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Thanks to everyone who has commented - I really appreciate it :) 

 

Chapter 19

 

“So, Brian is bringing a trick to family dinner?” Melanie exclaimed angrily after Debbie had told them that Brian would be bringing someone to dinner.

 

He had called her the day before and had told her that there was someone he wanted her to meet and if it was okay to bring a guest to dinner the next day. Which was what Debbie now told everyone already sitting at the table, waiting for Brian, Gus and his mysterious guest to arrive, him being fashionably late as usual.

 

“He had a trick around Gus?” Lindsay's eyebrows shot up and she looked far from happy.

 

“He's not a trick,” Ted said before he could help himself. “You know he wouldn't have a trick around Gus.”

 

Once Debbie had started talking about Brian bringing a guest, Ted had figured that she had to be talking about Justin and he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't get involved in the discussion he was sure would start seconds later and as was obvious now, he had been right.

 

It had just annoyed him how both Melanie and Lindsay had immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. As if Brian would bring a trick around Gus. They should both know better than that and should know that Brian was a really responsible father.

 

“He brought a fucking trick to his son's birth,” Melanie just shot back and Ted couldn't help but wonder what she would say once Justin showed up at Brian's side. Would she recognize him?

 

“That was more than ten years ago. You know Brian wouldn't do something like that now,” Ted just said, glad for Blake's hand that was running up and down his thigh in a calming motion.

 

Of course, Blake knew the truth about Brian's mysterious guest as well. Ted had told him about Brian and Justin and had told him about meeting Justin. He knew that Blake wouldn't tell anyone and he trusted his partner one hundred percent with this information.

 

“So, who is this guy? Is he a business partner?” Michael frowned, not liking that there was something about his best friend that he didn't know.

 

“He is a partner alright,” Ted muttered to Blake, but quiet enough that only Blake could hear it.

 

“I guess we'll find out soon enough,” Debbie shrugged in response to her son. “He better show up soon or dinner will be cold.”

 

As if planned like that, the door to the house opened right then and Gus rushed into the room. He ran over to his mothers and hugged them both.

“Hi Mommy, hi Mama,” he said happily before he walked back to the hallway and got out of his jacket.

 

Everyone watched him, but their eyes quickly turned to the two men that had now entered the house behind him.

 

Brian looked at everyone, daring anyone to say something and Justin just looked a bit shy as he raised a hand and waved it in greeting with a quiet 'hi'.

 

“Oh my God!” Emmett was the first one to say something when he realized who had come into the house with Brian.

 

Gus didn't seem to notice the awkward silence that had settled in the room and went over to Justin's side.

 

“Will you sit with me, Justin? Please?”

 

Justin smiled at the boy, glad for his question. “Yeah, sure. I'd love to.”

 

He followed Gus to the table and sat down next to the boy while everyone watched him from wide eyes and with open mouths.

 

“Hi Ted,” Justin greeted as he recognized the man who had driven him and Daphne from the airport to the hotel a few weeks ago.

 

“Hi Justin,” Ted greeted back with a nod.

 

All eyes immediately shot to Ted then and Emmett's tone was slightly disappointed when he spoke.

 

“You knew who Brian would be bringing to dinner and didn't say anything?”

 

“Leave Ted alone, Honeycutt!” Brian said as he made his way over as well, leaving a kiss on Debbie's cheek and then sitting down on Justin's other side. “He didn't know I would be bringing Justin tonight.”

 

“But he knew... about... whatever this is,” Emmett said slowly, looking from Brian to Ted and back.

 

“What is this?” Debbie had now found her voice again and was looking at Brian and Justin.

 

Brian sighed, knowing that he would have to say something. “Justin is my partner. For a lack of a better word, we've been dating for quite some time and now he has agreed to move to Pittsburgh.”

 

Before anyone else spoke, Gus' voice piped up. “Dad's and Justin's house is amazing. It's so big. And I have my own room.”

 

Justin smiled at Gus, glad for his apparently never-ending supply of enthusiasm. Either the boy didn't notice the weird atmosphere in the room or just didn't care.

 

“House?” Michael asked, his face showing the confusion he felt.

 

“Justin and I will be moving in together. Into a new house that we bought,” Brian explained. “We took Gus to see it yesterday.”

 

At that moment several voices erupted at once. “House?” “Moving in together?” “You took Gus to a new house without telling us?”

 

But the loudest had been Michael's. “You don't do relationships. So, what is this? Some bad joke?”

