“What are we going to do?” Alicia asked, her voice raw from crying.

When they got home, they found out that Justin lost his case and they wanted to give Hannah to the deadbeat. They were in the gym, away from Daphne and the woman she just hired. She said she tried to call Dad, but he wasn’t picking up. Something was wrong, he never went more than a day without calling.

“I’m going to Chicago,” he told them.

“That’s stupid Gus. You don’t even know where he is,” Eric said shaking his head.

Lucas started to cry. “I want my dad and Hannah back.”

Krista who was sitting on the gym floor by her siblings pulled Lucas onto her lap, trying to calm him. It’s been total radio silence for them. Daphne gave them very little information, just that Justin lost custody and went on the run with Hannah.

“THERE YOU ARE!” a voice shouted from the outside door.

Looking up he saw Emmett, looking angry, something he never did. He didn’t know why they were in trouble; they weren’t the ones that abandoned their family like their parents. While he understood why Justin ran it still didn’t make it right. Didn’t he know when they caught him, they would throw him in jail for a long time and give Hannah to Ethan?

“You kids shouldn’t be hiding in here; you almost gave me a heart attack. There is a lot you need to know. Eric would you and Nina take everyone seven and under to Daphne in the living room and come back?”

Nina and Eric took Lucas, Logan, Leia, and Bea to Daphne and were back quickly. They all turned their eyes to Emmett, waiting for what was going on.

The tall man sat on the gym floor, he was wearing leather pants and a black sparkly shirt, it couldn’t be comfortable. He must have been planning to go out before he was called in.

“What’s going on?” Lola demanded.

That started the other kids demanding answers, it was getting out of control.

“SHUT UP!” Emmett yelled, everyone stopped talking and looked at him with surprised eyes. “Thank you. As you know, your father Justin took Hannah and ran after losing custody. While I don’t agree with his decision, that’s all I’m going to say about that. What you don’t know is what Teddy just found out. Your father Brian is sick and was going through treatment. He just finished but he’s very weak and still sick from it. Michael went to get him. When he gets back, he won’t be able to take care of anyone, not even himself. I’m going to come and help your dad with his healing.

“Now here is where I expect lots of hollering. He’ll be very sick and won’t be able to deal with noise and kids coming in and out of his room bringing germs in. Everyone under sixteen will be staying with family.”

“WHAT?” Freddie yelled.

Emmett looked at him then looked at the rest. “As I was saying, you’ll be staying with family. Leia and Bea will be staying with Justin’s sister Molly. Lucas, Logan, and Mitch will be staying with Ted and Blake. Mindy and Alicia will stay with Darren.” Gus heard the two squeal, they loved Darren and staying with him, they’ll get to play dress up the whole time. They had some store-bought princess costumes one year for Halloween. But when Darren saw, when he was done, they looked right out of a movie.

“Adam, Freddie and Sadie will be staying with Deb.” There were groans from all three. “Noreen and Natasha will be staying with Daphne. Gus, Eric, Lola, and Krista will be staying here.”

“Umm…what about me?” Nina asked looking pissed.

Emmett’s eyes got big. “Shit, I forgot all about you. I’m sorry, baby. Let me think.”

Nina stood up, glaring at Emmett. “Don’t bother, I’ll take care of myself.” She swanned out of the gym like the true diva she was.

“Why can’t she stay with us?” Krista asked.

“I guess she’ll have to but all of you are responsible to get yourselves to and from school. Keep up to date on the grocery list and I’ll get what you need but I won’t be cooking it.”

“What’s wrong with Dad?” Noreen asked.

“He’s got cancer, but we hope his treatment worked. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“What kind of cancer?” Sadie asked.

Emmett looked torn but finally relented. “I guess this will be important knowledge for Brian’s boys. Testicular cancer.”

“What’s that?” Mitch asked curiously.

“It means they have to cut his balls off,” Adam said.

“No, it doesn’t stupid,” Freddie said with a snort. “How can you breathe with an IQ in the single digits.”

Before anyone could stop him, Adam lunged at Freddie and soon they were rolling around on the floor, throwing punches that thankfully missed. He was going to let it be until they almost hit Alicia who was near them looking upset.

