Chapter 22

Over the course of the next week the Kinney-Taylor family settled into a new rhythm. With both Gus and Luke gone, Vicky was now the only child in the house and while she loved having her fathers all to herself, it was also obvious how much she missed Luke and Gus, but especially Luke. Luke would usually still have been around even with Gus gone, but now with him gone as well, Vicky had a hard time adapting to the new atmosphere in the house.

As had been planned, she spent Monday after school with Luke, visiting him at Emmett's place and spending some time with her brother there. Both Brian and Justin had been glad that Luke had agreed to spending time with Vicky and that he wouldn't make her suffer any more than was necessary.

On Tuesday, Brian and Justin had taken Vicky bowling and had helped her improve her bowling skills just like they had promised her on the weekend. Afterwards, they had all called Gus and chatted to him for a while, updating him on all the new things Vicky had learned from her fathers.

Wednesday had been a quiet evening at Britin which Brian, Justin and Vicky had spent putting up some more Christmas decorations.

As they soon realised, it had been the calm before the storm, only that they couldn't have known that when they went to bed that night.

Thursday had started pretty much the same as previous days, with Brian and Justin having breakfast with Vicky and Brian then taking her to school before he headed into Pittsburgh to Kinnetik. Justin would pick up Vicky later after school and take her to Emmett's house, so she could spend some more time with Luke.

The rest of the day, Justin had planned to spend painting and with some calls. He had a call scheduled in the morning with his agent and another one later that day with a journalist for an art magazine that wanted to run a story about his upcoming show in their next issue.

Justin had just gotten off the call with his agent, when the doorbell rang. He frowned, not really expecting anyone. When he opened the door, he frowned even more. The well-dressed man standing outside his door looked unfamiliar to Justin, but he seemed to know Justin. At least he addressed him correctly.

“Mr. Taylor?” He asked Justin for confirmation.

“Kinney-Taylor,” Justin automatically corrected, still looking confused when he saw that the man was holding a manila envelope in his hands. He definitely looked too well-dressed for a courier or delivery man. “How can I help you?”

The man handed the envelope to Justin and Justin took it from him, feeling even more confused.

“You have been served,” he said, before he turned around and got back into his car. He then drove off and left Britin.

“What the fuck?” Justin just muttered as he looked at the car that was disappearing down their drive, then at the envelope in his hand.

He went back inside the house and settled at the kitchen table with the envelope. Once he opened it and started reading the papers inside, he started fuming and immediately grabbed his phone. He pressed 1 on his speed dial and waited for Brian to answer the call which he did only a couple of seconds later.

“Hey, what's going on? I thought you had a call...,” but he never got any further because Justin interrupted him right away.

“I just got served,” was all he said.

“You what?” Brian frowned, not sure he understood what Justin was talking about.

“By Melanie. She has sued us for child endangerment and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She asked for an emergency hearing and it has been granted. We need to be in court tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Brian frowned, surprised at the speed this was moving. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I learned how to read,” Justin replied testily, then took a deep breath. “Sorry, I am just... I don't know...shocked...”

“Take a deep breath,” Brian said calmly, trying to keep a grip on the situation and trying to calm Justin down. “Who has she sued exactly?”

“Both of us, but these particular papers are only in my name. I guess you'll have an unexpected visitor soon serving yours...”

“Okay... let me call Debbie and Carl and check with them if they have received anything as well. We'll then set up a meeting with the lawyer. Anything else in the papers?”

“She asked that Jenny be returned into her custody immediately as her safety is in danger while she is in our care. There are mentions of alcohol use, drug use, frequent partying and varying sex partners...”

“Does she really think this will work? She tried the same with Gus and it didn't work back then... why would it work now?” Brian muttered angrily when he heard what Justin had said. Melanie had tried to paint his character in a bad light in Gus' custody trial 15 years ago and it hadn't worked back then. Now, 15 years later their lives had changed even more and they were even less like the people they had been back in the days. “So she doesn't even seem to know that Jenny is no longer staying with us either.”

“I don't think so. It only mentions you and me,” Justin replied after checking the papers once more.

