After shutting the door to the bedroom, more flashes of memory came back. A dark alley and an old man in business clothes. Him on his knees, sucking the man off. An exchange of money. What did that mean? What was he talking about? He knew what it meant. He was a prostitute. He had been visibly pregnant in the memory. Where had Ardan been? Why did he have to do that?

As he sat on the bed, another memory hit him. This one was a teenage boy. Him. He was arguing with a tall, blonde man. They were in a dingy kitchen with discarded beer cans everywhere. He was hit by the man, then he turned and ran to his room. Packing just the essentials. The memories started coming quickly after that. His grandfather’s funeral when he was ten. Chris Hobbs breaking his arm when they were seven. It had been an accident, Chris being the klutz he was, fell off the monkey bars directly on him.

Justin Craig Taylor, that’s who he was. Excitement was quickly doused as he realized everyone thought he was Brandon Kinney. That meant that Brandon had been the other man in the compartment with him. He had died in the crash with his husband Ardan. Justin didn’t know how the mix-up happened. He planned as soon as he got downstairs for dinner to tell the family. They would be upset, clearly, but he couldn’t lie to them.

Feeling exhausted, he fell asleep in the huge, comfortable bed. Upon waking up, he noticed he had slept for three hours. It took a minute to realize what woke him up.

The baby started to cry in his cradle. This was the first time he was truly alone with the him. Standing up, he walked over to the fancy cradle. It was beautiful, so was the baby inside. Ethan’s baby. Justin looked closely at him, trying to see any similar characteristics. There wasn’t much because he was only a week old. Mostly, it was just the dark hair.

“Hello, little one.” He picked the small baby up. “What are we going to do?” He didn’t have a dime to his name, he’d even lost his bag in the wreck.

Well, he did have a profession to fall back on. One that he hoped he wouldn’t have to use ever again. He tried not to think about that. Right now, he would just enjoy the day while it lasted. This would be the last time for a while that he wouldn’t have to worry about where his food would come from.

Someone knocked lightly on his door. Carrying the baby with him, he opened the door. Debbie was standing there with a small smile.

“Food is ready, dear. Brian, Michael and their friends are coming to eat. Not to mention Father Tom.”

“Who is Father Tom?”

“The priest at our church. Lovely man, you’ll like him.”

A short, beautiful dark-skinned woman came up to him. She held her arms out to him. He wasn’t quite sure what she wanted.

“Can I take the baby for you?” she asked.

“Umm…”

“This is Daphne, she’s the nanny. You don’t need to worry about him. She’s just going to take him downstairs and feed him. Then a change and back to sleep. If you would prefer after she gets done, she can bring him back to you.”

“Yes, thank you.” He handed the little baby over to her. He really didn’t want to but he didn’t want to them to think he didn’t appreciate their help.

Once he entered the dining room he was shocked with how many people were there. He recognized Brian, Debbie, Vic and Mrs. Kinney. There was a tall man and a shorter man in the corner, they were talking quietly but kept shooting him curious looks. Beside Brian, there was a tall, elegant blonde woman. Next to her, was a shorter brunette woman. Then there was the priest, he was easy to point out. Next, there was a couple already sitting at the table. The man looked a little familiar, but Justin couldn’t place why. He’d never met him before. Maybe he just had one of those faces.

“Oh good, you’re here. Come sit down,” Mrs. Kinney said.

“I didn’t know there’d be so many people,” he said.

“Well, everyone wanted to meet you. Here, I’ll introduce you to everyone. You know Brian, of course. Next to him is his friend Lindsay and her girlfriend Melanie.”

“Mother,” Brian said. His expression was shocked.

“What? I wasn’t supposed to know that Lindsay liked the fairer sex? I’m sorry to tell you Brian, but I knew that when she was fourteen and told me she was going to marry Debra Winger.”

Brian turned around and glared at Lindsay, she had the decency to looked embarrassed.

“What? I forgot.”

Brian rolled his eyes. Well, there went his beard before he was ready. Now he would have to get someone sooner than expected.

“In the corner over there gossiping are Ted and Emmett. Ted is our accountant and Emmett is my event coordinator. They are also Brian’s close friends.” Brian snorted. Not likely. “Anyway,” his mother went on. “That’s Father Tom, he’ll be christening the baby.” Brian watched as Brandon spite out the water he was drinking.

“That is alright, isn’t it?” Brian asked the man. He had just assumed he was Catholic like his brother was. Brian himself was Atheist but it was just something not spoken about, much like the rest of his life.

“Yes, fine. It just surprised me is all. It’s a great idea.” Brian didn’t think the man was telling the truth, he’d look into it later.

“Right, okay lastly are our good friends, Daniel and Isabelle Carter. Their son is traveling the world, much like Ardan did.”

“Ardan and Patrick were the best of friends,” Isabelle said.

That was a lie. Ardan couldn’t stand that little weasel. Patrick was five years younger than them. When he was eighteen he came on to Ardan, who promptly shut him down. The kid was a major pain. He dropped out of college two years in. Moved to New York. Brian didn’t know what he was doing there but it wasn’t a layover on his trips across the world. Hopefully, the rat would stay away. No one could stand him, especially Brian.

 Debbie and Vic served the dinner, then took their seats. They were family, not just help. After his father died they were able to give up the charade of them eating in the kitchen. They only did that when his father was there anyway.

“So, Brandon, how are you coping?”

Everyone in the room looked at the short, blonde. Said blonde wasn’t looking up though, he seemed to be trying to figure out what he was about to eat. As if getting his answer, he finally looked up, blushing some to see everyone looking at him.

“I’m sorry. Did someone ask me a question?”

“Yes, I asked how you were coping.”

“Fine, I guess. It’s a lot to get used to, you know.”

“Have you gotten any of your memories back? You thought they were coming back earlier,” Vic said.

“Umm…no.”

Lie. But why was he lying? It made no sense to Brian. Getting his memory back should be relief. But there was just nothing. No grief for the loss of his husband, nothing. It made Brian instantly suspicious. There was somethings Brian couldn’t stand, and the number one thing was lying.

Daphne chose that moment to bring the baby into the dining room. After the hand off, she headed back upstairs saying to ring her if they needed her.

“What is the baby’s name?” Lindsay asked.

“Oh, I haven’t decided yet.”

“I have a suggestion, if you don’t mind,” his mother said.

“No, not at all.” Brian was worried she would want him to name the baby after Ardan. He wasn’t ready to say the name out loud that much right now.

“Ciaran.”

Brian lowered his head; that was his name. Well, not his name as much as the name he had picked out for his future child. He had told his mother when he was little that he would name his son Ciaran. Now she was giving it to Ardan’s child. He tried to not let it hurt, Ardan wouldn’t be here to watch his son grow. He could give up a name.

“That’s beautiful. What does it mean?”

“Basically, it means little dark one. Like hair, not attitude or anything.”

Justin looked down at his son, it was a perfect name for his dark-haired baby. “Hello, Ciaran.” He had made his decision right then and there. He would keep the lie up. Mrs. Kinney couldn’t handle losing more, her heart couldn’t take it. And mostly, his baby didn’t deserve to live on the streets with him. He hated what he was doing. But for Ciaran, he would do anything.