If Brian had hoped his feeling of peacefulness would extend into the next day, he was absolutely wrong -- at least initially.

The first thing he noticed when he woke up, Justin still tucked under his arm, was the sound of raised voices coming from downstairs. He found himself on even higher alert when he realized that the voices belonged to Lindsay and Gus. Though Brian knew they argued far more often than he and Gus did, it was one of the first times he'd experienced it in person, and as much as he wanted to ignore it and try to go back to sleep, something in his conscience nagged at him to go down and see if he could help.

When he got to the kitchen, he could see Gus and Lindsay facing off, Lindsay with a spatula in her hand, and Gus dressed like he was preparing to go for a run in the cold.

"Dad would probably agree with me, he has no interest in any of that crap," Gus was saying flatly as Brian stepped fully into the room, absentmindedly running a hand across his bare torso, as if only just realizing that he'd forgotten to throw on a T-shirt.

"What crap wouldn't Dad be interested in?" Brian asked nonchalantly, causing both Lindsay and Gus to look in his direction with wide eyes.

"Desserts. High-calorie, sugar-filled, fat-laden mounds of diabetes," Gus mumbled, shooting his mother the evil eye, not for the first time that morning, if Brian had to guess.

"Potentially correct," Brian conceded. "But what else am I missing?" He gave Lindsay a meaningful look, hoping that, with just the three of them, she could fill in the missing pieces without feeling the need to go over-the-top proper.

"Well," Lindsay began, clearly bristling, "I made a reservation weeks ago for us all to enjoy a late lunch before heading to the Christmas Market later today, and your son is making a giant fuss about not going."

Brian had to contain his smirk -- of course Gus was "his son" when Lindsay was displeased with him. "Where is this coveted reservation?" he asked, trying to remain neutral for the time being.

Lindsay named a place Brian only vaguely recalled hearing at first, but the more he thought about it, he realized that he recognized it as somewhere Justin had mentioned wanting to go several times.

"Hmm," Brian said, looking over to Gus with his brow furrowed. "Why don't you want to go?"

Gus sighed, then took a deep breath as if he realized this might be his only opportunity to plead his case. "There are lots of other places we could go that are even closer to the Christmas Market. This place isn't that great, it's mainly just known for desserts. Like, the lunch food isn't even that great, so if people don't want to get dessert, like me or you, and probably Ima and Gigi, it barely even serves a purpose."

Brian nodded, his tongue planted in his cheek. "I see. And you are not a dessert fan since… when? Is this a New Year's resolution that you decided to kick off today?"

"Um," Gus said, not entirely anticipating that his dad wouldn't immediately agree with him on the basis of dietary concerns.

"These reservations are not easy to come by, especially during the holiday season," Lindsay said, her tone still indignant. "Gus was well-aware that I had an intention of making one over a month ago, especially since Justin had asked about going there. I'm not sure why it's so surprising to him now."

"I thought you'd forget," Gus mumbled, looking down at his feet.

Brian snorted. "Have you met your mother? She doesn't forget anything. Ever," he said, ignoring the sharp look Lindsay gave him. He bought himself time when he noticed there was coffee in the pot on the counter, so he prepared a cup for himself while Lindsay and Gus continued to face off, and then helped himself to a seat at the head of the table, gesturing for the other two to join him.

"Gus, you're being incredibly rude and selfish," Lindsay continued once she was seated on one side of Brian. "And I don't want to continue arguing about this. I'm trying to prepare breakfast for a houseful of guests, and it's bad enough that your carrying on has already woken your father--"

Brian held up a hand, the other wrapped around his hot mug. "Hold on. You've each attempted to drag me into this argument in ways that are of equal disrepute, and entirely inconsequential." He looked at Lindsay. "For the record, it was your voice that woke me, not his." He turned to Gus, seated on his other side, "And Justin hasn't shut up about this horrific dessert hut of your nightmares, so as far as my role is concerned, I'm going whether I want to or not."

Gus' mouth rounded into more of a frown. "But--"

"Gus," Brian cut him off firmly. "Give your mother and I some credit. We all know this isn't about desserts. What's the real reason you don't want to go? Can we at least agree that there's a 'real' reason that isn't this nonsense?" And Jesus Christ, if this wasn't shaping up to be one of the most parental conversations Brian had ever had in his seventeen years of being a father.

Gus stared down at the table for a long time, his annoyance with the whole situation showing clearly on his face. Finally, he glanced at Brian and muttered something unintelligible.

"Could you please enunciate?" Lindsay asked, her tone loud and slow -- a clear sign of her own frustration.

"KAAAAA-SEEEY. WORRRRRKS. THERRRRRE." Gus practically yelled, glaring at his mother the whole time, before shifting his gaze to Brian and, more neutrally, adding, "and I don't fucking want to see her. Especially not with my entire family there."

Well that explained it. Brian felt a pang of sympathy for his son and wondered how much Lindsay actually knew at this point, regarding how Gus' relationship with Kasey had ended -- or more specifically, why.

