Chapter 34

The moment Gus opened the door and entered the house, he knew they were in trouble. He just felt a weird atmosphere all over the house and the second he stepped into the hallway and heard his Dad's voice, he knew that they had been found out.

“Gus? Luke? Come to the living-room.”

Gus threw an angry look towards his younger brother who still seemed to be hanging on to his own thoughts.

“Great,” he muttered as he got out of his jacket and watched Luke do the same. “I told you they would find out.”

“You don't know that they know,” Luke muttered as he got out of his own jacket.

“Luke! Gus! Living-room, now!” Brian repeated, his voice sounding more angry than it had seconds ago.

Gus just threw his brother a look that said 'Think again', then took a deep breath and made his way towards the living-room.

“Hey, Dad. What's up?” He tried to act as nonchalantly as he could as he entered the room and saw his fathers sitting on the sofa. He could immediately see the blank expression on his dad's face that told him he was really angry, but trying to hide it, but even more than that, his Papa's troubled expression told him that they were in deep shit.

“Cut the bullshit and sit down,” Brian said, nodding towards the other sofa. “Where were you this afternoon?”

Gus looked at Luke, urging him to tell the truth and he sighed inwardly when he heard Luke's answer to their Dad's question.

“At lunch with Jenny. We told you.”

“We know that's not true,” Justin said quietly, meeting Luke's gaze head-on. “Try again, this time with the truth.”

“It is the truth. We went to the diner and had lunch with Jenny. Ask Gus,” Luke replied once more.

“Fine, where did you go after lunch?” Brian asked once more, looking first at Gus, then at Luke.

“Dad,” Gus began, sighing deeply, “I am sorry.”

“Sorry? What for? You still haven't answered my question,” Brian said in a deathly calm voice.

“You already know, don't you?” Gus just said, meeting his father's eyes before he moved on to look at his Papa.

“Why?” Was all Justin asked, holding Gus' gaze.

“It wasn't...,” Gus started, but was interrupted by Luke who answered instead.

“Why not? They're our grandparents!”

“They?” Justin frowned, sharing a quick look with Brian who looked equally surprised by that statement.

“Your father and Dad's mom,” Luke replied rather defiantly.

“My mother?” Brian's eyes widened, clearly showing the shock on his face at that admission. It was quite obvious to both Gus and Luke that this hadn't been something their fathers had known and that their Dad was obviously not able to hide his surprise at that admission.

“Wait, you... didn't know?” Luke said slowly, his eyes widening when he realised that their parents hadn't been aware of that part of their afternoon activities.

“The truth. Now!” Brian just gritted out, looking at both his sons from steely eyes.

Justin could hear the tension in his husband's voice and immediately rested a hand on his arm to try and calm him down.

“We know you went to see my father. I guess now we also know that you went to see your Dad's mother,” Justin said quietly, his voice showing suppressed anger and most of all confusion. “Why?”

“They're our grandparents, why not?” Luke said, his voice sounding like the bratty teenager that he was.

“They're not your grandparents,” Justin said calmly, still resting his hand on Brian's arm. He could feel the tension in his husband and knew that the information about Gus and Luke also going to see his mother had changed the whole situation for him. Before Brian had been the calm one and had urged Justin to stay calm and give the boys a chance to explain why they would have gone and visited his father, but now that they knew the boys had also gone to see Joan Kinney, Justin had a feeling that Brian's earlier calm was long forgotten and had left the building minutes ago.

“Of course they are,” Luke argued. “They are your parents. That makes them our grandparents.”

“Debbie and Carl are your grandparents. Jen is your grandmother,” Brian pressed out, struggling to stay calm. “Craig Taylor and Joan Kinney are a lot of things, but they are not your grandparents.”

“Dad,” Gus said quietly, looking at his father. “Luke just wanted to meet them to see what they were like. He thought... he thought that maybe they had changed and... that maybe they deserved a second chance and... would be interested in getting to know us.”

