Justin and Brian drove back to Britin with a sleeping Colin in his car seat.  Brian drove and Justin looked out the window.

"So are you going to tell me about the conversation with Lindsey?"

Brian smiled and said, "It was easy.  I told you that there is always chaos there when we return Gus."

Justin turned to look at his husband, eager to learn about his latest conquest. "Yeah.  It's always something.  Like Gus said, one time they were screaming because Mel couldn't find two matching socks.   So what was it this time, and how did that result in us getting Gus tomorrow?"

"This time Linds forgot to pay a bill and the creditor said if she paid it by tomorrow afternoon they would forgo the late fee.  Problem is Gus has some after school thing and she couldn't do both.  I offered to take Gus to his stuff so she could pay the bill.  I told her we never have a problem doing things for Gus, he's our son."

"Okay, that explains tomorrow, but what about afterwards.  You told Gus that you were going to see about him living with us.  One day is a far stretch from every day."  Justin frowned a little, thinking he didn't want to disappoint Gus.

"Patience, Padawan.  Let me explain.  After I agreed to take Gus tomorrow, Lindsay continued to look at the calendar and sigh.  I casually asked what was wrong and she lamented that life is so busy with two working parents and two children and she just doesn't know how she is going to do everything,  ad nauseum.  I volunteer again to take Gus' activities and see that he gets to them, feed him dinner and then bring him home in the evening.  Problem solved."

"Oh.  But that is a lot of hauling on our part.  Britin isn't exactly next door or a few streets over."  Justin hates being the devil's advocate and while he wants Gus with them, he doesn't want to exchange one bad situation for another bad situation - just with different adults.

"I know, but we know how to manage our time and resources.  We manage in the summers and holidays when we have him and we are both working.  We also have a lot of adults that Gus trusts to pick him up and take him to whatever after school activity he needs to attend and then we can pick him up after the activity.  That will cut into our work day a little, but as we promised Gus, one of us would always be there for him. We know that the girls can't even promise him that.  Based on what he tells us, he is often left to care for J.R. while they do something else.  We have the advantage of having Chloe to watch Colin during the day and up until 7:00 and after that time, he is our responsibility.  Gus has to be home by 8:00.  He is usually finished with his after school stuff by 5:00 or 5:30.   One of us will pick him up from the activity, spend time with him and then bring him home."

"I guess we could use the loft after his activity.  He could do his homework there and eat dinner.  It's not that far from his home," Justin said as he thought through the options.

 "See, you are already better at problem solving than the girls.  Besides, Gus doesn't have after school activities every day- just 2 or 3.  One day I could take him and one day you could. The other day we could determine."

"He's not going to like not seeing everybody.  He loves hanging out with Colin and you are his father," Justin said.  "I'm not trying to be a pain, but there are a lot of issues here."  Justin bit the bottom lower lip as he tried to think positively.  "I guess one of the days, Chloe could bring Colin to the loft or I could join you two there two or three days a week.  We could decide as the week moves forward.

"See, it just takes a little discussion to work it out.  Gus stays in town and we get him to his activity and then pick him up, help with his homework, feed him dinner and then spend time with him. At the end of the day, he goes home to sleep," Brian reiterates their plan.  "We will need to look at our calendars to see who can do what and maybe we might have to see if your mom or sister can pick him up from school to take him to his activities.  He's developed a great relationship with Molly now that she's moved back into town." Brian brings his hand up to his forehead and places his wrist on his temple.  "Help Me!  Help Me!  I'm surrounded by Taylors and I can't get away," he says with a laugh.

Justin laughs and then hits him on the shoulder in a playful manner.  "You so lovvvvvve me."

"I do and I love our family.  All of our family.  I can't believe I'm saying this but Mother Taylor and Molly are as much a part of our family as you Gus and Colin.  I've become quite fond of them."

Justin didn't respond, but just gave Brian a huge smile.  He knew when the Kinney emotions were going to go back into hiding.

"So we've got it locked down for now, but how are you going to get him to live with us all the time?  They are still his mothers."

"My evil plan to take over the world is actually simple.  My guess, and I'm sure I will be right.... Is after a few weeks to a month of this juggling, their home life will still prove to be overwhelming.  We've agreed to take him on days he has after school activities.  He only has them 2-3 days a week but I'm sure that even keeping up with that level is going to prove difficult.  They will forget something on the calendar, something last minute will come up at one of their works and he will need to be taken on a day "not designated as ours" and then finally they will find it difficult to deal with a child who will tell them how much fun he has at Daddy and Justin's."

