BRIAN

We had JR with us all day, Mel offered to come and get her. I told her to come to the house, Michael is going to have to work to get JR. At three my phone was ringing. I didn’t answer, I don’t have anything left to say to him. Justin’s phone goes off and he is watching.

“What did you do?” I ask him, knowing by the look on his face that something was up.

“Nothing, I just changed my voicemail,” Justin tells me.

I called his phone and told him to let me go to voicemail. I listen and kiss the twat on the cheek. Justin can be just as childish as Michael, but he doesn’t let anybody get hurt by what he does.

MICHAEL

I told Ben he needed to help me find JR. I refuse to call Mel so she can act like a bitch. Ben tells me that we just need to face the music and call her. He also wanted to know what I gave him last night. I told him it was just a little E.

“You ’re kidding with me, right Michael? I can’t risk any drug interfering with the other medication I take.” Ben tells me.

“You’re fine. I was upset last night and wasn't thinking.” I tell him.

“It’s not fine. If someone from the college finds out I could also lose my job.” Ben tells me.

“It’s not like anybody knew what we did. That is not the problem right now anyway. Brian and Mel are going to give me crap about not picking up JR on time since we didn’t take her yesterday.” I tell him.

“What are you talking about? You told me that Brian wanted to take JR yesterday. I asked you about this when Abe asked us to go out with him last night. Remember, you told me that we could because Brian and Justin asked to take JR.” Ben tells me.

Well, I might have told him that, but Abe was talking about seeing the new Spiderman movie. His son wanted to see it and Abe asked us if we wanted to go. It was the first time one of Ben’s friends wanted to do something I was interested in. Ben asked if we were going to take JR and I told him that Justin wanted JR to spend the night with them.

“Gus said they were going swimming and JR should come, so I told Mel that we had plans and Justin could take JR last night,” I told him.

“We could have kept JR and stayed in so I didn’t end up taking drugs last night Michael.” Ben is really angry about this.

“Look, after Brian came over yesterday and bitched about the custody hearing, I needed a night to relax. You could have said no if you didn’t want the E.” I tell him.

“Do you know why people accidentally take E and end up in the hospital, Michael. It’s because someone like you doses them in a way they don't realize. Like you did. E is tasteless. All I could taste in your kiss was Tequila. So no, I COULDN’T TELL YOU NO AFTER YOU KISSED IT INTO MY MOUTH.” Ben yells at me.

“As much as I want to argue about this, I need your help. Brian already acts like I don’t take care of JR, and not showing up this morning at ten isn’t going to make me look good. Brian actually said I neglect JR.” I tell him.

“I tried to tell you this custody battle was a bad idea. We are hardly home, and having to make allowances for having a small child full time isn’t something we can do. If I remember correctly you told me to butt out. You said that how you handle JR is up to you, not me. I guess I’ll just keep my ass out of it. In fact, I think I’ll go stay with Hunter until you figure out that you're not cut out to be a full-time father. You’re not even cut out to be a part-time father with this latest stunt. I’ll call you if and when I make a decision on being a full-time husband or an ex-husband.” Ben packed a bag and walked out the front door.

I had been pissed at Ben because he called Mel behind my back and told her that if she wanted, we could just keep JR until she and Linds figure out what they were doing. I told him he didn’t have any right to make decisions on how I handle my daughter. Ben asked me if I felt that way, why were we still together? I realized I should have handled it differently, so I told him it scared me that Linds endangered JR. Justin and Brian had to be there because Mel didn’t show up until Brian tracked her down. Ben told me he could see why I was scared, but why sue Mel.

I started staying at the shop after closing and telling Ben I’d been visiting JR to reassure him. Ben was happy that I was taking a larger role in JR’s life. I hope Brian was just trying to scare me with the investigator. I mean, what if Ben hears what I’ve been doing instead of spending time with JR? I don’t think someone could follow me around all day and without me knowing it.

I was trying to find out Brian’s schedule so he couldn’t lie and tell me he was working when I asked to do things. I still have a key to the loft. Brian changed the key and code, but I got a copy from Ted’s keychain and made my own. The code was the hard part, but I just keep watching Brian when he put it in till I got it. Brian always keeps copies of his schedule in his email, so I went to the loft one day and used his computer but Brian password protected it, so I couldn’t get in. I tried everything I could think of, my name, my birthday, the year we met. I even tried Justin’s information. I gave up and just watched porn. After that, I would spend the morning snooping around the loft. Brian and Justin just started keeping food there. It sucks. It’s mostly fruits and vegetables, but I did find some oreo’s and chips stashed in the cabinet. Lately, I just watch movies and take catnaps.

LINDS

Lynette wanted to have lunch with Mother and Daddy. I told her I was going to see Gus. I need to get things worked out with Mel, Lynette keeps inviting all of her husband’s associates to dinner and telling them I’m single. Mother and Lynette told me that most of the guys wouldn’t mind having a stepson, and even if the marriage didn’t last at least I would get support.

Mel told me that we could try living in the house together. The counselor told us that living apart doesn’t solve the problems, it only makes us less likely to have to talk to each other. I didn’t want to hear any more about how Justin doesn’t need me to take care of his career. I’ve been rethinking that after each dinner party.

I walked to the gallery and look to see who’s there today. It’s a woman about my age, I walk in.

