Chapter 26

“Old MacDonald had a farm, Ee-I-Ee-I-O,

And on that farm he had a Cow, Ee-I-Ee I-O,

With a MOO MOO here, and a MOO MOO there,

Here a MOO, there a MOO, everywhere a MOO MOO!

Old MacDonald had a farm, Ee-I-Ee-I-O!”

Brian watched the little girl in his rearview mirror and couldn't help but shake his head in amusement when he saw how she was happily clapping her hands together and making the moo noises.

When the song moved on to the next animal and she continued singing along, he wondered how this had ever become his life.

Taking a four year old to kindergarten on his way to the office. Not that he minded. He loved Lizzie and he knew that she loved him.

Ever since Justin and Daphne had moved to Britin almost two years ago, Brian had become a part of her life and she had come as a package deal with Justin when they had decided to give their relationship a try.

Brian hadn't really been that involved in Gus' life when he had been that age and growing up. Yes, he had been by to see his son and had spent time with him, but that had mostly been visits every couple of days. He had never been involved in his son's life on a daily basis seeing how he had been raised by his mothers and Brian had only become more involved in his life a couple of years later when Gus had been older.

Watching Lizzie grow up, enjoying her enthusiasm, her happiness and her laughter, he sometimes felt bad about that and wished that he had been as big a part of his son's life back then as he was of her life now.

Of course there was no point in regretting anything as what had been done had been done and he was close to Gus now and the boy often spent time with him and Justin at Britin as well, and Brian knew that if it hadn't been for Justin's insistence to be a part of his daughter's life when she grew up, to be a hands on dad and not just a part time dad that left most of the work to Daphne, he would have never become step dad to a four year old.

But now that he was, he enjoyed it more than he had ever thought he would. He loved Lizzie and he loved when she stayed with him and Justin in their part of the house.

When Lizzie had been younger and Daphne had just started her studies at Carnegie Mellon, she had mostly stayed with Daphne in her apartment and Justin had gone over to spend time with her, take her to bed and all the other things he used to do, but the older she got, the more busy Daphne got with her studies, the more Lizzie had stayed with them in their part of the house.

Eventually she had gotten her own room in their part of the house as well and now she stayed with them as much as she did with Daphne. Not that it really made a lot of difference as both her parents lived in the same mansion and she saw them both every day.

Brian knew that in the beginning Justin had felt wary about Lizzie spending too much time at their part of the house, not sure how Brian would feel about having a two year old around all the time, but the more he had seen Brian and Lizzie bond and build a relationship, the more he had seen the loving way in which Brian treated his daughter, the more he knew that he had been ridiculous.

Justin loved watching Brian and Lizzie together, loved how much his daughter adored the man in his life. She loved Brian, thought he was the funniest person on the planet and he also loved seeing Brian when he spent time with Lizzie. Just as he did when he spent time with Gus, Brian got this carefree expression when he played with her, pretended to speak in funny voices, had huge pillow fights with her and Justin just loved seeing his partner that way.

Over time they had really become a family, Lizzie had also grown to love Gus and was looking forward to every time the boy would stay with them for a weekend and for longer periods during his school holidays.

The boy, as any boy that was so much older, was sometimes annoyed by the little girl and all the attention she demanded from him, but most of the time Gus really loved her and treated her as if she was another little sister. He would read to her, take her to bed in the evenings and play with her on the grounds. He was really good with her, really patient and both Brian and Justin had been impressed by how close their kids had become as well.

“Oink oink,” Brian interjected, not surprised when Lizzie looked at him in outrage a second later.

“BRIAN! No! The pigs say oink oink, not the chickens.”

Brian met the girl's eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled at her.

“I was just checking if you're paying attention.”

“Of course, I am!” She said, then crossed her arms. “The chickens say cluck cluck.”

Brian nodded, then joined the song again on the next verse. “Cluck cluck.”

Lizzie nodded in approval, then started singing along to the song once more herself.

Brian chuckled, then pulled into the parking lot outside the GLC's kindergarten. “How about we finish the song at home tonight?” He said, then turned to the girl in the backseat before he turned off the music.

“But it was almost over anyway. I want to listen to the whole song,” Lizzie whined.

“We're here now. And you know I have to go to work. I promise we'll sing the whole song tonight, princess.”

He then unbuckled his seat belt and moved out of the car. He walked around to the back door and opened it. Lizzie seemed to still think about what Brian had said as he helped her get out of her car seat.

“The whole song?”

“The whole song,” Brian nodded as he took her bag and then her hand and led her towards the entrance of the kindergarten.

“Okay,” she finally nodded, apparently happy with that promise.

Once the GLC had secured enough donations to start their kindergarten and school for children of LGBTQI+ parents, Justin had insisted that he wanted Lizzie to go to that kindergarten once she was old enough.

