Chapter 11

In the weeks following their big argument, things finally started to calm down for Brian and Justin. Brian finally opened himself up to Justin's version of freedom and choice and Justin was happy to see Brian give it a chance.

In the beginning Justin noticed that there was still a hesitation in Brian whenever he was about to leave the loft and a lot of times he would still ask Justin if it was okay if he went out and met with Michael or went and visited Lindsay, but Justin knew that he couldn't just expect Brian to change in a day. He knew how hard all the changes were for Brian and he knew that he needed to give Brian time to get used to the changes in his life.

Over the following couple of weeks Brian got more and more independent which made Justin happy. Where Brian used to ask Justin every time if it was okay if he went out and met someone, after a few short weeks it was just a quick “I'm going to meet Michael. See you later” and gone he was. And seeing Brian leave like that to meet with his friends or go places he wanted to go, made Justin beyond happy for the older man.

He knew that Brian was right and he knew that they were creating a bubble and it wasn't really real, but as long as slavery still existed and Brian was still a slave, this was the best they could do and Justin was just glad that Brian had finally given in and had given it a chance as well.

And it seemed to have done the brunet the world of good. Brian had flourished and had become an integral part of their family. He and Michael were still best friends and would hang out a lot and Justin knew that this normalcy was important for Brian, that the man needed it, almost craved it.

With time Brian had also become Melanie's and Lindsay's favourite babysitter for little Gus and Brian could often be found over at their house spending time with the little boy. It had really been amazing how the small boy had taken to Brian and the other way around. Whenever Brian spent time with Gus and they played, Justin could see an innocence and happiness in his boyfriend that he longed to see there all the time. Seeing Brian as carefree as he was when he spent time with Gus often made Justin wonder what kind of person Brian could have been if given the chance. If he didn't have the emotional baggage his upbringing and his years as a slave had brought with them.

The most amazing thing for Justin to see however had been the blossoming friendship between Brian and Ben. He had never thought that those two would have something in common, but with time a real friendship had developed between them and they could often be found in deep discussions at family dinners. Over time they had found out that they liked the same authors and had the same views on certain topics and they had connected that way.

Sometimes it had been so easy for Justin to forget that Brian was incredibly smart. Brian had been chosen to become a tutoring slave after all because he had been that smart and had been doing so well in school. And then Brian had gotten one of the best educations in the country to become a tutoring slave to Wasp families like his own.

That education seemed to have been the connection with Ben and the two of them would sometimes have conversations that would even make his head swim. And he really was not stupid by any means.

He was glad that Brian had connected with his friends and family and now considered them all his friends and family as well. Of course it helped that he had already known Debbie, Michael and Lindsay from before, but he had also connected with the rest of their gang and that had made Justin really happy for Brian. Brian deserved friends and happiness.

Justin would never forget the first time Emmett had taken Brian shopping for club clothes, having talked Brian and Justin into joining him at Babylon for a night of fun. At first Brian had been reluctant, but once everyone had calmed down his fears about his slave status not being anything people would judge him for at Babylon, Brian had given in.

The shopping trip with Emmett, something Justin knew Brian would hate every minute of, had surprisingly been something Brian had enjoyed and he and Emmett would regularly meet for lunches at the diner or Brian would visit Emmett at Torso, the shop he worked at to look at new deliveries they had gotten.

Brian even got on well with Ted, them having long discussions about politics and finance. Justin had to admit that the mere idea of conversations like that bored him to death, but whatever worked for Brian and Ted. As long as they were happy, he figured.

With Brian becoming more and more integrated into their little family, Justin hadn't been surprised when Brian's queen outs had gotten less and less. Not that Justin had been annoyed by them or surprised. After everything Brian had been through, some queen outs were the least he deserved and Justin had tried to be as patient as he could be, but in recent months he had come to see how Brian had become much calmer, less agitated and would sleep way better than before. All changes that had made Justin happy for his boyfriend and had shown him that even though Brian might not have agreed in the beginning, they had been doing the right thing when they had started their relationship based on treating each other like equals.

Of course there were still occasions when they had to follow the rules of society and would have to act like a normal slave-master duo, but whenever it was just the two of them or they were with their friends and family or in the security of Liberty Avenue, they were just Brian and Justin and that was how Justin liked it best. Just two young men, totally in love with each other.

“Sweetie, what are you dreaming about?” Emmett asked him as he bumped his hip with his own.

Justin averted his eyes from where Brian sat laughing at something Gus had been doing and smiled at the tall queen at his side. “Just enjoying the view.”

Emmett followed Justin's line of vision and eyed Brian with Gus, who was happily jumping up and down the man's lap, excitedly babbling at his favourite babysitter.

