Lindsay sat at the kitchen table, stunned by her conversation with Brian.  He was really going to fight for custody of Gus.  She would never have believed that her machinations to tie Brian to her version of the nuclear family with mother/father/ and child would ever blow up in her face.  She didn't like to admit that she loved her career and had really enjoyed pursuing her professional life without the demands of her son. Mel was due home in an hour but she could not muster enough energy to start dinner.

Mel came home, her briefcase filled with work.  J.R. walked in and went to the cookie jar to help herself to a snack. J.R. sat at the kitchen table as she eyed the empty stove top and dirty breakfast dishes stacked by the sink.

"What's for dinner?  I have a ton of work to do on the Flyer case and I need to get started as soon as possible.  I'll probably be up late," Mel said as she placed her briefcase on an empty kitchen chair and looked toward the stove to discern what Lindsay was making for dinner.

"I haven't started dinner yet.  I was thinking we could go out since it's been a rough few days," Lindsay said in way of explanation to the lack of dinner preparations.  

"You haven't started dinner.  I've been working my ass off and all I ask is that you have a little food ready when I come home.  What the hell have you been doing all day?"  Mel yelled, oblivious to J.R. sitting at the table helping herself to a snack she had found on her own.

"I've been talking to Brian...if you must know.  I was discussing Gus." Lindsay stood up, staring at Mel.  She needed Mel and had hoped they could discuss Brian's conversation. She was not happy that Mel was concerned with work and not the loss of their child.

"Lindsay, I told you that Brian's papers are iron clad.  Unless Gus wants to live here, Brian and Justin have custody of him."

"But we should share custody.  He can't keep Gus away from us.  I'm his mother."

"He will do whatever Gus wants.  If Gus wants to see us, then I'm sure Brian will make that happen.  But you do realize that since Gus isn't living here, Brian has stopped sending the money he was giving us for Gus' expenses."  Melanie pointed out to Lindsay, a fact that she was fairly certain Lindsay had not thought about.

"He stopped sending the money."

"Yes.  And that is why I've been putting in extra hours - billable hours.  Without Gus here, he will most likely stop sending us money."

"But we need that money.  How are we going to pay our bills?  I'll call him right now and..."

"Lindsay.  He won't give us anything since he has Gus. We will just have to tighten our belts."

"But that's not fair.  I'll talk to Gus and convince him to come back here."  Lindsay said, appalled at the realization that she would have less income now that Gus was living with Brian.  Life was so difficult and now Brian was making it even harder by insisting he wanted Gus to live with him.  She was sure that he would tire of being a full time parent and it would be very soon that he would be calling her to make arrangements for Gus to move back in with them.  She smiled at the thought of their reunion.

"Lindsay.  For now, we should just leave it alone.  Tempers and feelings are raw.  If we push it, we will lose.  I'm sure that Brian and Justin will quickly tire of being full time parents to two kids.  I know their sex life has already got to be curtailed.  And since Brian has always been about the bedroom ... I'm sure Gus's living arrangements will quickly get old.  He'll be back here before we know it," Mel said, trying to convince herself that this was the best plan of action.  She doubted Gus would tire of living with Brian.  Brian gave him everything he wanted; soccer camp, fancy toys, a state of the art media room with every new video game, etc.  They really could not compete with the things he could provide and Gus would be easily swayed by all the shiny bells and whistles at his dad's house.  

"I really do have a lot to do tonight.  Why don't you just order pizza or chinese or go pick up something?  The sooner I get to work, the sooner I'll be done."  Melanie said as she grabbed her briefcase and headed for their bedroom.

"Alright, I'll go pick up something."

"Mama," J.R. said.  Can I go with you?"  J.R. asked, hoping that her mother might show some interest in her, not just Gus.  She loved her brother but it seemed that all her moms talked about lately was Gus and Uncle Brian and Uncle Justin.  Gus hadn't been at home much for the last few months and she didn't see what the big deal was, but she wished her moms paid a little more attention to her.  She knew her Dad, Michael,  wouldn't want her living with him, but maybe her Daddy Ben would be interested in her.  

"No.  It will be quicker if you stay here. Why don't you finish cleaning the kitchen and set the table?"

Linds grabbed her purse and left J.R. in the kitchen alone.  J.R. thought about the conversation her mothers just had and picked up the house phone and pushed the number 4 on it.  Her mothers had taught her to call for help in case of an emergency and she decided that while this wasn't an emergency, she was tired of being ignored.

