Chapter 4

“I am sorry.”

Brian looked up from his desk in his home office and frowned when he saw Jenny standing in the door, hanging her head sadly.

“What for?” Brian asked, waving for the girl to come into his office and take a seat.

“It's my fault that Justin had to leave in such a hurry and … I didn't mean to cause any problems.”

Brian shrugged. “It's not really a problem and as far as I can see, you're not at fault for your mother not answering her phone or refusing to take our calls.”

Jenny sighed sadly. “She doesn't care. She never did. It's all about her cases and her career. She never cared if I was okay or needed anything...”

Brian could hear the bitterness in the girl's voice and could relate to that. He had felt the same about his own parents for the longest time and felt the pain that she was going through. “I doubt that. I am sure that deep down she loves you. She's your mother,” he said anyway, not wanting to hurt the girl anymore by saying what he really thought of her mother.

Jenny met his gaze and smiled. “I know that you don't like her. You don't have to lie for my benefit. I know that I've always been a millstone around her neck and nothing more.”

Knowing that he wasn't dealing with a young child, but a teenager that was the same age Justin had been when they had met, he nodded, carefully thinking about what he wanted to say next. “You're right. Your mother and I... we never really got along and things happened in the past that... let's just say I don't have a high opinion of her. And I know all about parents that are neglectful and don't care about their children. It sucks. I am not going to lie to you. It sucks, it hurts and even though you might not believe it: It's not your fault! It's her fault.”

“You know?” Jenny just asked with a raised eyebrow, wondering if she had understood correctly.

Brian nodded, before he took a deep breath. “My parents weren't good parents. Quite on the contrary. As far as bad parents go, they are right at the top. I had to learn the hard way how to take care of myself and how to make sure that I would still be able to achieve anything in life. So yeah, I know what you're going through and... I know it seems that way, but you're not alone. You came here and you have a whole family here that is only waiting to get to know you. And if I know them at all, I know that they will be there for you and will support you in whatever way they can. I know that Justin and I will.”

“But you're not my family,” Jenny replied sadly. “You're Gus' fathers, but you have no responsibility where I am concerned.”

“It's not about responsibility. You are our son's sister, yes, but even more than that...,” Brian stopped and eyed Jenny with a questioning gaze. “Did your mom ever tell you anything about your family? About your father?”

He knew that he had to tread carefully and he also knew that it wasn't really his place to tell Jenny about her family history, but with Debbie coming over, he knew that he needed to prepare her a bit and needed to explain some of their family's history. Whether Melanie wanted her to know the truth or not.

Jenny shook her head. “No, until I found the documents in the attic with Gus' name and your name I always thought it was just my mother and me. I figured she must have gotten pregnant from an anonymous sperm donour or something, but we never really talked about it. And then... I saw all these pictures. Family pictures, so... I think what I assumed so far could be wrong.”

Brian nodded slowly in understanding. “Actually, it is. Your mom didn't use an anonymous sperm donour. She and her partner at the time, who is in fact Gus' mother, decided to have a friend donate his sperm.”

“That would be Lindsay Peterson, right? I saw her name in some of the documents.”

Brian forced himself to take a deep breath, trying to push away the memories the mention of Linday's name brought. He nodded slowly. “Yes, Lindsay and your mother had been together for years. And at one point they wanted a child. At the time your mother couldn't have children, so Lindsay decided to carry the child. She and I had been friends since college and... she insisted on me being the father which caused a whole lot of trouble with your mom because she already hated me back then. But in the end they went ahead anyway and Lindsay had Gus. She and your mom were supposed to raise him, but... they hadn't counted on me loving my son and wanting to be a part of his life as well, so... tensions ran high...”

Jenny listened intently, quite intrigued by finally finding out more about her history.

Knowing that he had the girl's full attention, Brian went on. “After some time, Melanie had some procedure or other done, don't ask me about the details, because I don't really know and suddenly they announced that they wanted to have another child, this time with her carrying the child. They settled on Michael as the father. He was my best friend at the time.”

