“The blushing bride-to-be is here!”

Brian rolls his eyes as he walks through Emmett’s front door with the rats’ carrier in his left hand and Lily’s hand clasped in his right.

“If my hands weren’t full I’d hit you in the ribs. Go make sure Eric isn’t having any trouble with Lily’s stuff and that damn cage. I offered to help but he wanted the rats and Lily safely in the house.”

“Fine, fine. Our friends are in the other room. Go be a grump to them. Drew! Why don’t you take Vernon and Bianca upstairs and get the cage set up so that Brian and Eric can settle down and Lily can visit with the kids?”

Drew walks up to relieve Brian of the rats before heading down to take some stuff from Eric.

“Lily, Duncan’s with Gus and JR. You want to see them?”

Lily nods her head vigorously before running into Emmett’s living room. Brian follows her and sits down next to Michael.

“Last night as a free man,” Ted remarks.

Michael says as he turns to him, “Yeah, Brian. I mean, you were engaged before but your wedding is tomorrow. How does it feel?”

Brian shrugs, “Not that different. I’ve been raising a kid with him for four years. God, I’m trying to remember when we even trick-”

“Brian,” Melanie interrupts, “Four kids in the room.”

“It’s not that hard to figure out what he was going to say-”

“Gus,” Lindsay warns before turning her head to smile at Brian, “I hear some of your guests already have rooms up at the resort nearby. Hunter and Molly went ahead and got a room for tonight. We called Justin to have lunch but he and Nathan rented a car with the rest of the band to go up there this morning. He said it was beautiful up there. I can’t wait to see it.”

“Yeah, it’s great. It’s not too far but completely different from the city. The weather is supposed to be warm so both the wedding and reception are going to be outside. Gus and Michael know the plans.”

“So the rehearsal went smoothly?” Lindsay asks hesitantly.

“It went smoothly,” Gus cuts in abruptly, “It was for the best that only the people in the actual wedding party were there so there wouldn’t be any distractions.”

Mel raises her eyebrows at Gus’s demeanor and Brian does too, but for a different reason. He never really told Gus why he only wanted him, Michael, Emmett, JR, and Lily along with Eric’s side of the party up at Solé East but it was partially because he was worried that too many people, people who knew what he was like before, might try to make him change his mind about this.

Again.

Logically he knew that they knew he was a changed man now but the fact that he let the opinions of others get to him the first time around made him cautious. Maybe he wasn’t ready for marriage ten years ago but he had been happy about it until he started listening to other people.

“We just did a run through of the ceremony and went out to eat after. Nothing too special. The only person there who wasn’t a part of the wedding party was Amanda but that’s because Julian is two. He got distracted a couple of times but Duncan kept him in check, didn’t you kid?”

Duncan looks around and realizes he is being talked to before nodding and saying, “Yeah, uh huh.”

“I’m sure it will go great,” Lindsay says, eyes shining, “I’m really happy for you, Brian.”

“I just want to go on the honeymoon and take a break from work,” Brian groans, “I’ve tried to not go the office the last couple of days but it is so close that I can’t help it, even if it is just for a minute.”

“I’m sure it will be amazing. Eric told me all about it,” Michael says to him, grinning.

Brian turns his head and studies his oldest friend, “Really? And what exactly did he say about our upcoming trip?”

“Don’t you dare tell him, Michael. He’s been trying to weasel it out of me so I know he will try to get it out of you too.”

Eric steps back in the room and puts his hands on Brian’s shoulders to massage them, “I don’t want him worrying about it. As stressful as this move has been for me, it has been even more stressful for him. All he needs to know is that I’ve planned something relaxing. He’ll figure it out when we go to the airport Sunday anyway.”

“At least tell me the time the flight leaves,” Brian reasons with him.

“So you can look up all the flights from JFK and Laguardia then narrow it down? I don’t think so,” Eric laughs, “You said I got to pick the honeymoon and I want to surprise you with something beautiful.”

Brian’s eyes crinkle at the familiar words and he turns his head upwards. Eric instinctively knows what he wants and bends down to kiss him.

“How adorable,” Emmett sighs as a few others in the room coo or gag.

“Take care of my man and my kid, Honeycutt,” Eric tells him before he gives a confused Brian another kiss. He attempts to walk away but Brian grabs his wrist.

“You want to leave already?”

“Yeah, my brother and Clover are back at the house. I’m not leaving someone named Clover Starlight Perkins at our house unsupervised for long periods of time.”

“You’re right. We should go,” Brian says as he gets up.

“Yeah, you’re not going anywhere.”

Brian looks at him suspiciously, “What? Why?”

“I took everything you packed for the honeymoon while you were getting Lily ready and snuck your bags in the trunk. Everything is upstairs in the guest room and Emmett has your suit. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“What are you-”

“It’s bad luck to see the groom before the wedding,” Eric shrugs, “I’m not going to jinx anything.”

Brian stares at him, “Are you kidding me?”

“Nope. You’re staying in one of Emmett’s guest rooms.”

“ But they are all-”

“Gus, JR, and Lily are sleeping on a large air mattress in Duncan’s room and Ted and Blake lost the coin toss so they are sleeping on the pullout couch. You are guaranteed the most comfortable guest room I have, since this weekend is all about you and Eric. Except here, tonight is about you since Eric is going home,” Emmett cuts in.

Brian blinks a few times, “So what, we’re just going to have one big sleepover?”

“Yep! It’ll be fun! The original gang can all catch up.”

“It doesn’t mean Eric can’t stay.”

“Brian, you know the rules,” Eric insists as he starts to back out of the room.