He had campaigned and fundraised for it and he considered it his duty to send his daughter to the kindergarten he had worked so hard for.

And really, he had been to private schools and boarding schools all his life and he didn't want a life like that for Lizzie. He wanted her in a normal kindergarten with other kids from normal families where she could make friends like everyone else.

At first it had been a bit hard to organize everything as they lived in West Virginia and 30 minutes away from the kindergarten, but between Brian, Justin and Daphne they had figured out a schedule.

Sometimes Daphne would drop her off on her way to classes or pick her up after her classes, sometimes Justin would take her and sometimes Brian would just take her on his way to the office. The GLC kindergarten was only a couple of blocks away from Kinnetik, so most days Brian at least did the morning run and dropped her off as he was headed in that direction anyway.

When they reached the door, he leaned down and gave the girl a hug. “You have fun today, okay, princess? And remember? Daddy will come and pick you up later.”

Lizzie nodded, remembering what her mommy and daddy had said earlier that day. Today Daddy would come by and pick her up. “Okay,” she said happily, then bounced off to hug a little friend of hers that had also arrived a minute ago.

Brian watched her for another few seconds, then went back to his car when he was sure that Lizzie was happy enough playing with her friend.

She loved going to kindergarten, had made some friends and loved her teachers. Every afternoon when they picked her up, she was nearly bursting with stories about all the exciting things she had done that day and Brian had to agree with Justin and Daphne that it had been a good idea to sign her up for the GLC kindergarten once it had opened.

***

“Brian? Have you heard anything from Justin?” Daphne got right to the point when Brian picked up her call on his cell at 3pm. He had just come out of a meeting and was surprised that Daphne would call him. She was supposed to be in a study group preparing for an important exam.

“Not since earlier this morning. Why?” He frowned, not sure why Daphne would be asking. Justin had wanted to paint that day, so he wasn't really surprised when he hadn't heard from him. When Justin got into the zone he forgot about everything else around him and would even forget to eat if Brian didn't make sure that he at least had dinner.

“The GLC just called. He didn't pick up Lizzie.”

Brian shook his head in slight amusement and rolled his eyes. “Oh Sunshine... he probably forgot the time while he was painting. You know how he can get.”

He heard Daphne sigh. “Yeah, I just wish he would have remembered today. He knew I had study group.”

“If you want, I can pick her up. I just had my last meeting for the day and can do the rest of my work from home.”

“Oh no, don't worry. I'll leave now and get her,” Daphne said, but stopped when Brian interrupted her.

“Don't be ridiculous, Daphne. It's not a problem. And I promised her a song anyway. It's okay. I'll leave now.”

“Are you sure?” Brian could hear that Daphne sounded unsure.

“Yeah, don't worry. It'll be fine. Sunshine will just have to live with the fact that I'll have to finish some work at home later. But since he's the one who forgot to pick her up, I think that's fair punishment.”

“Thanks, Brian! You're a lifesaver.”

“Don't worry about it. I'll be there in ten to pick her up.”

They ended their call and Brian picked up some files to take home with him. He let Cynthia and Ted know that he would leave early, then headed to pick up Lizzie.

When he arrived at the kindergarten, he sent a quick text to Justin to let him know that he was picking her up, just to make sure he wouldn't rush into town once he realized that he had forgotten to pick up Lizzie.

Lizzie was surprised to see him, but in the end she was happy enough about Brian picking her up and she was delighted when they sang Old MacDonald all the way home to Britin.

Once they arrived, they headed into the house and Brian called out for Justin. “Sunshine? We're home.”

Lizzie giggled, as she usually did when he called Justin sunshine. She loved that he called her daddy sunshine and it amused her every time.

Brian rolled his eyes at her, then frowned when Justin was nowhere to be found. “I think your Daddy might be hiding from us in his studio.”

“Daddy!” Lizzie called out for him as she headed up the stairs in the direction of his studio. Brian followed her, wondering what masterpiece his partner was working on that would have made him forget everything around him.

They were both surprised when Justin wasn't in his studio. “Where is Daddy, Brian?” Lizzie asked, as she turned to look at him from big eyes.

“Maybe he's outside enjoying the good weather. Let's go and look for him, princess,” Brian said, now feeling confused as well.

At least he had seen Justin's car in the garage, so knew that he hadn't left with the car and hadn't gotten himself into an accident. But where was he? And why had he forgotten about Lizzie? That wasn't like Justin at all. And while he wasn't concerned that Justin might have had an accident, Brian still felt concerned enough because Justin loved Lizzie above all else and this wasn't like him at all. At least not when painting wasn't involved.

They checked the pool, the garden, even headed in the direction of the forest, before they finally headed to the stables to look for Justin there.

In the end they found him grooming his horse, Thor. He was deep in thought and it took Brian and Lizzie three times before he reacted to them calling his name and turned around.

