Chapter 21

“Emmett, can I speak to you for a moment?” Justin asked as he moved over to the empty chair next to Emmett.

Drew had just gotten up and moved to the living-room with Carl to watch some football on TV and Emmett was now on his own, watching the other members of their family as they all enjoyed some after dinner drinks.

This had been Justin's second family dinner since he had moved to Pittsburgh and while it was still clear that Michael and Lindsay had some reservations about him and his position in Brian's life, most other members of their family had welcomed him with open arms.

Debbie loved him and had officially adopted him as a part of her family. She would hug him to death every time she saw him, telling him how happy she was that he and Brian were now living together and trying to build a life together. She told him how good he was for Brian and how much she loved seeing the changes in Brian she could already see, how much she loved seeing Brian in love and how happy she also was that Justin seemed happy. She told him how she had felt for him in recent months and how happy she was that his life finally seemed to quiet down and that he had found some peace and happiness with Brian and his family in their new home.

Justin had appreciated her support and he and Brian had invited Debbie and Carl to Britin last week, making them their official first guests. Debbie had loved the house, had fallen immediately in love with Lizzie and it was obvious that she had by now gotten over the shock of Justin being a royal and that she considered him to be one of her lost boys just like the other men in their group.

Brian and Justin had also gone and visited Ted and Blake for dinner, something that had given Brian the creeps for two days prior. Brian had nearly gagged at the thought of having a double date with Ted and Blake but in the end it had been a surprisingly nice evening.

Ted had been amazed when Justin had shown an interest in his opera CDs and had been able to talk about certain operas with him, having attended several performances over the years in his role as a crown prince.

Justin and Blake had immediately gotten on well. They were both close in age, a lot younger than their respective partners and Justin had been really interested in the work Blake did at the rehab clinic he worked at.

Brian had told him a bit about Ted's and Blake's eventful past and their history with drugs and Justin had been impressed by how far these two men had come and by the life they had built for themselves.

Justin hadn't really been surprised when Blake told him that his start in the family had been rather hard and that it had taken a long time for most members of their family to see that he had really changed and loved Ted and that they had both moved on from their past. He had mentioned how Brian and Emmett had been one of the first to give him a chance and to see him for the person he had been when he and Ted had gotten back together and that Debbie had quickly followed and had accepted him as Ted's partner and a part of their family when she had seen how happy he made Ted.

And he had been even less surprised when Blake had mentioned that Michael and Lindsay hadn't been as welcoming. Michael still made comments about his past as a drug user and Lindsay thought she was so subtle when she acted all concerned every time Gus or JR wanted to play with him, acting like she only had her children's best interest at heart when really, she just wanted to make a comment about his past as well.

It was no big secret that Michael's and Lindsay's reaction to Justin had been a rather cold one as well, so it kind of comforted him that he wasn't the only one. Maybe Brian was right and it wasn't about the fact that he was a prince but it was just something about them. In any case, it had helped him to hear from Blake about his experiences about being the “new guy” in the family and they had quickly bonded over that.

“Oh honey, of course you can,” Emmett immediately replied, showing a big toothy smile, before his hand flew to his mouth and covered it. “Oh shit, I probably shouldn't have called you honey, should I? I mean... shit... I am sorry.”

Justin smiled, a real, open, friendly smile that immediately put Emmett at ease with how honest it was.

“You can call me whatever you want, as long as it's not Prince Justinus, your Royal Highness or anything like that...”

Emmett eyed him for a moment, then nodded slowly. “You're really not a big fan of that life, are you?”

Justin shrugged. “It's all just pretentious and meaningless as far as I am concerned. Do I deserve a different treatment just because of who my parents are? Respect needs to be earned, not given because of a title, so...”

Emmett now smiled. He liked what he had seen and heard of this man so far and from what he could see, Brian had been right: Justin really was very down to earth and demanded no special treatment at all. He just wanted to be treated like everyone else. Which was something Emmett could do.

“Sweetie, that was very well said.”

Justin smiled even wider when Emmett called him sweetie, immediately feeling at ease with the tall man.

“I was wondering if your offer still stood to help with our housewarming party. The house finally looks presentable and I think it's time that we invited everyone over.”