Gus grabbed Freddie and pulled him away just as Eric did the same to Adam.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? You two have been like this for weeks. Tell me,” he demanded of the two fourteen-year-olds.

“None of your fucking business,” Adam snarled before looking at Emmett. “And I’m not fucking staying with anyone. This is my home. If you try and make me, I’ll fucking call the police.” With that Adam ran out of the gym.

All eyes turned to Freddie who seemed to lose his fight. He just shrugged and lowered his eyes. That was very different from the happy, loud boy who loved sports. The last few weeks he hadn’t even gone riding or skateboarding.

“Well, that was something. I’m not going to fight. Adam and Freddie can stay if they want to, but the same rules apply. That means you two can stay with Debbie,” Emmett said to Alicia and Mindy.

“NO! We’re staying at Darren’s, we’ll get to help with one of his outfits,” Mindy said. Alicia crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m not staying at Debbie’s alone,” Sadie snapped.

“I’m done with this, you want to decide everything, do that. I’m out,” Emmett said, throwing his hands up and leaving angerly.

“Was it something we said?” Eric deadpanned.

They were all too pent up for too long the small joke made most of them laugh, all except Mitch and Alicia who seemed not to get the joke.

Michael was being a mother hen and Brian was going to kill him. All he wanted to do is get home and see his kids. Then he’d be able to find what the fuck Ian was up to. There was no way he should have gotten full legal and physical custody of a child that didn’t know him. He just got off the phone with the new lawyer he gotten for Justin’s case since his last one was shifty. The new lawyer said that Judge Chastain, was known to take a bribe but they could never catch him at it.

“Leave me alone,” he muttered to Michael as he kept asking if he was cold. They were in the air, and he wanted to throw his best friend out the door. It was a good thing he wasn’t strong enough to even lift a pen.

“I’m just worried for you. Why didn’t you tell us? We all thought you and Justin was having problems.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because of the baby.”

That caused Brian to freeze mid falling asleep. “What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“What baby?” His head was killing him and Michael talking in circles wasn’t helping.

“Yours and Justin’s.” Now Michael was looking unsure of himself.

“What’s wrong with Bea?” If Bea was hurt and no one told him, he was going to go off, no matter how ill he was.

Michael shifted. “No, the one Justin is pregnant with.” Michael paused and his brown eyes widened. “You did know about the baby, right?”

Not wanting to look like some fool, he nodded his head. “Yeah, just still fucking sick. You can’t expect me to remember everything.” Like his husband betraying him. There was only one reason to keep the pregnancy hidden and that was if the baby wasn’t his. Justin must have gotten pregnant not long after the termination.

After he sorted out his kids and got started keeping his lying husband out of prison, he’ll figure out what to do about staying in the marriage. Justin was the one that wanted complete monogamy, and this is what he does? He wondered which of his friends this time was the baby daddy. Ted again? Maybe someone from his previous life?

There were only so many options of places you can get that doesn’t require a license or credit card. That’s how he found himself at a scary looking motel in the middle of nowhere. The clerk had given him the creeps when he looked at his extended stomach. While tons of people outwardly called him a freak and told him he was against God, it was the quiet ones that were worse. They were the ones that waited for their moment to strike. Because of that besides locking the door he also locked the lock chain. He stripped the bed and put on the bedding he had bought at the store a few days ago. Because of the places they are staying he wouldn’t put his daughter on those sheets. No telling what communal disease she would get.

“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Hannah whined.

This was hard on her; well, it was for the both of them but more for her. She’d never known a day she wasn’t surrounded by her brothers and sisters. Then there was the hair, because they were being looked for, he had dyed both of their hair. His took a medium shade brown and he had lightened Hannah’s brunette hair to a dirty blonde. He felt bad about dying her hair when she was so young. She wasn’t liking it either, she cried for hours that it wasn’t her hair. More and more he started to feel like a monster. It was too late now though. If he went back home, he would be arrested, and Hannah would be with Ethan until she was eighteen.

“Here baby, eat this,” he handed her an orange he peeled earlier and bagged.

“I wanna go home,” she cried, throwing the orange slice across the room. She had an arm; she probably would be athletic like Nina and Freddie.