“I can’t believe I’m only finding out now that you are superstitious,” Brian sighs.

“Not usually but I’m not taking any chances.”

Brian stares at him for several seconds before raising his hands in defeat, “Alright. I’ll walk you out.”

Brian leads Eric into the hall and Eric turns to him.

“You going to miss me?”

Brian smirks, “Of course not. Why would I miss you?”

Eric leans in to kiss his neck, “Because this will be the first night in months where we haven’t fucked.”

Brian groans, “God, fuck you.”

“Didn’t think of that, did you?”

“Stay here. We’ll get your stuff in the morning before we head out.”

Eric laughs, “Tempting but I'm not giving in, sorry."

Brian brings him in for a kiss and, yeah, he’s putting a lot of effort into it so he doesn’t have to sleep alone tonight but too soon Eric breaks it off and looks into his eyes with so much love and affection.

“I love you so much. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Brian feels himself smiling, “I love you too. I’m nervous as hell but I can’t wait for tomorrow either. Mainly so we can get it over with and fuck all week in destination unknown.”

Eric huffs out a laugh, kisses him on the cheek, and says, “Let me say goodbye to Lily. I’m guessing she’s upstairs with JR and Duncan.”

Brian follows him up and they find JR trying to teach the kids how to play go fish.

“I got a match! I win!” Duncan yells as he throws a four of hearts and a seven of diamonds down on the floor.

“No, Duncan. Those are the same color, not the same number. See?” JR says as she points at the numbers.

“JR, what about my cards? Are these a match?” Lily asks as she scoots over to show JR her whole hand.

“Lily, I’m not supposed to see them.”

“Why not?”

“Because then I will know what you have and ask for any of the cards that match mine.”

“Why would you do that? I didn’t know and you’re not mean anyway.”

JR looks at her before clearing her throat, “Lily, do you have any Jacks?”

Lily looks at her cards and gasps, “Hey! Why did you do that?! You’re mean!”

“You’re the one who showed me your cards.”

“But that’s not fair!”

“That’s what you get when you show someone your cards. So don’t show them to people.”

“But I needed help!”

Eric steps in at that point, “Lily, you’re not supposed to show your cards to any other players. Now you know so it’s a lesson learned. JR was helping you by teaching you it.”

Lily’s eyes start to leak and her voice cracks as she whispers out, “But I didn’t know.

Brian looks at her incredulously, “Are you seriously crying over a game?”

But Lily turns away to hide her face and cry into her hands. JR looks up at them helplessly and Duncan goes over to hug the little cry baby and pat her on the back. Jesus Christ.

“I was just showing her what happens. She can have the card back,” JR offers, tossing the card back near Lily.

“It’s not your fault, JR. She usually doesn’t do more than pout when she loses a game but these last few days have taken a lot out of her. My family has been in and she’s been excited that her cousins are here, she’s had to go to the Hamptons with us a couple of times this week, and she hasn’t been sleeping that well because she’s so excited over everything. What she needs is a nap.”

“I-I don’t n-need a n-nap!” Lily cries, sobs in full force.

Eric sighs and bends down to pick her up, “Then why are you so upset?”

“B-Because J-JR is mean!” Lily wails.

Eric snorts, “She is not. You love JR. I’m leaving soon. Daddy is staying here at Emmett’s with you tonight. Why don’t you try to lie down in the room he’s staying in for a little bit so you’ll feel better?”

“I don’t need a n-nap,” she hiccups as she rubs her eyes.

“Uh huh, sure. Come on. Daddy and I will sit in there with you.”

They take her to the guest room Emmett put him in upstairs and set her down on the queen sized mattress and tuck her in.

“W-Why are you not staying with me and Daddy?” Lily asks, inexplicable tears still rolling down her cheeks.

“Because we’re getting married tomorrow and it’s tradition to not see each other until the ceremony,” Eric tells her as he wipes her cheeks.

“That makes no sense.”

“My thoughts exactly. Up top,” Brian tells her to cheer her up. Lily giggles through her hiccuping cries as she sits up a little to give him a high five.

“I’ll see you tomorrow though. I can’t wait to see you as the flower girl but I’m more excited to dance with my baby at the reception,” Eric says before he kisses her on the forehead.

“I’m not a baby,” Lily tells him but puts her arms around Eric’s neck and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

“Bye bye, Papa. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay.”

Brian bends down to kiss her on the forehead only to get a hug and kiss from her as well.

“Try to sleep. I’ll wake you up here in about an hour for dinner.”

“Okay, Daddy. I’m sorry I cried. I was just so sad.”

Brian holds back a laugh, “It happens to the best of us. You’ll feel better when you wake up.”

Lily is already starting to drift off before they even leave the room.

“Well,” Eric says after they get back down to the first floor, “See you later.”

Eric starts to walk away humorously and Brian pulls him back for one more kiss.

“Call me tonight.”

Eric shrugs, “I can’t. It’s against the rules.”

Brian scowls, “Then at least send me a text to let me know you get back safe. Along with a dick pic.”

Eric laughs all the way out the door. Brian thinks he convinced him to do it though.

He goes back into the living room to go sit with his friends and of course they inquire about what he and Eric were doing.

“Look who’s finally back. Wishing your soon-to-be husband goodbye sure did take a while. Let me guess: You let him know exactly what he would be missing tonight?” Debbie snickers.

“If by knowing what he’ll be missing you mean putting a semi-hysterical four year old down for a nap, then yes."

"Oh no," Debbie empathizes, growing serious, "What happened?"

"She's exhausted from everything going on this week and doesn't want to show it. JR schooled her in Go Fish and Lily had a meltdown when her actions worked against her."

