Justin woke up in a familiar way, yet different than what he had become used to.

He was in Brian's arms, but Brian was pressed tightly against his back, and one of his hands was slowly stroking Justin's morning wood.

“One could get used to waking up like this,” Justin joked.

Brian didn’t answer, and after a few moments of listening carefully, Justin laughed quietly. Brian was clearly still asleep, judging by his deep breathing, yet he was jerking Justin in his slumber.

He slowly turned around, making Brian stir. Brian blinked sleepily, and Justin had never seen a more beautiful sight. The hazel of Brian's eyes never looked more alluring than when Brian woke up. It was a shade Justin had always loved to watch, and he had missed the look on Brian's face the first thing in the morning, the way he was all soft and warm.

“Morning,” Brian grunted, closing his eyes again.

“Now, who’s teasing, Mr. Kinney? You were jerking me off in your sleep.”

“I was?” Brian cracked an eyelid open.

“Yep.”

“I was dreaming of it,” he admitted, throwing an arm over his face. “What the fuck time is it? You wore me out last night.”

Justin laughed, amused at Brian's antics. He checked the clock on the bedside table. It wasn’t even six in the morning, and Justin had never felt more energized or awake. They had slept only a few hours.

“It’s early,” he said softly.

“The sun isn’t even up. I thought you liked to sleep-in,” Brian slurred out.

“I don’t know how much we slept, but I feel so alive.”

“Go, feel alive somewhere else.” Brian rolled around, dragging a pillow over his head. “I want to feel dead in bed.”

Justin was tempted to touch and squeeze Brian's ass, but he refrained. He dragged his body out of the bed, before he disturbed Brian's sleep some more by caving to his hot body.

After a quick shower, he went downstairs to make coffee. Once he had a steaming mug, he took it, along with his sketchpad and a pencil to the back porch. Justin sat in the rocker, watching the birds chirping happily in a tree nearby.

Justin had not taken a moment to enjoy the beauty of the manor before. He had taken every moment spent here for granted.

He wanted to live to the fullest of the potential this estate provided.

They had to talk about buying horses. Justin remembered he had taken lessons when he was little during his visits to the country club with his family.

They would get Nick a pony.

Justin wanted to revive the garden and learn about taking care of flowers, because he wanted to have a variety of them.

The pool had to be cleaned, because he wanted pool parties with their friends. They could even host some of the family gatherings, usually held at Debbie’s, or Michael’s, in recent years.

They had to look into buying a swing set and maybe a sandbox for Nick.

And maybe he could convince Brian about adopting a dog. Nick loved dogs. Their neighbor in New York had a small one, and Nick always played with her.

The overwhelming feeling of how much he missed his son had Justin check the time before calling Debbie.

He had spent about two hours daydreaming, and now it was close to eight, which was a decent time to make a phone call.

Several rings later, Debbie answered. “Good morning, Justin!”

“Hi! How did you know it was me?”

“These cellphones have caller ID, you know? It took Michael and Brian a while to convince me about how useful they are.”

“Oh, I didn’t even realize when Brian gave me the number. How was Nick yesterday?”

“He sulked around for a while. If it wasn’t so heartbreaking, it would have been hilarious. Do you remember how Vic would shuffle around the house, mumbling about being a burden?”

“Yeah…” Justin wasn’t sure how Nick’s behavior was similar to Vic’s.

“Well, Nick held his toy while sitting in the armchair, rocking back and forth. He shuffled to the table when I prodded him to eat something. It took several attempts to convince him the lasagna wasn’t poisoned. Then Carl tried to cheer him up. Nothing worked – he didn’t want to watch TV, or play cards, or chess.”

“He doesn’t even know how to play any of these games,” Justin interjected. “He doesn’t like TV much. And maybe I should have told you he doesn’t eat much…and only specific things.”

“Don’t worry. He loved the lasagna once he tasted it.”

“Maybe I’ll leave him with you more often if you can convince him to try different foods. Uh, in the morning he only eats cereal from the box, no milk.”

“I’m making pancakes as we speak,” Debbie said cheerfully. “He’ll eat them.”

Justin sipped from his coffee, wondering what sort of miracles Debbie could work. Justin and Ethan had failed to convince Nick to try new foods.

