I 4.

Jennifer sat at the diner sipping her herbal tea. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. Tucker leaned down and kissed her, then pulled a chair out and sat with her.

“Off duty today, Tuck?” Debbie asked as she brought his coffee.

He nodded, then took Jen’s hand in his. “Jen, hon? Have you tried apologizing to Brian?” Her head jerked up and he saw the look in her eyes. “Babe, think of this. They had that bomb that went off. Brian had to be terrified he’d lost Justin. They moved too fast, but they loved each other still.”

Deb sat with them. “Jen, he proposed twice to Justin, as you know. He was willing to do everything he knew Justin wanted. The more he changed, the more he scared Justin. Justin was afraid Brian would eventually want to go back to the way things were. He didn’t mind Brian tricking, as long as he didn’t throw it in his face. My son saw to it that he did that to Justin. He knew what buttons to push. When Justin told Lindsey that he didn’t want to go to New York, she went to Brian with the book.”

“I know all that, Deb. Why are we going over this?”

“Because Lindsey used all her wasp skills to point out every fear that Brian had about Justin. She convinced him he needed to let Justin go, so he wouldn’t resent Brian for being held back.”

“Brian talked to me and told me Justin got upset just because he mentioned them cuddling. Brian Kinney wouldn’t cuddle, but he told me once when we were talking at the loft, that Justin was the only one he trusted to sleep with him. He said that Justin was like an octopus clinging to him. Jennifer, he cuddled, he just didn’t call it that. You need to stop blaming Brian because of the bashing. They were at a hotel, for God’s sake. Why did he have the bat? Daphne told me baseball was the one sport Chris didn’t play. Brian saved Justin’s life that night because if he’d only been with Daphne, it’s hard telling what would have happened. You also need to apologize to Brian for lying to him. He would have gone after Justin... Yes, Jen, he would have gone way before he did. You prevented that.”

Tucker held onto Jen’s hand and let her think about what had been said. She shot a glare at Deb’s back, but kept quiet. After a few minutes, tears began to fall, and Tucker scooted closer to her and gathered her on his lap, letting her cry on his shoulder.

“How can Brian and Justin forgive me? I separated them and I blamed Brian.”

Just then, the diner bell rang, and Brian came in to pick his order up.

Tucker spoke to Brian and asked if he’d sit for a minute, giving Jennifer her chance to apologize.

“Brian, I was so wrong to try to keep you and Justin apart. To lie to you like I did. There’s no excuse for it. All I can say is that I’m sorry, so very sorry.”

“Jen, I wish you had talked more with me about why we canceled the wedding. Lindsey knew how to push my buttons, and how to work on my insecurities. She convinced me that Justin would resent not going. Justin is perfect for me, my soulmate, my best friend. When we argue, we no longer leave, we go alone for a walk around the property. I go to my study, and Jus goes to his studio to work on some of our campaigns or just uses the special computer set up, for a while. Then when we are calmer, we talk. In a way, if I’m honest, it was my fault, but not deliberately. I had pushed him off Mount Kinney so many times, the overnight change in me scared him. He thought I’d calm down and regret everything. I don’t think, no I know, I wouldn’t have. I love him with all my heart. His sunshine smile lights up my day. I’m so blessed that he chose to love me. Thank you for the apology. That said, I better get my order and get to work. I’ll speak to Justin about our talk.” Giving Jen a quick kiss on the cheek and patting Tuck on the shoulder, he goes to pay for his order.

Deb gives him a big hug and pats his cheek.” You’re a good man. I’m proud of you. Be sure to tell Sunshine about your chat with her.”

“Thanks, Ma. I will.”

~**~**~

Brian and Justin were eating in the conference room.

“Uh, Jus? I saw your mom and Tuck this morning at the diner.” Seeing his glare, he hurried on. “She apologized to me for her part in our estrangement. I didn’t refuse to accept it, but I did speak a bit about my listening to Lindsey when she showed me the article. I told her we allow a cool off time when we disagree, so it’s not like before. Shit Jus, every reaction I used to have was based on my insecurities. Down deep, I wanted what we have now, but was afraid to embrace it. I merely thanked her for apologizing and left. It’s up to you if you want to accept it or not. It’s your call. Okay?”

