Chapter 18

Once they had explored the grounds, including the pool, the tennis court and the second apartment on the other side of the garage, they moved into the main house.

Gus had clearly been impressed by the sheer size of the house and the grounds and sounded more than impressed as they moved inside.

“That's like you have your own park, Daddy! That's not a garden. There's even a forest.”

“Yeah, it's quite big, isn't it?” Brian agreed, smiling at his son. “Which will be great once we have the horses and can take them out on rides.”

“That sounds so cool! I can't wait,” Gus enthused, his face the image of pure excitement.

They toured the ground floor of the house and Gus was impressed by the size of the kitchen and living room. “Wow, everything is so big here. This is like ten times as big as my moms’ house.”

“Your dad went a bit overboard when he chose this place,” Justin chuckled, before he leaned in and gave Brian a kiss. “I'll head to Daphne's place to take some measurements for her. Why don't you go upstairs and choose a room for Gus?”

Brian nodded and pecked Justin's lips once more, before the younger man headed off, leaving Brian and Gus on their own to tour the upstairs rooms of the house.

“Who is Daphne?” Gus asked in confusion as they made their way up the stairs.

“That's a long story, but I guess one you should hear,” Brian sighed, resting a hand on Gus' shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

He told Gus about Daphne being Justin's best friend and also said that they had a daughter together. Gus didn't seem too impressed by the thought of another young girl, being annoyed more often than not by his younger sister JR, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

“So, they're like you and mom? Best friends who had a child together?” Gus asked once Brian had finished talking and led Gus to the master bedroom to show him around.

“It's a bit more complicated than that. They're actually married, but they only married because Justin's parents weren't supposed to know that he's gay.”

“Don't they like gay people?” Gus asked with a frown. He knew that his mom's parents didn't like that she was married to his mama and he also knew that his dad's mother didn't like that he loved men.

“No, they don't. And for a long time Justin wanted to make them happy, so he agreed to marry his best friend. It's all out in the open now, though, so it doesn't matter anymore.”

Gus nodded, trying to understand what his father had said. “And they will move here as well? Into the other apartment?”

Brian nodded. “Yeah. Justin would like his daughter to be close and Daphne didn't mind coming to Pittsburgh. They both went to school here, so know the city and area.”

Gus nodded once more, then looked around the room.

Brian noticed that he hadn't said anything to that and he wondered if it bothered Gus that Justin's friend and daughter would be moving in here with them. “Gus, does it bother you that Justin's daughter will live here with us when you won't?”

Gus turned around and looked at his dad from wide eyes. “No, why would it?”

Brian shrugged. “I am not sure, I just thought that maybe you thought it was unfair or... I don't know.”

“But I live with my moms, Dad. I have never lived with you. I come and visit you and we go on trips together, but I also like going home to mommy and mama.”

Brian watched Gus and could see the honesty of that statement on his son's face. It was open, earnest and sincere. As only a child could be.

Brian smiled and opened his arms for a hug. He was glad when Gus walked over and into the hug, hugging him back.

“Okay,” Brian said quietly, holding Gus close. “I just want you to know that we will love having you here as well and you're always welcome to come and visit and stay with us as well, okay?”

Gus nodded into the embrace, holding his father tight. “I know, Dad.”

They stayed in their hug for a few seconds longer before Brian pulled back. “How about we check out the other rooms, so you can choose which one you like best?”

They toured all the other bedrooms and Gus would go back and forth between two that he seemed to like best. One had an ensuite bathroom and looked out over the front of the property, looking at the driveway that led up to the house and the other one came without an ensuite bathroom, but looked out at the back of the property, looking over the pool, the grounds and towards the forest. There was a bathroom just across the hall that could be used for this room.

“I like the view better here,” Gus said, as they were in the room that looked out over the back of the property. “But the other one has its own bathroom, which is nice, I guess.”

Brian had to chuckle as he listened to Gus' arguments. They were valid arguments and knowing that Lindsay's and Melanie's house only had one bathroom that four people shared, he couldn't blame his son for being torn and liking the thought of having an ensuite bathroom.