“When it was near bedtime, Carl suggested Nick should have a bath. Color us shocked when Nick said he was going to shower like Brian taught him.”

Justin laughed. “Yeah, I’m forever grateful he accepted Brian's suggestion. Fuck, Deb. He might appear to be a good kid, but he’s fucking difficult. I mean he behaves and is obedient, but put him in front of a new situation, and it will be like trying to convince a statue to move.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” she said softly.

“What? No. I’m not like that. I’ve always been friendly with new people I met, I didn’t shy away from trying new stuff,” Justin protested.

“Not you, Sunshine. It sounds a lot like Brian.”

Justin stared at the horizon, shocked to the bones. “Fuck. You’re so right. I didn’t see it until you pointed it out. Of course, they’re both stubborn as fuck. Nick is actually born three days after Brian, we just discovered this the other day.”

“Now you know how to approach such challenges with your son.”

“It doesn’t work. We’ve tried to shove him into new situations, and it backfired. But now that you pointed out how alike he is with Brian…and considering Brian convinced him water isn’t the devil, after all…Brian can help in such situations.”

“Brian won’t do shit,” Brian muttered from the back door. “Fuck, it’s cold outside.” He disappeared back inside.

“I guess, Grumpy is awake,” Justin joked.

“Enjoy your weekend. You know, we can keep Nick here one more day,” Debbie reminded him.

“He’ll never forgive me,” Justin mumbled, when Brian returned with the throw from the couch wrapped around his shoulders.

He was barefoot, holding his mug of coffee and a box of cigarettes.

“He’ll understand. I know you kids have a lot to talk about.”

“Thank you, Deb. I’ll let you know when we come to get Nick. Tell him I said ‘hi’ and that I love him.”

“I will. Have fun!”

Justin chuckled, as he said goodbye, ending the call.

“Time to get Sunshine Junior back?” Brian asked through a yawn.

“Debbie just said she doesn’t mind keeping him there one more day.”

“What about you? What about his tantrum last night?”

Justin shrugged, prying the cigarette from Brian's fingers. “I want to be selfish for once in my life.”

“It’s not your style. We could get him in the evening. That way, we have the whole day together.” Brian lifted a brow.

“Why do I get the feeling that you want him back more than me?” Justin asked, amused.

“I told you, I like your kid.”

“I like your kid, too,” Justin replied, grinning.

“You’re such a twat, Sunshine.”

Justin elbowed him, laughing. He passed the cigarette back to Brian, who picked it between his thumb and middle finger.

“Plans for today?” Justin asked, watching fascinated the round circles of smoke Brian puffed out of his mouth.

“Fucking.”

“Aside from that.”

Brian raised a brow. “What are your plans?” he retorted.

“Fucking…” Justin repeated Brian's word. “…you,” he added softly.

Brian rolled his eyes. “Of course. There are cobwebs up my ass, too.”

“I promise to dust it up and be just as gentle as you were.” Justin leaned into Brian's side, kissing his cheek.

Brian clicked his tongue, not finding the conversation entertaining. He sipped from his coffee, stretching and crossing his legs in front of him.

Justin sneaked a hand under the blanket on Brian's shoulders. “I can’t believe you let this place become so…wild.”

“Wild?” Brian repeated, peering down at him.

“Yeah.” Justin took a moment to accept the cigarette pressed to his lips, filling his lungs with nicotine. “Uh, all these rooms in the house, they all look unused and there’s so much dust everywhere. Don’t get me started on the deplorable state of the backyard, or the pool.”

“I only ever use three rooms – the bedroom, living room, and on rare occasions, the kitchen.” Brian waved the hand holding the cigarette making ash fly everywhere. “Do I look like a fucking gardener to you? As for the pool…I never used it. Except those select two times when you insisted for a dip that first summer.”

“My God,” Justin moaned. He held his mug between his palms, frowning at the backyard. “I have so many plans. I was just thinking earlier of everything I wanted to do.”

“All yours,” Brian said softly. “We can hire a gardener, someone to clean the pool, and I can get a cleaning lady.”

“I thought you already had one.”