“Michael?”

“Michael Novotny. We were all part of the same group of friends and your mom got pregnant with you shortly after. They had you, but... things were problematic between your mom and Gus' mom and they split up, got back together... It was a mess, to be honest.”

“Is that when you took Gus away from them to live with you and Justin?” Jenny asked curiously.

“No,” Brian shook his head in reply. “Things happened, they worked it out and in the end they moved to Canada with you and Gus.” Brian took a breath, not quite sure how much he should explain to this girl that he hardly knew. “At the time Justin and I went our separate ways as well and I had no intention of being a full time father to Gus. Not at the time, but... things changed. Lindsay... she tried to kidnap our son Luke and when shit hit the fan and she got arrested, your mom stopped me from seeing Gus. She blamed me for what Lindsay had done and thought she could punish me by keeping me from seeing Gus.”

“She kidnapped Luke?” Jenny's eyes had widened to comical proportions. “That's fucked up.”

“It was,” Brian agreed, not wanting to go into further detail.

“Why did my mom think it was your fault?”

Brian shrugged. “She was always jealous of my friendship with Lindsay and I guess she had a point that Lindsay had an unhealthy obsession with me, though... I am gay, always have been, that should have given her a hint that we would never have been a happy family. Things went bad after Lindsay was sent to prison and your mom stopped me from being able to see Gus. So I got myself a lawyer and in the end I got custody of him. Your mom didn't take that too well and stopped all contact with anyone in Pittsburgh. She took you, left Toronto and we never heard from her again. Until you showed up here.” Brian met the girl's gaze and saw her take in everything he had said. He knew it was a lot to take in, but he had always believed in honesty and at 17 years old, he hoped that she was old enough to understand everything.

“What about my father? Did he try to stay in contact with me?”

Brian sighed, knowing that this question would have come up sooner or later. He knew that the answer would hurt the girl, but he hoped that she would be strong enough to make it through that.

“Jenny,” he started, leaning forward to look at the girl from warm eyes. “Your father... he was part of the ploy to kidnap Luke. He helped Lindsay and was also sentenced to prison.”

“He what?”

“I know this is hard to stomach, but I think you deserve the truth. And I need you to understand these things before you meet the rest of your family here. Michael... he helped Lindsay and he went to prison as well and after he was released... the last we heard he lived in California, but... I have to admit that I couldn't care less.”

“I...,” the girl looked utterly shocked and the colour had visibly drained from her face. “I don't know what to say... Why are you so nice to me?”

Brian frowned, not quite sure he understood. “Why not?”

“All you've told me is how my father tried to kidnap your son, my mother tried to keep you away from my brother and basically hates you and... yet here you are, being so nice to me. I mean... Justin even left to try and see my mother when really you should have kicked me out the minute I came here.”

Tears started to run down Jenny's face and Brian cursed himself for maybe having said too much.

“Jenny... you are not responsible for your parents' actions. You are your own person and you haven't done anything wrong as far as Justin and I are concerned. Quite on the contrary. Of course we would be nice to you. You are Gus' sister.”

“I should leave,” she suddenly announced as she got up from her seat and moved towards the door. “I have already caused you enough trouble.”

“Jenny, please,” Brian started, getting up as well. “Don't you want to meet your brother? The rest of your family?”

Brian watched as Jenny turned around and looked at him from sad eyes. “What family? My mother is a bad person, my father is a bad person...”

“But you're not. You seem like a great girl from all we have seen so far. You seem smart, proactive, brave. Hell, you came all the way here on your own without knowing what you'd find, just so you could see your brother. Don't you want to at least wait until he's home and you can get to meet him?”

“Does he even want to see me?” She asked, looking at Brian from sad eyes.