When he did and looked at them, his eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?” The younger man asked as he looked at his daughter and partner.

“I could ask you the same,” Brian said, looking at Justin in concern, taking in his pale complexion and the tense set of his jaw. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He knew it from just looking at Justin for a second.

“I am grooming Thor,” the younger man said quietly, then took his daughter in his arms when she ran towards him in greeting.

“Daddy! You forgot to pick me up,” she said accusingly as she looked at her father angrily, the happy greeting of a few seconds ago now all but forgotten. “Brian had to come and get me. We thought you would be painting.”

“What time is it?” Justin asked in obvious confusion as he looked at Brian for an answer.

“Almost 4pm,” the older man said, still trying to see if he could find out what was wrong from just looking at his partner.

“Shit,” Justin exclaimed, then looked chastised when his daughter immediately reprimanded him.

“Daddy! That's a bad word. You can't say that.”

Justin nodded, then turned towards her. “You're right. I am sorry, Lizzie. I shouldn't have said that. I just didn't realize it was already this late. I thought I still had some time before I had to leave to pick you up. I am sorry. I guess I didn't notice how time has passed.”

He ran his hands through her hair and gave her a little kiss. “I am sorry. I didn't mean to forget about the time. I should have checked my watch more often.”

Lizzie seemed happy enough with that apology and now snuggled into her father's chest. “It's okay, Daddy. Brian picked me up and we sang the whole Old Mac Donald song on the way home.”

“Did you?” Justin now smiled, then turned to Brian with obvious amusement in his eyes.

“We did. We did all the animals, Daddy! All of them.”

“Wow, that must have taken you quite some time.”

“It did, but it was good, wasn't it, Brian?”

“It was,” Brian agreed, smiling at the little girl. He then turned to meet Justin's gaze. “Are you done here?”

Justin put away the brush he had used, then nodded. “Yeah. Let's head back to the house and get a snack for you,” he said towards his daughter before he let her down to the floor again.

They walked back to the house and Justin smiled when he felt Brian's arm go around his waist, feeling the older man pulling him closer.

“You okay, Sunshine?” Brian asked quietly, so Lizzie wouldn't hear him. She was walking a couple of steps ahead, happily bouncing back to the house.

“No,” was all Justin said, before he rested his head on Brian's shoulder as they followed her.

“What happened?”

“I'll tell you later. I promise,” was all Justin said before he pulled back. He left a quick kiss on Brian's cheek, then followed Lizzie into the house.

Brian watched Justin closely for the rest of the day and while Lizzie didn't seem to notice anything wrong with her father, Brian saw the small things that showed him that something was seriously wrong. Justin spaced out every once in a while, not listening to what he or Lizzie were saying, his gaze getting unfocused, him obviously being lost in his own thoughts.

Justin went through all the motions, prepared dinner, laughed and smiled when Lizzie told him about her day, he gave her a bath and took her to bed as he usually would, but the whole time Brian could see that he was just putting on a show for his daughter's sake. Justin's thoughts were clearly somewhere else and the smiles never reached his eyes.

Before Lizzie went to bed, Brian told her a bedtime story, then headed to his office, allowing Justin and Daphne (who had come home by now) to take her to bed. Brian also assumed that Justin might talk to Daphne about whatever was going on. She was his best friend and while Brian also wanted to know what was eating at his sunshine, he knew that maybe his best friend was who Justin needed right now.

He tried not to feel jealous about their deep connection and instead tried to focus on the work he hadn't been able to finish at the office.

It was barely 8pm when the door to his study was opened and Justin peeked in.

“I didn't expect to see you for another hour or so,” Brian said, regretting the words the moment they had left his mouth and he saw Justin's reaction.

The younger man lowered his eyes and retreated back to the door. “Sorry, I should let you finish your work.”

Just as he was about to open the door, Brian got up from his chair and walked over, turning Justin around so the younger man would look at him.

“That's not what I meant, Sunshine. I just thought you would be talking to Daphne about whatever might be bothering you.”

Justin shook his head, then sighed. “I know I need to apologize to you first. I am sorry, Brian... I didn't mean to forget about Lizzie. I mean... fuck! I shouldn't have forgotten about the time. I know how busy you are and now you were stuck picking her up...”

Brian took Justin in his arms and pulled him close. “Hey... hey, calm down. I don't care about that. You know I don't mind picking her up. I worry about you. What happened?”

When Justin didn't say anything and just hid his face in Brian's shoulder, the older man rubbed his back gently.

“I know that something happened. You're shit at hiding it. Just let me know what it is. I am worried here.”

And when Justin spoke a few seconds later, his voice sounded weaker than Brian had ever heard it.

“My mother's secretary contacted me this morning. She is coming on a state visit to Washington soon and demands that I come to meet with her.”