Dinner Sunday night

Brian, Justin and Gus enjoyed a fun filled day with baby Colin.  They fed and played with him and Gus got to spend time with each parent.  He considered Justin as much his father as he did Brian and had started to call Justin, Pop, on occasion.  Gus enjoyed painting and drawing with Justin and playing video games with Brian.  Baby Colin enjoyed being fed, sung to and practicing his new skill of rolling over. 

On Sunday, they had finished lunch and Colin had been placed in his crib to nap.  Gus took his plate to the sink to dump the crumbs and then placed it in the dishwasher.  His dads were sitting at the table eating the last of their sandwiches and discussing their commitments for the next week.  Gus frowned when he heard his dad say he would be working late most of the week to finish a campaign and Justin say he had to finish his last canvas for the upcoming show. 

Justin looked toward Gus, seeing his frown and said, "hey buddy, what's up?"

Gus' eyes watered but he was determined not to let his dad's see how disappointed he was. "Nothing."

"Bull shit!" Brian said.  "You were laughing and playing with Colin just a few minutes ago and now you're practically in tears.  Gus, we want to know what's happening." Brian scooted his chair back, held out his arms and beckoned Gus to return to the table.

"Promise you won't get mad?"  Gus asked in a small voice as he walked toward the table.  He knew his dads rarely got mad at him, but he was fearful when he told them his thoughts, they might get angry.

"Gus," Brian said as he pulled out Gus' chair. "You don't ever have to fear talking to us.  I can't promise I won't get mad at you, but that is no reason to keep your thoughts to yourself."  He patted the chair where Gus usually sat and Gus joined them at the table.

Gus ran his fingers through some crumbs on the table, eyes, down, avoiding looking at his Dad and Pop. "Remember yesterday Dad?  When you asked if I'd want to live here with you and Justin?"

"Of course.  I may be getting older," he said as he looked at Justin with a fierce gaze that brooked no comment. "But I'm not that forgetful.  I told you we would talk to your moms about living here with us."

Gus wiped the water from his eyes, trying to keep from crying. "I want to live here with you and Justin.  But....   You just told Justin you won't be home a lot next week cuz you have to work and Justin said the same thing."    Gus hesitated, afraid he would anger his Dad.  He looked at the men and said, "Mom was right, you don't have time for me."  Gus couldn't hold back his tears and let them flow freely.

Brian and Justin looked at each other and at their crying child.  Both stood and walked over to him and engulfed him in their arms.

"Gus, we are not too busy for you," Brian said as he kissed the top of the little boy's head. "Sometimes our work keeps us busy at night, but we always find time to spend with Colin and we would do the same for you. You're our son," Brian wished there were more than words that he could offer at this point in time.  He hugged him tightly and kissed the top of his head. 

"Buddy, you know that we always answer your phone calls and we try to go to every soccer game and school event that you have.  Sometimes, we can't both be there, but one of us always tries to come," Justin said as he gave Gus a hug and ruffled his hair.

"But Momma and Mom said you're always working and you won't have time for me and Colin.  This morning, Dad slept while Justin watched Colin.  Who would be with me?  Colin's so little and can't take care of himself."

"Didn't Justin draw with you this morning?" Brian said as he tried to remind the little boy of the day's activities.

"Yes."

"And I watched Colin and then did some work while he slept.  Later you and I played some video games."

Gus nodded his head as he remembered the fun activities. "But it's the weekend.  Momma said..."

Brian was getting tired of listening to what Lindsay and Melanie said.  He'd was so tired of Mel and Lind's constant berating and belittling his and Justin lives. He's always thought there was some jealousy on their part and realized that the munchers were just not good at balancing their personal and professional lives. It seemed to him that they criticized his life in order to make their life seem better.   They seemed to have a reactive life rather than a proactive life, going from one crisis to another.  It was no wonder that they had little time for Gus.  Still, he didn't like to bad mouth them since they were Gus' mothers.  However, he was not going to allow them to poison his own son's view of him and Justin.