Debbie laughs, "I played Monopoly once with Michael when he was seven and he wouldn't talk to me for hours after I bankrupted him. He ran up to his room crying."

"Aw, poor wittle Michael," Brian mocks as he pinches his friend's cheek.

Ben laughs at the indignant look on Michael's face as he scolds his mother.

"Ma, why did you have to bring that up?"

Debbie shrugs, "It was related to what we were talking about! Don't you want Lily to feel less embarrassed?"

"Lily's passed out upstairs!"

Debbie bites back a laugh as Brian says, "Now that it has been established Mikey still has a temper, do we all have rides set up for tomorrow?"

"Yes. I have four SUVs coming to pick us up and a limo for you. I have a limo and SUV picking Eric, George, Clover, and Rick up. We’ll all leave the city around 10, ideally be there around 12:30, and have time to get ready for guests and have the wedding at 5 as planned. It’ll all be fine.

“It better be fine,” Brian mutters.

Emmett raises an eyebrow, “Brian, I made Time Out’s list of Top 10 East Coast Wedding Planners You Need to Look Into for Your Special Day for a reason.”

“Ah, yes. I think I remember that list. But you only mailed me seven copies of that issue, so I can’t be sure,” Brian muses.

Emmett gives him a light slap on the shoulder before giving him a smile, “It’ll be great. Like a fairy tale. Literally. There will be so many fairies there. I hired drag queens as servers.”

“I don’t think the term fairy is politically correct anymore, Emmett,” Lindsay says softly.

“Was it ever? I’ve never been one for political correctness but I don’t see the insult. Fairies can grant wishes. They can fly. They have great dresses. I think the term is divine.”

Mel laughs, “No one looks at possibly derogatory terms like you do, that’s for sure.”

“I always try to be a glass half full kind of gal. Optimism gives you confidence. And I am confident that the Davisson-Kinney wedding will be the best wedding I’ve planned yet,” Emmett proclaims then pauses, “Speaking of Davisson-Kinney, what are you two doing about names?”

Brian’s an asshole. This has never changed. And he really just wants to fuck with them.

“Actually, I’m changing my last name to Davisson, both in my personal and professional life. It just seems right. I’m not close to any of my biological family besides Gus and Eric is at least close to some of his so it is the next logical step.”

His friends look at each other before they look at him in bewilderment before they try to give confused approval.

“Oh wow, that...that’s going to take some time to get used to but I think it’s wonderful!” Debbie says first.

“But what about Kinnetik? KINN-etik?” Ted asks, confused.

“I figured it would be the other way around,” Mel admits.

“G-Good for you, Brian,” Lindsay stammers.

Brian looks at them before bursting into laughter.

“I’m just fucking with you. We’re doing the hyphenated thing on our driver’s licenses and with the state but I’m still going by Kinney professionally and most likely when I introduce myself to people and Eric is doing the same with Davisson. God, did you really think I would be the woman in this relationship?”

“You are so sexist,” Mel mutters.

“Nice little joke, Mr. Davisson-Kinney,” Lindsay says as she stands up, “Can you come upstairs for a second with me? I need to give you something.”

Brian sees Gus give her a slightly panicked look out of the corner of his eye and that makes him even more intrigued by what is going on so he nods and gets up to follow Lindsay upstairs.

Lindsay takes him to the guest room she and Mel are staying in and closes the door then starts pacing.

“What was it that you needed to give me? A headache from watching you walk in circles?”

Lindsay pauses to look at him before shaking her head, “No, I just ended up getting you and Eric a Visa Gift Card and a water buffalo statue. I didn’t know what else to get. You are both hard to shop for.”

“So you got us money we don’t need and a statue that will be out of place in every room in our house. Good thinking.”

Lindsay groans, “Try to be grateful, Brian. This isn’t about what I got you as a wedding present anyway.”

“Then why did you pull me away to speak in private? Look, if this is about questioning if I want to get married or not I don’t want to hear it-”

“Brian, no. It’s not that. I know you love Eric and want to get married to him. This has nothing to do with the wedding.”

“Then what is-”

“Gus is having sex.”

Brian blinks a few times, “That’s it?”

Lindsay scoffs, “That’s all you have to say? He’s not even fifteen yet!”

Brian shrugs, “Neither was I.”

“Brian, Gus is sleeping with his girlfriend on what looks to be like a frequent basis. You gave your gym teacher a blow job. That was completely inappropriate and abusive on his part. It’s different.”

It was more than that. A lot more. Not that he’ll tell her. Only Tessler knew the details of how he enjoyed sucking on the teacher’s cock only to be pushed into his office and bent over the desk while he panicked and cried over not knowing if he was ready to be fucked and how much it hurt when the choice was made for him. So excuse him for being relieved above all else that Gus had a better experience than he did.

“He’s in high school and has been with her for how long? Seven months? All that matters to me is that he’s playing safe and isn’t being pressured into anything.”

Lindsay does a double take, “Wait, do you think Penelope could have pressured him? I mean, she is several months older-”

Brian rolls his eyes, “Lindsay, please. He’s head over heels when it comes to that girl and, I only met her twice, but I can tell she feels the same way.”

Lindsay moans and sits down on the bed, “He’s so young.”

“He’s an early bloomer, I guess. And a knock out. What did you expect?” Brian tells her as he sits down next to her and puts an arm around her shoulder.

“I told you to give him the talk.”

“I did,” Brian confirms, slightly annoyed.

“What did you say?”