 

“I do them with Justin,” Brian just shrugged, pulling the younger man close and kissing him in front of everyone.

 

“Okay, can we just address the elephant in the room here?” Emmett said, having looked at Justin intently for a couple of minutes now. “You are who I think you are, aren't you?”

 

“What do you mean?” Michael asked, showing that he obviously didn't know what Emmett was talking about.

 

“Yes, I am,” Justin nodded as he replied.

 

A gasp went around the table and Debbie clutched her hand to her chest in shock. “Oh Jesus, Mary and Joseph. You bring a royal to my house and don't tell me in advance? The house is a mess and... oh my... we don't have any food that will suit this... oh Jesus...”

 

It was obvious that Debbie was very flustered by the thought of having a prince in her house.

 

“A royal?” Michael now asked, still not catching on.

 

“He's Prince Justinus of Darumor,” Ben said to his partner as if he couldn't believe that Michael hadn't recognized him himself.

 

“Prince...,” Michael started, but was then stopped by Emmett.

 

“Michael, honey, you really need to read more. His face has been plastered on every magazine and newspaper in recent weeks. Where have you been?”

 

“Yeah, that was rather... unfortunate,” Justin said quietly, not looking at anyone, but at the hands in his lap.

 

“And doesn't matter. We're here for family dinner, not to talk about the shit written in gossip rags, most of which were lies anyway,” Brian angrily muttered, before he turned to Debbie. “So, what's on the menu tonight? Lasagna? Baked Ziti? Gus got Justin all excited about the food, so don't make him wait.”

 

“I can't,” Debbie said, looking from Brian to Justin and back. “I can't serve my food to a prince of all people...”

 

“Gus has told me so many good things about your cooking, I am really excited,” Justin said with a smile.

 

“You have no idea what shitholes he has taken me to in New York. He will love your food. Trust me,” Brian added. “The unhealthier, the better for him.”

 

“And he likes to eat,” Gus added at that point. “Not like Daddy, who only takes a bite and then complains about the calories. Justin loves pizza and ice-cream.”

 

“True, I do,” Justin smiled at Gus.

 

“You're a bottomless pit,” Brian chuckled, then turned to Debbie once more. “Their stomachs have been growling all the way here, don't make them wait any longer. I am scared of what will happen if you do.”

 

Debbie finally got up and got some casserole dish or other from the oven and put it on the table.

 

Carl went and got the second one.

 

Soon after she started serving the lasagna to everyone around the table, but nobody ate. Everyone sat and watched Justin.

 

“Why is everyone watching you?” Gus asked with a frown, then looked at everyone around the table. “Why is everyone behaving so weird tonight?”

 

“Lambskin,” Lindsay started, clearly wondering how to answer her son's question.

 

“Remember what we told you earlier, sonny boy? How everyone would be weird once they recognized Justin?”

 

Gus nodded slowly, thinking back to the conversation his dad and Justin had had with him before they had left the loft and headed to dinner.

 

They had told Gus that Justin was famous and that some of the adults would probably react a bit weird when they saw him.

When Gus had asked if Justin was such a famous artist that everyone would know him, Brian and Justin had explained to Gus that Justin was a prince and that there had recently been a scandal and he had been in the media a lot in recent weeks.

 

Gus had mostly been fascinated by the fact that Justin was a prince and had asked him many questions about what it was like to be a prince. He had asked him if he had a crown, if he had grown up in a palace, if he had a sword and all kinds of questions that interested him, but other than that hadn't been all too intimidated by the news of Justin's royal descent. Unlike the rest of their family seemed to be.

 

“But that's just stupid,” Gus muttered, before he started eating. “He's just Justin.”

 

“I know, sonny boy,” Brian agreed.

 

“Maybe we should...,” Justin started, feeling bad for having caused such an uproar by showing up at family dinner like this.

 

“Okay, everyone. Here's the deal: Justin and I are moving in together. He's my partner. So, you better get over whatever it is you have to get over. He's a part of the family now,” Brian announced to everyone. He then took a bite of his lasagna. “This is very good, Debbie.”

 

Everyone watched Brian as if he had grown a second head.

 

“I think it's just a lot of information to take in,” Ted said reasonably. “This is really the first time you have been with someone and it's this serious. You need to give them a couple of moments to process that you're now in a relationship.”

 

“Yeah,” Ben agreed slowly. “And moving in with someone is a big step. Obviously, you two must have known each other for quite a while already. It's just such a surprise.”

