanging up he did something unheard of to him. “Really it’s nothing but if you’d like to thank me, why don’t we go out.”

“Like a date?” Justin asked.

That wasn’t really what he had in mind but now that he thought about it, why not. “Sure.”

“Um...okay. When?”

“Well, I’ve got to go out of town this week, but I’ll be back next Thursday. How about next Friday?”

“Alright, that sounds great.”

On his way home, Brian picked up pizzas for the boys. He would be leaving early in the morning and needed to get some work done before bed. Ted was going to stay at the house while he was gone, the boys couldn’t be trusted alone.

The lights were off on the house when he arrived home. That wasn’t usual and made him suspicious. He parked his car in the garage and grabbed the pizzas before walking into the kitchen. Turning on the light, he nearly dropped the pizzas and his briefcase. There was a rat, calmly eating something off a plate on the floor.

“What the fuck?” he yelled. The rat gave him no notice.

“Shh Dad, you’re going to scare him.”

Brian looked up and in the darkened hallway was his youngest, sitting on the floor by the doorway.

“What the hell is going on? Do I need to call the exterminator?”

“No, Dad, no. This is Cray, he is Lucas’ pet rat. I said I would watch him while he was in Denver for his uncle’s funeral. I told you, remember?”

Brian remembered his son saying something about watching someone’s pet. “I thought he was supposed to stay in his cage.”

“He was but Gus and John thought it would be funny to let him out when I was in the shower and leave. At first, I thought they did something to him, but I could hear him. I turned off all the lights, so I could find him easier.”

That made no sense to Brian, but teenagers rarely made sense. “Where did your brothers go?”

“Some party. I didn’t really care enough to ask, wasn’t like they would invite me.”

Sometimes being a father sucked. He never gotten along with his sister but now, he wished she was back so John and Peter had their mother. He couldn’t imagine his life without them, but their happiness was so much more important than his own.

“Get the rat and put it up. We’ll eat dinner and watch a movie.”

“Don’t you have work to do before your trip?”

“Yeah, but that’s why there are laptops. Come on, I’ll even let you pick the movie and eat in front of the television.”

“Cool,” Peter said before scooping up the rat and taking it upstairs.

Brian was going to have to tell the boys they couldn’t go out while he was out of town. He didn’t want them to give Ted a heart attack.

Peter came down the stairs carrying a very familiar DVD box, Brian groaned. “Again?”

“We don’t have to,” his son said, his face falling.

“I like the movie, it’s just you always pick it because you know I like it. Isn’t there a movie you would like to watch?”

“I like this movie and you like this movie. It’s like our movie,” Peter said sheepishly.

How could he say no to that? “Let’s watch it then.”

“Did you know James Dean died before the release?” Peter asked as he brought their pizza into the living room.

“Yes, I have been alive a little longer than you.”

“I wish John and Gus liked movies that didn’t have exploding buildings and half-naked girls,” Peter murmured.

“They’ll get taste later on, I hope. Now shut up, the movie is coming on.”

The starting credits of Giant started to run. It always shocked him how much his son took over in his taste in movies, unlike the older two.

By the time the movie went off Peter’s head was nodding. “Go on to bed. I’ll wake you and say goodbye before I leave.”

He would have to leave before the boys woke up for school. Peter nodded his head and headed upstairs. Brian went into his office to get some work done. He left his door open, so he could hear the boys when they came stumbling in. If they smelt like alcohol he would ground them for a month. God, he really was a parent.

It was about time for him to start calling parents when he heard the front door open. Looking at the clock, he saw it was well past their eleven o’clock curfew on school nights. He waited until they started to try and sneak past his office before letting them know they were fooling no one.

“Where the hell have you two been?” he snapped on the hallway light, lighting up his wayward children.

The first thing he noticed was the black eyes John was sporting. He looked closer at Gus and noticed his lip was fat.

“What happened to you two?”

“Just drop it,” Gus said, before started to walk to his room.

“I don’t think I will. You tell me now what happened.”

“It’s nothing, Dad,” John said, not looking him in the eye.

“I’m not playing around, tell me what happened now.”

“You want to know what happened? You ruined my life, that’s what happened. Why do you have to be gay? Why can’t you be straight? You make us look like freaks,” Gus said before tearing off to his room and slamming the door.

He didn’t show that the dagger in his back hurt, he just looked at John for clarification.

“Some of the kids were saying somethings about you being gay. It happens every now and then. It hasn’t happened since like eighth grade but one of the guys saw us at The Plank. He thought that Justin guy was your date and it was like a family thing. That would have been the end of it, but this guy started calling Gus and me names. I told him to drop it, but you know Gus. One thing led to another and I got a black eye for trying to pull Gus out of the party.”

“Gus gave you the black eye?”

“He didn’t mean to, he jerked his elbow back. We’ve been at the park for the past hour, I’ve been trying to cool him down. Don’t let it get to you, Dad. He’ll be better when you get back. I think he’s not sure of his own place in the world and trying to make sense of it all.”

Not for the first time Brian looked at his middle child with awe. Most people just saw Gus’ sidekick. They didn’t see the extraordinary and smart boy he was all on his own. Gus was more an in-your-face personality, but John was a quiet thinker. His mind was always working overtime. Not only that, he could sing and play guitar like no one’s business. One day, he would stop living in his brother’s shadow.

“When did you get so smart?”

“I think it was the toxins the government put in the water,” he said before cracking a smile.

“Go to bed, smartass.”

After a few measly hours of sleep, he got up and said goodbye to his boys. Gus was still not talking to him, which being half asleep still hurt. Hopefully after he got back he would have calmed down. This was the first time he had ever heard any of his children say anything about gay people being bad.