"Won't Mel and Linds push back if they are reminded that they aren't us? I can see that back firing."

"Oh, I don't plan on having Gus hound them about how different and better it is at our house.  I just plan on him telling them he did this and he did that with Daddy and Justin.  I think the munchers will soon see a child who is acting out when he isn't given the attention he deserves. Right now he only sees us on weekends and sometimes during holidays and vacations.  He rarely sees us juggling our everyday lives.  I think when we have him more often and he sees that parents can juggle jobs and commitments and still have time for their kids, he'll be the one telling Mel and Linds how he feels. He's going to get the great experience and then share his side of the story without any prompting from us."

Justin listened and thought about all Brian had said. He thought about what he said and realized that Brian knew the girls pretty well. He was most likely dead on when he anticipated their reaction to life with Gus and the never ending commitments they needed to incorporate into their busy lives.  He wished that all parents were like him and Brian, willing to find the time to be with their kids and to make their kids a priority, but he realized he could only conquer one social problem at a time.  He chose to make Gus and Colin a priority in his life.  He would figure out how to paint around family time.  They were only young once and he wanted them to have the best fathers.

"You are a smart man.  And what is your timeline for all this to occur?  I guess I need to let Mom know of our plans for her.  I don't want to just assume that she will be available.  I bet Daphne will be willing to help out too.  There are afternoons that she doesn't have patients. She could be persuaded to pick up Gus and take him somewhere after school. I see where the phrase it takes a village to raise a child comes from."

"Public Service Announcement number 2023." Brian said tongue in cheek.  He signaled that he was exiting the highway and he felt the usual calm drift over his body. He'd heard people say that there was an energy zapper between their garage and their mud room; pulling all the energy a person had when they left work and leaving it outside the home.  He never really felt that way, it was almost the opposite.  He was going home, to Justin, to Colin and to his beautiful manor.  He'd never regretted the decision to buy the palatial home for Justin and now that they were a family, he was happy that there enough spaces in the home for family while allowing some private space for him and Justin.

"I give it two months at tops. I know Gus will easily adapt to being with us and we with him, but it may take a few "disasters" on his mothers' part before they realize and accept he should be with us."

"If he comes to live with us, will they see him on weekends?  I mean I just don't want things to be flipped.  We have him during the week and they get him on the weekends.  I still see that as problematic.  I see what their lives are like when we bring him home on Sunday nights.  I don't see that getting any better just because he isn't living there full time."  Justin looked back to watch Colin as he slept, clueless to the changes his fathers were making in all their lives. 

"I want him to have a relationship with his moms; I'm not trying to take him away from them.  But on the other hand, I'm not going to be volunteering to have him go on weekends, holidays etc.  I'm sure we can figure something out."  Brian took a deep breath, realizing that was one area that he really hadn't considered.  He wanted his son happy and to have the carefree childhood that he didn't have.  He never wanted Gus to feel that he wasn't wanted or to feel that he was just there as a built in sitter for his sister.  Maybe after a few months of living with him and Justin, he might choose to stay with his moms for a bit.  He could choose, but he felt pretty certain that after living with Justin and him for a few weeks, he would really bristle about returning to his Moms' home.

"We're home.  Why don't you feed Colin his last bottle and get him ready for bed?  We'll sing his song and then we can spend a little time figuring out the schedule for next week." Brian suggested as he turned off the car.  He leaned over and gave Justin a kiss on the cheek and then opened the door, taking the list of Gus' activities into the house.

Justin got Colin out of the car seat and brought him in the kitchen where he put him on the floor on his special play mat. After fixing his bottle and Colin drinking it in 10 minutes, he burped him and let him lay for a bit on the blanket, allowing the food to settle.  He fixed two bottles for late feedings, if needed, and put them in the fridge.  Usually Colin slept through the night but occasionally he got up and was hungry.  It was so much easier to feed him if one of them didn't have to stop and fix a bottle in the middle of the night.  He took Colin up to the nursery and spoke softly to him.

"It's time for bed, little guy.  I know you've had a big weekend with your big brother Gus and he'll see you later this week.  He's going to be spending a lot more time with us and hopefully he'll be living with us soon."  He sat in the rocking chair, looking up to see Brian standing by the door watching them.

"I love watching you with him; it makes me melt inside."  He leaned down and kissed the top of Colin's head and then sat down on the floor as Justin started rocking gently in the chair.

They both sang:

"Go to sleep, Close your eyes
Tomorrows a new day
Go to sleep Close your eyes
Tomorrow we...will... play!!"