Brian shrugs, “Most of it is between us. But I told him that he shouldn’t be afraid to try anything thinks he might be into or tell someone no. To tell us if someone forced him to do anything. As long as he is safe and honest with whoever he is sleeping with, he could mess around as much as his heart desired.”

“Jesus, Brian!” Lindsay exclaims as she stands up quickly, “You should have told him to save it until he was absolutely sure! After he had been with someone a long time and he was old enough to know the ramifications that sex can bring!”

Brian glares, “But that would be total bullshit.”

“No, it’s not-”

“Maybe that is for the best for some people, but if you wanted Gus to believe what does not fit the majority of people then you should have gotten another person to give out that message. I gave him the facts. I told him that sex is fantastic and if he wanted to have it with his girlfriend or someone else entirely then that was up to him but not to jump into anything he felt like he wasn’t ready for. I told him to get checked regularly once he started and to always use a condom. Then I gave him some to drive the point home.”

“Oh, so you’re the one who gave him the condoms,” Lindsay concludes as she purses her lips.

Brian shrugs, “Of course I am. Just a twelve pack of Trojans. Enough to have him covered if he needed more than one but not enough to intimidate him. I wanted him to have them on hand if things got heated rather than have the raging hormones of two teenagers win out and make them decide to try the pull out method instead just because they didn’t have any.”

Lindsay lets out a sigh, “I get it. And I’m glad that you made sure he was prepared. You did the right thing while I let my emotions over the whole thing get the best of me.”

Brian tilts his head, “How did you find out about it?”

Lindsay sits back down, “You know how we take turns doing the laundry. It was my day to do it a few days ago and I decided to put away his clothes for him since he’s been busy due to testing and homework. He has been going out to study with friends almost every day.”

“Right. He was studying,” Brian smirks.

Lindsay opens her mouth to defend Gus then just thinks on it and nods, “Okay, you’re probably on to something there. Anyway, I opened one of his drawers only to find a condom box with only one condom in there. I was shocked. I know I shouldn’t have been but he’s my baby.”

“Let me guess: You imagined them holding hands and him giving her flowers. Jesus, Lindsay. They aren’t Duncan and Lily.”

She gives him a light smack on the arm, “Oh, stop it. I’m not completely blind. I walked in on them making out at least a couple of times. He had his hand up her shirt on one of those occasions. But I thought they were just...I don’t know, groping!”

Brian shakes his head, “I had the impression they had done more with each other than just kiss back when I talked to him. He got pretty flustered and not just because I was bringing up sex. He definitely hadn’t gone all the way with her at that point but I had a feeling that she jerked him off or something.”

“Oh god, don’t say that!” Lindsay scolds him as she covers her ears.

“Stop being such a prude. What does it matter if it is his hand or someone else’s?”

“Brian, please! Why are you torturing me?”

“Wait a second,” Brian says suddenly, “You haven’t forced yourself to believe he doesn’t do that either, have you?”

“Of course not,” Lindsay brushes off, back straight, “I’ve washed his sheets since the day he was born. I saw the evidence when he started up until he became a master at hiding it.”

“Well, it’s all a part of growing up,” Brian says to her, “So I’m guessing he knows that you know, with the way he acted downstairs. What did you say to him to get him so pissy?”

Lindsay sighs, “He got home from school around 4. Mel wasn’t home yet and I probably should have waited until she was there but I literally just found them an hour before and wanted to get it out in the open. So I asked JR to go up to her room and had Gus sit down at the kitchen table with me. I put the box on the table and asked him if he had anything he wanted to tell me. I probably sounded disapproving and I can admit that I was. I still am to an extent. I still think he is too young. But when I asked him all he did was glare at me and say, ‘No, not really.’ I scolded him for sassing me before I told him I thought he was too young to be having sex. I said I wasn’t going to be condoning it and that I disapproved of him jumping into sex without telling anyone. He just told me that he didn’t give a shit what I thought about it. He said he wasn’t doing anything wrong and that he and Penelope were about the same age and they were being safe so I should either accept it or look the other way and be grateful that he was just having sex with his girlfriend. Then he said he would just keep doing it behind my back like he had been doing for the last couple of weeks so it didn’t matter if I condoned it or not. He was...he was mean to me about it! Honest, but cruel. It was the first time I really saw you in him when it came to something other than his looks. He’s barely talked to me the last couple of days.”

"You posed a threat and he reacted."

Lindsay scoffs, "I don't think being concerned is a threat."

"He started having sex and he loves it-"

"Now we don't know that he lo-"

The look Brian gives her is enough to make her realize how ignorant what she was about say was.

"He loves it. If he didn't, he wouldn't have had it eleven times in what? Two weeks or so?"

"I think it's been less than that. He started acting different after we came back from New York. I don't know how he swung that number since there's been a couple of days where he hasn't seen her."

"Maybe he's sneaking out, maybe she's sneaking in. Maybe he's done it with her a few times in one visit. If it's that last one, I'm proud that he inherited his stamina from me."

“Brian, can you be serious for just a few minutes?”

Brian shrugs, “I am being serious. And he probably seriously thought you were going to try to force them to stop fucking. He just discovered the wonders of it. The thought of becoming celibate probably pissed him off. Look at it the way I do. I’m just glad he’s enjoying it with someone he cares about and it’s not something worse. So don’t make him feel bad about sleeping with his girlfriend. It’s inevitable and going against him will just drive him away.”

“So I should just...encourage him to talk to me about it? Encourage that behavior?”

“No. Just be there if he needs you and check in to make sure he’s being responsible. You’ll come off as a creep if you are too enthusiastic. Obviously there need to be some boundaries and rules but you can’t really do anything about him sleeping with his girlfriend when he gets the chance to be alone with her.”

