“We can take him with us to the main hotel,” Jennifer insisted.

“No, Mom. Nick stays here with us.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“I know, but he won’t stay with you. Trust me.” Justin steered her to the front door of the cabana. “Besides, he’s sleeping. You want to take him away from me when he’s sleeping to wake up without me. The whole northern hemisphere will hear about it.”

“Okay, okay. I’ll see you in the morning.” She hurried to Drew’s car, where the others were waiting to head to the main lodging.

Brian joined Justin at the door, placing his hands on Justin’s shoulders. He pulled Justin back against his chest, wrapping an arm around him.

“Alone, at last.”

“Not quite,” Justin reminded him softly.

Brian grimaced. “Right. What was in my head to invite everyone?”

Justin turned into his embrace, wrapping his arms around Brian’s neck. “I think it’s sweet. Although, I’m looking forward to that trip we want to take…just the two of us.”

“Shit. I have to make reservations. You have no idea how difficult it is to find accommodation and tickets to the White Party so late in the year.”

“I’m sure you can find something. I don’t even need a fancy hotel,” Justin promised, kissing Brian’s mouth.

“I need a fancy hotel, Sunshine.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “Of course, you do. What about the trip with the boys?”

“I’m not sure. Do you really want Orlando? I’m not joking that you won’t catch either me or Gus stepping foot in that thing ever again.”

“What about me?” Gus asked from behind them.

Justin pulled away, turning to face Gus. “We were thinking of going to Florida this summer. You’re coming with us.”

Gus brightened. “Oh! Really? That’s cool.”

“Don’t get so excited. You might end up with your sister along with her daddies at Disney.” Brian smirked when Gus paled.

“Oh…” He scowled. “Well…if you want to take Nick there, I don’t mind. But make sure to forget me home.”

“See? The hate toward Disney is mutual,” Brian said cheerfully.

Justin tried not to laugh. “Okay, okay. We’ll rethink it.”

“Good.” Brian combed his fingers through Justin’s hair. “It’s packed and it will do wonders to your anxiety.”

“I didn’t even think about it,” Justin gasped. “Yup. Not happening.”

Brian pursed his lips, not happy Justin couldn’t enjoy something he really wanted to experience apparently.

“So, I’ll take the couch. If you can take Nick from there.” Gus waved to the living room.

Brian saluted him military style. “At your service, your majesty.”

“I’ll get him,” Justin said, but he managed only two steps before Brian stalled him.

“Allow me.”

Gus moved closer and hugged Justin tightly. “You have no idea how happy I am you are back. I might be the only person Dad talked to about you, but he always said praises and that you made the best choice for your future.”

Tears sprung into Justin’s eyes. “He’s been too kind,” he mumbled, watching as Brian carried a still sleeping Nick up the stairs. “I better go. Good night, Gus.” He kissed the boy’s forehead.

In their room, Brian was tucking Nick onto the fold-out sofa.

“Oh, I thought he would sleep with us,” Justin whispered.

“You’d kick both of us out of the bed at the way you move in your sleep,” Brian joked.

“Admit it. You want the bed to ourselves for other reasons.”

Brian stared incredulously at Justin. “Maybe you are the deranged one out of the two of us. Your child is right here!” Brian pointed to Nick.

Justin could feel his face burning in embarrassment. “Shit. I’m a monster.”

“No, you’re just horny.” Brian kissed him slowly.

They took their time to get in bed. Justin went to get water from the kitchen and bumped into Melanie, and they chatted for a while. When he returned to their room, Nick was awake and asking about him.

Brian freed the spot next to Nick, and Justin took it gratefully.

“Where is everyone?” Nick asked sleepily.

“They went to the main hotel. They’ll be back in the morning.”

Then Nick fell back on the sofa and went back to sleep.

“That’s so like you,” Brian laughed. “I’d believe you are awake and start talking to you, then you’d be fast asleep the next second.”

“It’s a gift,” Justin said, amused. “I had no idea how inconvenient this was until I was confronted with the situation when waking Nick…or when he woke up during the night.” Justin pulled his shirt off and got in bed next to Brian. “For his birthday last year, we had planned to visit the Statue of Liberty. We woke up late, and while I made sure we had everything packed for the day trip, Ethan went to wake Nick, who even promised to be dressed in ten minutes tops.” Justin palmed his face.

“I saw how he gets dressed by himself…” Brian chuckled. “He still needs assistance.”

