6.
“Sorry to interrupt you, but I felt you needed to hear this. Up until this past weekend, I thought Lindsey was going to be with me. Mel, she told me that you two had broken up. There’s a coffee house in New York that a lot of artists go to. When I got inside, I sat at a table in the back corner. There are two tables back there, but they are secluded from each other. I heard a couple sit down at the other table. A woman started to speak, and I realized it was Lindsey; she was talking to some man. I’m not sure who it was. She started talking of how she was going back to Pittsburgh to get her son, Gus, and then she was coming back to New York with him.”
“What!! She hasn’t said one word about this!” Mel exclaimed.
“The man told her that he would buy all new clothes for Gus. He said it would be wonderful to finally have a child. He went on to say that they would leave the day after she came back and go to Paris to live.
“Mr. Kinney, I assume you and this young man live here? It would be better if you keep Gus here. I wouldn’t even send him to school.”
“Melanie, what the hell has gotten into her? Lindsey is not taking our son away. We have to do something!”
Justin placed his hand on Brian’s arm to soothe him. “Brian, wait, just a minute. Sam, thank you for coming here and telling us about this, but the three of us need to talk this over in private.”
“Certainly, I’m sure that she is going with this man for his money. I couldn’t let her take Gus away. Have a good night.”
After Justin saw Sam out, he got some wine for Melanie and some Beam for him and Brian. He saw that Mel had stepped outside while talking on her phone.
She came in and sat down; picking up her glass, she drank half of it down.
“Okay, Charles is calling Judge Lindon; we're hoping he will see us earlier than planned. He’ll call right back. Charles isn’t surprised about this at all. He knows Lindsey quite well.”
____________________
Fifteen minutes later the phone rings and Mel answers it.
“Yes, Charles? Oh, thank God! Yes, we will be there, and thanks again.
“Okay, we are to be at court at 8 a.m. He’s going to sign the guardianship papers as well. Since Lindsey has yet to talk to any of us about her plans for Gus, he will give us a restraining order for her. She won’t be able to come within one-hundred feet of Gus. We’d better get some sleep. After the papers are signed in the morning, I’ll call Lindsey and have her meet me at the diner. That will give them a chance to serve her the order. Oh, while I’m thinking about it, when I talked to Sydney, he gave me a print out of the last four months of what Lindsey did at work. Truthfully, he has fired her for not being at work enough.”
Brian gave Emmett a call and got him to come over that night. He was glad to help by watching Gus the next day. They talked to Gus and Chanda about Lindsey, telling them that Lindsey was not allowed near Gus and he should not go with her.
____________________
When they got to the courthouse, it only took mere minutes to accomplish what they wanted to. Sam actually showed up, adding the info he had overheard.
They walked out with Brian’s rights back, with Justin added as the second guardian of Gus. The restraining order was also ready. Charles surprised Brian telling him that he wanted him to file for full custody of Gus with the assurance that Melanie would always be his mama. Melanie filed to have Lindsey lose custody of Gus.
All hell broke loose when Lindsey was served. She demanded that everything better be dropped and insisted that nobody would keep Gus from her.
Emmett had actually taken Gus and Chanda into school late, but returned early that afternoon, dressed in regular jeans and a blue tee; he wanted to see if Lindsey would show up. Sure enough, she arrived before school let out. On seeing Gus, she approached him and talked calmly with him. But when he refused to go with her, she grabbed his arm and began pulling him to her car, even as Gus cried and tried pulling away.
Chanda called her papa, sobbing into the phone to get to the school right away.
Emmett dialed 9-1-1 as he hurried from his car; he got to Lindsey and got Gus away from her.
“Gus, you and Chanda run and get in my car and lock the doors. Lindsey, you aren’t allowed near Gus. You have to leave.”
She pulls back to slap him, but he stops her by grabbing her hand. She struggles, but it’s no use.
“Honey, I’ve never hit a lady - even though I wouldn’t classify you as a lady - and there’s always the first time. Now you straighten your skanky ass up.”
____________________
Meanwhile at Kinnetik...
“Cynthia! Tell Brian to get to the school! I’m headed there now.”
Brian, hearing the commotion, runs out of his office. “Call Mel, Cyn.”