Brian just snorted. “Yeah, as if...”

“Why not?” Luke replied angrily. “You changed, didn't you? Everyone has been telling me for weeks how much you have changed. Why couldn't they have changed as well? Do you think you're the only person on this planet to ever change?”

“Luke,” Justin said, trying to stay calm before the situation got out of hand. “That's not the same...”

“Why not? You gave Dad a second chance... Everyone gave Dad a second chance... Why wouldn't your parents have deserved the same second chance?”

“Because you need to regret your actions and you need to feel sorry for what you've done to even start to deserve forgiveness,” Justin said seriously. “And they don't.”

“How do you know that they don't? You haven't talked to them in how many years?” Luke asked.

“Well, from the sounds of it, it doesn't seem like Craig was asking for your forgiveness, was he?” Brian muttered. “We know he kicked you out and he made it very clear what he thought of you, your visit and that he never wanted to see either of you again...”

Gus frowned and dared to ask the question that really interested him. “He called you?”

Justin shook his head. “He would never call either of us. He called your Grandma Jen and tore into her...”

“Shit,” Gus muttered, running a hand over his face. He hadn't wanted to get his grandma into any trouble with her ex-husband. “We didn't mean to,” he started, but never got any further.

“So what did you mean to achieve?” Brian asked, his voice making it very clear that he was not amused and wanted answers.

When Luke stayed quiet, Gus looked angrily at his brother, then decided to answer his father's question.

“Luke wanted to meet them. Wanted to see if they were really as bad as we've been told or might have changed and might be interested in getting to know us and...,” Gus stopped then, not quite sure how to continue.

“I've heard Luke's name a lot now, but from what I hear, you went along on these little visits,” Brian pointed out.

“I just wanted to make sure he didn't get himself into trouble,” Gus defended himself weakly. “You can ask Jenny. She can tell you that I thought it was a stupid idea.”

“And yet you went along on these visits,” Justin said quietly as a statement, not a question.

“Yeah, because...,” Gus sighed, then ran a hand through his hair. “Because I had a feeling this would end badly, okay? And I didn't want Luke to be on his own when he met them. I have heard all the stories, I had no doubt that they wouldn't have changed at all, but... he got it in his head that... that they might have, just like you did,” he said as he looked right at his Dad. “And...I thought it was best if he wasn't alone when he met them.”

“It's not Gus' fault,” Luke said quietly, not looking at anyone, but at his hands. “I would have gone with or without him. He didn't want me to meet them on my own, so he came along... I didn't really give him a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice,” Brian said darkly, but stopped when Justin looked at him and shook his head slowly.

He had heard something in Luke's voice, something he had also heard in Gus' voice earlier and no matter how angry he was about these visits, what he had heard worried him. Both boys seemed rather disappointed and sad. And not because they had been found out, this was about something else.

“So, did the visits go like you had imagined them to go?” Justin asked slowly, trying to keep his voice void of anger.

Luke just shook his head, still not looking up from where his gaze was focused on his hands. “No,” he said in a voice hardly above a whisper, all his earlier defiance now gone from his voice.

“What happened?” Justin asked equally quiet, now wondering what had happened that afternoon. So far they only knew the version his father had told his mother, but Justin wasn't sure how much of that could be trusted.

“You were right, okay? Both of you were right,” Luke exclaimed, looking up at his fathers, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “They are horrible people... horrible, disgusting people.”

“Luke,” Gus said slowly, looking at his brother from concerned eyes.

“You were right. Happy? They are exactly like you told us... They haven't changed a bit. They said...horrible, disgusting things and... I am sorry I ever thought they might have deserved a second chance.”

Justin could see the tears on Luke's face and despite his anger his heart broke for his son. “What happened?” He asked gently, looking from Gus to Luke, listening as they told the story of their visits to their parents.

“Luke, this is a bad idea,” Gus said after Luke had rung the doorbell and they waited to see if Craig Taylor was home.