“Hmmmm, nothing sexier than a hunk with a baby,” he sighed happily.

“Do I have to get jealous?” Justin eyed his friend from mischievous eyes.

“Nah, he's all yours. I'll just enjoy the view with you and will occasionally steal him when I need help from my style guru.”

“Style Guru?” Justin snorted into his drink and nearly doubled over. Yes, it was true, Brian was the typical gay man that loved fashion, loved shopping and was very concerned about his appearance, but style guru was taking it a bit far in Justin's opinion. And that wasn't even taking into consideration that Emmett's and Brian's tastes in clothing couldn't be more different.

“Hey, no one knows what will suit me and what I can wear like Brian. That man just knows my body and my style,” Emmett smiled his toothy grin at Justin, before he turned more serious. “Baby, can I ask you something?”

“Is this going to be some deep, meaningful conversation?” Justin frowned, not used to a serious Emmett.

“I don't know, it's just... something that's been on my mind a lot lately and... you're the artist here. I was just wondering if you're seeing it as well or if I am seeing things.”

“What are you talking about?”

Emmett nodded to where Brian was now helping Gus with his dessert, the small tyke making a complete mess of it and smearing it all over his face instead of eating it.

“Brian or Gus?” Justin asked, not sure which of the two Emmett was refering to.

“Both of them.”

“What about them?” Justin frowned, smiling when he saw the gentle way in which Brian cleaned up the small boy's face and then started feeding him his dessert, so he would actually eat it.

“Is it just me or is Gus awfully close with Brian?”

“Hmmmm, he likes him... But Brian likes him, too,” Justin started, remembering how Brian had been slightly uncomfortable in the beginning with the small boy and how much the boy apparently liked being held by him and playing with him and how he had quickly gotten over it and had just become the boy's favourite person in the world next to his mothers.

“Yeah, but... isn't it weird that Gus would never stay with any of us, would always throw a tantrum, but with Brian he was immediately in love with him?”

“Maybe they just connected,” Justin mused. “Hell if I know how the mind of a baby works.”

“I think there might be more to it,” Emmett said carefully, leaning closer to Justin and lowering his voice. “You drew them together, didn't you? You made sketches of them, right?”

“Yeah, why? I sketch everyone. You know that.”

“Did you notice anything when you drew them?”

“Emmett, what are you talking about? What was I supposed to notice?”

“Just... don't you think they look very similar? Like they could be related? Gus has the same eyes and the same nose as Brian, right?”

“What are you saying, Emmett? I am not sure I can follow,” Justin admitted, looking from his friend to where his boyfriend was now finished feeding the small boy.

“Nothing, I am probably just going crazy... Ignore this old queen. I... I just thought that... you know? Brian almost looks like he could be Gus' father. But that's ridiculous, so... just ignore me.”

With that Emmett excused himself and went to get himself a new drink. Justin watched after him and let his mind wander back to their conversation. That was ridiculous. How much did Emmett have to drink?

Later that night at the loft, Brian found Justin deeply engrossed in some of his old sketch-pads. With time Justin had started sketching more and more again and Brian knew he was one of Justin's favourite models.

“What are you looking at?” He asked his boyfriend as he settled down next to him and his eyes landed on a sketch of him and Gus cuddling. “That's a good one,” he nodded at the sketch.

“Thanks,” Justin mumbled absentmindedly, then closed the sketch-pad. “Nothing really, just... wanted to check something,” he said before he put away the sketch-pads.

“Okay,” Brian drawled, eyeing Justin from curious eyes, knowing that his boyfriend was avoiding looking at him. “How about the truth now?”

“Brian... it's nothing...,” Justin said quietly, trying to get up, but Brian held his wrist and pulled him back down.

“Somehow I doubt that. You have been fidgety all evening since we got back from dinner at Debbie's and now you couldn't have closed that sketch-pad faster if Usain Bolt would have tried. Are you sure everything is okay?”

Justin sighed and looked at Brian from troubled eyes. “It's just... just something Emmett said earlier and I guess I let it get to my head, but... it's... it doesn't make any sense.”

“What did he say?” Brian asked, already getting ready to go after the tall queen for upsetting his boyfriend. He liked Emmett, but he would easily forget that if the tall queen had upset Justin and from the looks of it, Justin was upset.

“He mentioned something about... about how Gus had taken to you like he hasn't taken to any other adult and then... he mentioned something about how he looked like you two could be related...,” Justin trailed off when he carefully watched Brian's face for his reaction.

“Related?”