“Have you decided already?” Justin asked as he joined them, just as Brian was about to say something back to Gus.

“I can't decide,” Gus announced. “I like the view in this room because it looks out over everything, but the other one has its own bathroom.”

Justin nodded, catching the look that Brian was giving him. “And you like the idea of having your own bathroom?”

Gus shrugged. “I guess... at home I always have to wait until Mommy and Mama are done. And they take forever.”

Justin nodded, contemplating what Gus had said. “Well, there is a bathroom right across the hall,” he pointed towards the bathroom Brian and Gus had looked at earlier. “And your dad and I will have our own ensuite in the master bedroom. And for now, it will just be you and the two of us. And two of the guestrooms come with their own bathrooms, so if we have guests staying over, they wouldn't have to use that bathroom,” Justin said as he nodded to the one across the hall. “We could make it your bathroom. You would then have the nice view and your own bathroom. It just wouldn't be an ensuite.”

Gus' eyes widened as he looked from Justin to his father and back. “Can we, Dad? Please? I don't mind if it's not in my room. I have to cross the hall at home as well.”

Brian saw the excitement on Gus' face and couldn't help but smile. “I think that sounds like a very good plan, sonny boy. Justin is right. For now, we won't need that bathroom and if we have guests staying over, we can give them one of the rooms with their own ensuite.”

“Oh please, Dad! I love this room. It's so big and nice.”

“Well, then it's decided. This will be your room,” Brian announced and Justin nodded.

Gus looked around happily as if he couldn't believe his luck.

After a few minutes they started talking about ideas for furniture and how to furnish the room and Justin asked Gus if there was anything he liked. Anything he would like to have on the walls.

“You mean like a poster?” Gus frowned, not quite sure that he understood what Justin was asking.

“Yeah, like that.”

Gus thought about the question for a few seconds and then nodded. “I really like Iron Man and can't wait for Iron Man 2 to come out. Dad promised to take me to see it when it comes out.”

“Iron Man? That's cool,” Justin agreed. “Would you like to have a mural of Iron Man instead of a poster?”

Gus looked at Justin in confusion. “You mean like painted on the walls?”

Justin nodded. “Yeah, if that's something you like, I can come up with some ideas. Maybe we can think of some designs later.”

“And then you would paint it?”

“If you like the way it looks, yeah.”

“You would really do that for me?” Gus asked wide-eyed.

“Sure, why not? I love to paint and we want you to feel at home here, so this room should look exactly the way you want it to.”

“Thank you, Justin!” Gus exclaimed before he lunged at Justin and threw his arms around the younger man. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! That would be so cool!”

Justin seemed a bit overwhelmed by Gus' enthusiastic reaction, but quickly got over it and hugged the boy back. “I'd love to do that.”

Gus smiled brightly, then moved over to his dad. “Did you hear that, Dad? I will get an Iron Man painting in my room.”

“Yeah, I did, sonny boy. That's really nice.”

Gus excitedly ran towards the windows and looked out at the garden once more as Brian moved over to Justin and pulled him close. “I think you have officially won sonny boy's approval.”

Justin leaned into Brian's arms and smiled. “I didn't expect it to make him this happy.”

“I think sonny boy is now officially in love with you as well,” Brian chuckled as they watched Gus who was still looking out the windows at the garden which was by now covered in darkness.

They stayed a few minutes longer and checked out what would be Justin's studio, before they decided that it was time to head back to Pittsburgh and get started on some dinner.

***

“We're not going to order it?” Gus frowned as he looked at Justin who was getting several things from the fridge. He then turned towards his dad. “Since when do you have food in your fridge?”

“Since I went shopping,” Justin announced with a laugh. “If it was up to your dad, we would starve.”

“Not true. We would survive on deliveries. I just don't like cooking,” Brian defended himself.

Justin nodded at Gus and handed him a bag of grated cheese to add to the other things that were already piling up on the kitchen counter.

“I do. I love cooking and I thought it would be nice if we could make our own pizza. I promise, it will taste just as good, if not even better than one we would have ordered.”

“As long as I don't have to help,” Brian shrugged, watching as Justin closed the fridge.

