Morning brought a sight for the sore eyes for Justin. He wasn’t sure where he was at first then he realized he had fallen asleep on the sofa. He looked around and found Nick and Brian snuggled in bed under the blanket, fast asleep.

Justin hoped his son had learned his lesson about eating so much chocolate, but he knew it would happen again.

He made his way downstairs, and found Ben with Gus at the kitchen table. Gus shot him a disgusted look, and Justin winced, working on coffee.

“Morning,” Ben greeted him.

“Morning.” Justin brought his cup of freshly brewed coffee to the table, sitting next to Gus. “We’re sorry about last night.”

“Yeah, right.”

“If you want to know, karma worked wonders because Nick didn’t feel well.”

Gus took a sip from his orange juice. “Oh, no! What happened?”

“Too much cake. By the way, thank you so much, Ben. I’m never letting Brian pack for trips.”

“Did it work?”

“I have no idea. I fell asleep.” Justin felt terrible while admitting that. “He drank the cup of tea I made him.”

“Did you make him a whole cup?”

“Yes.”

Ben pursed his lips. “Didn’t I say half of it? I don’t remember.”

“You didn’t, but since he’s sleeping, I believe it worked. The last time this happened was on Christmas last year, and he kept us up the whole night,” Justin explained.

“What’s the plan for today?” Gus asked.

“Our plane leaves at five,” Justin said. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. See what’s around this resort.” He shrugged, finishing his juice.

“I’ll go and check if Michael and Jenny are awake,” Ben decided, getting up.

“I’m really sorry about last night,” Justin insisted when it was just him and Gus.

“Whatever. It was funny. At first, I thought I was hearing things.” He grimaced, meeting Justin’s eyes. “Can’t say I wanted to hear that, but it wasn’t worse than hearing my moms.”

Justin shuddered. Poor kid had to grow up with two lesbians under the roof and hear them going at it.

“Anyway, I heard you wanted to see one Mr. Garrett in concert. I might be able to get tickets,” Justin said cheerfully.

“Yeah? Really?” Gus stared at him in awe.

“Yeah.” Justin nodded emphatically. “I’m not sure what city, but I hope it’s not a problem if I can't find tickets for Pittsburgh or Toronto.”

“New York is fine, too,” Gus quipped.

“Well, it might be another city. I’ll let you know.”

“Just get the tickets. I don’t care where we go. Just us? Or should we ask Dad, too?”

“Uh, he’s not a fan,” Justin said softly.

“Yeah, I know. He bitched a lot a couple years ago when I started taking cello lessons. I’m even afraid to tell him my new thing is violin, all thanks to discovering artists like Garrett and Rieu.”

Justin smiled, knowing deep down that Lindsay and Melanie had done the correct thing in upbringing Gus, but Brian wouldn’t appreciate it.

“They’re pretty amazing, huh? I also like Lindsey Stirling,” Justin told Gus.

“Oh, yes! She’s awesome! And pretty, too.”

Justin rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”

Gus snorted. “I forgot who I was talking to. I can talk girls with my moms, but not with Dad…or you, apparently.” He pouted.

“Hey, I’m just saying I don’t see it.” Justin cupped Gus’s shoulder, but Gus shrugged him off.

“Don’t start,” he groaned. “And don’t tell Dad.”

“Tell me what?” Brian asked from the doorway. He had Nick in his arms, clinging to him like a monkey.

Justin hurried to take his son. “Hey, baby. Did you sleep well? How are you feeling?” He also made sure to step on Brian’s foot when he was about to answer for himself.

Nick turned to Justin, who picked him in his arms. “Better,” he mumbled into Justin’s neck. “I want home.”

“I know Drew wanted to leave after breakfast,” Brian said. “If you want to go with him…”

“I’m not sure. I mean, what about you?” Justin touched Brian’s elbow, looking at him, worried.

“I’m a big boy. I’ll arrive home before you, anyway.”

“That’s the thing. I’d rather get Nick a plane ticket and have him fly with us.”

“Let me get one,” Brian said, sitting next to Gus. “Morning, kiddo.”

Justin took Nick to the couch. “Does it still hurt?”

Nick shook his head, burrowing further into Justin, which meant he was close to falling back asleep.

“Brian was real nice. He came with me last night.”