“Yeah, well…at least, he’s trying. So there we are waiting for Nick, when I go thundering into his room to scold him for tardiness. Obviously he was fast asleep, and I wanted to strangle both him and Ethan. We were on a tight schedule to catch the ferry taking us on the island.”

“Which you missed.”

“We didn’t even leave the house because Nick said ‘Fuck the statue,’ and turned on his other side when I kept trying to wake him.”

Brian laughed silently. “Did he actually say that word?”

Justin grimaced. “Yes. Sadly, he knows a colorful variety of swear words from me.”

Brian held his palm up. “High five,” he said, amused, when Justin stared at his hand. “I brought you up well. Gus learned how to curse from me.”

“You know this is not something to be proud of?” Justin rolled his eyes, intertwining his fingers with Brian’s.

“Pride is a sin, but I’m going to Hell anyway.”

“No, you’re not,” Justin whispered hotly.

Brian pushed Justin until he was laying in the bed and got on top of him, kissing him wetly.

“I thought we agreed to not fuck,” Justin said into Brian’s mouth.

Brian groaned, flopping on his back. “My one reminding ball might fall off.”

“Don’t be dramatic.” Justin slapped the back of his hand to Brian’s chest. “Sleep.”

#

Brian was up after what felt like a few minutes of sleep, but his phone told him he had slept for about three hours. For reasons he wasn't sure, he craved some of his cake. Debbie had outdone herself in baking him a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and melted chocolate. Considering he rarely indulged himself sweets, Brian decided to enjoy his birthday weekend with more cake.

“Where you going?” Justin slurred, cracking an eye open.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll be back in a minute.” Brian kissed Justin’s brow, convinced Justin wasn’t fully awake.

Brian tried to make as little noise as possible on his way to the kitchen, considering the living room was a few feet away and the area was an open space. He could hear Gus sleeping soundly on the sofa.

Brian grabbed the last piece of cake, leaned against the counter, as he ate from the plate.

He allowed his mind to wander to his promise to himself and to Justin about settling down. The idea had never brought him such a sense of calm as it did in that moment. He was ready to embrace his life as a family man.

Brian tried not to think of the things his friends would say when they figured out what was going on, but he didn’t care. He had never cared what others thought because he had always lived his life the way he wanted. There was not much he regretted from his past, maybe only the way he had treated Justin and how he hadn’t realized what he had in his relationship with Justin. And when he did, it had been too late, because he lost Justin.

“I can’t believe it.” Justin's shocked whisper pulled Brian from his thoughts. “You snuck out of bed to eat cake at three in the morning.”

“It’s some damn good cake,” Brian said defensively. He offered his fork to Justin, who accepted it.

They ate in silence, until Brian chuckled, placing the empty plate in the sink.

“You have a big smudge of chocolate on your nose,” he whispered, and before Justin could clean his nose, Brian leaned down and licked the chocolate.

That gesture made Justin attack him with hot kisses and his hands all over Brian’s body.

Brian turned him around, bending Justin over the counter. He pushed a hand inside Justin’s sleep pants, not surprised to discover the lack of underwear. His fingers went to Justin’s hole, who gasped loudly.

“Shhh,” Brian hissed.

“Fuck,” Justin breathed. “Tell me you have a condom.”

“I don’t, but I could get one,” Brian said slowly. He rolled Justin’s sleep pants down and knelt behind him. He parted his ass, licking at his hole.

“Fuck the condom.” Justin pushed back into Brian’s tongue. “You wanted it raw yesterday.”

Brian pushed a finger into Justin, feeling his balls already drawing up. The tight knot in his stomach was ready to spring free, and he hadn’t even gotten inside Justin.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Fuck, yes.”

Brian went back to rimming his partner, trying not to think too much about what they were about to do. It was a big step.

When he deemed Justin somewhat ready, Brian stood. He pressed against Justin’s back, pushing his clothed erection into his ass. “I’m going to fuck you so hard.”

A cushion collided with the back of Brian’s head. It made him turn into the direction it came from. Gus had a hand in the air. The only thing visible from behind the back of the couch.

“Why did you stop?” Justin moaned, turning to stare with wild eyes at Brian.

Brian nodded to the sofa. Now Gus had his middle finger in the air.

“Sorry, kiddo,” Brian said, while Justin pulled his pants up hastily.

“I’ll need eons of therapy,” Gus grunted.

Justin tugged Brian back upstairs, and stopped on the top floor landing. He leaned against a wall. “Fuck, that was embarrassing.”

“You’re still hard,” Brian said into his ear, pushing him into the wall.