It wasn’t until after he ran, he realized how badly he fucked up. There was no way he would get custody of her now. He probably would lose all rights to all of them. George’s daughter had tried to get custody of Sadie and Mitch for years. It was all because George left them all his money and property for when they turn twenty-one, but she wanted her hands on it. Ted wouldn’t have trouble getting Lucas, and Brian would be able to snatch Bea and the new baby away from him without breaking a sweat. It didn’t make sense why Brian would promise to be there but stand him up.

“We can’t go home yet. But we’re having a great vacation, yeah? Just you and Daddy.”

“Freddie’s reading me a story.”

“I know, baby. But he’ll finish when we go home.” Probably not because she’ll be at Ethan’s. Maybe Ethan will take the others too. His life was over, there was no way he would get out of prison before his children were adults. How could he be so dumb and careless to run off? Daphne hadn’t stopped him, but she was there during the Ethan years. She knew how he was with the kids, a few times he suspected Ethan had hit Nina but couldn’t get her to tell him. Nina was so headstrong even at a young age, Hannah was just like her. There was only one hope left, that Brian would figure a way out of this. But he hadn’t reached out after a few days in Chicago. That had to mean he didn’t care anymore, and his friends knew.

“So, get this, the judge is Ethan Gold’s uncle, he’s married to Ethan’s aunt,” the lawyer said, a huge grin on his face.

“Isn’t that an ethics violation?” Eric asked.

They were all in the kitchen, even the little ones. The lawyer his dad called said he had huge news. He delivered, finding out that the whole custody hearing was a sham. It wasn’t even a real hearing; everything was fake even the custody papers. Also, they paid a huge amount to Justin’s great lawyer to do a bad job even during the fake hearing. Meaning…Justin didn’t kidnap Hannah; she was never not in his legal custody.

“It’s a motherfucker of a violation and they all are falling like dominoes and taking down everyone they can. Justin and Hannah’s case was just the tip of the iceberg. You don’t have to worry about anything. They won’t go after Justin for so much as a parking ticket now.”

“Can you at least tell us why they did all this?” Sadie asked.

The lawyer shook his head. “Ethan’s fiancé’s mother just died. She has a stipulation in her will that her son Greg would have to be married with a child before he gets the money. Nothing about being biological so they thought the easiest would-be Hannah.”

“That’s stupid,” Freddie snorted. “If they were smart it would be Krista. Two more years and she’s off to college and out of their hair. Ethan never wanted us; he would be signing himself up for all the years he ditched us for.” Eric was surprised to hear Ethan call his father Ethan, but he guessed he broke all love for him when the man did this.

“I guess I’m asking the question everyone’s thinking. How do we get dad and Hannah back?” Krista asked. “He doesn’t know any of this, he’s still running.”

His dad stood up and crossed over to Daphne. “I need you to tell me where he would go.”

“I don’t know. He’s never been west of Chicago.”

“Where would he go if he could go anywhere…in the continental US. Not somewhere he would have to get on a plane for or use his passport.”

“He’s never talked about any place special. Not even when we were kids. Soon as he had Krista, his kids were his life,” Daphne said.

“Then where does Hannah want to go?” Brian asked suddenly.

“Dinosaur World!” shouted several of Justin’s children.

“Dinosaur World?” His dad looked confused.

“It’s in Cave City, Kentucky. Dad had some pictures in a book and sketched some after we went, it was when Lucas was little. Hannah would look at the photos and tell us she wanted to go. But Dad kept putting it off, he would try to make it up to her,” Sadie told them.  

“Ok, I’m going to Kentucky,” his dad said.

“You can’t. Look at you, you’re not going anywhere but to bed,” Ted said firmly.

“The fuck I am. I’m driving down to Kentucky.”

“You can’t drive to the mailbox,” Debbie chastised.

“I’ll have Gus drive me.”

“You could barely stand the flight. Just go to bed and we’ll go get them.” Emmett gestured between him and Ted.

“No, it should be family. I’ll go get them,” Gus said.

“Me too,” Krista added.

Eric knew that it would become a whole thing after Logan opened his big mouth.

“I’ve never been to Dinosaur World,” Logan said, excitement in his eyes.