 

“Daddy and Justin have known each other for a long time already,” Gus said at that point, then turned to his mothers. “Did you know Justin named me?”

 

“Named you?” Lindsay frowned, then ran a hand through Gus' hair. “I think you must have misheard, lambskin.”

 

“No, I actually did. You liked the name Gus and your partner, Melanie, right?” Justin looked at the two women and went on when they nodded. “You preferred the name Abraham. I told you he wouldn't survive a day in school named Abraham.”


“That... that was you?” Lindsay sputtered, her eyes widening.

 

“Wait, so you two have been together all this time?” Debbie asked, now looking at Brian accusingly. “And you never told me?”

 

“But,” Michael started, now finally putting two and two together. “If you're that trick... I told you to stay away.”

 

“Which no one ever asked you to do,” Brian interjected angrily at that point. He smiled when Justin ran a hand over his thigh and shook his head slowly.

 

“Don't,” the younger man said quietly and Brian nodded.

 

“We lost contact for a couple of years and met again in New York. It was pure chance really,” Brian then told the others. “We then met every time I went to New York for business.”

 

“We went our separate ways for a while but have recently reconnected,” Justin added quietly. “And now we're ready to take the next step.”

 

“Ooooh, this is so exciting,” Emmett now clapped his hands together, obviously having gotten over his earlier shock. “A real prince. Brian Kinney of all people bagged himself a real prince.”

 

“Don't make too big a deal out of it,” Brian muttered darkly in Emmett's direction. “You're the one dating the NFL superstar.”

 

“So, I take it you like the house?” Blake then asked in Justin's direction, trying to get some small talk going.

 

Justin nodded and a sunshine smile broke out on his face. “It's beautiful. Have you seen it? Blake, right?”


Blake nodded in affirmation that Justin had gotten his name right. “Yeah, right. And no, I haven't. Ted just mentioned some things about it and it sounds really nice.”

 

“You knew?” Melanie then asked Ted.

 

Ted shrugged. “I am his accountant. How can I not know if he goes and buys a house?”

 

“The house is amazing,” Gus threw in at that point. “It has stables and Daddy and Justin will get horses. They also have a pool and their own forest. Their garden is almost like a park, it's so big!”

 

“Well, that house sure sounds like something,” Lindsay smiled at her son, her voice sounding nothing like the smile that was on her face.

 

“Once we have moved in and it's presentable, we should have a small house-warming party,” Justin suggested with a smile. “So, you can all see the new house.”

 

“And my room,” Gus added. “Dad and I already went and bought the furniture for it earlier. And Justin will paint a mural for me.”

 

“You paint?” Lindsay asked, now sounding way more interested than before.

 

“He is an artist,” Gus nodded at his mother. “And he's really good. He did some sketches for me and now I can choose which one I like best.”

 

“That's very nice,” Lindsay smiled at her son, then turned back to Justin. “An artist? I have never heard of you painting...”

 

“Lindsay,” Brian said warningly, but Justin just smiled at her.

 

“It's a long story, but yeah, painting is my passion and I had a couple of shows already. Obviously not under my real name, but an alias.”

 

Justin then took a bite and smiled happily. “God, this is really good.”

 

Brian looked at Debbie. “I told you he would like it.”

 

“I just... thank you,” Debbie finally said, happy that her surprise guest seemed to enjoy the food she had made.

 

After that, everyone started eating and some normal conversation finally started around the table.


Justin had to promise Emmett that he would ask for his help when planning the house-warming party, after all he was the professional party planner and Justin agreed.

 

Gus talked some more about his new room and then proudly showed Michael the sketch Justin had done of Iron Man. Michael grudgingly had to admit that it was a really good sketch and looked great. He didn't like this new development of Brian moving into a house with a prince of all people, but the sketch of Iron Man was great. As a comic fan he had to admit that.

 

Justin politely answered questions the group asked him but was glad for Brian's interference when the questions got too personal.

 

It seemed that especially Michael seemed to be interested in the kind of relationship he and Brian had had and wanted to know details about why they had gone their separate ways and then reunited.

 

Brian made it clear that certain topics were off limit and Justin was glad for it. He was not used to people asking intimate questions like that. Well, other than Daphne, but she was his best friend.

 

“So, how are Daphne and Lizzie?” Ted asked once dinner was over and the table had been cleared. The adults were enjoying beers and wine while Gus and JR were watching some cartoons.