“What does Big Bad think about that?” Emmett asked with a nod at Brian, who was speaking to Gus at the moment.

“He'll go along with it because he knows that it'll make me happy,” Justin shrugged, knowing that it was the truth. Brian wasn't really looking forward to hosting a big housewarming party for their friends and family, but he knew that this was something Justin wanted to do, that this was something Justin felt he had to do to become a part of the family, so he would go along with whatever Justin wanted to do as long as it made him happy.

“Awwwwww, he's sooooo in love with you. I have never seen him like that before. You must be really special,” Emmett said, clasping his hands together tightly.

Justin blushed and lowered his eyes. “He's... he's really special,” he finally said, looking back up at Emmett. “I really love him.”

“Awwww, young love... how could I not get involved in that and help? I am so happy you two have found each other. I don't think I've ever seen Brian as happy as he has been in recent weeks. Teddy said the same... apparently, he has known about Brian having someone in his life for way longer than I did and he says you are really good for Brian. I think I can see what he means,” Emmett said seriously.

Justin smiled gently at the older man. “We're good for each other,” he said after a few seconds, looking over to where Brian and Gus were still talking. As if on cue, Brian looked up and their eyes met and they both smiled at each other.

“I have no doubt,” Emmett said happily, having watched that little scene. “So, what did you have in mind?”

Justin forced himself to look away from Brian and to turn back to the man at his side. “Nothing big or too fancy, just a small gathering for family and friends. The people that usually come to family dinner, my friend Daphne, my daughter Lizzie. Just the usual people, you know?”

“Do you already have a date in mind?”

Justin shook his head. “Not really. Maybe next weekend. Or the weekend after? And like I said, nothing too fancy. I just thought since you know most people, you would have an idea what kind of food would be best suited, that kind of thing...”

“Well, you can never go wrong with a buffet, or some finger food options. You can then decide how fancy you want to go. If you want to go the chicken wings and onion rings route or the caviar and champagne route.”

Justin made a face when Emmett presented the second option. “Yeah, I think we should keep it a bit more low-key. Does anyone really enjoy caviar? Personally, I never saw the appeal...”

“Why don't you come by my office sometime next week and I can show you some options that you can choose from?” Emmett offered with another toothy smile.

“That would be great, yeah,” Justin agreed with a smile of his own. “I really appreciate you helping on such short notice and of course I'll pay you extra for that.”

Emmett immediately waved Justin's comment away. “Honey, you don't pay me. We're family now and you don't pay family to help.” He then opened his phone and looked at his calendar. “How about Wednesday afternoon? I am pretty free then and can squeeze you in.”

“That would be great. I really appreciate it,” Justin nodded, making a note in his own phone.

Justin brought Lizzie to his meeting with Emmett a couple of days later and his daughter had immediately fallen in love with the tall man when she had seen his colorful clothes and his wide smile. Of course, all the baked goods and sweets he had given her had also helped.

He and Justin had made some decisions concerning food and had settled on a date for the housewarming party.

Emmett had promised to come by the house the next day to see what he was working with and over their various meetings that week, Justin and Emmett had become quite close as well.

Justin liked Emmett, liked his eternal optimism, how friendly and open he was and that he always seemed happy, no matter how stressed he seemed.

Emmett had been mightily impressed when he had first seen Britin and he had absolutely fallen in love with the name when Justin had told him about it.

Justin and Emmett had spent the afternoon touring the grounds and had mostly shared their experiences with the press. Emmett had shared his own experiences of dating a famous person, had shared what his and Drew's life had been like after Drew's coming out and the warm, supportive way in which he had offered any support he could to Brian and Justin had really endeared the man to Justin.

They had clicked just like Justin and Blake had and he was really grateful for how Emmett had accepted him as part of their family without any prejudice whatsoever.

***

“I think he likes it,” Brian muttered as he watched Gus, whose eyes had widened to comical proportions and whose mouth had fallen open in a very unattractive gasp.

Justin chuckled, watching the young boy's reaction to the mural he had painted for him. “You think so?”

“I think he might have suffered a stroke in all his excitement,” Brian said next, walking over to his son's side and waving a hand in his sonny boy's face. “Hey, anything working up there?”