That’s how two huge vans, two SUVs and a small compact found their way down to Kentucky with his father sleeping on a makeshift bed in the back of Emmett’s SUV.

“Don’t you think we’ve gone enough?” Justin was ready to run himself into a brick wall.

Since they got to Cave City three days ago, they had gone to Dinosaur World three times. Unlike Disney World there isn’t three days’ worth of anything. There wasn’t half a day’s worth of anything. But she seemed to love it, but the Velociraptors scared her, so they gave them a big birth.

“I want to show Honey my new dress,” she said, twirling around.

Honey was the Dinosaur Keeper. That just meant a few times a day she went behind the wood fence that really wasn’t a fence and made sure no one threw garbage on them. Hannah was a big fan of hers. She wanted Honey to like her too.

“I’m sure Honey will love it. After all she’s the one that picked it from the gift shop.” Honey’s plan was for him to spend every bit of Brian’s emergency fund at the gift shop. They already had so many stuffed dinosaurs, cups, tumblers, shirts, fossils, fake teeth, jewelry, figurines and dino action figures for all the kids to have five. She had picked out a present for each of her siblings. Gus was going to be a little surprised when she gives him his brand new ruby neckless.

They stopped by a small diner for breakfast, Hannah wanted way more than she would eat. He didn’t stop her order though; he would eat what was left. The baby gave a kick, seemingly agreeing with his idea, this baby was much more active than any of the rest. They were seated in the corner, just to stay out of sight of the window. He hadn’t seen an alert or anything, but it didn’t mean there wasn’t one. Parental kidnapping is still a crime.

Looking at the menu, he didn’t pay attention to anyone coming in and out until Hannah squealed.

“DAD!”

“Shh, baby, what do you need?”

“Not you Daddy, I was talking to Dad,” she said matter-of-factly. A cold chill ran down his back. How had Ethan found them?

Turning to face the music he was surprised to see the gaggle of people coming in the small diner.

“Cheryl, get off your ass, I’m going to need help,” the waitress yelled to the back.

Instead of worrying how they found them and if they were now in trouble all he saw was how sick Brian looked. He looked like he was going to pass out any minute.

“Kentucky? Really?” Brian said before sitting and scooting in beside Hannah who giggled before she noticed her new sister.

“Leia! Move Daddy, move. I want Leia to sit by me.” She was pushing him with all her might. It went to show how weak he was, she actually moved him a bit.

“Why don’t you go sit with Leia while I talk to your dad,” Brian asked her. She wiggled down and crawled under the table before running to join Leia who was at a six top with Gus, Eric, Krista, and Nina. All five hugged her tight when she went around the table waving at her adoring fans.

“What does she think this was?” Brian asked, his voice weaker than normal but Justin could feel the steel behind it.

“A vacation just us two because she was a brave girl by going into the courthouse and speaking to the social worker.”

A shadow fell over Brian’s face. “About that.”

“What?”

“It wasn’t real. None of it. The judge had his friends do their jobs “off the record.” You never lost custody, it was all a sham from Ethan using his uncle, the judge.”

“Fuck! How could he? Why would he?”

“Money, what else.”

Justin looked at his kids, pained. “Do they know?”

“Yeah, they’ve cut all contact with him. The lawyer said Ethan will be spending time in jail for this, so will his accomplices if their judge isn’t corrupt.”

“What does all that mean?”

“You’re not going to prison; you didn’t steal her.”

It was like a weight was lifted off of him and he could finally hear the laughing from his family. His family. The loud, crazy bunch that was making the two servers look overwhelmed until Debbie patted one on the shoulder and started working.

“Why didn’t you come back? You promised.”

Brian sighed. “I found out I was sick.”

Justin dropped the spoon he was twirling in his hand. He hadn’t gotten his food yet but that was to be expected with all the new customers.

“Sick? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve gotten a clear scan; I want you to know that first. A week or so after I got there, I was having a little self-love. One of my balls didn’t feel normal. I went to the doctor and after a few tests it was confirmed to be testicular cancer. I had a ball removed and radiation. I’ll still have to get tested annually and the boys will have to keep check of themselves but I’m ok. I feel like I’ve been runover but that’s to be expected. That’s why I look like this.”