“Yeah, at the loft. It’s not difficult to maintain three rooms clean, you know?”

“I’ll do it – all of it. I promise to let you know when I can’t do it on my own, but I want to bring life back to this place. Well, maybe we can find someone to clean the pool, I have no idea what to do with it.”

Brian nodded. “Anything you want. We can also repaint the guest bedroom and turn it into Nick’s room. Maybe we could repaint Gus’s room, too. He definitely outgrew the fluffy clouds you painting on that wall.”

“Hey, I spent an entire weekend doing that mural. And I remember how happy Gus was to see it.”

“He was six, back then,” Brian said gently.

“And I want horses. What’s the point of buying a house with stables if we don’t get horses?”

“Opulence?” Brian joked.

Justin snorted, pressing his cheek against Brian's shoulder, rubbing a hand over Brian's arm. “I’m so ready to start our lives together. It’s about time we do this correctly.”

The smell of dust combined with sweat and never washed cloth filled Justin's nostrils. He sneezed, pulling away from Brian. He eyed the blanket dubiously.

“When is the last time this thing was washed?”

“Never?”

Justin tried not barf into his mouth. “Christ.” He sneezed again. “I think it triggered half of my allergies. Take it off.”

“It’s fucking freezing here.” Brian finished his smoke, emptying his cup of coffee.

“Then let’s move inside. And leave this thing by the laundry room, I’ll wash it later.”

“What are you doing?” Brian asked, confused when Justin rummaged through his box of meds, sitting on the counter in the kitchen.

“Taking something so I don’t die before I get back inside your ass.”

“You’re such a Drama Princess.”

Justin washed off two pills with a tall glass of water. “I’ve learned from a young age to be responsible about my allergies. I think the only time I almost fucked up was when I moved into Ethan’s studio. I didn’t have money to get the prescription and I believed I’d be fine.”

Brian turned him around, keeping his hands on Justin's shoulders. “You never told me about this.”

“Why would I burden you with my silliness? It took an emergency run to the nearest pharmacy to get an epi pen for me to swallow my pride and ask Mom for money to get my meds. To this day, I don’t know what triggered that attack, but it freaked me out.”

“I remember how religious you were about your pills. It was these little things that showed me what a responsible kid you were.”

Justin cracked a smile. “No one wants to die, Brian. Maybe I’m being dramatic, but when a doctor tells a five year old child the severe consequence if they don’t follow the instruction to the dot…it was traumatic for me to hear I wasn’t normal and I would never be normal.” Justin leaned back against the counter, cupping Brian's elbows, meeting his eyes. “I have no idea how you felt when the doctor told you about the cancer, but for me, it felt like the end of the world. Did I mention I was five?”

“Yeah, you were about Nick’s age. I was over thirty when I had that shock.”

“I understood more than he does. I remember I had lost my grandad not long before we discovered my allergies. And the reason I’m seriously considering therapy for Nick is the fact that he’s in denial. My dad sat me down and explained what happened to grandpa, then there was the funeral…and several weeks later, the doctor told me I could die if I didn’t take my meds.”

“Fucking doctors. That’s why childhood trauma is terrible to heal.”

“What I’m saying is that I understood the situation.”

“Nick will do, too.”

Justin shook his head, wrapping his arms around Brian. “I’m not so sure. After his latest tantrum about his tradition to eat fast-food with Ethan…”

“We can start a new tradition. Do you still want to take him to a fast-food restaurant later?” Brian asked softly.

“Yeah, that’s the plan. And then to the park. I miss walking through a park. We used to go to Central Park almost every weekend.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I tried to make Nick’s life as happy as possible…”

“Especially when yours wasn’t,” Brian pointed out.

Justin leaned his head back to look at Brian. “I was happy, Brian. Even if I created this beautiful life in my head, I can’t say I wasn’t happy. It was just a dull life. I don’t know how to explain…nothing exciting happened.” He bit his lip, smiling. “I know, to you it won’t matter we have a kid under the roof, and that won’t affect our sex life. Let’s leave it at…apart from the bedroom, we had only twice used other places in the condo.”

“You got that right. Fucking in a bed can get boring.” Brian traced the tips of his fingers over Justin's arm. “Time to rectify it.”