Lindsay huffed, not even bothering to point out Gus' choice in language. "I don't understand why you can't act like an adult about this, Gus. You see each other practically every day at school. There's absolutely no reason why you can't attempt to be friendly toward her."

Not much, Brian realized, answering his own query as he waited to see if Gus would say anything further. He did -- but not with regard to that matter.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Not like how I feel matters to some of the people in this house," he spat, shoving back his chair and standing up, headed for the foyer.

"Just where do you think you're going, young man?" Lindsay called after him, flinching as the sound of the front door slamming served as his response.

"Linds," Brian said, his tone calm. "I think it's safe to say that he's going for a run. It's probably a good thing right now. Let him cool off."

Lindsay sighed, standing up from her chair and walking back over toward the stove. Brian picked up his mug of coffee and followed her, taking a seat at the counter while she began to pull breakfast accoutrements from the cabinets. "I just don't understand why he has to make things so difficult sometimes. It's like he's contrary just for the sake of driving me crazy."

Brian smiled ruefully. If anything, that sounded more like him than Gus, but he supposed it wasn't impossible that the apple hadn't fallen far from the tree there either. However, he knew that this time, it genuinely wasn't the case.

"Have you ever asked him what happened with Kasey?" Brian asked casually, fiddling with the handle of his mug.

Lindsay paused, the lid of the flour canister in her hand when she turned to face him again. "Of course I have. He's the one who hasn't wanted to share. I always thought Kasey was a nice girl. A little naive, perhaps, but she comes from a good family, and was always extremely polite to Mel and me."

Brian chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you catching her with her hand down our son's pants made her put extra special effort into being on her best behavior when she was around you."

"Brian!" Lindsay exclaimed, though fortunately she was laughing. "I assure you, I was far more mortified by that experience than Gus or Kasey."

Brian snorted, but figured it wise not to argue. He had bigger battles to fight for his son right now -- or at least a better opportunity to deploy some reinforcements. He took a sip of his coffee while Lindsay began measuring out pancake ingredients, and then said, "You know… Gus is a really good kid. Far better than Justin or I were at his age."

"I know he's generally good," Lindsay said, casting Brian a curious look over her shoulder as she continued her work. "Why do you believe I wouldn't think that?"

Brian gave an imperceptible sigh. There were a lot of reasons, but none of them were based in reality, and he knew Lindsay never meant any harm by them. She'd just had a much different upbringing than he'd had, and, despite difficulties with her parents as she moved into early adulthood, the remnants of Lindsay's privileged adolescence often trickled into expectations she set for their son and his behaviors or decisions. At least Brian knew it all came from a place of love, and wanting what was best for Gus.

"Listen, Linds," he said finally. "Trust him a little here. It's possible there's a good reason why he wouldn't want to have a run-in with his ex-girlfriend in front of his family."

Lindsay turned around fully now, whisk in her hand. "You could just tell me what happened, you know."

"I could," Brian agreed. "But when you wonder why Gus and I have an easier rapport most of the time, understand it's not just because I see him a couple times a year and show him a good time in New York City. Respect is a two-way street."

Lindsay sighed and shrugged. "I know you're right."

"I'm sorry, what?" Brian said, his voice a bit louder as a smile lit up his face. "Say that again?"

Lindsay let out an unexpected giggle. "I will not!"

"Yes!" Brian exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and barging over to her, wrapping his arms around her with his fingers threatening to tickle her sides. "Yes you will!"

Lindsay shrieked and tried to swat at Brian with the whisk, which was fortunately still clean as she made successful contact with his thigh.

Justin found them both laughing and attempting to torture each other when he walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.

"Hi!" Lindsay said brightly, noticing him first and pushing a rogue strand of blond hair out of her face.

"Morning, Sunshine," Brian added, having turned as well, when he saw Lindsay look up. He mercifully let her go and walked over to his husband for a kiss instead.

"You two are awfully frisky this morning," Justin commented, stealing a sip of Brian's coffee then making a face when he realized how much sugar was in it.

"Frisky is relative," Brian replied, sneaking his hand down the back of Justin's pajama pants to give his ass cheek a gentle squeeze, before claiming his mouth in a longer kiss.

Lindsay had successfully resumed pancake-making, but turned to wag her finger at them -- knowing Brian all too well -- and was completely unsurprised to find them making out. "Hey, you two! No funny business in the kitchen!"

"Sorry, Linds," Justin said, sounding genuinely apologetic as he extracted himself from Brian's side to pour a fresh cup of coffee, ignoring his husband's resulting pout.

They resumed casual conversation for the next few minutes, but Brian kept trying to sneak his hand into Justin's lap, keeping his efforts out of Lindsay's potential line of sight, though Justin kept swatting him away less discreetly.

Finally, Lindsay was ready to begin pouring batter into the skillet and turned toward the two men, a ladle now in her hand. "You have twenty minutes. Please just go finish… whatever… upstairs?"

As polite as Justin was trying to be, they didn't have to be told twice.