“Well... he mentioned something about you and Gus having the same eyes and the same nose and how you could almost pass for his father, but... I couldn't really see it or... maybe I didn't want to see it, but then I looked at some sketches I had done of the two of you and....,” Justin grabbed for the sketch-pad he had been looking at and opened it to the sketch of Brian and Gus he had been looking at earlier. “He is right... I don't know how I have never noticed before. I have sketched you two so often... I have never really seen it, but he is right. You and Gus have exactly the same eyes and the same nose and... hell, he could be your son.”

Brian got up from where he was sitting and was snorting at Justin. “Are you crazy?”

“I know it makes no sense, but just look at it! Just look at it... He looks like a baby version of you,” Justin argued, but Brian barely looked at the sketch Justin was holding out to him.

“How much did you have to drink? I didn't think Debbie had that much alcohol in her house,” Brian laughed, before he ruffled Justin's hair with his left hand.

“It's not funny, Brian.”

“No, it's not. But Justin... First of all: A lot of people have hazel eyes and I guess the nose... well, millions of people might have a nose like that. It's probably just a coincidence.”

“It's more than that, Brian. What if he's your son?”

“My son? Are you crazy? How would I be his father? You know that Lindsay and Melanie went to a sperm bank and got an anonymous donour. And I can assure you, I have done a lot of things in my life, but donating sperm was not something anyone has forced me to do yet.”

Justin walked over to where Brian was standing and wrapped his arms around the taller man's waist. “I know it makes no sense, but now that Emmett has mentioned it, I can't unsee it.”

“Well, you better do. It's one of those weird coincidences, but I can assure you, I am not that boy's father.”

“Okay,” Justin nodded, leaning in for a gentle kiss.

***

Despite his conversation with Brian, Justin couldn't let go. Now that Emmett had mentioned the resemblance between Brian and Gus and he had started seeing it in his own sketches, he couldn't stop thinking about it anymore. Yes, he knew that Brian was right and there was no real possible way how Brian could even be Gus' father, but once Emmett had planted that seed in Justin's head, he just couldn't let go.

That's why he found himself sitting on Lindsay's and Melanie's sofa a couple of days later, looking at the two curious women who were eyeing him in confusion, not sure why Justin had come by and had wanted to talk to them. Because one thing had been clear from the beginning, this was not a social visit. Justin had been beyond nervous and had fidgeted around what he wanted to say for a long time now and neither woman really understood what had made the young man that nervous.

“Justin, are you okay? Is everything alright?” Melanie asked in concern, eyeing the blond up and down.

“Yeah... No... God, I don't know...”

“Justin, just get it out and tell us what's going on,” Lindsay urged, leaning over and taking the younger man's hand in her own. “It can't be that bad.”

“You'll think I have gone crazy...,” Justin muttered, but then steeled himself for what he had come by to talk about. “At the last dinner at Debbie's Emmett mentioned something about Brian and Gus being surprisingly close and how Gus had taken to Brian so quickly and then... he went on to say how they looked as if they could be related. How Gus had a distinct resemblance to Brian and they had the same eyes and the same nose. And now... I've gone back through some of my sketches and maybe I am crazy, but I see it. I see the resemblance and I can't unsee it. I think... I don't know how, but I think Brian could be Gus' father,” he ended, not looking at either woman. He really had no idea how they would react to what he had just said. They would probably call him crazy and then kick him out of their house.

“You're not crazy,” Melanie stated quietly after a long silence between the three of them. “I... I have been seeing it as well and have been asking myself if what I was seeing could be true.”

Lindsay looked from her girlfriend to Justin and back. “I... I have never really thought about it, but... when we went to the sperm bank and read the descriptions of the donors... It kind of sounded like Brian... maybe... subconsciously I recognised him in the description and that's why I wanted this particular sample,” she mused, looking at her hands as she spoke.

“But... when I talked to Brian about it, he said that he had never donated sperm and... there was no way he was connected to Gus in that way and... he really didn't have much chance to, really,” Justin muttered, looking at both women and they all knew that he was refering to Brian's time as a pleasure slave where Brian didn't have a chance to do anything he had wanted.

“Is it possible, that someone else donated for him?” Melanie asked into the group, running different scenarios through her head. “That he didn't even know that someone had donated his sperm?”

“I... I don't know and quite honestly, I... don't really want to bother him with this. The last time I brought it up, he called me crazy and told me I had been drinking too much. He doesn't see it and... I think maybe he doesn't want to.”

“Well, it would be a lot to take in to find out that you're the father of a small boy you had no idea you had fathered,” Lindsay muttered, running a hand through her hair. “I don't blame him.”

“So... you don't think I am crazy?”