“I’ll...I’ll try that approach with him. If he ever stops being pissed at me.”

Brian stands up, “I’ll talk to Gus tonight. Threatened or not, he shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. Deep down, he has to know that you didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

At that moment, Brian’s phone buzzes and he takes it out of his pocket to look at it

Made it home safe.

The following picture both makes his dick harden and grin with glee.

“I can’t believe I sought advice from a man who gets dick pics,” Lindsay mutters before she covers her face, probably trying to get the image out of her lesbian brain. Brian thinks she should savor it. Eric’s dick is one of the best dicks he’s ever seen.

“God, I’m so fucking lucky,” Brian sighs at he stares at the picture, “Just look at it, Lindsay. Eight and a half inches cut, thick but not so thick that it’s terrifying, slightly curved. He sent that to me to make me happy. Because I asked him to as a joke. And he did it.”

“Yes, Brian. He’s the perfect man. You are lucky to have him,” Lindsay tells him seriously before getting up, “We’ve been here a while. I didn’t mean to keep you away from Gus and Michael. I just needed to talk to you about all of this.”

“Like I said, I will talk to him about it,” Brian says, getting up as well, “And Lindsay? I want to know about this kind of stuff, you know this. Don’t think you are bothering me when it comes to Gus. I need to go wake up Lily so she doesn’t keep me up all night. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Brian goes to the guest room where Lily is still passed out and gently wakes her up. It takes a couple of minutes to even get Lily to stir but she eventually blinks her eyes groggily and tries to turn over to go back to sleep again.

“Hey, none of that. Come on, I’ll carry you downstairs.”

Brian picks her up and Lily lays her head on his shoulder as he carries her down and sits on the couch.

“Someone is still a bit sleepy,” Debbie comments as she comes over to pet Lily’s hair.

Lily lets out a muffled whimper before turning her head to press her face into Brian’s neck.

“Duncan and JR are down here,” Brian tells her softly when he spots the two across the room, “Don’t you want to play with them a little more before dinner?”

Lily doesn’t say anything and just clings onto him, trying to sleep just a little longer.

Brian lets out a sigh and tries to untangle himself from her grasp, “Come on, Silly Lily. I need you to wake up. We both need to sleep tonight. Tomorrow’s a big day.”

Lily lifts her head and turns in Brian’s lap squinting with sleepiness and confusion.

“Wake up,” Brian coaxes her, before he lightly tickles her sides.

“Nooo!” Lily whines before glaring up at him.

“Come on. You are still half asleep. I have to wake you up somehow.”

Lily takes a few amusing calming breaths before she gets down from his lap and crosses the room to sit by JR and Duncan. Duncan gets her excitement back up and soon enough they are running around the room and acting cute until Emmett calls them all in for dinner.

Dinner tastes great. Emmett made a Thai-inspired dish to please him and he appreciates the thought Emmett put into the meal. Despite having to know that Brian knows about his sexual status now, Gus still sits next to him. Maybe it is because he knows that he won’t make a big deal over it but it’s nice that Lindsay taking him away to talk about Gus’s recent activities and behavior didn’t make Gus distance himself from him.

He is a little disappointed that he didn’t hear it from Gus himself though. He really tried to keep the sex talk as real and open as possible and when he was in for Christmas and New Year’s. He thought he kept the conversation open enough so that Gus could approach him or call him if he thought he and Penelope were getting close to that stage in their relationship or after the fact. Brian has been busy. Maybe Gus felt like he shouldn’t bother him with it. That worries him more than just being embarrassed to tell him. He’d talk to him about it later. Call him upstairs tonight and maybe get everything out in the open.

He turns to his other side and sees that Lily is giggling with Duncan, Emmett, and Drew. It’s strange having two kids in such different stages in their lives. One is past puberty and becoming this very handsome young man almost done with his Freshman year of high school. He’s sexually active with his first serious girlfriend. And then there’s Lily who is giggling hysterically while she and Duncan explain an episode of Spongebob. She still has her round cheeks, baby smooth skin, and won’t even enter kindergarten for another year and a half. He feels like he has to be two entirely different people for his children, even though they are both just that: his kids.

Lily giggles over the episode and says, “And then Spongebob started eating his arms because he was scared of the hash...the hash slinging-”

“The hash slinging slasher!” Duncan tells her then laughs.

Brian rolls his eyes. That had been a weird episode.

“Daddy, do you remember that episode?” Lily asks as she turns to look at him.

“I do. It’s the one with Nosferatu, right?”

Lily thinks, “That’s the funny looking bald guy at the end, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then yes. That’s the one. It’s so funny. Have you seen that one, Gussy?”

Gus bends to look past Brian, “Yeah, I’ve seen it. It’s a good one.”

“Lily, you aren’t even eating your meal. You talk too much that it makes it impossible for your mouth to do anything else.”

“I’ve eaten some of it,” Lily tells him, “I just wanted to talk to Emmett and Drew.”

Brian snorts and picks up a spoonful to put towards her mouth, “Take another bite.”

Lily opens her mouth wide and chomps down on the kiddie spoon to eat the food.

“Now eat. I trust you enough to know you can do it yourself.”

“‘Kay, Daddy.”

Everyone finishes up with dinner and people start chipping in to help with the cleanup. Brian offers but is shooed away by Emmett when he says, “This dinner was for you, baby. You’re not lifting a finger.”

Brian is glad that Emmett said that because it gives him the perfect excuse to pull Gus aside.

“Want to come upstairs with me? I feel like we haven’t talked much since you got here.”

Immediately, he can tell that Gus knows what this is all about when the boy purses his lips and shrugs.