Gus closed his mouth, then turned to his dad with a glare before he turned to Justin and threw himself into the younger man's arms. “That is soooooo amazing. So cool! It's so much better than I thought it would be. Thank you so much, Justin! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

Justin hugged the small boy in return and smiled. “You are more than welcome, Gus. I just hope that you like it.”

“I love it! I love it so much!” Gus exclaimed, then let go of the younger man and turned to his father. “It's so great, isn't it, Dad?”

“Yeah, it is,” Brian agreed, smiling at his son's happiness. “Justin did really well.”

“I love it,” Gus said once more before he plopped down on his bed and stared at the wall with the huge Iron Man mural on it. “Everyone at school will be so jealous.”

Brian walked over to Justin's side and wrapped his arms around his partner. “You made him really happy with this,” he whispered before he left a kiss on Justin's cheek.

Justin leaned into Brian's touch and smiled. “It was nothing, Brian. I promised him I would do this... I am just glad he likes it.”

“Likes it? He loves it... you'll forever be his favorite person on the planet now.”

Justin actually laughed at that, his smile widening. “It's just a painting of a superhero.”

“I know what your paintings usually sell for,” Brian muttered, pulling Justin closer. “This is a big deal. A real Justin Taylor.”

Justin shook his head in amusement, then rested it on Brian's shoulder. “So, you did your homework, huh?”

They had never really talked about Justin's art career before. Brian knew that he worked as an artist under an alias and he had seen Justin's studio in New York. By the size of the studio, he had guessed that Justin was a pretty successful artist, but that had pretty much been his whole interest in Justin's art career. Until he had found out about Justin's real identity.

He had then dug a bit deeper and had found out that Justin Taylor lived a very reclusive life and that no one had ever seen the artist or even knew where he lived. Which of course only added to the value of his artworks. The art world loved nothing more than an eccentric artist and a recluse that had never been seen by any art critic or had never done any interviews in person had created quite some mystery that had helped raise the price of his paintings.

Brian knew that Justin's paintings often sold for more than 20.000 – 30.000 dollars each and that most of his shows were sold out in minutes.

Now it was Brian's turn to shrug. “Just a bit... I just wanted to see how much value we're adding to the house by adding the mural,” Brian ended in soft laughter.

“You're unbelievable,” Justin laughed as well, turning around and facing Brian. He leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Not as unbelievable as you.”

They kissed for a minute, before they broke apart and focused back on Gus. The boy was still so happy with his mural and was still looking at all the details Justin had included.

Reluctantly, Justin pulled away from Brian. “I think I should check with Emmett and see that he doesn't need any help. I feel bad about him doing everything on his own when he should be a guest as well.”

“You've been spending an awful lot of time with Honeycutt this week,” Brian said, his voice sounding amused. “If I were that kind of man, I might get jealous.”

Justin laughed in response. “Nothing to be jealous about. I just really like him. I think he could be a good friend. He seems really nice. And because of what he and Drew went through, he really understands our situation... He's just really easy to talk to.”

“I am glad you two are getting on. I told you there were nice people in the family,” Brian said half-jokingly.

He knew that Justin was getting on pretty well with Debbie and Carl, Ted and Blake and now Emmett, but he also knew that it bothered the younger man that Michael and Lindsay were still pretty much giving him the cold shoulder. Well, not really bothering him. As far as Brian could see Justin wasn't too keen on either of the two anyway and didn't seem to like them all too much himself, something which Justin had already made obvious in regards to Michael at least during their meetings in New York, but he knew that Justin wanted to get on well with them for Brian's sake because he knew that they were Brian's friends and he didn't want to cause any trouble between Brian and his friends.

Justin smiled widely in reply to Brian's statement, then headed for the door and down to the kitchen, leaving Brian and Gus on their own.

Brian watched Gus' happy face for another minute, then left the room as well, joining his partner and Honeycutt in their kitchen, getting ready for their housewarming party later that evening.

***

“Wow, this house really is something,” Blake said, clearly impressed after he had been given the grand tour by Brian and Justin.

“It's definitely big,” Ben agreed, just as impressed as Blake seemed to be.

“And it even has its own name now,” Gus threw in, looking around the group of adults. “Like a real mansion.”