"Gus, your Mom's not here when you're here with me and Justin.  Right?"

"No."  Gus thought his dad asked weird questions.  He knew his mom wasn't there when he visited, that was one of the great things about being with Dad and Justin.

"So she is just telling you what she thinks happens."  He knew that reasoning with a ten year old had its drawbacks but Gus was smart and he was all ears, paying attention to the conversation and hoping he would be reassured that his mothers were wrong.

"I guess."

"Do you think if she saw you here, she would feel the same?"

Gus shrugged. 

"We want you here.  Maybe we need to show your moms what it's like for you here.  Show them that you are included in the activities and not left to care for Colin at every free moment." Brian handed Gus a Kleenex and Gus blew his nose and wiped his eyes.

"We wanted Colin and we find time to be with him.  Trust me, Colin takes a whole lot more work than you, Gus.  He can't do anything for himself.  You can do lots of things for yourself.  But each of you is special."

Gus threw away the Kleenex and pulled another out of the box to wipe his face again.  "Do you really think Momma and Mom would let me stay?"

"Let's ask.  You might be surprised."

Gus smiled at his father and Justin.   "When can we ask them?  Can it be today?"

Brian and Justin sat down at the table, their eyes speaking louder than any words could communicate.  Justin let Brian take the lead on this conversation since he knew that Lindsay was more likely to listen to Brian than him.  He realized she still thought he was giving up his career to have Colin and asking to have Gus full time would just add to her unhappiness.

"Gus, I'd love to tell you yes, but we need to make sure your moms are free to talk about this.  They are always so rushed when we bring you back home and springing this idea on them would not be fair.   Let's plan on talking to them next week. I'll invite them to lunch next Sunday and we will have lots of time afterward to talk."

"Can't we do it today?   It's just after lunch.  Please."  The little boy looked expectantly at his fathers, willing them to say yes. He was practically bouncing in his seat with the excitement of possibly living with Pop and Dad.

"No.  Gus.  I think we need to wait.  They are probably busy right now and it will be better if they have set aside time to spend here before we talk to them."  Brian's heart ached when he saw the crestfallen look on his son's face.  "I'll tell you what we can do.   What if we picked you up every day after school this week and you can spend a few hours here playing with Colin and hanging out with us.   As we said, we are both really busy this week, so you will most likely only get to spend time with one of us each day."

Gus clapped his hands and held out his hand for a high five from his Dad and Justin.  "Awesome."

Justin gave Brian a deer in the headlights look.   He knew his husband wanted to make his son happy but he wasn't sure how they were going to pull this off since both of them were really busy.  He started to say something in protest and realized that if they got their wish, these kinds of logistics would occur on a regular basis and they would have to figure things out.  He was sure his mom could be convinced to pick Gus up at least one day.  He loved hanging out with Grandma Jenn and this would be a possible solution.

"Gus.  It won't be like weekends when your Dad and I don't work, but it would be a good trial.  You could test out if you want to live here all the time," Justin said.  He looked at Gus' face and realized how his words must sound to the young boy.  "This isn't like a test at school to see if we want you here.  We want you here and we're not going to change our mind.  Don't worry about us not wanting you here.  I just wanted you to understand it won't be like it is on weekends."

"Ok," Gus said.  He was smiling at the new plan and was excited that he would get to see his Dad and Pop every day next week.  "Do you think Mom and Momma would let me spend the night one night?" Gus was already plotting the fun things he would do during the week if he was at his Dad's house.  These plans were exploding in his head and he readily went to the idea of spending the night one evening.

Justin thought about Gus' suggestion and said, "You know Brian, Gus may have a great idea.  This week could be a great way to convince the girls that we can and want Gus in our lives.  It would give them the freedom to have only one child to parent and they might decide they really like having Gus with us.  You might have hit on an even better way to convince them then talking."

"I am always brilliant.  It's a different type of campaign, but it's still advertising."  Brian blew on his finger tips and rubbed them on his shirt. 