Brian laughs and pats him on the back, “I promise not to torture you for too long.”

Gus follows him upstairs and sits down on the bed in silence. He looks at Brian suspiciously and Brian just raises an eyebrow in return.

“Anything you want to talk about?” Brian asks him.

Gus scoffs, “Don’t play dumb, Dad. I know you already know. You and Mom wouldn’t have been up here for an hour if she hadn’t told you.”

“Oh, you mean the sex thing? Yeah, I know about that.”

“No shit.”

Brian rolls his eyes before sitting next to him on the bed, “You’re being safe?”

Gus looks at him, “Of course I am being safe.”

“Every single time? It only takes one fuck up to get yourself into a fucked up situation.”

“I know that, Dad. I’ve had sex with her eleven times already.”

“No condoms broke? No mishaps while putting it on?”

Gus shrugs, “Of course not. All you do is pinch and roll. I knew that before I even talked to you. I knew what I was doing by the first time we did it and I know even more now.”

Brian smirks throws an arm around his shoulder, “Well, aren’t you a pro? Eleven whole times and now you’re a stud.”

Gus groans, “Dad, stop! God, you’re so embarrassing.”

“You know, I went back and forth on whether or not you would be an early bloomer or a late bloomer. I’d love you either way, of course, but it was something that I couldn’t foresee when it came to you. Looks wise, people would figure you were an early bloomer. You hit puberty faster than I did and you are lean and muscular, while I was more lanky and...well, I can admit now that I was a bit nerdy. I was in the chemistry club and was a bit of an outcast in school while you are becoming more popular. But you have always been so sweet and inquisitive. You came off as so innocent. Now I know that you are not innocent at all. But I accept it. Besides, now that you have slept with her you can figure out what you are into.”

Gus blushes, “Dad, shut up!”

Brian laughs, “Why are you so embarrassed?”

“Because I don’t want to talk about it with you.”

Brian throws a hand to his chest, “I’m hurt.”

Gus stares at him, “Are you doing this because you’re mad that you didn’t hear it from me?”

Okay, Gus has always been intuitive but Brian is surprised that he caught onto him this quickly.

“Not mad. Disappointed. I thought I kept the conversation we had after Christmas open-ended. I just wanted to make sure that you knew that.”

Gus shrugs, “You did. But I didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. I don’t get to see you as much as I want to.”

Brian frowns at that, “Gus, you know that you are always welcome to come visit. I’ll pay for your plane tickets.”

“I can’t because of school. I’m in all advanced classes and I am studying all of the time. I wanted to ask you to come up to see us in Toronto so that I could talk to you about stuff but you’re so busy with the wedding and work and Lily. I didn’t want to bother you like that time a few years ago.”

Brian closes his eyes in shame when he remembers blowing up at an 11 year old Gus over the phone. Out of every asshole move that he’s made in his life, that is the one he still feels immense guilt over when he thinks about it.

“Gus, that was fucking awful on my part. I had been so stressed out with a new baby, work, lack of sleep, and guilt over not seeing you and I took it out on you. There was no excuse for it. I still feel terrible over that.”

Gus must see his anguished expression because he grabs onto his father’s arm, “Dad, don’t feel bad over that anymore. I know you didn’t mean to get upset with me then. I know that. I just didn’t want to put you on the spot again.”

Brian takes a calming breath, “You aren’t putting me on the spot by asking me to come see you. Ever, you hear me? Look, I know you were only here for a day for Lily’s party and you’re only here until Sunday for the wedding so we aren’t getting to spend that much time together but I’m going to make some time to come up there for a few days. I get back from the honeymoon next Sunday I’ll make a trip up there the weekend after. I’ll even make it a long weekend.”

“Dad, I honestly didn’t mean to guilt you at all.”

“I know, but I want to.”

Gus nods, “Okay. I’d really like that.”

“I’ll take you and Penelope out for dinner.”

“Okay, Dad.”

Brian nods, “So any concerns you want to bring up now? Any questions you want to ask?”

Gus rubs the back of his neck and looks down, “Um...no.”

Brian purses his lips, “You’re sure?”

“Fine. Can we go out later and get more condoms? I would buy them myself but I can’t get a job yet. Mom and Ma don’t give me that much for allowance and they aren’t that cheap.”

“Yeah, there’s a CVS down the street. I’ll show what to buy and what not to buy. For some reason they keep the fucking things locked up now. I guess so kids won’t steal them. If you ask me, it makes it so they are too embarrassed to ask an associate to open up the case and more likely to make them go without.”

Gus nods, “Thanks, Dad.”

“Anything else?”

Gus shrugs, “Not that you could help me with.”

“And what makes you think that? I told you I have slept with women before.”

Gus huffs out a laugh and looks away, “But I doubt you’ve ever...you know, gone down on a girl.”

Brian freezes and why the fuck is he blushing over something like that? Even if he hasn’t done something, it never bothers him to talk about it. Maybe because it’s Gus. Yeah, it’s definitely because it’s Gus. He never imagined his little boy saying something like that. For the first time since Lindsay talked to him, he sort of gets where she is coming from.

“Um...have you uh...did it not work out when you tried it or something?”

Gus shakes his head, “I haven’t done it yet. But she gave me a blowjob and I thought I should return the favor. I want to know what to do so she’ll be into it.”

Brian grimaces at the thought of going down on a woman, “Well, I hear tracing out the alphabet on their…”

“Clit?” Gus finishes.

“Yeah. I hear that’s a good place to start out until you figure out what they like the best. Fuck, Gus. Just ask your mothers about that one, okay? They do that shit all the time. Thinking about that, especially you wanting to do that, freaks me out.”