Justin grabbed his hand and kissed it. “You went through all that alone. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want to worry you, or the kids and you don’t have a poker face. Well at least I thought you didn’t. Have any news to share?” Brian’s eyes shot down to his stomach that wasn’t really hidden by the table. Thirty-five weeks was almost time.

Lowering his head, he trembled. “I couldn’t do it. All I could think of was I almost did the same to Lucas. I didn’t need the new mouth to feed. I didn’t know the name of his father. But I changed my mind in the end. I can’t imagine my life without having him. For Eric, it was the right decision, he’s so young and has a whole life in front of him. He’ll have a free life now after having the sterilization. He can actually have a college experience. But for me, I’m over thirty and married this time. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I hope you don’t end our marriage over this, but I’ll understand if you do.”

Brian huffed. “Would it have been easier? Yes. But I never tried to make the decision for you. It’s really too late now. Do you know what it is?”

“No, haven’t been to the doctor since I was seven weeks. I’ve been taking my vitamins though.”

Brian’s already pale face paled more. “We have to get you checked. Lindsay died while having Leia.”

“I have C-Sections. It’ll be alright. I’ve done this eight times before.”

“Lindsay had nine children before and it still happened,” Brian muttered.

“DINOSAUR WORLD! DINOSAUR WORLD!” the chant started from Lucas and Logan but caught on like fire.

“Dinosaur World it is,” Justin said before looking at Brian. “Are you sure you’re up for this? It’s a bit of a walk with excited children.”

“Do you have a hotel room?”

“I’ve got an idea.” Justin got up and went to the tables with all the adults, minus Debbie who was now serving plates. “Can you guys take the kids to Dinosaur World. Brian’s getting paler, I want to get him to rest in the hotel room.”

“No problem, just take care of him,” Ben said.

On the way home later that day, Justin was glad that his husband was getting better. He just got him; he didn’t want to lose him now.

The night before his appointment to get checked, he went into labor. When Brian asked him if he was sure, he stopped himself from throwing something at him.

They left the big kids in charge of the smaller ones and headed to the hospital. On the drive he called in to the hospital since he didn’t have a doctor anymore. They said their doctor on call was one of their best. They probably said that about all the doctors. It wasn’t like they would say “This is Dr. John, he’s not the best but he hasn’t killed anyone this week.”

They took Justin straight back and told them they would come get him when they got him into surgery. As the time passed, he felt Déjà vu waiting for word. This is what happened with Lindsay, they kept him in the waiting room. He watched as families entered and left to see their new members of the family. Pacing wasn’t really his thing, but he was pacing the floor. Just as he was about to go find someone, a doctor came out with a look on his face. It was a look he recognized it was the face he saw on the doctor that told him Lindsay was gone.

“No,” he denied before the doctor opened his mouth. “No.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kinney, we did everything we could, but they didn’t make it.”

Everything got really quiet in his head, but the man was still talking. There was no way this happened again. This time he lost the baby too. Why did this happen again? He had been faithful to his husband and after a few hiccups they had a real marriage. He closed his eyes and screamed.

“BRIAN!” a familiar voice called, and someone was shaking his shoulder.

He startled, sitting up with wide eyes. His eyes sought out the voice. Michael was there in his Captain Astro pajama bottoms and t-shirt.

“What’s wrong?” Michael asked.

He didn’t want to say it, it would make it real. “They didn’t make it,” he cried, tears flowing freely.

“What? I just saw Justin, he’s the one that asked me to come get you. The doctor tried to wake you up, but he couldn’t.”

His mind swirled, too many confusing things. “You saw Justin? Just now?”

“Yes. See,” Michael said, showing his wristband that allowed him inside Labor and Delivery.

“Did you see the baby? Is it alright?”

Michael smirked but nodded, not saying anything though and that was weird. “Go on, see your husband.”

After getting the wristband from the nurse’s station, he entered the secure wing. There was a nurse that looked frazzled, but she smiled once she saw a woman in a gown walking.

“I’m so glad you’re getting around better, Jessica.”