"Hello," Ben said as he picked up the phone.  

"Hi Daddy Ben," 7 year old J.R. said.  "Can I come live with you?  Gus lives with his daddies and I want to live with you."

Ben was taken by surprise by the phone call and waited for J.R. to say something more.

"Mom and Momma are fighting about Gus and Uncle Brian and Mom told Momma that we have to tighten our belts since Gus isn't living here anymore. Uncle Brian isn't giving us any money."

"J.R.,  where did you hear this, honey?" Ben asked, concerned that the women would talk about such a subject in front of their child.

"Mom brought me home from school and I was eating my snack at the kitchen table.  I don't think they knew I was there.  Momma wanted to go out to dinner but Mom said she had to work.  Momma left me to clean up the kitchen while she went to get dinner."

Ben's heart went out to the little girl.  She might only be 7 but she was astute enough to understand that her moms were fighting and ignoring her.  

"I'll come get you and you can spend the night at our house.  Don't say anything to your moms.  I'll be there in a bit."

"Okay Daddy Ben.  Love you."

Ben put down the book he was reading in preparation for his class tomorrow and grabbed his keys and phone.  Until a year ago, he didn't even own a car, but when he and Michael had bought the house in the burbs, he found that riding his bicycle everywhere was not feasible.  He was really happy that he had a car and could get J.R.  After getting in the car, he placed the phone in the cradle on the dashboard and called Brian.

"Hello Professor.  Turnabout is fair play.  Everything okay?" Brian asked, referring to the conversation they had the day before.

"I just got off the phone with J.R.  She asked to come live with us.  I'm on my way to go get here.  Any words of wisdom?  Unlike you, I do not have any legal documents and don't share any DNA with her."

"She what?" Brian asked, unsure that he heard Ben correctly.  While Gus was 10 and could express his wants and needs pretty well, he was surprised that J.R. would do the same.  

"Evidently, she was sitting in the kitchen and Mel and Linds were discussing Gus,custody and money.  She felt invisible and was told by Linds to pick up the kitchen for dinner while Mel worked and Linds went to get food. It appears that they are now going to use J.R. to do their chores since Gus isn't here to do so."

"Those bitches.  I have a mind....  Well, I would suggest just pretending to drop by and see if they would mind letting J.R. come home with you for the night. In the meantime I will call my lawyer and see what he suggests."

"Thanks Brian," Ben said as he backed the car out of the driveway.

"What does Michael say about all this?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end.  "Um... he doesn't know.  He said he was going to Woody's for a beer and to play some pool.  I usually teach on Thursdays and he doesn't like to be at home when I'm not here."

"I see," Brian said as he thought about their earlier conversation where Ben admitted wanting to be a father over a husband.  "Do you want to bring her here?  Gus would love to see her.  It's still early and they could visit for a while before bedtime."

"That would be great.  I'm not exactly set up for a 7 year old and I need to clear out a few drawers for her and make a place for her toys if this becomes more regular."

"We'll see you in a little while.  I'll go fill Justin and Gus in.  Gus will be thrilled as he misses J.R."

"Thanks, Brian.  I'm not sure how this is all going to work, but I love that little girl and I really think I'm the only one who really does,"  Ben said as he took a deep breath and started driving toward the girl's house.  He really didn't plan on fighting for J.R. so quickly, but the fates obviously had other ideas.

Ben showed up at the house and Lindsay's car was not in the driveway.  He assumed she was not back from her food run as he knew their garage could only hold one car.  He'd thought about the impending conversation with Mel and Linds asking for J.R. to spend the night with him and hoped it would go easier than their recent conversations with Brian.  He realized that the girls most likely had no clue that he would be interested in more time with J.R., even though he had no legal connection to her, except being married to her father.  He decided that since their marriage was considered legitimate, he would be considered her father ( by way of marriage) and that might prove to be helpful in a court of law.  Regardless, he was not going to start those discussions tonight.

He rang the bell and J.R. answered the door.  

"Daddy Ben, you came," she said as she reached her hands up towards him to get a big hug.  

"Sure I did, sweetie.  Where's your momma?" Ben was surprised and disappointed to see that Mel had not appeared yet when the doorbell rang.  The lack of safety was concerning.  "Mel,"  he yelled.  "It's Ben.  Are you busy?"

A few moments later Mel came out of the study, looking a little confused.  "Ben.... Where did you come from?"

"I rang the bell and J.R. let me in."