Justin stood up and placed the baby in the crib on his back and closed the door to the nursery.

"Let's go look at the schedule.  If I have to call Mom, I want to do it earlier rather than later.  I know she'll help but I should really let her know as soon as I can."  They walked down the stairs and sat at the kitchen table.

Justin brought out his phone and so did Brian swiping until they located their calendars.  Brian brought up the paper with Gus' schedule and laid it on the table.  "Monday, I'm booked in the afternoon with a presentation but I should be free in time to pick him up from soccer practice.  Lindsay said it goes until 5:30.  Tuesday I'm free after 2:30.  I have a lunch meeting but nothing afterward." Glancing at the sheet of paper, he saw that Tuesday was blank so Gus would be going home.

"I can pick him up tomorrow and take him to soccer practice.  I've got to be in town to pick up supplies and I can go in later and then take him to practice.  I'll pick him up and take him to the loft so he can shower and eat.  You can join us to help with homework and then head home to be with Colin and I'll join you after I drop him off."

They continued planning and juggling the remainder of the week and the rest of the month.  There were just a few days where both of them were busy and couldn't rearrange their schedules.

"Ok.  I'll call Mom and see if she can help out and if she can't I'll check with Daphne and Molly.  Between four adults, I'm sure we'll work it out."  Justin had starred the commitments in his phone with blue stars when he was responsible for Gus and Brian's stars were green and had left the days and times they needed help with red stars.   He picked up the phone and called his mom.

"Hello sweetheart.  How are you?"  Jennifer answered the phone, surprised to hear from Justin at this time in the evening.  She forced herself to relax, realizing that there was no need to be alarmed as he sounded calm.  She grabbed her cup of tea from the counter and sat down in the kitchen chair.

"Great.  Colin's growing and I'm just amazed at how much he's changed, even in just a few short months." He could feel his smile on his face even as he talked about his child.

"Children do that, Justin.  I never thought you would make me a grandmother and I can't tell you how much I love spending time with him." She took a sip of her tea, letting her shoulders truly relax.  Still feeling he wanted something, she kept her voice neutral.

Justin smiled, happy that his mother accepted his marriage and his child.  "Speaking of grandchildren, Brian and I were wondering if you'd be willing to help us out."

"You know that I'm always willing to help you sweetheart. When do you want me to watch Colin?"  She felt herself smile with the knowledge that they trusted her with Colin and wanted her in his life.  Her patience and support were going to pay off.

"Well actually.  We don't need help with Colin; we need help with Gus."

"Gus?  Is something wrong with Mel and Linds?"  Her breath came quickly when she thought that something was wrong.

"No.  It's just that we're going to be spending more time with him and have volunteered to take him to his activities after school this month and then to take him home in the evening.  Brian and I have it covered except for two days.  We were wondering if you could help us out and pick him up from school and take him to his after school activity and then take him to the loft afterward.  He gets out of school at 3:00 and usually is picked up about 5:00 to 5:30.  We can meet you at the loft and then feed him dinner and get him home.  We're just not able to pick him up at school."

Relaxing again when she realized that nothing had happened to Mel and Linds, she again smiled at her good fortune.  They wanted her to build an even stronger connection to Gus.  She adored the little boy.  He was a carbon copy of his father without the closed emotions.  "Of course.  I'm always willing to help out.  Let me get my calendar and I'll mark it."

Justin explained to his mother a little more of what was happening and they wished each other a good night.   Justin hung up and looked at his calendar and the many colors on it.  There were a few blue entries and a few green entries and the orange entries were ones where they were going to meet up as a family.   It took about half an hour to figure it all out and he was pretty pleased with the plan.  He understood that it would take some adjustment but Colin took adjustment and they figured it out.  Chloe had been great for them and they thought this would work too.  He knew that if the afternoon pick up didn't work well, they could always hire someone to pick Gus up from school and take him to his activities. They would be the one to pick him up after the activity as it was more important to be with him in the evening.

He made his way up to their bedroom where Brian was laying on the bed reading a book.  Brian looked up from the book when he heard Justin open the door.

"She's more than happy to help.  Of course, she originally thought I was calling about helping with Colin but when I explained what was happening and that I needed her for Gus, she was still more than willing to help."

"Good.  Now I've had enough children time this weekend, let's have some adult activities."  Brian patted the bed, encouraging Justin to join him. 

Justin pulled his shirt out of his pants and then over his head, tossing it in the corner.  He unbuttoned his jeans and let them slide to the floor.  Crawling up the bed, he met his husband and gave him a deep kiss.  "Adult is a great idea."

TBC