He ignored the rest of the conversation and looked for Room 324. It was down a dead-end hall, but he found it with no trouble. Inside, Justin was sleeping, his blond hair had grown back from him dying it. Justin had confessed he only used a two-week dye on his and Hannah’s hair.

There wasn’t any cot in the room so they must be feeding the baby.

“Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?” the sleepy voice asked.

“How can I not when this is the view.”

Justin snorted and gently moved to sit straighter, not wanting to bust his stitches. “I know we talked about it, but no decision was made. I wanted this to be my last pregnancy, so while they had me open, I had them do the surgery. It was riskier but it was already a huge risk. They said it was successful and I’ll be fine in a few months.”

He didn’t know what to say to Justin for having such a dangerous procedure without telling him but now it was over. If something should happen. Brian had already gotten a vasectomy, add that to his one real ball he shouldn’t have any problem. But Justin had been worried and didn’t want to go through this again. Not to mention nineteen was plenty enough.

“I didn’t want you to have to go through this alone. I’m just glad you’re ok. I had a terrible dream in the waiting room.”

“Is that why you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“I guess so. So, tell me…June or Jasper?”

“I told you we’re not using those names. Oh, Freddie called me a little while ago.”

“Are they still fighting?”

“Yep.”

Adam and Freddie had been fighting for months but no one could get it out of them why.

“They’ll get over it.”

Justin laughed. “I may have guilted him into telling me.”

“That’s something my mother would do but if it’s to our advantage I’m fine with that. So, spill.”

“It’s over a girl.”

“Fucking hell, something so mundane as a girl?”

Justin rolled his eyes. “And that’s why they didn’t want to tell us. They didn’t want their older siblings making fun of them either.”

“So, what is it about this girl that is making them sworn enemies now?”

“Her name is Olivia and she’s the prettiest girl in the whole school, according to Freddie.”

Brian shook his head. He knew shit about puppy love, but he knew hormones. “Tell him to keep it wrapped and I’ll tell Adam the same thing.”

“I was thinking that maybe you should do more things with just them. They’re at a very delicate age. When the girls were going through it, I had Daphne come talk to them. I could help with all but their bodies. Even though I could have kids didn’t mean I’m built like them. I’m just a side effect from a corrupt government.” They never really talked about it, but maybe they should. Eric was a carrier, maybe one of the other boys would be too.

“Who wants to see their daddy?” a female voice said, coming in the room. She was pushing a clear cot with a baby that was fussing in it.

“Lisa, this is Brian, the other father,” Justin introduced him.

“It’s good to meet you,” she said smiling.

“Someone doesn’t want to be left out,” a male voice said, pushing another clear cot in the room.

With his brain short circuiting it took him too long to realize there were two babies in the hospital room.

“What?”

“Yeah, seems the embryo split. Meet your identical twin sons,” Justin said with a laugh.

Brian said the only thing he could think of. “Noreen and Natasha are going to kill me. They liked the twin thing just being theirs.”

                                       Epilogue

“I swear if you leave anything in this house it’s staying!” Brian shouted up the stairs.

They had lived in this house for eleven years. It was a great place to raise twenty kids, but they needed something smaller now. Not by much because they did still have seven at home and several in college.

Gus was in his last year of med school; he was a nervous wreck most days. He lived in Baltimore going to Johns Hopkins. He was engaged and he liked her much more than the girl Gus ran around with in high school. Brian was just glad he changed his mind about the military.

Eric graduated the University of Tennessee Knoxville with an engineering degree. Now he lived on the west coast in San Francisco. He had the college life that Justin wanted for him. Now he was living the single life and loving it.

Krista got a degree in linguistics at Columbia. She now was working entrance level with the US Embassy in Paris. She had a girlfriend but didn’t think they knew about her. Nina still tattled on her big sister.

Nina decided not to go to college, she instead took a job modeling. She traveled some but didn’t like the life, so she got a job working for a man ten years older than herself. They just had their second child. Justin had to bite his lip so hard in the beginning. Robert was nice though and Brian had to point out he was twelve years older than him.

Lola and her social media personality took off and now she had a house the size of the one they were moving out of with only her living there. Her place was also the place were most of her siblings go to get away from it all for a while.