“No, definitely not. I have seen it myself and I just thought I was imagining things, but... it would explain so much. Also why Gus immediately took to Brian when he has been hesitant about other adults. Maybe he felt a connection...,” Melanie said, then got up from the sofa and grabbed her laptop. She had an idea and she wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery.

“Okay, here's what we're going to do. I am going to contact the sperm bank and will ask them about some more information on where they got their sperm donations from. If they refuse to help, maybe I can scare them with some legal language. Maybe they can help clear up this mystery.”

Lindsay and Justin nodded and in the end they all agreed not to tell Brian that they would be further investigating the mystery of Gus' parentage. Justin just knew that Brian wouldn't really react to that too kindly and he didn't want to upset his boyfriend any more than was necessary. Who knew? Maybe the donor just turned out to be a distant family member of Brian's or something. Maybe a cousin he had. There could be so many explanations for why there was a resemblance between Brian and Gus.

***

Two weeks later the three conspirators met again, but unfortunately they weren't any closer to finding an answer to their mystery than they had been before.

Melanie had contacted the sperm bank and had inquired about the origins of their donations, but the sperm bank had been very closed off and had refused to give any information, claiming that they had to protect the identities of their anonymous donors. As they were legally within their rights not to help and Melanie didn't have any legal reason to subpoena any more information, she reluctantly had to let go and had to accept that working the angle of contacting the sperm bank had been a waste of time.

In the end the three of them decided to do a DNA test to know once and for all if Brian was Gus' father or not. It had been Justin's idea and at first Lindsay and Melanie hadn't been too convinced that it was a good idea, but in the end they had agreed to get Gus' and Lindsay's DNA samples for a test. The mystery was driving them crazy. They had never wanted to know Gus' father as Gus was their son and was to be raised by them, but now that there might be a possibility that Gus' father was someone they knew, they didn't want to have that mystery hanging over their heads for all eternity. They wanted to know once and for all if Brian was Gus' father so that if he was, they could decide what to do and if he wasn't they could move on with their lives.

Justin pretty much felt the same and just wanted a final answer, so he could finally move on. Not knowing was driving him crazy and every time he looked at Brian and Gus, he wondered if Brian could be Gus' father or not. He was glad that so far Brian hadn't really caught on to what was going on between Justin, Lindsay and Melanie and had been pretty oblivious to their plan of getting a DNA test done.

After Justin had brought up his resemblance to Gus the first time, the younger man had never mentioned it again in his presence, so by now Brian had pretty much all but forgotten about it. He had just continued spending time with the tyke as normal and that had been it for him. He hadn't thought about what he considered total craziness on Justin's part, any longer.

The hardest part, the three conspirators quickly realised was to get a DNA sample from Brian without the man noticing. Justin felt slightly bad about going behind Brian's back, but he also knew that Brian would be against a DNA test if they asked him. He would probably tell them all that they were crazy and that would be it. Brian didn't see any way that he could be Gus' father and for him there would be just no reason to get a test done at all because the whole notion of him being related to Gus made no sense to him. Not that Justin could blame him. Still the seed had been planted in his and the girls' mind and now they wanted an answer.

After a particularly invigorating session of sex they had one night, Justin waited until Brian had fallen asleep and then took his used condom to get a sperm sample from it. He felt bad about going behind Brian's back like that and being sneaky when he should have just been upfront and honest with his boyfriend, but he told himself that the end would justify the means. If the DNA test was negative and proved that Brian wasn't Gus father, there was no reason for Brian to ever find out how far Justin and the girls had gone. And if it turned out that Brian was indeed the boy's father... well, that was a whole different story they would have to deal with when it came to that.

The next day Justin and the girls sent in all DNA samples and then waited impatiently for the results. They were told it would take between 3-5 days and they counted the hours until they would have a result. And when that result came, it shook their world and was a bombshell neither of them had expected.

“I can't believe it... How is this possible?” Lindsay said over and over when she looked at the letter in her hand that Melanie had handed her a few minutes before. “This makes no sense.”

They had the results sent to Melanie's law firm as they had been scared that Brian might find the letter if it was sent to the loft or might see it arriving during one of his visits to Lindsay's and Melanie's house.

“I know, right? The result is very clear though. Brian is Gus' father. I have no fucking idea how, but he is...”

“What are we gonna do now?” Lindsay turned to her girlfriend and eyed her from slightly scared eyes. “This could change everything.”