Gus looks at him with evil innocence, “But I thought I could come to you with any questions.”

“You can,” Brian asserts, trying to get past his own discomfort before admitting, “I guess I can only be so cool about this kind of stuff when it comes to you.”

Gus shakes his head, “Don’t worry, you are being a lot more open about it than Mom and Ma are. Ma is not that upset about it. She’s mainly upset that I’m fighting with Mom. I don’t think she’s thrilled about it but she hasn’t sat down and talked with me about Penelope yet. I think she’s waiting until after we get home. Mom’s a different story though.”

Brian nods, “Your mom didn’t have sex with anyone until college. She never went all the way with her high school boyfriend. Partly it was because she was confused since she liked girls. You have to remember how conservative your grandparents are, Gus. They wanted her waiting until marriage and taught her to do that. She started to let loose more in college. She slept with one guy and a couple of girls before we hooked up and, like I said, she figured out that she liked women more and I already knew I liked men a lot more. But to see you comfortable with having sex years before she was comfortable with it seems to have taken her for a loop. And besides, you’re her child. She’s always going to see you as that to some extent. And while she doesn’t think your experience should match her experience, I don’t think she expected you to have sex this soon. She should have been more accepting and open about it and my opinion obviously differs with hers but she’s not trying to hurt you by saying she doesn’t think you are ready. She’s just concerned and doesn’t want you to get yourself into any kind of trouble or heartbreak. She means well. You would be lucky to have one mom that cares so much about you and you have two.”

“I know that,” Gus says softly, “I know she loves me and is worried. But she just jumped into saying that I wasn’t ready and didn’t even wait to have a conversation with me about it.”

“I know that. And I think she’ll apologize for it. But you need to apologize too. She’s always been a good mother to you and I didn’t like hearing you were a total dick about it.”

Gus raises his eyebrows, “She said I was a dick?”

“No. I’m saying you were a dick, even if you had a reason to be. She just said you were mean.”

Gus sighs, “I know I came off as too harsh. She just came off as so judgmental.”

“I talked to her. She’s going to try to change her approach. She wants you to be able to talk to her too. She still thinks you’re too young but she realizes that trying to get you to stop will just push you away. Give her a chance next time she tries to talk to you about it, alright?”

“Fine,” Gus mumbles.

“Alright then,” Brian says as he stands up, “Let’s get to CVS before it gets too late. I’ll let everyone know we’re getting some more condoms for you and see if they need any too.”

Gus’s hands wrap around his wrist like a vice grip as he hisses, “Don’t you dare.

Brian laughs and ruffles his son’s hair, “Stop being such a prude and go get your coat on.”

“Dad, please don’t tell them. That’s fucking weird. I don’t want to be stared at for the rest of the night by Grandma and Michael and-”

“Shit, Gus. I was kidding. Lighten up. Now get moving.”

Brian leads the way downstairs and heads out the door with his son. He’s really impressed with how much his son is growing up. The kid only blushes briefly when Brian tells the associate, “I need someone to unlock the rubbers. My son is a man now and is going at it on a regular basis.”

He should have pretended they were for him but what would be the fun in that?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So are you nervous at all?”

Brian looks over at Michael then looks back to the view on Emmett’s deck.

“No. Not really.”

Michael nods, “I’m really happy for you, Brian. I’m glad you found someone...you know, after Justin.”

“I’m glad I found someone too,” Brian admits, “He’s a fantastic someone.”

Michael grins, “You really are gone for him.”

“I am,” is all Brian says because what’s the point in hiding it?

“Did you ever...did you ever think about how it would have ended up if you had married Justin? If he hadn’t left for New York?”

Brian clears away the small lump that enters his throat, “Of course I have.”

“How do you think things would have turned out?”

“I don’t know. Justin was so young when I asked him. And I had jumped into it, partially out of fear. Maybe we would have been really fucking happy. Maybe it would have ended in heartbreak. I thought everyone was right when they told me I asked out of being in shock due to the bomb. It scared the shit out of me, the thought of losing him. But when he left, I thought wanting something more might eventually go away. Maybe it was because we kept seeing each other for two years but I wasn’t even tricking much anymore despite the distance. I realized that wanting to be with him and only him wasn’t going away. And then when I told him what I still wanted…”

“You broke up,” Michael finishes for him.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to talk about that,” Brian tells him.

“Did you miss Justin when you got with Eric?”

“At first and I would still think of the what ifs. But then, fuck, I fell hard for Eric. He’s so good and understanding. I started loving him as much as I loved Justin and I accepted and embraced that, while with Justin I denied it for such a long time. It felt so goddamn amazing. And we had a lot of bumps in the road at first but he knows me better than I know myself. We have Lily and we’re so happy...I can’t think of anything I want more than this.”

“It’s still weird to hear you talk like this,” Michael admits, “So open and in love with someone. You’ve grown up a lot.”

“Had to sometime.”

Michael nods, “I am so fucking happy for you, Brian. I really really am.”

Brian stands up and takes Michael’s hand to get him to stand too before pulling him into an embrace.

“Thank you, Mikey.”

“Love you,” Michael says into his shoulder, “Always have.”

“Always will,” Brian finishes before lightly kissing Michael on the temple.

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His mind had been racing for two hours. About the wedding and all the people he would have to talk to. About Gus and Penelope and about leaving Kinnetik for several days at a time. But finally, at 2 o’clock in the morning, he was drifting off. His eyelids were getting heavy and he was welcoming sleep with open arms and-

Someone is knocking on the door. Why is there someone knocking on the door?