Before Luke could answer, the door was opened and a man in his sixties who had clearly seen better days in life opened the door. “What do you want?” He asked, not impolitely as he looked at the two boys outside his door.

“Craig Taylor?” Luke asked, though it was quite obvious that this was his father's father. There was a certain family likeness that told him as much.

The man nodded, his eyes focused on the young boy.

Both Gus and Luke saw the moment he realised who Luke was. His face immediately darkened and anger entered his voice when he spoke next.

“What do you want here? Did your disgusting father send you?”

“Now wait a minute,” Gus immediately said, not liking what this man had said about his father. He never got any further though, when Craig Taylor turned to him.

“Oh, you look just like him, don't you? Are you a fag as well?”

“There is no need for such language,” Gus said calmly, looking Craig Taylor straight in the eye.

“Oh, there is need for such language. Do you know what your father is? A disgusting pedophile that corrupts innocent young boys and pulls them into his claws. Get away from my doorstep, Kinney.”

“It's Kinney-Taylor,” Gus gave back, looking the man right in the eye. “My fathers got married.”

“Your fathers?” Craig Taylor snorted. “It is clear who your father is and I am sorry to have ever made his acquaintance. That man destroyed my family with his disgusting lifestyle. Married? Pah, as if... I know that he likes to fuck everything that moves and has two legs and a dick between them. Everyone knows what a slut he is. Has he gotten Aids yet? It's the least he deserves.”

“Excuse me?” Gus' eyebrows rose comically. “Are you for real?”

“Oh, didn't anyone ever tell you the truth about your father? Yeah, I am not surprised Justin wouldn't have told you. He has always been bewitched by Kinney and his dark ways. It's a shame he turned towards this disgusting lifestyle and chose it over his own family.”

“He didn't choose anything,” Gus gave right back. “Homosexuality is not a choice.”

“Yeah, that's what they would have told you, right? Have you ever seen the inside of a church? Ever heard the gospel? The word of God? I should have sent him away to military school and should have made him go to Dartmouth. He could have met a nice girl there, gotten married, had kids with her. Instead he chose this disgusting lifestyle, became a degenerate and an embarrassment to the Taylor name.”

“He is married. He has kids. Your son is an internationally renowned artist with a great career. If anyone is an embarrassment to the Taylor name, it would be you,” Gus shot back. “What does your church, your God say about a man that cheats on his wife? Huh? How do they think about that? You dare to sit on your high horse and condemn your own son for something he had no choice in when you made bad choice after bad choice. You say my Dad destroyed your family? From what Grandma Jen has said, you did quite a fine job of that on your own with your constant cheating.”

“How dare you?” Craig Taylor nearly yelled. “Your disgusting father destroyed my family. We were a happy family before he showed up and took Justin away and corrupted him with his gay lifestyle.”

“Yeah, not what I have heard. How about you take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself how your beloved God thinks about cheaters and people that willfully set out to injure other people,” with that last parting shot, Gus turned around to his brother who had been awfully quiet throughout the whole exchange. “I am out of here. I hope you got what you came here for. I will not listen to this homophobe talk about my parents like that.”

Luke looked from Gus, who was going back to the car to Craig Taylor who looked angrily after him. “I... I am your grandson,” he said, but stopped when Craig Taylor's angry face turned to meet his. “Justin is my father.”

“You are nothing to me. I don't have a son and I don't have a grandson. You are a disgusting spawn of a sinful lifestyle. Get out of here. If I ever see you here again, I will have you arrested for trespassing.”

Luke watched wide-eyed after Craig Taylor as he went back inside his house and slammed the door shut in his face.

Twenty minutes later they pulled up in front of Joan Kinney's house.

“I can't believe that you still want to go and meet her. Not after how that visit to Papa's Dad went,” Gus shook his head angrily.

“She might not be the same as him,” Luke said weakly.

“You didn't even defend them. You just let him say these horrible things about both Dad and Papa,” Gus accused angrily, throwing a glare at his younger brother.