“I... know, but... maybe it's a good thing,” Melanie said, trying to calm her partner. She could understand Lindsay's nervousness as she felt the same. They had made a conscious choice to go for an anonymous sperm donor as they had wanted it to be clearer than clear that Gus was their son and they wanted to raise him and not get into arguments and legal disputes with someone they knew as the father and now here they were and the very thing they had never wanted was now happening. One of their friends was their son's father and they needed to make a decision what that would mean for Gus, for them and for their friendship with Justin and Brian.

“How? We specifically chose a sperm donor so we wouldn't ever end up in this situation,” Lindsay exclaimed, pacing her living-room.

“Just think about Gus, Linds,” Melanie urged. “Just look at how close he is with Brian and how quickly he has taken to him. It's as if he knew and... they have a strong bond. Maybe that will be good for Gus in the long run. Maybe it will be good for Gus to know his father and have a male influence like that in his life.”

“But... what about us? What about us as a family?”

“What about it? Nothing has to change,” Melanie explained quietly, taking her girlfriend by her hands and leading her to the sofa. Once they had sat down, she continued. “At this point Brian has become our go to babysitter for Gus anyway. He loves watching Gus when we have a date or an appointment and he loves spending time with him. I... I don't think Brian would be ready to be a full-time father. I don't think he would want to be. You know how sensitive he is about his status and everything... Maybe... maybe things can just continue as they have and it will be a good thing to have Gus' father around for when he needs a strong, male influence.”

“He's gonna freak when he finds out,” Lindsay muttered, looking at her girlfriend by her side from sad eyes. She just knew it and she wasn't surprised when Melanie nodded.

“I called Justin and asked him to come by later. I didn't tell him the results yet, just that the letter had arrived and that we needed to talk.”

Lindsay nodded, then looked over to where Gus was happily playing in his playpen, not having a care in the world. The poor guy had no idea what was going on around him and how much life would change for everyone even though they didn't want to admit it. This was huge, she knew it.

Two hours later, after Lindsay and Melanie had discussed the whole situation some more, Justin arrived at their house. He was a ball of nerves and fidgety as hell and nearly driving the women crazy the second he entered their house.

“It's here? What does it say? Have you already opened the letter? Do you know?” He shot off question after question, not even giving the women the time to reply.

In the end Melanie just nodded and wordlessly handed Justin the letter she had received earlier that day. She watched as his eyes widened and he mumbled to himself “Shit!” over and over.

“You can say that again,” Melanie agreed, before sitting down at their dining table, crossing her arms.

“How is this possible?”

“No idea... and since the sperm bank wasn't very helpful, we might never know,” she muttered.

“But... if that is really his sperm... he could have even more... God, he's gonna freak.”

“Justin,” Lindsay started, resting her hand on her friend's shoulder.

“He is so gonna freak when he finds out about this and... the implication that he could have even more children. Jeez...”

“Justin, we need to talk about this. All of us,” Melanie urged, turning into lawyer mode. She knew how stressful the situation was on everyone and it was helping her that she had her lawyer mode to fall back on. At least it gave her something to do.

“I know, but... I need to tell him first. I... I need to somehow tell him about this... Fuck!” Justin exclaimed once more, before he looked at Melanie and Lindsay.

“You're not going to make this a problem, are you?” He eyed them sceptically, not knowing what to expect from the two women who had consciously decided against a friend as a donor and for an anonymous donor so they wouldn't have a third party involved in raising their son.

“No, we wouldn't dare,” Lindsay said quietly, sitting down next to Melanie. “Mel and I talked about this and... this might not be what we have originally planned, but now that we're faced with this reality, we're... kind of glad. Gus will know his father and it will be a person that's dear to all of us. It will be someone he already has a special bond with and someone he loves. Maybe it's a good thing that fate played this cruel joke on all of us.”

“We want Brian to have access to Gus, but... we want to talk it over with both of you. This is a lot to take in for all of us, but... we think it's best if we all discuss this together and come to a decision together. Always keeping Gus' best interest at heart,” Melanie went on, looking at Justin for a reaction.

“That's... that makes sense,” he finally uttered, still shocked by the revelation of the day. “Just... can you give me a day... I... shit... I need to figure out how to tell him and then he's probably gonna have the freakout of all freakouts and...”

“Justin, do you want us to tell him together? We can be there with you,” Lindsay offered, but Justin immediately shook his head.

“No... I will do it myself. Brian doesn't like being put on the spot and... it's better if I do this alone. Trust me.”

Melanie and Lindsay nodded in agreement, knowing that Justin knew Brian best and knew best how to handle this situation.

“Just let us know when you're ready to talk and then we can figure this all out together,” Lindsay offered and this time it was Justin's turn to nod.

“Yeah... I'll contact you once he's ready,” Justin promised, before he hugged both girls tight and then got ready to give Brian the biggest shock of his life.