Brian rubs his eyes and forces himself out of bed to open the door for the asshole who-

“Hi, Daddy,” Lily says, standing there in her blue and yellow floor length nightgown with her stuffed giraffe.

“Hey, baby,” Brian tells her in a tired voice, “What are you doing out of bed?”

“I can’t sleep,” Lily informs him, “I had a really bad dream and got scared and wanted you.”

Brian holds back a sigh and lets her in. She marches up to the bed and climbs up on top of it.

“What was your nightmare about?”

Lily’s eyes get slightly panicked, “I was at school and was playing with blocks when this mean boy I go to school with kicked over the tower I was building. I told him he was mean and he pulled my hair and pushed me so I ran away. I ran into this dark room and I couldn’t see so I was crying and trying to find my way out when I saw red eyes across the room! A little light turned on and it was Joseph with red eyes! He asked me if I wanted to play then turned into a bear! It was so scary, Daddy!”

Lily quickly crawls into her father’s embrace and Brian can feel her shaking profusely. He holds her tight and whispers, “Shhh...it was just a dream. People can’t turn into bears.”

“I know,” Lily whispers, “But I didn’t know when I was in the dream.”

“Is Joseph that kid you said wouldn’t let you play with the blocks? Justin mentioned you told him that there was a kid picking on you at school.”

“Uh huh. He pulls on my curls and tells me girls can’t play with blocks. He only picks on me and no one else. Me and Margaret and Viola don’t know why he picks on me. I never did anything to him.”

“I’ll call his parents and tell him what an asshole their son is,” Brian fumes quietly.

“Daddy,” Lily gasps, “You said a bad word.”

“Well, I never claimed to be perfect.”

“Can I sleep with you? I’m scared,” Lily whimpers as she hugs him tighter.

Brian sighs, “Yes, you can sleep in here. But go straight to sleep, alright? No giggling or trying to keep me up. We both need rest for tomorrow.”

“Okay, Daddy. I’ll be good, I promise.”

Brian lies down and holds an arm out so that Lily be clingy like she always is after a nightmare. It always gets her to fall asleep quickly and this time is no exception.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He wakes up to Emmett coming in to coo over him and Lily before telling him that he has breakfast on the table.

He wakes Lily up and goes downstairs to sit with the rest the gang and stays pretty quiet at breakfast. The feeling of, ‘Oh, shit. I’m getting married’ is sort of hitting him now. It was only a matter of time. It isn’t a bad feeling but there is a panicky element that comes along with it.

“You okay, Brian?” Ted asks, noticing the blank look first.

Brian swallows a couple of times, “Uh huh.”

“Shit,” Ted mutters, “Are you getting cold feet?”

Brian glares, “No, Ted. I’m not getting cold feet.”

“You look like you are starting to panic.”

Emmett comes over to and overhears the conversation.

“It’s okay, baby,” Emmett says as he puts his hands on his shoulders, “This happens to almost all of my grooms. They’re happy but they get overwhelmed and panic the morning of the wedding. I can only imagine what you are going through, considering your dramatic change of view on marriage in the last several years.”

Brian takes a few shaky breaths and tries to nod.

“Dad, are you alright?” Gus asks, concerned.

Fuck. Gus noticed. He doesn’t like to appear too weak in front of his kids, especially when the situation doesn’t directly pertain to them, “I’m fine, kid. It’s nothing.”

Gus nods, “It’s going to be great, Dad. You’re going to have a good day.”

Brian runs a hand over his face, “I know.”

Emmett clears his throat, “We should be going soon. You ready, Brian?”

Brian thinks about seeing Eric, handsome in a tux and beaming with pride and love. That’s enough to get him to nod and give them a small smile, “I’m ready.”

They get everything together and Emmett leads Brian to a limo that he is going to ride alone up to the Hamptons.

“Oh, look! There’s a little television in here you can watch! I’m having John drop you off on the east side of the building so we can get everyone in your party ready. See you in a couple of hours!”

Emmett shuts the car door and the limo starts to move a couple of minutes after. Traffic out of the city isn’t bad so they’ll make good time.

Leaving Brian alone probably wasn’t the best decision on his friends’ part. It leads to him having old insecurities pop up. They try to make him believe he isn’t good enough for Eric. For marriage. For anyone. It’s stupid and he knows that but he can’t help it. He just wishes someone was here to sit with him or talk to him even for a-

His cellphone rings. He looks down at the screen then both smiles and blinks the sudden tears out of his eyes before answering the phone.

“Emmett said you seemed nervous,” Eric says softly when he picks up, “I thought you might need someone to talk to.”

Brian lets out a wet laugh, “I really do. I wish you were riding up with me.”

“I do too,” Eric says, and Brian knows he’s smiling, “I would be able to get a better read on you if you were right in front of me.”

“But we can’t break tradition,” Brian says to him.

“Are you okay? You don’t want to...you know, postpone anything, do you?”

Brian feels himself shaking his head before he remembers Eric can’t see it, “No. I want this. I really do.”

“You’re sure? Until death do we part?”

“I’m nervous but when I heard your voice over the phone, I felt like everything was immediately going to be alright. So yeah, babe. Until death do we part.”

Eric lets out a shaky breath, “I love you, Brian. I love you and Lily and Gus more than anything. I’m so happy with you.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you up at the alter.”

Eric laughs, “If you just want to meet up when we get there, we can.”

Brian smiles, “We went all night. What’s a few hours more?”

They say their temporary goodbyes and hang up. Who knew a two minute conversation could make him feel so much better? Brian looks out the window and feels happy and at peace.

Everything is going to be great.