"You're incorrigible.  But I love you," Justin said.

"What's incur..."  Gus asked.

"Incorrigible means not able to be corrupted.  This means your dad cannot be bribed to get him to do something."

"Oh."  Gus nodded his head but he was still not clear about the meaning of the word.  He saw his Dad smile at Justin and knew it must be a joke between the two of them.  He loved the way they always teased and joked with each other.  It was just another reason why he wanted to live with them.  Things were always light and fun when he was here, none of the arguing and fighting that he had at home.

Colin took that moment to cry.  Brian picked up the baby monitor to verify that he was awake and not just making noises. "I think it's your turn to feed the baby, Justin.  I swear he must be your child.  He eats every few hours."

"All babies eat every few hours. They don't have big stomachs."

"You have a full grown stomach, so what is your excuse," Brian said as he patted Justin on the behind as he got up to get the baby.

"I have a high metabolism and I burn off a lot of calories, thanks to you."  Justin smirked as he swayed his hips slightly as he walked away.

"Dad, what does Justin mean?"  Gus asked, trying to understand the conversation.   He went to the cabinet to gather the supplies to make Colin's bottle.  Brian had shown him how to fix the formula and he'd been helping all weekend.   He got a fresh bottle and filled it with tap water to the line where his father had indicated.

Brian thought quickly about how to answer Gus' question.  He realized that Justin and he would have to curtail their adult conversation out of ear shot of Gus.   It was a simple change and he was willing to do it for his son.  "We burn a lot of calories running around the house.  Britin is really big."

Gus nodded.  "Yeah it is.  I love to play hide and seek here since there are so many places to hide.  I guess he would need a lot of food to walk around the big house."  Gus thought for a moment and asked, "But why don't you need a lot of calories too, Dad?"

"Justin paints here and is here a lot more than I am.  Kinnetik isn't as big as the house so I don't need as many calories."

Gus nodded his head, accepting Brian's explanation.   He finished pouring the formula into the bottle and put the top on it before shaking it vigorously.   He put his hand out for his father to inspect the bottle and when Brian nodded he placed the bottle on the counter.

"Can I feed Colin?"

"Sure.  Why don't you go sit in the rocker in the media room and I'll let Justin know to bring him in there."

Gus took the bottle with him and grabbed one of the burping towels and waited in the chair for Justin to bring the baby to him.  He loved his little brother and felt like such a big brother when he helped take care of him.  He wasn't that fond of changing his diapers, especially when he had a dirty one, but Justin and Brian had explained that this was part of being a big brother.  There were going to be parts he didn't like but he still had to do them.

Justin brought Colin a few moments later.  "Here you are, Gus.  I changed him while he was upstairs so he's ready to eat.  I'm going to talk to Brian for a few minutes and we'll join you.

"Okay."  Gus placed the bottle in Colin's mouth and he started sucking immediately.

Justin walked into the kitchen where Brian was wiping down the table.  "You are a great dad and I think having Gus here in the afternoons is really a good idea.  It will help the girls realize we are serious and this isn't some fly by night conversation."  Justin stood on his tip toes and kissed Brian.

"Of course.  As I said before, I'm brilliant. Gus asked me why you burn so many calories.  I guess we'll have to watch what we say a little sooner than we thought."

Justin laughed.  "I guess we will also have to limit our sexcapades to the bedroom too. But it will be worth it, if Gus is here."

Brian laughed at Justin.  "Sexcapades.  You make it sound like a circus side show," he said in a whisper.

"Well, sometimes I wonder if we were circus performers in a previous life."  Justin grinned as he thought back to their antics last night.  "Anyway, we better go to the media room. Colin is probably almost finished eating and we only have a few more hours with Gus.  Maybe the three of us could play a game while Colin explores the world of black and white swirls."

"Sounds like a plan."  Brian leaned down and gave Justin a kiss and they walked into the media room to join their sons.

TBC