Freddie and Adam both joined the military. Freddie the Navy and Adam the Marines. Adam stepped on an abandoned landmine while on a peace mission. There were no shots fired, just very horrible luck. It was a miracle he survived. Freddie chose not to reenlist, because he wanted to be there for Adam. Now they live in Hawaii being professional beach bums. At least that’s what he calls them. They both surf in competitions all over the world and even won some. Adam was happier than he was before he joined the Marines, Adam could do whatever he wanted in his eyes. Was that unfair to the rest? Who cares. Both his boys were on his payroll. He used them for models on some of his ads. Adam’s prosthetic legs work for a lot of ads. It keeps them from having to work a nine to five job. Adam earned it.

Mindy was in Los Angeles trying to start a job in acting. She’s had some bit pieces but nothing big. She works for a law office to pay the bills. She was also seven months pregnant. Brian thought they handled the news well. She wasn’t some kid; she had her own place and a dependable job.

Sadie’s in her last year at Stanford but not her last year of school. Her dream is to be a vet and she has a lot of years of schooling ahead of her to get her dream. She took her dog with her so at least she wasn’t alone. She was the one that really didn’t care if anyone was around. It worried Justin that she would shut herself up and not get out. Bunny, her German Shepard, didn’t let her stay inside all the time.

Noreen was a junior in forensic science at the University of Florida. Surprising everyone they started doing more and more things separate and when one decided college and the other marriage, no one really blinked. Natasha married her high school boyfriend and they moved to Alaska for reasons they only knew. Alright, he knew, it was where Jameson’s family was from. She seemed happy and that was all that mattered…so Justin tells him.

Mitch and Alicia were freshman at Texas Tech, they had been trying to one up each other since they were eight. They haven’t declared a major, but he was sure when they did it would be the same. He thought the Valedictorian and Salutatorian would cause WW3.

Then there were the ones they had left in the house. Lucas lived with Ted half the time and with them the other times. He liked to get the quiet at Ted’s. He was sensitive but very happy with his life right now. He wasn’t part of any club or group. But he had Justin’s art talent, so usually he couldn’t be found without a sketch pad. Logan and he weren’t as close as they had been when they were little. They were just too different.

Logan, captain of the soccer team and way too popular to speak to his brother in public. Working a job at the local pizza place and had a on again off again girlfriend. She reminded him too much like Lindsay, so he was keeping an eye on it. Logan’s dream was to go to Northwestern and study law.

Hannah was the queen of the school and knew it. She was such a drama queen like her father. She hadn’t seen Ethan since she was three. The other kids gave him one more shot, each after they turned eighteen. He only did eighteen months in jail for what he did. The kids decided he was too toxic for the lives they wanted to live. He was sure Hannah would go through the same thing.

Leia was his most quiet kid. She was diagnosed with autism when she was four. She didn’t make friends, but Hannah did what she could to involve her. Although Hannah just didn’t want to put on makeup or talk about boys. She wanted to talk about Space, if they didn’t, they were no use to her. Brian couldn’t even count all the places they’ve taken her. Her favorite being Kennedy Space Center.

Baby Bea wasn’t so much a baby anymore. She had an accident when she was six. She was riding in a car driven by Lola, she hit some black ice and wrecked. Lola was alright with a few cracked ribs and bruises. Bea wasn’t as lucky, the car caught on fire before help got there. Lola couldn’t get her out of the back seat. Lola got second degree burns on her arms trying to get her out. Bea got third degree burns on her back. Those were the only scars she had physically still. They tried therapy of every kind, and nothing worked, she was so scared after the fire. Justin on a fluke signed her up to get a service dog for her PTSD. She bloomed after that and now plans to train them when she’s older. Their girl was happy, caring and had a few best friends who would kill a rock for her. What more could they ask for?

Then there were the brats from hell. Jake and Sebastian were now ten and would make a nun run away. Jake was the follower and Sebastian usually got him into trouble. The last stunt got them suspended from school. The principal suggested homeschooling, not for the first time. Justin keeps saying they’ll grow out of it, Justin was delusional. They had their good points; they were very caring. But they couldn’t control their naughtiness which wasn’t helped by eighteen older brothers and sisters who enable them. Like when Eric took them to get fireworks and they blew the door off the barn. He was giving it until they were twelve before he discussed boarding school with Justin. He wasn’t even sure if he was joking anymore. He was just too damn old for such small kids.