“Can I help? I don't mind,” Gus asked, looking at Justin.

“If you want to. But you don't have to, Gus. I can just prepare this on my own if you'd rather watch some TV or play a video game with your dad.”

“No, this is cool. I want to help. I don't think Dad's oven has ever been used before. I want to help when it will be used for the first time,” Gus said, looking at his dad with a smirk.

“For the record, the oven has been used before. Debbie has brought over enough casserole dishes that needed to be kept warm or needed to be warmed up again,” Brian said, once more sounding rather defensive.

“If you say so,” Justin snorted which made Gus laugh as well.

“Are you two ganging up on me?” Brian asked in mock outrage as he watched his sonny boy and his sunshine who were both laughing at him.

“Us? No way! We're just making pizza,” Justin said, then started rolling out the dough, asking Gus what toppings he would like and asking him to cut the things they wanted to use.

Brian watched as they both worked, keeping up a happy chatter about Justin's ideas that he had for the mural in Gus' bedroom and he felt happy that his son and Justin seemed to get on that well. They were laughing, they both looked happy and Gus seemed to really like Justin for which Brian was glad. It would make things so much easier.

Once the pizza was in the oven, Brian offered to clean up and Justin and Gus settled on the sofa to work on some ideas for the mural.

After an enjoyable dinner, they all agreed to watch a movie together during which Gus fell asleep.

It had been a long day for him and there had been many exciting news and things to explore and see. No wonder that he was tired.

“He's a great boy, Brian,” Justin said quietly as he watched Gus who was leaning against his father's side as he slept.

Brian nodded, looking down at his son. “I never thought I would love him as much as I do. He means the world to me. His happiness means everything.”

Justin nodded, knowing how Brian felt. He felt the same about his daughter. “I knew from the moment you held him that you loved him. You looked so in awe and so happy.”

Brian actually snorted and rolled his eyes. “I was high and shit-scared.”

“Still, when you held him, you had this gentle look on your face. It was obvious that you loved him,” Justin said, a smile on his face as he thought back to that night more than ten years ago. God, had it really been that long since he had met Brian?

They were quiet until the movie was over, both enjoying the peace of this quiet evening together.

Once the movie was over, Brian gently woke Gus up and helped him get ready for bed.

Gus barely spoke ten words to them, before he plopped down on the sofa again and was back asleep.

“He didn't get that from me,” Brian chuckled as he watched his son who was sleeping again, not even bothering that all the lights were still on around him. “He sleeps like a rock.”

Brian gently pulled the blanket up and covered his son with it before he pushed some of his auburn hair out of his face.

Justin smiled as he watched the tender gesture, then headed to turn off the lights and made his way up the steps to the bedroom and bathroom. He undressed and when he was just in his underwear, headed for the bathroom.

He smiled when Brian joined him a few minutes later, closing the bathroom door behind himself and turning on the shower.

“I can't wait to move into the house,” he said as he pulled down his boxer briefs and turned to Justin, pulling him into a passionate kiss. “This loft is really not made for two adults and a child.”

Justin chuckled, kissing Brian back. When he felt his cock come to life, he regretfully pulled back. “We shouldn't... not with Gus in the other room.”

“He's sleeping like a rock,” Brian said quietly, pulling Justin closer and pulling down his underwear. “We'll just have to be quiet.”

Justin hesitated for a second, but then gave in. He was powerless when it came to Brian. And with the shower going and Gus sleeping, he guessed that Brian was right. They would just have to be quiet.

A few minutes later they were both panting and moaning as Brian pushed into him over and over again and Justin met each of his thrusts. He was biting into his hand, hoping that it would keep him from being too loud and he couldn't help but smile as he felt Brian gently biting all over his back, clearly attempting to keep himself from making any sound as well.

Ten minutes later, they were both wearing underwear again and headed to bed.

***

The next morning, they all had breakfast together, before Brian and Gus headed off to the furniture store to look for some furniture for his new room.

Justin decided to stay back at the loft and to work on some ideas for Gus' mural which the young boy readily accepted. Brian knew though that Justin had stayed at the loft because he didn't want to be recognized while out with Gus.