Justin felt awful for not being awake when his son needed him, and Brian had to be stuck with Nick in the bathroom. He knew first-hand how that was.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“It’s cool, Daddy. Brian was there.”

Justin rubbed his back, refraining from saying he should have been there, not Brian. But according to Brian, he wanted to adopt Nick, so he had to be involved in the good and the bad. This was the worst.

Nick’s heavy breathing led Justin to believe he had fallen asleep.

Brian joined them several minutes later. He handed him the cup of coffee he had forgotten in the kitchen. “I got Nick a ticket for our flight.”

“Thank you. For last night, too.” Justin winced, sipping from his cup. “He’ll be fine.”

“I know. He’s a tough kid.”

Gus came to sit on Justin’s other side. “I’ll text you my email address to keep me informed about the ticket.”

“Sure. I’ll call one of my friends tomorrow…granted, if he can work miracles. Don’t get your hopes up,” Justin warned.

Gus nodded somberly, and Justin knew he had to do everything in his power to find tickets to the concert.

Gus focused on his phone, and Brian caught Justin’s eyes, lifting a brow.

“You know what Lindsay told us about the concert Gus wants to attend…” Justin mouthed.

“Oh.” That was all Brian had to say, and Justin understood him. Part of Brian’s hatred toward classical music was because of him.

#

“Briaaaan, your phone,” Justin shouted.

All he wanted was to sleep for another hour, but it seemed that someone had lost Brian at the crack of dawn.

Brian hurried from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He snatched his phone from the charger.

“Good morning, Cynthia,” he said so sweetly, Justin could taste the sarcasm. “Fuck. That sucks.” Brian pulled the towel from his body to dry his hair. “What’s his name again? Right. Of course. Okay, we’ll handle it. You take care.”

Justin watched as Brian threw his phone on the bed, finishing drying himself. “Everything okay?”

“It’s Daniel’s first day. And she can’t make it.”

“The new guy? Her help?” Justin asked, rolling on his back and closing his eyes.

“Yeah. I can’t babysit his ass. I have three meetings and he won’t know shit.”

“But what’s wrong with Cynthia?”

“The happy time of the month.”

“I’m sure it’s unhappy if she’s staying home,” Justin mumbled.

“Don’t fall asleep. You’re taking Nick to school today.” Brian threw the damp towel at Justin.

Justin groaned, pushing the towel away. “A few more minutes of sleep.”

Brian focused on getting dressed, casting amused glances at Justin who managed to fall back asleep. He went to check on Nick, and found the little boy in his bathroom, attempting to brush his teeth.

“Morning. Need help?” Brian asked from the doorway.

Nick shook his head, toothpaste dripping down his chin.

“I’ll be downstairs. Your dad is still sleeping.”

Nick showed him a thumb up, grinning around his toothbrush.

When Brian made it downstairs, he checked his phone again, noticing Cynthia had sent him details about Damian and his phone number, with a PS begging Brian to go easy on him because she didn’t want the kid to quit from the first day.

“I know what I want for my birthday,” Nick said loudly, joining Brian in the kitchen.

“What’s that?” Brian asked, distracted, as he worked on coffee and wrote Ted a lengthy text message about being on babysitting duties today.

“Sleep,” Nick explained. “I want to sleep.”

Brian laughed, turning to face the boy who looked barely awake. He was so alike Justin in that department. “School lets out for the summer this Friday. Anyway, you have to get used to this. You’ll have to wake up early when you get older.”

“No, I have a plan. I’m going to own my company and sleep until noon.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Nick. I own my company, and I have to get there at the same time as everyone, sometimes earlier…and there are long hours after the shift ends.”

“Adult life sucks,” Nick sighed loudly.

“You got that right.” Brian poured himself coffee, sitting next to Nick at the table. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I want to sleep for eternity.”

“Same,” Justin grumbled, joining them. He leaned over Brian to kiss his lips.

“Like I was saying, school lets out this Friday,” Brian insisted.

“And I’ll be busy with the show. I’m not ready. I have one more painting to finish,” Justin said, trying not to panic.

“Do I have to wake up early for the party on Saturday?” Nick asked in a wary voice.

“Yeah, but not this early,” Justin explained. “You’ll get to sleep in for three months after this.”