After being married five years they found out Justin was sick. Unlike Brian, slicing off a ball would not fix him. It was so bad; they were discussing hospice care. Then after the latest treatment to shrink the tumor on his brain, he went in for the scan. It had shrunk. It never did that before. They finally got the tumor small enough they could remove it. They were going off three years without a recurrence. One of the reasons they were downgrading. They just needed something smaller so if Justin falls, he could be found right away. His balance was great after the surgery, it was a miracle it didn’t mess with his art. Justin was healthy now and they just wanted to live their lives. In eight years, they won’t have any more minor children and they can run away like they planned. Alright, like he planned, Justin would never go for it.

“Why are you threatening our children?” Justin asked with a chuckle, coming up from behind him.

“They always leave things, their as messy as you.”

Wrapping his arms around his husband, Brian leaned into a hug. His nose buried in Justin’s hair. The smell of cucumbers filled his nose, he loved smelling Justin’s hair after he showered.

“No one could be as bad as me,” Justin joked, pulling away. “How do you feel about moving to LA?”

“Worried but you followed me on every idiotic idea I had. I might as well follow your dream.” Justin and Michael had made a comic book and it was a hit. A gay superhero named Rage. It was a tv show now. After a year of begging, they finally convince Justin to relocate. Michael was going to work remote because he couldn’t leave Ben, who was having more bad days than good lately. But he was on a new treatment and that seemed to be working.

“You’re going to love it. You can get a tan anytime you want and live the life of a business owner leaving the work to his grunts.” Brian decided to wait to tell him his plan to open a branch of his agency in California. Also, he knew the real reason Justin gave in, he didn’t want Mindy to be alone when she gave birth or those early years.

Brian smiled at Justin. “I do that anyway.”

“WATCH OUT!” a yell came before a huge duffle bag came flying down the stairs.

“How hard would it have been for him to bring it down?” Brian asked Justin.

“He’s seventeen, so probably a lot.”

Lucas and Logan were going to stay with Ted and Blake until they graduated. That meant, they would be down to five kids in California. They would practically be alone.

“You sure we’re making the right decision? This is the house we became a family in.”

Brian shook his head, drawing Justin close again. “And it did its purpose, we don’t need a place this big anymore. Anyway, this is about you, not them. It’s finally time to think of yourself. The girls will adjust to the move and with any hope the boys won’t burn down a forest.”

“How did I get so lucky with you?”

“I knocked you up in the backroom of Babylon while I was Batman. I can still remember that night, you were so fucking hot as the Joker. I couldn’t wait to get you on your knees.”

“EWWWWW!”

Justin jumped away from him and they turned too the interloper. Standing near them, holding a box with a disgusted look on her face was Bea.

“Bea…” Justin tried to say before she turned around.

“I didn’t know about the backroom part. Ewww.”

They laughed at her and Justice leaving the room. “Was it just me or was Justice giving us a disgusted look too?” Justin asked.

“She’s a dog, I’ve seen her eat her own vomit, she has no room to judge.”

“All our stuff is in the moving vans or the cars. Are you ready for this?” Justin asked.

“I’m ready for any new adventure with you. Besides, who am I to say no to hot bodies on the beach.”

They smiled at each other until they were interrupted yet again.

“Dads, what’s the rules on explosives in LA?” Sebastian asked, holding up a box that he had drawn a comical bomb on the front of, not disturbing at all.

“NO EXPLOSIVES!” they both shouted at the same time.

Their youngest son by two minutes walked away muttering, never a good sign.

“It means he likes science, right?” Justin said hopefully.

“It means he likes blowing shit up. We’ve got the next Unabomber there.”

“He’s too social to be the next Unabomber. Anyway, let’s get out of here before I change my mind,” Justin said, giving him that smile that had won him over so easily the night they met…at the bar not Babylon. “I love you.”

“I guess I could stand you for a couple more years,” he said before wrapping an arm around Justin as they left one life behind to start another. They couldn’t keep the smiles off their faces.

                                        The End