"Oh."  Mel wasn't up to arguing or providing guidance to J.R. about the dangers of opening the door since it was Ben, but she made a mental note to discuss this again with her daughter. "Is something wrong?  Where's Michael?"  Mel's voice rose an octave as she realized that Ben's appearance was really unusual on a day when they weren't supposed to have J.R.

"Everything's fine.  Michael is visiting friends.  I was in the neighborhood running some errands and thought I'd stop by to see J.R.  I haven't had dinner yet and was wondering if I could take her for dinner and maybe have her spend the night.  We haven't had much time together since school has been crazy."

Mel looked at J.R. and saw her eager face at the mention of spending time with Ben.  She decided it would be a great help if Ben took her tonight.  She would have time to work on her cases and Lindsay would be able to just relax.  These last few days had Lindsay really on edge and if she didn't have to worry about J.R., it would be really helpful.

"Do you want to spend the night with Daddy Ben and Daddy Michael, J.R.?"

"Sure.  Can I go pack my bag?  Would you take me to school in the morning?  I have to go to school."

"Absolutely young lady.  What kind of father would I be if I didn't take my daughter to school?  You know Mel, since its Thursday, we could keep her over the weekend.  It's our weekend to have her and it would be silly to have to come get her Friday night when she could just pack some extra stuff tonight."  Ben casually suggested, hoping that Mel wouldn't really think about the offer, but just accept it as him being nice.  

Mel thought for only a few seconds before answering.  "That would be great."  Turning toward J.R., she said, " Honey, why don't I come help you. That's a lot of stuff to pack.  Ben, we'll be down in a few minutes."

Ben watched them as they walked up the stairs.  <i> That was way easier than I thought it would be.  Of course, now I have to explain to Michael why we have J.R. all weekend.  He always seems to complain when we have her for more than overnight.  It appears to cramp his freedom.  I guess this will be a good judge if he is really interested in being a father or just wants to use J.R. as a means to hang out with Brian.</i>

They came down the stairs about 10 minutes later and Mel handed Ben a nice size backpack.  "She has clothes for 3 days and an extra change in case she has a mishap.  Her favorite bear is in there and I included a few toys and books.  This is such an unexpected visit.  J.R. seems to be really excited about going.  Have fun."

Mel kissed J.R. and opened the door for the two of them.  After they left she leaned against the door and took a huge breath in.  She wondered if she could finish her work early enough that she and Lindsay could share some alone time.  If not tonight, they had all weekend, child free.  She was really looking forward to being childless.  

Just as she smiled at the thought of a childfree weekend, she heard the back door open and Lindsay call out, "Mel, I'm home." She placed the bag of fried chicken, potatoes and gravy on the table.  Her mouth watered at the enticing smell.  Looking at the uncleared table and the stack of dirty dishes on the counter, she yelled, "J.R.  J.R. come in here and finish cleaning the kitchen.  We can't eat if the table is filled with dirty dishes."

Mel walked into the kitchen and started clearing the table.  "J.R. isn't here."

"What?  Where the hell is she?  Did she go play with her little friend next door?  How dare she?  I told her to clean the kitchen.  You really need to be more strict with her rather than let her get away with not doing her chores."

"Linds," Mel said, "She's not here and she did not go over to Karen's house.  She is at Michael and Ben's tonight and for the rest of the weekend."

Lindsay opened and closed her mouth several times before speaking. "What.... How... When..."

"Ben stopped by about 20 minutes ago, must have been right after you left.  Anyway, he was in the neighborhood, running some errands.  He said he hadn't gotten to spend much time with J.R as school had been really busy and he wondered if he could take her to dinner and keep her tonight.  Since this is their weekend to keep her, he suggested she pack enough clothes for the whole time instead of coming back tomorrow night to pick her up."

"Oh.  So we have three days by ourselves?" Lindsay said as she realized that she had no responsibilities and could do as she pleased.

"Yes.  I thought I would try and get my work done tonight and we could do some child free activities.  No worries about being interrupted.  No worries about staying up late or getting up early to fix breakfast or take anyone to their sporting activities or play date.  Just us," Mel smiled as she gave Lindsay her elevator eyes look.

"I'll put the food out, if you'll clear the table.  I'll watch some tv that I saved on the Dish while you work.  Hopefully, you can finish early, but if not, we have all weekend."

Mel and Linds ate quickly and while Mel worked until almost midnight, Linds was busy planning their child free weekend.

TBC