They knew that they would have to tell Gus the truth about Justin's royal descent, knew that they would have to tell him before they headed to dinner at Debbie's as the adults there would most likely recognize him, but for the moment they just wanted Gus to enjoy his excitement about his new room, so Justin had happily stayed back, allowing father and son some time alone.

It also gave him some time to call Daphne and facetime with Lizzie, which was always a plus as well.

He would fly back to New York the next day and he couldn't wait to see his daughter again. He had only been in Pittsburgh for five days and had facetimed with her every day, but he really missed her.

Daphne had already started getting their move to Pittsburgh organized and they had decided to keep their apartment in New York, knowing that it would come in handy when they had to go to New York for whatever reason, so Justin hoped that it would be a short visit only and that he would be back in Pittsburgh in a couple of days.

He and Brian had visited some furniture stores on Friday, had chosen some furniture for the master bedroom, the living-room and the kitchen that would be delivered next week and they had decided to move to the new house and continue furnishing the other rooms while they were already there.

Justin had also sent measurements and pictures of Daphne's new apartment to her and knew that she had already ordered some furniture as well, so hopefully Daphne and Lizzie would be able to move in pretty quickly as well.

Hopefully, their lives would quiet down then and they could start a new chapter of their lives. Justin really hoped so.

When Brian and Gus returned home two hours later, the young boy was really excited and couldn't wait for Justin to see the furniture he had chosen.

He seemed really excited about the dark grey cabin bed he had chosen, loving that it was higher than a normal bed and came with a ladder. To Gus that almost made it a bunk bed and the coolest thing ever.

Brian seemed less impressed, which Justin noticed immediately, but in the end Gus loved it and he was supposed to feel comfortable in his room, so Justin wasn't all too surprised that Brian had agreed to get that particular bed even though it was obvious that he didn't really like it.

“And I want the desk in front of the window, so I can look out into the garden when I have to do some work for school,” Gus announced happily as he showed Justin images of the desk that came with the bed.

“That sounds like a good idea. I love looking outside as well when I am working,” Justin said, listening to the boy's enthusiasm about his new bed and furniture.

“Daddy said I shouldn't have gone for a bed with a ladder and should have looked at bigger beds, but I liked this one,” Gus explained as he showed another image to Justin.

“I just pointed out that in one- or two-years time you might want a bigger bed than this small one,” Brian said, secretly enjoying his son's happiness.

“No, I love this one. This is the one I wanted,” Gus smiled.

“And it's the one you're going to get. You heard the store. They will deliver it sometime next week.”

“That's so great! I am so excited to sleep in my new room for the first time.” Gus was smiling from ear to ear and both adults enjoyed his happiness.

“Here, why don't you take a look at these?” Justin said as he handed Gus a couple of sketches, he had been working on earlier with ideas for his Iron Man mural. “Let me know what you think about them.”

Gus took the sketches and looked at them and both Brian and Justin could see how his eyes widened in astonishment when he looked at what Justin had sketched. “You did these? They look soooooo cool. Look, Daddy! They look like they're coming straight out of the comic,” Gus exclaimed happily as he held up two sketches for his dad to look at.

“Yeah, Justin is a great artist. I told you so,” Brian smiled, impressed by the quality of the sketches. They looked amazing.

“They all look so great. I can't decide,” Gus announced a few seconds later, going back and forth between the three sketches Justin had handed him.

“You don't have to decide now, Gus. Why don't you take a couple of days and see if there's one that you like best then? I won't get to it right away anyway. It's going to take a couple of weeks before I can get started on it,” Justin said.

Gus nodded, knowing that Justin was returning to New York the next day and would be busy with the move to the new house in the next few days and weeks. His father and Justin had explained to him at breakfast that it would take a few weeks before Justin would get around to the mural, but he had promised that he would and that was good enough for Gus.

“That's fine. I am just so excited. They all look so cool. Thank you, Justin!” Gus went and threw his arms around his father's partner in happiness.

“He loves you,” Brian mouthed silently as he smiled at Justin and Gus and met Justin's happy gaze.

Justin nodded quietly, then hugged Gus. “You are more than welcome, Gus!”