Brian lifted a brow at him, because there were going to be days when they would have to be up early. Especially if they went on holiday.

#

By the time Brian made it to Kinnetik, he was already on the phone with his first client who wanted to come earlier.

“Of course, Mark. I just arrived, and we can hold the meeting as soon as you can,” Brian promised his old client. Though, on the inside, he was having a meltdown because he knew the Art Department didn’t have anything ready.

When he stepped into his office, he found a Starbucks cup of coffee next to his laptop. He couldn’t remember having a to-go coffee on Friday, or leaving the mess behind.

“Okay, I’ll be there in fifteen,” Mark said.

After hanging up, Brian sat down, ready to dispose of the cup only to notice it was hot.

“Good morning, Mr. Kinney,” a small voice said from the partition leading to Cynthia’s desk.

A young boy made his way to him, looking ready to shit his pants. Brian had no idea what Cynthia had told this kid about their boss, but he seemed terrified.

Brian opened the lid of the coffee, amazed to find an Americano mixed with milk by the looks of the color.

“A tall Americano with almond milk, and three packs of sugar. Ms. Morrison said it’s the way you drink it.”

“Thank you. I’m sure Cynthia also told you she’s not making it today.”

The boy nodded fearfully.

Brian sighed because being thrown into a busy day of the kid’s first day wasn’t fun. He could clearly remember his first day at the first ad agency he had worked at. He was treated like shit and the boss turned out to be a big asshole. Brian promised himself to be patient with this boy.

He picked the landline phone’s receiver then dialed an interior number. The call connected after two rings.

“Morning, boss,” Ted’s amused voice answered.

“Good morning, Theodore. Where is Amy?”

“Probably running late. I’m at her desk with Steward. Do you need anything?”

“I need someone to show the new kid how to prepare the meeting room for my first client. In five minutes,” he added.

“I’ll do it. Where’s Cynthia?”

“Not coming today. He’s in my office now,” Brian said then hung up. He met the boy’s wide, black eyes. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t pour coffee on anyone.”

He nodded seriously. “I used to bus tables in college.”

“Sweet. You have that in common with my partner,” Brian joked. “Let’s get through this first meeting then I will show you around,” he said just as Ted arrived in his office. “Theodore, this is David.”

“Damian,” the boy mumbled.

“Damian, right. This is our accountant, Mr. Schmidt,” Brian continued unperturbed, but he made a mental note to try and remember the boy’s name.

Ted departed with Damian, while Brian had enough time to get everything ready for the meeting.

A call to the Art Department made Brian’s blood pressure raise when he heard the story boards weren’t ready.

“And when will they be ready?” He sneered, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Uh…uh….neither Phil, nor Amy have arrived yet,” the intern mumbled.

“Oh. Then you come to the meeting.”

“When?”

“Now,” Brian barked. He hung up, taking a calming breath when he saw his client headed toward his office.

He strolled to the glass door and opened it. “Good morning, Mark.”

“Hello, Brian. Thank you for accepting me earlier. I’m swamped the whole day.”

“Nonsense.” Brian clapped Mark’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” He guided Mark to the meeting room, feeling more unprepared than ever before. “How are you?”

“I’m divorcing my wife,” Mark said mournfully. “That’s why I moved our meeting. My lawyer could do only ten today, and the faster this is over, the better.”

“Ouch. I’m sorry,” Brian said sincerely. Mark had always spoken with love about his family.

“It wasn’t working, though I’ve been trying for years. She cheated with her coworker. By which I mean, Laura has been seeing this guy for the past three years.”

“Fuck. That’s awful.”

Mark shrugged. “When she told me she was pregnant, I knew we had to do this. I don’t think I ever told you, but I can’t have kids.”

Brian could only think of all the times they had talked about Gus. “You never told me.”

“Anyway, let’s talk business. Did you manage to work miracles in the past week?”

“Yeah, right.” Brian pushed the door open for the meeting room.

Damian was just bringing a big coffee pot to the side table, which reminded Brian of his cup on his desk.

He went closer to the boy. “Bring my coffee, please. I forgot it on my desk.”

Damian nodded nervously then tripped over his feet on his way out.

“New assistant?”

“His first day, and Cynthia is home. I hope he won’t quit at the end of the day.”

Mark laughed. “He’ll be fine.”