“Do you want someone else to walk in on us?”

“Everyone is asleep.” Brian slipped a hand in the front of Justin’s pants to rub his dick. “I’m going to fuck you.”

Justin pushed his pants down enough to give Brian access to his ass. They used spit and precum as lube. Justin wrapped his legs around Brian as Brian lifted him up, nudging his hole with the wet tip of his dick.

“My God!”

Justin threw his head back, glaring at the ceiling because all deities were against them fucking.

Lindsay was in the middle of the hallway, her hands over her eyes.

“If I told you to pass by like nothing is happening, would you?” Brian hissed through his teeth.

It took all of his strength to keep from breaching Justin and go to the Promised Land.

“You’re…What if one of the kids sees you?”

Justin squirmed, attempting to get down, but all that he managed was to make the tip of Brian’s dick slip inside him.

“Fuck,” Brian spat, pulling away.

Justin turned around to rearrange his clothes. “Sorry, Lindsay.”

“I need a cold shower,” Brian muttered, heading into their room.

If this was a sign about them not fucking raw, he understood it clearly.

Justin joined him in their room, throwing himself on the bed, face down.

“I want to die.”

“Don’t be a twat. You want to come, there’s a difference.”

“I’m so fucking horny, thanks for that,” he mumbled into the pillow.

“We have an adjoined bathroom.” Brian pointed to the door, which he noticed it was open, and light spilling from inside the room. Then he saw Nick wasn’t on the sofa.

He went to check if the boy was in the bathroom, and sure enough, he found him washing his hands.

“I had to potty,” Nick explained. “I think I have the runnies.”

“I WANT TO DIE!” Justin yelled.

Brian rolled his eyes, taking Nick back to his bed. “Did you pack meds?”

“My bag of pills is there, but I don’t have anything for diarrhea for sure. You packed, dear,” Justin sneered, rolling out of the bed. “How bad is it?” He joined his son.

“My tummy hurts.”

“I figured that. I mean…how did you poop?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then you’re constipated. You don’t have the runnies,” Justin groaned. “I told you not to eat two pieces of chocolate cake.”

“But it was soo good.” Nick pouted, coiling into himself.

“It’s true,” Brian agreed.

“I’m going to check if Lindsay has anything,” Justin mumbled.

Brian sat next to Nick, rubbing his back. “We’re sorry we weren’t here when you woke up.”

“Where were you?” he inquired.

“We ate cake,” Brian admitted part of the truth.

“It hurts,” Nick moaned.

Brian pulled the boy on his lap, rubbing his tummy. “Justin is trying to find something to help you.”

By the time Justin returned, Nick had dozed off.

“I only got some tea from Ben. I had to brew it and cool it,” he explained in a whisper. “How is he?”

“In pain,” Nick said into Brian’s shoulder.

“Aw, baby. Come here. Drink from this cup.” Justin handed his son the cup of tea, warily. He knew how Nick didn’t like tea, but he accepted anything to get better.

Nick sniffed at the aroma coming from the tea. “Smells nice.”

Justin sighed in relief.

Brian watched the whole scene intrigued. Nick sipped from the cup, then took several big gulps.

“I don’t feel anything.”

“It’s not instant,” Justin groaned. “Give it a few minutes.” He sat on Nick’s other side, wrapping an arm around both him and Brian.

“It reminds me of a special tea you tried to force on me.”

“At least, we know this one will work. Ben drinks it all the time,” Justin said seriously.

A few sips later, Nick handed Brian the cup.

“I don’t need it, you have to drink it all.”

“Yucky.”

“You want to get better? This will help,” Brian insisted.

“Just put the cup to your mouth and down the whole thing,” Justin encouraged him, stroking his back. “And no more chocolate for you.”

Nick pouted, staring desolate in the cup, then did as Justin instructed. He shuddered, pushing the empty cup in Brian’s hands.

Brian placed it on the arm of the sofa, taking both father and son in his arms. “Try to sleep.”

In reality, it was Justin who ended up asleep. Nick stirred after about an hour of shut eye, glancing at Brian.

“Need to go?” Brian checked.

“I think so. Come with me?”

These were things Brian hadn’t experienced with Gus, but Lindsay had told him life with a child was unpredictable and had good and bad moments. Brian guessed these were the bad moments.

When he found himself closed in the bathroom with Nick stinking up the whole room, Brian realized why he had never wanted children.

Once Nick was done, they went to bed. They left Justin asleep on the sofa, while they got under the blanket on the bed.