“Good Afternoon, I’m Elle. Is there anything you're looking for?” She asks me.   

“I wanted to see the finished gallery. I’m Lindsay Peterson, I worked here when Sydney still owned the gallery. I was here a few days ago but it looked like the gallery was being redone.” I tell her.

“Reed, the new manager, wanted to update the look. Sydney told Reed the gallery still attracted the older clientele. Reed and I wanted a look that attracted the thirty and forty somethings. I think we achieved it” Elle tells me.

“I would have wanted to attract the people with more disposable income. I mean, the older crowd tends to have more money to spend on the paintings. The younger crowd are still establishing careers and can’t spend as much on a painting.” I think they need someone to explain who spends money.

“I can see your point, but truthfully, I would rather sell 20 paintings at five hundred to a thousand a week then one painting for ten thousand in a month. It keeps people coming in to look at the new art on the walls. When we were removing the paintings so the wall could be painted, Reed ask Sydney how long they had been there, you could see the difference in the color of the paint because the paintings never sold.” Elle tells me.

“This is a fine arts gallery, not the Big Q, it has a reputation to uphold.” I tell her.

“Fine art is still the main focus, but this is a business, and unless something is selling, it will become a closed gallery. By the way, Reed said to say hello to you if you came by. Now I would love to keep talking but a client just came in and he is one of the thirty somethings who likes to buy, so I must go. It was nice to meet you.” Elle says as she walks to the guy who came in.

I can’t believe they are turning the art gallery into a store. I liked to sit and read the paper and look at potential artists.

JUSTIN

We still haven’t heard from Michael. It’s almost seven and other than the two phone calls at three, nothing. Mel came over and stayed with us. I told her to spend time with the kids, Michael is helping her case by not showing up. We have to be at Deb’s tomorrow for lunch instead of dinner. Deb is working an overnight shift for another waiter.

Brian tried to convince Deb to retire.

“I tried that but QVC was getting really rich and Carl agreed I needed to work. It’s only three days a week and I enjoy it.” Deb told him.

Brian left it alone after that. He did pay off all her bills and Deb tried to give him money. Brian just took it to keep Deb happy and redeposited it into Carl’s account. Brian told Carl he needed to use the money to take Deb on trips. Brian also added a thousand to each deposit. Carl hasn’t figured it out yet, but they are going to Hawaii next month, so mission accomplished is Brian’s thinking.

I was worried that JR would need us to answer questions about what is going on. She told me she wasn’t worried, if her Dad got custody he would just ask us to watch her anyway. She reminds me of me a lot.

“Mel are you sure it was Michael’s jizz?” I asked Mel. She threw a pillow at me.

“You know why I didn’t ask you?” Mel asks me. I shook my head, I didn’t even know they thought about using me.

“I thought you were too young for us to ask. Now I wonder what I was thinking. Michael was being nice to Brian’s nephew and for some reason, that was why we made the decision to go with him. I should have realized that besides the bris and a few other times, he hardly acknowledged Gus was alive.” Mel tells me.

“If it makes you feel any better, JR is perfect and I would have said no. It was something I thought a lot about when Daphne offered to be a mother for me. I couldn’t share the kids with another parent. I wanted only Brian and I to raise any children we had together, without the crap you go through when there are others involved. I also think Linds was too caught up in trying to please both of you, and that’s what caused most of the problems you and Linds had.” I tell her.

“Well, now she is too caught up in you to be there for the family. I don’t know if I want to go back to the way it was. If Linds came and told me she was going to stop playing Stage Mom to your career, at least I would feel we are making progress, but so far all our sessions are about Brian ruining your life by making you stay in Pittsburgh. The psychiatrist told Linds we need to discuss what is causing all the problems we have. Linds tells him this is the problem. I can’t take care of her and the kids anymore. After I get through the mediation with Michael on Tuesday, I think Linds and I need to talk about making this separation permanent.” Mel tells me.

Brian came in and told Mel to not think, but do. She told him, “Yes, oh master Yoda.” Brian flipped her off.

MICHAEL

I gave up trying to figure out how to get JR from Brian and Justin without it becoming about me not taking care of my responsibilities. I called Hunter and asked if Ben was there.

“Yeah, what did you do Michael? Ben is really pissed.” Hunter asked me.

“He’s just being a drama queen, don’t worry about it. Can you see if he’ll talk to me?” I ask Hunter.

“He told me before I answered to tell you he’ll call you when he wants to talk to you.’ Hunter tells me.

“Tell him I need him to call me before Tuesday.” I tell Hunter. We talked a little more about college and the job he been doing to afford a place of his own.

I finally decide to call Justin again. He answered but didn’t even let me talk, he talked like he had what he wanted to say all ready.

“Good Evening Michael. I wanted to be able to say Good Morning to you this morning or even Good Afternoon, but it would have taken you calling or showing up for me to do that. If you're calling to talk to your daughter, she is actually asleep, because waiting till nine at night to hear from her father was a little hard on your five-year-old after a long day of playing with Mel. If you’re calling to give an excuse, save it, because at 3pm, we might have listened, at 9pm we don’t give a shit. Be at your mother’s house for lunch tomorrow if you want to spend any time with your daughter, or don’t, I could care less. Later.” The fucker hung up.