“I was too shocked to say anything,” Luke tried to defend himself, but knew that Gus was right. He should have spoken up, he should have said something when Craig Taylor had said those horrible, homophobic things about his family. And he hadn't.

“Yeah, whatever,” Gus muttered anrgily, as he opened the door of the car and got out.

When Luke got out as well and headed towards the door, Gus called after him. “I don't need a repeat of what happened earlier. I'll wait here.”

“Gus?” Luke asked, looking at his brother in confusion.

“I know how this will end and I've had my share of homophobic bullshit for one day. You want to hear more shit like that? Be my guest, I'll wait here.”

Luke watched as Gus got back into the car and slammed the door shut. He nodded to himself, then headed up the few steps to the door of the house and rang the bell.

If Gus didn't want to meet his grandmother, fine by him. He wanted to. Maybe she was different than Craig Taylor.

Luke rang the bell twice more and was about to head back to the car, thinking that no one was home when the door was opened after several minutes. He saw an old woman who was clearly inebriated lean heavily against the door.

“Who are you?” she slurred in question.

“I am Luke Kinney-Taylor,” he introduced himself. “I am your grandson.”

“You are not John or Peter,” the old woman replied, clearly having trouble getting out her words. “Kinney-what?”

“Kinney-Taylor,” Luke repeated, feeling quite disgusted by the smell of alcohol that made its way over to him from the old woman. She smelled like a liquor store. Not that he had ever been in one, but he imagined that this was what they smelled like. Or shitty bars. “I am Brian's son.”

“Brian?” The woman frowned, clearly trying to process that information. Her face lit up slightly. “He found a woman after all, huh?”

“A woman?” Luke frowned.

“Who gave him a beautiful son like you,” the woman said, her words hard to understand due to how drunk she was.

“No, he carried me. He got pregnant by my father, Justin Kinney-Taylor.”

“He carried you?” She was nearly screeching now and Luke couldn't help but take a step back.

“He's got the male pregnancy gene and he carried me and my sister, Vicky,” Luke explained. “My dads got married last year.”

“Sinners!” Joan Kinney exclaimed, raising a fist to the heavens. “How dare he go against God's creation like that?”

Luke frowned, not quite sure what she meant by that. “A lot of men have the male pregnancy gene and can have children. That's not going against God's creation.”

“The bible clearly states that a family is a man and a woman who have children together when married. This is sacrilege!”

“I don't agree,” Luke said weakly, honestly quite intimidated by the drunk woman's screeching.

“One day God will come down and will punish you all for this sacrilege! You will be punished for your insolence and for disrespecting his ways. I've told Brian many times before, but has he listened to me? You'd think after God gave him cancer, he would have learned his lesson, but...”

“You think God gave my Dad cancer?” Luke's eyes widened.

“It was a warning. To make him see that he was on a path straight to hell. But would Brian ever listen? No, of course not... He always knew better than the Lord... What an insolent boy he has always been. No wonder his father had to discipline him so much as a boy,” the woman slurred, waving her index finger in his face. “He should have been stricter with him, alas.”

“You can't mean that,” Luke gasped, looking at the old woman in shock. “He broke my Dad's bones, beat him so he ended up in hospital...”

“And did it help? No! Brian's still defying the lord, isn't he? Having kids with a man... It's unnatural... it's an abomination,” she went on and on.

Luke could only shake his head in disgust as he heard her words. “You can't mean that. He's your son. You must love him.”

“Love a sinner like that? He will end up in hell, no doubt. He has thrown my love in my face every time I've tried to pray for him and tried to get him to turn away from this sinful lifestyle. Sometimes you have to realise that there is no saving others and you only have to save yourself.”

“Save yourself?” Luke's face became an angry mask. “You're an alcoholic! You're shit-faced drunk and it's not even 3pm. You left your child to be beaten by your husband while you were more concerned about presenting a good image to your friends in church. What does your God think about that? What happened to loving thy neighbour? Not doing unto others as they do unto you?”