“It’s about fucking time she apologized to you!” He paced the room a bit, then said, “She has to give me time. I’ll try to meet her halfway, but it can’t happen again. She has to ask, not just assume she knows best. It’s like she turned into Lindsey. Shit! I don’t know what to do. I miss my mother. I do! But not the manipulative one. What do you think about asking her for dinner this weekend?”

“We won’t have Gus this weekend. Ben, Mel, and Hunter are taking Jenny and Gus to an amusement park for the weekend. So, you want to ask Jen and Tuck for the weekend?” He pulled Justin in close for a hug.

Justin huffed, then shook his head in agreement. He grabs his phone and dials his mom’s cell. Hey, Mom, how would you and Tuck like to spend the weekend at Britin? If Molly’s in from college, bring her too. You can come out Friday night if you like. Okay, we’ll see you then. Love you too.”

~**~**~

That night Justin and Brian were catching their breath after they had made love to each other. Brian smiled at Justin, threading his right hand through his hair, and running a finger over his lips.

“You know what would be nice, Jus? A little girl, or a boy with your hair color and blue eyes.”

Justin immediately sat up and looked at Brian? “You... you want a child? From me?”

“Yes, I do. I want us to raise this one. I don’t know, maybe I could get checked and see if my swimmers still work after having cancer. We could get one person to donate eggs, and a surrogate to carry for us. It’s expensive, but if they fertilize the eggs and then implant them, we could have two. They’d grow up together, and hopefully, be close to each other. So, is it a go?”

“Yes! Let’s do it!” Justin swooped in and thoroughly kissed Brian.

~**~**~

The weekend with Jen went better than they thought. Justin would never totally trust her, but he was no longer shutting her out.

Brian made an appointment with his doctor and found his swimmers worked just fine. So after some research, they picked an egg donor and a surrogate. Four months later, the surrogate had her first ultrasound, and they had their first glimpse of the twins.

The big day came, and Brian held one hand, while Justin held the other. First to come, was Brendan Aiden, blond hair and blue eyes. Seven pounds, eight ounces, twenty inches long. Next, was Brayden Cole, with chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. Seven pounds, ten ounces, twenty-two inches long.

Jennifer sat holding Brendan with tears of joy in her eyes. “I never thought I’d have a grandchild from Justin. Now I have two, as you have both given that to me.” Allowing Justin to take Brendan and to give her Brayden, she hugged him to her. Justin mischievously placed Brendan in Tuck’s arms.

“Well, I guess you’re a grandpa now. Do you accept that place in their lives, Dad?”

Tuck laughed and ran a finger gently down the baby’s cheek. “If you’re trying to get me on my age, it’s not working. I’ll happily accept the honor, son.”

~**~**~

Over the next two years, Kinnetik grew and expanded. Brian and Justin trained people with like business mindsets to them to run agencies. They opened one in San Francisco, California: KINNETIK WEST. Another was opened in Toronto, Canada: KINNETIK CANADA.

Mel came charging through the door of Brian’s office carrying her briefcase. “You and Justin need to sign this, Brian. Are you aware that Michael is up for parole next week? We need to get restraining orders in place for Kinnetik. Because of his past crime, I see no trouble in getting that done, but the ones for you, Justin, and the kids might be harder to do. He has asked about you a lot, Brian. You know that Deb was encouraged to visit him, though his demands were turned down by her. She finally got it through his head he was going to have to go to counseling, and now supposedly, he has his head on straight. As you know, Hunter ran Red Cape Comics while he was gone, so there is quite a bit of money in the bank. We’ll see how he will react to the fact that Hunter actually sold the superhero figurines. Hunter has two more years to get a master’s in marketing. He cut back on his courses to run the store part-time. Ben had Michael’s POA, and he authorized Hunter to get paid for running the store and paying a part-time helper.

“Go ahead and get the orders, Mel. Does Michael know we had Brenden and Brayden? I was thinking maybe we could see if it triggers a bad reaction from him which might help get restraining orders keeping him away from us. Maybe someone could show him pictures.”

“I think you may be on to something, Brian.”