When everyone looked at him expectantly, he finally revealed the name. “Daddy and Justin call it Britin.”

There were some murmurings and slowly but surely person after person seemed to get the meaning of the name. “Ah... that's actually quite clever,” Ben said when he had gotten the meaning behind the name.

“Who came up with that?” Ted asked, looking from Brian to Justin and back.

“That was all Justin,” Brian nodded towards his partner at his side. “He's the one who names things in this relationship. Gus, Britin,...”

Justin hid his face behind his hands and groaned playfully. “Stop, you're embarrassing me.”

Brian kissed the side of Justin's head and pulled him closer.

“I don't get it,” Michael announced at that point, still looking confused. “What does it mean? Is that French?”

“Michael,” Debbie sighed, looking at her son in slight disappointment. “It's their names. Bri-an and Jus-tin... Britin...”

“Oh, okay,” he then muttered, looking as if he still wasn't sure what was so clever about it.

“Isn't it a bit pretentious to name your home? Then again, I am assuming that you would be used to living in palaces and mansions that are named, so... this must be quite a step down, right?” Lindsay said sweetly, though the sweet tone of her voice didn't match what had just been said at all.

“I don't know... you tell me?” Daphne said at that point, immediately growing to dislike the woman that she knew was Gus' mother. “Our last home in New York didn't have a name.”

“Ooooh, I like her,” Emmett said with a wide toothy grin, clapping his hands together happily. “Can I keep her and make her my bestie?”

She threw Emmett a wide smile, liking him a lot better than Lindsay.

“It was just some fun we had...coming up with a name,” Justin shrugged. “It's not something either of us insisted upon.”

“I think it's great, honey,” Debbie added at that point. “You should get a plaque or something and put it on that huge ass gate at the end of the driveway.”

After a few more minutes of polite conversation, the group broke up and people headed over to the buffet to get some food. New, smaller groups now popped up and Brian and Justin went from group to group to make small talk with everyone and to thank everyone for coming.

Brian was just talking to Lindsay, trying to tune out her constant harping about how she still hadn't heard anything about Prince Justinus being an artist and she was asking him again and again about the alias Justin had mentioned previously, when his eyes settled on Justin and Ben talking to each other.

He had no idea what they were talking about, but he could see that it was a friendly conversation. Both were smiling and seemed at ease with each other. Justin's eyes were shining and he looked happy and positively excited as he was saying something to Ben who was nodding eagerly in response.

As Brian watched their conversation, he finally understood what Ted had meant when he had said that there was something about Justin that put people at ease. No matter who, no matter what the topic of conversation was, Justin had been talking to pretty much every one of their guests over the course of that evening and everyone had been smiling, had been at ease and had seemed very relaxed talking to him.

Justin really had a way to make people forget about who he was and to just show interest in their life, what they had to say and to make them completely at ease when they were talking to him.

“Brian, are you even listening?” Lindsay whined when she noticed that Brian hadn't responded in a long time to anything she had said.

“Huh? No, not really...”

“But Brian,” Lindsay started, only to be ignored by Brian who left her where she was and walked towards Justin and Ben.

“I know, right? You'd think they would have thought of that in advance,” Justin nodded in response to something Ben had said, then stopped when he saw Brian coming over. “Hey,” he smiled, chuckling when Brian closed the distance between them and pulled Justin into a tight hug, then kissed him in front of everyone.

“I love you,” Brian said, not caring who heard. He really loved this man, who was so special on so many levels. He didn't care if the whole world knew.

Justin smiled happily, his eyes shining as they met Brian's. “I love you, too.”

“You are really amazing, you know that?” Brian whispered before he kissed Justin once more, effectively not giving him a chance to respond.

“Awwww, look at them. Aren't they cute?” Emmett said as he theatrically fanned himself.

“I am so happy for them,” Debbie could be heard saying at the same time.

“I don't think this is really appropriate in front of the children,” Lindsay pointed out, only to be interrupted by Michael.

“Really, you'd think that as a prince he'd know about the kind of behavior that is accepted in public.”

“How about you just keep your mouth shut and be happy that your best friend is obviously very much in love?” Ted muttered at that point, glad that neither Justin nor Brian had seemingly heard what had been said about them, both of them too caught up in their kiss.