“Do not judge me, boy! Show some respect for your elders,” Joan Kinney admonished him.

“Respect needs to be earned. You don't deserve anyone's respect. You're a disgrace to mothers everywhere,” Luke spat, before he turned around and headed towards the car where Gus was waiting.

“The only disgrace are you and your father,” Joan Kinney called after him. “You're an abomination in the face of the lord. You will pay for your insolence with an eternity in hell.”

“Great,” Luke shouted back at the drunk woman. “I wouldn't want to spend a single day in heaven with you anyway!”

He then got into the car where Gus was already waiting and looking at him. “So, did that go the way you wanted it to?”

“Shut up!” Luke just muttered angrily as he slammed the door shut.

“Luke,” Brian said once his son had ended with his sorry tale of his visits to Craig Taylor and Joan Kinney. His voice was now void of all anger and sounded concerned more than anything.

“I don't want to talk about it,” Luke muttered, before he got up. “You were right, okay? You don't need to tell me 'we told you so'. I know.” With that Luke left the room, leaving his concerned fathers and brother behind.

“I'll go check on him,” Justin announced as he got up as well.

“Leave him be for a while,” Gus said, looking at both his fathers. “I am not sure what he expected, but... it clearly wasn't this... I think he needs a bit of time to come to terms with what happened today.”

“Gus is right,” Brian said quietly, taking Justin's hand and pulling him back down. “You know he is.”

Justin looked ready to fight, but then just sank in on himself. “Why would he do this? How would he even get the idea to go out and visit them?”

“Why wouldn't he?” Brian said slowly, still holding on to Justin's hand. “He is right, Sunshine. The last few weeks everyone has told him how much I have changed. Why wouldn't he think that other people could change as well? And... look at Jenny. It all worked out for her, didn't it? She went looking for more family members that she had never met before and it all worked out for her. She found a new family that loves her. Why wouldn't he think it would be the same for him?”

“But Brian,” Justin started, looking at Brian from sad eyes. “Did you see him? How hurt he was?”

“Yeah, I did, Sunshine,” Brian said testily, then sighed. “I did, but... there is nothing we can do about it.”

“He has never been rejected before, Papa,” Gus said quietly, looking at his father from sad eyes. “I honestly don't think he expected that would even be an option and now... now he has to try and deal with it.”

“I swear to God, I will kill my father,” Justin muttered angrily, balling his hand into a fist. “How dare he talk to you both like that?”

Gus shrugged. “It's nothing he hasn't said to you or Dad before, I am sure. It all sounded pretty much like the same crap you always said he spew about you.”

Justin just sighed. “What a fucking mess...”

“Are you okay, sonny boy?” Brian asked, looking at Gus from concerned eyes.

“I am fine. Like I said, I am not really surprised by what they said or by what happened. I am not sure what Luke imagined, but... I am not surprised they didn't change. I am just... sorry that you guys ever had to listen to crap like that,” Gus replied seriously, looking at his fathers from sad eyes. “They're such fucking homophobes.”

“Gus,” Justin admonished, but there wasn't much strength behind it.

“Well, they are,” Gus said. “And I will not listen to their hypocritical bullshit when you have been better parents to us than they could ever dream of being. Hiding behind their so-called Christian values when they are cheating, drunk hypocrites and nothing more. Fuck them!”

Brian couldn't help but smirk. “You tell them, sonny boy!”

Justin had to smile as well. “I am proud of you, Gus!”

Gus then got up as well and walked over to where his fathers were sitting. He gave each of them a hug.

“I love you, guys! You are a thousand times better than they could ever dream of being.”

“Love you, too,” both his fathers replied, then watched as Gus turned around to leave the room.

“Don't be too angry with him. I am sure he didn't have any bad intentions and... the way the day went... it's already punishment enough for him,” he said, nodding towards the hallway, clearly indicating Luke's room.

Both his fathers nodded and watched after Gus as he left the room.