 

“Good. They are in New York right now. I'll fly out to see them tomorrow. We'll then organize the move into the new house. It will be nice for Lizzie to have that much space to run around.”

 

Ted nodded, remembering the little girl well. “I am sure you must be looking forward to the privacy the new house will offer you all.”

 

“You have no idea,” Justin smiled.

 

“So, your daughter will move into the house with you?” Michael frowned, not sure if he had understood correctly.

 

Justin nodded. “Yeah, Daphne and Lizzie will have their own private apartment in another section of the house, but that way I can see her every day and can be an active part of her life.”

 

“Wow, that must be some house if it even offers enough space for them,” Lindsay said, clearly sounding impressed.

 

“It's quite big, yeah,” Justin said, not sure he liked the tone of voice she had used. Something about the way she had said it, just seemed off to Justin, but she was Brian's friend and Gus' mother, so he kept smiling politely as he answered her. “It'll allow us privacy and peace and quiet. Which is really just what Lizzie and I need after the last couple of months.”

 

“I am just so glad your wife isn't trying to take your daughter away,” Debbie said sincerely. “When I read that in the news, I felt so bad for you.”

 

“Daphne would never,” Justin said quietly. “She's my best friend and always has been. There was... a lot of false information in the news...”

 

“Don't believe everything you read, Deb,” Brian said seriously, squeezing Justin's shoulder as he spoke. “The more dramatic they can make something sound, the more magazines they'll sell. It's all about money, not the truth.”

 

“Still, I am just so relieved. You shouldn't be punished for something you have no control over. It's not like any of you asked to be gay...”

 

Brian leaned in and whispered into Justin's ear. “She really had your back, even without knowing you... She was fighting your case and defending you with every new headline that came out.”

 

Justin smiled at her warmly. “Thanks, Debbie. That means a lot.”

 

Before Debbie could respond to that, Brian got up and pulled Justin up with him. “I think we should head off now. You have an early flight tomorrow.”

 

Justin didn't complain and just nodded, knowing that Brian was right. And they still wanted to spend some quality time together before they would be separated again, if only for a couple of days.

 

“It was really nice to meet everyone,” Justin said to the group gathered around the table. “And thanks for the lovely dinner, Debbie.”

 

“Oh, this was nothing...,” Debbie waved away his thanks.

 

Brian and Justin went over to the TV and both said goodbye to Gus. Brian promised him to take him out to the house once the furniture for his room had been delivered and Justin promised that Gus could come and stay with them as soon as they had moved into the new house.

 

They then went over to the door and grabbed their jackets. Brian frowned when he saw Debbie coming over.

 

“You!” She said, pointing a colored nail at his chest. “I should be angry with you for not warning me that you would bring a fucking royal into my house. How dare you?”

 

Brian was about to reply something, but Debbie just went on.

 

“But I am not! I am just so happy that you have found someone. And such a nice and polite someone. Maybe you can teach him some manners, Justin,” she said directed at the younger man. “God knows, he can do with some.”

 

Justin chuckled. “I'll try my best.”

 

Debbie nodded. “And you... I know I've only just met you tonight, but you seem like you've got a good head on your shoulders. Don't let any bigots get you down, okay?”

 

Now it was Justin's turn to nod and to feel quite touched by what Debbie had said. “I won't.”

 

“Good,” Debbie nodded once more. “Now go home and have some hot sex all over the loft.”

 

“Jeez, Deb! Subtle much?” Brian said as he made a face.

 

“Brian Kinney, I've known you longer and better than I care to admit. We all know that's what's going to happen once you get to the loft.”

 

“Well, Sunshine. You heard the nice lady. Better do as she says.”

 

“Sunshine?” Debbie raised an eyebrow and raised it that much more when Brian started blushing.

 

“Did you see that smile?” Brian just said as way of explanation and Debbie looked at Justin once more.

 

“Now, if that isn't a fitting name, I don't know. Now get out of here, you two.”

 

Brian hugged her once and Justin was quite surprised when Debbie engulfed him in a bone-crushing hug seconds later.

 

“I am so happy for you two,” she said as they headed out the door and left.

 

“Well, that was that,” Brian muttered as he opened the car and got in. “Now you've met the whole sorry bunch.”

 

“They seem very nice,” Justin said as he got into the car as well.

 

“You're just saying that because you don't know them,” Brian snorted, then started to head for the loft. “They will be gossiping about us for the rest of the night.”

 

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