Seeing Justin already in his car, waiting to pull out, he sprints for the car and gets in.
Arriving at the school, at the same time as the police, they see Emmett holding onto Lindsey and Carl heading her way. Mel gets there and runs to Lindsey.
“You bitch! I told you today that Brian has his rights back and told you there was a restraining order against you! How dare you try to take Gus!”
“He’s my son! I can do what I want! Brian has no rights!”
“Selective hearing much? Brian! Has! His! Rights! Back! I told you that he has to give his okay for you to travel with Gus. No matter what, this will help you lose all rights to Gus.”
When Carl tries to cuff Lindsey, she pulls away. But before she has a chance to run, Mel hauls off and slugs her, knocking her down.
“Resisting arrest, Lindsey? Tsk tsk. It just gets better and better. Sam called me and said he had taken care of your future bank account, Lindsey. You messed with the wrong man.”
Mel looked over and saw Gus standing beside Emmett's car. Chanda had her arms wrapped tightly around him, and was shaking her head no to Brian, Justin, and Emmett. Walking over, she rubs Brian on the back.
“Give her a moment with him, guys,” Mel told them.
Emmett holds his arms out and Mel goes into them. Brian steps into Justin’s arms. After a few more moments, Gus pulls away from Chanda.
“Mama? Dads? I don’t want anything to do with her. She was cussing me out and said that if I didn’t do as she said, that someone named Andre would beat my ass. I didn’t do anything wrong! Why’d she say that and WHO THE HELL IS ANDRE?”
Gus’ words chilled Brian. Memories of his childhood flooding his mind. Brian picks Gus up and hugs him. “Don’t worry, Sonny Boy. We’ll keep her away from you.”
Carl had walked over and heard Gus’ outburst. “If you would, we need to get what Lindsey said to Gus on record. Let’s go down to the station.”
____________________
After their statements were given, and everyone came out of the arresting officer’s office, several of the parents, plus two teachers, were standing around.
“Detective Horvath? We all heard what Lindsey Peterson said to Gus. We want to give our statements as well. It’s shameful what she said.”
“All right, folks. Let’s get your names, please. Sergeant Miles will take care of you.”
Carl walks over to Brian, Justin, and Mel. He notices Brian appears very shook up.
“Brian, do you need to see a doctor? He could give you something to help you calm down.”
“What I need is for Mel, Justin, and I to get the kids and go home. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get drunk. But I need to leave here before I see that bitch. I dare her parents to try and interfere with this.”
“Brian, I’m going to go tell them what’s happening. They’ve never acknowledged Gus, but they may try to bail Lindsey out,” Mel told him.
“Mel, I’ll go with you. I grabbed a taxi to get here. I thought you might need some more support.” Ted gathered Melanie in his arms.
“Brian? Blake said he would be happy to talk to any of you that may need it. Just call him. Here’s his card.”
Brian merely nodded his head and gave Ted’s arm a squeeze. Justin thanked Ted and Em and told Mel to come and stay with them again tonight.
Gus spoke up. “Uncle Ted? Tell Uncle Blake I’d like to talk to him, but tonight I need my dads and Mama. Auntie Em? Thanks so much. You saved me. I love you.” He gives Emmett a big hug.
On arriving home, Chanda spoke up, “We’re gonna go turn a movie on in the playroom. I’ll come and get you if he needs you. Okay? I’ll take care of him.”
Justin offered Brian a drink but he refused. “I need to keep a clear head. I just n-need y-you to hold me, Jus. Oh God, I can’t believe she threatened him like that. She knows what my childhood was like. I don’t know, but Em heard her too. I need to ask him about that. I need to know how she sounded.” Grabbing his phone, he asked Em to come to the apartment.
Justin stretched one leg down the length of the couch. He placed a sock-covered foot up on the cushion. Beckoning with his arms, Brian sat back against Justin, his long legs stretched out beside Justin’s. He relaxed against Justin’s shoulder and dozed off. Justin heard the sound of crying from the playroom. Then the ping of his phone had Chanda telling him, ‘I’m handling it. He needs to cry.’ When did his daughter get so smart? Justin leaned his head against Brian and fell asleep.
____________________
That night Melanie had to deal with Gus waking up all night long, but at least he let Chanda sleep. Justin also had Brian jerking awake off and on, but he refused to let him go to another room.