“Can you come into town, Sunshine? I think you should be here for the meeting with the lawyer,” Brian said quietly, knowing that Justin had other plans for the day.

“Yeah, I can head out right away,” Justin said. “I'll just have to reschedule that call with the journalist.”

“Okay,” Brian sighed, taking a deep breath. “Meet me at the office, okay? I'll call Debbie and check in with her, Carl and Jenny.”

“Okay,” Justin agreed, nodding even though Brian couldn't see it. “Brian... do you think things will be okay? I mean... what do we do if... what if the judge agrees with her?”

“Sunshine, he won't. She doesn't even seem to know where her daughter is living at the moment. What does that tell you about her as a mother? She hasn't even tried calling Jenny or us in 10 days. If she was so worried about Jenny's well-being, why would she have waited so long to take action? She's contradicting herself and... those claims by her... it's just the same old shit she always throws at us...It didn't work with Gus, it won't work now,” Brian replied calmly, trying to calm his husband down. He could hear how worried Justin was and he could understand that well. They all needed to keep a calm head though and needed to trust their lawyer. He was sure that things would work out well then.

“Okay,” Justin said once more, sounding slightly more convinced. “I'll just reschedule the interview and will head into town then.”

“Drive carefully,” Brian said automatically, before his voice softened some more. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Justin replied, then hung up.

Ten minutes later he was out the door and on his way to Kinnetik.

***

“Sunshine,” Brian said as he saw Justin come into his office, immediately getting up from his chair and walking over to his side. He took him into a hug and held him close. “Are you okay?”

Justin exhaled as he was held by Brian, then nodded. “Yeah... I guess I just got really nervous when I read those papers...”

“You were right, I got my own delivery shortly after you called,” Brian said, then pulled Justin over to his desk and showed him his own documents.

“We'll meet with Debbie, Carl, Jenny and the lawyer in the afternoon. So far Debbie and Carl haven't heard anything. It doesn't seem like Melanie knows that Jenny is living with them now.”

Justin nodded. “How are they? How is Jenny?”

“Debbie was nervous, but Carl seemed pretty calm all things considering. He also seems to think that she doesn't have a chance in hell to get custody of Jenny...”

“She's Jenny's mother,” Justin pointed out as he settled into Brian's lap and allowed him to run a hand over his backside.

“But she isn't a good mother. And Jenny will attest to that. Debbie and Carl will talk to her about what this means and will bring her to the meeting later.”

Justin nodded, resting his head on Brian's shoulder. “Have you told Gus yet?”

Brian shook his head. “Not yet... It will only upset him and I think we should call him after we've spoken to the lawyer and know more.”

“Okay,” Justin agreed, knowing that Brian was right. “God, I am so nervous...,” Justin admitted, as he looked up to meet Brian's concerned gaze. “I just want this to be over with.”

“It will be over soon,” Brian promised, still running his hand over Justin's back in a soothing motion.

“Did you feel like this with Gus?” Justin asked quietly, leaning into Brian's touch.

“It's not really the same situation, is it?” Brian wondered out loud. “Back then she wouldn't let me see him and I was the one that took her to court, but... yeah, I guess I was nervous and worried as well.”

“You seem pretty calm now,” Justin said, almost sounding impressed.

“Because I know that she doesn't have a chance in hell of getting custody for Jenny. I trust that any judge will agree that she is a total failure as a mother,” Brian replied seriously.

“I hope you're right,” Justin whispered, before he rested his head back against Brian's shoulder.

They stayed like that for a couple more minutes, before Brian got Justin to agree to some light lunch. Justin claimed that he wasn't really hungry, but didn't put up much of a fight when Brian pointed out that they needed to eat something. In the end they headed towards the diner and had some light soup there, before they headed downtown to meet with the lawyer.

***

“Okay, is everyone clear on what we're going to do tomorrow?” Their lawyer asked as the meeting was coming to an end.

Everyone around the table nodded.

They had just spent the better part of an hour going over their action plan for the hearing the next day and everyone felt way calmer now than they had when the meeting had started. Especially Jenny seemed a lot calmer now after the lawyer had assured her that everything would be fine and that her mother didn't have a case, especially seeing how she had subpoenaed Brian and Justin, but not Debbie and Carl who Jenny was actually staying with.