“I am sure he wants to. I... I can't tell you how he will react and I will be honest, Gus... he hasn't always had a good and easy time with your mother, but... I am sure he will also know that you are not your mother and not responsible for her actions and I think he would really like to meet you,” Brian said, not sure if he was right, but knowing Gus and hoping that this would be his reaction anyway.

“I still think I should leave. I should go to a motel or something until he comes back.”

“Jenny, stay, please! Justin will have my ass if he comes back and finds that you're gone because of something I said. He used to babysit you a lot when you and Gus were small and he cares about you a lot,” Brian said, knowing very well how angry his husband would be if he came back only to find that Jenny had left because of Brian's big mouth. “And I don't even want to imagine how Debbie will react.” He actually shuddered then.

“Debbie?”

Brian nodded, then looked at Jenny from sincere eyes. “I guess this is what I really wanted to tell you, but I went about it the wrong way, I think. I am not good with words which everyone who knows me can attest to and I am sorry if I said too much, but... Debbie... she's Michael's mother, your grandmother. She has always been my surrogate mom and a second mom to Justin as well and she's a grandmother to our children, just like her partner Carl is a grandfather to them. And as she's Michael's mother, she's your biological grandmother.”

“I have a grandmother?” Jenny's eyes widened at that bit of news.

“Yes and she's coming to dinner later. She's been devastated after your mom left Toronto with you and no one heard from her again. She always cared about you and worried so much about how you were doing. If I know her at all, she's probably driving Carl up the walls right now, demanding to come out here right now and not to wait until dinner.”

Jenny actually moved back to the seat she had occuppied earlier and flopped down. “Wow...”

“I know your mom never told you, but you have a family here. Your brother, your grandparents... uncles...Well, not really biological uncles, but we all kind of became our own family when our biological families abandoned us for one reason or another... They are my children's uncles and they were yours as well when you and your moms still lived here in Pittsburgh. They will be ecstatic to meet you, Jenny.”

“I don't know what to say,” Jenny muttered, hiding her face in her hands.

Brian walked around the desk and leaned against it, squeezing Jenny's shoulder. “I know it's a lot to take in and... I know it will be even more to take in once you meet them, but Justin and I thought you might like to meet your family and that you would like to get to know them as well as Gus.”

Jenny stayed silent, but nodded slowly after a while.

“I know I probably could have gone about this a different way, but... I guess I just wanted you to know the history before you meet these people. Tonight, your grandparents will join us for dinner if that's okay with you. If not, just say the word and I'll tell them to stay away.”

Brian watched the girl, wondering if maybe he had thrown too much information at her at her age. Maybe he had said too much and the wrong things. Really, this was what Justin was good at, not him, but with Justin on his way to Florida, it had been left to him to fill her in and maybe he had given her too much information in too short a time.

After the longest minutes of silence between them, Jenny looked up at Brian and met his gaze. She wiped away the tears on her face and nodded. “I would love to meet my grandparents. I never even knew I had any...”

“I know it's a lot to take in and... just to warn you, especially Debbie is a lot to take in when you first meet her, but believe me, she has the biggest heart. She will be so happy to know that you're well and here and she will spoil you ridiculously. You couldn't ask for a better grandmother. Gus, Luke and Vicky love her and I am sure you will come to love her as well once you get to know her,” Brian assured the teenage girl.

“I can't believe that you're doing all this for me...”

“You're family. It's what you do for family,” Brian said, before he squeezed her shoulder once more. “I know what it's like to feel alone and like no one loves you and cares about you and... really... Debbie was the first person to show me what it felt like to have someone care about you. It's a lot to take in, but if you want, you'll always have a family here in Pittsburgh from now on.”

“Thanks,” Jenny said, her voice sounding sincere. “I... I never had a family before and... I don't know what to say...”

Brian nodded, before he walked away from the desk and towards the door. “It's a lot to take in. Take all the time you need and... if there's something you want or don't want, let us know. Justin and I are here to help in whatever way we can.”