Carl pinged through a text. Do you need Deb? She’s pacing the floor. Showing Brian the text, he answered back...
Later, Mel shook Justin to wake him up. “I called Cynthia, she said Frank has orders to keep you and Brian out. She and Ted will handle things. My secretary has rearranged my schedule. Blake will be here at eleven. The school has excused Gus and Chanda. Their homework will be available online.”
Going back to sleep, they didn’t wake up until ten.
Brian listened to his messages. All ten were from Michael, and varied with him berating him. ‘Lindsey is Gus’ mother.’ ‘You’re being unfair.’ ‘ You’re a real asshole for doing this to Lindsey.’ ‘How could you do that to Lindsey? We’re your best friends.’ Finally, the last one, they heard a loud whop, and Debbie said, “Ignore the idiot, I’m taking away his phone. If you need me, Brian, I’m here for you.”
Everyone laughed, including Gus and Chanda.
Brian dialed his phone. “Ma? Thanks for containing Mikey. We slept like shit. But Justin is helping me a lot, he just held me all night. Who’d a thunk? Me wanting to cuddle. But Justin is nice to cuddle with. Mel and Chanda are helping Gus. If Gus needs me or Justin, he knows we’re here. Blake is coming soon. Ziti? With garlic bread? I think we have salad stuff. Thanks, Ma. Love you, too.”
When Blake arrived, Carl was with him.
“I thought you’d like to know that we got a call from the NYPD. Sam Auerbach beat the crap out of that Andre guy. Seems he was spouting off how he was gonna beat the spoiled brat until he behaved and Sam heard him. Sam told the police he didn’t want kids, but he didn’t want to think of one being mistreated. He told Andre to get his ass back to Paris and stay there, and that if he wanted Lindsey so badly, he’d send her to him. He also said we should check Lindsey for drugs, but the test came up negative. If only we’d thought of it sooner, but too much time had passed. Nancy came into the station, but Ron came in right behind her and dragged her out. He told me not to worry about it, as he’d cut off the money, so she couldn’t help Lindsey. Lynette was with him, and she said to let Lindsey rot in jail. Don’t worry. She was already in court this morning, and the judge denied bail. Did Deb tell you she’s sending ziti over? Okay, I’ll see you later. Can’t promise she won’t come along. Take care.”
Blake came at eleven. He talked to everyone individually. He said Gus was doing a lot better than he expected. He credited Chanda with helping Gus a lot. He got Brian to promise to contact him or Alex Wilder if he continued to have nightmares.
An apartment opened up on the floor below theirs, so Mel decided to sell her house and take it. She thought that she and Gus would feel safer there.
Debbie showed up with her ziti but only stayed long enough to eat with them and hold Brian for a few minutes.
“You’re the son of my heart, Brian. You know I love you. Call if you need me. I think Carl got through to Michael as he told him what Sam did and why. Take care kiddo.” After a big lipstick kiss for everyone, she was gone.
The last visitor was Jennifer. “Brian, let me see your eyes. Son, she’s got a restraining order now that lasts for ten years and she has to stay one-thousand feet away from him. Judge Lindon is keeping her away from your sonny boy.
“Mel, would you like to bring Chanda and Gus to my place and spend a couple of nights? Gus? Do you want to stay with Nana Jenn? That sounds good.”
After everyone left, Justin asked if Brian would like to take a swim.
“Skinny-dipping?” Brian looked up to see Justin standing naked, and some light came back into his eyes.
“What do you think?” Justin gave him a sunshine smile, his eyes twinkling.
Turning and sashaying to the patio doors, he looks over his shoulder to see a very naked and aroused Brian heading toward him.
Perfect, he thought. Just what Brian needs in order to relax.
Chapter End Notes:
It takes a couple of months for everybody to calm down. Sam worked with Lindsey’s lawyer to get a plea bargain. She got a year and was paroled in six months with the stipulation she leave Pittsburgh. After she got out, Sam got the court to okay his taking her overseas. She’s happily ensconced in his home in Rome.
The End.
Frosty70 is the author of 13 other stories.
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This story is a favorite of 5 members. Members who liked The Stud Finds His Match also liked 450 other stories.