He had explained to them how the obvious mistake Melanie had made in not finding out where her daughter actually was and who she was staying with would work in their favour just like her continued silence since her visit to Britin would when they tried to convince the judge that Melanie was anything but a worried mother. He had also pointed out how the fact that Melanie was using the same arguments she had already used in Gus' custody trial was also playing in their favour as those claims had already been proven incorrect back then and hadn't become any truer since then.

“Is there anything else we should be prepared for? Anything she can throw at us coming out of left field?” He asked, looking at everyone around the table. While Debbie, Carl and Jenny shook their heads, Brian and Justin met gazes, then nodded slightly at each other.

It was Brian who spoke. “Our son, Luke, has recently moved out of our house. I doubt that she would know anything about that if she doesn't even seem to know where Jenny is staying, but...”

“How old is he?” The lawyer asked, immediately making notes.

“15,” Brian said and he could see understanding dawn on the lawyer's face. He hadn't moved out to start a job or move into an apartment on his own, there was obviously more to the story. “He is staying with a friend of ours for the time being.”

“May I ask what's the reason for him moving out?”

“An argument about a private family matter,” was all Brian replied, his eyes making it clear that he'd rather not explain in any more detail.

“Any claims of child endangerment or domestic violence?” The lawyer asked, his voice very matter of factly.

“Now wait a goddamn minute,” Debbie started, but was stopped by Carl who shook his head at her. Being a police man, he knew as well as Brian that the lawyer had to ask these questions.

“No,” Brian said calmly. “Nothing like that. A disagreement of opinions on a private family matter. We know where he is staying, we trust the friend that he is staying with, we know that he is still regularly attending his classes, he is still in contact with his siblings...”

The lawyer nodded. “Okay... Do you think there is any chance that he would move back in? If only to avoid any surprises at the hearing?”

“No,” was all Brian said.

“Brian, maybe... if we explained to him... I am sure he would do it for Jenny,” Justin said quietly, but stopped when he saw Brian shake his head.

“No, Sunshine,” Brian shook his head once more. “He doesn't want to speak to us at the moment and that's his decision and we have to accept that. We will accept that. We will not force him to come home if he's not ready to be back home. If Melanie wants to use this against us, so be it. I doubt it would really make a difference. Debbie and Carl are the ones taking care of Jenny, not you and me, so any issues we have with our son shouldn't be of concern here.” Brian then turned towards the lawyer. “I only let you know so there wouldn't be any surprises. If Melanie knows, we'll deal with it, but I won't force Luke to come home before he's ready.”

The lawyer nodded and everyone else stayed quiet. They had all heard the emotions in Brian's voice and knew that he was serious. He wouldn't force Luke to do anything he wasn't ready for, no matter how much it might help their case. This was about Luke's feelings and Brian would respect those.

“Okay,” the lawyer then said, “I think that should be it for now. I'll see you tomorrow at the courthouse.”

Everyone nodded, then said their goodbyes.

In the parking garage, Brian and Justin said goodbye to Debbie, Carl and Jenny, promising them that they would call Gus and update him on the day's events.

They then headed back to Kinnetik where they called Gus.

Gus insisted that he wanted to be in court the next day and wanted to be by Jenny's side to support her. At first Brian and Justin hadn't really been happy about that, but in the end they knew that Gus was old enough to make his own decisions and really, they could understand why Gus would want to be there as well. After all this was about his sister and the woman who had once claimed to be his mother as well, so in the end Brian and Justin gave in and agreed for Gus to also be there.

Brian booked him an early morning flight for the next day, so that Gus would arrive in Pittsburgh with plenty of time to make it to court.

After their call with Gus had ended, Brian tried to get some more work done while Justin decided to spend the rest of his afternoon doing some Christmas shopping. He promised to pick up Vicky from Emmett's place, where he would also update Emmett on the day's events. He had a feeling that Jenny would talk to Luke herself, but in any case, Emmett could give Luke the update in case he was interested as well. They then agreed to meet back at Britin in time for dinner.