“Thank you,” Jenny said once again, watching as Brian opened the door.

“I should probably check on Vicky. She has been suspiciously quiet for a while now. You just take all the time you need, okay?”

Jenny nodded, then watched as her brother's father left his office and gave her some peace and quiet to come to terms with everything she had been told by him.

***

“Sunshine, did you see her?” Brian asked as he picked up the phone and saw Justin's name on the caller ID.

“No,” Justin muttered angrily. “By the time I made it to her office she was already gone and the office was closed. When I made my way to her home, she was nowhere to be found. I left more messages, but Brian, what is wrong with her? Her daughter has been missing for at least two days and she doesn't seem to care...”

“Hey, take a deep breath. I can hear how agitated you are,” Brian said as he took a deep breath himself, feeling quite angry himself.

“It just makes me so fucking angry. Jenny could be dead, lying in a ditch somewhere and... it's just so wrong. She seems like such a nice girl and to be treated like that by her own mother...”

Brian could hear how Justin was talking himself into a rage and he understood exactly how his husband was feeling. He felt the same. “She's got us now. At least she found us and made it to her family here.”

“I know, but...,” Justin sighed, then took a deep breath. “Are Debbie and Carl there already?”

“No, they should be here any minute. I am actually quite surprised that Carl was able to keep Debbie away for as long as he did,” Brian was chuckling at that point and was happy when he heard Justin's amusement as well.

“Did you prepare Jenny for meeting Debbie?” Justin asked next, his voice sounding more serious and concerned now.

“I tried, but it's Debbie,” Brian said. “How do you prepare someone for that?”

“Brian,” Justin sighed. “That's not what I meant...”

“I know... and yes, I did... I tried to explain to her about Michael and Lindsay and the family here as well as I could.”

“How did she take it?”

“As well as could be expected, I think. She seemed okay, but... it's a lot to take in. And you know me, I am not good in these situations. I think it would have been better for you to talk to her.”

Justin could hear the doubt in Brian's voice and didn't like it one bit. Brian always put himself down when in fact Justin was sure that he had done just fine with Jenny. “I am sure you did great, Brian. And... I think it was better that you told her... I mean... I wasn't even there when most of it happened and Michael and Lindsay were more your friends than mine.”

“Yeah, but you are better at dealing with these situations. She cried... she fucking cried,” Brian muttered, running a hand over his face.

“I hope you didn't react like that when she did,” Justin snorted, knowing fully well how much Brian hated to deal with emotions and even worse than dealing with his own emotions, dealing with other people's emotions.

“Come on, you know me better than that...”

“I do, which is why I have no doubt that you did just fine,” Justin said seriously.

Not wanting to dwell on his earlier conversation with Jenny any longer, Brian changed the topic. “What will you do now?”

“I'll stay here at their home for a while longer. Maybe Melanie will come home soon. If not... I guess I'll try her office again tomorrow before I fly back. Brian, what do we do if I don't get to talk to her?”

Brian sighed. “I guess we'll have no choice but to call the authorities then...”

“Yeah,” Justin sighed as well. He was about to go on when he heard the doorbell in the background. “Debbie's there?”

A second later they could hear Vicky's excited voice calling out. “Daddy, Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Carl are here.”

Brian chuckled. “Yep, I guess they are.”

“It will be fine, Brian. At least Vicky seems excited.”

“She is your daughter. She's always excited, Sunshine,” Brian snorted as he slowly made his way towards the foyer where he could hear Vicky talking excitedly to her grandparents.

“One of the many things you love about her,” Justin said wisely, knowing that it was true.

“Of course,” Brian agreed, before he arrived in the foyer. “Sunshine, I'll call you back later when they're gone, okay?”

Justin nodded, even though Brian couldn't see him. “Okay. I love you.”

“Love you, too!”

He then hung up and made his way over to welcome Debbie and Carl as well.